Flamecrush Forest

67th: Flamecrush Forest Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level

Which way was the Mega Man squishing room, again?

Overview Creator(s): ECIsHere Composer(s): Tsutomu Ishida, Masayuki Iwata, Atsushi Mihirov, Takashi Tateishi Statistics Scores: 57 46 52 61 Total: 54 / 100 Rank: 67th Elements: 1 Box Items: Byouz Gremlin Tackle Fire Bokazurah Compactor Enemies: Byouz Gremlin Tackle Fire Gimmicks: Bokazurah Compactor Sub-Bosses: Gorilla Tank Bosses: Wood Man

Theme Music Trip World - World 2 Boss: Mega Man 2 - Boss Stage Order Location: Tier 5 Previous: Asinine Factory Next: Enkers Revengeance

Flamecrush Forest is the 67th place entry in Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level. It is a short and easy stage that primarily uses Wood Man's tileset. It features both Compactors that try to squash Mega Man, and blocks that require aggravating Bokazurahs to remove, though the two gimmicks are kept away from each other until near the end. A frequent obstacle in both situations are Tackle Fires, which infinitely spawn in certain spots and fall down from above in varying numbers.

Strategy

The stage opens with Byouzes patrolling ceilings, with Gremlins appearing not long afterwards. However, both enemies can be easily avoided by constantly sliding to the right, without the need to stop and fight. Soon, three rooms follow where the way forward is blocked off by Bokazurah blocks, with each room giving Mega Man enough space to safely avoid the Bokazurahs' shots, although the third room has a low ceiling and two Gremlins on the bottom. The third room also has a boss door, which leads to a battle against a Gorilla Tank. Immediately afterwards, Eddie gives a free power-up before Compactors are introduced – and after them, Tackle Fires start rising and falling alongside them.

One Bokazurah wall later, and Mega Man enters an area where he can walk along treetops while enemies attack him. Like the early parts of the level, though, it's easy to keep sliding and outrun all danger, and even then, both Tackle Fires and Gremlins are very fragile. After another checkpoint and visit from Eddie, two long and cramped corridors serve as the last challenges before the boss. In both, Bokahzuras are present, but seldom needed to break blocks to progress; in fact, they act more as a deterrent against reckless shooting, as hitting one will prompt it to attack Mega Man. With Byouzes typically positioned next to Compactors, taking them out from afar before moving forwards is advised. The Flame Mixer can help defend against Tackle Fires without accidentally hitting Bokazurahs, although it can still do so if Mega Man isn't careful. At the very end is the boss, Wood Man.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
ParmaJon  : 57 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 19 / 35 7 / 15 10 / 10 13 / 25 8 / 15 I'm not usually a fan of just reusing a level's aesthetic, but this one comes together pretty well, to be honest. I really like how you seamlessly added slopes in the middle. Really making the treetops as an area to walk on felt really cool, even if it's normally a background. Super clever. Generally, I liked the first half, and it feels fine. The gimmicks work well and the "Mega Man squishing needs" comment is really cute. Near the end, the shooters that destroy the blocks feel really unnecessary. You can really just ignore them and the rest of the level is unaffected. I guess the idea of punishing you for shooting too much is neat, but it really doesn't add much in what should be the climax of the level. Overall, the level is okay. There's potential, but it's not quite there.
PKWeegee  : 46 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 11 / 35 7 / 15 10 / 10 9 / 25 9 / 15 This just screams disorganized. There was no clear focus, or at least it wasn't visible to me. The ball spitters were barely used to destroy blocks, and mostly just plastered around as decoration, it seems. The crushers did their job, at least, I suppose.
M-Jacq  : 52 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 15 / 35 9 / 15 9 / 10 10 / 25 9 / 15 Well, um, alright. There is one thing I really dug about this level: you got to walk on top of the foliage from Wood Man's stage. There must be other video games where there are big leafy trees in the background that you rise above and then use as green chunks of foreground, but I can't for the life of me think of one right now. That bit is cool. The rest of the level... Well, I'll say this: Tackle Fires and Gremlins in the same box is a pretty rough deal. A "cursed set," even. And I think there was a really cool moment where you have to use the Bokazurah to clear one half of the platforms so you can sneak under the crusher. But other than that, well, it's decent but nothing spectacular. I think there was a germ of a good idea when the Bokazurah platforms were literally everywhere, and then there was a powerup buried in them, and you could try to fetch it out. But that's kind of pushing it.
Freems  : 61 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic 19 / 35 9 / 15 9 / 10 16 / 25 8 / 15 I sometimes feel like I'm missing the point at times. Don't get me wrong, things are fine. Everything is introduced well enough, the challenges are pretty standard and there's generally a curve that goes through the level. Though the last section just leaves me wondering if I missed something. The ball machines were everywhere but outside of the blocks in front of the boss door, there really didn't seem to be much of a reason to shoot a single one of them. It felt like I was skipping over a huge chunk of level with absolutely zero effort on my part. Maybe it was all for a lot of goodies, but it still makes the whole last of the level feel like a little bit of an afterthought more than anything else. Luckily, everything before that point is perfectly well and good, if not a little boring. The end just leaves me confused.