I know it sounds weird to post this here since it's no longer a work-in-progress, but at least people will notice it more here
In short, due to my tendency to almost never complete things, I decided to see if I was going to finish mapping this game before talking about it. Well, it's done, so I'll be sending the maps to JonLeung soon, in addition to posting them here.
For some reason, I went on a bit of a Gradius trip recently, and upon finding the only map on the site really disappointing, I wanted to do better. Maybe I'll map Gradius and Lifeforce too, and maybe the Gameboy games as well, but I'm not sure yet.
Stage 1:
This stage is impressive thanks to all those big stars and the fact that the central area loops vertically. Afterward, the rest is reminiscent of Stage 3 of Lifeforce where you must avoid deadly solar flares.
Stage 2:
This stage is clearly inspired by H.R. Giger's designs, from the skull and tube motifs everywhere to the giant bio-mechanical skull at the end.
Stage 3:
This stage is actually a fusion of two stages from the arcade game and it shows. First, a classic rocky area with volcanoes followed by a crystalline cavefilled with crystal fragment bouncing off of each other.
Stage 4:
The classic stage with giant Moai statues atacking you. First, they just shoot at you, occasionally rising from a flat surface. Then they turn red, attack faster and even turn around to face you constantly.
Stage 5:
The now classic boss rush. In order, the Core from Gradius, the brain, tentacle ship and giant cell from Lifeforce and finally something called the Armored Core, a nightmare that keeps firing tons of missile at you while you try to shoot its core while the armor spins around it. Nasty.
Stage 6:
This is the enemy base, where everything shoots you and then some. First you face tons of turrets and bases, then the high speed portion starts where you have to avoid the walls and dead-ends and finally you face another portion of the base where the floors and ceilings rise and fall, panels fly at you and you finally face a giant wall covered in weapons and then a giant mechanical spider whose legs you must avoid at all cost.
Stage 7:
This is it, the final organic stage. It's not too hard; just shot through the vines and avoid the growing masses from the top and bottom of the screen before facing the final boss, a giant flesh-less head. Kinda disgusting.
Any comment is appreciated as always.
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me
