Montezuma's Revenge: Slow, Pitiful Progress

Remember yesterday, when I said that the disappearing floor was more forgiving than the laser gates?

Oh look, 4 lives left, I surely will pass this obstacle.

I lied. The only disappearing floor I navigated yesterday had a convenient ladder midway, which made it trivial to get across: you simply run to the ladder, wait there for the floor to cycle again, and then continue on your way. What I found out is that when there is no midway ladder to cling to, these become a hellish death trap.  

nope.jpg

Maybe I'm doing something terribly wrong. Maybe my reactions are horrible. Maybe I'm missing a vital cue in timing that would clue me in as to when to cross. I'm not sure. However, what I do know is that I wasted around twenty cumulative lives on the same screen, with no success. I don't know if I'm supposed to run and jump onto the platform shortly before it appears, or if there is something I'm missing, or if I'm truly unlucky in my attempts. What I do know though, is that this is really hampering my progress through the game.

Montezuma is a clever bastard, I'll give him that.

Speaking of hampering progress, want to know what's really great? Forcing players into situations where a reset is all but required to progress. Look above, and see if you can spot the problem I created in screenshot. That's right, I unlocked the wrong door! That's just mean, Montezuma. I finally get comfortable with getting by your laser gates, then you create an un-winnable situation. Cold-blooded.

This screen is no longer impassable, but still a drain on lives.

Speaking of cold-blooded, the games rapid pace and complete lack of saving features mean I end up having little regard for Panama Joe's life. If I make a mistake on the first screen, like accidentally falling off a ledge, there is nothing stopping me from quickly using the rest of the lives so I can start off full again, because I will need those lives later.

Well, no reason to save the rest of the lives.

Honestly, I'm not going to be sad to be done with this game. The absurd difficulty is getting boring at this point, and the amount of memorization/route planning is more than I want from a Metroidvania game. The next post will probably be the last and include a rating, before moving on to Brain Break for the Sharp X1, a game and system I am completely unfamiliar with.