Kingdom Crisis
Chapter 1: Kingdom Crisis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It's-a me, Zero! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kingdom Crisis is the fourth/fifth level in Chapter 1 of Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero, and is unlocked simultaneously with Contra Base. After encountering SRARA in Mega City, Zero enters a Super Mario World-themed area once used for the first festival, now overrun with out of control robots and Thwomps. The main gimmicks present are Switch Blocks, and a switch block that toggles them by being jumped into or damaged - either by Zero's weapons, or by the shells of the Koopa-themed Shellmettaur. The leader of the rampaging robots, Thwomp Man, is encountered by Zero at the end of the gauntlet.
Strategy[edit]
A path to the right starts the stage, with Metall βs and Hammer Joes acting as the primary obstacles. By using the Z-Saber, they can be easily dispatched even when shielded. Shortly after, Zero will encounter Thwomps that will try to smash into him, forcing him to move carefully around them. The third screen to feature them has numerous Thwomps together, with chained stompdashes being the ideal way to avoid them. After this screen, the ON/OFF Switch is introduced, with a set of Switch Blocks blocking the way until they're deactivated by jumping into the switch from below. By using the switch as a platform, Zero can reach a ledge with two large Bolts; a background vine is also visible from here, and can be climbed to reach a CD in a hidden room. The next few screens revolve around enemies in conjunction with On-Off Blocks, with a Hammer Joe guarding a switch in one screen (while a Metall β lies behind active blocks), while an outside area has Hammer Joes and a Big Eye vying to knock him down into pits opened by activating/deactivating Switch Blocks. Before the first checkpoint lie three screens of avoiding Thwomps, with the last combining them with Switch Blocks and pits.
After grabbing three large Bolts lying out in the open, Zero must face the midboss, Piranhabiran. After defeating it, he drops into the second checkpoint, with two small Health Energy pickups lying atop a yellow pipe. This pipe hides a ladder inside, which leads to a secret room containing another CD. By progressing right, Zero enters an area made up mostly of pipes, with Shellmettaurs being seen for the first time. Careful use of projectiles is recommended for destroying them without hitting their shells, but the Z-Saber can kill them without leaving a shell behind. However, eventually Zero encounters an ON/OFF Switch that can only be triggered by shooting a Shellmettaur shell into it, with two Switch Blocks blocking the way down. In the screens that follow, shells that move on their own plague Zero; either by trying to ram into him, or by bouncing into ON/OFF Switches in unreachable areas, forcing him to time his jumps as Switch Blocks activate/deactivate. The final room of this has a shell turning a switch on, then almost immediately off again, with spikes lining the ground below. Though tricky, a set of well-timed jumps can nab Zero the third and final CD.
In the screen beyond, a Big Eye will jump up a set of top-solid platforms to reach Zero, while a Thwomp tries to drop onto him. The safest course of action is to destroy the Big Eye before it reaches the top, though this can be tricky. After that, a vertical climb faces Zero, with different threats on each screen. The bottom part has two Shellmettaurs and a Thwomp, the second has two Hammer Joes, and the third has three Thwomps and no ground, with the vine upwards requiring an airdash to reach. The only way through this is to lure the Thwomps into falling, despawning them and making it easier to dash across without getting hit. The last obstacle before the boss door is a final Big Eye, after which lies Thwomp Man.
Z-Phone Dialogue[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- The stage is heavily based on Mega Man World from the original Make a Good Mega Man Level, and reuses that stage's tileset. In fact, the two stages are in the same location, as evidenced by Thwomp Man's CD and Dr. Wily's Z-Phone call.
- Every Hammer Joe's HP in Kingdom Crisis is reduced to 4, making them easier to defeat without the Z-Saber.
- Like every Chapter 1 level, Kingdom Crisis's spikes are Damage Spikes that merely deal 7 damage instead of instant death.
- In the original submission, Kingdom Crisis's third shell-and-ON/OFF Switch room took place over a bottomless pit. The final game added non-lethal spikes to make the level easier.
Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero - Chapter 1 | |
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Stages | |
Explosive Freefall • Surveillance Canyon • Gusty Gorge • Defeat the Giant Spear Man! • Contra Base • Kingdom Crisis • Lost Valley • Skyhigh Ridge • Twilight Terrace • Abandoned Lab • Subterranean Stronghold • Vertical Hunger | |
List of Bosses | |
Mega Man • Dangerous Duck • Giant Spear Man • SRARA Up n' Down • Gomeramos King • Dethgerbis • Piranhabiran • Thwomp Man • Honey Woman • Doc Robot Overloaded • Punk • Boomer Kuwanger • Giga Kuwagata | |
Mini-Stages | |
Mega City • Dr. Wily's Secret Bunker |