Crescent Kicker

Crescent Kicker is a platforming/beat 'em up game developed by TimeStrike and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis, released on August 28th, 1995 worldwide. It was developed simultaneously with BowieQuest and Aftershock as part of a three-title deal with Sega, with the focus of all three games being to continue the legacy of the slowly dying Genesis platform. The game's setting takes place on the fictional Planet Kickaxe, which is slowly being overtaken by desertification and excessive oil mining, driving its residents down to the remaining fertile corners of the world. The world government in response secretly hires an unusually fit and sassy kickboxer known as the "Crescent Kicker", whom they direct to eliminate the greedy oil tycoons threatening the world's last remaining natural locations and save the lives of many N.I.C.E. soldiers (Nature Is Classy Elites) that had been wounded by their equally greedy associates and cohorts.
Though Crescent Kicker has been noted for its complex and expansive control scheme since its release, it has been lauded for its accessibility, levels of difficulty, and saving system. The Crescent Kicker can perform double jumps, wall kicks, floor slides, flutter flurries, air-to-ground dives, wall runs, downwards stomps, and especially strong special moves. These may aid her in either beating up waves of enemies or navigating the levels, and often more than not, it goes both ways. The player is tasked with taking down each area's local oil tycoon, all the while saving a percentage of N.I.C.E. soldiers as they go. Eating flashy sweets like chocolate kisses as the player goes along will temporarily power up the Crescent Kicker in various ways, such as limiting the lag between her attacks or giving all of her kicking attacks an easy parry function. The player travels all across Planet Kickaxe, going through a total of eight fully-fledged levels throughout their journey.
==Plot==
===Manual introduction===
:Planet Kickaxe has always been known for its pristine beauty and signature curved geometry and was especially known for its dominance in kickboxing tournaments across the Milky Way Galaxy. The hydroelectric-powered cities across the planet were connected together through futuristic highways and pipelines, all of which had a role in nourishing nature and consistently providing Kickaxe with life following the urbanization it went under a few hundred years ago. Lately, however, Planet Kickaxe began seeing dramatic shifts for the worse in these kickboxing tournaments- over time, the planet's rivals trained their soldiers to outclass their enemies in every way. Over time, the cities of Kickaxe began to falter and crumble as they could no longer afford their own electric bills- this led to the organization and creation of seven oil tycoons, who are tasking themselves to drill within the planet to excavate its oil and burn it into fuel. This intense and careless mining would have negative impacts on the planet, with these greedy tycoons aiming to export oil across the galaxy in exchange for money. Little do they realize that the pollution would soon kill them all, however.
:In response to the increasingly strengthening destruction dominating the globe, the Kickaxe government secretly invited the unusually fit and sassy Crescent Kicker to their office, assigning her the task of eliminating the greedy oil tycoons threatening the world's last remaining natural locations. She had also been assigned to save the lives of the N.I.C.E. soldiers that had been wounded in their battle against these greedy corporate leaders. Though the impatient and on-your-heels woman initially refused to take on such a task, she gleefully gave in when she was promised a reward- and when she was promised her adventure would be filmed the whole way through and sold to rake in mounds of cash. They also gave the greedy protagonist her own assistant, the Axe Dancer, to help her out against the tycoons. Accepting what she has to do now, the Crescent Kicker and her assistant kick off outside the office, speeding into the slowly decaying landscape of Kickaxe! As she heads off, a big truck equipped with cameras and flashy equipment quickly follows, preparing to take many photos and videos of the Crescent Kicker as they ventures across the globe. Little does the Crescent Kicker know, however, that the money her film might earn may possibly bring the planet to stardom and earn it the revenue it needs...
===Cutscenes===
==Gameplay==
The key to surviving and winning Crescent Kicker is to get a strong grip on the game's control scheme and thoroughly learn it to the best of their ability. The player must venture through eight fully fledged levels, eliminating their respective local oil tycoons while saving whatever percentage of N.I.C.E. soldiers the game demands them to. With their plethora of abilities, the player should have little trouble sliding their way through the levels themselves, but they still need to put up the best fight they can against the many waves of enemies destined to head in their direction. The player is required to save the provided minimum of N.I.C.E. soldiers in any level before they can go fight its respective boss; they can warp between any checkpoint they've touched to press them forwards on their search. To top it all off, the player is always under a time limit to perform their tasks- if the player takes too long, the mission will be seen as a failure, and the player must restart the level all over again.
The gameplay of Crescent Kicker happens to be quite fast-paced, with the player being capable of dismantling and crushing down enemies rather quickly while rolling through levels at high speeds. This has largely to do with the convenience of the player's moves behaving snappily at the touch of a button and with just how fast the Crescent Kicker moves in general. Rather than the levels making up the main meat of the game's difficulty, like with BowieQuest, the enemies and bosses handle this instead, and the N.I.C.E. soldiers can prove to be challenging to search for from time to time. Platforming takes a backseat in Crescent Kicker, with much of the level footing designed with player-to-enemy scenarios in mind, with the presence of these threatening foes being what's supposed to keep the player on their toes. The player needs to be careful to not take too much damage or lose their footing- the player doesn't get too many chances to live, and resetting from the beginning of a level can be painful later on.
The player's moveset is very versatile, both when they're on the ground and when they're in the air. The Crescent Kicker can double jump, wall jump, and even run up walls for a short period of time like a ninja. She can also stomp down instantly from her position midair and perform a slide across the ground. These moves can be used together for sneaking around- it's key to stealth. She can also perform a variety of kicks that can damage the enemy and/or possibly kick them into the air. The Crescent Kicker can choose to perform a fluttering flurry of kicks horizontally or into the skies, or perform a damaging dive with her foot- these can both aid with platforming, as well. With all of these moves in the player's arsenal, moving through stages isn't all too challenging when the player finally learns what all of these moves do. The player can also perform especially strong special moves if they've dealt and/or taken enough damage, which can do a wipeout of all enemies on the screen or do massive damage.
Throughout the levels, the player will commonly find flashing treats and other assorted goodies. Blue Sardines are the most common, which the player can collect to restore health, while Health Vials are the rarest, giving the player more chances to survive in the game. The player can also frequently find 10G/25G money bags through these levels- if she's close enough, the Crescent Kicker will automatically gravitate towards them! Be sure to break down all enemies first before snagging 'em. Collecting these money bags is necessary for letting the player purchase items from shops, however. The player can purchase White Chocolates, for example, to make their kicks send off afterimage projectiles, or purchase Peppermint Chocolates to instantly fuel their Rage Meter. Eating any foods besides Blue Sardines will restore the player's health by a small amount.
The HUD for Crescent Kicker works as follows. Her icon will be found on the lower-left side of the screen, accompanied by a yellow bar representing her health and a red one right below it displaying her current rage. On the right side of the screen, the player can read the health meter(s) of the enemy or three they're currently attacking. The very top of the screen holds the player's time limit, with their accumulated score found right atop it. The current money the player has on hand can be found in the top right corner, and the number of soldiers they saved versus the number of ones they have to save can be found in the top left corner instead.
The player will usually be playing the game on NORMAL mode, but they can switch to EXPERT mode if they believe themselves to be experienced enough at the game or switch to BEGINNER mode if they're generally newer to video games. "EXPERT" sharpens the game's difficulty curve, strengthening enemies by boosting their health bars and making them more plentiful while introducing platforming even more tricky to endure. "BEGINNER" does the very opposite, weakening enemies and making the levels more accessible to all players alike.
===Controls===
For Crescent Kicker, the player uses the traditional Sega Genesis controller. The player uses the D-Pad to left and right ( and ), and holding or on the ground will move the camera around in those specific directions. The button allows the player to pause the game.
 lets the Crescent Kicker - pressing again will let her . She can perform a if the player holds + midair, but if this move is done on the ground, she will instead across the ground. Holding against a wall will allow the Crescent Kicker to perform a , and letting go will let her perform a off of it. If the player presses while performing a quick drop, the move will be canceled- this is referred to in-game as . When locked in combat, the player can use their jumping techniques to carry their foe into the air and deal continuous damage to them without having to worry about them striking back.
 lets the player perform a series of powerful kicking moves. Tapping rapidly will let her lock the enemy into a (infinite series of kicks), and letting go will let her do a to knock the enemy away. On the ground, the player can hold + to perform a to launch an enemy high in the air, or hold + to perform a to space herself from enemies. Should the player use midair, she will perform a series of in the player's specified direction, which keep her momentum and deal great damage. If the player holds , though, she'll do a dive attack instead that lets her bounce off of enemies.
 will trigger the Crescent Kicker's special moves, of which she has five overall. Should she give or take enough damage during battle, she will fill her Rage Meter, which has five stages- she can use up to five quickly-performed special attacks altogether if that meter is filled completely. Depending on the direction the player's holding in when they press the C button, the Special Move is different, and typically works to take care of the enemies in the player's held direction. Assuming the player is facing to the right, the special moves are as follows: (), (+), (+), (+), and (+).
Here are the Crescent Kicker's Special Moves: 
*The Crescent Kicker will perform an axe kick while beginning to rapidly spin around like a tornado, being capable of moving left and right to rip through helpless groups of enemies. The move deals rapid-hit damage, so she won't deal much damage if she whips right past an enemy, but staying right in front of one will accumulate damage against it insanely quickly. For the move's six-second duration, the Crescent Kicker can jump and move around.
*This move has her perform a swift crescent kick, which sends a somewhat large crescent-shaped wave of fire horizontally. This flame can catch and drag many enemies at one time while dealing consistent damage to them- it serves the purpose of freeing room for the Crescent Kicker ahead of her. Against larger enemies, it will immediately dissipate, but not before leaving behind a highly damaging hurtbox that's great against bosses.
*The Crescent Kicker will first grab an enemy from behind before flipping over them, still holding onto them as she slams them into the floor and potentially into any nearby enemies. This is perhaps the simplest of her specials and unusually forces her to use her well-toned arms, but the unique element of this move is that it can be used against larger enemies and even bosses- and their huge hitboxes mean they can flatten many enemies.
*Lunar Axe might be really useful in a pinch, given how it can function as an especially high third jump if the player needs it. The Crescent Kicker will leap high into the air and come back down with a soaring axe kick, striking the heel of her foot into an enemy. The tip of her foot has a highly damaging hurtbox that can help her whittle down bosses quite fast. It can also be used to leap out of crowds and strike the leaders of gangs.
*Though "Zero Mercy Drop" is the hardest move of these to land and the player's only got one chance to use it, it deals the most damage to a single enemy and can save a lot of the player's precious time if it's used on bigger targets. Basically, the Crescent Kicker will perform a drop kick to push the enemy down to the ground. If the player catches up to them in time, they can perform a rewarding series of lethal foot stomps to crush them.
==Modes==
There are several available modes in Crescent Kicker.
*"Shining Time" serves as the story mode for Crescent Kicker and its main course, and the player can have up to three save files on it. They must steer their ass-kicking heroine through eight action-packed stages, beginning at the Autumn Meadows and finishing up at the Lockdown Shelter. Every level is played in order, but upon the game's completion, the player can choose to play any level at any time. For every level that's beaten, the game's progress will be saved, akin to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (assuming the player didn't choose the "No Save" option). Once Shining Time is beaten, the rest of the game's modes will become available.
*"Turbo Edition" is a bonus mode that the player can unlock after finishing the game at least once. This mode removes the requirement to gather up N.I.C.E. soldiers and removes all of the game's dialogue, becoming a much more straightforward adventure. This mode also removes the time limit gimmick, instead keeping track of the player's time spent overall. By the time the final boss is beaten, all the player's level times will be counted up and added together. Then, the player will be able to see how long it takes for them to beat the game in both in-game time and real time. Note that the player cannot save their progress in this mode, only their times.
*"In Reverse" is a bonus mode that the player can unlock if they've found all of the N.I.C.E. soldiers on any file in Crescent Kicker. It is a strange retooling of the original "Shining Time" adventure, with the player facing levels and bosses in backwards order! Lockdown Shelter is hardly a hassle now, but Autumn Meadows has become an enemy-stocked nightmare. The player also has stricter time limits to deal with, especially in the later levels, but luckily there's no N.I.C.E. soldiers to collect on the way. Upon the completion of this mode, the player can "Turbo" through it in the game's "Turbo Edition" mode if they so desire.
*The player can adjust music/sound volume controller configuration here, and additionally select whichever music tracks or sound effects they wish to play from the Sound Test. The Crescent Kicker will be sitting at a desk, record scratching to the game's hip-hop/metal infused soundtrack.
==Characters==
Crescent Kicker	
The Crescent Kicker, aka Cassandra Kesecker, is an impatient and bossy kickboxer that's got loads of ass to kick on a regular basis! She's well-known across the globe for her unsatisfiable appetite for action, frequently challenging oversized foes and putting on dangerous but slickly done performances- and if she's not doing anything attention-grabbing, she quickly becomes really bored and really impatient. Demanding to be at the epicenter of attention at all times, she likes to throw on snazzy outfits for all occasions and frequently get on others' heels if they're actively ignoring her. She was kicked out of her home the second she turned 18 for her fierce self-independence and sassy behavior. Currently, she doubles as a soldier and a kickboxer, and is really skilled to boot.
You will never meet anyone as reckless or demanding as the Crescent Kicker, whose ego frequently soars high over the moon and back and whose temper can never be reasonably controlled. But with that all in mind, she isn't really a cruel or hateful person- hell, she has morals for who's worth kicking and who's not, and displays pity and sorrow for the weakened or injured. She's also very sweet around those she loves, especially towards her dedicated fans and towards her "secret lover", and will protect them over anything. Her biggest weakness, however, is her lust for money- it can overpower pretty much any of her emotions, since she wants to use that money to afford an infinite luxury. It's a hard lust to break, too!
Axe Dancer 	
The Axe Dancer is a rowdy, but cowardly assistant of the Crescent Kicker's, always fleeing from oversized foes and miscellaneous groups of enemies since he supposedly can't put up a good fight on his own. Knowing he cannot work alone against the greed-hungry oil tycoons dominating the world, he joins the Crescent Kicker to assist her on her travels and to support his cause of bringing down the tycoons. He seems to stutter and speak shyly at nearly every instance over the course of the game, and always leaves his partner to take care of the enemies he supposedly cannot. It's worth noting, however, that the Axe Dancer seems to know a professional series of axe kick maneuvers and holds a really versatile pool of kickboxing moves under his belt. So what's his deal?
Role: The Crescent Kicker's freaky and unusually gun-shy assistant.
President Fu 	
President Fu manages the government of Planet Kickaxe and its people as well, trying to handle her responsibilities as clearly and effectively as possible. She's very formal, referring to the heroine and her assistant by their last names and calmly guiding them around the world. She likes to have a good laugh, though, and always appreciates someone with a good sense of humor. Fu prefers to solve her problems through non-violent means without consequence but personally believes that if the crisis is great enough to excuse it, then she'll initiate bloody wars if necessary. It should be noted that a robotic clone of Fu operates the government building from dusk to dawn, for Fu secretly goes out at night for reasons she leaves private... for what? Partying? Housekeeping?
Role: President of Planet Kickaxe and the assignee of the protagonist's tasks.
Mister Frank 	
Mister Frank's the frontman of the oil mining industry, leading his cult of tycoons around to mine the world of its abundant oil supply, all of them working under his order of supplying the world's cities by means of fuel. He is blind to all the destruction and havoc he's causing to the world, believing his team has what it takes to prevent them from polluting and destroying the planet as they mine away at its core. Mister Frank's whereabouts are unknown, but it's implied he's shut off from the rest of the world, commanding his employees blindly to extract the world's oil. Though he's described by President Fu as malicious and willing to lock himself in combat, he's hiding away... for what purpose? Why does he choose to be blind as he is?
Role: Leader of the oil tycoons and responsible for the business growth.
Gus Gibbous 	
Gus Gibbous isn't just the organizer and commander of the oil tycoons running the planet's quickly growing oil industry, but he's also the Crescent Kicker's rival! Since Mister Frank's choosing to safely manage his army from the inside of his own headquarters, Gus handles the outside-venturing expeditions for his master, training his minions on how to use his tricks while he's at it. In his youth, he was the Crescent Kicker's rival back in school, frequently challenging her ego with his smarts and repeatedly threatening to crush her under his heavy weight! He's the total mirror to her, never paying mind to anyone he meets and never caring for his fans, and doesn't care whatsoever for cash or money. Yet, he's usually calm and keeps his temper straightened out. His weakness is love- he's got none of it.
Role: The Crescent Kicker's rival who organizes and commands the tycoons.
==Vendors & Items==
The money bags the player regularly picks up throughout the levels can be used at the time-stopping vendors found in each stage, whereas they can purchase any items they desire. It is also at these vendors where the player's allowed to quicksave or quickly converse with the vendor owner. There are eight vendors overall, all reportedly made from DNA cloning, and thus it's hard to tell which one of these vendors is the real one. Nevertheless, they all have unique names and have slight differences in personality. If the player pauses the game, they can choose which item they wish to activate.
*Health Vials can be purchased for each, but can be rarely found across the levels. If the player doesn't have any of these upon Crescent Kicker's next death, they will receive the game over screen and will be forced to reset the level from the very beginning. It's recommended to stock up on them whenever possible.
*Blue Sardines can be purchased for each, being the player's primary method of restoring their health to the max. They are found more commonly across the levels than any other item, so purchasing them from a vendor isn't entirely necessary. Fake ones called "Red Herrings" have a slight reddish tint- and hurt on contact!
*Milk Chocolates can be purchased with each, which give the Crescent Kicker a temporary parrying ability. Whenever she kicks, she'll counter any blows delivered in her direction at the same time and deal high damage to the enemy. If the player takes damage while under the effects of a Milk Chocolate, they'll lose the power.
*Dark Chocolates can be purchased with each, giving the Crescent Kicker the ability to release weak afterimage projectiles for every kick she performs. These can pass through enemies to hit a bunch at once, though they don't deal anywhere as much damage as her Crescent Flame special. Lost when she takes damage.
*White Chocolates limit the lag between the player's attacks, helping the Crescent Kicker's moves flow together sweeter and make her noticeably harder to counter. She can also unleash two specials instead of one. They can be purchased for each, and the effects are lost whenever the player next takes damage.
*Caramel Chocolates are a rare breed of sweets, heightening the player's speed and letting them pass through enemies without taking damage for as long as she's dashing. She can also run up walls for much longer. She loses these effects the instant she collides with an enemy, reducing her speed back to normal. Sold for each.
*Peppermint Chocolates instantly fuel the player's "Rage" meter to the maximum, and activate instantly upon collection. Little chunks of them can be found periodically, which always fill the Rage Meter by at least one stage. They're sold for each. Green varieties double the Rage Meter temporarily, but can't be found at vendors.
*Couverture Chocolates can be purchased for each, and can only be found at vendors. Using one, the player can transform into the Crescent Master! Her Rage Meter will be doubled, but will start rapidly decreasing- in the meanwhile, she can travel around twice as fast and be twice as strong while always hovering midair. She's also invincible.
*Chocolate Chips will fill the Crescent Kicker's belly with pure energy, powering her up by 1.2x to make her deal more damage to enemies if she's collected a minimum of 20. However, if the player goes a while without consuming any Chocolate Chips, her power will drop to 0.8x. A package of 20 can be purchased for .
==Levels==
Crescent Kicker boasts eight full levels overall, with all taking place on the oil industry-run Planet Kickaxe. All levels feature their own assets and happen to be among the most complex ones shown in video games at the time, with all of them seamlessly split into thirds with their own unique gimmicks and features attached to them.
Autumn Meadows
Welcome to one of the few remaining fertile corners of the world- the Autumn Meadows. These lush tangerine-colored fields spread on for miles, jagged and rugged from the tectonic plates having shifted underneath it for the past few thousand years, with densely-packed pine trees and numerous azure cascades dotting the mountainous terrain to the meadows' sides. Crumbling cliffs, rickety bridges, and treehouses provide the area with much scenery, as do the numerous bushes of flowers and overgrown vine complexes scurrying all over the place. Heavy winds brought upon by the seasonal monsoon bring brightly colored leaves to scatter across the skies, powering windmills secured throughout the meadows that control drawbridges and systems that keep the area's people together. Usually sunny, severe thunderstorms and log factory smoke have been darkening the skies of this now-dangerous area.
The precious Autumn Meadows surround the beloved capital of Planet Kickaxe, Axopolis, and have been the traveling grounds for locals and foreigners alike for as long as humans have lived. Many rural towns dominate the landscape, with many of their local residents resting in high-held treehouses near the crystal-clear Winter River and several others working within windmills to power the telephone lines stretching across the horizon. They are a popular destination for strangers and tourists alike, noted for its gorgeous scenery and friendly locals, as well as for its sunny weather. When the Crescent Kicker winds up reaching this area, however, she finds that the weather's gone bad and that the locals have gone mad. The decaying air quality and general lack of available food force these villagers to become savage- they will attack anyone that threatens their family or resources.
Part 1:Here, the Crescent Kicker navigates the meadows themselves, forcing her to scale some steep terrain while quickly speeding across collapsing ledges and racing around waterfalls. This section of the Autumn Meadows forms the player's training grounds- they'll be dropping down into caverns, sliding through tight gaps underneath some walls, and wall kicking their way above numerous cascades. Several stone barricades in the area can be broken down with the Crescent Kicker's powerful kicks, letting her proceed onward to kick some more ass. Sometimes the Crescent Kicker will leap aboard a wooden raft, having to use it to drift her way aboard the freezing Winter River while throwing off enemies that happen to be aboard her vessel. Enormous leaves can be ridden to navigate the skies, too, which are also topped with baddies she'll need to beat up quickly.
Part 2:Now the Crescent Kicker must navigate some evil rickety bridges, which ominously sway above the jagged rocks emerging from the Winter River down below. Now that they're high in the air, the player has to be really careful to not let her fall through any one of the numerous gaps found on every bridge, fighting the heavy winds and rain as they do. Logs will commonly be found rolling across the tops of numerous waterfalls, which have to be carefully ridden on as they fall to cross the tops of these dangerous cascades. Many hostile villagers can be found around these parts, with most trees boasting treehouses loaded up with soldiers. From time to time, the Crescent Kicker can find weak walls- upon breaking these open, the player will land themselves in a short crystal grotto, where they'll usually find important resources that can aid them on their quest.
Part 3:At the end of these bridges happens to be a log factory, operated by the oil tycoon known as "Bunyan". The Crescent Kicker must swing from cranes to make her way around the innards of this titanium factory, avoiding getting hit by transported logs as she does, and especially avoiding the sawblades and clouds of pollution inside the level. She has to frequently jump from stump to stump, leaping off of them before they grind into dust atop the machines they're on, while avoiding the bouncing logs the local workers throw at her. When the player scales the walls of the factory from the outside, they have to fight the winds and workers operating the factory. The first of seven factory-based settings in the game, the frequent spike hazard debuts in this level, and the moneybags found here are generally too dangerous to collect without thinking about one's moves first.
Hazy Harbor
The Hazy Harbor happens to be the main attraction of the capital city Axopolis, affected tremendously by the pollution emerging from the unsanitary and poorly handled oil towers in the area. Submerged in heavy smog, the Hazy Harbor's gained a reputation lately for being unsafe to visit thanks to newfound poisonous atmosphere. The metropolis is tightly packed with futuristic buildings and heavy traffic navigating the half-pipe roads, with solar-powered cars hovering above the ground and moving at high speeds. As for the harbor itself, it's the oldest part of Axopolis and is in need of repairs, with its architecture and buildings having considerably weakened with time thanks to a lack of good budget. It's a dangerous place too, with the tides dipping up and down frequently and catching sailors by surprise and with numerous gangs hiding around the corners of this famous place.
This harbor's long been known for its importance as a trading center for the whole of Planet Kickaxe, shipping materials around the world and daily receiving items it requires to keep Axopolis running. It frequently ships off the minerals its workers carefully mine from the nearby Autumn Meadows, leaving Axopolis itself the duty of repairing the environment and recycling what's been returned to become new again. The Hazy Harbor benefits significantly from its well-handled fishing industry, usually drawing in thousands of tons of fish on a daily basis during the appropriate seasons and delivering the salted food in barrels across the planet. Thanks to the pollution swallowing up the waters, however, much of the seafood is poisoned, regularly intoxicating the residents of Axopolis and making the harbor vulnerable to being sued in the future.
Part 1:The Crescent Kicker starts off at the edge of the harbor, having to break her way through some off-limits barricades to enter the employees-only docks. Many of the wooden docks can be located at various heights, and should be navigated by means of ladders or well-timed butterfly kicks. Some of the piers will sink underneath the player's feet, with thinner piers sinking faster, requiring the player to move efficiently if they wish to avoid falling into the sharp coral reefs below. Enemies like to wait atop the edges of piers to push her around. The Crescent Kicker will periodically swing between ropes hanging below docks to move around the uneven piers and fight gangs of enemies found on the concrete sections of the area. The tide will occasionally raise high and try to sweep the Crescent Kicker away, requiring her to jump when the time's just right.
Part 2:Next, she infiltrates a crumbling hotel that provides the only passageway to the upcoming hydroelectric-powered factory. When the player enters, the tycoon "Jones" will set off some explosives that slowly but surely make the hotel begin to sink into the seas below. The Crescent Kicker needs to quickly ascend the hotel, climbing ropes up the non-functional elevator shafts and skidding through the hole-filled hotel rooms. As the hotel will slowly lean from left to right, barrels and other hazards will roll around the place to try and slow the Crescent Kicker down. Wall running and floor sliding are the player's best friends. Though the player has plenty of time to escape this dangerous place, they can burst through some of the more fragile walls to stock up on cash and potentially gain some items they can use later on to make the factory more bearable.
Part 3:The final act of the Hazy Harbor, the player leaps off of the hotel's roof to reach the high deck leading into the hydroelectric factory. Like at the log factory from the Autumn Meadows, the Crescent Kicker will be navigating between many tricky industrial hazards, though they are quite different here. Though the factory continues to be running, the lack of sufficient profits to repair its flaws has resulted in it malfunctioning, electrocuting the waters and making them completely unsafe to touch. She needs to navigate between very thin platforms while evading electrical beams coming from the floors and ceiling while taking high speed warp tunnels to travel around the area. The Crescent Kicker also needs to attack switches to change the flow of the water at times, usually to help let her pass to the next area of the factory or find hidden goodies.
Nautical Clash
There's a Nautical Clash overseas between an innocent entertainment cruiser and a heavily armed huge oil tanker, and the Crescent Kicker's required to go out there and take out the oil tycoon organizing the whole mess! Out on the open waters, one can get a picture-perfect glimpse of Axopolis and notice the wastelands in the far distance… the heroine will be getting there later. Until the moment it went under siege by the oil tanker, the cruiser's wooden decks had been swept clean and many adults were resting peacefully in their chairs. Now there's numerous holes in the deck, and the halls are now loaded with the soldiers that tycoon Stormalong brought out to stop the Crescent Kicker in her tracks! Some holes in the hull of the ship have brought water rushing through the cruiser, grounding it to the sea floor and making it vulnerable to any attack the cruiser blasts off.
The cruiser itself is your typical summer vacation cruiser, loaded with beach chairs and several tourism centers, and numerous shops and drinking bars rest aboard the deck. It frequently heads out from Axopolis to tour the residents and tourists of Planet Kickaxe around the areas, returning each season to drop them back off and earning Axopolis lots of much-needed revenue. Now that it's being attacked, it's suffering from the possibility of no longer being able to support Axopolis! On the other hand, the enemy ship's a rusty, seemingly old battleship of sorts that doubles as an oil tanker, carrying thousands of gallons of oil and keeping it all inside the numerous chambers of the thousand men-armed ship. Numerous weapons can be found aboard the tanker's deck, including cannons and mine spitters, and a specialized weapon on the battleship's head can release lasers that'll melt anything down in a jiffy.
Part 1:The Crescent Kicker begins the Nautical Clash stage on the entertainment cruiser itself, quickly hopping her way aboard. Structurally, the cruiser is built like a labyrinth and enemies can be found standing at nearly every corner, forcing the player to watch where they step or an enemy may bump them off course. The heroine will be going from left to right to left to right all over again- fortunately, arrows found on the ship's walls prevent the player from getting lost too easily. There are numerous gaps on the ship that the Crescent Kicker will need to slide under, many more ladders that she'll need to climb up, and various flooding shafts that require her to wall kick her way out of danger. Occasionally, the player will get themselves loaded up into a cannon, which will blast them around the numerous decks of the slowly sinking ship. When the player reaches the top of the ship, they'll be able to snap the ropes connecting the cruiser with the tanker, and force it to retreat as the heroine pursues them!
Part 2:It's skiing time! Once she's taken care of business aboard the cruiser, the Crescent Kicker whistles for her partner to come by with his motorboat- she then leaps onto the skis attached to it, ready for action! As the motorboat moves forwards on its own, the player can move the heroine left and right while behind the motorboat as well as make her jump and kick. Exclamation marks will appear on the right-hand side of the screen; depending on if they're positioned high, medium, or low, enemy bombs will be thrown in that direction- respectively, the heroine will have to stay low, duck, and jump! She'll also have to kick through any of the enemies in her way in order to pass through this area atop of dodging these bombs. Occasionally, the motorboat will swerve into the foreground- that's the player's cue to jump! They'll leap onto the wall, then be able to jump from wall to wall before being able to return to their skis. Eventually, the player will be able to infiltrate the tanker!
Part 3:The last bit of the Nautical Clash means taking care of some unfinished business! The Crescent Kicker will infiltrate the insides of the enemy tanker battleship, having to take ziplines to get to bit to bit of this massive ship, dodging boiler rooms and numerous annoying enemies as she heads along. She will be frequently riding rails around the ship and leaping from them before rigged explosives blow them up. She will also be climbing giant metallic cogs, avoiding huge crushing pistons, and pressing against steam valves to launch her around. Though the inside of the ship happens to be huge and let her gain a lot of speed, the player needs to use the sliding motion and quick drops frequently if they wish to keep their momentum and thrash through the level. The player's better off avoiding the aquariums, unless they want to be face-to-face with an angry great white shark!
Mystic Theater
The Crescent Kicker breaks into the Mystic Theater, ready to take down the oil tycoon and tear down his under-construction factory! Now across the ocean and quite distant from her home town of Axopolis, the Crescent Kicker's immediate surroundings are a decaying and peeling mall with shattered windows giving her a good view of the simmering wastelands ahead. As she dwells inside this place, the Crescent Kicker will find an enclosed darkly-lit opera theater with night guards and searchlights everywhere ensuring she can't foil the tycoon's plans. It's thought that this place used to be highly popular among the residents of Planet Kickaxe prior to Mister Frank seizing control of the area, judging by the thousands of products lining the shelves of the rotting mall and the immense size of the opera theater. It's time to shut the place down once and for all though, by taking down Tycoon Crockett and his cronies.
In the Mystic Theater, its two main attractions are its eponymously-named opera theater and its abandoned (and rotting) mall. The theater is still used even today and it's known for its many famous opera performances, with popular performers flocking in from all across the universe to deliver excellent shows. After show hours, the opera theater gets swallowed up in darkness and gets watched over by several hundred guards, trying to protect the entrance to the under-construction oil factory and prohibit access to any area in the Mystic Theater. Meanwhile, the mall got closed very recently to the general public for repairs, only to not be reopened on schedule when orders for a new factory to be built came through. It was acclaimed for its many venues and for its ease of access, with escalators and elevators found all around, though they no longer function because of how much damage the establishment has taken from weathering and neglectment.
Part 1:The Crescent Kicker swings and kicks her way into the Mystic Theater's accompanying mall by smashing through its storage room window. The pathway the player takes through the mall is very straightforward, with the player scarcely needing to change direction as they climb the vertically aligned building. As the mall is deteriorating and devoid of any electricity, the escalators will not work, forcing the player to ascend them like they were ordinary staircases. The elevators will not function either, requiring the Crescent Kicker to wall kick up the shafts. As the mall happens to be deteriorating, some of the ground will give away soon after the Crescent Kicker steps atop it, meaning that she has to watch for crumbling platforms and run away as fast as she can. Hitting switches in the mall will briefly spring the electricity back on, drawing enemies to the Crescent Kicker's current location. This will make some elevators work and make some escalators run, which can be used to disrupt blockades and allow the player to move on.
Part 2:Soon enough, the Crescent Kicker manages to climb high enough in the mall to find a vent that she can crawl into. This will move her onto a high balcony of the Mystic Theater itself, which is a dark and quiet place with searchlights everywhere and with hundreds of guards waiting for her to come by. The Crescent Kicker will have to make it through here somewhat stealthily, swinging from chandelier to chandelier and avoiding detection from the detectives and drones in the area. She can safely land on sturdy wooden structures at the theater's top and run across them, knocking down any lawyers or detectives in her way as she moves across the ceiling. Searchlights will be the Crescent Kicker's main threat in this level. If they detect her, flocks of enemies will be sent in her direction and the player will have to reset from the beginning of the theater section. Some seats placed ridiculously high in the theater (which give you a good top-down view of the performances) can be quick dropped on to give the Crescent Kicker extra height.
Part 3:Once the Crescent Kicker manages to leap beyond the theater, she will come across the construction scene for the new Mystic Theater oil factory! The player has to precisely balance themselves atop of tilting steel beams while swinging from lifting hooks and knocking over oil barrels to take down various groups of enemies. Lacking the main oil factory hazards like the huge crushing pistons, this unfinished factory makes up for it by having pits of oil for the Crescent Kicker to slowly trudge through and rolling boxes of TNT to avoid. These hazards can combine together and severely damage the player if they're caught in the flaming oil, so the Crescent Kicker needs to quick to escape the dangerous situation. The Crescent Kicker must also bring down some of the more flimsy structures of the construction site, but must be quick to blast through or they'll get crushed! As insult to injury, spotlights also exist all over the construction site, and the fate the player would have upon getting caught in the theater applies here too.
Skyhigh Baseball
For some strange and bizarre reason, one of the oil tycoons the Crescent Kicker's hunting down is way high in the skies, in the midst of a fleet of baseball-themed airships! Not only that, but Magarac has an oil factory of his own on the biggest and best-fortified of them all! We suppose Magarac's found some type of magic to make such aerial operations possible. From way high, the Crescent Kicker's given a good view of the rotting surface of Planet Kickaxe, including the slowly decaying Axopolis and the root of all this evil- the Wasteland. As for the airships themselves, they carry this nice white-green color to them and carry the logo of the "KICKAXE AXLES" on them, with their tops shaped like legitimate sports stadiums with all the fake grass and crowded seats you can expect. The skies are clear this evening, with lamps lit all across the stadiums to keep the level of visibility high. Blocking off any rain are the airships' sturdy glass domes.
The "KICKAXE AXLES" fleet is split into three parts- the minor league ships, the major league ships, and the sports cargo cruiser (or "tycoon ship", as Axe Kicker prefers to call it). Respectively, they're used to training local players against each other, testing local players against rival teams, and supplying the stadiums with endless hordes of sporting supplies. Members of the "KICKAXE AXLES" baseball team are known for their short temper and reputation for losing, being quick to turn on anyone that appears to have made them lost the game. Though their reputation is horrid, they do enjoy a decent amount of popularity across the planet and are always being rooted for, no matter how moody they're being. When the Crescent Kicker arrived by plane with her partner, they both underestimated just how bloody and dangerous this sport can be in the hands of angry, desperate players trying to fight for the reputation of their planet...
Part 1:After the Crescent Kicker smashes through the glass dome of a minor league ship via plane crash, she's ready to rock and roll. Having crashed hard into the stands and therefore catching plenty of attention, the Crescent Kicker has to avoid getting pelted by baseballs coming from the background while shaking off pouncing chucks and persistent magical footballs. Occasionally the player will reach a door in the foreground, which they can enter by pressing B. This will take them inside of the hallways of the minor league ship, where they must narrowly avoid getting crushed by baseball players and slide underneath stall doors in the shower areas to narrowly dodge her foes. Metallic gateways inside the ship can only be opened by kicking baseballs against their triggers. Eventually, the player will find a door that takes them above the stands- the player must avoid the streak of incoming baseballs so that they shatter the dome instead, allowing them to jump to the next ship. She must escape two more to move towards the major league ship.
Part 2:Following her survival of the minor league ships, the Crescent Kicker will be caught in the spotlight on a major league ship! The Crescent Kicker cannot escape the playing field, so she must move across the fake green grass while avoiding pouncing chucks and other enemies to partake in an unwanted game of baseball. For every enemy the player crushes, more will be sent onto the playing field, so the player's only choice is to play along. The player must wait for a Dark Catcher enemy to send a baseball flying, then kick it high up before a Dark Batter seizes the advantage! If the player scores, the enemy team will act all frenzy and savagely attack the Crescent Kicker! The match will progress when these enemies have been defeated. The player must repeat this thrice, or receive a home run to be allowed to move onto the sports cruiser ship. However, if the player fails even once, they will be forced to start the 4-round baseball match from the beginning! Aim for a home run if you want to get this over with as soon as possible.
Part 3:When the Crescent Kicker achieves her victory fair and square, she will be able to invade the cargo-carrying sports cruiser! The traditional factory cogs and pistons are back and function the same way as before, while swinging steel bats will knock the player around ruthlessly and bouncing sport balls will knock them around recklessly. Sawblades, pollution clouds, and spike hazards are also frequently encountered in this level, as Magarac isn't determined to let the player rush right through. Returning from the unfinished factory at the Mystic Theater are the oil barrels, which can be used to knock down enemies. The player will encounter chambers of oil here and there in this factory, and they have to quickly climb across the steel rungs on the ceiling before the room gets set aflame by Magarac! Though the hazards here are annoying at first, the player must try and cope with them and figure out how to get past them or the arson incidents Magarac started will catch up to them and possibly swallow them whole!
Kraken Labyrinth
Neither the Crescent Kicker or her sidekick Axe Dancer were able to swim out to the shores of the nearby wastelands, getting dragged down and swallowed up by an enormous kraken! With contact with the outside world impossible inside of the creature's repulsive walls, the heroine and her partner must be quick to escape or they will succumb to the stomach acids lying within. Interestingly, the insides of the kraken appear to be occupied by several scuba divers swimming about tying prisoners to the walls of the creature so they can be dissolved alive. Little do they know that this kraken actually belongs to a series of ones just like it, who frequently flock to and fro from an enormous mechanical whale that serves as a cargo carrier for the oily wastelands. This mechanical whale sends these krakens out so they may drain oil inside of it, receiving food and nourishment in exchange as they frequently track down undiscovered sources of oil underneath the sea.
These krakens are well known for their size, greatly outsizing every single creature in the ocean, while the mechanical whale (considered an "unstoppable force" by tycoon Jane) outsizes a dozen blue whales. They dwell deep within the waters of Planet Kickaxe, so they are almost never seen in the public eye, but they are attracted to underwater sources of oil and may behave violently if disturbed from their mission. The Axe Dancer frequently implies that these krakens are bio-weapons developed by Frank's team of oil tycoons, but this information has yet to be confirmed. What is known, however, is that being so far undersea can be dangerous and place anyone dwelling so far down underneath lots of pressure. And with the fears of digestion and detection ranking high in the Crescent Kicker's mind, it won't be easy reaching the surface alive, let alone infiltrating the Wastelands and finally putting the oil tycoons' plans to rest once and for all.
Part 1:The Crescent Kicker's will start out deep within the kraken's body, having to make a grand escape within the course of three minutes or she will become subject to corrosion and death. Any and all enemies should be ignored, as little tentacles inside of the tube linings of this vile creature will try to grasp onto the heroine and prevent her from moving and waste plenty of time. Playing as the aggressor will not let the player make much progress under the time limit; they need to focus on sliding underneath tight spaces, quick dropping, and wall kicking to move around the labyrinth-like innards of the kraken. Sometimes she will have to squeeze through tubes she enters inside of the kraken, which will pop her out with great force and have her blast off like a rocket. One important hazard to keep in mind in this level is the rising and falling water inside of the kraken- the player can't hold their breath for very long underwater, so they need to guide the Crescent Kicker out of underwater perils as soon as possible, collecting air bubbles from clusters on the floor if they must. 
Part 2:Having been detected inside of the kraken's body by oil tycoon Jane via her own underwater signals, the Crescent Kicker gets a taste of fresh air inside of the wastelands' cargo carrier upon getting forcibly dragged in. The passageways of the steel whale are narrow, with many hordes of enemies awaiting the player at pretty much every turn. Though real oxygen exists in this impressive steel carrier, waters remain a hazard inside of it, rising up and down while carrying a current that pushes the player to the left. The player can explore the whale by locating and entering doors to switch sides of the carrier, thus allowing them to avoid barriers but having them deal with currents heading off to the right instead. This game begins its difficulty curve in this stage, with chocolates and goodies becoming less and less common and enemies starting to appear more and more frequently. Besides the level's enemies, the player most often has to deal with grinding sawblades and harmful objects sliding with the ship's movement.
Part 3:At last, the steel whale parks at an oil factory underneath the sea, taking a quick stop so that the Crescent Kicker can be left to die under tycoon Jane's eyes. Swimming is a full-time hazard in this last bit of the level, with the player having to stop frequently to sap air from bubble clusters on the ground. The underwater physics make dealing with mechanical cogs, spinning sawblades, and crushing pistons all the more difficult, with the player having to be extra-cautious to make it through areas unscathed. Though the player can sometimes leap above the surface of the water to climb across beams, the level's diver enemies will attempt to slow the player's progress with bottles of mercury or bombs, whether she's on the ground or in the water. Krakens will also swim around these dangerous waters- when the player finds some rocket skis, they'll have to jet towards the boss arena as they get chased down by three big krakens total, one at a time! Hurl back bombs to blow up these nasty sea creatures.
The Wasteland
With only one oil tycoon left working for Mr. Frank, the Crescent Kicker and Axe Dancer acknowledge they're beginning to approach the end of their journey. Kickaxe's wastelands are highly dangerous, with obsessive oil drilling strongly rocking the surface of this planet and making sand fall into the world's chasms at an alarming rate, potentially sweeping along workers down to their deaths. This isn't even mentioning the massive number of construction equipment recklessly roaming the shifting sand dunes, shakily collecting oil and delivering it underground. The sun simmers hard overhead, with many sandbaked bodies shriveling and dying in the merciless heat as the unsanitary work conditions overwhelm the atmosphere of the working zone. The person responsible for these unsafe working conditions is Tycoon Bill, who is Frank's second-in-command. His main motivation is stopping and killing the Crescent Kicker, who is going to spoil everything in the long run.
Everything here seems to carry a strong hint of malice, with everyone working here glaring in the Crescent Kicker's direction and preparing to bring her down. The pathway to the underground shelter is littered with dozens upon dozens of tricky obstacles, with the plan being to either kill her directly or push her down into the chasms to never recover. Bill believes that this is the ideal environment to bring down the heroine in, given the blistering heat and just how outnumbered she and her partner are. Furthermore, she has to navigate not just across the desert, but also through an oil housing environment and the headquarters of the world's leading oil company! Everything's just as dirty as it is malicious, with mud and oil commonly mixing together to really make the rusted steel buildings look as ugly as possible. Though a few dozen workers perish every day to the heat and hazards, these conditions are what's guarding this oil company from infiltration.
Part 1:The Wasteland is a very dirty and merciless place, and the busy shifting sand dunes section alone can prove it. Many quicksand pools spread throughout the level will drown the Crescent Kicker if she spends too much time within them, and sand pouring down from above can keep the player gravitated towards these lethal sand pools. Oil-slicked surfaces can be tricky to traverse, especially when faced against the very dangerous enemies that occupy the Wasteland, so the player needs to figure out how to keep their footing and stay on target. Oil slides will slide the Crescent Kicker further down in the level at high speeds, slick enough to be impossible to climb. She must also swing from hooks hanging off of big girders to get around the higher areas of the level and ride platforms sitting on powerful gas valves to be taken to great heights. Several areas of the wasteland also have barrels tumbling down slopes of varying degrees of intensity, which can knock the player back- potentially into the quicksand!
Part 2:The Crescent Kicker just barely scraped her way through the harsh dusty dunes, now sitting within the oil housing environment, where all of the oil is hiding at. Several decreased krakens can be found near these shelves upon shelves of nearly overfilled tubs of oil. Besides the annoying pelicans and flying androids, the player's biggest threat is the heavy equipment roaming this area. Fixed cranes will frequently be trying to drop heavy objects upon the Crescent Kicker, bulldozers will be trying to shove her back against a wall or at least off of cliffs, and excavators will be trying to rake at the Crescent Kicker and intimidate her. Trucks carrying loads of oil will frequently dump oil behind themselves if they detect the player, aiming to send them backwards. To avoid coming in contact with these tough-to-escape vehicles, the Crescent Kicker needs to swing from the building's girders and race across unstable platforms, but cranes wielding wrecking balls will try to break down the player's path to safety! Good timing is crucial.
Part 3:Tycoon Bill is awaiting the player's arrival within the headquarters of the oil company, simultaneously awaiting his own execution and the downfall of Mister Frank's plan. There isn't too much to be concerned about here besides the many hordes of enemies blocking the way to Bill's location, so the player can afford to take their precious time beating up the packs of company workers and drug dealers. It won't be easy, however, given the massive influx of enemies blocking her path. If it becomes too much, the player can quick drop through manholes in the headquarters to enter the very dry sewage system. The player will have to avoid flamethrowers and patches of poisonous gas here and there if they don't want to fight against too many enemies. Her sliding, wall kicking, and wall running abilities will all come in use in navigating exiting the sewers. Enormous wrecking balls will run down the hallways from time to time, knocking out enemies but KO'ing the player on contact- they can just be jumped over, though.
Lockdown Shelter
It's time to nail down Mr. Frank once and for all! The Crescent Kicker's managed to break her way into the underground shelter below the oil company's headquarters, ready to give Mister Frank a piece of her mind. Surprisingly the Lockdown Shelter isn't a very well fortified area, with the shabby infrastructure having so many design faults and letting thousands of gallons of oil from above sink in. Even if the Crescent Kicker didn't embark on this adventure to strike down Mister Frank, their operation would have been a complete failure... a plan pieced together far too quickly without much thought of the consequences. The shelter's design is very narrow and straightforward, yet populated with dozens of tough enemies and with many tight spaces that the Crescent Kicker will need to slide through very quickly. Loud sirens blare everywhere in the shelter, alarming the Crescent Kicker's targets that she's in the building.
The design of the Lockdown Shelter is divided into three parts: the barrier, the base, and the heart. These respectively prevent intruders from getting in, allow Frank's elites to communicate, and house Mister Frank himself. Frank, being something of an introvert, designed the shelter to have precisely 50 lockdown doors so that it would be impossible for most to reach him. In fact, he communicated with his employees only through walkie-talkies and didn't allow anyone but his girlfriend to come in... when he had one, that was. Somewhat surprising for a final level, if it weren't for the gushing oil and hardcore challenging enemies, one could see that the area was rather tranquil and peaceful before and devoid of any hints of malice. Run too deep into the shelter, and you'll find murals on the wall depicting him as a user of an unspecified drug (probably heroin) and as a loner who lost his girlfriend to the same fate.
Part 1:To break into the Lockdown Shelter, the player must first bypass a series of barriers while avoiding the incoming waves of oil rushing in their direction. The Crescent Kicker needs to break through these light-powered barriers with the best combination of attacks possible, or she might risk getting swallowed up in the sludge. Other barriers cannot be opened unless the player destroys aggressive dummies hanging near them, which serve as the triggers necessary to barge such doors open. Intelligent security guards with robust thickness will try to halt the player's progress, so they need to be kicked down or she won't be able to outrun the oil. If bulges appear in the walls, that means oil will soon spill out from behind them and corner the player, so they need to be bypassed as soon as humanly possible. The Crescent Kicker must use all of her agile skills to make it through alive, or die trying. This is by far the most challenging area of the game, as far as the player's traveling skills are concerned.
Part 2:Having bypassed the barrier section, the Crescent Kicker's in the bulk of the Lockdown Shelter itself! Mister Frank will activate all 50 lockdown doors, which the Crescent Kicker will need to slide beneath or quick drop through or she will need to bust these doors apart! As the oil is still chasing the player down and rushing through the shelter, and this time now being capable of raining down from the pipes above, the Crescent Kicker really needs to be quick with her feet. Even if you think you're way beyond that oil spill, another one will soon replace it and force you to keep running! The player's battling skills will really come to the test once the player's broken through 45 of those doors- six different varieties of enemies will try to take the player down! The Crescent Kicker has three minutes to take down all 30 enemies before the oil catches up and drowns everyone, so get to work- now! The remaining five doors are bigger than the ones before, and can only be broken with the Crescent Kicker's Special Moves.
Part 3:No more waiting. The Crescent Kicker drops into Frank's private home beneath the base, which itself begins to fill up with an alarming amount of oil the longer the player stands in it. The player must rush through the silent hallways, living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and laundry room of Frank, experiencing the oil washing away and damaging his family portraits and personal possessions. Oil will rain down from pipes overhead, obscuring the player's view of some elements of Frank's home as it begins to take on this black and rather ugly visual look. No enemies are really found here, with nervous family members of Frank's standing in the hallway and looking bitter. The player can kill them if they must, but there is no reward and the player will have to find workarounds as Frank will bar any doorway where a family member had died. Once the player has reached a high-elevation platform in his home, they'll be face to face with Frank, who was waiting for them in his office chair. Shriveled up, emaciated, and white-pale.
==Bestiary==
A grand total of eighty enemies will face up against the Crescent Kicker during her travels, with ten unique enemies found per level. They form the basis of the game's challenge and usually take advantage of their environment and the Crescent Kicker's weaknesses. Most have average health bars that don't take much to deplete, but some enemies happen to be capable of withstanding a lot of damage, making them her greatest obstacle. The functionalities of these enemies vary on the level, usually taking advantage of stage-specific mechanics or obstacles.
Meadows Enemies 	
Harbor Enemies 	
Nautical Enemies 	
Theater Enemies 	
Airship Enemies 	
Kraken Enemies 	
Wasteland Enemies	
Shelter Enemies 	
==Bosses==
There are eleven bosses for the Crescent Kicker to take down, with five mini-bosses being commonly encountered throughout the game. Bosses are basically oversized enemies, but with wider pools of attacks and requiring much more memorization to be beaten. There are bosses found at the end of every level. On the EXPERT difficulty setting, some bosses gain new attacks and become tougher to beat down overall.
In these boss battles, the Crescent Kicker will be accompanied by her sidekick, the Axe Dancer, whom she calls to battle. He will try to look for openings on the boss and seize them for the player, allowing them to strike their enemy for damage. Otherwise, he'll try distracting the boss or straight up attacking them. As he's vital to the player's success, he cannot be killed, but he can take "damage" and fall back if attacked, delaying progress.
Bunyan 	
Now you're facing off against the first of the tycoon bunch, Bunyan! After briefly taunting the Crescent Kicker by means of commenting on her inexperience with the business industry, Bunyan springs straight up before coming right back down with a huge limegreen tractor-like machine! Except for the fact it's equipped with a huge spiked roller at the front and that it carries a few huge tree-cutting limbs to its sides, it's pretty faithful to its inspiration. Bunyan will guffaw before enclosing his cockpit in steel armor, rolling backwards to begin the fight.
As Bunyan's machine rolls backwards, it will either do one of two things. The first thing it could do is puff out several clouds of smoke before performing a straightforward charge, and the second is that it could instead open up its hood to summon several maddened nomads. Should it go with the charge, it will go off the screen before returning, now attacking from the other side. Following either action, the machine will make its limbs reach out to chop up some trees, then chuck out the log discs from under the hood. These discs can roll across the ground, flying through the air, or bounce along the ground (hard mode).
As the first major boss battle in the game, Bunyan's not all too hard to defeat. Every time the tractor triggers its rolling log avalanche attack, the Axe Dancer will kick one of the discs if possible into the tractor's raised hood, paralyzing it. The player needs to seize the few seconds they have to perform a quick drop on the engine underneath the hood, which will short-circuit the mech and temporarily lower its steel defenses. The player then needs to strike Bunyan's cockpit as many times as possible before the machine reactivates to slap her away. With enough damage, Bunyan will flee as his machine explodes.
Jones 	
The second tycoon, Jones, happened to be baffled that you caught up to him so soon! No matter, he thinks, as he believes now's a good time to try out his new valve-operated platform! Once he's done boasting and wasting time, he will seal himself in a suddenly levitating glass pod as a labyrinth of pipes shoots out from its bottom, with the player standing atop one as shallow electrocuted water floods the factory! The player will be capable of moving between one of six pipes, each having a valve of its own that Jones can tamper with, all the while trying their hardest to not touch the dangerous waters found off to the sides. The Crescent Kicker will whistle in her partner as the battle begins.
Each of the four pipes the player can stand on is capable of emitting a harmless burst of steam, which warns the player that pipe will suddenly let off a huge blast of water- it'll launch them towards the spiked ceiling above! The valves will spin as the steam is released, and will dial back as soon as the water dissipates. A cannon on Jones' glass pod will occasionally launch spiked balls onto the playing field, which will roll in the player's direction before eventually exploding, sending harmful debris to its sides in the process. The Crescent Kicker needs to be careful when navigating the pipes, for up to three valves can blast water at once. On hard mode, five of the six pipes can blast at once.
The Axe Dancer will be needed frequently to turn around the valves of the pipes around, reversing their directional flow for a short period of time and preventing water from emerging from the pipe. When a spiked ball lands down onto the playing field, the player will need to lure the spiked ball into the tampered pipe, forcing it to roll down into Jones' pod and damage the machine. All pipes can take up to two spike balls before malfunctioning. Halfway into the fight, Jones will begin forcing the pipes to bend and blast water diagonally to knock the player around. Once the machine takes enough damage, Jones will fly out from it as the mech explodes, causing the factory to shut down.
Stormalong 	
Up to the third tycoon now, Stormalong quickly realizes how bafflingly strong the Crescent Kicker is and calmly states that no matter the odds, he will not allow the Crescent Kicker to crush their plans alive. Deciding that he'll let his men take on the player, he hops into a motorboat, taunting the Crescent Kicker as he zips away! The Axe Dancer quickly arrives on the scene with his partner's skis, prompting her to get aboard them! He then expertly ropes the skis together with the enemy's motorboat, allowing the Crescent Kicker to follow the tycoon out to the seas. The winds will breeze past the Crescent Kicker's face as the tycoon turns around, shocked at how his luck's been turning out!
Stormalong will always be on the right-hand side of the screen with his motorboat, keeping his head turned to face his nemesis' as he commands his men to lurch themselves overboard, attempting to knock the player off their balance. When the boat appears to bump above something, it will always be a boulder in the sea that the player needs to quickly jump over! Attempting to throw the player off, Stormalong will occasionally throw a bomb into the air- the Crescent Kicker has to stay away from the left edge from the screen, or else she'll hit the explosive blast that emerges from it when it lands in the sea! Should the player be on hard mode, these bombs will be tossed more regularly.
To beat Stormalong, the player does indeed have to take him down with the help of the Axe Dancer. He'll zoom along in the background on his own motorboat, focusing his reticle on the player's position. When the reticle turns from yellow to red, he'll blast off a huge cannonball into the air! The player needs to react by kicking it at just the correct timing in order to knock over the tycoon, damaging him. He'll briefly cease attacking the player, allowing the player to grind aboard his unexpectedly lengthy ship and properly kick him until he tips the player back into the seas. When Stormalong finally takes enough damage, the Crescent Kicker will stomp through the ship, shattering it into pieces and causing Stormalong to drown.
Crockett 	
When the player first confronts Crockett, he cowers behind the likes of Gus Gibbous, who protects him briefly from the Crescent Kicker until his bulk's been knocked to the ground. Panicking, Crockett flees knowing just how powerful his nemesis is now, boasting a massive crane mech that spins around on a set of conveyors that can also rotate 360 degrees! The player battles Crockett on this massive, long concrete beam the crane's always carrying around, able to influence whether the beam is leaning towards the left or right depending on their standing. Knowing he can be rewarded if he captures the Crescent Kicker alive, he doesn't drop her into the toxic oil seas below, but threatens her with that if she tries to escape him.
Crockett will frequently move the concrete beam around, forcing the player to try and not move around recklessly or they might fall off of their beloved platform. Occasionally, he will shoot out razorblades from a slot on his crane, making them fall onto the steel beam and roll around, trying to hit the Crescent Kicker. The player should try to make them fall off towards the oil. When he's not doing that, he'll instead move along a secondary hook to try and pick up the Crescent Kicker, swinging her into walls to damage her if successful. Sometimes the machine will drop its beam into the oil below, allowing the player to use it (and other beams) as rafts while dodging the homing fireworms that can be released from the crane.
Once again, the player will need to rely on their good ol' pal: the Axe Dancer. If the crane spits out some razorblades, the player will need to make them roll in their partner's direction so he can kick them towards the background, damaging the cockpit. Sometimes the partner will be snatched up by a crane, requiring the player to try and save him as Crockett attempts to take advantage of the situation. Eventually, the cockpit will be replaced and renewed, with the player this time needing to attack the hook that attempts to grab her partner. If she strikes the hook before it goes up, it'll be paralyzed; the Axe Kicker will then pull down on the curve to electronically damage the crane. After taking enough damage, the crane explodes and Crockett flees.
Magarac 	
The fifth tycoon, Magarac, is already well-aware that the player's tough and attempts to resolve the situation by making peace with them. As the Crescent Kicker steps forward instead, he'll sigh and exclaim he doesn't like doing things the hard way, suiting himself up in a big baseball batter battlesuit! He will pummel his fists together as he stomps the ground with his thick body, dropping the player and the Axe Kicker into a big baseball field. The lights will dim, so the player will be playing with a disadvantage as Magarac uneasily smiles, saying that it didn't have to be like this as the player prepares to deliver their beating to him. As the lights frickle and as and the audience cheers, the battle begins.
Magarac's surprisingly agile for his size, trampling around the battlefield in mad dashes as he attempts to bring the player down with his shoulders. He will occasionally spring across the ground in a diving tackle, attempting to crunch them against a wall. Occasionally baseballs will be hurled in his direction, either being flung clean across the skies or being bounced across the ground. Depending on which comes to him first, Magarac will send the ball back at the player the same direction. Sometimes, he'll instead grab the ball and aim it directly in the player's way! Magarac will also haphazardly jump around, shaking the floor and shocking the player for every landing he makes, damaging them on hard mode.
His armor's too thick to be properly penetrated by the player's attacks, so things are once again up to the Axe Dancer. The player needs to kick the baseballs hurled her way by Magarac way high into the skies, letting her partner get ahold of them. When he grabs enough, he'll come down from the bridge above to kick this collection of baseballs into Magarac, knocking him over! The player then needs to stomp his stomach to begin cracking at his armor, but he'll likely knock the Crescent Kicker over before she can even do it halfway. Once the player's damaged his stomach enough, he will howl as he falls down to the ground, with the Axe Dancer stepping on his head and crushing it wide open, grinning in victory.
Jane 	
Jane's not even close to oblivious to the fact that the Crescent Kicker's caught up to them, showcasing her calamari fortress and fleet of nematodes when the Crescent Kicker's opened up her hideout in the oil factory! Furious, she demands an explanation for why the Crescent Kicker's attempting to make the human race regress, and shows disappointment in her ways. The heroine's unfazed, however, and showcases a few kicks before saying she's here to settle the matters and stop the harm being done to the world. Jane's oblivious to the damage all the tycoons have done, and refuses to believe her, trapping her and the Axe Dancer in a gated arena so they may have a battle together!
Tycoon Jane will hide out in the background, with six mechanical tentacles attached to the floor of the arena, ready to make their move at any time. The Crescent Kicker must roll beneath enormous tentacles slaps and avoid getting rammed up into a wall by them, these tentacles rolling in to occasionally drop bombs all over the battleground! Occasionally, these tentacles will rise up and serve as staircase-like platforms as the tycoon's mech comes closer, ready to blast the battlefield with harmful ink. As the Crescent Kicker and Jane duke it out, the many numerous nematodes will be trying to leap around and damage the Crescent Kicker, trying to throw her off. The battlefield is somewhat flooded with water on hard mode- the Crescent Kicker has to keep jumping out to avoid drowning!
Once again, leave it to the Axe Dancer to find solutions to the player's problems. If the player kicks one of the tentacles enough, they'll become paralyzed, allowing the Axe Dancer to tie it down to the ground. When he's tied all over them down, Tycoon Jane will try to launch her mech onto the battlefield and right atop of the heroine! The player simply has to roll out of the way and damage the machine's cockpit; once it's sat on the floor for long enough, it'll return back into the water and retaliate with a full wave of missiles. Once the machine's taken enough damage, it will violently explode! The player must then steer the robotic whale out to the wastelands...
Bill 	
Tycoon Bill's the most conscious of the player's victories, well aware the Crescent Kicker's taken out the previous six friends of his and that there's no way he's going to prevail over her. Instead of combating her directly, he attempts to stall her instead, trying to buy Frank enough time to initiate the next phase of his plan even if it means selling his life for it. Breathing calmly, he tells the player they cannot progress past his point, and hops into this enormous crate-stacking mech, growling audibly as he locks the player down in the enormous elevator they're in together! Bill will slam the mech's arms around before hopping behind the line of ground the player's on, ready for business.
Bill will battle by hoisting crates up from the ground near him, throwing them really high into the sky! Arrows will appear where these crates fall, forcing the player to watch for where these crates land and make the best move. The elevator never ends, so the player can take their sweet time evading the crates. Some of these crates will explode when the player touches them, so be aware of your positioning. Sometimes he'll fire rockets out from his machine's torso and blast the arena with lasers, or he'll make his mech's arms swing from side to side to make many of the crates fall over and possibly smash the player on hard mode. As the player damages the boss, the arena becomes thinner and thinner, with less places to run to!
As per usual, the Axe Dancer is the player's key to victory. Instead of him merely helping the player out, he instead fights the boss himself, constantly blasting at the mech's head with a grappling hook in the background. To make him finish off the boss faster, the player must kick the boxes as they come down to return them to the mech's head, paralyzing it briefly and allowing the sidekick to get in some free hits. It will start taking more and more hits to paralyze his head as the boss takes damage, and it will only become more aggressive if the player tries to handle the boss this way, so they have to be careful. Once Bill's mech takes enough damage, the Axe Dancer will slice off his head. Now to Frank's place!
Frank 	
When the player finally catches up to Frank, with the Axe Dancer in tow, they might be surprised to find that Frank's not equipped with any mech. He is much calmer and sweeter than the other tycoons, and offers to spare the player mercy if they may spare him mercy. However, when the Crescent Kicker clearly displays her pleasure to put down the man, Frank unwillingly unfolds the fight, deciding to fight unarmed so he may fight fair against the player. In a twist of events, Frank really doesn't have anything besides his incredible bulk- no matter what attacks the player will throw towards him in the upcoming fight, he will be able to shrug the majority of them off, as if the player's not truly hurting him.
Though he may lack the machines and mechanics his comrades uniquely possessed, Frank is an exceptionally challenging foe to beat. This isn't just because he's incredibly bulky, it's also because of the blinding speed and surprising range of his attacks. Frank throws flurries of uppercuts and jams several punches into the Crescent Kicker's body, damaging her excessively and trapping her within his fists of fury until she's thrown out of his range. His attacks carry a lot of priority too, able to cancel out the player's and let him get some free hits in on him. Sometimes he will grab the player and drag them across the floor to slam them into a wall. Note Frank's sullen, guilty expression as he tackles the player.
The Axe Dancer will definitely come in handy for this fight. He'll occasionally spring to try and kick down Frank with an axe kick, only to get grabbed mid-way and hurled in his partner's direction. The player can actually seize the opportunity to strike Frank before he can throw the Axe Dancer, making him let go of her partner and preventing her from wasting any more time. It should be noted that though Frank has absurd defense, the player can pull four switches from the ceiling to trigger an immensely powerful electrical current that runs across the floor, which will massively shock Frank and alert him to where the player's at. These switches will break when he's almost down, so use them early.
Frank Einstein	
When Frank looks to be finally over, he lets out a few parting words as the rushing-in oil begins to fill up the arena, swallowing his body whole in the process. He will then rise high into the air, letting out a loud roar of triumph in his new bestial form! Not only does he retain all of his previous attacks, but the player now has to ride four platforms atop rising seas of oil as they fight him! His new attacks include being able to vomit oil through the air, slicking up platforms to make them icy and unsafe to travel, and sparking flames underneath himself to form explosions that can catch the Crescent Kicker when she's bounded to the rafts. Sometimes he'll stomp down on a platform, temporarily sinking it down.
The Axe Dancer's new strategy is to be in the background now, on a boat that blasts fiery arrows through the skies. He will be aiming for not just Frank Einstein over here, but will turn the tables against the player as well, meaning that the player can do the most damage by standing near the boss and tricking the Axe Dancer's AI into whittling down Frank's health much faster. As the Axe Dancer does this, he does his fierce grin, laughing mockingly. When Frank Einstein's finally defeated, the player and the Axe Dancer escape the place alive after setting it aflame, burning the whole underground base and incinerating whatever remains of Frank and his cohorts. It's not the end of the game yet, however.
Axe Dancer 	
Whoa, looks like your best friend's become greedy for the gold! Boasting an incredible offensive assault, having skills that equally match yours at the exchange of being less powerful but capable of launching projectiles, the Axe Dancer's likely to become your worst nightmare if you're not prepared to fight him. He will frequently leap across the arena, kicking you around if you don't dodge and stomping to prevent you from hitting him while he's airborne, also kicking around whirlwinds for good measure to throw you off balance. Sometimes, he'll hold his arms up to defend himself from attacks, then rush at you with a series of high-powered kicks intended to send you flying across the stage.
The Axe Dancer's not without his weaknesses, however. He's very challenging to make vulnerable, but performing flutter kicks just after he's stomped on the ground will catch him off guard and throw him into a dizzy animation. Just kick the lights out of him until he can stand up and move about again. As he moves about, he will become faster and faster, significantly more irritated as he takes the beatings. Eventually, he will lose all his health and stumble, falling to the floor. It's your choice whether to spare him or kill him.
President Fu 	
Now overpowered by the sudden greed influx, it's up to you to crush President Fu and everything she stands for! The final boss of the game, President Fu won't let you have access to the cash you so rightfully earned, and engage you in a… "fencing" match! The cabinets on both sides of the office will suddenly drop down, revealing two lava pits to the sides of the office as you and her balance on the steel platform! She will maniacally laugh as she tries to fence you into the lava with her rapier, hacking and slashing at you as she does and slicing waves of fire in your direction in an attempt to knock you back further. Sometimes President Fu will flip over you and knock you down with her hip, hoping to finish you off there and then. This is a quick, but claustrophobic battle.
Though it may be the final boss battle, it is a very short one at that, and all the stress you've been through to fight Frank will not go down in vain here. During her flipping move, kick her to send her down to the ground, which will paralyze her. Kick her enough to damage her, wait for her to get up and then get out of her way. Once she's taken enough damage, the fatal pools of lava to the room's sides will begin heading inwards, limiting your playing room. She will keep repeating her attacks, sometimes making debris fall from the ceiling. To beat her, simply knock her back with a kick while she's in her flip animation into the lava. If you succeed with this, her body will melt down! Congratulations- you won!
==Achievements==
In the Steam and PlayStation ports of Crescent Kicker, there exists numerous achievements and trophies for the player to gather up on their own time:
PSN Trophy	Achievement Name 	Requirements
 	Full Moon Belt 	Beat "Shining Time" mode on HARD with all soldiers rescued.
 	Black Hole Sun 	Beat "In Reverse" mode on HARD for the first time.
 	Kickstart My Heart 	Clear "Turbo Edition"'s reverse layout under 55 real-time minutes.
 	Gibbous Moon Belt 	Beat "Shining Time" mode on HARD for the first time.
 	Solar Eclipse 	Clear "In Reverse" mode on NORMAL for the first time.
 	Hypersonic Pace 	Clear "Turbo Edition"'s initial layout under 45 real-time minutes.
 	Head Crusher 	Land a 16-hit combo against any enemy in the game.
 	Couverture Obsession	Purchase three Couverture chocolates with 15000G.
 	Crescent Moon Belt 	Conquer "Shining Time" mode on NORMAL for the first time.
 	Supersonic Pace 	Beat "Turbo Edition"'s initial layout under 70 real-time minutes.
 	Morning Sprint 	Clear "Autumn Meadows" under 4 minutes in "Turbo Edition".
 	Tooth and Nail 	Clear Lockdown Shelter under 3 minutes in "Turbo Edition".
 	Stylish Knockout 	Finish off an oil tycoon with any of the player's special moves.
 	Master of Style 	Use each of the Crescent Kicker's specials at least 80 times.
 	One of Everything 	Buy one of everything from any vendor desired in the game.
 	Thrill Seeker 	Kill at least one of every enemy present in the game's bestiary.
 	No Save?? 	Beat the game once on a "No Save" file. Cheats disqualify run.
 	Some Kind of Monster	Destroy much of Frank's home as you barge through it.
 	It's Alright 	Spare the Axe Dancer even after he tried to kill you.
 	Far Beyond Driven 	Slay the Axe Dancer as revenge for his attempt to kill you.
==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack was written and produced by TimeStrike's own sound team in collaboration with Posdnuos of the American hip hop trio De La Soul, an arrangement made without Sega's knowledge. Initially the sound team had developed an 80's-inspired heavy metal soundtrack for Crescent Kicker, but felt it sounded somewhat empty, leading to the collaboration coming to fruition. Thus, the soundtrack meshes the sound of De La Soul (especially their first album, 3 Feet High and Rising) and standard heavy metal acts of the 80's (such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest). It was designed to be catchy and make use of very rich samples that push the Genesis' sound capabilities to their limit. The guitar sound on Crescent Kicker carries a galloping, rhythmic stride.
Because of the expiring of the contract between TimeStrike and De La Soul, the game's soundtrack had to be majorly replaced in subsequent rereleases. However, rather than developing their own hip-hop sound, TimeStrike decided to record with numerous other hip-hop artists over the years. They would contribute their own sounds over the heavy metal instrumentals, giving most subsequent rereleases of Crescent Kicker their own unique taste. These soundtracks were costly to make on TimeStrike's behalf, however. The many variants of the game's soundtrack now circulate everywhere on YouTube.
In order, the artists that helped produce new Crescent Kicker soundtracks include De La Soul (1995-1999), Public Enemy (1999-2003), Eminem (2003-2007), Jay-Z (2007-2010), Snoop Dogg (2010-2013), OutKast (2014-2018), and Gorillaz (2018-present). The years represent when their contracts were signed and expired, respectively.
==Gallery==
CrescentKicker.png|Crescent Kicker
Crescent_Kicker_logo.png|Logo
==Trivia==
*Crescent Kicker originated from a concept pitched by one of TimeStrike's crew members, whom showed interest in programming a character with top-notch kicking abilities.
Category:Games
Category:Original Games
Category:Platforming Games
Category:Beat 'em Up Games
Category:Sega Genesis Games
Category:TimeStrike Products
Category:1995
Category:Fuchsia's Vault