Horizon Zero

Chapter 2: Horizon Zero Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero

Ah, what a beautiful, totally not alien sunset...

Overview Creator(s): NBlast Composer(s): Woofle, Strife Statistics Rank: Chapter 2 Collectables: 037: Launch Man & Shuttle Man 062: Sparky 104: CD Enemies: Chain Lightning Fleet Missile Roller Spider Beamer Gimmicks: Ball Bouncer Crate Push Wave Rail Platform Reflect Block Screw Platform Bosses: Sparky

Theme Music Freedom Planet - Horizon Starport Boss: Freedom Planet - Bossoft (Aquatic Boss Battle) Stage Order Previous: Offshore Hangar Cluster

Horizon Zero is the ninth and final level on the path to the Flame Chip in Chapter 2 of Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero. As Zero closes in on the location of one of Dr. Hyde's stolen Drive system chips, he enters a mysterious, alien area of unknown origin, regarded as a spatial anomaly and popular attraction for urban explorers. Strange robots and machines bedevil Zero here, as well as a variety of gimmicks that make him move faster across the stage. Also present are small crystals scattered throughout the stage and inside Crates - collecting one gives Zero the equivalent of one Bolt.

Strategy

Beginning in an open area, the stage introduces two enemies - the airborne Fleet Missiles, and the ground-trawling Rollers - as well as pink Screw Platforms that move up and down. After a short Ball Bouncer ride, Zero comes across a set of airborne pink Screw Platforms hovering over ground patrolled by Rollers; by airdashing across them, he can obtain not just crystals, but also a CD hovering in the air. On the next screen is a zigzagging area filled with Rollers, with a Ball Bouncer quickly cutting through them. Shortly afterwards is a long horizontal area with the first appearances of Chain Lightnings and Rail Platforms, the latter of which move so long as Zero stands on them. Later on, Spider Beamers are seen on the walls, with three ways of getting through the area. Zero can either use a set of Rail Platforms up top, fight his way through the Chain Lightnings on the bottom, or use a Ball Bouncer to reach the second checkpoint.

It is here that Zero encounters blue Screw Platforms that drop so long as he stands on one, as well as non-lethal electrified floors. After a brief section where Rail Platforms are used to stay above the electricity, he comes to a corridor divided in two; the bottom half containing a Rail Platform ride over electricity, and the top half filled with Spider Beamers on the ceiling, with an E-Tank and a crystal-filled Crate up for grabs if he braves them. After the checkpoint, Zero must airdash across Screw Platforms (often between gaps lined with electric generators) while avoiding a bottomless pit. One part notably has him ride Rail Platforms along the bottom of the screen, before being sent upwards and backwards by a Ball Bouncer to the top half, where he reaches a ladder. Up this ladder is an inaccessible CD in the top-left, and a Rail Platform ride to the fourth checkpoint. By jumping into a small alcove under the platform, Zero can reach the CD (and two Crates) by airdashing between electric generators to enter a teleporter on the other side.

After a small convoy of Rollers, Zero finds Push Waves arranged in plus shapes. Multiple screens make him enter specific fields (typically ones that push Zero upwards) to go where he needs to. One platforming section with Screw Platforms and Rail Platforms later, and Zero drops into an electrified hallway, with the only safe path lying under small gaps with right-facing Push Waves that require dashing under. On the leftmost side of the hallway is a Ball Bouncer, which takes him safely across the many electric generators to an area with a bottomless pit and Rail Platforms, with Push Waves trying to send Zero into the chasm below. After taking a roundabout path from one screen to another and back again, the fifth checkpoint is reached. Taking place over another giant pit, Zero must use airdashes to reach Rail Platforms that will take him in the opposite direction, and thus making the jump to the next platform slightly harder. At the end is a large collection of Push Waves, which are needed to reach one of two ladders. While the right ladder is easier to access, the left ladder leads to a Crate and the third and final CD in the stage, which are inaccessible otherwise.

The final stretch of the level is a free-scrolling vertical climb combining gimmicks from the entire stage. The bottom-most layer has Screw Platforms for Zero to jump on, followed by a Ball Bouncer ride upwards. Two Rail Platforms over electricity follow, with the second one threatening to send him into an electrified wall (behind which are Reflect Blocks protecting a Chain Lightning). A group of Spider Beamers threaten Zero, before he reaches one final Push Wave puzzle. By sending himself upwards to the top using them, he will reach the door to the boss, Sparky.

Z-Phone Dialogue

	Contact	Transcript
	Dr. Wily	Horizon Zero? Venturing into there, eh? Not surprised an Energy Element ended up there. That place is crazy. Showed up one day and nobody knows why. Government is trying to cover it up, but they're not doing a good job. Maybe I could use the Reality Core to warp it away and everyone will love me! Hehehe.
	Agent Krantz	Krantz: Horizon Zero? That place is being investigated as a spatial anomaly. The primary thing being investigated is those mysterious crystals. The materials they're made out of equate to exactly one bolt, but there's a surprising number of them. Everything is unique there, but just to name a few highlights... The missiles have a heat-seeking property, but try to aim behind you before charging forward. Chain Lightnings will move their chain around briefly before charging them with electricity. Rollers will charge at you, but as they get close they'll jump before firing a bullet at you. Zero: What about obstacles? Krantz: You mean the floating corkscrews that move downward when standing on them if they're blue? Or the Ball Bouncers that make you a sphere of mayhem? There's also Rail Platforms that speed up as you stand on them. Zero: If this place was not so deadly, I would think it was an amusement park... Krantz: Oh! Did I mention the gravity fields?
	Galaxy Man	(CD #1): Oh, so near the beginning, it should be in plain sight! Just hop across and airdash across all the floating gear thingies and squeeze through the gaps. (CD #2): Your eyes should be drawn right to the prize for this one! Right in plain sight! Be on the lookout for any suspicious secret passages that could take you straight to that nook. (CD #3): So for this one, you gotta look for a little passage high up, near all those wind block things! After that, do your best to get up to that super-high ladder with all your airdashing!
	Yamato Man	Sparky? That sounds like a dog's name, not an alien worm name. They're a one-trick pony, too; their only form of attack is firing their guns upward or downward, but the types of bullets they fire might have different effects! In particular, if they fire purple crystals, they'll stop at either ground level or slightly above you, and explode into two purple fire waves after a delay! If they fire a lot of these in a row, it'll get very hectic, so don't forget about the delay!
	Knives	Knives: Awww, lame! That spot's WAY too popular. All the urban explorers'll cramp our style! I thought you had better taste and KNOWLEDGE than that, Zero!! Zero: Well, I thought you would be a fan of all the weapons that could possibly shoot at you. Knives: Good job on considering my tastes, but again, TOO popular!! That place is just a front for the real conspiracies, anyways! There's no cover-up for that place! They WANTED us to find it and have it distract us from the real issues, like the giant rubber duck!

Trivia

• Horizon Zero is based on a cut level from the game Freedom Planet named Horizon Starport, and reuses its tileset, music, and enemy roster. It would have been added in a set of DLC alongside a playable Torque, whom the stage was designed around, but said DLC became indefinitely postponed and was eventually fully cancelled.
• The number of Bolts that can be gathered by collecting the crystals in this stage makes Horizon Zero an ideal place to quickly get Bolts.
• Launch Man & Shuttle Man's CD is found in Horizon Zero; fittingly, the duo's creator, Strife, is also the lead developer of Freedom Planet.
• The spaceship that appears in the background throughout the stage is the Absolution, the personal spaceship of Freedom Planet's villain, Lord Brevon.