Part 7: Gyro Man

Stage Comments:

What's the point of the fucking ELEVATOR!!!

Erm.

I actually can think of two things. First of all, there's another elevator later, so it's maybe meant as an introduction to that gimmick. Which is stupid, because "hey spikes on the ceiling maybe the floor is going to rise" should be introduction enough, and "you move upwards at a steady pace now" doesn't really need any explanation, now does it?
Second reason - atmospherically, it shows we're pretty damn high up now. Which we were before, because the floor didn't even change. And we were in the clouds. Which we are afterwards, too. Swing and a miss.

Waste of my TIME in an ACTION game.

The first real segment is kind of tricky, because while looking so innocious, the flying enemies are hard for a few reasons: They home in, the take two shots to kill, and they're hard to hit. No problem with special weapons, but who uses them, am I right? Cannons on relatively narrow platforms supplement them nicely, so it's a good stretch of level. The one on the edge is nothing more than a time-waster again, though, so fuck that guy.
The gears on the next part might be tricky if you don't remember that you have Rush Coil. Or, as in my case, Super Arrow. Apart from that, it's a matter of waiting a few seconds.
Nothing to say on the next screens which I didn't already, except I love the spinny platforms. Should have been like that in Top Man's stage!
The big hopper is an asshole because it tricks you. It's possible to slide under him and hightail it up the ladder, but the timing is very narrow; it's pretty damn likely that he'll knock you off and deal a chunk of damage, forcing you to kill him regardless. Napalm Bombs all the way. Or spam him to death with the Buster, your call.
The falling "donut blocks" (seriously, they even got a "hole" in the middle, make it more obvious that you're cribbing from Mario, please?) are the hardest part of the stage, if only because getting the letter is such a bitch. Please feel free to share your stories of how you always got it first try and never died on that segment. Smug bastard. I hate it. Bad at timing and all that. They just fall so quickly!
This screen shows off the full power of Super Arrow pretty nicely, though. If you have no tools to deal with it, I recommend hopping a lot so that you have footholds to fall back on and let the falling enemies drop safely. For once, Power Stone might actually be kind of a bit maybe useful if you really don't have anything else, but why would you?
Then comes the second elevator, with a mercifully close respawn point even; I really don't like making a short hop up to the second-to-last platform, so I tried and slid and it works for me. Timing is still kind of tricky. Choose what suits you.
The last stretch is a nice use of the dual shooting enemies, narrow platforms and pits below, nothing too tricky and a fine way to close this boring stage off. The cannon...maybe for farming, again, but eh. Seems out of place.

Finally, I hate the palette choice because pastel colours really don't do it for me. The pink and turquoise and subdued orange and light blue don't mesh together nicely at all, uggh. The end of this update post tells you my problems with the music, so this isn't really a stage I look forward to playing at all whenever I pick up the game.


Boss Comments:

Two attacks, no walking animation, no tricks, nothing special, one of the most uninspired fights in this game. Shame, because hey, he's a fucking helicopter who can shoot his own blades, that could have been a really cool fight and they botched it.
First attack is just a throw of the blade, it'll stop at Mega's position and then turn upwards. You know, in case you tried to be all cool and just jump straight into the air. Who does that? It's decently hard to dodge if he manages to corner you, in the worst case impossible, as there's no realy tell for when he does it. However, if he just stands there for a while like a dumbass to get his face pelted, you're sure it'll come, so be ready.
Second attack is death from above, a blade from in front which you'll have to jump over, then he'll zip above Mega and fall down. Sliding away works wonders, and you'll want to do it anyway to have room to clear a possible follow-up blade. As you can tell him to go wherever you want him to, with a clear head, this fight is a joke.


New enemies:

Kouker Q: _{They fly slowly across the screen until Mega comes near, then they drop down, spikes extended. You have to slide or wait a second to avoid them, which might not always be possible, as is the case in this level. When used correctly (read: evilly), pretty tough if you don't just Gravity Hold them or something.}

Pukaperry: _{Pretty tough for the aforementioned reasons. They hover for a short while, then open up and fly towards Mega, only to close up again. If they were only hittable when the eyes are open, they'd be really damn fucking annoying. Thank God that's not the case.}

Shield Gun: _{A very standard enemy design. Can only be hit when the shield is up, which is also when they fire. Boring. Charged shot is their death, as is the Super Arrow of all weapons; if you have space for it, best thing to use is Charge Kick though because you can just go through them no problem and they'll die, too.}

Music:

Gyro Man _{- Bah. Don't like it at all. As has been the case for a few other tracks already, this one just doesn't stick in my ear at all, it's perky and upbeat which certainly fits the stage (get it, "up"), but it's hopping around far too much for my tastes. Not coherent enough. Or something.
Those get harder to write for ones I simply dislike for no real reason.}