Three reasons to be going after the treasure:

Here. For reference.

For this one picture, they're either getting PS4'd, or they get faces.

Robots fresh off the assembly line from the prosthetics factory.

I call the ones that crawl "Gwendy", after the dolls from Small Soldiers.

What's taking me so long? Designing assets for the volcano level. Also, allergies.

Boom boom acka-lacka-lacka boom, boom boom acka-lacka boom boom.

I felt like I needed to punch up these level intros.

The silhouette should indicate what kind of level you're getting into. I've yet to implement the Top-Down or Mode 7 levels, so I've only got a silhouette for the main levels.

What kind of bad guys do you see at a prosthetics factory?

These Leg Gunners are part of the security system.

I could have a part where the factory builds robots for you to beat up, but they're gonna be humanoids. They'd probably be like skinless T-800s.

...well... This is awkward.

Yes, I CAN make an animated background within a matte, with a shifting color palette. However, I realize this doesn't look like lava, no matter which way you shake it.

...the effect's cool, though.

If my plan for Sega CD-styled cinematics doesn't work out, Plan B would be the GBA-style cinematics.

If anything, they make decent filler.

This background full of conveyor belts might make it a bit more factory-like, but it's still ominous.

Despite all this work on the top-down segments, I'm not vibing with 'em.

...might as well send this into Bonus Stage purgatory, and make an additional platform stage.

Now, if I have enough motivation for Mode 7 stages, though...