Spicy Top Action - Revision history

Magnus Von Neto: /* Trivia */

2025-03-20T04:26:39Z

‎Trivia

Snessy the duck: /* Trivia */

2024-07-26T22:07:34Z

‎Trivia

Kyubi: Not sure where 93 comes from. Freeman gave this a 79/100

2023-12-24T02:15:20Z

Not sure where 93 comes from. Freeman gave this a 79/100

Spin Attaxx: Created page with "{{Levelinfo |align=right |rank=9th |image=256px |caption=Never before have tops spun with such..."

2023-12-23T07:34:22Z

Created page with "{{Levelinfo |align=right  |rank=9th |image=256px |caption=Never before have tops spun with such..."

New page

{{Levelinfo
|align=right

|rank=9th
|image=[[File:MaG48HMML-9-SpicyTopAction.png|256px]]
|caption=Never before have tops spun with such fiery passion.
|game=''[[Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level]]''
|creator=[[ThatEntityGirl]]
|composer=Makoto Tomozawa, Yasuaki Fujita (originals)<br>RushJet1 (covers)


|gamenum=48h
|judge1=95
|judge2=77
|judge3=62.5
|judge4=93
|totalscore=78.375

|elements=1
|collectables=
|box=
*[[Bomb Thrown]]
*[[Fire Totem]]
*[[Komasaburo]]
*[[Fire Spike]]
*[[Top Lift]]
|enemies=
*[[Bomb Thrown]]
*[[Fire Totem]]
*[[Komasaburo]]
|gimmicks=
*[[Fire Spike]]
*[[Top Lift]]
|subbosses=
|bosses=
*[[Solar Man]] & [[Top Man]]
|other=
|music=Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge - Wily Castle<br>'''Boss:''' Mega Man 3 Remade - Doc Robot Boss
|location=[[Tier 11 (MaG48HMML)|Tier 11]]
|previous=[[Flaming Fortress]]
|next=[[Braving New Depths]]
}}
'''Spicy Top Action''' is the 9th place entry in ''[[Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level]]''. It is named after its two primary gimmicks: [[Fire Spike]]s and [[Top Lift]]s, which are used to create numerous platforming challenges. Per the name, [[Komasaburo]]s and [[Fire Totem]]s are also common enemies here, each acting as barricades to the path ahead in their own unique ways. Halfway through the level are two split pathways, each focusing on one of the two gimmicks, although the bottom path takes place underwater for extra variety. Spicy Top Action is also the ninth and penultimate level to be visited during the Goody Two Shoes [[Sidequests|sidequest]], although the [[Shadow Imposter]]'s message is relatively easy to find (especially compared to [[Spicy Banana Bread Storehouse|the level targeted previously]]).

==Strategy==
Fire Spikes are recoloured blue to be more visible against the level's mostly red backgrounds, but are otherwise unchanged. Following some cursory introductions to them, Komasaburos, and Top Lifts, a set of Fire Totems cause trouble for [[Mega Man]], including a pair in a ceiling alcove that are out of most weapons' attack range. The best way of getting these enemies out of the way is the screen-wide [[Rain Flush]], which can also kill them in one hit as long as they aren't hiding. Alternatively, [[Beat]] can home in on them more accurately than the [[Homing Sniper]], and if the Drill Beak upgrade has been bought from [[Deleuze Pipi]], he can ignore their long shielded bodies entirely. Some platforming on Top Lifts while Fire Spikes traverse the ground follows the first checkpoint. No weapon in the ''MaG48HMML'' arsenal can freeze Fire Spikes solid, so aside from careful jumping, the best way past them is to use [[Rush Jet]] to fly over them. Two paths soon present themselves: one continuing right into a cave, and another accessed by a ladder in the ground.

By taking the top path and continuing to the right, Mega Man enters a cavern with Damage Spikes (which here will deal 4 HP's worth of damage on contact), and [[Bomb Thrown]]s that attack from afar. The platforming here is simple, though it's easy to be knocked into spikes or a pit without proper caution. At the next checkpoint, the Bomb Throwns give way to rooms with Top Lifts that try to carry Mega Man into Damage Spikes, some of which rise upwards incredibly fast. The first of these also includes a descending Top Lift next to a tall wall, but Mega Man cannot jump onto it from the ground and then on top of the wall as the lift will be too low by the time he can reach it. Normally, getting on it requires getting on an upwards lift, then sliding onto the middle platform before the lift reaches the spikes above; however, either [[Rush]] or the [[Concrete Shot]] can be used to scale the wall without riding any lifts.

The bottom path, on the other hand, leads to an underwater section with Fire Spikes crawling across the ground; some of these will move right and require slow but constant movement to get past, while others move left and need to be jumped over, sometimes while avoiding spikes in the ceiling. The [[Tengu Blade]] can be used to dash through the Fire Spikes without being damaged, but care must be taken so that Mega Man doesn't run into a Fire Spike right as the dash ends. If one has the Blast Wind upgrade from [[Joseph]] and doesn't mind taking damage, simply sliding through the flames also works as a quick (albeit harmful) way of getting past them. Both paths soon meet up at a checkpoint, in an outdoors area with geometric trees. Only a short enemy challenge stands between it and the bosses of the level: [[Solar Man]] and [[Top Man]]. The arena is partially submerged, making it easier to jump over their attacks, although Top Man's airborne tops and Solar Man's ground-covering Solar Blazes are a tricky combo to avoid. Because the arena has no walls, it's possible to get Solar Man to kill himself by hugging the right until he jumps offscreen, but Top Man will always stay away from the edges.

==Shadow Imposter Graffiti==
The graffiti is found midway through the level, and is located on the top pathway. It is easily found near the top of the screen above a small block, but is difficult to get to; Bomb Throwns are positioned on a spiked staircase nearby, and the [[Rush Jet]] is needed to reach the block. Two [[Shadow Turret]]s, a Type A (chasing) and a Type B (orbiting), will harass Mega Man throughout the level while the message is present.

==Judge Comments==
{{JudgeComment48h
|parma=I love what you've done here. You show the conventional use of the gimmicks, then break expectations in the best way. To start out, the level is beautiful. I love the layers, I love the background, and I love the music. Anyway, I think doing split paths is risky in this contest, but this is great. By using split paths, you made two new gimmicks without making the level feel bloated and without underutilizing one gimmick or the other. At the start of both paths, you get a tight platforming section in which you made the great decision of using damage spikes. If you used normal spikes, this level would be terrible, but these sections are tough and engaging and let their gimmicks really shine. You made the fire very slow-moving, which was really awesome. It still goes with the theme of precise movement, but suddenly there's more pressure. Even in the last stretch with the line of moving fire, it just feels satisfying even if it isn't too hard. The top section likewise starts with precise sections with damage spikes, then the next section gets spicy. Using the super fast and super slow tops makes it almost not even feel like the same gimmick, but man it's fun. Every time I play this section I'm just having a blast. Good job. I guess I just wanted a better last segment, but I can't complain too much with this level other than wanting to see more.
|parmascore=95
|pjdesign=33
|pjcreativity=14
|pjfunction=10
|pjfun=23
|pjaesthetics=15
|pk=WHY ARE THE TOPS SO FAST? *ahem* Overall, this level has been crafted very well, utilizing the enemies in fun and creative ways. I'm not too keen on the splitting of the paths, but it is what it is. The upper one is made a bit weirdly with all the superfast tops, and some sections there felt...weird. The lower one, on the other hand, has a more slow and methodical nature to it, which I personally preferred. Not a big fan of double boss battles, though...
|pkscore=77
|pkdesign=23
|pkcreativity=12
|pkfunction=10
|pkfun=18
|pkaesthetics=14
|m-jacq=More like SPIKY Top Action, am I right? Because wow - even with the extremely neutered damage spikes in this level, I sure was getting impaled by a lot of pointy things in rapid succession in this level. Now, if my decimal score looks a little weird, there's a good reason for it: given the split paths in this level are so different, I thought it was only fair that I judge the two sections separately and then average my scores together. Given that this level's two paths were 23 points apart (!!), that only seemed fair. But before we get there, let me just state for the record that the first part of the level, before the paths diverge, is extremely fun. The enemies and gimmicks are introduced separately and in "low-stakes" situations (as they should be) without ever feeling like the level is slowing down to do introductions. And there's a great gag with the absurdly tall Fire Totem. (Is that its Alolan form?) Now, the lower path, the underwater one? That's legitimately fantastic. It feels like a continuation of the path above, it's very challenging but in a totally doable way, and the checkpointing's generous should you fail. I think the slow section where you're between some very tight fire spikes could be shortened or sped up a tad? But that's really my only complaint. But that upper path with the tops is a little weird. I did eventually figure out the timing on the super-fast tops, but it's extremely tricky, and it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out how to get past them as they whiz by. At first I thought it was effectively random, and I ate up a lot of deaths once they started tossing you into spiked ceilings. The Bomb Thrown sections also feel a little out-of-place, since they don't show up earlier and exist in weirdly rompy open spaces that don't jibe with the rest of the level. Finally, two slight demerits: this stage is extremely busy visually, and while I thought the sunset was pretty (albeit kind of familiar) the stage's visual aesthetic looked cobbled together from a bunch of MaGMML2 content in a way that was distracting. And golly gee, that dual boss is tricky (and not in the fun way this stage is tricky). Is the correct strategy "hug the edge of the screen so that Solar Man falls in a pit and kills himself" or "spam Rain Flush and then just fight Top Man like normal"? Neither is particularly fun. I did like this level, but it's definitely blisteringly hard in spots - which you're clearly aware of, what with all the checkpoints everywhere. I suspect this top action might be a little too spicy for some palates - but for me, I liked it just fine. Shame about that top path, though.
|m-jacqscore=62.5
|mjdesign=18
|mjcreativity=12
|mjfunction=8
|mjfun=17.5
|mjaesthetics=7
|freems=There were definitely a lot of creative uses out of the assets here. Both the Top Man platforms and Fire Spikes had a nice deal of diversity to them and they never really felt stale. Even the Fire Totem enemy got in on the fun and had some unique setups that you don't usually see. Overall, I would say the first half of the level was well made. Everything is introduced to you rather well and outside of a few jumps here and there that really feel too far away from their own good, it's well made. The separate paths begin to lead to a problem in the fact that each path only really focuses on one of the two gimmicks. You get to see some creative uses of both tops and fire spikes (with a lot of actual spikes thrown in. I'm grateful they weren't instadeath and even then it almost felt too excessive at points), but if you want to see the other half, you have to play the level twice. I wouldn't recommend forcing the player to play both, otherwise the level would go on for too long, but some in between where one of the gimmicks doesn't just vanish from the level entirely for the second half because the other is on a split path. It just makes the whole thing feel strangely segmented, especially at the end where the two come back together again, but it can't really use any of the more complicated forms of the gimmicks since well, there's a good chance the player hasn't seen one of them. This seems like a really strange thing to harp on about, because I guess in the end I'm just sad that we couldn't get both of the gimmicks working together in full tandem because of the level being split in two. And really, my biggest complaint is I wanted more of your fun ideas; so I guess that's still a win at the end of the day.
|freemsscore=93
|frdesign=25
|frcreativity=14
|frfunction=9
|frfun=19
|fraesthetics=12
}}
==Trivia==
* Spicy Top Action is one of only two levels in ''MaG48HMML'' to receive a decimal score from an individual judge, in this case [[M-Jacq]] (the other being [[Make a 48 Minute Mega Man Level]], where it got 4.8 from the same judge, albeit as a meme). This caused the level's score to break from the multiple of 25 sequence used for almost every other entry (aside from, again, Make a 48 Minute Mega Man Level), and for its score to have three digits after the decimal point instead of two, although in-game the score is rounded up to 78.38.
* The level's ocean sunset background is reused from ''[[Make a Good Mega Man Level 2]]'', where it was used in [[Hardcore Parkour]] as the background for [[Toad Man's Revenge]].
* M-Jacq's judge comment for Spicy Top Action is the longest judge comment in the game, at 2,645 characters (2,167 excluding spaces) and 475 words.
<br>
{{MaG48HMML Tier 11}}
{{MaG48HMML}}
[[Category:Stages]][[Category:Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level Stages]][[Category:Tier 11 (MaG48HMML)]]

@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 |fraesthetics=12
 }}
-==Trivia==
+==Notes==
 * Spicy Top Action is one of only two levels in ''MaG48HMML'' to receive a decimal score from an individual judge, in this case [[M-Jacq]] (the other being [[Make a 48 Minute Mega Man Level]], where it got 4.8 from the same judge, albeit as a meme). This caused the level's score to break from the multiple of 25 sequence used for almost every other entry (aside from, again, Make a 48 Minute Mega Man Level), and for its score to have three digits after the decimal point instead of two, although in-game the score is rounded up to 78.38.
 * The level's ocean sunset background (taken from the Sega 32X version of ''Brutal Unleashed'') is reused from ''[[Make a Good Mega Man Level 2]]'', where it was used in [[Hardcore Parkour]] as the background for [[Toad Man's Revenge]].

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 |judge2=77
 |judge3=62.5
-|judge4=93
+|judge4=79
 |totalscore=78.375
 <!-- ===========Stats============== -->
@@ Line 83: / Line 83: @@
 |mjaesthetics=7
 |freems=There were definitely a lot of creative uses out of the assets here. Both the Top Man platforms and Fire Spikes had a nice deal of diversity to them and they never really felt stale. Even the Fire Totem enemy got in on the fun and had some unique setups that you don't usually see. Overall, I would say the first half of the level was well made. Everything is introduced to you rather well and outside of a few jumps here and there that really feel too far away from their own good, it's well made. The separate paths begin to lead to a problem in the fact that each path only really focuses on one of the two gimmicks. You get to see some creative uses of both tops and fire spikes (with a lot of actual spikes thrown in. I'm grateful they weren't instadeath and even then it almost felt too excessive at points), but if you want to see the other half, you have to play the level twice. I wouldn't recommend forcing the player to play both, otherwise the level would go on for too long, but some in between where one of the gimmicks doesn't just vanish from the level entirely for the second half because the other is on a split path. It just makes the whole thing feel strangely segmented, especially at the end where the two come back together again, but it can't really use any of the more complicated forms of the gimmicks since well, there's a good chance the player hasn't seen one of them. This seems like a really strange thing to harp on about, because I guess in the end I'm just sad that we couldn't get both of the gimmicks working together in full tandem because of the level being split in two. And really, my biggest complaint is I wanted more of your fun ideas; so I guess that's still a win at the end of the day.
-|freemsscore=93
+|freemsscore=79
 |frdesign=25
 |frcreativity=14