Part 19: Neo Arcadia Shrine: Herculious Anchus
Extra Stage Thoughts
This fucking level. I always hate playing it, not because it's incredibly badly done, but just because it's so frustrating and boring, especially when trying to get all the Elves. I think this is the first time I've done so in a single run; figuring out the trick for the pogo jump definitely helped, and even more so the Frog Elf assistance. Imagine falling down every time with nothing to show for it...you have to redo the entire level, including half of the annoying wolf section. And the annoying platform one. Really, really do not care for that.
Then after a pair of shitty minibosses (I hope you don't expect extra tactics for the random fourarm thing, even though it has a health bar) and one actually good segment with the yellow helicopter things, a genuinely bad segment has to be surmounted before this boring stage is finally done! I feel like Capcom forced Inti to put the block puzzles in because "it wouldn't be Mega Man otherwise", then when they saw that Inti could well make games that sold, they were given free reign...and there are no more block puzzles whatsoever in the rest of the Zero series, good fucking riddance. Everything about them here except for their shooting below (a good idea, as I said!) is phoned in, kinda buggy and the Elf is the cherry on the shitcake. Especially because of this I really didn't look forward to make the Hard Mode video immediately...oh and you have to fucking enemy farm for that, too.
All of my complaints are really a shame, because thematically, this is a very nice stage. A completely new environment is a breath of fresh air after all those repeats at the end, and the way the stage progresses is superb; ever upwards, outside to inside, and each time you're outside you see how it rises; grassy hills in the background, in the clouds, far above, and it takes so long that it's nighttime afterwards! The music is also superb. Good thing as you're going to hear it a lot after falling down time and time again...aaaand I'm done ranting.
Boss Comments
Attacks
- Charge: He'll level himself with the ground and fly at Zero, bouncing off the wall when missing (he will, it's telegraphed a mile away).
- Electric Anchor: He'll jump into the air facing sideways and extend one of his claw-arms to attach himself to the ground, then fire a second to, uh, do the same? Once you've avoided the first, the second is trivial, and should be no trouble to avoid either. You can shoot him the entire time he does this, and safely slash away a bit after he bounced off the ground (like with the first attack).
- Small Balls: This triple shot actually changes from three to four shots once his health gets low enough, if I remember correctly. It's a little harder to avoid with four; meaning you have to climb the wall higher and be ready for whatever he does once you land again. Still not tough.
- Big Ball: A slow-moving large electric shot which lazily homes you; should be able to be dodged just like the small ones. Can potentially get nasty if he does something you don't agree with while it's still there, but not an insurmountable problem.
- Tetra Master (EX Skill): Herculious remembers that he possesses four arms, extends them to the sides while hovering in the middle of the room and as such is a large damage zone because electric beams still connect his hands with his body. Then, he'll fire a single small shot from each hand, but not at once. It's thusly not really hard to avoid, just avoid him getting the drop on you at the end.
A fun boss. I don't mind that he's pretty easy at all; it's a very welcome boon after a long and annoying stage. Just slash his sorry ass or destroy him completely with Ice, whatever. He's a nonentity but is saved by being just not tedious - which would be the worst after such a stage - and his cool design. Also he might have a brother (spoilers!).
Ranking High
This is for later when I actually do it.
Enemy Hall: Finally, a piece of music I really, really like. Very "Wily 1"-esque, upbeat, a nice supporting beat, fantastic melody - what's not to love?