In this episode, Spark Mandrill puts on a light show and I show off the versatility of Shotgun Ice. Oh, and I also get all the enhancements for X. Check it out!
Sting Chameleon
The game does not zoom in on the center when you select a stage, by the way. I wish it did, though, now that I think about it.
Anyway, Sting Chameleon is one of the last Robot Masters you'll take on if you're doing it in order of weakness. So why do this one now? Because the Armor Upgrade is here, that's why.
Some of the pits here will have water in them if you've beaten the Launch Octopus stage.
In this stage, the woodcutters return, but you also have robot grasshoppers and mettaurs with bushes for heads that are really easy to defeat, with or without the small worms they shoot at you.
You'll then come across a cave. Instead of going in, go back. From there, leap up to the ceiling of the cave and jump up the wall. You'll find an area that's pretty easy to miss. There will be a robot that you will have to fight off here. Avoid its extendable arm and shoot it in the head until it's gone. If you're far enough away, you shouldn't have a problem. This robot will also try to jump on you, but the Dash ability will make avoiding him easy.
When you beat this robot, the capsule will appear. Jump in and X will now have a white armor plating covering his torso that cuts the damage he receives by half.
The cave has falling rocks all around. You can destroy them with the Mega Buster, but they'll just keep coming. If you have the Helmet upgrade from Storm Eagle's stage, these rocks will not harm you if you are standing completely still. The large rocks are really monsters that throw boulders at you.
The robot woodpeckers send robot caterpillars at you if you're close enough.
The green robots with the shields and maces have a unique way of being destroyed. Get close enough so they shoot the mace at you, then get between the mace and the robot and shoot it down. Jump over the mace as it returns and advances, and shoot at the robot until it's destroyed.
You'll find some more Robot Ride armor (as the game calls it), and it will help you traverse through the mud pit much faster.
Unless you have the Boomerang Cutter from Boomer Kuwanger's stage, you're going to have a harder time. But since you have the Armor upgrade, taking him on with the X-Buster isn't as bad as it usually is.
Sting Chameleon's major attack is blending in with the background and being almost completely transparent. You can still see him, but just barely. He's also invulnerable when he's blended in, so you'll have to wait for him to turn opaque again before you can go back on the warpath.
Sting Chameleon has two other attacks. He'll latch onto the ceiling with his tongue and shake spikes out of the ceiling. He can also hang onto the wall and shoot a three-way stinger shot out of his tail. If you and Sting Chameleon are both in opposing corners, you're in the easiest position to dodge this attack. You won't even have to jump!
If you're in range, he'll get you with his tongue. It's a really good mid-range weapon that's hard to see coming. He usually attacks with his tongue if he's in the center of the room.
Beating Sting Chameleon will award you the Chameleon Sting.
Chill Penguin - Heart Tank
Remember that part where you had to ditch the Robot Ride armor and scale a wall, only to choose between going left and going right? Go left this time. One of the silos that contain the dragonfly robots has a Heart Piece. Just destroy it with the Fire Wave.
Spark Mandrill
Oh, wow. If you've beaten the Storm Eagle stage, you'll finally find out where that jet crashed: Spark Mandrill's stage. Usually, there are a lot of areas to walk around in with electric currents forcing you to jump every couple of seconds, but now they're not existant. Also, the power will go out in a few spots at the beginning.
You'll see a few flying enemies that shoot out a beam of light as they quickly pass by. Take them out with fully charged shots, or better yet, use the Storm Tornado to get rid of them as easily as possible.
You'll see a mid-boss shortly after you begin the stage. This is some red robot in some blue gelatinous material. It will shoot four small blobs of this stuff at you, and if it touches you, you'll be stuck to the floor for a while. This mid-boss will move across the ceiling as well as the floor, and when it's on the ceiling, it will also shoot lightning bolts at the floor. If you've beaten Storm Eagle's stage, however, it won't be able to do that.
You'll also see ceiling turrets that spin around and shoot, as well as gold robots with two spike arms and one wheel that move around and try to chase you down.
You'll also see large tortoise style robots that shoot bombs with parachutes at you. Like most enemies, they're fairly easy.
After the first tortoise, you'll see the Heart Tank for this stage. You can press A and B at the same time to do a dashing jump off of the wall to get it, even though you're normally expected to get it by doing a dashing jump towards it and grabbing it with the Boomerang Cutter.
Through the second half of the level, the power will keep going on and off, and it will also be dim in some parts. Keep your weapons ready and be prepared to make some wall jumps, as some more of those flying robots from this level will show up near the end.
Spark Mandrill's weakness is the Shotgun Ice. While you can directly hit him with it, the weapon also splits into five smaller crystals that scatter at linear angles if it hits a wall.
Spark Mandrill sends large shockwaves along the floor, walls and ceilings, and he can also climb on the ceiling to get the drop on you. If you hit him with the Shotgun Ice, he'll be frozen for a few seconds. If you can time it right, you can keep hitting him with the Shotgun Ice and repeatedly freezing him.
Beating Spark Mandrill gives you the Electric Spark.
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