Mars-Vesta (マルス-ヴェスタ) is a shape-shifting ancient weapon which appears as a boss under Fata Morgana's control.
Description[]
In its true form, Mars-Vesta resembles a stone egg with a vertical red eye. It is capable of taking the shape of any aircraft it sees, as well as various other entities.
Sonic Wings 3[]
Stage: Southeast Asia Ruins
Mars-Vesta first appears early in the stage, briefly taking the form of Fire Master. If not defeated in time, Mars-Vesta escapes deeper into the stage while still in the guise of Fire Master. However, if it is defeated quickly enough, it loses control of its disguise and reveals its true shape before fleeing deeper into the stage.
Regardless of whether it is defeated as Fire Master, Mars-Vesta bursts out of a temple at the end of the stage. It appears momentarily in its true form, first as a small egg then a much larger one, after which it takes another shape.
Mars-Vesta's most common behavior is to mimic the player's aircraft; in two-player mode, Mars-Vesta appears as clones of both aircraft at once. These copies are enlarged, pixelated, grayscale sprites of the player's plane. The clones attack with fireballs in a pattern according to which aircraft the player is using.
However, Mars-Vesta may also take the shape of one of three enemies: Pomornik, Manbou, or the Kyoto Tower enemy seen in the Kyoto, Japan, stage of Sonic Wings 2. These forms are grayscale but not enlarged. As Pomornik, Mars-Vesta attacks normally normally. If it appears as Manbou, it does so briefly and, unlike the real Manbou, attacks the player with a few fireballs.
Mars-Vesta has a very low chance of appearing as the Kyoto Tower, which will fall over backwards and defeat itself like its Sonic Wings 2 counterpart. The Sonic Wings 3 Strategy Special guidebook describes it as follows:
It's the Kyoto Tower!!! It does the same thing as when it first appeared in the previous game (stepping back, then losing its footing and falling), self-destructing. It's hilarious, to be honest. The chances of it appearing are low, but I definitely recommend you check it out at least once.
No matter which form Mars-Vesta takes, the Rival Aircraft appears after it is defeated, allowing the player to choose the game's final stage.
Inspiration[]
Mars-Vesta is a parody of the "Martian Ultimate Weapon" featured in episode 12 of the anime series Space Adventure Cobra. The Ultimate Weapon is an egg-shaped item found in a chest of treasure and described in the third volume of the Mars Ancient History Texts. Like Mars-Vesta, the Ultimate Weapon has a single eye; however, this eye is green with eyelashes.
While seeming innocent at first, the Ultimate Weapon can shapeshift into a stronger version of any weapon its eye sees. It thus evolves into a sword, a gun, and finally a tank. The Mars Ancient History Texts states that if the weapon is allowed to evolve to its final form, it will "duplicate the entire universe." Before this can happen, the Ultimate Weapon is defeated in its tank form, but unlike Mars-Vesta, it cannot be destroyed. Instead, it reverts to its inert egg form.
