And so, we arrive at the final non-boss door- the Circus World awaits us.



Now, the odd thing about the Circus World (aside from the fact that the scary face from the Fluffy Toy World is back) is the fact that, well, it's piss-easy. You'd think, being the final world in the game and all that, it'd put up a fight, and playing through the stage normally seems to confirm this suspicion- lots of Icarus Kids and peanut-spitting elephants trying to kill you. However, at the start of this stage, you can hop onto the roof of the first circus tent, then make your way into the clouds- there's a Wing item stashed away in one of the bigger clouds, and it robs the stage of any challenge it may have once had. Just fly all the way to the right, then fight your way through some Icarus Kids to get to the Exit Pole, and the job's done.



Might want to watch out for this room, though- there's a switch that seems to lead to some goodies...

Pressing the switch triggers a spike trap that kills you instantly.



NO

NOT THE BEARS AGAIN

For absolutely no reason, the bears return for revenge in this extremely short stage. Why are they here again? It's not for me to say. Anyway, there's really not much to this stage at all. Just a cannon to launch Pond out of, an obscene amount of items, and an Exit Pole placed precariously on a platform at the very top of the screen. Have fun getting the shot right the first time!

This stage, tiny as it is, also highlights one of my favourite features in the game. When Pond falls from a great distance...



... He shakes the entire screen and makes this epic crashing sound. It's wonderful.



After that brief interlude, we reach the final normal stage in the game, and for whatever reason, the music changes to the Christmas medley. The first part of this stage isn't really anything we haven't seen before- a few spike pits, a few Paper Card Birds, and an Exit Pole that isn't activated. Guess we've got to hunt down some penguins, and for this mission, we get a Wing power-up to do it with. You have to fly up to find a strange floating structure that's split into quadrants, with a single penguin in each one. I wonder what foul enemies are going to make a last-ditch attempt to pull the plug on Robocod?



oh no

REVENGE OF THE GRANNIES

And this time, they're out for blood.

I admit that it's not really that easy to see the mini-grannies on this stage- think how difficult it is to see them when you're playing the game- but if you squint a little, might just be able to see them- not only do the London buses come back to fling grannies at you, but two enemies that only appear on this level- very crude Space Invader clones that hover about- actually fire flying grannies at you as projectiles. This isn't some kind of fever dream, you're having, nor is it a hallucination- this actually happens in-game, and it's glorious as much as it is absurd.

Anyway, unless you just want to sit around and watch the grannies fly, this stage is easy. Find the penguins and let's get out of here!



So, here's the final door. Dr. Maybe waits for us behind this door...



... And we're not going there juuuust yet. There's a few hidden worlds to explore.

I had some space to fill on this page, so I thought I'd tackle the hidden worlds here, but you can actually go there at any point in the game. If you hop onto the roof just above the final boss door and make your way to the left, you'll walk through the wall and get whisked away to a hidden part of the toy factory. Just zoom down a few flights of stairs, and you'll end up outside two doors. These are... The hidden worlds. Goodness!



Sadly, the ?? door is absolutely rubbish. It's a repeat of the auto-scrolling train stage from the Car world.

There's some different bits here and there, like the cage of snakes, but otherwise, this is territory you've covered already. Skip it.



Initially, the Sweets door isn't too promising either. It's like a remix of the first Sweets world, with a lot of the same graphics being reused. They're obviously completely new stage layouts, but it just seems like a cheeky retread of previous stages. It doesn't help that they're not really interesting to play, with the first stage in this world being of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it variety, and the third containing several Paper Card Birds that, inexplicably, seem to be tougher to hit without damaging yourself. I'm not sure why that is, but it just makes this stage even worse than it should be.



However, it's worth your time making your way through, because the second and fourth stages are the best in the entire game.

Both stages have floors constructed entirely of orange jelly, and if you jump on it, you'll bounce around as if the entire stage consists of trampolines. The more you bounce around, the higher and faster you'll get around, to the point where if you tuck into your Expandosuit and hold down the jump button, you'll zip across the stage like a near-indestructible pinball, wreaking havoc on any enemies dumb enough to get in your way. Needless to say, this is very, very entertaining, and it's so disappointing that you don't get to fool around with it for very long! The second of these jelly stages makes things even more ridiculous by turning things upside-down for absolutely no reason, which serves to make matters even dafter.

So yeah, the Super Fun Jelly Time stages make finding the hidden world totally worth your time. The other stages, not so much.

Incidentally, you don't have to go into the ?? door- completing the Sweets door gets you back to Santa's toy factory.



Right, now that's over with, here's the final door again...



... Ah-ah-ah, not yet! There's one more thing we have to do.

After you beat the Circus world, a final part of the toy factory opens up for you. Remember on the first page, when we had a look at that suspicious-looking part of the hub? It's the screenshot on the left. When you beat the Circus world, it changes to look like the screenshot on the right. Now that really is a bit odd, don't you think? Could it be a secret cavern of some description?



Jump on the golden snowmen statues to the right, and the ! blocks move upwards for you, letting you get at this final stockpile of lives, health stars, and an obscene amount of crown items that skyrockets your score. Needless to say, this opens up after the final world to give you a fighting chance against Dr. Maybe, and it's a damn sight more useful than the hidden worlds. If, like me, you had your fishy little ass whomped by Chinchin and Cheechee, costing you several lives and a continue, then this is really useful.



Amusingly, stepping on the ! blocks causes them to rise up to the top of the screen, resulting in the screenshot on the right.



OK, now we're really going to fight the final boss. No tricks this time. I promise.



Dr. Maybe's final line of defence against Pond is a gigantic snowman thing that he's controlling from the inside, and he's not playing fair. The only boss aside from Chinchin and Cheechee to put up a real fight, the Maybe Snowman Robot seems impossible to kill at first- it's difficult to get onto the platform it's walking along, you're constantly pestered by smaller snowmen, and even if you do manage to get near it, you won't be able to hurt it. Instead, you'll have to bide your time until his head pops off and starts bouncin' around- jump on it and attack the body while the head's gone. If you're really awesome, then you can bounce off the head, tuck into your Expandosuit, nail the body, and hit the ground on the other side of the screen. However, every time you hit the robot, it'll spew out more small snowmen for you to deal with, so kill them, and repeat as necessary.

I'll admit it- the first time I got here, I kept hitting the head until my brother told me the right way to kill him.

Thanks, John.



And here he is, Pond's arch-nemesis, Dr. Maybe. He's a bit of an ugly cur, isn't he?



Hey! The blighter's getting away, after him!

In truth, he'll run off no matter what you do, so just let it happen, and the game's over.

The next page is the last one, and the ending's there- hop to it, Pond!