Day 27: Pompy
With the antagonists of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, the Snowmads, being based on artic animals, it only makes sense that the bosses would be based on some of the more fearsome beasts of the north...mostly, don't know why the Snowmads have baboons and a blowfish on their side. But animals like a snow owl, a polar bear, and a walrus makes a bit more sense for them. And then there's this game's first boss, Pompy the Presumptuous.
Pompy here is a sea lion...not an arctic one but it makes more sense than a baboon and a blowfish. Anyway, being a sea lion, an animal that you usually see perform tricks at your local aquarium or circus, Pompy is quite the show-off in his battle style and the battle takes place in a circus tent.
This fight is divided into three phases.
In phase one, Pompy will try and slide into you and you need to jump on his back to do damage. After each hit, Pompy will bring in some enemies (while showing off by balancing them on his nose as he brings them in) for you to fight. The Green Finleys can be bounced off of or rolled into, but the Urchins need to be dodged as touching them will deal damage to you. Hit Pompy three times and it's onto phase two.
In the second phase Pompy will roll down the slide and you have to dodge it or else you take damage, but then after doing a magnificent flip in the air Pompy will slide back down normally and you can hit him. Pompy gains another attack where a band of Tucks leap up from the background in an attempt to pounce on you. Once all of the Tucks are gone, Pompy himself will try and pounce on you before tiring out, giving you a chance to attack. Like before, hit Pompy three times and it's onto phase three.
In phase three, Pompy will try and slide into Donkey Kong again, but this time he'll have three of the Tucks go before him. Take out the Tucks and jump on his back to do damage. Pompy will also go back to throwing enemies at you, but this time instead of Green Finleys and Urchins, now he's throwing Urchins and Gordos, who take three hits before going down. Your best bet is to dodge as best you can or use your special meter to dispose of them if you have it filled up. After all the enemies are gone, Pompy will try and pounce on you repeatedly, doing flips in the air and doing some poses in the process. Pompy will tire out again and this is your chance to attack him. Hit Pompy three times in this phase and the fight is over.
This fight against Pompy does give you a simple way to defeat him, but I like how he changes his attacks up to keep players on their toes. That and this fight just has a lot of charm, with most of that charm coming from Pompy himself. Whenever he poses or does flips this fight legit feels like a circus performance, and I love every minute of it.
I just hope the Snowmads didn't pay too much to see their greatest showman get beat out by our favorite ape.