Is Low G Man's last level possible powerless?

[Kid Dracula | 126]

I finished Low G Man for the first time a couple months ago for the "Can VGS beat every NES game in 2020" thread. It's actually quite an enjoyable title! I was playing it again for a quick run through and ran into a problem in the final stage 5.2. In Low G Man you build up your power-ups for higher jump, better freeze gun, longer/stronger spear and lose these power-ups when you die. When I finished the game a couple months ago I had built up my jump from stages 4.3 and 5.1 and did not die and did not run into this issue in 5.2.

What happens is the level starts out with 2 robot enemies flying at you. Freeze them and spear them for bombs (every time, there is no chance of any other items). Then there is one more larger enemy you can kill for a chance at one of these items . After that there is a big pit that you can not jump across. You have to jump up super high to a ledge that you can only reach if you have level 3 jump. So if you don't have level 3 jump you're pretty much screwed. I did figure out you can do it with level 2 jump by freezing one of the 3 enemies at the height of their jump and jumping off them up to the ledge. Level 1 jump JUST misses even if you execute it perfectly. SO considering the first 2 robot enemies always gives you bombs, even if you get the much needed higher jump item from the other enemy that is still not enough to get up to the ledge. 

The game does give you passwords however, so instead of giving up I used the final password which brings you to level 5.1, a short drop from the sky and a boss fight. Surrounding the boss are 5 minions that appear and reappear. You can hit them with the spear for items. So if you got really good luck you could collect the 2 higher jump items needed to pass level 5.2. So I sort of found a solution but still felt it didn't make sense. Why would the game programmers trap you in a way you can not escape? So I went back to level 5.2 powerless and attempted it and somehow found a solution! I think it's probably a glitch but maybe the developers did put it in for a reason. Before I divulge does anyone know what it is or have a solution for this poorly programmed end of the game?

[MeganJoanne | 365]

So, are you using the vehicles? Because you should be able to get through the final stage regardless of your powers, so long as you don't get stuck on an island without a vehicle. The hard part is the final boss, which is easiest if you stock up on shooting weapons to destroy the things that project the homing spheres, otherwise the stage itself, you should be able to do it without going all the way back to the previous stage to level up. Not sure if you know but you can high jump with the walker, but the timing to do it takes practice, down and jump and just the right time and it will launch you much higher than a normal walker jump.

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Okay, made a video, hope this helps. Unless you want to watch the whole thing, fast forward to around 7:07. I ran out of time prior to that not paying attention, didn't feel like stopping the recording and starting another so I just kept it rolling. Anyway, starting with no power ups, used only what the stage offers, got through it, though because it has been ages since I played this, took me over a dozen tries to accomplish it. I owned this back in the day and played the hell out of it then so used to be really good at it, so when I saw the question I was like, hmm, could have sworn I got through it multiple times with nothing to start, but I had to be sure, so took up the challenge to find out for sure.

 

[Strikezone1 | 155]

There's nothing poorly programmed at all about the last level (it's actually a very well designed game IMO). As MeganJoanne has pointed out, you have to hijack and use the enemy vehicles in order to traverse through the last level. This was by design. The walkers can high jump. 

[Kid Dracula | 126]

11 hours ago, MeganJoanne said:

Okay, made a video, hope this helps. Unless you want to watch the whole thing, fast forward to around 7:07. I ran out of time prior to that not paying attention, didn't feel like stopping the recording and starting another so I just kept it rolling. Anyway, starting with no power ups, used only what the stage offers, got through it, though because it has been ages since I played this, took me over a dozen tries to accomplish it. I owned this back in the day and played the hell out of it then so used to be really good at it, so when I saw the question I was like, hmm, could have sworn I got through it multiple times with nothing to start, but I had to be sure, so took up the challenge to find out for sure.

 

Ahh ok I definitely missed that the robot walkers could jump on their own with precise timing. Very cool! It didn't make much sense to me that you could get trapped like that. I actually did find a method through that first pit but I don't think the programmers intended it to be done. With exact timing (I think it's done to a frame or two) you can jump over the pit. When you land in the pit, you can spring back up with the right timing. I ended up finishing the game that way today but it took me a looong time to be able to figure out. Perhaps I'll post a video so you guys can see. Thanks Megan!

[Kid Dracula | 126]

8 hours ago, Strikezone1 said:

There's nothing poorly programmed at all about the last level (it's actually a very well designed game IMO). As MeganJoanne has pointed out, you have to hijack and use the enemy vehicles in order to traverse through the last level. This was by design. The walkers can high jump. 

It is an excellent game and nothing poorly programmed at all as it turns out haha. I did hijack the enemy vehicles but there is none to be hijacked on that first pit with the high up ledge. Without knowing the robot walkers can high jump I still managed to figure out a way. If you time your jumps perfectly you can actually hop out of the pit twice and make the jump to the other side. I guess it's irrelevant as nobody would use that but I'll try to upload a video to show you what I mean.

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Would love to see it. Always interesting to find out cool stuff in a game that I didn't know about.

[Kid Dracula | 126]

 

[Kid Dracula | 126]

I never expected to have to create a youtube account and upload a video but here we are! 

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Nice! Am going to try that right now!

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Tried it, and managed to do it a bunch of times. At first I thought it might be related to being able to jump again after getting hit by an enemy while in mid-jump, but maybe not. It seems for the pit thing you have to time it just right so that just as his foot touches bottom you leap off of the bottom of the screen. You can do a double jump with enemies if timed right too, just as you recover from getting hit in air, press jump and it will give you a boost. Was trying to make some videos of both these but the damn emulator kept lagging, freezing for an instant randomly. Will try some more in a little bit and see if I can better understand the timing needed for that pit jump particularly.

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Okay, so I got me a decent recording of me trying this pit jump thingy and managed to pull it off several times. Also demonstrate the mid-air jump that happens if you get hit while in the air and time a jump at just the right frame upon recovering.

Okay, made a short video showing the mid-air damage jump thing and yes, can do it multiple times without even touching the ground, it's sorta like using enemies as stepping stones without freezing them.

Also continued to test that pit jump, on the Industrial stage, but of probably a hundred tries I maybe pulled it off a dozen times. The collision in mid-air-jump is much easier. The timing on that pit jump is about as tough to perform as the falling through the floor glitch in Simon's Quest. Could it save you if you happened to think about it when about to fall to your death, sure, if you just so happen to press the jump button at just precisely the right time.

Edited June 13, 2020 by MeganJoanne
Added more

[Kid Dracula | 126]

Nice! Glad you had some fun with it. The damage jump-up was how I normally got through the pit jump section as the last pit jump normally causes you to collide with the green boomerang enemy. I enjoyed watching you jump back and forth in the pit- truly a low gravity man. Which leads me to wonder if in fact it was intentional?

[MeganJoanne | 365]

I dunno. But my guess it is just a glitch, same with the damage air-jump thing. Who knows but the ones who made it. But so many games have these kind of glitch trick moves, where you time something just during the right frame and exact location necessary for it to occur, like Castlevania II where when you whip just as you fall from the edge of a block, if timed just right you will fall but keep falling through the ground, or as acromite53 discovered in Mario Bros that if you pause just as you jump to hit the bottom of a floor if timed just right when you unpause you'll jump up through the floor. And then there's one I discovered long ago, is Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th where if you kill him on a path and enter a cabin door just as he is fading he will revive even stronger taking far more hits to kill than before. Oh, and then there is Super Mario Bros, jumping up between blocks and the edge of the screen while ducked and Mario will slide through the wall upon standing again. But then there's that oddity in how to reach the Minus World. I always wonder how glitches are born, how they come into being, especially given ones like these where the condition can be met every time it will always occur. Glitches can be a real pain in the ass, especially those that are game breaking and just random because there was too much shit going on at once or it was just programmed really poorly, but then there are fun and potentially useful ones like Low G Man and these other ones.

Edited June 13, 2020 by MeganJoanne
added more

[Strikezone1 | 155]

Wow, a damage-jump and a pit-jump. Neat glitches guys, thanks for sharing!