You Don't Know the Drill

172nd: You Don't Know the Drill Make a Good Mega Man Level 3

Not reading signs can be hazardous to your health. We can't promise reading them is any better, though.

Overview Creator(s): Papyrus Semi Composer(s): Yuki Iwai, Takashi Tateishi, Minae Fujii Statistics Scores: 18 14 44 21 17 Total: 22.80 / 100 Rank: 172nd Elements: 1 Collectables: Enemies: Fan Fiend Hologran Metall Metall Dance Petit Devil (green, yellow) Screw Bomber Tackle Fire Telly Watcher Gimmicks: Air Tiki Crash Lift Gravity Flip Sub-Bosses: Hot Dog Bosses: Metall Daddy

Theme Music Part 1: Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise - Mode Select Part 2: Mega Man 2 - Dr. Wily Stage 1 Boss: Mega Man 4 - Boss Stage Order Location: Tier 1 Previous: Glitched up Beta Next: Not Delivering On Promises

"Oh...all right then. But why, though?"

―Shinryu, judge comment

You Don't Know the Drill is the 172nd place level in Make a Good Mega Man Level 3. A level that starts off with a similar aesthetic to Drill Man's stage, it eventually transitions into a small recreation of Mega Man 2's Wily Castle. This transition is conveyed by a plethora of signs ostensibly depicting a conversation between Crash Man and Guts Man while building the level.

Strategy

The way to progress isn't always clear. In the first room, Mega Man has to access a Gravity Flip by jumping into the green tube. After falling upwards, go left, and continue holding left while falling when gravity flips back to normal. After this, the level is rather straightforward to complete, with the only notable feature being a large amount of signs that can be easily ignored.

The first two Trickster Tokens are located in areas accessible via hidden ladders that go down into secret rooms, both of which are difficult to find without the Level Compass upgrade (though a sufficiently observant player may notice a vertical "line" of tiles that look slightly out of place). The first is on the very first platform, while the second is on the first screen with signs, and both can be found by holding down while walking over them or looking for tiles which are slightly different. The second token room contains a generous amount of bolts and tanks, making it a good farming spot. The final Trickster Token can be obtained by using either the Rush Jet or the Magnet Beam to reach the ladder above the purple tiles. These tiles are fake, and will cause Mega Man to fall through them and into the boss corridor; after which is a battle against Metall Daddy.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
Mick Galbani  : 18 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 5 / 35 2 / 25 0 / 15 3 / 15 8 / 10 Not funny, didn't laugh. Humour can be a nice thing to have, but it's important to have an actual level behind it. This... ultimately does not. It at least starts with something of a level, albeit one with naught but some gravity flips and weirdly recolored enemies. Also, it didn't even use mugshots for Crash Man or Guts Man, despite the engine supporting that, and the music dies so easily that I'm not convinced it's the engine this time.
Shinryu  : 14 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 1 / 35 1 / 25 1 / 15 1 / 15 10 / 10 Oh...all right then. But why, though? In all seriousness, however, there's not a whole lot to discuss here. Design-wise, this level is all over the place. Many of the sections are either largely empty, or feature inefficient enemies thanks to their placements (with special mention going to the Hot Dog, who you can safely kill by standing right next to it). The tokens are probably the most notable things here, given two of them are hidden in a pretty ridiculous way. While the level does hint at them - via some ground tiles being slightly different - it's such a minor and easy to miss detail that, quite frankly, I can't see anyone obtaining them their first time through (without prior knowledge or the map upgrades, at least).
Pachy  : 44 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 9 / 35 14 / 25 7 / 15 7 / 15 7 / 10 But Do You Know the Bulldozer? Well that was certainly a level. There's a story being told in the form of a million signposts that I'm not gonna read through. This ain't a Minecraft adventure map. I guess it's somewhat entertaining to look at the wacky changing visuals and unexpected tricks the level occasionally throws at you. Other than that, though, there isn't really any, like, actual level design going on for the majority of the level.
Flashman85  : 21 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 7 / 35 5 / 25 1 / 15 3 / 15 5 / 10 You're right: I *don't* know the drill. Because I was under the impression that the drill was to make a good Mega Man level, not a haphazard collision of assets that uses a silly narrative to excuse the absence of real level design. This entire level hinges on the player being amused by the premise of sloppiness due to budget issues. If the humor falls flat--or worse yet, if the player ignores the generically named infoboxes, which don't even bother with character portraits--then the whole thing becomes a waste of time. The story is the only reason to play this level. Graphics? Most screens consist of repetitive foreground with a nondescript or crudely abstract background. Soundtrack? It's a hodgepodge of decent tunes that don't complement each other (assuming the music starts playing at all!), and I'm always wary when levels reuse iconic music from previous MaGMMLs (X Factory would like a word with the Wily Castle section). Gameplay? Shoot the thing in front of you, jump over an easy gap. Learn how more than a dozen unrelated enemies and gimmicks function, then wonder if you'll see any of them again. Fall through a fake floor and then replay the whole level to get the token you were cheated out of. Polish? Bottomless pits are indistinguishable from screen transitions. Gravity flippers hardly look like gravity flippers. Invisible and completely absent collision objects turn air into walls and walls into air--jump over the gate to turn Wily Castle into Wily Prison! Problems like these make the hidden ladders look like actual tiling mistakes instead of something suspicious to be investigated. I like the idea of a level that's comically falling apart because of imaginary money matters. But this one falls apart because it's a joke first and a Mega Man level second.
ACESpark  : 17 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 5 / 35 3 / 25 0 / 15 2 / 15 7 / 10