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I got Rococo, Circe and Mars on my first playthrough, but in the case of the first two, they make them fairly telegraphed that there's something there out of your way. Mars, I only found because I jumped and the low gravity made the screen start to scroll upwards. The character I needed a faq to find later is also high up in their level, but not in one with high gravity to allow for the automatic screen scroll giveaway 
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Oct 25, 2014 19:01
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Choco1980 posted:The character I needed a faq to find later is also high up in their level, but not in one with high gravity to allow for the automatic screen scroll giveaway
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Oct 25, 2014 19:33
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Ah, On another note, I can't read the name "Jetter Mars" without thinking of "Getter Robo"... But other than a few visual similarities, Getter doesn't seem to reference Jetter much.
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Oct 25, 2014 21:59
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Choco1980 posted:I got Rococo, Circe and Mars on my first playthrough, but in the case of the first two, they make them fairly telegraphed that there's something there out of your way. Mars, I only found because I jumped and the low gravity made the screen start to scroll upwards. The character I needed a faq to find later is also high up in their level, but not in one with high gravity to allow for the automatic screen scroll giveaway KennyMan666 posted:Oh yeah, definitely the one I was suspecting you were talking about. I have no idea how I actually found that one myself, but I'm reasonably sure I didn't check a FAQ. Definitely one of the hardest to find. Yeah, I think I know the one you guys are referring to now.
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Oct 27, 2014 09:40
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Star #12: =Hecate= Through the ages: Princess knight manga, Princess knight anime See her in action: PRINCESS KNIGHT EPISODE 2 ---------- Hecate is incredibly awkward for me to write about, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the series she originates from, “Princess Knight”, features a separate main character, one which has yet to be represented in person and provides much of her motivation. Secondly, while I’ve read the entire manga and am well-versed in the story, I did so via my LOCAL LIBRARY, and cannot find a suitable online source for either manga scans or anime dubs. And thirdly, the anime keeps going up and down and up and down in a perverse game of copyright whack-a-mole so either the link'll work or not who even knows. ---------- Tezuka character list bio: Number 36  - She collects human’s sorrow and pain to use them as ingredients for her magic. She originally appears in the anime “Princess Knight”. Her personality and design are very different between the comic and the anime. Her personality changed from a very tomboy-ish girl to a very introverted girl. This Hecate is based on the “Princess Knight” that appeared in “Nakayoshi”. Hecate is pronounced “Heh-ka-te” in Greek. Hecate is the Greek goddess of darkness.In simple terms, Hecate’s a witch. Or, rather, a witches’ daughter. See, Hecate hails from a series wherein the main character, one Prince(ss) Sapphire, was born erroneously containing both the gentle pink heart of a girl and the courageous blue heart of a boy, while Hecate herself is rather lacking in the femininity department. Hecate honestly doesn’t really care about that rubbish and is more than comfortable with her tomboyish attitude, but unfortunately her mother Madam Hell is less than thrilled – thanks in no small part to her desire to marry Hecate off to a suitable prince, thus grabbing power for her daughter and, by extension, herself. To this end, Hecate’s supposed role in the story is an antagonist’s motivation; Madam Hell wishes to capture Sapphire, extract her girl heart, and give it to her daughter, thus doubling up on fem-ness and catching the eye of an eligible suitor. It’s not as simple as all that, though. “Princess Knight” spends a lot of time focusing on strong female characters, and while its star has some issues when it comes to that, Hecate really doesn’t; she knows what she wants and does what she pleases, and there’s no room in her plans for gobbling up a ball of stereotypical girlyness. Thusly, whenever her mother manages to capture Sapphire and extract her heart, Hecate sneaks out through the back door and gives it right back to her. She’s a mischievous and headstrong girl, but most certainly isn’t evil, and more often than not finds herself helping the protagonists despite her namesake's rather ominous title.  Nice or not, though, she IS the daughter of a powerful witch, born through her hellish magic, and as such she’s in possession of some sizable demonic powers herself. She’s capable of the basic stuff like casting fireballs and flying through the air, but much more notable are her transformative abilities; from the standard witchy snakes and spirited felines to the less-standard goats and…mushrooms…Hecate’s form is ever-changing as her mood dictates, and she’s even capable of conferring these powers unto others via potion. It makes her a fun character, as she’s constantly casually showing up in odd forms in front of the less magically inclined, and often leads to her stealing the show whenever she appears. Like many of the other characters in stage 3, Hecate doesn’t pop up too often in other works, much less Astro Boy. Nevertheless, the series she’s from HAS been redrawn and reprinted on three separate occasions, with the bio’s namedropping of “Nakayoshi” being the third and final of the magazines the remakes ran in. It was a girl’s comic magazine, and Princess Knight is actually fairly well-known as being one of the pioneers in “Shojo” manga, as well as fairly ahead of its time with feminist themes, which made it a good place for a character like Hecate to flourish. Her in-game dialogue doesn’t really give a lot of insight to her character, and she won’t be showing up again, but I like her, or at least her manga version. The anime seems to make her a bit of an airhead as “Zenda”. Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Apr 30, 2017 |
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Oct 27, 2014 19:34
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Huh, why does that link seem a surprising amount of effort for a witch to put into "Turns into a cat."? EDIT: Oh, I think it might be "Because she put in any effort at all" 
Section Z fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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Oct 28, 2014 00:31
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That was a pretty sweet boss fight. They're really setting Atlas up as some kind of Astro 2.0.
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Nov 5, 2014 02:05
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  Stage notes!  Ah, Antarctica. The mythical southern land. Home to fewer than 10,000 humans, hostile to most forms of life, and protected by international treaties, it remains one of the few areas on Earth left relatively untouched by human hands. …so read the century-old history books one might find in the Metro City library archives. In modern times, the Antarctic region, once a lonely and inaccessible place, has been steadily populated and industrialized, giving birth to brand-new countries and governments doing their best to live and build a comfortable society within the brutally cold and hostile environment. Technological advances have allowed humanity to bypass these hurdles and grant the barren landscape the ability to support life, but the infrastructure needed to get those systems up and running requires extensive cooperation with more durable comrades to set up and maintain, which places Antarctica in a decidedly unique situation – Humans and artificial lifeforms have begun to coexist in a peaceful, mutually beneficial manner within the region, one of the first instances of such a cooperative effort in a world that views robotics primarily as tools to be used. However, such a drastic deviation from the world’s accepted norms has a tendency to bring attention, and with it the ire of those less than inclined to change the old ways – and indeed, the region has been been plagued by protests, riots, and terrorism brought on in response to the country’s steady march towards equality. As a result, the country as a whole has become something of a hotspot for political and social activism, drawing the attention of media world-wide, and when word got out that a robot was campaigning for the position of Antarctic president, all bets were off as to what lay in store for the young nation’s future.  Much like Cruciform Island before it, the Antarctic is an amalgamation of two different stories: “His Highness Deadcross/The Robot President” and “Black Looks”. And, again like stage 2, the stories share a central link: Racism and oppression. - The newly elected robot president, Rag, hails from the former story, and reprises his in-game role sans Duke Red and Nuka as the first of his kind to ever hold that position, though the country he leads is instead an ambiguously-located one known as Gravia. In the story, he’s presented as competent, likeable leader who finds himself stymied on every front by the machinations of the Deadcross Party, a group of extremist robot-haters who wish to forcibly remove Rag from office and instate their own leader as president. Astro (with Wally chaperoning) gets called in by Rag’s aide to help bodyguard him as they prepare for his inauguration, at which point Astro too becomes a target. You can read it HERE. - The second story, Black Looks, takes place in Antarctica, and supplies its setting for the level itself. As opposed to Rag’s troubled but optimistic presidency, this story presents the Antarctic as a hotbed of racism and prejudice, with a society clearly segregated against robots and a life of constant fear for them due to the looming presence of “Black Looks” gang members, an international terrorist organization dedicated to destroying every mechanical being in a position of power. Said gang members have infiltrated both the governing bodies and the police forces of the nation, and when Astro and Wally visit Antarctica themselves based on clues given to them by a partially broken robot, they again find themselves questing to take down the person responsible for the regional strife. You can read it HERE. You can see how certain story elements are were taken from one or another of the stories (or even both, as Wally’s recurrence shows), but there’s a bit more to it this time around. People foreign to either story show up alongside Rag, for instance, and the mode of transit taken by Astro has a bit of a storied history of its own – I’d highly, HIGHLY recommend taking the time out of your day to give THIS MOVIE a watch in the intervening time between this and the next few updates, as it’s incredibly relevant and will make the coming areas make a lot more sense. The most significant and eye-catching difference stage 4 brings with it, though, is a tonal shift. So far, we’ve been questing through fairly standard kid’s cartoon fare, with enjoyable characters and boss battles aplenty but nothing especially unique plot-wise. Here, though…  …we go from traipsing about through jungle islands and space stations while punching cute robots, to fighting off literal terrorists as a highly sympathetic character is suddenly and without warning blown to bits at a bitterly ironic moment. I remember doing something of a spit-take at this point in the game, because there’s really nothing whatsoever alluding to this kind of serious event so far, and the game really capitalizes on it by abandoning the episodic mission structure in favor of flowing straight to the aftermath. I do have to mention that this turn of events might not carry the same weight for those familiar with the source story, as something similar DID happen to Rag there, but the intensity of the scene gets cranked up to 11 in the game version by making it much more explosively permanent – originally, he just got knocked out and had his brain swapped out with a dummy Deadcross controlled until Astro fixed him up again. It’s another of those instances where Omega Factor strays outside of established canon and starts to write its own story, and is completely enjoyable with or without knowledge of the source material. As for gameplay, it’s a bit of a weird case. I mean, the land section is simplistic to a fault, but it’s also short, has very interesting scenery (I really like those Rag billboards, okay?), and introduces probably my favorite enemy type in the game: the Black Looks.  I don’t care what you say, these guys are great because they are human and they are terrorists and you get to BEAT THEM UP…and yes, they, too, are given up/downscales, to the point of ludicrousness. It’s pretty great. Air section is air section, it’s amusing how you basically go nowhere what with heading out and coming right back, but the stage’s boss is a really odd choice and the whole scene just feels a bit weird, like they couldn’t figure out how to translate doing presidential things with Rag into gameplay so they just sent you on a wild goose chase. Regardless, it’s presented decently and introduces some new concepts (attacking from both sides, indestructible obstacles) so it stands well enough on its own. Chapter names: 4 – 1: Antarctic President; 4 – 2: Above the Antarctic Ocean; 4 – 3: Follow Carabs!; 4 – 4: Robot Tank Carabs ---------- Boss bios! Black Looks leader?  Moveset:
WHO IS THIS MAN? WHAT DOES HE WANT? WILL THE REAL DEADCROSS PLEASE STAND UP? The uncertainty is killing me, I just don’t think I can talk about this guy without confirmation. Regardless he’s easy as sin and goes down super fast, so either cannon him a couple times or just maintain a steady laser. He attacks infrequently and in extremely easy to dodge ways, so if you can’t manage a win here I really can’t help you. He’s just an upgraded version of his underlings, really. Carabs  Moveset:
Astro boy manga! Hoo boy Carabs, might want to check in with your Orthodontist, that is quite the overbite you have there. Carabs is many things, among them a beetle, ugly as sin, and really annoying to track down. It’s never shown up in any animation I’ve been able to locate, comes from a decidedly odd story, and has BUGGER ALL to do with anything else going on in this stage, making it a really odd choice for an end boss. REGARDLESS. As fake Deadcross states, Carabs is a giant, experimental tank developed in France, meant to be a failsafe in the event of a conflict with one of its neighbors. France has since repaired relations with said neighbor, but the tank itself was stored away, as simply disposing of it seemed like a terrible waste of money and resources. As is wont to happen in this kind of situation, the tank gets stolen (by a group of psychic schoolboys, which is admittedly less common) and wrecks everything in its path until Astro steps in to save the day, alongside some random alien visitors. It’s a weird and slightly unfocused story, but if you want you can read it HERE starting on page 83.  Carabs, or Karabusu as it’s known in the story (Carabus is a type of beetle), has a myriad of powers, ranging from extremely durable armor to the ability to transform into a hard-hitting battle bot, and as such, the game instead chooses to make it fly and shoot bullets out of its new ugly mug because WHY NOT. The armor’s the only part of Carabs that really makes the transition from comic to game, and it’s admittedly rather effective, as it allows Carabs to perform head-on bashes, but the problem is they sacrificed the face-plating to make that lovely visage. As such, taking Carabs out basically boils down to lasering it in the face, which can be a bit of a hassle given that its sheer bulk often prevents attacks from the back. The strategy is mainly to circle around the giant hunk of metal, take some shots, and then back out again once it starts getting too close for comfort, but it’s a little more difficult than that makes it sound; Carabs doesn’t have very effective projectiles, but it DOES have obscene amounts of contact damage and a body too big to boost through, which means if you get cornered you’re going down. It’s a decent air battle, and has that classic “turns redder as it takes damage” gimmick, but it’s not very memorable, as Carabs doesn’t have much in the way of its own personality. It doesn’t even get its own boss theme, instead sharing with the Artificial Sun, meaning much of this stage’s impact has to come from the story. …just wanna say I had to piece the drat thing’s sprite together over half an hour from 4 separate images. You’re too big Carabs, stop. Music! Carabs doesn’t have its own theme, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing memorable to be had here. First up is the theme from Astro’s self-reflection on the Marine Express, one which goes on for a good bit longer than one would normally stick around for and has a nice mix of melancholy and hopefull-sounding bits. Second and third are both Antarctica themes, the first of which is really short and loopy and thankfully only gets used here as it’d probably drive me batty listening to it any longer. The second, though, is the theme for the stage itself, and I really, REALLY like it. It’s a lot tenser than anything we’ve heard so far, and matches the whole setting of “Terrorists trying to bring down the newly-earned peace” quite nicely. #24: Blossoming soul #25: Antarctic beauty #26: Terrorism Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Apr 3, 2017 |
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Nov 7, 2014 17:47
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Just a note, there's not gonna be any character bios for this part. The Duke and Nuka are both PROVISONALLY REGISTERED in the Omega Factor, and there's some stuff in the next part I'm gonna need to include in Rag's bio, so YOU GET NOTHING. ...I'll try to do it quickish tho.
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Nov 7, 2014 17:50
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I want to say that this is a spot (either the beginning of the video or the end, my memory's not certain) where the game''s difficulty curve spikes, and even on the easier settings stops really holding your hand at all. The health refills start getting further spaced apart and the baddies start getting more durable. Tanking is no longer a valid strategy, if you haven't figured out how to move yet, you're not making progress.
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Nov 7, 2014 19:34
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Rag's Antannae convert trust into power.
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Nov 7, 2014 19:52
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Kurieg posted:Rag's Antannae convert trust into power. Yeah, I giggled when I first heard that. I've only seen it mentioned in the 1980s anime, but it's so perfectly ridiculously idealistic I had to include it. They even glow to indicate the support of the populace 
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Nov 7, 2014 20:23
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You know what's sad? Not having lots of words written about decades old children's cartoons. That's pretty sad. It made me so sad, that I decided to go outside the planned scope of this lp and make an extra little do-dad for those of you interested in checking out an entirely unrelated show that will never ever have any semblance of relevance in your life. SO. I don't know if this is going to be a thing, as these actually take a fair bit of time to set up, but I'ma give you a  GUEST STAR BIONot sure if I've made this clear, but I'm actually using this LP as an opportunity to introduce myself to more old series, although I'm more into reading manga at libraries than I am into anime. To this end, I (might) be making bios for other Tezuka series that I don't know a lot about and interest me enough to go check em out externally, which I can tell you right now is a list that only really contains Alabaster, Dororo, and Buddha. So those might pop up if I'm feeling bored and have free time. WORDS ASIDE. HERE IS MORE WORDS FOR YOU.
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Nov 12, 2014 18:11
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Guest star #1: =Marvelous Melmo= Through the Ages: Marvelous Melmo manga, Marvelous Melmo anime See her in action: MARVELOUS MELMO OPENING THEME ---------- Read Marvelous Melmo Vol. 1 HERE, credits for the translation HERE. ---------- Magical, magnificient, marvelous Melmo! Do YOU know about the candy that Melmo has? Osamu Tezuka was a man known to experiment with his works, creating futuristic sci-fi robot adventures, historical dramas, criminal mysteries, and stories of every other bent and make. He wasn't known to balk at straying into the dark and depressing, just as he was quick to jump head-first into slapstick comedy; indeed, the man's extensive portfolio is a testament to just how much he experimented, never lingering too long on one thing before starting afresh with a new project. He's known as the God of Manga for a reason, and paved the way in many genres well-known today; it should come as no surprise, then, that he also made pioneering forays into that time-tested mainstay of Japanese animation: the Magical Girl show. Enter Melmo. A young girl, nine years of age, and recently forcibly separated from her mother by way of a car crash, Melmo’s the oldest sibling among a group of children on the verge of being taken in by a cruel and greedy Aunt out for their house. Worried about her children’s fate, Melmo’s late mother in heaven begs for a temporary reprieve from the clutches of death, but to no avail. Her plight does not fall upon deft ears, however. Though return from the land of the dead is not possible, the heavenly fathers do have mercy on her soul, and come up with a compromise: They will give the mother’s children the means for which to take care of themselves. And thus, a jar full of magical candy is created and delivered to the young Melmo.  These sweets come in two distinct variations: blue, and red. When a blue candy is consumed, the eater advances in age by a decade, while munching a red one reverts the recipient to their form from 10 years ago. In this way, Melmo’s able to temporarily become a surrogate mother to her younger siblings, as well as have little age-related adventures of her own as she learns about life and the world around her. Melmo herself is a little immature and naive with her newfound powers, and plays a little too fast and loose with the aging one for my tastes, but the guidance of older friends and a fairly strong moral center help keep the reins at least loosely held on her precocious ways. Additionally, the power to transform her body into various animals by popping a pill of each type is eventually introduced, and opens the floodgates to a whole host of additional subject matter pertaining to animal relationships and the similarities humans share with them. “Marvelous Melmo” was created in the early 70s, and from what I’ve seen is rather fondly remembered by many of the time period. It’s a fun-filled and lighthearted romp through the adventures of a little girl playing around with the oddities of life and aging, but it’s also hiding something of its own agenda – Tezuka originally conceived it as a medium through which to introduce sex education to the kiddies of the time. Melmo’s a child naturally, yes, but she’s also a buxom young lady, and her adventures take her through lessons pertaining to motherhood, puberty, and the biology of life. She’s characterized as a girl discovering and playing with her changing body, albeit at a comically accelerated pace, and while this actually comes across fairly well and innocently most of the time, the simultaneously-released anime holds the rather dubious honor of panchira pioneer – that’d be panty shots for the less-corrupted among you. Don’t let that discourage you, though – when it's not flashing a 9 year old's bloomers at you (it doesn't often, thankfully) it’s actually a legitimately engaging and enjoyable show, including much of that “serious subjects presented in a comedic manner” that Tezuka was so great at. While the manga itself feels a little incomplete and disjointed (almost like its purpose was to let the author draw lots and lots of big spreads of Melmo in costume and nothing else), the anime instead pulsates with the unmistakable influence of DOCTOR Tezuka.  You can really feel him letting loose with his medical training at points to drive the whole sex education thing home, like when a full minute and a half is spent showing the transition of a fertilized egg from zygote to blastocyst to fetus or the umbilical relation between mother and child. It’s a good example of an edutainment show that doesn’t sacrifice a substantial story, and held my attention enough to bring me past initial curiosity and watch a very sizable chunk of the episodes. Melmo doesn’t actually show up in Omega Factor at any point, but she has made the jump to other series on occasion, and features cameo appearances by certain Astro Boy characters in her own work. Moreover, as one of the first shows to popularize the Magical girl theme(and, more specifically, the transformation sequence), it’s fairly historically relevant, regardless of your personal feelings on the genre. Plus, the parents of the time apparently got pissed off at the show and it’s no-nonsense depiction of animal anatomy and sexuality, which is always a plus. Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Apr 30, 2017 |
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Nov 12, 2014 18:12
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Let's Play Astro Boy: Omega Factor - An Edutainment LP about Edutainment Anime.
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Nov 19, 2014 13:04
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It is pretty interesting that you've got to find out secrets about... well, I hesitate to say all of the major virtues, but the duke and his daughter make a neat pair.
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Nov 19, 2014 15:32
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Hey remember when I said I'd try to do the next part quickish? HAHA that was a funny joke right, I am the king of humor and you are silly for trusting me. ...Yeah, so. Black friday got me some new toys (Final Fantasy X HD's trophy list can suck my knob), and then relatives convinced me to make a commemorative thing for my grandmother's 80th using quite possibly the most disgustingly monetized piece of glorified powerpoint pie I've ever had the displeasure of acquainting myself with, which basically came together to say NO UPDATE FOR YOU. And now I am posting this to say HEY rear end in a top hat REMEMBER THAT LP YOU'RE DOING? YOU'RE ON THE HOTSEAT NOW BUB, GET WORKIN'. So maybe now dumbass op will talk over a videogame for another 10 minutes and in so doing stop feeling guilty for a couple days, you never know. LP is hard guyssssss
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Dec 11, 2014 18:32
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You provide a wondrous encyclopedia of old school anime alongside the LP of a game I If you eventually get the free entertainment provided for the goon masses, that's worth the wait.
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Dec 11, 2014 23:37
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  Stage notes!  The Marine Express - A glorious marvel of modern engineering, revolutionary mode of transportation, and culmination of years of work, this recently-completed railway is nothing less than a modern wonder of the world. Envisioned as the first fully-submerged means of mass transit, this undersea super train boasts speeds of over 900km/h, traversing 25,000km of tracks enclosed in a reinforced self-repairing polymer tube, and surrounding passengers in scenic underwater vistas with the highest level of civilian comfort money can buy. The train’s still relatively new and is undergoing some testing and renovations, but tracks have already been laid between Tokyo and America’s Los Angeles aquaport, with stops along the way at the island of Ponape and the Samoans. Here’s a handy little map of the planned route – It’ll provide a great alternative to air travel, bring more tourism to the islands on the route, and make intercontinental goods transport a cinch. Really, it’s all goo…wait a second, aren’t we forgetting something?  When this game stops being episodic, it doesn’t pull its punches – sources flow past at a blinding speed, and it can be a bit hard to keep track of what exactly is going on. We’re still in the thick of the DEADCROSS SAGA, but it’s going a little…off the rails, so to speak, as his story segues into and merges with that of another Tezuka work, namely the animated movie Undersea Super Train: Marine express. Created in 1979, as part of an annual 24-hour network charity event called “Love saves the Earth” (one of three such movies, with another being the previously covered “Fumoon”), Marine Express is a compilation work, bringing together a sizable horde of Tezuka protagonists and recycling them into a brand-new story focusing on the titular train and the conflics that arise between the passengers on the train’s maiden voyage. We’ve already been introduced to a number of the cast, Duke Red and Skunk among their number, but far more interesting to this particular LP is the inclusion of Wally, Astro and Rock, as a private investigator, mysterious son of the train’s designer, and conductor, respectively. Their inclusion presents an easily-exploitable link between our current dilemma and the out-of-context movie, and allows for an interesting little change of pace. The Marine Express isn’t native to Astro’s world, but IS heavily involved with all characters present, and is moreover not particularly intrusive to the current setting. Certain aspects are a little out-of-place, admittedly, and it might not be immediately obvious to everyone that all those black looks members are crowded inside a polymer tunnel hundreds of meters below the ocean’s surface (and hundreds of MILES away from civilization), but all in all it works out pretty well as a Deacross escape route. To a…certain extent, at least.  LEAVING THE TRAIN AND ITS QUIRKS UNTIL LATER, this stage also fleshes out the relationship between Deadcross and our late President Rag, in a sequence of events far more faithful to classic Astro Boy fare. The original story had Deadcross opt for a more subtle manipulation tactic in order to both destabilize the government AND seize power for himself, but the backstory remains essentially the same – Rag’s created in the image of Rock (although Rock himself goes unnamed in the manga), and is meant to campaign on the behest of his master; Rag, in turn, eventually develops his own opinions, rebels, and campaigns on his own, eventually winning the presidency for himself until Deadcross takes revenge. Some of the still images used in-game ARE based on older manga panels as a little treat to those familiar with the source, and all-in-all it’s a nice way to flesh out a very one-dimensional character relationship…although Deadcross/Rock himself will be going a little further than his original self, due to the addition of the Marine Express to his story. Regardless, the basis of the plot remains the same as last time: the chapter “His Highness Deadcross”, there it is again if you want a SECOND DOSE. As far as stage gameplay goes: It’s…actually a bit of a challenge now. Stage 5 brings with it some sections that are legitimately fairly rough, both on-land and in the air, with it becoming particularly brutal when it makes you go through the longest aerial section so far and fight a boss immediately on the same life bar, while giving you no checkpoints or hearts along the way. The train brawls aren’t exactly cake either, and the withholding of a hidden heart when playing on hard mode is just the icing on the difficulty cake. Still, though, it’s not all bad – the Black Looks members, bless their hearts, try their very best but are sometimes stymied by the rather sizeable size difference between themselves and Astro, which can be taken advantage of quite easily. Chapter names: 5 – 1: Deadcross Escapes; 5 – 2: Marine Express, Antarctic Station; 5 – 3: Marine Express, Ruins; 5 – 4; Marine Express, Inside ---------- Boss bios! Marine Express  Moveset:
Marine Express exterior one, Exterior two, Interior, Control room! See it in action! (See the opening paragraph if you wanna get more info on the train’s specs, I’m not going into them again!) The Marine Express, created as a joint effort between America and Japan, means many different things to many different people. To its Japanese and American financers, Boon and Director Credit, it’s a means of making money; to its creator, Dr. Narzenkopf, it’s a detestable monstrosity he was forced to build, set to bring ruin to his isolated homeland of Polynesia, while to his adopted son, Rock, it’s one of his father’s final and crowning achievements, and must be made to succeed at all costs. To others, however, the Marine Express is a potent tool to be used for criminal undertakings, while their pursuers board for the express purpose of stopping such chicanery. What starts as a seemingly benign test run of a futuristic and promising rail line quickly spirals out of control as old rivalries flare, people begin to die, and undersea threats like volcanoes and sharks take advantage of the tension on-board…which all comes to a head when Narzenkopf’s mysterious second son, Adam, reveals himself to be a robot tasked only with the destruction of the train from the inside. That aside, the Express IS a durable thing, made to withstand undersea pressure and dangers, but generally speaking, it is NOT designed to carry weapons, instead being meant for civilian purposes only. This might make the fact that we’re fighting it seem rather odd, but actually…  …it does fit in with the lore. See, while the train isn’t meant for sinister deeds on the surface, a group of criminals (with Director Credit secretly heading them) have decided it’d make an excellent means through which to smuggle state-of-the-art weaponry out of the USA. To this end, they’ve utilized the copious amount of test dummies within as camouflage, with each of them being loaded to the gills with illicit hand-held laser weapons. These weapons all utilize an odd jewel set upon them, capable of both killing upon direct contact with a human and the rapid dissolution of human bodies; funnily enough, however, they prove rather ineffective when used against Astro’s more sinister incarnation within the movie, which I personally like to see as justifying why the thing’s in-game attacks do little damage to you when compared to past bosses. And yes, they are rather ineffective. None of the Marine Express’s attacks are overly damaging, all can be dodged fairly easily, and an arm cannon is capable of taking both upper weak points out at the same time; the difficulty in this fight, rather than lying in the fight itself, comes from the fact that it comes after the grueling gauntlet of enemies thrown at you during the aerial section, likely leaving you with sub-optimal health levels and kicking you back to the beginning if you cock up. Concentrate your fire on the glowy bits (the train’s only weak points), move slowly and deliberately, and you shouldn’t have many problems, provided you come in with enough health to tank a couple shots; on hard mode, each only takes 4k health, while I’m sitting at 50k max with only two upgrades. The fact that the train always cycles through its weapons from top to bottom in sequence during its first phase makes it even easier, so it’s not something that should give a ton of trouble. Finally, I just want to note – all the Marine Express info I’ve given so far should be taken with a grain of salt, as the in-game version is already in full operation, and heads to Antarctica of all places, which was most certainly not a part of its original planned route. Deadcross+Roboid   Moveset:
A dual rematch boss means many things; Players have to adapt old strategies for new situations, designers have to come up with a way to make both bosses work at the same time…and let’s players don’t have to bother making new boss move lists or bios~ (although I did have to get a little fancy with their sprites, given the unique inside-train-car camera angle this fight is presented with). Deadcross, with his pet palette-swapped Roboid, returns for a rematch! Or, well, the first one was a fake, but you get my meaning. He fights the same regardless, SO. This fight’s an interesting one, with rather unique mechanics to it. Your arena’s more contrained than previously, meaning dodging vertically’s a no-go; you get a displayed health bar, but it only applies to deadcross; and, interestingly, there’s actually a few ways to approach the battle. The thing to remember is this: Deadcross is the weaker of the two, but he’s also the only one that matters. Beat him, and the Roboid dies automatically. It’s not quite that simple, however. While Deadcross can be COMPLETELY stunlocked into punch combos, the Roboid cannot, which leaves you with a dilemma. If you focus on attacking Deadcross, the Roboid will likely hit you with its long range, but if you try to take out the Roboid first, Deadcross will wisely head to the opposite side of the train car and start sending shockwaves your way. Therefore, the best strategy is generally to attack Deadcross in such a way that he’s layered on top of his Roboid companion, dashing back and forth to keep him there and dodge the Roboid’s telegraphed attacks. This allows you to damage them both at the same time, and also leaves them ripe and primed for a quick arm cannon, guaranteed to hit them both at the same time and quick to recharge given that you’re getting two hits for the price of a single punch.  Once you take out the Roboid, Deadcross is literally defenseless and can just be beaten into submission; still, though, I actually rather like this fight, as working around the giant Roboid (where did those come from again?) while focusing on the wimpier Deadcross is fairly interesting. Music! Only one new track this time, exclusive to the MARINE EXPRESS, I’m getting a little tired of typing that :V It’s nice and high-energy, I don’t think it’s particularly in reference to anything (the original movie had a more laid-back theme to it), but it fits well with the HIGH-OCTANE CHASE AFTER A PRESIDENT MURDERER. Last and least, just as a bit of added coherence, that tune you hear at the end of the stage may have shown up once before… #27: Marine Express Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Mar 19, 2017 |
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Jan 29, 2015 00:53
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BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER Let's just pretend that was my winter break, mmkay? Shouldn't have any problems that bad from here on out, I was in a bit of a funk and got lazy  E; also got the bios for Rag, Black Looks and Deaddy queued up I am GOING TO BE ON TOP OF IT FOR AT LEAST ONE UPDATE DANGIT Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Jan 29, 2015 |
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Jan 29, 2015 00:54
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Star #13: =Rag= Through the ages: Manga, 1963, 1980 See him in action: 1963 EPISODE 43, 1980 EPISODE 11 Tezuka character list bio: Number 12  - The world’s first robot president in Antarctica. He has many human enemies. He appeared in the episode “His Highness Deadcross,” but had not “Black Looks”[sic]. These two separate stories have been combined into one for this game. Noriko Ohara was the voice actor for the anime in 1980.No president has looked this dashing since the Kennedy administration I tell you what. Rag’s the popular, good-looking, optimistic elected president of Antarctica, home to a new population and government doing their best to live and build a comfortable society within the brutally cold and hostile environment…but you knew all that, didn’t you? Rag’s interesting in that, unlike pretty much all of the characters given bios so far, he doesn’t really stray beyond what you see in game – I actually started writing his bio a while back, realized this, and then copy-pasted it and repurposed it as the post for part six of the main LP. Don’t be fooled, though; regardless of, or perhaps BECAUSE of his faithfulness to his roots, Rag comes out guns blazing as one of the first major players in the story. Driving the plot of two chapters all on his own, it’s perhaps a testament to Tezuka’s stories that, even in the extremely pruned-down state we get here, his plight manages to come across and still maintain its original feel and integrity. Originally the President of the country of Gravia, Rag’s election is something of a milestone in the universe of Mighty Atom, marking the first instance of a non-human political leader in the history of the world. Securing office through a combination of charisma, political acumen, and widespread support from the extensive robot population within his country, Rag’s set to bring some real change to the way his people are treated at home and abroad – sadly for him, however, elements of the human populace aren’t entirely on board with the whole “our creation taking control and drastically restructuring the entirety of society” thing, and resolve to do their damndest to put a stop to Rag’s nonsense through any means necessary.  Most prominent among the dissenters is the Deadcross party, a group of violent like-minded humans out for blood and headed by their leader, “Lord Deadcross”. You should be quite familiar with his antics by now, as they do match up fairly well with the in-game depiction (up to and including Rag’s untimely, if more private, demise at Deadcross’ hands), but the most recent chapter in the game reveals there’s more going on then immediately meets the eye. Rag’s origins get an added layer of depth when it’s revealed that he was, in fact, a stand-in meant simply to promote the presidential campaign of a human, a skilled but morally bankrupt man identical in appearance to Rag, a man who goes unnamed in the original work but has since been replaced by a different recurring villainous look-alike named Rock. It’s thanks to Rock’s tutelage that Rag gains his knowledge and steadily develops his morals and independent thoughts, adding a very welcome layer of complexity to a story that was previously just about a bunch of overblown racists trying to take over the government; Rag’s usurped the position his creator was intended to fill, in so doing setting off the chain of events leading to his own assassination, and it makes Deadcross/Rock a much more dynamic character than a lot of the other Astro Boy villians because of it. Plus, it justifies Rag’s odd name…  …In that he’s literally designed to be a Rag Doll, a stand-in for the true presidential candidate before coming into a life of his own. It’s a bit reminiscent of stories involving toys coming to life, like the Velveteen Rabbit or Pinocchio, with a dash of political intrigue for good measure. Rag’s a tool, crafted to appeal to and be played with by voters (he even gains energy from the trust they place in him), but he manages to create his own identity despite this and move past the effigy he was originally created to be. It should be noted, however, that while Rag’s story comes to a happy ending in the original work, he’s not so lucky here – rather than getting his electronic brain temporarily removed, he really did get smashed to pieces by a bomb, so don’t go expecting any reappearances by president Rag – his campaign is over. Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Apr 23, 2017 |
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Jan 29, 2015 22:42
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hahaha, This is where the plot goes flying straight off the rails (sorry) into crazy town. Also, now the story can really begin proper.
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Jan 30, 2015 00:08
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Ok, so Rock build a robot copy of himself to be a jerk and run for president while he stays home. Rag gains sentience and goes against his evil directive, doing just the opposite. So then Rock goes evil, invents a badguy persona, and one of the first things he does is... build a robot copy of himself in the form of the fake Deadcross. Did he just assume THIS evil copy would stay evil?
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Jan 30, 2015 01:40
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Tuxedo Ted posted:Ok, so Rock build a robot copy of himself to be a jerk and run for president while he stays home. Rag gains sentience and goes against his evil directive, doing just the opposite. Nah, it was just one of his mooks dressed up to look like him. See -  So he's learned his lesson maybe. I do like Rock's chain of thought there, though; "Man, running for office is, like, SO much effort guys. I'm gonna make it easier by designing and building an incredibly advanced robot, teaching it everything it knows over the course of who knows how long (including how to do all the campaign things I am not going to do), then slipping in later to...continue sipping martinis, but in the president's office now?"
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Jan 30, 2015 02:23
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Yup, worth the wait.
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Jan 30, 2015 04:23
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Rock didn't think his cunning plan all the way through, didn't he? And the latest twist is... Well, it is something alright. I wonder if that's the W3 that just showed up or someone else. I like where this is going. Good to see this LP back.
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Jan 30, 2015 22:29
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Star(s) #14: =Black Looks= Through the ages: Manga, 1963, 1980 See them in action: 1963 EPISODE 68, 1980 EPISODE 40 Tezuka character list bio: Number 15  - An anti-robot organization that aims to destroy all robots. All members carry laser guns as standard issue. The look of their trademark masks has been changed for this game. They appeared in the 77th episode of the original anime, “Cape Town Lullaby.”Gosh-durn turrists, attackin’ our robots and killin’ our presidents… Also, I suppose I might as well get this out of the way immediately: I don’t know why they’re called Black Looks. It’s a weird-rear end name, and unlike Rag’s, there’s never really a pun made or deeper meaning revealed about it. I guess it’s just an oddly phrased reference to their jet-black attire? THEIR NAMING PROWESS ASIDE, Black looks are bad news. A gang of robot-hating thugs originating from West Germany, they first appeared around six years prior to our story, and quickly made a name for themselves as their sphere of influence and destruction spread. Known for their wanton vandalizing of robotic property and their taking of artificial “life”, as it were, they’ve made it their sole goal to target any and all big-name companies, businesses, or individuals run by the androids they so despise. Utilizing state-of-the-art electro-mag weaponry and aerial transport, they’re responsible for over 8 billion yen (1950’s money) in damages to property, hundreds of robot-killing incidents, and every other robot-targeting offense they can get away with – which, thanks to their tight organization and heavy disguises, leaves quite a lot of wiggle room for their activities. The Black Looks organization is highly prolific and widespread, with greasy fingers stuck deep in the many underworlds such shady enterprises are drawn to, but two of these bear special mention: those in Antarcica and Africa, prominent in their inclusion within the story bearing the gang’s name. The former, of course, manifests itself within the in-game setting they appear in, but the latter is relegated to a mere mention in the gang’s bio – the story eventually shifts focus and climate when Astro pursues the leader of the Black Looks to Cape Town, South Africa. Said leader has been removed from this particular adaption of their story, replaced by the Similar Deadcross, but he does bear mention as the motivations of the two characters are, to a certain extent, mirror images of each other.  Having appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and having just as quickly amassed a large following of like-minded individuals, the enigmatic Mr. Looks/Lux’s true appearance is a mystery to all but his most trusted aides. Hiding his face behind an ominous masquerade-esque mask, he instead characterizes himself through his extreme cruelty towards his victims, sparing none and dishing out special treatment for those that beg for a chance to be reunited with their “families”, a concept he views as uniquely human and thus unfit for robotics. Proficient and relentless, the man has managed to become the de facto leader of the Antarctic government through skillful manipulation and placement of his subordinates, capitalizing on the innate racial resentment in the region; his plans begin to fall apart, however, when one of his victims is shipped in an incomplete state to the lab of Dr. O’shay, sparking an investigation courtesy of Astro and Wally. Though he faces off against the young robot on multiple occasions, Lux finds himself unable to best him, and eventually admits defeat, leading to the inevitable unmasking, and the requisite twist revealing him to be…  …A boy in his mid teens, one whose deep-seated hatred of robots stems from his mother’s murder at a robot’s hand in his early life. Various threads and foreshadowings come together, eventually culminating in the reveal that the female robot that set off Astro’s intervention was, in fact, his adoptive mother. I’m skipping a bunch of things, obviously, but the gist of it is that Lux was an orphan she took in, and her destruction was at the hands of a human while she took part in a rally that would give her the right to officially take a human child in as her own. It’s an interesting inversion of the Rag/Deadcross story, as instead of a Robot betraying his human parent and going off to accomplish the opposite of their wishes, it’s a human doing the same to his robotic foster mother, with each working towards opposite goals. “Mighty Atom” isn’t exactly lacking in robot racists, or even just random idiots looking to do bad things, so I have to wonder exactly how much thought was put into combining these two PARTICULAR stories for the two-part stage that is chapters four and five. Regardless, despite the fact that they’re unique to one particular Astro story and never appear again, I’m thankful they’re here, as they’re quite fun to kick around and their super-serious demeanor clashes nicely with the little cartoon X-eyes that show up whenever they take their licks. Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Apr 23, 2017 |
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Jan 31, 2015 22:07
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Star #15: =Deadcross= Through the ages: Manga, 1963, 1980 See him in action: 1963 EPISODE 43, 1980 EPISODE 11 ---------- I swear to god, the temptation to just phone this one in is astronomical. The game shows this story, my posts for parts 6 and 7 do too, and RAG’S BIO IS ALSO GUILTY. HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU GUYS EXPECT ME TO TALK/WRITE ABOUT THE SAME drat GUY GEEZ. ---------- Tezuka character list bio: Number 16  - He is head of the anti-robot organization, Black Looks. What dark secrets lie behind his mask? He wears a mask to hide his face, for he looks identical to Rag. But in the anime from 1980, the mask was a part of him and could not be removed. “Deadcross” is a slang word used in stock trading.Genius inventor. Ambitious but misguided politician. Evil, racist jerkoff. All these are apt descriptions of Deadcross, the masked man, the VILE ANTAGONIST and president-killer who stars in this epic two-part saga stage. Deadcross is the antagonist of the day in Rag’s story, a man scheming from the shadows to bring the president’s newly-gained term in office crashing to the ground before it can even start. As leader of the egocentrically-named “Deadcross party”, he sends all manner of dastardly murder-bots and assassins Rag’s way, in a single-minded and obsessive bid to take the robot out and seize power for himself and his political partners…somehow. It’s never really made clear what other platforms beyond “MURDER THE PRESIDENT” Deadcross and his minions stand on, but given that his original, non-Black Looks compatriots all dress up in the same gaudy costume as him and follow his every command unquestioningly, it can be surmised they’re just in it for some good ol’ fashioned robo-hunting. Just like the old days!  Of course, while his mooks may lack any sort of motivation, Deadcross’ bone to pick should be well established by now: an aspiring politician looking to make a name for himself prior to election day, but without enough dedication to go out and campaign himself, Deadcross creates a stand-in robot in his own image, one which then goes on to usurp the position for itself. Rag’s appearance is (usualy) based on that of his creator, hence the mask and cape outfit to avoid awkward “anyone ever tell you you look just like…” questions; the one exception to this rule is the version of Deadcross from the 1980s show, as the bio mentions, in which that glorious cleft chin comes pre-packaged onto Deaddy’s face. In-game, Deadcross is basically identical to his story-self prior to his reveal as Rock, but to be honest, that’s not saying all that much. Deadcross has a bit of a crisis of identity as far as I’m concerned, never seeming to really settle into a theme – at times he’s throwing robot bugs at the presidential palace, other times crucifying characters atop his castle fortress (gotta make use of that –cross in your name!), and at yet other times he’s using a ball pit of all things as a torture device. He never really seems to settle into a shtick, instead winging it with steadily more ridiculous plots, so honestly his appearance here with a beam saber and a Roboid lackey, post train-jacking, is kinda par for the course. He’s the kind of guy who’s more content to sit back with a martini and watch his various dastardly plans unfold instead of engaging in direct combat, is what I’m saying. Oh, and as for his name: it is indeed a bit of stock trading lingo, and I was totally going to explain it to you, but then I realized I am super dumb and it would likely out me as an economics lightweight sooooo  Here you go. There, that explains everything, right? Right. I am sure it is a very clever choice of name with much relevance, as you can undoubtedly see from the graph there. My work here is done. Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Apr 30, 2017 |
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Feb 2, 2015 22:06
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...timejacked by chronal slavers from an ancient civilization. That certainly is a thing that just happened.
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Mar 5, 2015 20:58
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Glazius posted:...timejacked by chronal slavers from an ancient civilization. You have no idea how weird the plot's about to get.
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Mar 5, 2015 21:07
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Astroboy Omega Factor is one of my all time favorite games and I'm sorta cheesed it never got a remake on something that could handle doing what it did without catching fire. That said, the 2003 Astroboy is also one of my favorite anime (And one I still don't have on DVD because I can't be bothered to import the US Set which is edited) and a staple of my teenage years. Sure the picture was cropped from a widescreen source and Laura Jill Miller did so many voices that she seemed to disappear off the face of the earth after words but, damnit, a good story just shone through all the nonsense that show went though to get released over here. Though I would like to one day own all of it subbed. Greg Cipes is a good VA and his turn as Atlas/Daichi is pretty drat impressive all said but he's no Voice Of Braves (Nobuyuki Hiyama). ConanThe3rd fucked around with this message at 22:30 on Mar 5, 2015 |
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Mar 5, 2015 22:14
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You know seeing this game again now, it strikes me that Rock's plan really was just 'Create a robot that lets me sit around in a bathrobe until I'm president.' I'm not sure whether to think he's brilliant in his laziness or not.
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Mar 6, 2015 07:09
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Geizt posted:You know seeing this game again now, it strikes me that Rock's plan really was just 'Create a robot that lets me sit around in a bathrobe until I'm president.' I'm not sure whether to think he's brilliant in his laziness or not. I think it was probably more that he realize that he couldn't maintain the pretense of not being a complete and utter self serving bastard long enough to win the presidency, so he made a body double.
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Mar 6, 2015 07:27
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  Stage notes!  WHAT IS GOING ON Ok, context – Astro and Co. have now found themselves hurtled into the past at a most inopportune moment, ending up in an ancient civilization on the lost continent of Mu. What is the lost continent of Mu?  This is the lost continent of Mu! Thought up back in the 19th century by a nutter named Augustus Le Plongeon, Mu was, allegedly, a large continent located in the middle of the Pacific, comparable to its more well-known Atlantic counterpart Atlantis. It’s been credited with your standard lost civilization checklist of traits (highly advanced civilization, origin of humanity, destroyed in a day, gave rise to other cultures worldwide), but due to the nature of this kind of thing, it’s difficult to track down definitive descriptions of the place, as people have a habit of tacking their own names and stories onto the landmass – despite the fact that its existence has been thoroughly doubted and discredited even since its first “discovery”. As such, there’s really only two important things to note about it: one, Mu was located in the Pacific, and two, its existence was theorized when Augustus allegedly read ancient Mayan writings located on ruins in the Yucatan, writings which indicated the existence of a Mayan civilization older than even the civilizations of Greece and Egypt, located on a large landmass that had since disappeared. See where I’m going with this?  That’s the area of the Pacific the original Marine Express ran through, an area conveniently overlapping with the proposed location of Mu. It is also the ~only~ link between what we WERE doing (stopping bad guys on a modern day undersea train) and what were are NOW doing (getting sucked into time warps leading thousands of years into the past, fighting against evil psychic midget overloards). You might think this is an odd turn of events. You’d be right! In this case, however, the blame can’t really be put on Treasure. See, for whatever reason, the original Marine Express movie apparently decided the overarching plot just wasn’t cutting it, despite the fact that it was over two-thirds into its runtime; as such, just as the main conflict is getting resolved, the train gets abruptly and without warning launched into the past in a pretty little light show. This leads to an extremely out-of-place closure involving a psychic alien overlord coming to earth in a spaceship, taking over Mu, and capturing the Marine Express with Alien time-distorting technology, all because there’s some precious minerals on the sea floor that said alien (Sharaku) wants to grab for himself, a task which requires a vessel that can travel through the ocean. This in turn means the surviving characters (Rock, Astro and Wally making up about half their number) have to work together with the disempowered Princess Sapphire to try and take said alien out and return to their own time, with a quick message telling kiddies to not strip mine the ocean floor because it causes continents to sink thrown in for good measure, to tie into the original “Love saves the earth” environmental awareness theme the broadcast was a part of. It’s all very surreal, feels like an entirely separate movie, and is absolutely riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies (the train requires the polymer infrastructure to move!), but it’s there nonetheless, and Treasure apparently thought things were getting just a LITTLE too serious so they brought all that glorious weirdness into the game along with the train itself…though they did take the time to tie it into the game a bit more firmly.   Waaaaaay back on Cruciform Island, you may recall meeting a little transforming robot who seemed to know Astro. Perhaps you also remember the various Polynesian and Central American relics and ruins scattered in the background. If you do, congratulations! You’ve discovered the little bit of foreshadowing they gave that we’d be in for some time shenanigans on Mu! Both Fire Vase Island and Cruciform Island (the two settings of the Artificial Sun and Crucifix Island stories, respectively) were located somewhere in the Pacific; as such, it can be assumed that the version in-game is one of the last unsunk remnants of Mu, an assumption given even more credence when you realize the statue up there is actually Princess Sapphire of Mu as she appeared in her self-titled show. If you click that first pic of Sapphire, you’ll also see that Kimba the White Lion made an appearance as an inexplicably flying mode of transit for the princess, which means that Pook was on the island because he belonged in that story, was given a lion form as it was canon, was given a KIMBA form to reference the popular series, and was placed in an area with a lot of Central American symbology to tie him into Mu, and thus into an entirely separate show that Kimba cameoed in. Essentially, in-game, Pook = Kimba, which is part of the reason I’ve left his bio undone – he’s very much a compilation of a few distinct characters, though they probably could’ve expanded on him more here, as he saves us from Sharaku, gets smeared by Sapphire when she assumes we’re the ones that saved him (that’s always irked me), and then never really interacts with us again. Guess he and Astro got all buddy-buddy in the 3 months they were stuck in the past? AS FOR THE STAGE. While they’ve left out elements of the movie that’d be too out-of-place (both Sharaku and Sapphire have small armies of tribespeople, none of whom show up in-game), they do have little homages thrown in here and there on the linear path. For example, your main enemies, these little robot dudes, are armed with the same kind of weapons that the human warriors were, and roughly correlate to some odd little robots Mu had employed in the movie. Actually, all of the enemies showing up here in Mu are taken from the movie in one way or another – the rollers were questionably-powered stone wheels that homed in on the fortress of the protagonists and tried to break it down, while the Konami-esque bouncin’ moai were taken from a scene in which…well, moai heads bounced around and tried to squish people. Don Dracula showed up as the traitorous and ineffectual Chancellor Dondra, the in-game stills are as per usual adapted from the anime, the story remains much the same (sans train explosion and uncharacteristic Astro death at the end) – it’s a fun little diversion all in all, gives Rock closure and redemption while getting him out of the picture, and plays decently too, although hard mode actually affects the spaces in between rollers to an absurd degree and makes the pyramid section more than a little annoying. SPEAKING OF…  This stage hides probably ~the~ most bizarre secret in the entire game. I don’t know how many people found this thing, and the method to get to it (airdashing straight down at the third alcove on the pyramid) is extremely unintuitive, but here it is. Within the ancient psudo-Mayan pyramid on the lost continent of Mu, there exists a hidden chamber, within which lies…a white blob thing. A white blob thing that swipes at you, dispenses hearts upon getting hit, and occasionally even uses what appears to be our own finger laser, an attack that bypasses invincibility frames and is actually entirely capable of killing you outright if you aren’t expecting it. What is it? Well, after much searching, my best guess would be a hidden Treasure cameo – specifically, one from this game. Mischief makers was an odd little platformer for the N64, most memorable for its unique grab-based gameplay and extremely odd yet charming setting; it’s one of those cult classics that you don’t hear talked about much by the mainstream, but always crops up when discussions about “hidden gems” or whatnot appear. I actually went out of my way to play through it in its entirety, and name it as the most likely candidate because of these little dudes: the Clancers. The game takes place entirely on their home planet, and everything from the creatures themselves to the landscape to the gameplay objectives is plastered with that goofy little haniwa-esque face, which you can clearly see on the…thing…up there. It bears a passing resemblance to the cat clancer you can see in that Clancer picture up there, a cat which takes a fairly major role for a brief in-game period as a ball-game opponent and, subsequently, a mode of transit during a boss fight (it’s a weird game), so that’s what I’m claiming it is. It never gets further elaborated on during the game, never appears again, and as far as I can tell finding/killing it changes nothing, but it’s a fun little oddity in an already weird stage, so WHAAAAATever. Chapter names: 6 – 1: Sapphire’s Castle; 6 – 2: Legendary Mu Civilization; 6 – 3: Great Pyramid; 6 – 4: Ancient Prince Sharaku ---------- Boss bios! Sharaku  Moveset:
Three-eyed one manga, Three-eyed one 1990 anime, Marine Express! See him in action: Three-eyed one anime, Marine Express! Like Atlas before him, Sharaku’s a bit more of a character than some of the other in-game bosses, and WILL be getting his own bio, so I’m mainly gonna focus on his role in Marine Express here. An Alien Lifeform hailing from the planet of “Kryptoripton”, Sharaku initially came in peace, promising peace and prosperity to the populace of Mu. And, for a time, this was true; Sharaku brought with him culture, craftsmanship and literacy, taught the people how to build ships and explore their world, and got along well with the reigning Princess Sapphire and her loyal subjects. After some time, however, his actions began to change. Constructing weapons of war and convincing Chancellor Dracula to turn traitor was only the beginning; soon, he was enslaving the populace, taking over the government, and sinking entire islands should their inhabitants attempt to fight back. Keeping Sapphire on the throne as a puppet ruler only because he finds her desirable, he turns his sights on the seafloor’s treasures, and in turn, on the future, where the vessel he needs to carry out his insufficiently explained nefarious plans can be found.  Sharaku has a certain amount of psychic power in the movie, it’s true, but he’s not 100% the same as his in-game version, which instead draws a bit more from Sharaku’s work of origin, The Tree-Eyed one (the same series Wato from the beginning of the game is from). The implication that he’s an alien (and further implication that he’s not the only one) is nowhere to be found, and instead of relying on alien technology, he’s primarily powered via a crimson arrow-staff hybrid named Red Condor. It, and Sharaku’s Central American theming, are both taken from his manga/anime series, in which the staff was used to channel his third eye’s psychic energy, as a weapon, as a mode of flight, and more; it’s fairly strong, implied to be sentient, and subject to a once-an-episode power summoning; in short, it’s fairly iconic, and it/its powers are always invoked through the chant Sharaku does prior to the fight. As for said fight, it goes down in an aerial format similar to our prior fight with Atlas, with the primary difference here being that he doesn’t fight alone; Sharaku likes summoning various Aztec-themed baddies to fight alongside him, while simultaneously using his own delayed and instantly-hitting attacks against you. His AI’s a bit smarter too, coming in close for quick stabs and trying to stay out of range when you bust out an arm cannon – he’s an evasive little bugger, and is capable of hitting from long distances, so he’s not a boss you should be underestimating. Stay on him and attack when you can, but be wary, as his attacks do hit fairly hard, and his heath total is significantly higher than most foes we’ve faced so far. There’s a lot of quazi-symbology and mythology involved here, too, but I’m loath to go super in-depth as that’s a bit outside the focus of this LP, could easily fill entire essays, and, most of all, seems to be outright wrong at points. His in-game bio has a line claiming “Aztlan and Mictlan are the names of Aztec heaven and hell”, and while the latter seems to be true, the former is more of a legendary ancestral home for Aztecs; Sharaku claims Mictlan is the “King of the frozen netherworld” when Mictlantecuhtli is the guy’s actual name, a distinction needed when the area he rules is already named “Mictlan”; and, most egregiously, Sharaku’s “Atonatiuh – the Fourth sun” invokes an incorrect spelling of the Aztec FIFTH sun’s name, Tonatiuh, rather than the actual fourth sun (Chalchiuhtlicue, admittedly that’s a mouthful) or the names of any of the other three. For the record, this is important because in Aztec mythology, the first four suns happened before our time – the fifth one’s the one we’re currently living, and thus is most likely the one Sharaku’s messing up the invocation of. No idea what the destruction tongue or the significance of the rocks is, though – I’m no Aztec scholar, though I did try to do my homework. My pronunciation of all these words is probably way off too, you’ll have to forgive me. Music! Two new tracks, both of which have that ~ancient civilization~ vibe going for them. The stage theme’s actually surprisingly chill – Astro isn’t all that rattled about random time traveling subplots or legions of thousand-year old robots, I guess? Sharaku’s is too as far as boss themes go, come to think of it, especially compared with Pook’s from earlier, Astro’s got this whole thing UNDER CONTROL…or does he? #28: The lost empire of Mu #29: Boss theme 6 - Sharaku Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Apr 4, 2017 |
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Mar 16, 2015 19:54
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Only took a month and a half this time, I'm doubling my efficiency! Actual spoilers now: I realize I skipped the really hidden one mentioned earlier in the thread, this is on purpose, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERIN
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Mar 16, 2015 19:56
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I didn't know that Don Dracula was a Tezuka work! I remember reading about it in one of those anime encyclopedias from the late 90s and wanting to see it.
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Mar 16, 2015 21:04
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Gamwhiz1 posted:Only took a month and a half this time, I'm doubling my efficiency! Yeah, the plot of the game worked greatly for me when I waited until endgame to go back and find him. I am not sure that that...thing...is the cat, but it definitely has a Clancer face. And I had no idea that was there actually. Regarding other hidden characters like Don Dracula, if you have Astro's sensors cranked all the way up in the stat menu (It only goes up to 4) he'll tell you when there's a hidden character around. Alejo way back at the beginning of the game would be another example where this works. Finally, for those of you confused by the plot now, just wait. It's about to get all kinds of confusing.
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Mar 16, 2015 21:16
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Wounded Land posted:I didn't know that Don Dracula was a Tezuka work! I remember reading about it in one of those anime encyclopedias from the late 90s and wanting to see it. His bio's comin, but the episodes that were produced (all 8 of them, not just the 4 that were broadcast) are uploaded subbed HERE. I should warn you though, the site that does these (Viki) gets randoms to do the translating, and while this often turns out fairly good this particular sub has some really bizarre wording and grammar, can be a bit hard to follow. Also I will be showing off the sensor thing, I've left a couple dudes undone specifically because of difficulty finding them and because of plot reasons. Don Dracula was actually the hardest one in the game for me to find (because who's gonna attack the background when the rollers are bashing you every 2 seconds?), which was a big problem for reasons that'll be cropping up, but if I didn't show him now people could be confused as to where the weird blue dude from the end of the last stage went. Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Mar 16, 2015 |
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Mar 16, 2015 21:37
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Don Dracula was another one of those I found, if I remember correctly, by complete accident my first time through the game. Also, oh man, the plot from here on out. It's kicked into high gear and will not stop until the very end of the game.
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Mar 16, 2015 21:45
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Yeah, I totally found Don Dracula on accident too, attacking the rollers for whatever hairbrained thinking I had.
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Mar 16, 2015 22:04
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