Fresh from bonus stage 1, the Black Fly sets off into space. The Earth looks grim from up here--isn't it supposed to be blue?
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/FTjllz6.png)
I don't know what fascination this game has with the Moon. There are two Moons that appear in the game's attract sequence and during the final round. And, from the start of this round to its close, one of them sits in the center of the screen.
To start, shuttles approach from behind. These guys have a pretty bad cold; each one will shed its nose as it sneezes out a 5-way spread shot.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/OvwK9Px.png)
They make a great introduction to the round. In round 1, enemies were polite and approached from the right, meaning you could safely hang out at the back of the screen. However, in round 2, the very first enemy attacks you from the back of the screen. Enemies will approach from all sides.
Accompanying us on our space safari will be "Dual Moon."
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/hvFYOTo.png)
The original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j6BvgG7o-wIt's on
Metal Black -The First-, but not on YouTube.
And there's a version in
Space Invaders Anniversary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4q9zGzshY8Among
Metal Black's soundtrack, "Dual Moon" is unique for its pep and its driving beat. It matches round 2, which itself is unique among
Metal Black levels for having no environmental hazards. The Black Fly travels through open space for the entirety of the round. This means that every challenge in the level comes from a moving bogey or bullet, resulting in a fast and chaotic level. The round takes full advantage of its open borders to mix and match enemies from different directions, and it will feature some of the most reflex-heavy challenges of the game. The music strikes a complement against this, matching its beat to the level's hectic pace.
Round 2 doesn't delay to deliver, either. Soon after the round begins, it puts squads of tiny greenies next to hulking shuttles, leading to homing shots that criss-cross the shuttle's spread shots.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/PnC2mIJ.png)
The green guys lead to drills, which split from one into three...
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/FF70Gdw.png)
...and the drills lead into blue bug guys...
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/yebUAxY.png)
...which split into two as they fire homing shots.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/ffAOHZS.png)
The intro concludes with the round's first (!) miniboss, the mecha-sunfish. This guy's flashing trails and thick fire make him difficult to follow. Luckily, his shots are destructible, so all you need to do is mash the shot button and you'll be fine.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/CwUWO2v.gif)
Destructible shots are certainly a cool idea, but they make little difference here. It's a test of your firing rate and little else.
Here's some blue wheelies, but they don't really matter either. You could skip this paragraph if you hadn't just read all of it.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/UBPIYHI.png)
Instead, check this out: tons of stars drift in from the top and bottom of the screen.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/UKYGcXT.png)
They move upward or downward at a constant pace and drift left and right as if on a sine wave. Their ebb and flow makes them hard to follow while they accelerate and decelerate, and they litter the screen, layering tons of stuff moving every which way.
I find it best to stick to the left, since that increases the chances each star will approach the Black Fly from the right. If one wraps around behind you, watch out--it's liable to hit your ship right in the butt. Then, I sweep up and down the screen, trying to keep it clear so I can deal with two enemies that fly alongside the stars:
1) blue wheelies, which shoot homing bullets as they pass through, and
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/qVRVQin.png)
2) some kind of crustacean maybe? These baddies halt before firing diagonally. If you let them fire, they'll cover a huge part of the screen, making it more difficult to adapt to the crazy stars. On the other hand, their entrance is slow, so you should be able to take them out.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/YjC0b8u.png)
But that's not all! You've got two walls of enemies left before you're done with the stars. These guys drop balls, all aimed to your position. You can push the balls back with your own shots, but you can't destroy them, so they effectively block your fire.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/Ysq8vNy.png)
I've elected to shove them all back using the Black Fly's newalone bomb.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/gGQZYN7.png)
The splitting bugs form a second wall of enemies.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/QrcnLgR.png)
Both walls of enemies aim their shots at your position, so with some careful herding, you can get through without using a bomb. It's a tight fit, though, and I find there's no reason to run the risk. I mean, you're still dealing with the stars! Just blow everyone up and forget about it.
Metal Black will throw crazy enemy combinations at you every once in a while, layering multiple enemies of three or more types, and they only get more frequent from here on out.
This manta ray miniboss marks the close of the round's middle segment. Its pattern is simple: drift up and down, firing steady streams of bullets at a regular and predictable pace. He would be unremarkable if not for his backup: several squads of formula 1 spacecars that shoot homing shots! They appear above and below the miniboss, meaning you'll have to cross his streams of fire in order to get at them. If you can't spot an opening, you'll have to suck it up and dodge their fire in whatever space you have.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/lo1NH29.png)
On the other hand, if you just focus on the miniboss, you'll need some good peripheral vision to catch homing shots fired from the sides.
As a palate cleanser before the round's finale, you have some easy peasy blue wheelies. You can see here that I don't permit them to enter the screen.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/2VOdQi1.png)
Next, a fleet of shuttles.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/QQNbzcc.png)
Normal shuttles wouldn't be much of an issue, but these ones drift vertically. The shuttles at the start of the stage feel orderly because they follow a straight line, but these appear sloppy because of their sideways flight path. They move along paths that their noses don't point down.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/9OoQnjz.png)
That bottom one in particular lines up with the last squad of blue wheelies. If you know what's coming, you can scrape the shuttle's nose off before it sneezes. Show it how to cut its nose off to spite its face!
As Oak put it, round 2 loves spamming enemies. Right before the boss, you'll get a flood of robo-catfish. Each one appears in vertical squads of three, and they have an interesting way of homing their shots.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/TzhtCBP.png)
They can only shoot diagonally. So, each individual will swim into the screen until it's diagonally aligned with your ship, then fire away. This gets real messy real fast, as each group will eventually shoot six shots. While you weave through their fire, you'll trigger subsequent catfish to lock onto you, spawning a mish mash of missiles.
What's worse, a fully charged bomb won't get you through the entire platoon. I usually wait until the background Moon yellows--that's when things get their most intense, and bombing then can carry you through to the boss.
Before I bomb, I take care to scrape catfish as they swim past, since at least their swim is entirely horizontal.
Oh yeah. There's also two Moons!
That Moon in the background of the whole stage was actually really close and not at all Moon-sized. Meanwhile, the real Moon has something freaky built into its surface.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/tvoEoeu.png)
And the fake one was a snake egg.
"Yueez" is the theme for the snake inside the egg.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/HmO4oqT.png)
The original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE0qtKp6jqQThe music's pace slows here, matching a boss that slithers across the screen.
But it doesn't match the huge wall of destructible shots forming Feeder's first attack. Much like the sunfish miniboss, this looks cool but is trivial.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/cXSTIY9.png)
Make sure to get outta there as soon as he stops firing, though! The Black Fly is slower than Feeder, so you won't have much time to dodge his flight path. I like to stick all the way to the left so that I have more time to get out.
And his next phase is trickier. He slides smoothly towards newalone, making gradual turns from one piece to the next. Because his movement is based on the position of newalone, it's hard to predict his exact flight path.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/5NkTVj1.png)
This is cool! I can't tell where newalone itself will go, so Feeder's newalone chase gives a dynamic challenge to work around.
He also drops teeny tiny moons off of his tail during this phase, leading into his next phase.
Lots going on here!
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/SAOyhV7.png)
Feeder spawns a little brother snake to eat newalone. Leave him alone too long, and he'll fire on you.
Feeder's tail shoots a laser that bounces off of the mini-moons towards your ship. Because the laser goes through so many steps before locking onto the Black Fly, I find it easy to lose track of. The fewer moons, the better, because the laser will make fewer bounces.
And finally, Feeder hocks up homing missiles. Always be careful around homing missiles in
Metal Black, because their turn radius is intense. Do not take scraping them lightly.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/U76qXAJ.png)
After that, it's time for another newalone gobble. What happened to the background? Is that still the Moon? We're deep into trippy territory here, aren't we? Round 2 leads into round 3, which is a hyperspace transition into enemy turf.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/7gUBsvK.png)
Finally! I was starting to worry that Feeder didn't have a boss beam. This is trivial--just stick to the top left and you're good.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/YHvnbbZ.png)
He turns a nice shade of red when he's about to blow up.