Stage notes!
(quick 
for old-timey depiction of natives included in the post)
The Pacific Ocean acts as the setting in a variety of different Astro boy stories, most often separating a strange, mysterious area or civilization from the Japanese mainland. From undersea cities built by self-replicating robot bombs, to strange messages in bottles leading to a moving sea serpent island, to radioactive ghost ships, the Pacific is chock full of mysteries aplenty for anyone daring enough to explore it.
In the context of this game, Astro’s sent to investigate a strange phenomenon that’s been melting airplanes mid-flight, one which has stymied law enforcement due to the lethally high temperatures surrounding the site. This particular chapter is interesting in that it’s actually a combination of two different iconic Astro boy stories – as such, I’m dividing it into two parts, and going into one of the stories in each.
The first of these two, “The Artificial Sun”, starts off much the same as in-game. A certain area in the North Pacific has suddenly begun experiencing accidents, with passing ships and planes sending out SOS signals, speaking of giant fireballs, and then ceasing transmission. In light of these events, the ICPO sends a bionic detective to investigate the incident, locate the source, and neutralize it if at all possible.
His investigation leads him to two scientists – its creators, Professors Hirata and O’shay. Given that the former has been dead for some time, O’shay becomes the subject of his investigation, and ends up divulging what he knows about the fireball. An artificial sun originally meant to be used as an energy source for the development of far-off planets like Pluto, the thing didn’t work as planned and ended up being stored and forgotten about until it recently disappeared.
Shortly thereafter, a group of thugs come looking to kidnap the doctor, which the detective exploits by disguising himself as O’shay and getting brought to their Island fortress. Astro himself follows them, with the intent of destroying the sun and reclaiming the detective.
The island itself is usually known as “Fire Vase Island” within the works, and while this particular mashup gives naming priority to the other story involved in this chapter, Fire Vase does make a cameo later in the game. There’s more to the story, including a link connecting the two separate locations, but I’ll get more into those in the upcoming boss and character bios. Still, if you want, you can read it HERE, starting on page 152.
In terms of the stage itself, this is the first of the genre-switches within the game. Astro’s flight capabilities make him a prime subject for some sidescrolling shooter action, and while Ikaruga this ain’t, it’s still a fairly fun switch-up. Gameplay depth is achieved through continuous waves of enemies and bullets (which will later require clever and rapid use of dashes to survive), new types of foes and attack patterns (like ones that explode into bullets upon being destroyed), and occasional midbosses, and overall it feels like a different game altogether. If it happens to be your thing, there’s even a multiplier mechanic in place so that you can score attack! Again, it’s not super-complex, especially by Treasure standards, but it’s still entertaining, and the multiple layers of Parallax scrolling coupled with the upbeat music make it a treat for the senses.
Still, Astro controls much the same as he does in grounded stages, able to boost in 8 directions and use most of his weaponry; notably, however, his primary attack is changed from punching to a continuous finger laser. It’s for this reason that I personally recommend focusing on the laser upgrades when powering up, as they’re the most universally useful.
As for the beginning part of Cruciform Island, BOY HOWDY IS THAT A LOT OF RANDOM CHARACTERS AND CAMEOS, POWERUPS FOR EVERYONE. This thing was a pain in the tuchas to prepare for, but at least it gave me something to talk about because lol at that stage design. That is not a maze by any standards, bad Treasure. It’s boring, it has random water pits that I’m pretty sure appear nowhere else, it has REALLY ANNOYING BAT ENEMIES THAT JUST WON’T DIE, and it has a random statue you have to destroy that had me searching all over to see if it had any relevance to the Artificial Sun or Cruciform Island or any other story but nope, looks like it’s just there ~BECAUSE~.
Oh, and if you were wondering, both Sapphire (no, you can’t enter that weird doorway-looking thing on her statue, I’ve tried) and Kimba will get things pertainin’ to them, just not right yet. Random lion kid too, he has no relation to Kimba normally but it works because he’s a bizarre hodgepodge of like 4 different references, it’s great. I won’t get into his dialogue, but do pay attention to the plot, it’s not all just circlejerking for comic nerds I swear. And finally, I just want to note that I’m pretty sure none of the statues or figures dotted around in the background and floor are references, but I could be wrong! This Kappa-looking thing strikes me as especially weird.
Chapter names:
2 – 1: X Point, Pacific Ocean; 2 – 2: Artificial Sun; 2 – 3: Cruciform Island
Boss bios!
Hornet 63-E
Moveset:
-
Wasp wave: Continually releases pink energy balls from its back, which then fly forwards. Each ball will come in slightly higher or lower than the last one, giving the attack the appearance of a long, segmented chain slowly waving up and down. Thread between the shots, or else just boost up/down.
-
Focused shot: Fires red energy balls directly at Astro’s current location. Always used simultaneously with Wasp wave, this attack fires at about ½ the rate of the previous one. Carefully move up and down while paying attention to where the pink balls are to avoid both.
-
Stinger shot: Used when heath is reduced to half. Flies to the top of the screen, firing a thin yellow laser forwards at set intervals until it reaches the top and stops. Fly in-between or below to avoid, and prepare for its follow-up…
-
Anthophila attack: Pauses briefly after reaching the top of the screen, then charges at Astro’s current location while firing out a spray of red bullets. Will exit off the side of the stage, then reenter for another charge, coming from the left side of the screen at whatever altitude Astro’s currently at. Drop below the initial charge, boost backwards through the return to avoid. Will repeat the Stinger shot – Anthophilia attack pattern continuously until defeated.
The Hornet 63-E is just another giant version of a normal enemy, undeserving of anything more than a name I pulled out of my ass. Astro’s faced off against a hive of robotic hornets before (who had actually enslaved a decent number of humans to do their dirty work), but this one really has no relation to that particular story.
It’s a fairly standard shooter boss, with some mildly difficult-to-dodge patterns but no real long-term danger. Kinda boring overall.
Artificial Sun
Moveset:
-
Ceaseless pursuit: Immediately upon engaging Astro, the Artificial Sun will begin to home in on his position in an effort to make contact. It’s incapable of making tight turns, and will thus overshoot you a bit if you move out of the way, but its sheer size make it quite dangerous in spite of this. Carefully either circle around the screen or dash back and forth through it while continuously attacking.
-
Supernova: Upon being brought down to 66% health, the sun will reduce in size, move to the center of the screen, and sprout 8 tentacles from the holes in its body. At this point, it will continuously rotate whilst bouncing off the four sides of the screen in a counter-clockwise, vaguely diamond-esque pattern. While the movement never changes, its SIZE does; as more damage is dealt to the sun, it will steadily expand more and more until it reaches its upper limit. Said limit is ridiculously huge and results in maybe 10% of the screen being safe, and using an arm cannon will make it grow at an extremely rapid rate, so the utmost caution is necessary to avoid being melted to sludge. Carefully thread the needle between the tentacles, and finish it off with an EX attack before you get overwhelmed.
Manga, 1960, 1980 appearances!
See it in action!
The Artificial Sun, on the other end of the spectrum, is super unique and interesting and kinda sorta terrifying. It’s big, it’s bad, it will utterly destroy you if you are not prepared.
Developed to serve as a power source for the colonization of Pluto, and created in part by Dr. O’shay, it’s a powerful piece of technology capable of creating immense heat, and is equipped with dexterous tentacles because…um…well.
In any event, it’s stolen by a man going by the name of Kim Sankaku, leader of a gang of the same name and all-around bad guy. Using it to threaten and extort the countries of the world for money, he controls the thing from a remote island base via a large, organ-like control center; from there, he’s able to send it to any point he wishes, safe under the knowledge that no living thing can approach it.
For that matter, few non-living things are capable of approaching it, and Astro really isn’t an exception. When he tries to fight it head-on, he gets a thorough sunburn for his troubles, ultimately ending up in a rather sorry state with every part of his body having fused into an unrecognizable metallic lump. Though he does eventually get better (thanks in part to absconding with another robot’s limbs), it’s one of his most dire defeats, and he ultimately has to fling the Artificial Sun into the real one via the organ in order to destroy it.
As such, it makes sense that this particular boss fight is one tough cookie. What it lacks in attacks, it makes up for in sheer screen presence, pushing you to the limit as you try to weave in between its continuously expanding appendages. It might not at first seem that dangerous, but as time goes on, well…
Let’s just say you’re unlikely to ever encounter another boss with this much sheer screen presence.
It’s an interesting style of fight, and while it starts to feel a tad bit unfair towards the end there, you’ll always be capable of getting to a safe spot to finish it off, provided you have the necessary skill and reaction time. My only real gripe is that, on higher difficulties, the thing’s huge health (coupled with the lag its growth causes) can make it drag on for a bit longer than it should. The lag also kinda gives it a cinematic feel though, so it’s at least somewhat tolerable.
Overall it’s a super slick encounter, made all the more cool by its entrance from the background, its highly intense boss music, and the giant unblinking eye Treasure apparently felt the need to slap onto its front. That last one is…a little unnerving.
Oh, also, for the sake of thoroughness, HERE’S that picture Inspector Tawashi shows you at the beginning of the stage, HERE’S one of the pages it’s based off of.
Big Rollie
Moveset:
- Big bouncy: The trio bounce around the screen at 45 degree angles, dealing contact damage to Astro if they hit. It’s not aimed in any way, nor does the Big Rollie have any other attacks at its disposal, but it will steadily speed up as it accumulates more and more damage, thus making it harder and harder to dodge while continuing to attack.
Amazing three manga, anime appearance!
See it in action!
The Amazing Three will be getting their own bio, so I’m not gonna get into them here, but rest assured this bizarre contraption makes at least a ~little~ sense in-context.
The Big Rollie is the three’s primary means of transportation within their original work, having been created by that horse in there and modeled after vehicles from their home planet. It’s capable of moving at 5000 km/h, can travel underwater, and with some modifications, is even capable of traveling through the air – notably, however, it doesn’t have much in the way of offensive capability.
As such, this “boss” fight consists entirely of them bouncing around at steadily greater speeds, capable of doing no more than contact damage. While said contact damage is admittedly fairly high, they’re incapable of deviating from their standard path, and their health is utter rubbish, so if you just hang to one side and laser them continuously, you can finish off the last 33% or so with a well-placed arm cannon. It’s charming, but not particularly dangerous – notably, however, its boss theme is unique to this fight, and is in fact a simplified version of the Amazing Three’s opening song.
Big X
Moveset:
-
Boost #3: Utilizes the power of “Big X” to increase in size significantly, becoming more powerful in the process. Used immediately at the start of the fight.
-
Telepunch: Disappears, then reappears in a location near Astro. Unleashes a devastating punch in front of him, then either performs another (if Astro is in front of him) or teleports away again to repeat the attack. If attacked during this, he will be stunned for the duration of the attack, then teleport away upon its conclusion.
-
Boost #5: Utilizes the power of “Big X” again to increase in size exponentially, becoming explosively powerful and greatly extending his hitbox. Used immediately upon reaching 60% health.
Manga appearance!
See him in action!
Like the Amazing Three, Big X here’s getting a bio all for himself, so hold your horses. All you need to know is that Big X is both his superhero name AND the name of his power source.
Also like the Amazing Three, the boss fight against Big X is a bit simplistic; he’ll teleport around, but he always gives ample reaction time before punching, allowing you to boost towards him and lay a punch combo down before he teleports away. He does have a bit more health than they do, and his “Boost #5” increases his strength exponentially (in hard mode, getting hit by it spells instant death) which makes him ever so slightly more difficult, but that’s about it.
As seen in the manga page up there, though, Big X has actually fought Astro once previously, in much the same manner as we’re seeing here. This particular stage is filled to the gills with characters from other works, so it’s nice to have a fight against someone with precedent. And, once again like the Amazing Three, he gets a simplified version of his anime theme for music. Check the video embedded HERE and skip to 2:30 to hear it - or go here for however long this upload lasts!
Music!
Another batch of great music, with the Pacific Ocean and Artificial Sun ones being personal favorites. The former is just incredibly happy and upbeat, and then suddenly the Sun’s theme kicks in with these super dark and ominous low tones. It’s pretty damn good. And, of course, there’s the cool homages to the W3 and Big X animes – Big X’s even gets an odd little tone in it corresponding to where some kids yell “Yeah!” in his opening.
One other notable thing – the conversation with Rainbow Parakeet has a unique, mysterious musical theme that isn’t otherwise used ‘til later. Keep it in mind~.
#12: Briefing
#13: Strange happenings
#14: Pacific Ocean
#15: Boss theme 3 – Artificial Sun
#16: Cruciform Island
#17: Amazing Three/Comparison anime opening
#18: Cruciform ruins
#19: Big X/Comparison anime opening
#20: Mystery