Realm of the Lich Lord

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11th: Realm of the Lich Lord

Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level

MaG48HMML-11-RealmOfTheLichLord.png
I forgot to bring some holy water; will Salt Water suffice?

Realm of the Lich Lord is the 11th place entry in Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level. Set in a spooky gothic mausoleum deep within a charred, lava-filled forest, the dark presence of the Lich Lord haunts the area, flooding the level with endless enemies summoned forth through Dark Void portals. The stage also has an array of fire and electrical traps that Mega Man must navigate, before he can purge Lich Man's foul essence from the realm.

Strategy[edit]

The first section of the level is a slow introduction to the elements used in the stage; the biggest worry is the Dark Voids spawning Docrons and Battones from above. Things ramp up a bit past the first checkpoint, however. After killing the first Skullinter, jump up to the ledge with the Battone by using the flower in the background as a platform. This not only nets you an easy W-Tank, but gives you an excellent vantage point to take out the second Skullinter. Once all the enemies are clear, ride on the Konro Platform until you reach the block in the middle and wait there until the Elec Block stops shooting before jumping forward. Avoid the Tackle Fires and jump through the Docrons being spawned by the Dark Void. A Large Energy waits at the end if you need it; use Rush Coil to reach it, as Beat will still be too distracted by the Docrons. In the next area, drop off the short ledge to quickly take out the Skullinter, then time your climb through the Elec Blocks to reach the entrance to the Lich Lord's mausoleum, guarded by a Doc Kumo.

Once inside the mausoleum, the first few screens are a gauntlet of Elec Blocks, broken up by some Battones. Keep in mind that red Elec Blocks shoot electricity horizontally, blue ones vertically, and yellow Elec Block can be multi-directional, but still only shoot out at most two beams at a time, so watch the patterns and identify the safe places to stand and wait. Once through those you'll be ambushed by a pair of Skullinters; shoot out the bottom panels of their window columns to dodge them until you have a clear vantage point, then take out them and the Crazy Razy and ascend past the double staircase covered in Fire Spikes (make sure to grab the E-Tank on the left side as well). Beyond the stairs, take the next room slowly to avoid being mobbed by the Battones being spawned in by the Dark Void; remember to slide under the second slow-moving Fire Spike while it's in the middle of its pattern and make sure the Battones are dead before advancing.

The next room is a long, open room above a pit of lava, with numerous Tackle Fires and Dark Voids spawning in Battones and Crazy Razy heads. This room can get pretty hectic, so again, take things slow and proceed when things are dead and the path is clear. Flame Mixer or Homing Sniper will serve you well here. The ladder out is guarded by a Skullinter, but you'll only have to put up with it for so long before it off-screens itself; the main threat is dodging its first column and the Crazy Razy heads beneath the platform until you can climb it. Past a couple screens of more Battones and Void-spawned Crazy Razy heads, the final room holds a number of enemies and traps that require tight timing, so quickly take out the Skullinter and slide under its first window barrage, then wait just next to the Elec Block and slide through while the conduit is off and the Fire Spike beyond is toward the end of its route. There's a Large Energy on the floor should you need it, guarded by a pair of Crazy Razies. Once you're set, run over the final Fire Spike and jump to the boss door to fight Lich Man.

Judge Comments[edit]

Judge Comments
ParmaJon ParmaJon ParmaJon : 94 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic
33 / 35 13 / 15 10 / 10 23 / 25 15 / 15



Genuinely, what an amazing looking level. The tiles, the backgrounds, the enemies, the boss. The entire level looks amazing. It also plays really well. This is one of the most solidly built levels in the entire contest. You hit a great balance of each room feeling like its own challenge while also working as part of the greater level. The complimentary assets like the moving platform at the start feel natural and really add to the level without bogging it down. Using the Elec blocks with the fire spikes can rack up a lot of damage really quickly if you're careless, but you spaced things out and made it reasonable to figure out what to do without it being too easy. The difficulty in this level is just right. This is definitely a level where the designer is better at level design than I am and knows how to make the level really feel like Mega Man with their own spin. I think with another addition I'd either split the indoor section into two so there's another checkpoint, or reduce it by maybe two screens so it's more forgiving. This feels like a limit of playtesting, but considering how good this level is, it's impressive that this is the only issue. One revision and this level would be so much better, but that's not to say the level isn't already near the top of the entries. The other limiter is that I think other levels really do something to make something new, whereas this level is just purely beautiful and has superb execution, easily giving it a score of over 90. I would never say this level is bad, it just needs a few pushes a little further.

PKWeegee PKWeegee PKWeeGee : 74 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic
24 / 35 10 / 15 10 / 10 15 / 25 15 / 15



Well then, those are some impressive graphics. If only the level design was equally as impressive. Now that’s not saying that it’s not good, but it could definitely have been better. There were some places where the Elec blocks felt...weirdly timed. The same also applies to the flame spikes. Most sections are fine, though, and that’s pretty much the point: they are fine, not much else.

M-Jacq M-Jacq M-Jacq : 65 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic
23 / 35 15 / 15 9 / 10 12 / 25 6 / 15



In theory, I love this level: it's got a fantastic sense of place, many creative and enjoyable challenges, and a super-detailed aesthetic that pushes the pixel to the limit. (And Neil Baldwin music! Nice!) But, ah, there's the rub: that same "overclocked" aesthetic is exactly what hampered my enjoyment of the level. The pixel artistry here is great, but it's also extremely distracting.
That's a nice summation of my problem with this level as a whole: it's very busy, in a way that detracts from the parts of this level that are good (and large swaths of this level are very good). There's a lot of different kinds of enemies and projectiles flying at you, in an extremely colorful stage with a complicated background, which means that even the less challenging screens can overwhelm you in a maelstrom of extremely vivid... stuff. I think this could be tamped down by nixing the Pointans, which are the most frustrating source of clutter in this stage; some hue-shifting to dull down the background would be nice too (even though I think this stage is going for a CGA palette, which I appreciate intellectually but is still distractingly bright).
I like this stage a lot, mind you, it's just... very "extra."
(As a final note, while on later playthroughs I didn't have any problems with this, I do think this stage could use a few more checkpoints or pickups - the difficulty is a little high here.)

Freems Freems Freems : 77 / 100
Design Creativity Function Fun Aesthetic
27 / 35 10 / 15 8 / 10 19 / 25 13 / 15



How spooky! This level did a good job sticking to its aesthetic and it was mostly good in that regard (though a handful of times the background was almost too detailed making it a little hard to tell where I could stand) and the sprites were definitely a nice touch that added to the level. For the level itself, I had a pretty good time with it! I liked some of the usage of the fire spikes (the one moving platform over the fire spikes itself was especially spicy) and while I do think there were times where there were slightly too much going on with the Elec Blocks and infinite Crazy Razy heads, it turned out to be a pretty fun romp, even if a couple areas got a little too crowded for their own good.




Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level - Tier 10
Entry Stages
Spicy Banana Bread StorehouseBase in the BoondocksInto the FurnaceWindy ConditionsMinari Hydrospace CenterFrigid InfernoCloudy CityCelestial ResortRealm of the Lich Lord
List of Bosses
Berserker MerserkerFire ManDyna ManDust ManAir ManMega Mech Shark🔥 ManSpark ManLich Man
Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level
Characters
Mega Man (Costumes) • Dr. LightBox Cartel (Don AteteminoKamikaminDockalockerBlockySquare Machine) • RollJosephDeleuze PipiSargeSidequest NPCs
Special Weapons
Flame MixerRain FlushSpark ShockSearch SnakeTengu BladeSalt WaterConcrete ShotHoming SniperRush CoilRush JetBeat
Exclusive to Cheats
Treble Boost
Entries
A Waste of SpaceAbandoned MineAir LabsAlpha-OmegaAncient ZigguratAsinine FactoryBase in the BoondocksblainzBraving New DepthsBunker 20XXBurning BunkerCascadeCaution: Moving PartsCelestial ResortCentral ComputerCloudy CityCombustible Alien Variable EventsCombustible QuagmireCombustion CastleCommando CavernsCopper CaveCornerstone to DominateCosmological FactoryCossack's PlaygroundCrashing in the DarkCryonics LabCurious SkymachineCutting Edge TechnologyDarkwing CityDeep Dark TempleDeep Within the JungleDown the DrainEnkers RevengeanceExoplanet EverestFaint Flying FactoryFire Armed to the BeakFlamecrush ForestFlaming FortressFlower CoreFlowers and ThornsFootlooseForest CastleFortified BaseFrigid InfernoFrozen LabGettin' out of DogecityGraviMan INC.Hopping High Above DangerIce Treatment FacilityIHOPEIWINInto the FurnaceJust a Space LevelLasers and PlatformsLime and LameMake a 48 Minute Mega Man LevelMega Man Saves Canada from the Evil Clutches ofMegatroidMinari Hydrospace CenterMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmoon BaseMystic MuseumObligatory Enemy Spam LevelOh NoOh No! More CompactorsOne Night in XanaduOrbital AssaultOrdinance With LyricsOuter ExcavationPerilous MountainPint House Power HousePlanet XanlordusRealm of the Lich LordRobot Recycling CenterRocky Blocky CavernRunning Down a DrainSaturn FortressScissors 'n ShrimpsScrub CitySeahorse CityShort BaseShort-Tempered CircuitSleet CitadelSlipping Through TimeSonic Man's SpaceshipSpace PipesSpicy Banana Bread StorehouseSpicy Top ActionStormy TowerSuper Pipe WorldTaking a DipTesla CoilThe AbyssThe Bouncy Octa BoomThe End of Needle Man?!The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki RoomThrough the CrabacombsToad Man's Underwater Sea LabTowerTwilight FortressUntested Rush JobVoid QuestVolcanic FacilityWarehouse of ConveyorsWater Park SupWeapon Testing FacilityWell Oiled MachineWily StationWindy Conditions
Cartel Hideout
Deep Sea Break-InHydrothermal LayerPandora's Parlor
Locations
SS ElroyTier 1Tier 2Tier 3Tier 4Tier 5Tier 6Tier 7Tier 8Tier 9Tier 10Tier 11Cartel HideoutDouble-Action BoutiqueSpecial Weapon Bootcamp
Devkit Bosses
Cut ManGuts ManBomb ManFire ManMetal ManAir ManBubble ManQuick ManCrash ManFlash ManHeat ManWood ManBoobeam TrapGemini ManTop ManSpark ManKamegoro MakerToad ManPharaoh ManDust ManMetall DaddyGravity ManStone ManGyro ManDark Man 4Blizzard ManPlant ManRounder IIPower PistonHoney WomanMega Mech SharkCommando ManChill ManSolar ManEnkerQuintPunkGiant SuzyBalladeHunter Type AMercurySaturnUranusIron BallGrey DevilDangan ManKomuso ManOil ManSonic ManDyna Man
Modified Bosses
BombMan.EXEMother BrainThe City of St. PetersburgToxic Seahorse?Bandana Wander BellQuick Man DuoDarkwing DuckBerserker Merserker🔥 ManLich ManEmpress ElysiaNot Napalm ManStatue of Wizard Swenner
Box Cartel Fights
KamikaminDockalockerBlockySquare Machine
Fortress Guardians
Sea King: The AftermathShinsopod What! & Shinkhangel Where!Don Atetemino
Other Bosses
Haunted TVShadow ImposterPirate Man