Robot Recycling Center

90th: Robot Recycling Center Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level

Not even the hardest of hard hats can protect you from raining Blockies.

Overview Creator(s): FabianLC Composer(s): Iku Mizutani, Kinuyo Yamashita, Mari Yamaguchi (originals) CobaltBW (cover) Statistics Scores: 40 52 35 24 Total: 37.75 / 100 Rank: 90th Elements: 1 Box Items: Blocky Bombomboy Parasyu Astro Wall Junk Machine Enemies: Blocky Bombomboy Parasyu Spine Gimmicks: Astro Wall Junk Magnet Junk Platform Quicksand Tricastle platform Sub-Bosses: Dust Man Toad Man Quadruple Bosses: Gyro Man Other Information: Skippable 28 Minutes Late

Theme Music Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Area 1 Boss: Mega Man 5 - Boss Stage Order Location: Tier 2 Previous: Untested Rush Job Next: The Bouncy Octa Boom

Robot Recycling Center is the 90th place entry in Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level. Themed after a recycling plant, it uses already-powered Junk Platforms and Junk Magnets as central gimmicks, alongside quicksand reskinnned as scrap piles. The former gimmick is primarily used in vertical areas where they can easily crush Mega Man if he fails to jump off of them in time. The level is also remarkable for using Robot Masters as downgraded enemies instead of fully-fledged bosses, although they are used as pseudo midbosses.

Strategy

The level's most infamous section appears close to the start; just beyond a few individual Blockies is a large chasm with chunks of debris rising out of it as platforms, while Blockies start falling down from above in large numbers. Not only do they deal eight points of damage on contact, but the small width of the platforms means they will easily drop to lower levels and knock Mega Man down into the pit. Having the Beat Rescue upgrade for Beat is strongly recommended to prevent an easy death; with it, deliberately throwing oneself into the pit to have a brief moment of invincible flight is also a viable strategy. Otherwise, Mega Man should get across the pit as fast as possible before the number of Blockies becomes unmanageable. The rest of the level preceding the checkpoint is short and comparatively simple, with an introduction to Junk Magnets and the reskinned quicksand. A Bombomboy hides in the latter early on, and is very likely to ambush Mega Man.

The level's midboss is, uniquely, a set of four Toad Men that act as regular enemies, having only 3 HP each (albeit retaining their longer i-frames). All four can be quickly taken out with a Charge Shot or the Search Snake, opening the way to the level's only major checkpoint. From here, Mega Man needs to ride a Junk Platform upwards; staying on the right is crucial, as almost immediately the platform rises up into a low ceiling, and the only way to avoid getting crushed is to get caught by a nearby Junk Magnet. A short while later, Mega Man comes across a "quickjunk" hallway with a layer of junk near the top of the screen. An Astro Wall hides behind this layer of junk, and constantly spawns Parasyus. The Flame Mixer's upwards movement can intercept them, but keeping it around Mega Man will easily kill a pair of Bombomboys hiding inside the bottom layer of junk.

A final vertical climb on Junk Platforms serves as the level's last major challenge, and it can be somewhat difficult to complete. Like the last climb, only the right set of Junk Platforms moves upwards, and it passes up through two separate ceilings that will crush Mega Man if he stays on them. Occasionally, an off-centre Junk Platform will move down the same track, and also poses the risk of crushing him. The spiked platforms ordinarily created by Tricastle appear via custom spawners, and are needed to avoid the aforementioned ceilings; however, the timing of their appearance and the movement of the Junk Platforms may not always align. Try not to fall down, as not only will a lot of progress be undone, but a damage-dealing Blocky patrols the bottom.

Should Mega Man reach the top, the final obstacle is a downgraded Dust Man, who only has 1 HP and always drops large health energy when killed. The boss of the level is Gyro Man, whose arena contains constantly rising debris and "quickjunk". The debris can often carry Gyro Man (and Mega Man) out of the Mega Buster's reach, but the debris can be destroyed to find health and weapon energy if need be. The Rain Flush is very useful in this fight, as it not only is Gyro Man's weakness, but it stops the junk from dragging Mega Man down, and instantly destroys all onscreen debris platforms, making more space to avoid Gyro Man's attacks.

Skip Status

Robot Recycling Center was given a Skip Teleporter as a result of the level's generally high difficulty, with platforming that involves multiple moving platforms that both require precise timing and have a high chance of killing the player, as well as a noticeable lack of checkpoints. The first room in particular, with the constant spawn of Blockies on narrow platforms, is typically seen as a major roadblock.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
ParmaJon  : 40 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 12 / 35 7 / 15 8 / 10 5 / 25 8 / 15 Look, I've tried to be really positive when judging levels for this contest, but this level makes it hard. You admittedly weren't given the best assets, but you also didn't do yourself any favors. The enemies are placed in really annoying ways just to instantly throw you into pits constantly. To keep things brief, this is one of the only levels I gave up on multiple times. I tried to go back to it, and even then I found myself frustrated. I'm sorry, but I really don't care for this level.
PKWeegee  : 52 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 13 / 35 11 / 15 7 / 10 11 / 25 10 / 15 How not to start a stage. Seriously, the Blockys are way too heavy on damage, and their blocks are too hard to dodge. And then you just go and throw them around all carefree. The rest of the stage isn't all that better, as you either fall down some screens or just get crushed if you fail. Also, the four Toad Men were...really unfair and stupid.
M-Jacq  : 35 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 7 / 35 12 / 15 5 / 10 2 / 25 9 / 15 This stage starts out innocuously enough... then the Blockies start raining from the heavens and everything goes to hell in a handbasket. By the end of the level there are a dozen platforms flying every which way in a long vertical shaft and you're falling down five hundred meters only to land flat on your face in a checkpointless pit of literal garbage. The frustrating thing is that there are so many little moments in this level that would really elevate it if they weren't drowning in a sea of (literal, not figurative) garbage. Bosses demoted to regular enemies! Bombomboys hitching a ride on Junk Magnets! Tricastle projectiles being used out of context as moving platforms! This actually is a very creative level. I just didn't enjoy it at all, and I think the design is way too scattershot and reliant on a million moving parts for the average player to enjoy it either.
Freems  : 24 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 4 / 35 6 / 15 6 / 10 1 / 25 7 / 15 What a mess. Any level that seriously considers having an endless amount of Blockys raining from the sky needs to think some things through a little more. Especially when the platforms pretty much prevent you from using any special weapon that might even think about being useful. But then you combine that with Junk Man machines that can crush you with almost zero warning, random low health Robot Masters just kind of... appearing (there are few better jumpscares than seeing 4 Toad Men just exist for no good reason) and the last room having random platforms just be introduced to the level and not even well at that. It just ended up being a confusing slog.

Notes

• Robot Recycling Center was submitted 28 minutes late, but ultimately didn't score high enough for the time penalty to affect its placement.
• Although listed as part of the level's box assets, no Junk Machines can be found during gameplay; instead, a single always-powered machine sits offscreen to activate the level's magnets and platforms.
• For some reason, Dust Man is very slightly rotated (by one degree), giving him a slightly warped appearance compared to his appearances elsewhere.