LogFAQs > #910875552

#11: Wally Warbles
Difficulty: 5/10
Design: 8/10
Fun Factor: 7/10

The best part about Wally is it showed me that not all plane fights were terrible. I was kind of down on plan fights after the first two encounters, but after this one I wasn't sighing each time I ran into a new one. You're still missing out on some of the better aspects of the gameplay when it gets restricted like this, but Wally Warbles and there other plane fights at least adds enough new gameplay ideas that I don't feel like it is such a drastic step down.

My favorite example here is phase 2 with evolves into a bullet hell (feather hell) fight where the entire screen gets flooded with feathers. Its got this sort of old school shmup kind of feel to it, only you're fighting a giant bird in the midst of molting. Its like Ikargura meets an exploding bird, and I swear its less gross than it sounds. Its a nice new change on the gameplay, and its works incredibly well with the plane controls. The final stage of this fight is just as good, and it is the first time in the game you have a boss entirely below you. The now featherless Wally is getting carried and spitting up trash and pills at you, and you'll need to switch to your bombs while you avoid the incoming debris. Each phase really feels unique and there aren't any that feel all that dull.

What I really love about the design is that it feels like a natural progression and each fight logically leads into the next phase. There is huge differences between each phase, and yet it feels like one cohesive encounter. I love how the final phase is two other birds carrying a featherless Wally in on a stretcher, and the attacks during each phase actually fit really well with the actual design. Oh, and the death scene where his helper birds are seasoning his body? That's probably my second favorite victory screen in the game. I really do love the design here and this is one of the fights where it feels like everything was thought out. I would've liked a bit more active background because the scenery here is kind of dull, but beyond that everything is pretty much perfect.

So why only 11? Well, the competition from here on out is pretty damn tough so all it takes is some minor shortcoming at this point. The first phase is kind of unremarkable, and while I like the idea of the third phase it winds up being kind of boring. I also have all the same issues I do with a lot of the other plane fights, even though this one is a much better implementation of the system than the other two I talked about. Still though, you can see where there is still room for improvement. The bullet hell segment is kind of simple in comparison of some things yet to come, and it isn't until the last phase that you really need to stress out about multiple incoming projectiles.

Also, as a final aside RIP poor Wally. I dunno if he actually dies at the end or not, but he is one of only like four bosses that doesn't show up at the final victory screen so that is my OFFICIAL SUPRAK LORE.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."