Lurker > Paratroopa1

It's uncanny how many days have had at least one actually good/funny candidate and that there haven't been many pure fodder days like this

Advance Wars Dual Strike
Blast Corps
Contra 4
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Golden Sun
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Kirby Canvas Curse
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Kirby Super Star
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Mega Man 9
Mega Man X
Mega Man X2
Paper Mario
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
Return of the Obra Dinn
Tunic

Had to make some tough calls, cutting MK64 felt weird

It's been a while since I've played and can remember which levels I like and dislike. I think the only levels I really dislike are the bosses (the weak spot of the game imo) and like... nah I think they're mostly fine? I don't like Glimmer's Galleon but that's about it

I think it's extremely funny how divergent our boss lists are, like, I absolutely LOVE all of the fights in your bottom 3 that you hate lol

8) Morph Moth (X2)

What a weird guy. It's so bizarre that for 2/3 of the fight he's just a weird little guy who sucks up and throws trash at you like a low-rent (or maybe high-rent) Dust Man. But it's actually a pretty fun phase to the fight, I like when he does the attack where it swirls around the room and you have to dash up and over him to avoid it, it's really threw me as a kid and I think it's fun. And it's cool and clever that he becomes a moth at the end of the fight, although his health is so low at that point that he's pretty easy to finish off and doesn't do a whole lot. But I think it's a fun and creative fight and not too easy.

7) Crystal Snail (X2)

Tricky little fucker isn't he? I think this is basically a better version of Armored Armadillo. Armadillo's fast but too predictable; this guy is way more deliberate and picks his spots, and he doesn't spend nearly as much time just wasting your time. His crystal shots are pretty hard to avoid and create a lot of tension when you're trying to break out of them before he can ram you and his desperation attack where he slows you down is really cool and makes the fight even more tense.

6) Overdrive Ostrich (X2)

This fight is just a fun straight-up duel in a cool arena. He's not super hard, but I like that he just fucking... attacks you! Way too many of these guys fuck around and do dumb shit and are easy to exploit but there's no exploiting Ostrich, he just runs at you and you have to guess if he's going to run or jump or use his sonic booms and it's just a fast and fun fight. I like that if you go off screen he goes into the background and then jumps back into the foreground, although I don't know what the point of that is - I wish it was faster and an actual attack but oh well. This guy's just pure fun.

5) Sting Chameleon (X)

I just think this fight is so cool. He's the only boss where, when he goes invulnerable, it actually feels like a legitimate threat. You can see him lurking in the background and there's a real tension of him reappearing and striking you with his tongue, it comes out suddenly and violently. Sure, since you can still see him in the background it's relatively predictable, but I think the presentation and the vibes of this fight are on point. The only thing I'm not crazy about is that when he makes the stings fall from the ceiling it feels a little random but it's a minor complaint.

4) Magna Centipede (X2)

This fight is insanely cool but you basically have to sandbag to actually make it fun. If you use the dash and never let him poison you, Centipede doesn't stand that much of a chance, so let him have some fun! Let him bite you. Having your dash, your charge shot, and even your ability to move or jump very high suddenly makes that attack where the little satellites spin around you SO cool to dodge, and like fuck if I can figure out how to dodge the shurikens at that point so I just have to hope I can take him down somehow. When I was a kid this fight was a lot more intimidating because I didn't break out of his grasp every time but now I kind of have to fight him like I'm playing an 8 year old at Smash Bros, pick a bad character, don't go too hard, try to win in a silly way. But I do love the concept here and that scores huge points for me. He's still actually pretty fun to fight even if you go full strength, he's just not very hard.

3) Launch Octopus (X)

Launch Octopus is a great challenge and a really fun fight but another one of those bosses in X that I think is more fun if you fight him without using the dash because otherwise that tornado attack of his is just too simple. Otherwise he mostly just launches missiles at you but like, those are actually really nasty to dodge and make this fight really interesting to manage. He's probably the hardest guy in X to fight buster-only with no upgrades, in my opinion, just because his missile attacks are pretty relentless and you can't just coward-climb up the walls to avoid them. I used to do races of this game that were random Maverick order and starting Octopus was always really thrilling because there's just no guarantee that you'll win easily. I've pretty well broken these games, at this point, so it's nice to feel something.

2) Boomer Kuwanger (X)

Look, if you're a coward, yeah, this fight is boring as hell. You have to not be a coward. Don't use the dash, and DON'T CLIMB THE WALLS. If you climb the walls you're missing out on the fun! Then he just teleports everywhere on the floor for hours and doesn't do shit and it sucks. Stay on the floor and face this guy head on and suddenly this fight is a real tricky little fucker. I LOVE his attack where he can throw you up into the ceiling, it's just so brutal and cool, and it's fun to dodge it by jumping out of his grasp when you're actually on the floor. The quickness of his teleporting feels really threatening when he's on the ground too and hitting him with a charge shot in between his teleports is so satisfying. And at least sometimes he does try to punish wall climbers with his boomerang. Look, I know his repeated teleporting can be really cheesy sometimes and I know that having to fight with one arm tied behind your back seems like a stupid way to have fun but when you engage with this fight on its terms it's fun as hell.

1) Spark Mandrill (X)

Easily the best boss in this trilogy and it's not even close in my opinion. This is probably the only boss out of these that I actually take seriously. I just love how VIOLENT he is. He's fast, he's strong, and he immediately tries to kick your ass at every moment in this fight and doesn't apologize for it. The walls aren't safe. Nowhere is safe. You have to actually fight this guy and he's harder than everyone except Gravity Beetle and maybe Launch Octopus. You can even beat him without dashing but it's hard; you have to have a charge shot ready for when he throws that punch because it'll stun him out of it. Goddamn do I love that dash punch. It's fast, it hits hard, it FEELS like it hits hard, and there's not a lot of time to react to it. This guy's actually trying to kill you, he's not dicking around. Why isn't every boss in the series like this? When he sends his sparks flying around the walls, he doesn't telegraph it, he just fucking does it, fast, and it's not unfair, you still have time to get out of the way but you have to REACT. I love that he can jump up and climb on the wires and it's like the only time you have a chance to even breathe. God, I just love how the sheer speed and violence of this guy makes every other boss on this list look like a fucking loser. I want a whole game like this.

1) Spark Mandrill (X)
2) Boomer Kuwanger (X)
3) Launch Octopus (X)
4) Magna Centipede (X2)
5) Sting Chameleon (X)
6) Overdrive Ostrich (X2)
7) Crystal Snail (X2)
8) Morph Moth (X2)
9) Storm Eagle (X)
10) Flame Stag (X2)
11) Blast Hornet (X3)
12) Chill Penguin (X)
13) Crush Crawfish (X3)
14) Gravity Beetle (X3)
15) Neon Tiger (X3)
16) Wheel Gator (X2)
17) Toxic Seahorse (X3)
18) Tunnel Rhino (X3)
19) Armored Armadillo (X)
20) Volt Catfish (X3)
21) Bubble Crab (X2)
22) Wire Sponge (X2)
23) Flame Mammoth (X)
24) Blizzard Buffalo (X3)

16) Wheel Gator (X2)

I kinda go back and forth on how I feel about this guy. On one hand, he wastes a LOT of time and his attacks are mostly slow and not very interesting. On the other hand, unlike some bosses who dive into the water or ground and then jump up at you, there's actually a little bit of tension here and his reappearance is sudden, which makes it fun. Of course, you can dodge it by just climbing the walls, so this fight is a lot more fun if you don't climb the walls, which is true of a lot of them. In theory his wheels punish people who cling to the walls but they come at you too slowly to really be a threat. I do like the ones that bounce on the floor and then go up the walls and fall from the ceiling though. What even is the liquid in this room? Is it oil? I always thought it was blood as a kid but that makes no sense. I do like that it has like weird physics to it though. There's some fun things about this fight but Wheel Gator spends too much time doing nothing.

15) Neon Tiger (X3)

He's fine. Once you figure out his ray splasher pattern it becomes awfully sad to watch him try to hit you with it - four of the five projectiles just fly off diagonally and don't even hit you if you just stand there! His claw attacks are a little trickier though, I like that this guy actually kind of responds to where you are in the room and you have to practice decent spacing and react quickly when he gets on the ceiling. Traditionally this was the guy I started with as a kid, I don't think he's actually the easiest boss in the game (Buffalo and maybe Seahorse are easier) but he's pretty manageable. That's not a bad thing! He's middle of the pack as far as fighting him goes. He just doesn't really fight as violently as he looks like he should.

14) Gravity Beetle (X3)

Probably the hardest boss in the trilogy to fight without his weakness, just because his gravity shots do SO MUCH damage. You die to like, three of these, and they follow a pattern that's really hard to dodge, so he's a real bastard. That's kinda the only thing he does though, so the fight doesn't feel that dynamic, it's just a matter of figuring out the dodging pattern for those bullets. His only other attack is to dash at you but it's super easy to dodge over - if you get lucky and he only does that attack then he's a lot easier. His desperation move where he creates a big gravity well LOOKS really cool and FEELS dangerous but it's actually a lot more non-threatening than it looks, though it does give you a much lower ceiling to work with.

13) Crush Crawfish (X3)

Kind of a surprising and sneaky little bastard, the fight starts off seeming like it'll be really easy but Crawfish's attacks are actually pretty hard to predict and avoid; he's one of the few bosses who bothers to punish climbers and cut off your escape routes. You think he's going to be all about the claws but he doesn't really use them that much, which is funny and weird, it's mostly just that his movements are kind of tough to follow. My biggest complaint about this guy is his lack of animation; it feels so obvious to me that they didn't have time to finish this game. Everything feels so unfinished. Poor Crawfish.

12) Chill Penguin (X)

Although I actually think Flame Mammoth is a LITTLE easier, this is obviously the guy you should beat first in Mega Man X and PROBABLY most people do. I think he's actually pretty fun to fight! He's not that threatening, so to handicap yourself you shouldn't dash or climb and that makes it a little more fun. Now his slide can actually hurt you! Wall climbing really ruins this poor little guy's day so give him a chance. But for a beatable beginner boss I find his attack patterns to be kinda cute and fun and he's fun to blast. I like that he gets hit back by your charged shots.

11) Blast Hornet (X3)

As far as things from X3 go, pretty good! I think this guy has a pretty fun gimmick with the little homing bees he shoots out and managing them all can be a pretty tricky affair. Not super hard, but not easy. Doesn't feel unpolished and janky at all unlike a lot of other bosses in this game, it feels like there's an intent behind this guy's strategy.

10) Flame Stag (X2)

Not very hard, but fun! A little bit of a missed opportunity, I think. His attack where he does a flaming uppercut at you while you're on the wall is SUPER COOL and could REALLY punish climbers but he only does it if you're quite close to him, so it's still too easy to keep away from him and not get hurt. Still, though, the fact that he bounces around the walls a lot means that the walls aren't inherently safe, so good enough. He doesn't actually DO that much and I think he's a pretty easy kill, but he's not annoying or pathetic and way more active than most bosses so that's good.

9) Storm Eagle (X)

One of the easier bosses in the first game, but iconic. I remember getting to this guy without the dash boots and just being like, mystified by his wing flapping and tornado attacks; how do you avoid dying to them? They seemed so scary! It didn't feel unfair somehow - I knew there must be a way, maybe I should just stop standing too close to the edge so he couldn't blow me off. I was 6, so figuring this out felt pretty revelatory. Once you get the dash these attacks become totally pointless which is kind of boring. What's fun about Eagle is that when he's doing his dash attack, he's not invulnerable and you can shoot him, and dashing past him and then turning around to shoot him feels REALLY satisfying. There's no real threat, which is why I don't have him higher. It's just target practice. But it's fun!

Boss fight ranking! This is going to be based on their fights, BUSTER ONLY, since fighting them with their weakness is basically trivial in every case, it'd just be a 24-way tie for worst. I didn't rank them by their design, really, since I basically think every Maverick is about equally cool, there's honestly not any that I would say are bad, though I will rank them a little bit just based on like, how cool I think the fight looks and feels and stuff. The feel matters!

24) Blizzard Buffalo (X3)

Besides just being sort of boring and trivial, my biggest problem with this fight is that fighting him optimally involves doing one of two things; either doing a really trivial exploit that just causes him to constantly ram into the wall behind him like an idiot, or dashing away from him so that he's almost never even on screen with you at the same time. Like he has this cool ice laser but it just kind of comes from offscreen and it's silly. The only attack pattern he has that really creates any threat are the ice spikes. He's really easy and dull to fight but the fact that he's literally offscreen for so much of the fight puts it in the bottom spot for me, the vibes are just wrong.

23) Flame Mammoth (X1)

Probably the easiest boss in the trilogy, he's just a big dumb idiot who barely does anything. The fact that his jumps knock you off your feet was a surprising little gimmick when I was a kid but he's still easy to avoid, even if you don't have the dash. All he does otherwise is shoot little dinky flames, put some oil spills on the ground that usually don't pay off, and spend a ridiculous amount of time trumpeting and changing the very slow conveyor belt under you, which doesn't matter. For the longest time I didn't even realize he was changing the belt direction, I thought he was just showboating! Just kind of a pathetic boss, and like Blizzard Buffalo it takes place in an unnecessarily large boss room.

22) Wire Sponge (X2)

I don't even get the point of Wire Sponge, he spends a ridiculous amount of time invulnerable but not in a fun way like some other bosses; he just kind of stands there and slowly throws his whip at you a bit. The biggest offender is his desperation move though which takes super long to resolve and only hits you if you're standing in the wrong place (good luck knowing where to stand though). The only reason I have him this high is that I think managing the seeds he throws out is a little more interesting and because the bottom two bosses are just that lame.

21) Bubble Crab (X2)

I don't get what they were going for with Bubble Crab. I think he has some pretty interesting attack patterns if you try to fight him on his terms, but that involves just stupidly standing there and shooting at his bubble shield that takes way too many shots to get through. The best way to get rid of it is to just jump over his head, which means he doesn't use any of his actually interesting attacks and the fight just becomes boring. There's no way to play this fight in a fun way, you either get bored fighting him the dumb way or get bored fighting him the smart way. The feel of this one is just completely off.

20) Volt Catfish (X3)

The first boss on this list that isn't just super easy, he's actually a little bit hard; I'll give him credit that his triad thunder attack is pretty interesting and quite hard to dodge, so points for that! I think it's weird that he spends most of the fight just belly flopping at you though, it looks really silly. But much like Wire Sponge, he also has a desperation attack that's super boring and takes way too long. This one's MUCH more dangerous but still annoyingly random, avoiding all the sparks is really hard and his dash at the end is obnoxiously fast and untelegraphed in a way that just feels kind of broken. I really don't like this guy's desperation phase and it ruins what... is otherwise actually still a completely mediocre fight, this guy's attack patterns just aren't dynamic enough. Once you've dodged one triad thunder you've dodged them all.

19) Armored Armadillo (X)

This fight mostly just consists of walking around and avoiding him when he's pinballing off of walls. It takes waaaaay too fucking long to kill this guy, like the game's taunting you for not having brought his weakness to the fight (which trivializes it completely), but honestly once you get used to the speed and trajectory of his bouncing attack there's nothing threatening about this fight at all, it's just a slog. Charged shots don't do extra damage to this guy so all you can do is shoot lemons at him which he tries to block but then one will pretty much always get through, his blocking AI is terrible. Hit him with a charged shot and he does a little charge up attack at you which is fun but pretty easy to dodge. It's not a non-threatening or trivial fight but it's not very interesting and has a lot of waiting.

18) Tunnel Rhino (X3)

I almost had this guy at the bottom for a bit because his attack patterns are almost entirely just charging at you from wall to wall, but on further inspection I do think there's SOME urgency to this fight that makes it interesting. His dashes are JUST FAST ENOUGH that you actually need to react to them pretty quickly and he can catch up to you if he fakes you out enough. His drill attack is a little bit tricky to dodge too, even if the gimmick to it is really that they just hang in the air for a bit and then come at you after he dashes. There's not a lot to it but he moves fast enough to force you to react and that's good enough for not cellar tier.

17) Toxic Seahorse (X3)

I remember managing this guy's attack patterns being more fun. I like that the acid blob is multidimensional, like it has little splashes that drip off of it that you have to dodge while also dodging the main projectile. But Toxic Seahorse himself just kinda stands there and... taunts you? While it slowly bounces back and forth across the screen and it's... not really that much to think about. His maneuver where he melts into the floor and comes back is one of the slowest and most pointless variations on this idea I've ever seen in a video game, it's extremely slow and telegraphed and doesn't do anything but waste time. When he starts firing the acid balls that just bounce on the ground, it would be hard to dodge if you didn't go up the walls, but you can just go up the walls and uh, that's the end of that. A lot of these bosses are defeated by just climbing on walls, unfortunately.

GotG3, hands down, is the best
I liked No Way Home a lot and I didn't have Spider-Man nostalgia
I think Wakanda Forever is really underrated

I didn't like Thunderbolts at all and I don't see what people saw in it, I thought F4 was kinda meh, I thought Deadpool & Wolverine was... okay but not really as funny as the previous two movies

I thought The Marvels was fun and Thor Love & Thunder was about as good as Ragnarok, fight me

Epyo posted...

I also always have really liked the soundtrack. I don't listen to it regularly, but I occasionally go back to it on purpose. Surprisingly good use of Moonlight Sonata.

I think it's very funny that this is one of the few soundtracks that Tommy Tallarico ACTUALLY DID COMPOSE, in my opinion (he did not compose Earthworm Jim 1, this is a commonly held misconception that even the famous video doesn't dispel) and it's still like half public domain music lol

Anything But Tangerines slaps though and I'm actually like 90% confident Tallarico really did write it

6

I don't know how to feel about this game nowadays. It's weird and charming and as a kid this style of humor was hilarious, but is it actually that fun or good? Most of the levels are annoying as fuck. I dunno. I still have a weird soft spot for it.

FFDragon posted...

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/02/politics/white-house-black-bag-video-mystery

okay I wasn't really interested before

but now I really am

Same, I previously found this story completely unremarkable but now I'm suddenly interested

Kirby's Dream

8) Crystal Snail (X2)

Cool use of theming in this level with the crystals that break and slide down the hallway shafts, and it has a cool miniboss too. Super cool looking level. Fuck that huge jump for the heart container though, that sucks ass.

7) Chill Penguin (X)

An easy to overlook stage that I think is surprisingly good if you break it down. The outdoor snowy sections are good, I like the indoor section with the wheel guys that fall down on you as you climb upwards, I like the long hallway that you can dash through after getting the boots for the first time that just offers a good opportunity to learn how to use them. Each section of the stage feels well constructed and not lame.

6) Flame Mammoth (X)

The biggest tragedy of X1 is that this stage is way more fun and cool if you play and beat it BEFORE you do Chill Penguin's stage, which is a stupid thing to do and nobody should do it. In general MMX1 is just a more fun game if you don't do Penguin first, in my opinion - the dash boots break the game and the stages are more fun without them sometimes. This is a prime example! When this stage isn't frozen over and actually has, you know, FLAME, it's good! I like the conveyor belt rooms and I like the section at the end with all the mace guys. Feels like an actual Mega Man game.

5) Boomer Kuwanger (X)

An actually good stage. I love how the whole thing is vertical and has you feel like you're climbing to the top the whole time. The first section with the mace guys is actually pretty damn tricky and so is the next bit with the bouncy traps and stuff. The elevator segment is pretty easy but fun. I do think the section outside overstays its welcome and gets repetitive, but that's my only complaint. Just a really cool level.

4) Armored Armadillo (X)

The 'mine cart' platforms that you can ride crazy fast are really the reason this level kicks ass. Most of it is pretty easy and I don't like that the second digger guy is ONLY a puzzle for how to kill him quick enough to get the heart container, feels like wasted real estate, but yeah, doing flying jumps off those fast platforms kick ass. This stage has a kinetic energy that X3 can only DREAM of.

3) Spark Mandrill (X)

Probably the best overall level in X1 I think, although again, it's better if you do it BEFORE you beat Storm Eagle, the version of the stage you get afterwards is just worse, in my opinion. The blackout effect gets old after a while even if it's a cool idea - better to have the electrified floors and a non-handicapped miniboss that can actually kick your ass. I really like the dark hallways with the guys that fly by super fast and light it up briefly, it's just a really cool effect. This level is well paced and always has something to shoot at and just feels like a good Mega Man level overall.

2) Magna Centipede (X2)

It's all about this level's gimmicks, but they're really cool gimmicks! I love the guy at the end that gets more of your powers the more times the scanner caught you, he's way more fun to fight if you sandbag and let him get powered up so that he has actual AI. The sliding blocks are cool too and actually feel dangerous. I like the sections that are kinda like pseudo-stealth where you can get caught and have things shoot at you. The hologram sword is cool too. There aren't that many normal enemies in this level, yet it feels meaty and long and that final part of the stage where the security sirens are going off and everything's falling apart feels very earned.

1) Wheel Gator (X2)

It's tough to pick a favorite level because, to be honest, none of them are truly spectacular in my opinion - I think the Mega Man X games are largely pretty easy and their stages are too easy to just not engage with at all. This level has, I think, the most complete package, and you're forced to engage with it - no climbing around and jumping over all the enemies. Each room feels pretty thoughtfully made and the power armor segment features a nice little change of pace in the middle. The DINOSAUR TANK theme is just extremely cool too; the whole level has an urgency and sense of speed and pacing to it that no other level in the series really has, for some reason. It just feels well designed and consistently fun to play and that's enough to earn my top spot.

STAGES

1) Wheel Gator (X2)
2) Magna Centipede (X2)
3) Spark Mandrill (X)
4) Armored Armadillo (X)
5) Boomer Kuwanger (X)
6) Flame Mammoth (X)
7) Chill Penguin (X)
8) Crystal Snail (X2)
9) Wire Sponge (X2)
10) Morph Moth (X2)
11) Flame Stag (X2)
12) Launch Octopus (X)
13) Storm Eagle (X)
14) Bubble Crab (X2)
15) Sting Chameleon (X)
16) Overdrive Ostrich (X2)
17) Volt Catfish (X3)
18) Toxic Seahorse (X3)
19) Neon Tiger (X3)
20) Gravity Beetle (X3)
21) Blizzard Buffalo (X3)
22) Tunnel Rhino (X3)
23) Blast Hornet (X3)
24) Crush Crawfish (X3)

16) Overdrive Ostrich (X2)

I'll take it over anything in X3 just because it's much more memorable and fun, but it's the only stage in X/X2 that just kind of fundamentally fails for me. It's really banking on the idea that the bike scene is cool, but it doesn't actually offer all that much to do and it's over pretty quickly; it FEELS cool and fast but it's actually pretty devoid of content. The rest of the stage feels quickly thrown together around it. Could be so much better.

15) Sting Chameleon (X)

Oh my god, a real stage from a real game! It's not great, MMX1 especially tends to suffer a lot from the dash just kind of breaking the game and making it so you can just kind of run through the level and ignore most things. This level is pretty flat and most of its segments aren't that great, but at least I can remember them! It's kind of stupid that killing the miniboss stops the part below from dropping blocks on your head, removing the only benefit that the dumb head upgrade has. And the power armor segment at the end just isn't really as fun as I remember. But there's a lot of cute little touches here with the enemies and I like the cybernetic forest vibe. Vastly more charming than any stage in MMX3, the gap here is huge.

14) Bubble Crab (X2)

Another gimmick stage like Ostrich, this one is bizarrely really centered around that fish submarine that I guess is a miniboss but doesn't really pose a threat, you just kind of shoot it down and that's it, I don't really get the point. But I do think this is a cool underwater level otherwise, it feels unnecessarily cavernous and has a lot of blind jumps as a result, but it's a cool area, I just wish it had more to do.

13) Storm Eagle (X)

A cool idea for a stage that does unfortunately get a little bit repetitive with the flamethrowers on the moving platforms that don't really pose a threat, you just kind of stand there and shoot them and move to the next one and it gets old quickly. But the other parts are good, I like the elevators that take you up at the beginning of the stage a lot and I just like the overall vibe of this being high up in the sky on the rooftops of the airport.

12) Launch Octopus (X)

The first stage that just feels normal and like I don't have major complaints about it. The submarine minibosses are good and the eels are satisfying to shoot in the face a lot, at least. I like the fish that eat you. Why doesn't X3 have unique enemy types like this? Most of the segments in this level are pretty easy but it's overall fun to play.

11) Flame Stag (X2)

All the points for this one are really just for the part with the rising lava, which is fun! It's not as scary as I remember it being as a kid, but it's so much more than any level below this is doing in excitement factor. The rest of the level is REALLY weirdly empty, there's almost no normal enemies in it at all until you get to the last section with the fiery bugs that light the torches, which I think would be a cool section, except that you're almost guaranteed to still be full health when you get there because there's nothing else that can hurt you, so it doesn't really have much tension to it. I don't understand the point of the giant beetles outside, they're really easy to dodge.

10) Morph Moth (X2)

A reasonably solid stage overall. I think the minibosses with the little parasite dudes are a cool idea executed poorly, they just move sooooooo slow. The rest of the stage is totally fine. Aesthetically it's the least memorable stage in X2, but it's a decent challenge that's paced well and no parts of the stage really suck.

9) Wire Sponge (X2)

Aesthetically probably the coolest level, I love all the different weather effects and the backgrounds just look so weird and colorful, almost kind of psychedelic. It's easier and shorter than I remember, which is why it loses some points, but I think it feels fun to play overall. The rainy section with the platforms that you have to wall cling to is one of the only platforming sections in any of these stages that actually features a reasonable degree of peril.

Good list! I enjoyed reading it. As promised, I will do my lists too, starting with stages!

I wish I could say that my replay of the X games really reaffirmed my love of them, but instead with this ranking I came away thinking that the games are better than the sum of their parts; I find the stages to be mostly too easy and too empty and the bosses to be kind of a mixed bag. Still, I do love these games (well, X and X2 anyway) despite that, but stages in particular were tough to rank.

24) Crush Crawfish (X3)

It's like they completely forgot to finish this stage. There's almost nothing in it aside from a few mostly empty hallways with a few basic enemies; pretty much no unique enemy types or stage features at all, the only room that does anything at all is one of these big conveyor belt rooms that MMX3 loves so much, I swear half the stages have one. Oh, and the fake floor that drops you into Vile's stage, haha cute.

23) Blast Hornet (X3)

Unfinished, much like Crush Crawfish's stage, and the only reason it gets this spot is that it at least has one good miniboss in the hologram spinny blade thing. It is, otherwise, terrible; extremely slow elevators, long sections with nothing in them, one of those fucking conveyor belt rooms again, and a miniboss with a drone that loads crates that I can't even begin to explain. You just shoot the crates? Even if you wait, nothing much happens except it starts shooting at you very slowly. Pointless, like the rest of it.

22) Tunnel Rhino (X3)

A lot of stages in X3 feel too short, but this one is way, waaaay too long. It's the worst-paced stage in the series and only gets as high as it does because at least it has enemies in it most of the time and they're sometimes placed in tricky ways, so it feels like a real level that they finished. It's just terrible, it's a long and slow slog that doesn't make me feel excited at all. Completely crap miniboss too, it just tries to run at the wall and slam you.

21) Blizzard Buffalo (X3)

I remember liking this stage a lot more but replayed it and realized it's bad like the rest. It's one of only two stages in X3 that I think has a cool aesthetic (Neon Tiger's is the other), so it does get points for that, but it's really short and empty. There's like, a section with frozen floors that make you slide around but there's nothing IN it, it has bizarre dead mall vibes which is super weird for a Mega Man game. The last section is the only part that's even decent but it's over quickly.

20) Gravity Beetle (X3)

I replayed this game like a week ago for this list and I already can't tell you anything about this stage. I remember an extremely slow and boring elevator and that's about it. I do remember that it still felt more like a real stage than everything beneath it. That's like, literally the only credit I can give it. Terrible, but not quite as terrible. MMX3 stages are just so lacking in cool environments or unique features or enemies or ANYTHING.

19) Neon Tiger (X3)

Slowly inching towards mediocre. Like I said, it has a cool aesthetic, and I like the little dragonfly platforms that fly around; finally, a unique stage gimmick! It's a mostly okay stage that you still feel like you don't really need to engage with at all, you just kind of run through it without any real resistance. The miniboss is not very good.

18) Toxic Seahorse (X3)

The vertical climb in this level and the underwater section are the first two stage segments in MMX3 I can give even a passing grade, and it's still not got all that much going for it, but this stage at least does feel a bit unique, it has a decent miniboss, it has some unique enemies, and it has a look and feel to it that are at least somewhat memorable.

17) Volt Catfish (X3)

It's the best stage in MMX3, and yes, I do think it's worse than every stage in MMX and MMX2. I'm not just trashing on MMX3, this really is my ranking; these stages have earned it. MMX3's level design is just completely failing to meet a basic professional standard, in my opinion. Volt Catfish is the closest to feeling like a stage that presents any sort of threat with its traps and enemies and it has a pacing that I wouldn't describe as complete dogshit. It's also still unmemorable and has a super boring aesthetic. God, I hate MMX3.

10

Maniac64 posted...

Its cause the shooter was trans. That's why Republicans actually want this one to get a ton of attention.

Trans person shooting a church makes it even better for them.

Yeah this is why. The shooter is trans (sort of) and not "one of theirs" so it's politically useful to them to really play it up instead of bury it.

Don't be naive. You guys know why they're half masting the flags for this shooting.

8

I think it's way more fun than the original (yes I know), and it's probably the one I enjoy the most out of the entire series? I think the GBA Fire Emblems just have by far the coolest look to them and this one's the most fun to play and replay, and the new animations look soooooo smooth (to the point that the older ones look out of place)

Yeah, the game is probably a bit more quaint like 10 years later, glad you still had a good experience with it

ZERO > Chrono Cross -Scars of Time- > Precipice

Mechonis Field
Suna no Shiro -The Castle of Sand-
Passing Through the Forest

I AM working on my own list for this lol but I have to replay the games again. I already did one replay but I want to go through them with no/minimal dashing

Precipice

Obtain An Unused Whale In The Abstract Sea
Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Extend Remix)
you can't fxxk me

Precipice

Shang-Chi had like one good fight on a bus and I hated the entire rest of it. Didn't connect with any of the characters, the plot was a fucking mess, the climax is just awful. I do not see what people see in it AT ALL.

colliding posted...

It's honestly not as bad as people say. It's better than The Marvels and Quantummania at least. Also better than Shang-Chi but I'm the only one in the world who thinks that's the worst one.

Shang Chi is my least favorite MCU movie and I've seen all of them!

Obtain An Unused Whale In The Abstract Sea

Australia had a fucking dogshit conservative government for over 10 years, are you kidding me? They literally elected Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, and Scott Morrison IN A ROW

Oh, god, 3rd parties again. I'm out on this one, already said my piece.

Oh boy, means testing!

O Mai Padme H, part II

I ask because it's completely impossible to not make in-person voting a burden for any poor rural or exurban community, and honestly for urban and suburban too. Transportation to and from a polling place is just gonna be a thing. It's already a thing! REQUIRING people to do it or get fined is awful. It's significantly less awful with mail balloting, but what's your plan for people who are too physically or mentally unwell to vote on their own? I realize that there are places that DO have mandatory voting that figure this out, but I don't see how we easily remove all burdens.

Forceful_Dragon posted...

Did you miss the part where I suggested additional changes that would be made that would make voting easier and less of a burden? Or are we just going to pretend it is 100% impossible for poor people to vote no matter the circumstance?

Are you planning to require everyone to vote in person or is by mail okay?

FFDragon posted...

the end goal should be making people care about voting by giving them something to believe in, not putting a (metaphorical) gun to their head

more parties would help accomplish this, but neither of the big two will ever allow that

Furthermore, I don't think fining someone 1000 dollars is a metaphorical gun to the head; that's a pretty literal gun, you can't fine someone without an implicit threat of violence. I think there are both criminal and non-criminal actions that are worth applying this threat for, but I would do so only when the advantage is clear and I don't see it here. This just fucks poor people as far as I can tell.

Random, no, but arbitrary, I'd say it's pretty arbitrary if you're forced to be there and you're asked to make a best guess on something you actively don't give a shit about, yeah. And I don't think those arbitrary votes are going to go towards candidates that reflect a pro-social stance, I don't know what to tell you.

Why do you assume that arbitrary votes would follow a balanced distribution pattern instead of further entrenching incumbents or favoring people with splashy promises but no ability to govern?

You want MORE people to vote randomly? Why? What is the point of doing this? How will this make anything better? This is, at best, a complete waste of peoples' time. At worst, it's just going to make people vote for the candidates who lie the most.

Forceful_Dragon posted...

Yes.

And because mediocre upstanding citizens are sitting on the sidelines.

And because bad (down?)standing citizens are sitting on the sidelines.

It is not a coincidence that there are things are country COULD be doing that would have incredibly widespread support that somehow manage to LOSE because we have a generally uninformed populace who can't be bothered to vote. If they were forced to vote they MIGHT become more informed, but at the very least they could be casting votes for the few things they ARE informed about or would support after reading/watching a brief explanation.

You put a human rights issue on a ballot and force EVERYONE to vote? The pro human rights option is going to win every time.

I think you're badly, badly misinformed about the basic character of the american people - probably people everywhere else too - if you think that more than about 10% of them give even one shit about policy. People regularly vote against their own interests and mandatory voting would make this WORSE, not better, because you're asking people who do not have the capacity to make good choices in the ballot box to do so at the threat of their livelihoods. I'd find your belief hopelessly naive in 2015, but I find it utterly ridiculous to even consider in 2025.

Thorn posted...

I don't think it solves a problem, per se. I don't even think it necessarily benefits Democrats! I just think civic participation is a good end unto itself.

We should, of course, expand access to civic participation. We largely don't, of course, because the ruling regime in the US is strongly anti-democratic.

The only argument I could really see in favor of mandatory voting is that it would be a backstop against voter suppression, but that's only if you could enshrine it in the constitution, and even then the voter suppression would continue, just with more fines for poor people. It might work, but I'm skeptical. And that's ONLY if it's in the constitution, otherwise the effort would probably be toothless.

Civic participation is a good end unto itself? Sure, I guess, if you can meaningfully educate a populace that doesn't care to be and direct them to use civic participation to ends that aren't anti-social. I really don't see the use of it. We should be doing our best to educate children in civic duties but good fucking luck forcing adults at gunpoint to practice it.

I legitimately do not understand what problem mandatory voting is even supposed to solve. Do you think democracy is failing because good, upstanding citizens are sitting on the sidelines?

Forceful_Dragon posted...

Thus the point about providing them with easy access to short form video content prepared by the candidates and supporters of the issues being voted on.

This sounds like an amazing way to get undecided voters to vote for the most dogshit candidates

By the way this is so beside the point but I can't get over how laughably uncreative the fake address is. 123 Main Street? God gen AI is so lame

Mandatory voting is useless. If people are too stupid or stubborn to participate in the democratic process, it's impossible to make them. You can force the cow to go to the water but you can't make it drink.

Having a chatbot AI that falsifies its own identity, directly reinforces the psychosis of a vulnerable person, and lures them with false pretenses to engage in behavior and take risks that they otherwise would not, ought to be a slam dunk case of negligence imo, and the only reason I can't say it IS a slam dunk is because AI chatbots are so horrifyingly unregulated

Paratroopa1 posted...

I am fortunately in agreement with Jeff that TMNTIII is the worse of the two games, I just don't find that it controls as nicely and I don't like its stupid OHKO move, flipping people is not as fun as jump slashing them. It looks and sounds amazing though

I meant to say the game looks and sounds amazing, oops. the flip looks and sounds stupid

I am fortunately in agreement with Jeff that TMNTIII is the worse of the two games, I just don't find that it controls as nicely and I don't like its stupid OHKO move, flipping people is not as fun as jump slashing them. It looks and sounds amazing though

Obtain An Unused Whale In The Abstract Sea
Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Extend Remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bTKN7E6UZE