Ledge Bats: Difference between revisions
Updating description and starting example cleanup
m (revise quote template spacing) |
(Updating description and starting example cleanup) |
||
| (5 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
{{quote|"Count Nefarious Vile, who has recently conquered the world with his army of monsters, demons, and those flying things that always knock you into pits when you're trying to jump."|''[[Press Start]] Adventures''}}
Every veteran gamer knows what it's like: You're jumping across a series of platforms... and then you spot an [[Airbone Mook]], maybe a little bird roosted on solid ground on the other side. There's a [[Genre Savvy|pretty good chance]] that the bird will completely spook and defend its terrain the moment you try to cross the last gap. Although your HP would be [[Scratch Damage|hardly worse off]] for what [[Collision Damage]] it can inflict, the main threat is that it'll also [[Knockback|knock you back quite a bit]].
#
#
'''Ledge Bats''' are the most infamous [[Sub-Trope|subspecies]] of [[Goddamned Bats]] by far, named for the bats in the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series that are quite prone to this. While naturally most at home in [[Platform Game]]s, any game with pits of any kind (but especially the bottomless kind) can qualify for this. If the main purpose or hazard of certain [[Mook]]s is bopping you off ledges and into said pits, then they're Ledge Bats. With some kind of ranged attack at your disposal, you may be able to dispatch the creature and make the jump safely - if not, you'll have to settle for striking it down in midair by carefully timing your attack.
[[I Thought It Meant|Not to be confused with]] [[Our Gargoyles Rock|those giant bat-like things you see on building ledges]].
{{examples}}
* In addition to the bats, [[Castlevania (1986 video game)|the original ''Castlevania'']] also has Medusa Heads and crows.
* The
▲** ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. The World]] - The Game'' features hordes of flying bats and Medusa Heads which fill the exact same niche.
** Fortunately, Fission Metriods stay still for several seconds to divide. Unfortunately, they're invulnerable for that time, and afterwards there are twice as many
▲* The fission metroids in ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' end up like this, as the area you find them in requires a lot of platform climbing. Plus they are quite powerful and difficult to kill without Power Bombs (which you must stand still to use), and if you do kill them they respawn.
▲** Fortunately, Fission Metriods stay still for several seconds to divide. Unfortunately, they're invulnerable for that time, and afterwards there are twice as many metroids chasing you. Whether stunning them and running is worth it is a personal decision.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' franchise ended up dealing with these surprisingly early.
** ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]'' has Aches, Moas, Myus and Ras among the various enemies that are most dangerous around cliffs and ledges.
▲** ''[[Nintendo Hard|Every goddamned thing]]'' in the [[Ninja Gaiden]] games.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past]]'' introduces Hardhat Beetles in the Tower of Hera and Death Mountain caves, who have thick enough armor to send Link flying back on contact, even when attacking with the sword. Naturally, there's also [[Bottomless Pits]] and other such drops in the area which can cost Link hearts and/or time spent climbing back up (and also means enemies will respawn as well). The boss of the Tower is Moldorm, who could only be hit safely in its tail and [[Turns Red|speeds up as it takes more damage]]. Hitting it in the body segments or letting it hit ''you'' bounced you back, potentially off the boss arena and down at least one floor - which meant [[That One Boss|doing the entire boss fight over again]]! This earned him the [[Fan Nickname]] "[[Troll]]dorm" among LTTP [[speedrun]]ners in particular.
** Moldorm
** Hardhat Beetles return in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons]]'', serving a similar role.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes]]'' has Prankster Poes, whose heads and faces vaguely resemble those of the Links. Prankster Poes primarily spawn on large platforms, where they will quickly try to sneak up on one of the Links and toss them off the platform, and take several hits to defeat.
* Throughout the [[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] series are enemies who will jump out of [[Bottomless Pits]], stall, and fall back in. If you are moving at top speed you will jump into one and recoil into the pit. Go play ''[[Mega Man 10]]'' and start Commando Man's stage. They're all over the place.
* This perfectly describes the behaviour of [[Banjo-Kazooie]]'s [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|'Big Cluckers']], birds which pop out of holes in the wall [[That Came Out Wrong|to hit you with their peckers]] and knock you off ledges in the final level. The designers even included a progressively more difficult gauntlet of ledges guarded by these. Earlier levels have eels (and in [[Big Boo's Haunt|one level]], skeletal eels) popping out of grates, but not with the same frustrating skill level as those cluckers.
Line 30 ⟶ 31:
* A secret mission in [[Devil May Cry]] 4. You have to traverse disappearing platforms without falling, while under attack from several flying enemies at once who are exceptionally difficult to finish off quickly. And yes, practically ANY hit will knock you off.
** Mercifully, you can just step onto the first ledge so that the enemies will spawn, then step back onto the permanent starting platform and deal with them, leaving you free to navigate the floating platform maze without having to worry about being knocked off.
* The pink Koindozers from ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 3'', mooks who all carry large shields with which to ram you off cliffs. The good news is, they only appear in one level in the game. The bad news is, they're all over [[That One Level]]. You can't kill them, just avoid
* ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'' has the Medusa heads from Castlevania (which temporarily turn you to stone and knock you backwards), as well as the red birds in the graveyard (which push you around randomly). It's worth noting that these are the only enemies in the game that '''don't''' kill you with one hit.
* Several mooks in the Metropolis Zone in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' function as this.
Line 37 ⟶ 38:
* The [[Oddworld]] 2D platforming series makes a habit of placing insta-kill bats near ledges, either to tell you to find another path or to take a leap of faith. And the game doesn't even tell you that these bats are deadly. Then again, [[One-Hit-Point Wonder|everything kills Abe in 1 hit anyway.]]
* Airborne enemies in ''[[Journey to Silius]]'' typically appear in areas with [[Bottomless Pit|bottomless pits]].
* ''[[Super Mario Bros. (video game)]]'':
** Some of the cheep-cheeps in world 2-3 and 7-3 appear from below just when you're about to cross a pit, or dodge some other enemy. This can result in an unwanted goomba stomp which will send you right into the pit or into the face of another cheep-cheep or koopa. (It would be much less of a problem if the game had already implemented the [[Goomba Springboard]] like later Super Mario games.)
** Some of the later levels have bullet bills appearing out of nowhere at random y positions. If you're not careful you can be hit by one in the middle of a jump, which will either kill you directly or foul your jump.
** The Bullies in 3D platformers of the Super Mario series. Their only job is to try to knock the player off the platform they are standing on.
* ''[[SuperTux]]'' castle levels often have rotating flames placed around small platforms above pits. Even with Big Tux, jumping into one of them is often lethal because it fouls your jump physics. After taking a hit, you will likely miss the next platform and plummet into your death.
** Short fuses rely on [[Knockback]] to damage the player. However, due to their lack of auto-turning behavior, they can only cause problems in a confined environment; otherwise you just need to wait until they walk off their platform.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Video Game Characters]]
[[Category:Ledge Bats]]
[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]
| |||