Force Man (stage)

For the article on the boss, see Force Man.

25th: Force Man Make a Good Mega Man Level 2

Gee, that's pretty forceful of you.

Overview Creator(s): CosmicGem Programmer(s): Renhoek, NaOH Artist(s): TEHTACOMAN12321 Composer(s): HertzDevil Statistics Scores: 37 36 32 37 22 Total: 32.8 / 50 Rank: 25th Elements: 1 Collectables: 5 Nickels Enemies: Pakatto 24 Biree Bosses: Force Man

Theme Music Stage Order Location: Tier 8 Previous: But It Lacked the Depth to Convince Me That This is Really Hell Next: Smed's Big Annoying Mess of a Level

"I actually just enjoyed a Force Beam stage. Me! ...I need time to process this."

―RoahmMythril, coming to a startling revelation

Overview

Force Man is the 25th place level in Make a Good Mega Man Level Contest 2, created by CosmicGem. The level's main gimmick comes from repurposing Quick Man's Force Beams in creative ways. The stage is also notable for its overuse of the Pakatto 24 cannon, an enemy choice maligned by all five judges.

Strategy

The stage opens with some simple platforming segments, with the Force Lasers not yet posing a threat to the player. The first horizontal-scrolling area introduces the stage's primary enemy: the infamous Pakatto 24. The first Noble Nickel is at the very end of this area, in a side-room guarded by Pakatto 24s and Birees; use Wire Adaptor to reach the ladder in the ceiling. On the screen immediately after this one, there's a side-path on the right behind more Pakatto 24s that leads to the second Nickel, reachable with any utility. The Nickel itself is at the end of a small platforming segment with low-ceiling jumps over bottomless pits, so jump carefully.

The next few screens introduce a new mechanic: slow-firing Force Beams that the player must race against before the Beam blocks off their exit. Slide quickly through the three vents to get past the first Slow-Beam, then drop right past the second one (dealing with or ignoring the Pakatto 24 just before it). The next room is another horizontal-scrolling area, where you must outrun a Slow-Beam to reach the exit on the other side of the room. The third Noble Nickel is also here, so you'll need to quickly double back from the exit drop to reach it before the Slow-Beam blocks it off from you.

The stage now introduces blue Force Beams that fire in short intervals, requiring careful timing to get past. The fourth Nickel is easily spotted on the main path, up a pair of ladders protected by Blue Force Beams. Things get trickier now with platforming segments punctuated by more Pakatto 24s and double Blue Force Beams shooting up from the pits below. The final Nickel comes just at the end of this section in another side-room guarded by a Pakatto 24 and some Birees; use Super Arrow to clear the gap. You'll also need Wire Adaptor or Super Arrow to reach the Nickel itself. The final challenge of the level before Force Man himself comes from a tricky jump guarded by two Pakatto 24s and two Blue Force Beams firing onto the platform in the middle. Destroy the upper Pakatto 24 first, then jump onto the middle platform while the Blue Force Beams are off and quickly eliminate the lower one (or just use Super Arrow to skip the challenge entirely). After that, it's mostly a straight shot to the boss gate.

Judge Comments
snoruntpyro  : 37 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 10 / 15 5 / 10 12 / 15 5 / 5 5 / 5 No UUUUugughhhghhUuUGHGHHHH PAKATTO 24S ARE GARBAGE AND I HATE THEM. That's basically the one issue I have with this level. There's Pakatto 24s splattered everywhere and they're like one of the two enemy types in the whole level. Like, come on, man, pick a less freaking annoying enemy to actually put in your stage!!! There are some clever setups with them, but they just feel like giant timewasters that kill you constantly. Which is off given that this stage is built around QUICK lasers. You'd think that, you know, the level would try to be consistently fast paced. And it's a shame too because otherwise the level is pretty good, though I do think more could have een done with its gimmick. For a level based around Quick Lasers, it's pretty fair, and I like the really slow quick lasers and the timed lasers. The boss is also really good, too - I love how fast-paced it is, and the instant death attacks are very fair and well-telegraphed. It's just like...a level that has great ideas but kinda gets brought down for me due to some poor enemy choices.
JupiHornet  : 36 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 9 / 15 7 / 10 13 / 15 2 / 5 5 / 5 I didn't like the stage that much, mainly because of the overuse of those red cannon enemies, which I consider some of the most annoying Mega Man enemies ever. And now you're putting them next to Force Beams. Fun. I did enjoy the Force Beams that only last a short time though, that was very creative. The boss was really fun, and for a Robot Master with instant death attacks, it was surprisingly fair and well thought-out. Good job there :D
Enjl  : 32 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 8 / 15 4 / 10 10 / 15 5 / 5 5 / 5 No This is one of those levels where, if you get lucky, you're gonna like it a lot. I didn't get lucky and repeatedly fell victim to obstacles in the 2nd half which involved those red turrets. Those enemies are where a majority of my problems with this stage find its core, to be honest. While some of their placement in the 2nd half are pretty silly, the enemy itself is also one I would rather not see in an envronment where I often don't have the time to time my shots in order to bullseye their stupidly short vulnerability window. This stage also needs indication as to which pit is bottomless, as it has a few sections where two near identical pits are visable, yet only one will let you live. Force Man himself is not the most fun boss in the world. His erratic movement pattern and high speed are very difficult to predict and his force beam attacks have so much telegraphing that it requires thelegraphing within the telegraphing to telegraph when the telegraphing will end. In human speech: I kept jumping to avoid the beams before the telegraphing even ended. Overall this stage was constructed nicely and it has some cool ideas and while it could do more with them, its main concern right now is the turret enemy which has the potential to make playing this stage a complete chore.
Garirry  : 37 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 11 / 15 7 / 10 9 / 15 5 / 5 5 / 5 Solid level design. I feel like some placement of the cannon enemies starts to really get annoying, but aside from that, the quick lasers are not cheap and well done. Boss is good too. It was very enjoyable. It's nothing insanely amazing but it's very solid. Eh. I think it could have been a little more creative. I did find the usage of the quick lasers interesting, but nothing too special. Very good. Music is great. Works just fine. I think the biggest problem in this level is the enemy choice, as the Pakatto (the shielded cannon) is hard to hit and an overabundance of it becomes annoying very quickly. Thankfully, that isn't a very serious issue. The Quick Lasers are placed well and with no cheap or super-precise spots, with the exception of the third Noble Nickel. Ultimately, it was a fun and well-made level.
ACESpark  : 22 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 3 / 15 3 / 10 9 / 15 5 / 5 2 / 5 No Aw. Man. This level ends in a rather brilliant, well designed, and very fun boss fight, but it's let down by everything else! Here's the issue: your enemy set, your primary gimmick, and your level layout do not mix. And frankly, I think Pakatto 24 was a HORRIBLE choice for your primary enemy in this level. This could've been mitigated by another enemy, or more enemy variety. Having only the two.. especially when one of them is almost at the complete antitheses of your level's gimmick, I'm sorry, I think this was one of your biggest mistakes. One of the problems early on is the fact that the player can get stuck, and are forced to kill themselves. This goes against Mega Man design, wherein gimmicks should either kill the player outright if they fail the challenge, or reset somehow. Forcing the player to kill hemselves goes against every player instinct. The other issues are very much related to my first comment: The timing of your enemies and your laser desync, forcing the player to either wait for them to sync again, or go ahead and get lucky. This really disrupts the flow of what is basically a revamped Quick Man stage. And it disrupts the fun aspect. ... and then the end of the level happens. There is a segment towards the end of the stage that is seriously cramped with a low ceiling, have the shielded enemies shooting at you, AND lasers?! This is too much. It is so awkward to time, and not helped by how easy it is to hit your head off the ceiling in that segment and fall to your doom. UGH. This segment, is your absolute low point. And I'll be honest, anyone playing should really just use Super Arrow in that segment. It is seriously awful. I also have no idea what is, and isn't a pit. There are two drops almost on the same screen, one leads to a pit, the other leads to you continuing the level. I either need some way to tell where I should go, or you should use spikes.

Notes

• The use of Flash Stopper is disabled in this stage.