Decoy Man (stage)

138th: Decoy Man Make a Good Mega Man Level 3

Trust nobody, not even the floor

Overview Creator(s): The Great Metaphor Composer(s): Shusaku Uchiyama, Manami Matsumae, The Great Metaphor Statistics Scores: 33 28 49 42 54 Total: 41.20 / 100 Rank: 138th Elements: 1 Collectables: Enemies: B Bitter Camouflametall Crystal Joe Floor Turret Gachappon Light TC Psychic Joe Returning Sniper Joe Twin Cannon Sub-Bosses: Cut Man Bosses: Decoy Man

Theme Music Part 1: Mega Man 10 - Absolute Chill Cut Man: Mega Man - Boss Part 2: MaGMML3 - Decoy Man Boss: MaGMML3 - Vs. Decoy Man Stage Order Location: Tier 4 Previous: Creatively Named Level Next: Where no met has gone before

"I'm fond of this simulation. Whoever made it has a great hunter's mindset."

―Hunter Woman, commenting on Decoy Man

Decoy Man is the 138th place level in Make a Good Mega Man Level 3. A level built around deception and misdirection, what starts as a short rushed submission leads into a level filled with fake tiles and turrets disguising themselves as part of the floor. The level also features Camouflametalls, a number of which are modified to disguise themselves as items other than 1-Ups.

Strategy

The level begins with a straightforward path with some Crystal Joes, Twin Cannons, ladders, and spikes. After a couple screens, Mega Man finds a sign from the creator explaining they didn't have time to finish the level or create a boss, leading to a fight against Cut Man. After defeating him, he drops an M-Tank – but at the same time, the floor gives out, dropping Mega Man into the true meat of the level.

From here, Floor Turrets make frequent appearances, marked by darker blue tiles in the floor. Modified iterations of Crystal Joe and Twin Cannon – Psychic Joe and Light TC – also start appearing alongside their unmodified templates. False tiles similar to those seen in Wily Castle 4 in Mega Man 2 are another hazard, but fortunately none in the level lead to instant death. After a short while, Mega Man will find a ladder on the top of the screen; climbing it leads to an area with a handful of enemies, signs containing lore about the level, and a Camouflametall disguised as as a Trickster Token; destroying it will release the very collectible it was disguised as.

Camouflametalls disguised as items besides 1-Ups become a frequent sight from here on out; however, they will not animate nor change colours like actual power-ups, making them easy to spot. The level itself is otherwise a straightforward process of enemy challenges and navigating fake tiles, with the only other hidden secret being an E-Tank over a bed of spikes that requires a utility to cross. Every spike in the level is merely a Damage Spike, and touching them will inflict 7 points of damage rather than instant death. One final fakeout appears in the boss corridor before Decoy Man himself: a genuine 1-Up, the only legitimate pickup placed in the level.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
Mick Galbani  : 33 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 12 / 35 5 / 25 3 / 15 3 / 15 10 / 10 Nice try with the fake-out, but I didn't fall for it. Decoy Man does a good job making the initial level feel like an authentic rush job: Super quick to reach the boss, easy enemies, poor visual contrast, no real platforming challenge... I would've been fooled if it weren't for the name. To give the level some credit, the Crystal Joes in the rush job have some occasionally dangerous placement! Normally, they aren't placed in ways that hit me, but I've been tagged here once or twice--and it's my own fault when it happens! Also, props for the Cut Man M-Tank; I like the reward for the risky, close-ranged kill. Unfortunately, the *real* level sees no improvement on the fake one. The enemies are still too easy--a real shame, since while the concepts have a lot of potential, the fake floors are a mild inconvenience at most (though that's better than frustrating), and the platforming is still dull. More prominently, the aesthetic is *worse* than the fakeout, no thanks to the rather ear-piercing music. About the most interesting the level gets is the Token room, and even then, I can't remember most of it. I suppose I can give props for a custom boss, but Decoy Man is boring compared to Cut Man, so the whole thing flounders. This started with a good premise, but the end result leaves a lot to be desired. It's a shame, really.
Shinryu  : 23 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 6 / 35 4 / 25 5 / 15 4 / 15 9 / 10 If it wasn't for the title of the stage, you might've actually got me with that opening bit. Either way, I don't think it would have changed my perspective on this level all that much. This is a stage with a very promising idea, but ends up being held back by a lot of issues. For a level that's meant to be based around deception, the design here doesn't do a whole lot to properly capitalize on that. Terrain and enemy configurations barely complement each other, making almost every obstacle completely unthreatening. It's a bit disappointing, since the custom enemies seem like they could be interesting to fight if paired with better room layouts. As it is now, almost everything here is pretty bare bones. The fake floor gimmick could've worked wonders to spice up the level, but the placement only serves to hinder your movements for a few seconds (and might make you second-guess a jump or two). On a related note, I could never tell if there was supposed to be an attempt at telegraphing with one of the fake floors in the token room. I bring this up since there's a Crystal Joe that routinely falls from near the top of the screen towards the end of that section, and it always looked a little off to me. That one oddity aside, the only thing left to mention is the boss, who is...unfortunately just as basic as the rest of the stage. Decoy Man's pattern is completely fixed and predictable, and the clone he summons doesn't really add much depth to the fight. You'll still end up dodging him the same way, but now there's slightly less room for error. All in all, this is a disappointing end to a stage that never really lives up to its potential.
Pachy  : 49 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 13 / 35 13 / 25 12 / 15 4 / 15 7 / 10 Illusionary Melancholy! Okay, you got me there with that fake out, that one was good. It fits the Robot Master in question, so I don't mind it. What I don't really like is that you can't tell which platforms are fake, while thankfully the stage restrained itself from doing something evil with it. This can still lead to some unfair situations while fighting the enemies. And... that's really all there is going on with the stage. The rest of the level design boils down to straight paths while shooting the enemies in the way. There aren't any significant setups that keep the player engaged with the level. Also, the music: it's very distorienting and depressing sounding. I guess it fits the backstory of Decoy Man... Either way, it makes the stage kinda insufferable, intentional or not. Decoy Man has a rather simple pattern, but not so simple to get around with the projectile he leaves behind after each jump. Combine that with Decoy's high contact damage and a copy of himself showing up at the later half of the battle, this quickly becomes a rough boss fight for sure.
Flashman85  : 42 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 13 / 35 12 / 25 6 / 15 4 / 15 7 / 10 You have the blueprint for something truly special here: present the player with an unusually short and unremarkable level that was obviously rushed, then reveal the *real* level, which develops a thought-provoking story and subverts expectations at every turn. The problem is, this level topples its own potential by subverting all the wrong expectations. I'm talking about expectations such as text boxes that are free of typos, custom sprites in a style that reads as Mega Man, screen transitions that are safe from any angle, and music that doesn't detract from the enjoyment with dreary dissonance. I'm talking about a learning curve that teaches the player to be suspicious *before* being blindsided. I'm talking about challenges that grow in difficulty and complexity, and that consist of more than a bunch of stationary enemies hanging out on the ground. Checkpoints, screen count, overall focus, and a well-handled fake-out with Cut Man are among the few things that meet my expectations. I do like the different varieties of Metall (especially the cheeky "token"), and I like how the story is parceled out amidst a series of small challenges. I wish the story were worked into the boss fight, though--I think some dialogue and one final bait and switch of some sort would've tied the whole thing together nicely. Some things that are obvious should be more sneaky (eg, the concealed turrets that stand out like a sore thumb), and some things that are sneaky should be more obvious (eg, the fake floors that are utterly indistinguishable from normal floors). Theming could stand to be stronger--the plain foreground/background graphics don't seem particularly decoy-ish, and there's nothing really deceptive or surprising about the enemies that aren't disguised. I love what this level could've been, but it needs a lot of work to get there.
ACESpark  : 54 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 19 / 35 13 / 25 8 / 15 4 / 15 10 / 10 Man, after that.... intentionally crap opening, I'm not going to lie, I'm disappointed by this level. So much potential, wasted. You had fakeout floors, disguised enemies, and the opportunity to really play with the player's expectations. Which you didn't. Everything was rather predictable past the opening, which is sad. Few things I did rather like, as always; the rejigged devkit assets are nice to see, and I actually loved the fake floor enemy. It's a shame the 4-way Crystal Joe actually adds nothing to how you fight the enemy--he and the rejigged Cannon never get placed in positions where their alterations amount to anything. Sadly, the level is just really basic at its core, and doesn't do much beyond the scope of the intentionally crap opening other than a few nifty new enemies. There's also this weird backstory with spelling almost as bad as mine, and I eventually sort of zoned out by the final few signposts. They don't really add much. Also, the music had a bit too many high pitched notes--the actual tune isn't bad, but the implementation is rather awful at times. I'm not sure what to make of Decoy Man himself; his pattern is super basic, but still puts out a challenge, as he hits pretty hard, and his small hops don't give that much room to manoeuvre. I appreciate the hologram, even if said hologram firing out harmful projectiles is a tad weird. Still, the stage is better for having an original fight, and I burst out laughing when I saw him, so I guess that counts for something. He has a very romhack quality all to his own.

Trivia

• During the period where she can appear in the Tier 4 overworld, Hunter Woman will stand next to the entrance to this simulation, stating her fondness of it if Mega Man talks to her.