AM2R Random+ progress report #2

Shortly after my last post, I continued on a quest to find some more E-Tanks in order to be able to hopefully survive the battle with the Torizo, the Chozo Statue that guards what is normally the Space Jump but was in my case the Varia Suit.

What I got instead was the Screw Attack, which allowed me to pull the same sequence break kjorteo pulled to go get the Gravity Suit, the only powerup whose location isn't randomized. I also found 2 more E-Tanks and the Spider Ball in the process, making survivability and, more importantly, tube navigation less of a hassle.

As a result, the battle with the Torizo was
A) a piece of cake
and B) a complete waste of time. XD

Still, it was nice to no longer be in "every enemy in One Punch Man" mode anymore. In fact, it wound up getting me a bit arrogant, as I decided to go after more challenging enemies, specifically Serris, which normally guards the Ice Beam.

And that's where I finally found the damn Bombs, thus ending my trappings and restarts and taking so much tension off the replay that it was ridiculous. It's funny how missing out on one of the most basic powerups in a game can change how you play it so much.

Continuing on, I took a detour surface-side to the GFS Thoth, figuring that with 5 E-Tanks, 160 missiles, 10 Super Missiles, and 10 Power Bombs, I could take on Genesis no problem.

Long story short: Nope.

Also, I think I found a glitch: In a cave far to the left of the Thoth is a small room that's supposed to have a Power Bomb sitting behind a frog enemy. All I found in there was the frog. No power-up, even though the map is indicating such.

Hrm. Oh well.

AM2R 1.2.6 progress report - probably the last one.

Got to the bottom of the Distribution Center's portion of the main shaft and found it was blocked by the earthquake-moved lava, thus learning that I had to clear out all the Alphas, Gammas, and Zetas after all. Phooey.

This meant backtracking all the Golden Temple due to having skipped the Breeding Grounds area of it over my Bomb supply issue early on. So here I was, ready to try my luck against an Omega, and I'm having to track down 3 Alphas.

After that load of malarkey, , I went after the Omegas. Long story short? The Zeta Metroids are worse than them. In fact, of the 4 forms, the Omega Metroids have gone from being the most horrific on my first playthrough to the least dangerous of them all (assuming I have the firepower to take them on, at least). Case in point?

FLAWLESS VICTORY

Those 3 Alphas earlier hurt me more than all 4 Omega Metroids combined did. Honestly, of the 4 main evolutions, the Zeta Metroids are the worst. They're almost as durable as the Omegas, plus they're a lot faster and have an annoying habit of blocking my shots. Alphas and Gammas I just kite around to get under them and fire a few shots off. But the Omega Metroids? Quick tap of the jump button to hop, fire a Super Missile into its gut, dodge, repeat until it's dead.

ANYWAY.

After that I spent about 3 minutes looking over the map, trying to figure out where the Spring Ball, the last powerup I didn't have, could be. I finally noticed the part of the Distribution Center I'd missed where the Screw Attack is normally located. With that in hand, now I can do the final bit of backtracking to the handful of powerups I had to skip due to not having the Speed Ball Boost available.

In any case, yeah, this playthrough's about done. Only missing a few Missile Tanks, then it's off to slay the Queen.



N...No, no, I said slay the Queen, not Save the Queen. I know that I really like that picture, but this isn't the time for it...