Part 8: Act 8
Sorry for the long delay!
Act 8 (Baldurdash | blip.tv | Youtube | Download)
Such a fantastic act! It's long but has lots of variety so it never gets boring. None of the acts are lackluster and even if they're somewhat difficult, they're a lot of fun to play through. Not to mention every song is superb. Aaand it also features what is probably the most hated level boss in the entire game. What's not to like?
8-1: The Rocket Tier - Kind of a rude start with the rockets. You're pretty much guaranteed to get hit at least the first time because you don't know what's coming. I'm surprised they didn't make the rockets instakill. Kind of cruel how they keep those soldiers posted there too, that's all kinds of brutal. Anyways, Spike Head is the way to go, because there's no telling when that next rocket's gonna come your way. Besides, you wouldn't want to miss that SBP, would you? This is where your OCD will reward you for gathering all those points all the time.
8-2: Illegal Weapon 3 - What happened to Illegal Weapon 1 and 2? This is another really straightforward scene. Can't figure out for the life of me why anyone would ever want to use Pin Head in this section. Unless you want to just get to cover quickly, but still... The SBP is kinda cool, I don't know about you but I always keep attacking random stuff in games, whether it has an effect or not. It paid off here, clearly.
8-3: Fun Forgiven - I love this scene to bits but at the same time it's killed me several times so there's a kind of love-hate-relationship going on. If it weren't for some nasty sections that drain your health for no reason (such as the Hangman physics I talk about in the video) this wouldn't be as annoying. Moloch, the enemy with the two moving parts that I mention, can also work against you. Sometimes the bottom part has moved me even when I was sure I hit the top resulting in an instakill squish.
Tarot is such an awesome boss. Right until the very end this game keeps coming up with new and interesting concepts for boss fights. You can't attack Tarot's first phase head-on, instead having to use the numbered balls. Everything else is there to just mess with you: Hangman sends you flying and serves no purpose and as for Headcase... it might be sassy to take a nap in the middle of a fight, but usually it ends up badly. Spike Head won't help you at all, and Triple Head actually works against you. If there's one fight where you need precision over three heads, it's this one. Imagine trying to hit Tarot and one of the heads accidentally hits the heart icon. Because that happens. The second phase of the fight is much less interesting though, you just attack Tarot with all you've got and try to dodge his one attack. Even if you take a few hits, there's Sleepy Head to fix you all up afterwards, so it's no big a deal.
The rest of the stage is kinda tough. Trying to get over the spiked section is lot harder than I make it out to be in the video. Usually I fall into the spikes several times, trying to stumble my way out only to take another hit of damage because I jump too late and the invulnerability goes away. It's a complete mess and I don't have a lot of advice other than save those jelly beans until you need them. Fuck that SBP, too. I mean who would shoot any of those blocks after the first one? Damn you, Treasure!
8-4: Vice Versa - This sure is a long level, and it just keeps changing. This time you flip the stage around by attacking some machine. The level itself is straightforward, with a few really easy puzzles that involve pushing objects. It's still fun, though, and the fact the gimmick carries over to Sparky the miniboss is really cool. The SBP is really counterintuitive though, I mean out of all the things you'd attack in this game in your endless quest to find all SBPs, who in their right mind would ever start attacking ENEMY BULLETS? Thankfully, it doesn't matter which of the two Shogun's projectiles you attack, as long as you get three of them in total. So chances are you'll get this one accidentally. Can't still very much give it whole lot of praise. Other than that, neat little level.
8-5: Twin Freaks -
Music: