Game:

Cactus McCoy 2: The Ruins of Calavera (2011)

Duration: 10:14

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51

Bombs! Chickens! Crushers! Alpacas! A tiny man riding an Alpaca! Danger thrives all over Prickly Prairie and it gives us a lot to talk about. There are several interesting mechanics introduced in this level that make it the best thus far, so allow me to tackle them one at a time and demonstrate why this level is a cut above the rest.

Fuse bombs are introduced immediately at the start of Prickly Prairie. As a weapon they function in a similar fashion to other explosives but they add a new mechanic of being able to explode break away walls in a similar fashion to rocket barrels. I felt a bit like Bomberman running around exploding obstacles and enemies. I haven't thought of that game in years and that touch was very nice.

Now expanding along the aerial movement theme introduced by barrel rockets we have chickens now. They cluck and walk around and in general do chicken things but you can also pick them up and use them as a glider. Its a very smooth ride although their maximum altitude is limited to the apex of your jump. You can also pick these chickens up and throw them at Enemigos to do some damage, in fact in a couple places they throw them at you. They don't seem to do much damage so its a mix bagged; your winged avian minion won't be clawing your foes to death but nor will their chickens be doing the same to you.

Remember those big angry looking blocks from the Mario games that tried to crush Mario? The Cactus McCoy 2 variant of them is introduced in this level. They lack the charm of that angry stone face trying to murder you but they do look snazzy with big spikes and the word "CRUSHER" in raised lettering on the surface. You'll run into several of these and although it is a rather simple and widly used obstacle its used well here. I do wish they had a bit more character and menace though, they are rather easy to move past in Prickly Prairie.

For the first time in the game we have our first proper boss fight against a chap named Alpaca Jack. He is a rather tiny man and has a thing for riding an alpaca. The game is particularly kind as right before the fight it gives you a checkpoint so you can recharge your life bar and number of lives.

Alpaca Jack isn't a tough fight. He mostly hops around on his mount alternating between throwing bombs at you and shooting at you, depending on your proximity to him. His alpaca is an ill mannered creature that likes to spit on you so you need dodge that too. Its a sealed chamber like boss fights in the Mega Man games but you don't take damage from touching Alpaca Jack and the room itself is two screens in size, giving you plenty of room to dodge. So as I've said this is an easy fight but a good introduction to the boss fight mechanics. But now that Alpaca Jack is done for its time to fight more Hobo Clowns in the next level South Wind Express.

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