Space Pipes

107th: Space Pipes Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level

Plumbing the depths of space... and the contest.

Overview Creator(s): Super Maks 64 Composer(s): Kouji Murata (originals) Unknown remixer, Mathew Valente (cover) Statistics Scores: 37 33 16 42 Total: 3 / 100 Rank: 107th Elements: 1 Box Items: Flying Shell Mummira Returning Sniper Joe Gravity Lift Wave Man Warp Enemies: Flying Shell Mummira Returning Sniper Joe Gimmicks: Gravity Lift Reflect Block Wave Man Warp Bosses: Quint Other Information: 97 Minutes Late All weapons disabled (except Beat)

Theme Music Mega Man 10 - Farewell to Ballade Boss: Mega Man V - Sunstar Stage Order Location: Tier 1 Next: Cutting Edge Technology

"I made a different semi joke level in a few hours instead. Also I submitted this late on purpose, I HOPE I LOSE!"

―Sign at the end of the level.

"You probably did."

―M-Jacq, in response to the above.

Space Pipes is the 107th and last place entry in Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level. A very short level, it is little more than a set of pipes from Wave Man's stage against a starry black background. The level has an inverted Gravity Lift in effect that slowly brings Mega Man down to the ground, preventing him from moving normally while airborne. The only way to move in the air is to shoot in the opposite direction of where he wants to go. The stage is also notable for having almost every enemy positioned behind a pair of Reflect Blocks, making combat largely unnecessary. It also disables every weapon except Beat, just because.

Strategy

Though the stage has an intimidating start with a Danmaku Flying Shell, Mega Man will be unhurt while teleporting in. As most of the enemies are protected by Reflect Blocks, the best course of action is to avoid their shots while shooting towards the next Wave Man Warp. Because of the wonky physics imposed by the Gravity Lift, jumping isn't recommended unless necessary. Otherwise, most of the stage consists of Damage Spike drops to be avoided, with antigravity bolts helpfully marking where to fall to avoid being hit. There also exist pipes that Flying Shells with atypical bullet patterns spawn from, but these can be easily avoided.

At the very end of the stage is a fight against Quint, who has a few extra points of health and is fought in a room with Damage Spikes lining the walls. As with the rest of the stage, it's advised to stay on the ground as much as possible and never jump. Keeping away from Quint will also help with avoiding his Sakugarne bounce attack if he decides to use it.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
ParmaJon  : 37 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 8 / 35 8 / 15 9 / 10 8 / 25 4 / 15 Okay, the first time I played this level it was a trainwreck. Once I knew what the gimmick was, it was actually pretty fun, but figuring out what was going on was really bad. Uhh, the actual challenges that you present (other than the boss) were pretty good. The level is too short, but what you have is not bad at all (other than gimmick conveyance). Like, the spot with the Joe where you had to time when to jump was pretty rad. The Quint fight is dumb, but not too bad.
PKWeegee  : 33 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 6 / 35 6 / 15 10 / 10 5 / 25 6 / 15 You wanted a joke review? Too bad; serious time. The concept in itself is flawed, with the weird gravity physics, but weirdly enough, I can see that sort of gravity working when put in the right environment. This clearly wasn't that, but glimpses of neat ideas were seen, with having to jump and boost yourself with the shots to get over gaps. The Quint fight was rough, because I was too afraid to jump, so I guess that one is on me. ...fine, here's a meme.
M-Jacq  : 16 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 0 / 35 8 / 15 5 / 10 0 / 25 3 / 15 You probably did.
Freems  : 42 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 11 / 35 9 / 15 9 / 10 5 / 25 8 / 15 It's certainly novel, but that's kind of where it ends. You control yourself in a really weird way and there's an obnoxious Quint fight at the end, and that's just that. Not much else to say. If it's a joke level it doesn't even really manage to hit a level of absurdity.

Notes

• As the sign at the end of the level says, Space Pipes was submitted as a joke level, deliberately abusing the contest's lateness penalty to ensure it would get last place.
• The starfield effect is drawn at a very high depth, causing it to appear over the pause menu when the game is paused.