Stage 9 Boss fight impossible?

[DoKo_O]

im hard stuck at that max guy end boss, no matter what character i choose or what i try, he always gets me and stuns me aswell, meanwhile i can only kick once or twice and tickle him before he (stupidly op) grabs me again or body charges me even though i try my best to dodge up or downwards which seems to doesnt matter a single bit.

how do i beat him? im probably stuck for 2 hours now on him and im slowly loosing interrest to keep trying since hes just stupidly op.

[belangf]

I'm also having trouble with him since they rebalanced the game (he was easy before). It takes me at least 1 or 2 lives to beat him, but all the other bosses I can beat without dying. Make sure you get there with a few lives to spare and your star moves. Make sure to stay away from him while he walks toward to grab you. I can never dodge his shoulder slams but these don't hurt too much.

[|iG| Vertigo]

If he's walking towards you for a grab, you need to jump + attack (repeatedly, if necessary). In addition to damaging him, it should prevent the grab.

Midway through the fight, his shoulder rushes will come in groups of three. If you position yourself immediately above or below him on the Y axis then you should avoid at least one rush; then it's just a matter of timing your jumps to hop above him when he charges.

He's still pretty easy when you get the technique down, just not pathetic anymore.

[Meat Miracle]

Max is one of the easiest bosses.
- When he squats, he'll do a jump kick. Move above or below him, since the jump kick goes far forward but tracks vertically too.
- When he glows red, he'll attempt to grab and slam you. You can break free of the grab if you twist the controls very very fast, but it's safer to just jump over him and then he'll do nothing. Note that if you get slammed, it will do a LOT of damage to you, one of the most damaging attacks in the game. So avoid this.
- When he holds his arms together on the side, he'll do his spinning punch move. Just move a bit further away, this will only ever hit you if you are careless. Also, you can keep hitting him from the distance since with most characters, your punch outranges Max - just watch out for any attacks that would move you forward (for ex. Floyds last punch of his combo).
- When he is leaning forward, he'll do a Thunder Tackle. This tracks vertically and moves forward, so either move above him, use your defensive special, or just jump over his tackle - you can also attack him while jumping.

Halfway through the fight, his attacks will change:
- the grab will come off immediately, leaving you no time to break out. So you'll always need to jump or defensive special when he does this.
- jump kick gets more range. Not really a problem.
- spinning punch will pinball him up and down. Not a problem as long as you don't get cornered, but it does mean you can't damage him back while he does it.
- Thunder Tackle will come in rows of three, one forward, one back, one forward. You can either defensive special (costly to do this repeatedly), time some perfect jumps (best not to air kick because it stalls you and screws up the timing, although you can jump kick and then do defensive special on the ground), or dodge vertically (you'll have to zig zag back and forth through all three tackles). If you get hit by one tackle, try not to use the up+jump to land on your feet - gives you more time for Max to finish the move.

Sometimes he also blindly does a thunder tackle, I think after a missing jump kick.

It's only a hard boss in 2p mode where agents come to help him during the fight and really make a mess out of things. But really, Max is still pretty easy. Which is okay, given that he is the boss of one of the hardest levels.

[belangf]

Thanks for all the tips. My main problem was that I was trying to jump kick his 3 tackles, but it works much better with a simple jump. He's not so hard after all, but still very tedious. I could also try to carry over the floor sweeper weapon since it has long reach and does a lot of damage (at least to regular enemies)

[Banana]

Try to save up weapon for him, like the long pink tool on early starting sauna, save it for the boss, and the pipe, just use normal attack (back attack works wonder) Max until he reach phrase 2, then use all those weapon to whack him, and then when he rearch corner, then use STAR and juggle him.

[Black Lamb, Rock Enjoyer]

Its the same fight as last time, but now you can only get like 1 attack in before backing off everytime after his enrage unless you have a Star...

Much more tedious.

[Eightball]

I can solo him on mania without taking a hit. Not that bad, just gotta learn his move set. Keep trying, practice is better than reading anyone's tips. Do your best to memorise what move comes after what animation.

Tbh you can just jump all day, wait for him to flash red then get a few hits in with jump attacks (it counters the flashy red grab animation). You'll never really get hit this way, but it'll take a while.

I'd write more but you'd be better off just getting in some practice than reading. Just memorise his move set.

[I FARTED AND I KILLED MY HAMSTER]

Everything is easier in this game when using SOR1 Blaze.

[IDDQ]

Here is a bunch of hints.

- If he charges his tackle (looks at you and prepares to charge)

Jump, don't jump kick, just jump, you can also time specials to charge up combo. it is risky, but raking up scores is all about risk and rewards.

-If he charges up his spinning attack (looks down and joins both hands)

You can hit him at a right distance with allmost all characters. I just guitar his head , it's more safe with her.

If he does the enraged version just use some specials to rack up score, or just stay away.

-Jump kick.

special or move up or down if your character is slow.

-if he gets red and screams.

Get away and when he's close jump, Otherwise learn to time his enrage animation.



Max is either the easiest or the hardest boss in the game. Easiest since he takes his time , has very obvious tellings and is INCREDIBLY predictable. But among the hardest to rack up combo since he's unstoppable unless you use your star move. He also tends to cancel a move into another for no reason and with no telling. I think its a bug that was supposedly fixed but it happens less often now.

[IDDQ]

Originally posted by belangf:

Thanks for all the tips. My main problem was that I was trying to jump kick his 3 tackles, but it works much better with a simple jump. He's not so hard after all, but still very tedious. I could also try to carry over the floor sweeper weapon since it has long reach and does a lot of damage (at least to regular enemies)

This is pretty much popular knowledge for SOR 2 fans, but it's pretty much a rule. Jumps make your hitbox tiny making you vulnerable only to anti air attacks, but that privilege ends when you use any attack.