This is it, the tenth week, the last time we’ll do this. Over the course of the past 9 weeks, we’ve seen competitors from across video game history tackle the demanding course that is The Beast. At the end of each week, one of them received the title of Beastmaster, and now they’re all gathering one more time to see who reigns supreme and earns the title of Ultimate Beastmaster and all the glory that comes with it. After all, as video game characters, the money earned by those competing on the show is of little importance, so glory is the currency!
Our competitors are:
- Mega Man X (Mega Man X)
- Lara Croft (Reboot Tomb Raider)
- Spyro the Dragon (Spyro)
- Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell)
- Revan (Star Wars)
- Grant Danasty (Castlevania)
- Tails (Sonic)
- Spider-Man (Spider-Man 2)
- Rash (Battletoads)
For the finals, all obstacles are harder and Level 1 has been completely redesigned. Unlike the real show’s 2nd season, where the Level 1 challenges alternated every other episode, I kept everything the same for the starting weeks, to make things even and help me with the mental simulations I would have to do. But I always planned on bringing this alternate route into the game for the finals, as it switches things around and the character’s strengths may become their weaknesses. And not only are we using the new Level 1 but all distances for jumps have increased as well. Every obstacle in Level 1 is about 150% further away than it was before.
An overview of the new Level 1:
The point breakdown:
Level 1 – Bite Force, 5 points. Chain to Grinder, 5 points. Grinder, 5 points each, 15 total. Faceplant, 5 points. Chain to Coil, 5 points. Energy Coils (Red), 5 points each, 20 total. Energy Coils (Blue), 5 points, 25 in total. Jump to Slingshot, 5 points. Slingshot, 5 points. Landing Pads, 5 points each, 10 total. 3 Point Thrusters, 10 points each. Max Points, 130.
Level 4 – Individual points ignored. Reaching the top is worth 200. If no competitor reaches, then furthest along competitor wins.
So how did our competitors do? Let’s use Mega Man X as our example. If you remember, it was his speed on vertical climbing and horizontal movement that got him the Beastmaster title, plus the judges determined his Mega Buster was not an external tool, so he could use it to hit point thrusters from afar with it.
X dashes up Bite Force with each, leaping onto the grinder, skipping the chain and earning its points, one of the few obstacles they can skip legally. Even with the increased distance, the Grinder is no match for X’s Dash Jumps and neither is Faceplant, where X once again skips a chain and makes it to the Energy Coil, before firing off against the point thruster. The new distance between coils proves a challenge and X barely makes it across, using his wall jumping ability on the very edge of the coils with each jump. Firing off another pellet against the Blue Coil thruster, Mega Man X reaches slingshot, where he grazes the bar for the points but uses his natural speed and jumping ability to make it onto the first Landing Pad. The suspended pad groans under the weight of the robot and fully tilts, sending Mega Man X down to take a plunge in the Blood of the Beast.
Point Thrusters 2, 20 points. Obstacle points: 90 points. Total, level 1, Mega Man X: 110 points.
These are our rankings by the end of Level 1:
- Spider-Man – 130 – Completes the course, full score.
- Mega Man X – 110
- Tails – 110 – Couldn’t find purchase on the landing pad
- Spyro the Dragon – 100 – Couldn’t reach or grab the Slingshot.
- Rash – 90 – Misses 2nd and 3rd thruster, falls on the landing pad
- Grant Danasty – 60 – Couldn’t reach 3rd Red Energy Coil.
- Lara Croft 55 – couldn’t make the jump on one of the coils.
- Sam Fisher – 50 – Messed up the jump coming back from the first point thruster. Too far and high for him.
- Revan 50 same as above.
The wobbliness of the Landing Pads took its toll on our competitors, which is more or less what they did on the TV show. Successful competitors have to land belly first on it and grip its sides, before slowly standing and make it swing, generating enough momentum so the platform gets closer to the next one. It’s a difficult proposition, and only Spiderman, with his adhesive quality could really, hmm, stick the landing!
Level 2 – Things have changed in Level 2 as well. The jumps on Spinal Ascent are higher. The platforms on Stomach Churn are much faster and most critically, Digest Track’s inclination is much steeper, the slipperiness of the tube becoming a real danger and on top of that, it sinks much faster into the water. The jump is harder, the Dreadmills are faster, and every distance for jumps and swings are 150% greater, including the separation between chains on Chain Reaction and Vertebrace.4
For this level, we’ll see how Spiderman did:
Spinal Ascent proves childplay for the Neighbourhood Spidey, and the web-like Descent is almost his home turf. He scores the first point thruster easily. His athletic ability makes quick work of the high jump onto the middle platform of Stomach Churn, which this time around is seriously spinning, and Spidey lets himself be spun a few times while figures out the timing on the jump, then leaps to the last platform, faster than it was the first time he did the course, but is still slow enough that he can catch his breath and clear his head from the spinning. Confident in his abilities, he dives into the Digestive Track…which proves to be his downfall. The increased tilt on it makes the slippery substance inside almost concentrate at the base, and Spiderman struggles to find purchase, and when he does, it’s too late to make the jump onto the Dreadmills.
Point Thrusters 1, 10 points. Obstacle points: 45. Total, Level 2, 55 points. Total Score: 180 points.
These are the rankings for Level 2:
- Tails – 135 – T: 245 – Completes course, grabs first two point thrusters. Overcomes Digestive Track using his spin dash to shoot out of it like a canon. Rest of the jumps uses his limited propeller hover to make up the distances.
- Rash – 145 – 235 – Completes course, missed one poiint thruster. Slippery obstacles are barely a nuisance (he’s a toad, toads’s absorb water through their skin, negating this ‘hazard’).
- Mega Man X – 70 – T: 180 – Struggles with digestive track, loses too much time and can’t make the jump to the Dreadmills. Gets 2 point Thrusters.
- Spider-Man – 55 – T: 180
- Spiro the Dragon – 65 – T: 165 – Similar to Spider Man, just managed to get an extra point thruster.
- Grant Danasty – 55 – T: 115 – Identical to Spider-Man.
Point breakdown: Spinal Ascent, 5 points each, 25 total. Spinal Descent, 5 points. Stomach Churn, 5 points each, 15 total. Digestive Track, 5 points. Jump from Digestive Track, 5 points. Dreadmills, 5 points each, 10 points total. Jump to Chain Reaction, 5 points. Chain Reaction, 5 points each, 20 total. Vertibrace, 5 points each, 25 total. 4 Point Thrusters, 10 points each. Max Points, 155.
Level 3 – On Level 3, the ejector belt is faster, Prism Strike has been oiled up and so much swifter. The Coils on the Coil Crawl descend at an accelerated rate. and finally, the Hangman handholds are further apart. It’s a tough challenge.
Point Breakdown: Ejector, 5 points. Prism Strike, 5 points each, 10 total. Coil Crawl, 5 points each, 15 total. Hangman, 5 points each, 75 total. Pipeline, 5 points. Wall, 5 points. 4 Point Thrusters, 10 points each. Max Points, 155.
For Level 3, we’ll see how Rash does: The Battletoad doesn’t wait for the belt, and runs up it, grabbing on to Prism Strike with tremendous momentum, swiftly reaching the next obstacle and pressing the point thruster. The coil crawl is a challenge, but Rash’s superior jumping skills allow him to make the jump to the next coil even if it’s too low, though he misses the thruster there. He ascends Hangman at a slow rate and eventually stalls, his arms not reaching the 11th triangle and falling to the pool for a dip, but taking that 3rd point thruster!
Point thrusters 2, 20 points. Obstacle points: 80. Total, level 3, 100 points. Total Score: 280 points.
Rankings for Level 3:
- Tails – 125 – T: 370 – Completes Course, misses 3 point thrusters. Heavy use of helicopter tail to make up distances.
- Spider-Man – 155 – T: 335
- Rash – 100 – T: 280
- Mega Man X – 45 – T: 225 – Coil crawl descends too fast for him to catch up and make the jump to the hangman, even with his propulsion abilities. Captures 2 point thrusters.
Level 4 – Nothing much changes in Level 4. Whoever reaches the top or the highest altitude in the course before time runs out is the winner.
Spíder-Man defeats tails in a crushing victory. Tails, after all, did not finish the course on Week 7, but had time run out on him and this time it was no different. From the start, Spider-Man’s climbing prowess earned him a strong lead, up Ricochet, across Full Tilt before solidifying his dominance on the Motherboard. Skyhook was just another round of swinging for the web slinger and the Ventilator, just another wall for him to climb.
So, Spider-Man is The Ultimate Beastmaster – Gaming Edition – Season 1 winner, earning the title of Ultimate Video Game Beastmaster! Congratulations to Chris, from OverThinkerY, Spider-Man’s sponsor!
See you on Season 2, where things might just be different!
