The art of creating Bonus stages/areas/items in SOR maker.

Through this year and half since the launch of v5 and SORmaker, several mod makers have tried to use the tool's properties and limitations to elaborate creative scenes.... and the lack of a proper bonus stage values within SORmaker (considering that SOR doesn't have proper bonus stages to begin with, not counting the Robo X run in SOR3) have pushed the creators to make something to benefit the players by using skill and intelligence.

This was pushed highly as several modders wanted to recreate classic beat 'em ups like Final Fight or Turtles in Time, where there's bonus within their original games, thus they had to do something to substitute the car smash or other elements. Others wanted to do more fun stuff in their original games. Here's some creative examples of awesome bonus games.


Path of Shadow Dancer by Iceweb38.
In here, he used the infamous "latas", as they explode with anything they touch. However, they do have a very special property not known for many: if they are destroyed by using a throw, they drop items/food if assigned. So, what it looked like a meaningless bonus thingie to destroy explosive cans, in reality it's to destroy them by using throws (which also, by proxy, it's a bonus itself since most throws are what rack most points from all the movelists) so food items (which happen to be also more valuable than point items according how your life bar is filled) can drop to keep surviving the can ordeal without being killed and racking points up. Oh, and I love the music used there!


The Second bonus stage uses a simpler yet effective way to rack points: Kill as many bikers as possible. One run bikers with low health can be used as a nice bonus game if tried to use positioning and timing the bikes explosions to hit other incoming bikes. Again, another win of usage of Genesis' Shadow Dancer music.
Go to Minute 6:02

Adam's Story Extended by CajNatalie, Don Vecta, Badjab & Laucorn.
While doesn't include a bonus stage itself, it does include a hidden bonus area within a stage full of useful items and weapons to keep going on in the very tough battle ahead.
This idea (created by me due of a crazy dream I had while working in the mod) came up as a proper usage of free roam scrolling (by reaching the camera lock, thus unlocking the free roam in the area) and the diagonal scrolling style of map. The results? If someone bother in coming back in the bottom area you'll find something really useful within the bushes of the place. Neat, huh?
Go to 1:25:55 to see the hidden bonus area.

Same game uses something as simple, yet proper usage of scroll. As this is not exactly a bonus stage or area, it's something to place valuable hidden items inside the game besides the normally item hidden by the foreground trick. This time, in order to get the extra life, do NOT go ahead or avoid being thrown by the suits if you don't wanna miss the life inside the container.

Link of the video above but in 00:32:52.

At The Movies (Director's Cut) by Benny26.

This mod has one of the most creative bonus stages ever: The Janitor's Office.

Unfortunately, I can't find any video footage of this mod, but this is certainly a very creative bonus room: You have an angry janitor (Souther in this case) chasing you in a room full of "treasures", what makes this thing special is that 1) Several of them treasures are just fake animated sprites and not actual items (which would cause the character to throw a jab instead of crouching and grabbing the item) and 2) The janitor himself is a weakling with a glass jaw that would go down by a few hits (which is bad if the characters does a jab that could make the bonus scene be over)... oh yeah, he's a boss, so if he's down, scene's over! Thus, the idea is to find the authentic items in a pile of mirages it's rather exciting. Best, bonus stage evah!