Cascade

6th: Cascade Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level

Atlantis was known for its missile industry.

Overview Creator(s): Strife Composer(s): Tomoko Sasaki, Yasuaki Fujita Statistics Scores: 70 83 95 79 Total: 81.75 / 100 Rank: 6th Elements: 1 Box Items: Bombomboy Hell Metall DX Mantan Ballade Missile Venus Waterfall Enemies: Bombomboy Hell Metall DX Mantan New Shotman Gimmicks: Ballade Missile Kamegoro Tornado Spawner Key Barrier Quick Laser (damage) Venus Waterfall Sub-Bosses: Moby Bosses: Kamegoro Maker

Theme Music Ristar - Break Silence Boss: Mega Man 3 - Wily Stage Boss Stage Order Location: Tier 11 Previous: Just a Space Level Next: Planet Xanlordus

Cascade is the 6th place entry in Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level. A considerably more mellow level than most (particularly in its pacing and music), it is an action-puzzle oriented level that focuses on strategically destroying Ballade Missiles that block the way, while avoiding lethal hazards such as Venus Waterfalls rushing in from above, and spikes lying beneath said missiles.

Strategy

Over the first couple of sections of the level, the box assets are succinctly introduced, before a Venus Waterfall washes Mega Man into an underwater area with a few Mantans swimming towards him, each of which can be dispatched with a single Charge Shot. The first significant Ballade Missile puzzle room is located up a ladder, and consists of two columns of missiles behind two walls, surrounded on either side by Venus Waterfalls (a Large Weapon Energy pickup lies in an alcove to the right, with an inaccessible Large Health Energy and bolt on the right side of the screen). Going through requires destroying every missile, which is easily done with the Mega Buster or a single Rain Flush. Up the ladder is an outdoors area with more Venus Waterfalls, spikes, and Ballade Missiles blocking off safe zones, including a large cache over spikes early on. Keeping the bottom two rows intact is essential to block off the spikes and jump over the wall without utilities. Two kinds of enemy in this area include Bombomboys hiding in ground pockets, and Hell Metall DXes. The former can be neutralised with the Search Snake or the Flame Mixer, while the latter is far easier to deal with if Joseph has crafted the Smite upgrade, which one-shots them and prevents their treadless forms from appearing; otherwise, the Tengu Blade can be used to ignore their shield.

Down a small drop is a Moby midboss, which is fought with a small layer of missiles over death spikes. Weapons that can destroy the missiles, such as the Homing Sniper, shouldn't be used in this battle, to ensure Mega Man has as much safe room to stand as possible to avoid Moby's attacks. Defeating it leads to a single screen with a New Shotman and an infinitely-spawning number of Mantans that swim by a pair of narrow spike jumps. The next screen over is another checkpoint, and leads to the other side of the alcove seen earlier in the level. After a simple Key Barrier puzzle, there is a room full of Ballade Missiles, which block lethal Quick Lasers. To get through, take it slow and do not destroy any missiles directly blocking a laser. The room below lacks missiles entirely, and requires racing to a Venus Waterfall on the left before the screen fills itself with Quick Lasers; successfully going through leads to a final puzzle with four lasers and a large block of missiles. Once again, avoid hitting missiles with a laser behind them, and clear out the second- and third-lowest rows of missiles to open the path to the waterfall. Mega Man must not use the Rain Flush here unless he has a death wish. The level as a whole ends with a battle against the Kamegoro Maker, in a relatively shallow pool of water.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
ParmaJon  : 70 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 25 / 35 9 / 15 10 / 10 16 / 25 10 / 15 Even if the waterfalls seem like the more memorable part of this level, I'm really impressed by the Ballade Missiles. Throughout the level, the waterfalls are used well, especially considering that they can quickly become really obnoxious; this level avoids that. The level gets annoying with the amount of small mistakes that can force you to repeat a slow paced section, but that really only occurs in the middle outdoor section. Otherwise, the Ballade Missiles working to give you something to do while you wait for the Venus Waterfalls in a lot of sections makes it so you're not just twiddling your thumbs while waiting for the waterfalls to drop or stop. But really, the Quick Laser section at the end is brilliant. Might be my favorite use of Ballade Missiles in the contest. It makes for a genuine puzzle that you have to solve, while still retaining the characteristics of the level. It also doesn't overstay its welcome. Switching into one fast-paced Quick Laser section just feels super weird, though, since you expect it to be like the last section. I just stood there looking around as I got killed. Overall, I liked this level, and it looked and sounded really good. It can just get frustrating and sometimes inconsistent.
PKWeegee  : 83 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 29 / 35 12 / 15 10 / 10 20 / 25 12 / 15 Just like the music, it's a very calm and laid-back level, which is most enjoyable when you don't go in guns blazing, and rather take your time to look at all the challenges as they come. I especially enjoyed the Quick beam section, as that was the one section I thought would be fast, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it have the same calm approach.
M-Jacq  : 95 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 32 / 35 15 / 15 10 / 10 23 / 25 15 / 15 This is a serious contender for the most beautiful level in the entire contest. The aesthetic here is flawless, as far as I'm concerned, and it perfectly fits the relaxed playstyle this level encourages. Almost every challenge is telegraphed in advance, and the enemies amble slowly from side to side, giving you plenty of time to react. There are some cute little nooks and crannies for you to duck into. The gimmicks are introduced well, in a bunch of creative and economical setups. If anything, I think this level needs to ramp DOWN the tension. I think the much-maligned Quick Beams are handled well in this level, and are used for some short & fun puzzles - but the one room where they're used in MM2 "gotta go fast" style feels like a misstep. The boss fight struggles for similar reasons, with turtles that move faster than every enemy type in the stage combined. But ultimately these are extremely minor missteps in an immensely relaxing and replayable level. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the stage is that it's *not* a cakewalk, despite its overwhelming tranquility; it goes to show, you don't need nonstop adrenaline to make a fun level in the run-n-gun mold.
Freems  : 79 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 25 / 35 12 / 15 10 / 10 18 / 25 14 / 15 Most of this level just kinda felt good. Seeing the Venus Waterfall used in ways not seen in Mega Man V with using the Ballade Missiles alongside them in good ways. For the most part, it worked really well together and the level itself looked really nice to boot. But the surprise Quick Beam section at the end was a little... odd. Now the Quick Beam section is certainly creative and I understand what the intent was, but the main problem is how it just casually alternates between a puzzle room, a room meant to go fast, and a puzzle room again. If you panic and take a puzzle room fast, you'll die. If you then think the next room is a puzzle room and pause, you're dead cause this one you're supposed to go fast. You can't predict what type of room is coming up next until you've already messed it up, so it's pretty much an easy way to die. If all the Quick Beam rooms were puzzles or all of them were meant to go fast, I wouldn't even mind that much. The puzzles made sense and the speed room was designed pretty well once you realize it's not meant to be a puzzle like the last one. Really, this paragraph was dedicated to having a problem with the last 5 seconds of the level. So let me clarify that overall, good job!