LogFAQs > #910813871

#15: Cagney Carnation
Difficulty: 3/10
Design: 5/10
Fun Factor: 4/10

I had a hard time ranking this boss and the next boss, because they kind of have a lot of the same positives and negatives to me (CAN YOU GUESS WHO IS COMING NEXT?). Island 1 starts out kind of slowly as the game eases you into things, so a lot of these bosses are pretty simple and Cagney Carnation fits into that grouping. But Cagney at least does enough to be FUN and he's a definite step up over The Root Pack and Goopy.

The first couple phases (or phase?) is kind of basic. There are platforms giving you different places to move around to, which I usually love, but Cagney doesn't really implement them all that well. He has one attack where he attacks the top row or the bottom row, and another where an attack hits the top row and then loops around to the bottom, but other than that there isn't a tremendous amount of use of these platforms during the early fight. You more use them vertically (top to bottom) than laterally (one to the next) which is always more fun to me.

What I had a lot of fun with though is the final phase, where Cagney sends out his roots and you absolutely have to use the top platforms. Roots come up through one platform, then a second, leaving only a third safe to move around on. By itself its a fun attack, but then Cagney will also spit flowers at you at the same time, meaning you're figuring out which platform is safe and at the same time avoiding other projectiles and there is this multitasking you have to do to try and avoid everything. It is the first fight listed here I actually had fun getting an A+/S rank on because getting through this phase without getting hit a single time requires some good execution of your movement. I love it when fights combine this sort of platforming with the combat, and while this is a very mild implementation of it, it does a good job showing you just what kid of stuff is waiting for you.

In terms of negatives, this is one of those fights in the game where the phases don't feel all that distinct and you're mostly doing the same thing throughout the entire fight. I can't even remember if there are two phases or three here, but regardless there isn't a lot of variety during the fight. My favorite bosses are those that have you completely changing strategy from one phase to the next, or have a lot of different things you need to adjust to. The roots are a nice touch at the end, but other than that this fight really starts to feel a little samey since you are only really fighting two different forms. This is also one of the easiest fights in the game, and outside of the introduction fights there aren't too many others that are this simple.

The design is also pretty basic as well. I do love the movement of the flower, the back and forth shimmy he does in between his attacks, and the death screen is weirdly creepy in comparison to most of the others. But Cagney is just a flower, and there aren't too many attacks here that stand out as creative. I like the roots and the sort of air turret he does where he rains down seeds, but the background art is extremely basic and he just sort of looks like a flower without much special to him.
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