Entangled Path (2in1)

## Entangled Path

Stage Overview

**Entangled Path** is a reconstruction of the level of the same name in vanilla Super Monkey Ball 2. It is the 34th stage of Expert.

## Description

The player starts on a rectangle platform that has a split in the middle. On the other side is a wire leading to the first part of a mechanical snake-like path that is quickly unwinding. There are over 16 pieces of this path, with the goal being on the very last one. Around when the timer hits 30, the path will be almost completely straight and very gracefully slow down for a bit, before winding back up again quickly.

## Goal tutorial

The easiest way to beat the stage is to rest in front of the wire leading to the path and wait until the timer says 35, then roll at a moderate pace down the path and to the goal, being careful not to slip off of the stage from inertia. It's possible to get faster times by going earlier and slowly going down the 16 steps of the path, keeping in mind that the camera will be facing right and the player will have to awkwardly roll down the path from the "left". There is also a very quick way to beat the stage, which is indicated by a banana bunch hovering under the right of the starting platform. Quickly head over to the right of the starting platform and at around 47.5 on the timer, fall off the left, try to grab the banana bunch, and if you do it correctly, your trajectory will line perfectly with the goal's.

## Differences from vanilla

In the original Entangled Path, the player is intended to wait over 40 seconds (using the fast forward to reduce it to 25) for the path to completely straighten out, then rush to a platform with the blue goal that's way out in the distance before the path abruptly reverts back to its original position. There's also a platform with a green goal that the player can get to with good air control and timing. Unfortunately, Entangled Path in the vanilla game is considered one of the most notoriously difficult and frustrating stages in the game due to the solution being unclear, owing to the green goal being closer to the level than the blue goal and thus, being assumed to be the only goal. On top of that, the stage is prone to many party ball accidents because of the dash to the blue goal, with a survey determining it to be the hardest stage in the game outside of the Expert Extra, Master (Extra), and World 10 stages (with Arthropod a close second). Because of this, the stage was completely re-imagined, discarding the green goal and placing the goal on the path instead. The path also straightens out much more smoothly and gracefully than it does in the original, and a carefully tested RTA strat was planted into the level.

## Trivia

* Because the banana bunch is only obtainable without dying within the first 8 seconds of the stage, as well as the four single bananas on the corners taking 12 seconds to collect, not to mentioning there being no way to get hit back onto the starting platform, this means it's impossible to collect all of the bananas on this level and goal.
* Entangled Path in the Arctic also appears in NGUU Story Pack. However, the version in NGUU Story Pack is just texture swapping (as well as adding the correct background) of the vanilla Entangled Path, complete with the starting bridge, switches, and green goal, and thus cannot be considered a custom stage. NGUU Story Pack also contains Arctic reskins of Pistons and Soft Cream, both of which are also Arctic stages in SMB2in1.