Wednesday 3 October 2012

Sonic & Knuckles - Progress Report II - Flying Battery



So, as the level name suggests, this is another sky level, much like Wing Fortress in Sonic 2. This one is easier, though obviously bottomless pits are still a danger.


Monkey bars. A playground standard and Robotnik has installed them all throughout the fortress. I'm guessing Robotnik never had a childhood and this is his own way of dealing with it. And yet we're probably gonna destroy it. This level really changes our perception of the Sonic 3 & Knuckles plot...maybe WE'RE the enemies?


So, a couple of things to note here. The little bug thing with the cannon? A shield literally makes it useless. Shields just make projectiles and bullets bounce off. A fire shield is particularly useful here due to those flamethrower things. If you step on the button in the middle of it, the fire stops for a couple of seconds, but then the pressure builds up and the button pushes you up like a spring.


I think Robotnik was really pushing for robot ideas here. "Hmm, I need one more kind of robot and I can finally crush Sonic and his meddling friends. But I just cannot think! Wait...*looks at his computer mouse*...OF COURSE! This will destroy Sonic ONCE AND FOR ALL! *evil laughter*.

They're really easy to dodge, the ones pictures can't even touch you. I let them live just because with the popularity of laptops, computer mice need SOMETHING to do, ya know?


Like I mentioned, press the button, the fire stops. Eventually it will launch you up.


I don't really like waiting for platforms in Sonic games, and this is just that.


OH NO! What a dastardly trick! There's a few capsules throughout the level, each with their own little surprise. I think some give you rings, but all I got was a bunch of robots. Worst Kinder Surprise ever!


Now here's a thing, Sonic will hold on to these poles and you can move up or down them, then select the direction you want to go before jumping off and he'll float towards the next pole (which is off screen here). On the last one you can climb to just below the propeller (which hurts you), hold right and let go to find an extra life!



Throughout the level you will be impeded by these magnetized mechanisms. If you rush in, the electric current might start up and attract the obstacle. There's a couple of these, this one I'm calling the "platform" because it looks like a platform, and there's a second kind which I'm calling the "box", because it looks like a box.


A box with spikes. Also, they took mah rings! Luckily I made it to 200 before then so I got yet another extra life.


Another type of capsule for the level, this one is acts like a spring.


In between those spikes is one of those platforms from before, but unlike last time, you can go on them and ride them to the top without fear of being crushed into a blue pancake.


Oh hey, another one! I wonder what's in this on--


Oh...it's the mini boss. This one is actually really easy. All you need to do is stand on the button, one of his arms will flash and while it is travelling towards you, you just jump over it and it will hit itself on the head. Do this repeatedly and...


He dies! Now...I said this was really easy, and it is. I lost three lives here because of simple human error. Also, if you die, there's no rings between you and the boss stage (it might be possible to backtrack a little to get rings, but I never bothered).




Act 2 is more of the same, except with elevators that look like this!


With these it is best to look for an opening and spin dash as soon as you can because if you don't, the elevator can crush you. Now, I took a break after this and came back later that day. I never closed FRAPS and I made sure it was running before launching back into the game.

But it didn't work. I did notice the tray icon was a little different (the numbers were red instead of yellow), but I thought nothing of it. Still, this means I have no photographic evidence of the rest of the level.

Just imagine the first Act but a little different. And with a few of those twisty elevators. Oh, and a different boss..

http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Hang_Mobile

I really like this boss. At first he just hangs out on the bottom half of the screen. You can provoke him into attacking by standing between his spiky fists and he'll shoot out flames. After a couple of times doing this, he will start swinging. Every time he swings in the upper half of the screen is a chance to attack him. If you're good, you can get him in just two sets of attacks. If you're me, three sets is what it will take.

Eventually he'll explode, so will the fortress and Sonic spin dashes his way off the Flying Battery to fall all the way into..



Ugh, he's gonna have sand in his sneakers for weeks.

Music

Flying Battery Zone Acts 1 & 2 (it's good!)

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