Wily Rooms of Weapons

72nd: Wily Rooms of Weapons Make a Good Mega Man Level 3

"Fires Laser Tridents, never stops spinning his spear... and never turns around, either."

Overview Creator(s): Dragon Fogel Composer(s): Capcom Statistics Scores: 58 39 55 78 71 Total: 60.2 / 100 Rank: 72nd Elements: 1 Collectables: Enemies: Ben K Curlinger Cutting Wheel Elecit Fan Fiend Feeber Mag Fly Molier Gimmicks: Falling Platform(MM5) Destroyable Block Reflect Block Key Barrier Bosses: Super Block

Theme Music Hub Area: Mega Man 7 - Wily Stage 3 Puzzle Rooms: Mega Man 8 - Wily Stage 1 Stage Order Location: Tier 9 Previous: Walk-in Freezer Next: Beat the Security System

"Find your way to the exit in all five rooms, and you can escape! But that's unlikely."

―Dr. Wily, through the first "Wilybox 6600" sign.

Wily Rooms of Weapons is the 72nd place entry in Make a Good Mega Man Level 3. The level consists of five “puzzles rooms” that each contain an exit teleporter, a Trickster Token, and enemies that drop a specific weapon capsule when destroyed. Mega Man must exit all five rooms to unlock the boss gate leading to Super Block.

This level is judge Flashman85’s Gold Favorite.

Strategy

The level consists of a small corridor of five teleporters leading to the titular rooms (not counting the Skip Teleporter) that ends with a locked boss gate. All weapons except the Mega Buster are locked in this corridor, and as the “Wilybox 6600” sign at the beginning explains, enemies in each room will drop capsules allowing the use of one special weapon at a time.

Most of the enemies can be destroyed with one shot of any weapon (except buster shots when Break Dash is equipped), and some have different behavior to suit the puzzles:

• Curlinger functions as it normally does, sliding across the floor and bouncing off any wall it runs into. Drops a capsule for Ice Wall when defeated.

• Ben K will continually spin its reflective spear in one direction, occasionally firing Laser Trident projectiles. Drops a capsule for Laser Trident when defeated.

• Elecit only use their floor-shocking attack, and have an attached platform that Mega Man can stand on for a makeshift elevator. Drops a capsule for Thunder Beam when defeated.

• Feeber functions as it normally does, standing still and firing bubbles that drag Mega Man across the ground if they touch him. Drops a capsule for Water Shield when defeated.

• Molier dashes straight forward, but will bounce off Reflect Blocks or Destroyable Blocks and dash the other way. Can only be destroyed with a piercing weapon or by hitting a "regular" wall. Drops Break Dash when defeated.

• Fan Fiend will generate green tornado barriers that push Mega Man back if he tries moving through them normally. Drops a capsule for Tornado Blow when defeated.

• Mag Fly flies horizontally and pulls Mega Man up if he remains below it, but will change direction after hitting any sort of solid wall. Drops a capsule for Magnetic Shockwave when defeated.

• Cutting Wheel "chase" variety functions as it normally does, dropping from a levitated position when it senses Mega Man, accelerating in his direction, even decelerating before it hits a wall to change direction if Mega Man is "behind" it. Drops a capsule for Spark Chaser when defeated.

Players must figure out the proper order of obtaining and using weapons to reach the escape of each room, with a more difficult arrangement necessary to obtain the Trickster Token as well. Each room also provides a teleporter back to the corridor for players who get stuck, resetting the room and the player’s weapon to just the Mega Buster. Through the signs outside of each teleporter, Mega Man can “grovel” to Dr. Wily for hints about the intended solution(s).

Room 1

WIP

Room 2

WIP

Room 3

WIP

Room 4

WIP

Room 5

WIP

Skip Status:

Wily Rooms of Weapons was made skippable due to the difficulty of the otherwise mandatory room puzzles, in addition to the greater difficulty of methods for obtaining each of the Trickster Tokens.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
Mick Galbani  : 58 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 18 / 35 12 / 25 13 / 15 8 / 15 7 / 10 So... this took me a couple of days to clear 100% in my blind run, that... isn’t a good thing. The concept is interesting, don’t get me wrong. 5 distinct puzzles revolving around the weapons, and you have to pick and choose the right path to success, and... it’s very different! I got more use out of the weapons here than I have anywhere else (because I’m a buster snob and not afraid to admit it), and it was often satisfying to figure out the complete solutions. I particularly appreciate that there’s no real death threats, it makes the level into something purely cerebral, which is a very different experience that’s occasionally enjoyable. Unfortunately, Mega Man is not a puzzle game. It is an action game first and foremost, which makes the puzzle aspects very awkward. As stated previously, this took a couple of days for me to clear, longer than any other level in the contest, and I fully expect this will be a bit Marmite (meaning love it or hate it). A single mistake on any solution can force you to restart the entire puzzle, and sometimes the mistakes aren’t what you’d expect. In particular, killing Magfly while it’s carrying you can trap you in mid-air, a softlock that forces you to restart. Additionally, I’ve (somehow) scrolled one of the keys off screen at least once, and that third puzzle has a very unorthodox bypass that I can *tell* wasn’t intended. Beyond that, it’s all puzzles, with no real break for any action. This is definitely to the level’s detriment, as folks aren’t playing Mega Man for puzzles. I’d even go so far as to say it doesn’t belong in a contest like this. Although, there is one part that’s more akin to Mega Man standard, the Weapon Block boss. It’s... certainly an unusual boss, but it has a decent concept, and was a fun fight overall. The only real issue I had was that the last two phases seemed to fire just a smidge too often, but considering they’re attached to the more defensive weapons, that’s not a significantly important detail. Of course, the boss isn’t the focus of the level, it’s there to be the ending, first and foremost. This was a very bold level to make, and to some degree I appreciate it for what it is. However, this time it’s a bit *too* bold, to the point it feels very out of place. I won’t be surprised if the scores for this level are all over the place.
Shinryu  : 39 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 12 / 35 5 / 25 9 / 15 4 / 15 9 / 10 This is easily one of the most unconventional stages in the whole contest. That in and of itself doesn’t automatically make it bad, though. Some variety here and there can go a long way to making your stage stand out. That said, while this level is pretty memorable... I don’t think it’s for the right reasons. While I’ll commend the attempt here to make a full-on puzzle stage, the execution creates a very mixed to frustrating experience. If you’re going through each of the rooms with the goal of just getting to the end, then you probably won’t have too much trouble. Most of the solutions are pretty clear-cut, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have at least a bit of fun figuring out how to get through some of these rooms, especially with the first and second ones. While these moments can be fun, going for the tokens is another matter entirely. Honestly, the process of getting the tokens in this stage reminds me a little too much of certain point and click adventure game puzzles. You know the ones: The kind that often have very obtuse solutions just to stretch out the game’s run-time. You’ll often think you have the correct solution, only to suddenly realize it’s not right, meaning you need to re-do most (if not, all) of the room again just to give it another try with a different method. Incidentally, this is also what led me to discover a bug with the third room, where using the reset button gives you the key as you warp back in. The comparisons to old school point and click adventures don’t end there, as the tokens share yet another issue with them: Once you know how to do the puzzles, you can probably breeze through them without much of a second thought. To note, I’m not saying I would’ve preferred a set of randomized puzzles, because that would be even more nightmarish than what we have here already. A stage that had more open-ended puzzles with multiple solutions might have worked out a bit better in this case, but that’s just my take on it. Finally, we have the end boss. It...doesn’t really feel well put together, to be honest. The way it fired out enemies as projectiles really screwed with my head at first, because I see those and my first instinct is to shoot them (given the obvious). That’s also not to mention the way it fires them out can look incredibly janky at times too. This is especially noticeable when it fires out Ben K’s, who have no animation and are flipped sideways for some reason. Overall, while I get what you’re going for here, I can’t say I enjoyed it that much. There’s some potential in the weapon-based puzzle elements here, that’s for sure... but the trial and error nature of it (especially with the tokens) really hurts it in the end.
Pachy  : 55 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 20 / 35 7 / 25 15 / 15 6 / 15 7 / 10 WROW: The Contest Beneath Neat concept for a level. I like me some puzzles, and puzzle-oriented levels are certainly a nice change of pace in a contest setting. It’s nice that the weapons are infinite and the rooms are laid out in a way that you always have a way back to the starting teleporter to reset, with a generous health refill as well. Little touches like that definitely help a lot in the long run with levels that expect the player to be stuck playing for a while. Unfortunately, the level is very heavy on the trial-and-error side. A lot of enemies aren’t always clear with how they interact with special weapons. Examples such as the Ben K’s projectile interacting with the switch in Room 4; Room 3’s tucked-away-in-the-corner Water Shield block that has no reason to be there (as it doesn’t impact the order of how you get the weapons) other than being a mean “gotcha” moment. Other times it can be uncertain if some of the interactions were intentional or not, like with Room 3’s Fan Fiend, it’s still possible to kill him with the Water Shield without breaking the Break Dash block, and in Room 5, you can kill the Ben K with the buster if you get really close to him. There also seems to be an engine-related bug where you can switch back to the Mega Buster with both weapon switch functions pressed down, even though it is supposed to be disabled, which can get in the way of problem-solving. With every room other than the first one requiring at least 5 brains, this makes it very taxing to get through the level. Though partially it is due to my tiny monkey brain in general, haha. It would have probably made the few later head-scratchers less daunting to come into, if the stage had provided some more minor puzzle rooms that can also serve as tutorials for the less obvious puzzle elements that were discussed. On the aesthetic side of things, the lack of backgrounds in the puzzles rooms make the level feel bland and incomplete. Music choice is good as a non-intrusive thinking music, though the slightly misaligned loop point can be somewhat distracting. The boss fight is pretty basic and quite silly, which is a good thing after the player has spent much time on those puzzle rooms. It ends the level on a more pleasant note.
Flashman85  : 78 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 27 / 35 19 / 25 15 / 15 11 / 15 6 / 10 I love special weapons. I love puzzles. I am absolutely the target audience here. But as a judge, I need to consider how well this level teaches the basic skills and thought processes required to solve every puzzle. I need to acknowledge an accumulation of little technical issues (eg, objects that look identical but behave differently). I need to recognize that my first playthrough, while thoroughly enjoyable, lasted 60+ minutes-- and 5 points of my Fun score depend on how necessary a Skip Teleporter is. Fortunately, niceties are everywhere, from automatic health refills to a helpful (but verbose) hint system with plenty of character. Rooms can be tackled in any order and easily reset. I’m massively impressed at how the level safeguards against almost everything a player might do to break it. The only thing missing--and it’s a big one--is a way of tracking which rooms have been completed. Pleasantly minimalistic graphics keep the focus on the puzzles. The hub and puzzle rooms have totally appropriate music, though I would’ve liked a different (and properly looped) track for each room, to keep the atmosphere fresh. I’m bummed that the boss music isn’t also in the MM7/8 style. The puzzles make up for any shortcomings, though, with outstanding use of the assets involved. I like that more complicated solutions are required to reach the tokens. There are some especially great moments with Tornado Blow, Water Shield, Ice Wall, and Feeber bubbles. The boss is passable, but I’m not sure the level even needs one--it’s hard to top the satisfaction of solving a series of creative, mind-bending puzzles. As a judge, I will tell you that I’ve given you the highest score I can justify based on the interpretation of the rubric. As a player, I will tell you that the best parts make this my favorite level in the contest, and the rubric can take a hike.
ACESpark  : 71 / 100
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 25 / 35 18 / 25 13 / 15 7 / 15 8 / 10 Note for anyone playing this stage using the accessibility options I use: Turn them off, for this stage and this stage alone. Well, this is an interesting case. A Marmitey one, as it were. I can see some people absolutely loving this stage. And I can see some people absolutely hating it with the passion of a thousand suns. I.. I honestly kind of love it, at least the puzzles and concept, but I think it is hurt by the context in which it lies: Much like everyone who decided they wanted to submit a Metroidvania as part of a contest compilation, this really does feel like the wrong place to put a concept like this. As a puzzle stage, it’s hard to note specific things without giving it all away, but I will praise this: Your puzzle design is on point, these are really clever and you can clear the standard progress puzzles with intuition, once you understand what each room is asking of you. And getting the Trickster Tokens really requires outside-the-box thinking. Honestly, I had fun with this, and I really think you have something here. The boss is pretty unique, too, and a good cap at the end of the stage. An improvement would’ve been to have a smoother transition between phases - it’s very easy to just get bodied by the boss as it switches attack patterns and moves into position, often where you are standing, and thus rather unfairly conks you. Maybe the hit invulnerability should have gone both ways here? Would’ve greatly improved an otherwise fun, if simple boss. If what’s here had an entire game experience tailored to it, such as having the stages and rewards disconnected, with the option to expand the weapon set and therefore the puzzles... It would make for a truly unique fan game experience and I think it could go a long way. Plus, you’d be able to solve the biggest gripe I have with the stage. Having to do the entire sequence of puzzles in one sitting. The level asks a lot of a player, and it is a rather draining experience to clear it all. This is not a small gripe: It has implications throughout the level and its pacing, fun factor, and I think severely hurt it. Finally, it is possible to get yourself soft-locked in a few spots thanks to the Magnet enemy. This is ultimately a minor thing, but the player should be prepared to use the Retry function if needed. So, the stage’s score will probably end up being hurt through the other judges and even myself just due to context, and I honestly suspect that public opinion of the stage will be all over the place, too. So is it a Good Level? Yes. Yes it is. But this was probably not the place for it, though. I think outside of the context of MaGMML, this could be FANTASTIC.