Metal Madness post-TBG: Strategies for a New Age

This boss battle is, of course, split up into four sections, one for each team. This, you might think, would afford you the luxury of attempting each team separately until you get it just right - however, it doesn't quite work that way.

Team Rose

Hold down at the start, and as soon as the camera pans to indicate you have control, homing attack with Amy. Switch to Big in midair and collect the team blast box with him, then switch back to Amy, homing attack forwards and use the team blast. Using a team blast from the back corner renders you out of range, so you have to come forwards. The time at this stage should be a low 9.

Now bombard the boss with Big's attacks, but remember to jump after he throws both Amy and Cream because he then goes into a very slow spinning attack which deals minimal damage to Metal Madness. After three rounds of this (you should be able to see the number 34) run back and pick up the other Team Blast box. Attack Metal Madness one more time with Big (down to 25) and mash Z to use the second Team Blast for the kill.

Target time: 26"50 - 27"10

Team Chaotix

You will notice you have control almost immediately here. If you die, you then have to wait six seconds to gain control, and have to deal with the panning camera making it more like seven. You should restart if this occurs.

Anyway, jump, homing attack back and right, and switch to Vector in midair. Swing the cannon left and shoot at the balloon (Charmy levels up), then keep swinging it left until it aims at solid ground, then hit B to escape the cannon. Switch to Charmy and jump back in, picking up his second levelup (and one for Espio if you want, but its entirely unnecessary). Now you can attack the boss.

His weak spot starts yellow, so attack with Vector to begin. After a round of attacks it will switch to red, so switch to Charmy (he needs to be level 2 to do damage with Thunder Shoot) and Thunder Shoot until it goes back to red. At this point he will attack with his tail, so move to the left and aim shots at the nearby weak spot, and hope you aren't knocked off the stage. Continue switching between Charmy and Vector until you knock off the 100 damage required (and you will soon wish that Chaotix were invincible as Rose were!)

Target time: 1'10

Team Dark

First thing you should notice here: The team blast meter is abnormally high... It's actually Chaotix's team blast meter carried over! Should you lose a life, you'll lose this, so it's imperative you get this right.

Switch to Rouge immediately and move slightly to one side, collecting two levelups, and Thunder Shoot the third for good measure. Switch to Omega and throw a few Fire Dunks at the boss (you should get four before the weak spot turns to red). Then, as with Chaotix, switch between power and flying until the Team Blast comes up. Use this immediately. This should be your Dark time.

While everything else is stopped, the weak spot will still change colour, so continue to watch it. Primarily attack with Omega, only switching to Rouge when it turns red. I have actually been left with 1 HP when the team blast ran out before... this was due to not using Omega enough! Use him at all costs!

Target time: 1'25

Team Sonic

Finally, you can retry this one as much as you like. Bring plenty of lives.

The first thing Metal Overlord does is always the speed attack, so set up as Sonic and pull off five Rocket Accels. If you do that, you should be very close to a Team Blast - pull to the left a little and you'll snag a ten ring balloon. Now use the Team Blast for one hit.

The rest of this fight can go in many different ways. The following rules of thumb apply:
* You can tell which attack is coming by Metal Overlord's position. If he positions in front of you, it's a speed attack. Either side indicates flying, and a dive down indicates a power attack.
* With speed - a Rocket Accel gives more team blast meter than a standard slide, even if all three icicles are destroyed.
* With flying - your teammates are generally very good at hitting the majority of the targets if your aim is fairly good.
* With power - remember that Knuckles can aim his shots. I think (but have not confirmed) that you get more of a team blast bonus the quicker you destroy the ship.
* In terms of time taken, the balance is flight < speed < power. Therefore you want a setup with as many flight and as few power as possible (though Metal Overlord seems to favour a majority of speed attacks). If power comes up on hit 2, assuming you brought a lot of lives you can restart until you get a favourable flying set.

Target time: 3'20

The usual analysis follows:

My time: 3'25"51
Analysis: Still plenty of time in this yet, I lost lives at the Chaotix losing 6-7 seconds there alone. The rest went very well though, so this will probably max out at a time in the 3'12-3'15 range.