Badland 2 - Time Trial: “Issues”

Описание: My time trial run at the “Issues” level, from Frogmind’s Badland 2 (2015) game for iOS.

My record: 3:15:166

Time to beat: 3:20:800

Comments: “Issues” is a VERY difficult level. To me, it’s the toughest level, in Badland 2, and is the one that was the hardest to me to master, in the game. It's even more difficult than the “Turre”, “Stop”, “Blaze” and "Age Mover" levels. In short, Badland 2 developers were not kidding when they named “Issues”: a level that stands to its name.

This leval has loads of complicated timing-related sections and the required time to beat its time trial is very tough.

Some tips: at the starting point of “Issues”, try to get out with the third rotation from the first gear. If you can’t do that, retry (don't restore from checkpoint) till being able to. Sometimes, you’ll get the timing to land on the second gear about to propel you to the bottom of those two flexible things at 0:17. This is the best scenario for a time trial.

At the 0:45 section, you can full-throttle against that laser at 0:48. With some luck, you’ll be able to land on the first levitating square (or, at least, land on the second one, which was my case, with this attempt in the video).

The whole section with the levitating squares (0:50-1:14) is tricky and timing-related. Try to get out of there with your chronometer roughly at 01:10:000. Mind the laser between those two saws at 1:13. It’s very easy to fail your attempt there.

Then, another tricky part is at 1:25. This seems easy, but I have lost many attempts there. I’d recommend you to follow the third sphere and concentrate on it. Handle your right and left controls so that you can stay just before that third sphere, in order to throw it against that ice beam. Pay attention so as not to miss that sphere, otherwise, the “sliding screen of death” will move and you’ll lose your try.

The next tricky part is at 1:40. Brieftly stop touching the right part of the screen of your device, so that you can avoid that last saw.

At the 1:46 section, sometimes, it’s possible to have enough luck to avoid entering the green portals and to climb that lower green portal without entering it. That saves a bunch of time, here. Unfortunately, in this attempt of mine, I didn’t manage to climb that lower portal.

The 1:53 section is a tough one. It’s pretty easy to mess up with your try there. You’ll need to dodge that mine (be careful, if coming from the green portal, at high speed) and to handle those moving platforms just enough to be able to fall onto that switch. Briefly after falling onto that switch, touch your screen to the right (right control), so that your clone (“Big Eye”) can diagonally project itself to be under that second platform. If you don’t do that, the gravity will pull you straight up and you’ll lose your clone, precious time and a nice try.

The section starting at 2:14 is not that tough, however, requires a good amount of attention. Always pay attention to the “time-stop” path to your right. You have to manipulate the “time-stop” mechanism so that your path is clear of saws at the stopped position.

Then, comes the most infamous section of the entire Badland 2 game to me: from 2:32 to 2:44. That is the most stressful moment of the game, to me (together with the saw/switches part from the “Blaze” level).

Developers were cruel with that laser beam AI. You, basically, have to “lure” that beam to aim at the clones behind your most advanced one, so that you can have time to get out of that nightmarish section. The wall at the 10 o’clock position, right at that sort of isthmus, is destroyed by the laser, almost instantly. I’ve lost so many good tries at this section... A very hard one.

Finally, the last tricky moment begins at 2:56 of the video. Carefully explode that mine from the 7 o’clock position, wait for the laser beams to block the line of sight of that turret and wait at the bottom of that barrier with thorns till the turret throws itself to the thorns.

To beat the time trial, you’ll need to be at roughly 3:00:000 in your game chronometer, at that tunnel with the last power-ups. Sigh!