Game:

Cactus McCoy 2: The Ruins of Calavera (2011)

Duration: 12:01

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The jungle is a dangerous place. Its filled with all sorts of diseases and deadly creatures and unenjoyable climate. Now if that jungle is called Makopa Jungle my findings are that the entirety of the jungle is only out to get cactus-human hybrids...

There is a lot going on in this level, which leaves us a lot to talk about which leaves me pretty excited as there are a lot of new game play elements. The first most apparent thing is the ladder spear. Its a weapon that functions as a basic throwing spear but it can also be embeded in walls and used as platforms to grab on to or jump from. This adds an incredibly free form element to exploration, you create the means by which you explore the level and you will need to use this little guy not only to clear the level but also to fully explore it. I found that it was too valuable to use as a straight up weapon so I dropped it often and just beat up Eneimgos with fists.

Or I was using the crocodile. Yes there are crocodiles as weapons in this game. They are extremely bitey and tend to act like the buzz saw or the drill with extremely short range and high DPS. It makes getting combos incredibly easy and having enemies eaten alive is always fun. Fortunately the Eneimgos don't have the mind to use this weapon effectively, but I did and I found it a blast.

Next we have the timed platforms, ones that appear and disappear in unison at a fixed pace. I am reminded of frustrating shades of Mega Man 2 when navigating with these; going too fast or too slow will put you right back when you started. It is less annoying than Mega Man 2 since this game is appropriately forgiving when it introduces something new, but once or twice it reminded me of that game. That said I'm sure in later levels failure to navigate these little platforms correctly will get Cactus McCoy killed.

Now who remembers Bullet Bill from Mario? Particularly angry projectile that tries to kill you. Yeah they have a version of that in Cactus McCoy 2 that are homing and use a darker shade of the rocket barrels. They fire at a regular interval of about 10 seconds whenever they are on the screen and explode on contact with walls, floors, Cactus McCoy or even Enemigos, although they only track towards McCoy.

These are probably the single most annoying and dangerous stage obstacle in the game thus far. I could dodge them but I found myself often having to interrupt whatever else I was doing. They weren't particularly bad in the swarm fight at the end of the stage since I could take cover but during the level itself some problems arose. If I lingered too long I found myself having to dodge multiple barrels which was a hairy situation. That being said being able to guide them towards enemies with careful dodging was a nice touch.

Thats all for Makopa Jungle, next up is Whiplash Rapids. See you then folks.

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