I found him to be the best partner on 3-Boss, for some reason.
Probably because it lets me float over the bombs without ramming into Baboom or losing my rolling momentum.
Ugh, the bosses are so well-designed, they're irritating. My phenomenal lack of skill coupled with some tough patterns = tragedy. Screw the fish guy.
Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau ProjectThe fish guy was mean only because of the final phase or so, where he got so big that you only had moments to decide which tiny fraction of the arena is going to be "safe" before he just crushes you against the walls.
My favorites were Baboom and the polar bear.
I've now cleared out 7-3, leaving the diabolical 7-2 (for whatever reason, that level completely psyched me out last night. This morning i was having a much easier go of it, though haven't gotten as far as the rocket barrel yet)
edited 16th Mar '14 8:24:08 AM by Ogodei
I found the hardest boss to be the final one, because of his wonky hitbox. Other than that, I didn't really find any of them particularly challenging. Fun, and more challenging than Returns', but not hard overall.
Anyway, that minecart part isn't too difficult. You just need to be able to jump right after ducking, and for bouncing off the fish you just need to press the jump button well in advance. You should have released the button before even landing on the fish.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!Ah, good LORD Fugu. I'm not sure how that fight is even possible without Diddy (and even then. That and Irate Eight make me think the water controls are better suited for adventurin' than the straight-up precision from the more platformer-y parts of the game.)
But he's dead, at any rate. I'm up to Fruity Factory now, I've gotten both exits on that one.
edited 16th Mar '14 6:48:12 PM by NesClassic
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse AlberiaYeah, it's the swimming controls that kind of screwed me on Fugu. I can't count the number of times I accidentally swam into something.
Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau ProjectI didn't find Fugu too hard. I like Cranky for that fight, he can cane-whack the urchins away rather than have to dodge them. Dixie offers better control than Diddy, too. Diddy's mainly good for moving quickly underwater, which isn't necessary for Fugu.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!Dixie's thing where she can generate extra hearts when you high-five her saved my bacon a few times.
Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau Project![]()
It makes it a lot easier (for me, at least) to hit him, though. I'm terrible at hitting the broad side o' Fugi's ass otherwise.
...how did I not think of this? You are a genius.
Beat 7-2. The minecart segment and the rocket barrel segment were both surprisingly easy compared to other such stages. Maybe Retro playtested harder versions but they were too frustrating with the utter lack of checkpoints? I don't know.
Oddly, the non-vehicle parts of that stage were the trickiest.
And so i have hardmode. Kinda anticlimactic.
Yeah, the rocket platforms are unexpected physics-wise. Most moving platforms DON'T transfer momentum to you when you jump as far as I can tell. That or this one is just fast enough for it to be noticeable compared to other ones.
In my opinion, the hardest part of the stage is jumping from the first rocket platform to the second, since the second is pretty much off-screen when you have to jump, and you have no idea how much forward movement to add to your jump.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!The polar bear boss was probably the easiest one so far. It still took me multiple tries because I suck, but not as many as Fugu.
Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau ProjectI just beat 5-K: the aptly-named Platform Problems! (Nobody loves you, Guts Man. Stop building temples.) It's been a while since a level beat me in the face that much... it also showed really well how most deaths in Tropical Freeze are one-and-done ordeals. (You can quickly figure out what you have to do, it's actually pulling it off that's usually the problem.)
So, now all I have left to do is get the missing Puzzle Pieces in Juicy Jungle, and I'm off to fight Bashmaster!
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse AlberiaI didn't worry too much about getting all the puzzle pieces, KONG letters, or secret exits the first time through, though I did wind up getting most of them anyway. After I beat the final boss I went back and got all the stuff I missed.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!![]()
Yep, thanks! I like to do the levels while they're fresh on my mind, and it makes that "ugh, now I gotta go get everything" slog feel a lot less boring... to me, anyways. (I'm not doing Time Trials until I finish everything else, though. Shiny golds, that's gonna be all sorts of fun...)
And Ba-Boom was pretty fun, so thanks for the header.
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse AlberiaWow, the last boss is kind of underwhelming, wonky hit box aside. The final world honestly is pretty disappointing compared to some of the other ones.
Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau ProjectHe only killed me twice. Still fun, just not as difficult as I expected.
Speaking of, I decided to forgo some of the Puzzle Pieces and beat the game yesterday. I'm not sure if 6-K was easier than 1-K or not, but it was the one that killed me the least. (Died ONCE, then did it with no damage the second time.) Throw in K-O-N-G and it would've passed as a normal level.
Of course, I quickly found out that all of the challenge I expected was harnessed in the form of Levitation Station.
edited 23rd Mar '14 8:30:42 AM by NesClassic
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse AlberiaKinda late, but I figured I'd post it here anyway: For speedrun purposes, Diddy is the best partner to bring with you for the final boss. He also shines in World 4 (but not at the boss, since Cranky is normally the norm for finishing bosses quickly and it still holds true for the World 4 boss) because his jetpack is your fastest movement underwater.
(Also, because of this, people tend not to switch out Diddy for Dixie on level 1-2 until rather late in the level because Diddy gets you through it faster up until a certain point.)
Fantastic Supreme Überkaiser Emperor Folt of The Infinity and Beyond" ... "The First"!

I'm glad to get to use the Pro Controller for once.
Though honestly, aside from the waggle making time trials feel a bit too precision-demanding, I had little issue with Returns' control scheme.
Only thing I don't really like is how ground-pounding and rolling are mapped to the same button. I'd rather map rolling to the run/pick stuff up button, like in the SNES games. Sometimes I try to ground-pound on a ledge and wind up rolling off the side if I still had some momentum.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!