It has been quite a while.
But this marks the first of what I hope will be more projects on the way.
The title in question is one of the earliest and possibly most well-known of Mega Man clones for the NES.
Whomp 'Em for NES by Jaleco LTD. Known in Japan as 西遊記ワールド2 天上界の魔神 or "Saiyūki World 2: Tenjōkai no Majin/Evil Spirit of Heaven". You are Native American brave, Soaring Eagle and you're on a warrior's quest to bust down the gates of Heaven and prove to the Great Spirit you're worthy of ascending to tribal chief. But to so so you must embark on a long and winding quest that traverses an intro stage, six choose-your-own-peril: The Fire Test, the Ice Ritual, the Sacred Woods, the Secret Cliff, the Magic Forest, and the Water Test.
In each different environment you'll face hazard and challenge a different boss spirt. Defeat each one to obtain on of the six medallions as proof of your strength. Each will give you a different power to imbue into your trust spear to traverse enemies and obstacles much like the Blue Bomber's ability to copy weapons. Once you have them all, ascend the clouds with the final power to challenge the Great Spirit and complete your quest.
One odd thing to note is the boss of the Sacred Woods (at the top of a tree, no less) not only has a resemblance to Wood Man from Mega Man 2 but also similar patterns and a similar weapon.
This marks my first attempt to use the Multi-depth platforming solution script. Though I'm not sure I implemented it corrected, it produced and interesting effect with the depth that sometimes has my character ducking into the background bushes and scaling the platforms of the mountain; which are further back than the rocky foreground. While it's mostly stable in the vertical areas, I haven't figured out what causes Soaring Eagle to jump back further into the background or return to the default depth. It's HARDLY gameplay breaking and actually produces a unique effect I'm okay with.
This profile is a huge experiment in what I call "Extreme Depth". This is a profile for Z-axis junkies only. If you want to see how BIG stages can go, this is your jam. With depth that sometimes has your character going practically into the background, Whomp Em' takes things to the ABSOLUTE extreme with how "open world" I can make it look.
I still have some cleanup and such to still do on this first level but for the most part this is a nice preview of what's to come.
Update 1: Whomp 'Em Sacred Woods Stage added. Six more levels to go.
Update 2: Whomp 'Em Fire Test Stage Added. Five more levels to go.
Update 3: Whomp 'Em Ice Ritual Stage Added. Four more levels to go.
Update 4: Whomp 'Em Secret Cliff Stage Added. Three More levels to go.
Update 5: Whomp 'Em Water Test Stage Added. Two more levels to go.
Update 6: Whomp 'Em Magic Forest Stage Added. One More Level to go.
Update 7: Whomp 'Em Final Stage Added. PROJECT IS COMPLETE!!!
Whomp 'Em Profile (DropBox)
Whomp 'Em Profile(OneDrive Mirror)
Intro Stage:
Sacred Woods Stage:
Fire Test Stage:
Ice Ritual Stage:
Secret Cliff Stage:
Water Test Stage:
Magic Forest Stage:
Final Stage and Ending:
Project complete, pending further clean-ups and fixes. Check back for further updates.