Day 26: DJ Grooves/The Conductor

Since Chapter 2 of A Hat in Time involves two feuding directors, those being penguin director DJ Grooves and…owl director…I think…The Conductor, and the chapter operates on a 'Points System' where the better you do on one of their respective levels, the more points they earn, and the director with the highest number of points determines the winner of Award 43, it should only make sense that the final act of the chapter involves Hat Kid going to the awards show of whoever won the award.

Depending on who won, be it Grooves or The Conductor, it'll play out the same. They'll thank Hat Kid for her efforts and send her on her way with a Time Piece, easy-peasy.

But then you get back to your ship, where your phone will ring, and the mysterious voice from earlier in the chapter will call Hat Kid saying that the awards show was rigged and Grooves/Conductor has another Time Piece that they have for themselves.

With this information in mind, Hat Kid breaks into Dead Bird Studios to take back the Time Piece, and she finds Grooves/Conductor in the basement, not ready to give up the Time Piece without a fight.

The fight against Grooves/Conductor is a long and challenging one, but an incredibly fun and satisfying one.

In the first phase, Grooves/Conductor will start by either dive kicking you, dropping a giant disco ball that'll create shock waves that you need to jump over, drop spotlights from above, and try and jump on you. After each dive kick/jump attack that they do, that's your cue to hit them with either your umbrella, your laser if you have the badge, or the more reliable homing attack.

After taking enough hits, Groove/Conductor will enter phase two where they'll gain a new attack. They end up with daggers that they'll use to either charge at you in the dark with, or chase after you as they constantly move the dagger in a jabbing motion. They'll also try and fake you out with their disco ball attack too. Keeping hitting them until they enter Phase 3, in which they gain yet another new attack.

Their new attack in third phase is having cars circle around you before trying to have them run into you. And on top of that, they'll send multiple disco balls down rather than just one, giving you more shockwaves to jump over, and during their dark dagger charge attack, they'll send in clones to fake you out some more. This is where the fight starts getting really intense as the attacks grow in number and get faster, and the cars crash into you in different patterns, sometimes two at a time, sometimes all four at a time.

Keep hammering away until The Conductor/Grooves…sets up a picnic table so him and Hat Kid can have a chat.

This moment comes right the hell out of nowhere and is so relaxing compared to the rest of the fight I just can't help but laugh.

Anyway, Grooves/Conductor will try and convince Hat Kid to let them keep the Time Piece so they can do what they want with it. The Conductor wants to reclaim Award 42, which was won by DJ Grooves, and Grooves wants to win all of the awards that The Conductor has won…which was every award but Award 42. Hat Kid naturally refuses, and Grooves/Conductor's response is to strap a time bomb to her back as the fight continues!

From this point, you have 80 seconds before the bomb explodes, and you still need to hammer away at Grooves/Conductor. They'll return to trying to dive kick you, but now they'll throw a series of saw blades at you, whether at ground level, or from above. Find opportunities to homing attack until the director who you're not fighting against appears in the crowd with a big pair of scissors that they'll use to defuse the time bomb.

With the bomb defused, you move on to the final phase of the fight, which is where I'd also say the fight is the toughest. That's because Conductor/Grooves will send a mob of owls to chase after you. Think the Cosmic Clones from Mario Galaxy 2. They'll follow you and mimic your every move. You have to avoid them while still trying to deal damage from the boss and avoid his attacks, those being his dive kick, rapid dagger thrusts, and spotlight and disco ball dropping.

The final phase of this fight is frantic as hell, but boy is it satisfying to land that finishing blow and hear Grooves/Conductor cry out in defeat

Grooves: I HATE YOU…DAAAAARLIIIIIIIIIIING!

Conductor: PECKNEEEEEEEECK!

And the best part of this fight is the theme, appropriately titled, 'Battle for Award 42.' It starts off as an epic rock tune at the beginning of the fight, before picking up in tempo when the bomb is strapped to you, and then turning into a slower, more relaxed song when the mob shows up.

One last thing I like about this fight is how it incorporates elements from Grooves and the Conductor's styles in films. You have the daggers, cars, and bomb from the latter's movie, and disco balls and death parade from the former's movie.

In conclusion, by giving us a challenging fight, incorporating throwbacks to specific moments from Chapter 2, and having an absolute banger of a battle theme, the fight against DJ Grooves and/or The Conductor is nothing short of amazing.

Me: But seriously, what the hell even is The Conductor supposed to be? I can't tell if homeboy is an owl, or a feathered dragon. Dude looks like a feathered version of Wildmutt from Ben 10.

(Out of nowhere, The Conductor comes up to me)

Me: Uh oh, here comes The Conductor!

SMACK!

Conductor: Keep my name, out your pecking mouth!

Me: Dude, it was a Wildmutt from Ben 10 joke.

Conductor: KEEP MY NAME OUR YOUR PECKING MOUTH!

Me: Alright, I will.

(As the Conductor leaves, Lyra looks at me with disapproval over this joke)

Me: Hey, if Family Guy can reference this joke one year later, so can I.