Vindicate Me

**Vindicate Me** is the twenty-second level of *Just Shapes & Beats*. It is the one of the levels in the Tower and it is required to complete in order to proceed to Final Boss.

## Description

Vindicate Me is one of the three final normal levels in Story Mode, alongside Into The Zone and Try This. Pistons are this level's main hazard, expanding and retracting to the rhythm. The secondary hazard to the piston is the pill, which flops forward to move.

## Story Sequence

Nearing the end of the its journey to restore its world, the Square, along with its companions, now needs to flip three switches or levers sealed off by a barrier in order to unlock the doors to reach to the next Boss Battle of the game, Final Boss. So that the Square can get the crown and finally obtain the last piece of the tree. There are three level selection hexagons nearby, the middle hexagon starts *Vindicate Me*.
After the level's completion, the triangle breaks the right onscreen barrier which contained the middle switch. The Helicopter picks up the player and uses it to flip the switch, the player was annoyed of this as a result. The middle door opens. The player either continues completing the other levels in the area or goes to Final Boss once all of the switches are flipped and doors opened.

## Layout

### First Phase

The level starts out as 14 little pillars come up from the bottom at a time in a wave pattern. These pillars act as pistons. The pattern repeats 3 more times until a bunch of squares comes up from the top, and long bars (the aforementioned pills) will appear which rotate to the beat.

They rotate left on the second beat, again on the third beat, and on the fourth beat of each measure the pistons extend, which slams the bars into the ceiling. This is the main hazard of the level. This process repeats 5 more times until the first checkpoint hits, and happens twice more after the checkpoint.

### Second Phase

After the process is over the squares disappear and are replaced with walls on both sides. The player is introduced to pistons that appear in sets of four with a common center. These pistons rotate 45 degrees every first beat, extend every second, and retract every fourth. You must go through eight of these while the screen scrolls right.

A wall then goes through the center, leaving behind pistons which extend in both directions, and the sets of four pistons disappear. The part from the first phase reappears, except the pills are much smaller and enter on both the top and bottom of the center pistons, being slammed away from them via every 4th beat. This repeats 4 times and then the pistons disappear.

### Third Phase

The bars roll off to the left. More rounded squares appear and the player is forced to go right. The player is now at some pistons in sets of twelve that, again, have a common center. These "piston flowers" "bloom" and "unbloom" clockwise and counterclockwise respectively, swapping between the top and bottom "flowers" in time with the music. The player has to avoid 7 of them while the screen scrolls right, and then it stops.

The flowers then disappear and pistons will then line both edges of the screen. Two pills come in from the top and are slammed into each other into the center, leaving behind a piston which extends in both directions. The pistons then all extend in time with the music when the sound of a Bullet Bill firing from Super Mario Bros plays.

The pistons then disappear and another set of pistons line the bottom of the screen. Two pills will roll in quickly, one ahead of the other. The pistons extend in time with the sound of Mario jumping, and the bars will be launched and spin, then land and flop off. Pistons then line the top of the screen, and then both the top and bottom ones disappear and are replaced with smaller pistons when the world map "level complete" sound, again from *Super Mario Bros. 3*, plays.

### Final Phase

The pistons extend one more time and disappear with the sound of a warp pipe. The player will have to go through the 'piston flower' phase again, except now pistons will pop up at random angles on the top and bottom of the screen, in addition to lasers striking the top and bottom occasionally. There are 8 flowers this time. After that, the flowers and pistons disappear and the level ends.

### Hardcore Mode Changes

#### First Phase

* There are two rows of squares at the top border instead of one.
* Squares coming from the right side drift to the left side of the screen.
* The bars that are rotating are bigger.

#### Second Phase

* Small squares coming from the right side drift to the left side of the screen.
* A large wall attacks either the upper half or the lower half, forcing the player to dash through the pistons to get to the opposite side.

#### Third Phase

* The small drifting squares returns back.
* The player has less time to react to the pistons extending.

## Gallery

IntroFirst phaseSecond phaseTransition to third phaseThird phaseFourth phase (1/2)Fourth phase (2/2)Transition to final phaseFinal phase