Lasers and Platforms

29th: Lasers and Platforms Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level

Well, that's a name that cuts to the chase.

Overview Creator(s): Nitro Striker Composer(s): DestinyGearsX, Yasuaki Fujita Statistics Scores: 73 54 60 75 Total: 65.50 / 100 Rank: 29th Elements: 1 Box Items: Bikky Bomb Ladder Press Metall DX Drop Platform Quick Laser Enemies: Bikky Bomb Ladder Press Metall DX (fly) Gimmicks: Drop Platform Quick Laser (damage, drain) Switch Ball Switch Block Sub-Bosses: Doc Kumo Bosses: Spark Man Other Information: 27 Minutes Late

Theme Music Free Stage 2 Boss: Mega Man 3 - Boss Stage Order Location: Tier 9 Previous: Slipping Through Time Next: Ice Treatment Facility

Lasers and Platforms is the 29th place entry in Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level. It is a level with a Sheep Man aesthetic that heavily uses Quick Lasers, and often positions them behind Switch Blocks that can block them off when active, or let them through when inactive. Many Switch Balls are dotted across the level to toggle blocks between the two states, sometimes as a trap for a trigger-happy Mega Man who doesn't look where he's shooting. In addition to non-lethal health-draining yellow lasers, there are dangerous red lasers that will kill on contact. The platforms in the level's title are Drop Platforms, resulting in some fast-paced jumping from platform to platform over pits and lasers.

Strategy

A Bikky Bomb is ready to ambush Mega Man as soon as he teleports into the level, so he ought to destroy it quickly. Following it are screens that introduce Quick Lasers, switches, and Drop Platforms, before combining the three together. The first of these has a Metall DX in front of a Switch Ball, and a reckless shot can cause Mega Man to be hit by a Quick Laser as the Switch Blocks swap states. The rest share a simple structure of jumping across Drop Platforms over a Quick Laser, while shooting Switch Balls to block off red Quick Lasers in the way; none are particularly difficult, although a Metall DX is waiting to ambush Mega Man at the end. Soon afterwards is a miniboss battle against a Doc Kumo, in a room with three Drop Platforms in the centre and a red Quick Laser on either side. The Drop Platforms can be used to easily jump over it, as well as act as a spot to attack the light on top with the Search Snake to quickly kill it.

Much of the rest of the level is a long climb upwards in an area with free vertical scrolling, while Quick Lasers take a backseat (and the red ones vanish altogether). A few ladders here have Ladder Presses guarding them, but they are easy to avoid, particularly if the Step Booster upgrade has been obtained from Joseph. With clever use of the Rush Coil, the climb can be made even shorter, bypassing ladders almost entirely. Towards the end, two slow-moving Quick Lasers on separate screens force Mega Man to move quickly (and both must be released to remove other lasers in the way), but it's easy to outrun them, and resetting them is extremely quick and simple. At the very end of the level is a battle against Spark Man, who jumps across a quartet of airborne Drop Platforms in his arena. Said arena also has two yellow Quick Lasers on either side, so caution should be exercised when fighting him.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
ParmaJon  : 73 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 27 / 35 8 / 15 10 / 10 19 / 25 9 / 15 This level follows the pretty straightforward A, B, A + B format. It works for the assets. You introduce one idea then introduce the other, then you combine them at the end for a final challenge. I really like the lasers and the switches. They work super well together, and the challenges are always challenging, but fun. Never too hard or unfair. The issue is that the later section with the ladder enemies feels a bit short. It's good, but combining them feels like it ended too soon. Maybe another room or two to experiment with them together and get something more out of them would have made this level better. Overall, this level is good and concise.
PKWeegee  : 54 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 15 / 35 8 / 15 10 / 10 12 / 25 9 / 15 I've been struggling to come up with much of anything to say about this one. While the combo of the Quick Lasers and the block switches was not bad, it didn't really grab me all that much. I did like the slow laser sections more, though, for some reason.
M-Jacq  : 60 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 15 / 35 13 / 15 10 / 10 14 / 25 8 / 15 How far can one cool gimmick elevate a not-so-cool level? Pretty far, if this is any indication. I really loved this level on the first playthrough, almost entirely because it has Quick Lasers as its central gimmick, but actually uses them in a way that's novel and interesting and not just "run or die." They're even color-coded! How cute! But then on the replay I realized that cool gimmick aside, we've got a bunch of problems. Most of these have to do with how gimmicks and enemies are introduced. For instance, the second screen introduces both the helicopter Met and the laser gimmick at the same time, in a way that doesn't give either time to breathe. And there's no indication that some of these lasers are going to be slow ones - especially concerning, as the first slow laser is in a place where if it IS a normal-speed laser like you assume it will be based on precedent, hitting the switch will kill you - which made me second guess myself. (And then the subsequent slow laser room is just your standard "run through this linear segment before the laser hits you" challenge, just without the difficulty and with a less exciting presentation.) But ultimately, I think the main flaw of this level is symbolized by the long horizontal section early-ish on where Drop Platforms are placed over a red laser over a bottomless pit. The laser is visually exciting - "oh no," I thought, "better avoid the laser!" - but in reality it's irrelevant, because if you fall you take your two points of graze damage and then just die from falling into the pit. Even though the level has a very cool gimmick, most of the challenge in it stems not from the very cool gimmick, but from Ye Olde Stretches of Perilous Drop Platforms Over Oblivion. There are some cool set-ups here, but a lot of time the gimmick that would make this level unique is just window dressing on the hackneyed challenges that it feels like 50% of the levels in this contest rely upon. It's not a bad level by any means - just a little disappointing, seeing a cool idea squandered.
Freems  : 75 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 25 / 35 11 / 15 10 / 10 20 / 25 9 / 15 A lesson I've learned throughout this contest is that I like Quick beams being used in unorthodox ways, and combining the lasers with the switches was a really good idea. The lasers pretty much never feel too overbearing and it changes the challenge from "gotta go fast" to a challenge about timing your shots, which is a type of variety I like. It doesn't go on too long either, which is heavily appreciated. The difficulty curve of the level does seem a little backwards though. The first half is definitely far more punishing than the second half. It's not undoable, but the constant Shadow Man platform jumps over a bottomless pit for a long time with one of those flying Mets coming at you isn't terribly easy. The second half of the level isn't the easiest thing in the world, but it's certainly more of a breeze than the first. And when it comes to nitpicks, the Quick beam overlapping with the boss health bar is kinda funky. But overall, I did enjoy this one. Nothing crazy, has some problems, but thought out and a pretty good time.

Notes

• Lasers and Platforms was submitted 27 minutes late, and was consequently capped to a maximum possible score of 73. This in no way affected its ranking, however, as it only managed to score 65.50 overall.