Neon Man (stage)

For the article on the boss, see Neon Man.

56th: Neon Man Make a Good Mega Man Level 2

O-oh, I don't feel so well...

Overview Creator(s): CreshMan Composer(s): HertzDevil Statistics Scores: 23 25 16 26 33 Total: 24.6 / 50 Rank: 56th Elements: 1 Collectables: 1 Nickel Enemies: New Shield Attacker Wall Blaster II 100 Watton Hologran B Bitter Monopellan Cannon Boomerang Joe Dompan Apache Joe (boss fight only) Sub-Bosses: Disco Ball Bosses: Neon Man Other Information: Skippable

Theme Music Expand Man Stage Order Location: Tier 4 Previous: Joe Destruction Co. Next: Jungle Base

Overview

Neon Man is the 56th place entry in Make a Good Mega Man Level 2. It's main gimmick is special Holograns that create the illusion that the platforms and background on the screen are moving in parallax to the left, when in fact they aren't moving at all. For this reason, it is one of two stages in the contest to have been given a Motion Sickness Warning.

Strategy

It's very easy to get disoriented as the stage layout starts to shift, especially once pits and death spikes come into play. Try to eliminate the Holograns projecting the illusion quickly, or else wait until the background cycles back so the platform images sync up to where they actually are. If you aren't doing a 'Buster Only' run, you can make things easier by using Hornet Chaser to quickly eliminate the Holograns (but be wary of it homing in on other enemies on screen first) or Flash Stopper to pause the illusion temporarily.

Judge Comments
snoruntpyro  : 23 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 6 / 15 0 / 10 9 / 15 5 / 5 5 / 5 Yes This level pulls off its gimmick incredibly well, and I absolutely despise it for that. I cannot handle the weirdo Holograms, they literally destroy my brain. Call me dumb but once they activate I just completely stop functioning and get horribly disoriented and just run into pits and have not a fun time at all. The level sets out to mess with your head with illusions, and it did it so well that my brain melted and I just did not care to even try to beat this level legit. I was so tired of dying constantly by the end of it that I just cheated the rooms with Hornet Chaser. The boss is pretty bad, too - the bouncing bullets from the Apache Joes are obnoxious, hard to kill, and deal a ton of damage, and Neon Man himself also will eat your health alive if you so much as graze him. I appreciate that you were able to pull off this gimmick really well, it's probably like the best illusion-type gimmick in Mega Man I've seen, the issue is that it does its job far too well and horribly broke my brain and just lead to me constantly dying over and over because I slightly misjugedwhere the platforms would be.
JupiHornet  : 25 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 5 / 15 3 / 10 11 / 15 2 / 5 4 / 5 The outside sections looked really cool, but the inside sections were just the same backgrounds over and over and didn't look good. I didn't really like the holographic sections either, and it almost feels like some parts of the stage were designed for the player to destroy the holograms with Hornet Chaser, because getting through certain sections is REALLY hard if you don't. That's not a good thing to do to the player! The boss was also way too hectic, and that Copter Joe just sends it over the edge. Overall, this level had a lot of potential, but bad execution.
Enjl  : 16 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 3 / 15 2 / 10 5 / 15 1 / 5 5 / 5 No Well the concept for this is certainly... interesting. However, it's one of those concepts which encourages the player to get rid of it altogether during their playthrough. Doing a buster only run of this stage can easily get very tedious, as the player has to wait often complete cycles of the background in order to not put themselves at rist of falling off. Coupled with the added enemies later in the stage, using Hornet Chaser to just get rid of the entire driving point of the level is a much safer option which also will make the level more fun to play. The boss fight is not much better, unfortunately, with the background and Apache Joes distracting from the actual fight and the projectiles blending in with the slowly moving background. I didn't have a lot of fun with this level and I think that while its concept is creative, it needs a lot of adjustments in order to be even remotely usable in a fun environment.
Garirry  : 26 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 6 / 15 4 / 10 8 / 15 3 / 5 5 / 5 Doesn't work well with the mechanic, if you spend too long at the start of the screen, you've already lost your oportunity of removing the weird effect. Other than that it's meh. It gets really irritating, the weird screen distorting-mechanic is really eye-straining. It's not fun dying over and over like this. Yeah it has some pretty decent ideas, but they aren't really executed well and not particularly interesting either. Man, this could have been better. Graphics could have been more polished and audio selection could be better. Works just fine. I don't see how the weird screen-distorting effect was any good at all. If you fail to quickly kill the enemy that causes it, the view has already screwed itself and not dying becomes a case of trial and error. Not to mention that the level design doesn't suit such mechanic to begin with. Granted there were some cool ideas, but it's just an average level. It's not very fun, looks bad, and is executed awfully.
ACESpark  : 33 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 7 / 15 6 / 10 13 / 15 2 / 5 5 / 5 No Nice meme. :V Ok, on a serious note, your weakest aspect of your stage is the graphics, as a lot of stuff was off style, particularly the original enemies and the Master. You know what, I can live with lackluster graphics. I will give you props for making sure things matched the colour palette of your level though. As for your stage: Your primary gimmick was, really really cool. I loved the idea behind it! Sure, it occasionally required you to memorise, but checkpoints were very well placed (mostly), so that helped a big deal to limit the frustration. Where things get kinda wonky is some of the enemy layouts on the screens with your gimmick. Many are overcrowded, and expects too much from the player. Fewer enemies on these screens would've helped this stage a big deal better. The Grey Propeller enemy is the biggest offender, he has too much health and nearly always placed in locations where, he's fine on his own, but mixed with other enemies was painful. There is one spot with involves you jumping over a Shield Attack and said Grey Propeller, above a instant-death pit, which was kinda annoying. I could eventually clear this area with practice, but it took quite more practice than most people would have patience for. Still, this level was enjoyable all told, if a bit too hard for it's own good. Your Robot Master was really fun to fight, and a great cap to your end of level. He was difficult, but very doable and very satisfying to actually take down buster-only. Next to your gimmick idea, I think your execution of this guy is the highlight of your stage.

Easter Eggs

• In the same room as the Noble Nickel is an invincible Hologran that, instead of shifting the layout, projects the background from City War onto the screen.

City War's Revenge!