And we're back, remarkably enough! This particular Schedule Slip, though, was actually somewhat planned. For one thing, I wanted to put this off until I got my computer in good working order again, which... I think I've done. (Behold, the power of compressed air!) The other thing I put this off for was finishing my current writing project, but I just finished that, so it's back to updating, baby! And with my fixed computer and my freed schedule as brain-fiber, hopefully this updates will be a little more regular until I finish this thing.
So now that we have Freeon's snowmany secret weapon, we can do one particular thing that's been bugging us for a good long while:
This! Yes, this lava-filled area from waaaay back when is now something we can work with!
256:
We ride this mine cart as usual, but, once we're over this little bit of ground, we jump off.
256:
Now it's time to put that ice breath of yours to work, Freeon!
Voila. Waddler, on the rocks. This freezing lasts a remarkably long time, especially above blooming lava. Even if that mess were Ice-9, it'd be holding out for a long time.
Since the platforms you make with this are tiny and sometimes far apart, it's generally best to use Shades to make these jumps. It's the power of teamwork, baby! And, if you're nuts enough to want it, fuel for that Shades/Freeon OTP fic.
I ended up being too high to hit that one with an ice blast, so I decided to try to just jump for it.
And, as my health shows, I did not do too well.
Lava acts just like water in this game, so Freeon and Gil can both swim in it. It just sucks at your health like some kind of crazy, bloodthirsty hummingbird. Now we can find out what actually lives in that door!
Wait, I know the dimensions of that doorway! OH CRA—
Oh wait.
Given the complete unecessariness of this room, one wonders if they'd originally planned a boss encounter here, but changed their minds. Oh well. Pick it up, Freeon.
Hoo-rah. Another Trinket of Uselesness.
Two down, one to go.
I made a cursory attempt at getting back across the "proper" way before deciding, "Eh, screw it, I can get back to where I want to go fast just by taking a lava bath anyway."
Oooh, what a world, what a world, what a wooorld!
We will be back shortly after I go complete my medicine scavenger hunt.
Wooosh! And we're back in a familiar room again, deep beneath the waves. We've already explored the lower-hand path here; it goes mineside again. So let's take the right-hand one for once.
Hey! I remember this pipe! You drop a Power Bomb inside, right?
Hmmm... Shall we go up?
I think we shall.
And look where we end up? The swamp with the trees and the creepy bird! And a lot of these little harpoon guys. These can be quite slowdown-inducing if enough of them start chasing you.
Oooh, what have we here?
Seriously we had better find that exploding jellybean or whatever right soon.
Guess we're picking a different pipe.
Not content to simply push us to the next area, the compressed water transit system actually sends us rocketing into the air from that little pool of water shortly before the tree area.
Luckily, at the very least, this puts us en route to the last piece of available water we've yet to fully explore.
What's that, you ask?
Why...
...This one, of course!
Dive in, boyo!
We know that doorway just teleports us, so we can move on quite fearlessly.
At first it looks somewhat familiar, but it quickly becomes more labyrinthine. Luckily we learn (more quickly that Gil would logically be able to) that, however you get to that dead end bit of water there, it's useless. Also, so much for finding its level and all that physics stuff.
I've got the U-bend blues, baby.
Topside, we find more ducks.
And more twisty underwater passages.
Heading to the left results in yet more bricks in our way, which at the very least suggests Gil's secret weapon is somewhere nearby.
And going right in the small passageway to the right of thaTREASURE! Could it be? At long last?! :D :D :D
No, because that would be too bloody easy.
I didn't bother screencapping the Item Get! screen here. If you really care that much, scroll up to me getting the Red Ring and read that. It's the same identical text, scout's honor. (Of course, I'm not a scout, but still.)
So let's follow that little pathway proper, then. Hmm. The last time we were in a hall of this height, it turned out all right, didn't it? So no worries here, right?
As freaking if.
Whoo boy. This one's gonna be a doozy. Allow me to introduce you to our fourth boss: Marine, um, Mary?
Mary here is my second-least-favorite boss in the game. (We'll be introduced to the first in the next installment.) Since Gil has complete mobility in this water-filled room, so does Mary! So no matter where you hide, Mary can and will chase you. Worse yet, he's just slightly faster than you.
Bopping his head to get the ball isn't really a problem, but getting back down to it is another problem. If you try to swim to the top of the room to get over him, he follows, and he will probably hit you in the process. One strategy (which I tried not to follow here, but ended up doing so anyway) is just to let him hit you so you can fall down, then use your invincibility frames to pummel him from the wall.
Another requires careful tapping of the A Button, but it is possible to squeak past him. (I literally came within a pixel of taking damage here.)
He only takes five hits to kill, but dang are they an annoying five hits.
ARE WE FINALLY DONE WITH THIS MESSING AROUND WITH BRICKS STUFF
Yes we are!
It smells like science!
Speaking of science, Gil's bombs (which he vomits up from his intestines and which are, in fact, kind of jelly-bean shaped) don't do any damage to him. He is Friendly Fireproof. However, logically, he should be a pulpy mess: Water amplifies the compression wave caused by a blast, capable of doing things like making a tiny firecracker make mincemeat of a safe. Bodies are extremely susceptible to it since they're 90% water, meaning he should be bleeding from pretty much every orifice as his internal organs disintigrate.
And on that cheerful note, we'll look at our map to see all three key locations and end here! 'Til next time, you guys!
And speaking of next time! Next time, on Let's Play Ufouria: We go on a small flurry of destruction before playing MIB! See you!
- Characters updated!
- Bosses updated!
