Gondal 9

Gondal 9 is the ninth entry in the Gondal franchise, and the spiritual successor to Gondal 6, though the game takes more inspiration from Gondal 2 and 3. After the nuclear disaster of Gondal 8, the series went dormant for a while until Vortex saw the demand from fans to continue the series. Due to a low budget, they had to get Nintendo to publish the game, who refused to do so unless the game was a Wii exclusive and made use of the system's motion controls. The team agreed and managed to release the game. While it received mixed to poor reviews at the time by critics, fans generally enjoyed the game, and it has grown a cult following throughout the years, and sold well enough to fund Gondal 10.

## Story

6 months after the events of Gondal 8, Omegagondal has gone back to Africa to continue perfecting his Dark Matter Creator. He contacts Gondal and Dr. Eathword, saying he has finished a new version of his invention. The two head to Africa to oversee the machine's debut at the Eathword's World Science Convention. At the convention, Omegagondal decides to introduce his creation with a bang by replicating Theevus Anteatus and Henry Hornet, but using a moral mental chip to make them help society instead of trying to harm it, claiming they will also be as strong as their original forms due to being made directly from the DNA of the originals. What he doesn't account for, however, is that their evil will is intact in their DNA data as well. When the Dark Matter Creator makes them, their evil will overrides the mental chip and they instantly start wreaking havoc.

Though Omegagondal, Dr. Eathword, and Gondal manage to prevent anyone from getting hurt, Neo Dark Hornet and Neo Dark Theevus Anteatus escape, taking the Dark Matter Creator with them, and start making more Neo Dark villains with them. Omegagondal promises to help Gondal and Eathword, promising he's learned from his past mistakes and is prepared to do what it takes to stop the Neo Dark Villains. Eventually, the heroes pinpoint where the Neo Dark Villains have taken refuge, on Mars, so they build a rocket to get there. Once on Mars, the heroes fight Neo Dark Hornet and Neo Dark Theevus Anteatus, destroying Neo Dark Theevus Anteatus and the Dark Matter Creator. However, the remaining Neo Dark villains manage to take a ship and escape to Planet Vygor, though this is unbeknowst to the heroes at the time. The game ends on a bittersweet note as Earth is safe for now from the Neo Dark villains, but no one knows when or where they will strike next.

## Gameplay

Gondal 9 returns to the eight-stage format of Gondal 1-5. Both Gondal 9 and Gondal 10 utilized motion controls, which were awkward at first but eventually can be learned. Gondal 2's composer made a return in Gondal 9, producing fan-favorite music. The game has you control three characters, Gondal, Dr. Eathword, and Omegagondal, each using different aspects of the Wii's motion controls.

Beating the game unlocks the Omegagauntlet, an extra gamemode where you can refight stronger versions of the game's bosses.

## Stages

Airport Attack, Convention Chaos, Wild Studio, Gymnastic Hijinks, Fight Arena, Glacial Desert, Mall Madness, Space Bunker, Mars Fortress

## Trivia

* Due to the game's wealth of glitches and awkward implementation of motion controls, Gondal 9 speedruns famously break the game in half, using insane stunts with the motion controls to speed through levels and clip through walls. The current speedrun W.R. is 4 minutes 43 seconds by Gondal speedrun veteran EarthWormy, and a TAS of the game has shown that it is theoretically possible to beat in under *30 seconds.*