Megaman II Guide version 3 Last updated 7-24-04 by R2 ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Contents of This Guide Section I- Introduction and Story More Introduction than Story, I'm afraid. Section II- Gameplay In case you lost the instruction book or something. Section III- Starting the Game A quick explanation of the difficulty levels and password system. Section IV- Robot Master Stages A walkthrough of the bulk of the game, earning different weapons and blowing up robots. Section V- Dr. Wily's Castle Stages A walkthrough of the remainder of the game, hunting down Dr. Wily and blowing up more robots. Section VI- Ending The long journey is over-- until next game. Section VII- Megaman's Arsenal A description of all the weapons and items Megaman collects over the course of the game. Section VIII- Enemy Guide An exhaustive list of robots and hazards in the game, as well as their attack patterns and which weapons work best against them. Section IX- Robot Master Guide An exhaustive list of Robot Masters, as well as their attack patterns and which weapons work best against them. Section X- Dr. Wily Castle Boss Guide An exhaustive list of... well, you can figure it out by now. Section XI- Password Guide After I spend 100 kilobytes or so explaining how to beat robots and finish stages, I write a guide that removes any requirements on the player's part to actually do so. Section XII- Cheats Dr. Wily's greatest nemesis: the pause button. Section XIII- Disclaimers and Legal Junk ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section I- Introduction and Story Considered by many to be the best game in the sprawling Megaman series, Megaman II is a story of romance, deceit, vengence... well, maybe not. Like most early NES games, it throws out all but the vaguest pretenses of a plot in favor of side-scrolling, platform-hopping action. Basically, the story is this-- In Megaman I, Dr. Wily sabotaged six robots and used them in a bid to conquer the world. How he planned to do this, we'll never know, but it somehow involves making the robots he reprogrammed sit around in perfectly square rooms. A housekeeping robot named Rock underwent a few modificiations to become Megaman, a combat robot that started out weak as a kitten, but could absorb the skills of any of the robot masters he successfully defeated in combat. Megaman destroyed the six robots and stopped Wily's scheme. Wily, understandably upset, then designed and built eight more robots with the sole purpose of defeating Megaman. Like I said, not much of a story. It does have the platform-hopping action in spades, though. As a side note, the Japanese name of this game is "Megaman II: Dr. Wily's Riddle" or perhaps "Megaman II: The Enigma of Dr. Wily". The enigma, of course, is how someone can be smart enough to build an endless supply of theme robots, but can never revise his strategy past "Sit them in a room doing nothing until your mortal enemy stumbles in to destroy them". Megaman II was originally released on the NES in 1988, and has since been rereleased three times: first on "The Wily Wars" on the Sega Genesis, again for the "Rockman Complete Works" for the Playstation (only in Japan), and one last time on the Megaman Anniversary Collection on PS2. The information in this guide was researched with the NES version, but should also cover those two games, but some of the bugs and cheats may have been fixed. I don't have any of those rereleases to check myself. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section II- Gameplay Since Megaman II was created before video games got complex, it shouldn't take long to explain how to play. Use the left and right keys to run left and right. If Megaman is standing in front of a ladder, use up and down to scale in those directions. The A button will cause Megaman to leap into the air. In the blatant disregard for physics video games often take, you may control Megaman's direction even after he has left the ground. The B button fires a shot from whatever weapon Megaman has equipped. The Start button brings up the subscreen menu. This lists any weapons Megaman has collected, displays how many lives Megaman has remaining, and allows you to use an Energy Tank if you've found any. The Select button don't do nuthin'. On the stage select screen, use the directional buttons to highlight a Robot Master's portrait, then the Start button to select that stage. On the Password screen, the A button places a dot, the B button removes a dot, and the directional keys move the cursor around. The password will automatically be checked when all nine dots are placed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are a few handy items Megaman can pick up to help him out, other than the weapons he absorbs from the other robots. Most of these are salvaged from the smoldering remains of enemies, although on occasion it's possible to find them lying around. A small black orb that steadily flashes yellow will restore two units of Megaman's health. A large black orb with a yellow rim and a pulsing yellow core will restore eight units of Megaman's health. A small, blinking, rectangular object that changes color depending on which weapon Megaman has equipped will restore two units of weapon energy to that weapon when it's picked up. Useless with the Arm Cannon. A large blinking hexagonal object that changes color as above will restore eight units of weapon energy to whatever weapon Megaman is equipped with when he picks it up. Equally useless with the Arm Cannon. A severed Megaman head is a 1-Up. Creepy, but useful. A cylinder with the letter "E" emblazoned upon it is an Energy Tank. These do nothing when they're picked up, but will add a blue dot next to the display on the second section of the subscreen menu. When Megaman is low on health and needs a boost, point your cursor to a blue dot and press start. This will drain the Energy Tank, but will fully restore Megaman's health. Megaman can carry up to four of these handy devices. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section III- Starting the Game Put the game in your NES and turn it on (or, more likely, load up your emulator and start your ROM, heh heh). You'll get an even shorter overview of the story than the one I gave in section I and find yourself at the title screen. If you're playing the Japanese version or one of the post-NES rereleases, just press Start. If you're playing an American version, you'll have the choice of either a Normal or Difficult game. Don't be fooled! The "Difficult" version is how the game was originally designed, while the "Normal" mode is a watered-down version thrown in after Capcom got too many complaints about the ball-busting difficulty of the first Megaman game. This guide is written assuming "Difficult" mode is chosen. If you choose "Normal," then all of the robots will take half as many hits to destroy. After you choose your difficulty, you'll be prompted to choose to start a new game or enter a password. I'll cover the password section later. For now, just start a new game. You're taken to the stage select menu, with a portrait of each of the robot masters you'll be taking on. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section IV- Stages Your adversaries for this game are, reading from the top-left, Bubble Man, Air Man, Quick Man, Heat Man, Wood Man, Metal Man, Flash Man, and Crash Man. Unlike most FAQs, I'm not going to give you a "recommended" order to beat these in. Every stage in the game has areas that are easier if you've already gotten other weapons first. Instead, I'll just outline which items work best in each area, and let you decide. The old Nintendo Power magazine that came out when this game was new recommended you pursue Air Man first, a strategy in which I see very little value. Most other FAQs suggest starting with Metal Man to quickly get the ultra-useful Metal Blade weapon, but Metal Man's stage is pretty rough, and a first-time player might not make it through. If you really can't decide, try Bubble Man or Flash Man. They're pretty easy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BUBBLE MAN Bubble Man is weakest against: Metal Blade Items that are useful: Leaf Shield, Air Shooter, Metal Blade, Item-2 If you bring one thing, make it: Metal Blade -The purple platforms that drop when you step on them can be easily bypassed using Item-2. Hop into the air before you fire Item-2, though-- this will make sure you fly over all the dropping platforms. If you fire at regular height, you may end up standing on the last falling platform as Item-2 flies through it. -When you get to an area where you're supposed to drop off the screen, always hold down the left directional key until you touch ground. This will keep you from landing on top of one of the shellfish in the area. The shellfish become more aggressive when they're hit. Ignore. -When you're underwater, your jumping height is increased. Be careful to lightly tap the jump button, or you'll skewer yourself on the eight- pointed spikes that line the ceiling. -The angler fish are weak against the Leaf Shield. -When the corridor gets very narrow and spikes line the ceiling, equip the Air Shooter. It will keep you from having to aim at the jellyfish that attack in this area, allowing you to concentrate on avoiding the spikes. It's often best to jump straight up, then guide Megaman onto the next platform as he begins to fall. -When you exit the underwater section, equip the Air Shooter to take care of the crabs that rain down from the top of the screen. BOSS BATTLE: Now it is the beginning of a fantastic story! He attacks you with bouncing bubbles-- Not exactly a terror-inspiring weapon. Scarier are the spikes that line the ceiling, but if you have the Metal Blade, you don't need to jump at all. Just aim upwards as he swims around his lair. Bubble Man starts the battle by firing off two bubbles. He then swims at an angle to the top of the screen, then sinks straight down. If you're ever on the same horizontal plane as he is, he begins firing his regular cannon. Whenever he touches the ground, he fires off two or three more bouncing bubbles. He effectively fills the screen with his weaponry, so it is difficult (although possible) to win the battle without getting hit. If you're fighting with the arm cannon, it'll be a fairly-matched fight, but the Metal Blade will stack the odds heavily in your favor. Bubble Man's regular shot does 2 points of damage. The Bubble shot and a Tackle will both do 4 points of damage. Bubble Man is immune to Atomic Fire, Air Shooter, and Leaf Shield. Using the Bubble Lead on Bubble Man will restore his health. The Arm Cannon will take one unit of Bubble Man's health. The Quick Boomerang and Crash Bomber will take two units of Bubble Man's health each. The Metal Blade will take four units of Bubble Man's health. Your reward for beating Bubble Man is the Bubble Lead. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- AIR MAN Air Man is weak against: Leaf Shield Items that are useful: Time Stopper, Leaf Shield If you bring one thing, make it: Leaf Shield -When you reach your first Air Tiki, equip the Time Stopper. When his horns retract, activate the Time-Stopper and jump across all of the Tikis without being attacked by Puti Goblins or horns. -When you defeat a Kaminari Goro, the robot that sits on a cloud, you may then use its cloud to move on through the stage. -The birds that attack in swarms are best for recharging weapon and life energy. Activate a Leaf Shield and stand still-- all of the tiny birds will fly into it and drop tons of items. A little more of a charge into the Time-Stopper is effective on the next pair of Tikis. -Another swarm of birds attack near the end of the stage. Use them to recharge your Leaf Shield. BOSS BATTLE: A defensive battle plan will serve you well in the fight against Air Man. You can try to squeeze a few shots in between his tornadoes, but for the most part, you can sit back and dodge and be perfectly okay. He'll fire out a group of whirlwinds, then blow them off the screen with his torso-mounted fan. He repeats this pattern twice, hops forward, then leaps to the other side of the screen. He then fires three groups of whirlwinds to the right before leaping back and starting over. When he stops firing tornadoes and starts hopping, that is your time to strike. The Leaf Shield, for some reason, is the most effective weapon. Maybe it clogs up his fan or something. If you stay beside the left wall when he jumps, you'll end up behind him. This gives you a free hit or two, but you'll still be blown to the right when he clears the screen of his first wave of tornadoes. Air Man's Tornadoes do 4 points of damage. A Tackle does 8 points of damage. Air Man is immune to attacks from the Bubble Lead, Metal Blade, and Crash Bomber. Using the Air Shooter on Air Man will restore his health. The Arm Cannon, the Quick Boomerang, and a low-level Atomic Fire will take two units of Air Man's health. A medium-charge or full-charge Atomic Fire will take six units of Air Man's health. The Leaf Shield will take eight units of Air Man's health. Your reward for beating Air Man is the Air Shooter and Item-2. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUICK MAN Quick Man is weakest against: Time Stopper Items that are useful: Air Shooter, Time Stopper, Item-1 or Item-3 If you bring one thing, make it: Time Stopper -Use Item-1 or Item-3 to get the 1-up at the beginning. You'll need it. -Lasers. If any of these hit their mark, they automatically blow Megaman into his component circuits. They also never turn off, so don't let yourself get caught above one after it's fired, because it won't go away. Here's a walkthrough of the first round: / When you drop off of the third screen of this stage into \ /| the first screen of lasers, jump to the left. You're aiming |\ | for the second step from the bottom on the first laser | | screen. Hop over the Sweeper if the laser hasn't fired yet | | (it shouldn't have, it's a straight drop) and fall off the | | screen, bearing right. | | | | Fall straight down, land on the platforms in the middle, | | then immediately hop to the right and off the bottom of the | | screen again. | | | | Ideally, you'll fall on a one-block-wide pillar. Run (don't | \| jump) off the right side and drop straight down. Grab |/ \ Energy Tank, 1-Up, and weapon power, you've earned them. / -In the dark area after defeating the third Fire Pot, keep jumping while moving to the right to proceed. -Whee, more lasers! You have seven more screens of instant-kill beams to fall through, and they're tough. And sure, you ~can~ use the Time Stopper to freeze them in place as you fall, but you'll probably get wasted by Quick Man at the end of the level. Tough it out, soldier. As a rule of thumb, always turn in midair back towards the way you came when you drop off the screen. / When you drop from the dark room, drop down the center of \ /| the shaft. This will put you on the highest platform on |\ | this screen- run off the left edge immediately to land on a | | slightly-raised platform in the center. Run off the left | | edge of this platform, bow back to the right to drop off | | the one beneath it, then back to the left to drop off of | | this screen. Turn back to the right in midair as you fall, | | you'll need the split-second headstart it has to offer. | | | | Drop down the center of this screen, fall off the left edge | | of the middle platform and bottom platforms, then turn right | | while you fall off the screen. | | | | Drop through the gap in the center and immediately go left. | | Ignore the weapon power up. Again, bear right as you fall, | | the next room's a toughie and you'll need every advantage | | you can. | | | | Run right and drop off three platforms, then turn back to | | the left to drop off of this screen. This time, don't turn | | in midair to hug the wall as you drop- go outwards. | | | | Drop past the energy refill and 1-up. They're not worth | | playing through this section again if you screw up. Once | | you've cleared them by the narrowest margin you can manage, | | head back to the right as you drop. | | | | Run around the platforms here. The room is deceptively | | simple, but the lasers are coming fast and furious now, so | | you have not a moment to spare. | | | | Drop straight down the center of this room, again ignoring | | the weapon power-up. Drop off of this screen without getting | \| fried, and you've reached the final stretch of this stage. |/ \ Pause your game. Catch your breath. / -After the lasers, a pair of Walker Tanks stand in your way. As always, the Air Shooter is effective against them. BOSS BATTLE: Quick Man is one of the more difficult Robot Masters. He can shoot three boomerangs at a time, which will pause at the end of their flight, but instead of returning, make a beeline for Megaman. Take your lumps if he tackles you (very likely, considering he's about three times as fast as your little blue avatar). You can stun Quick Man with Metal Blades. Stop him and shoot him with Crash Bombs until you've whittled away half of his life meter, then whip out the Time-Stopper. Quick Man loses his energy if he's not moving, and a fully-charged Time-Stopper can take up to half of his health. Use other weapons FIRST, and the Time Stopper LAST. If you use the Time Stopper first and Quick Man kills you, you won't have it to use in your next battle when you restart your next life outside his lair. Make the Time Stopper assure your victory. All of Quick Man's weapons and tackles do 4 points of damage. Quick Man is immune to attacks from the Leaf Shield and the Quick Boomerang. He takes no damage from the Bubble Lead or Metal Blade, but those weapons will stun him for a moment and knock him out of the air. The Arm Cannon, the Air Shooter, and a small Atomic Fire will take 2 units of Quick Man's health. The Crash Bomber takes four units of Quick Man's health. A medium-charge Atomic Fire takes six units of Quick Man's health. A high-charge Atomic Fire takes ten units of Quick Man's health. The Time Stopper drains Quick Man's health as long as it's on. Using the Time Stopper at full charge will drain half of Quick Man's energy. Your reward for beating Quick Man is the Quick Boomerang. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEAT MAN Heat Man is weakest against: Bubble Lead Other items that are useful: Crash Bomber, Item-2, Item-3 If you bring one thing, make it: Item-2. -That red stuff flowing at the bottom of the screen? It's bad. Stay out of it. Using the Metal Blade or Air Shooter on the Flyboys and Tellys in the first stretch may make your life a bit easier. -The first bit of the disappearing blocks may be traversed easily with Item-3. If you don't have Item-3, jump on the lowest block, jump straight up (allowing the block to appear beneath your feet at the apex of your jump), then leap to the third block that appears and onto the left wall. -In the next section, where the Tellys attack, you'll have to climb the first two walls manually. The rest may be broken through with the Crash Bomber. -You may bypass the next section of disappearing blocks by using Item-2 to fly across the molten flow. If you don't have Item-2, jump across the first three disappearing blocks, then jump straight up. Jump right three more times, then straight up. Jump right thirteen more times, then straight up. Then jump right until you reach solid ground. BOSS BATTLE If left unmolested, Heat Man will sit in one spot and toss three fireballs in an arc. When the fireballs hit the ground, they burst into a column of flame. Do any damage to him, however, and he'll call a ring of fire around himself, turn his entire body to flame, and streak across the room in an attempt to tackle Megaman. Keep your distance, jump over the stream of fire, then turn and fire when he regains his robot form. The first arc of fireballs is hard to avoid. A small forward hop will work, as will using the Flash Stopper to buy more time if you're a perfectionist. Otherwise, just take the hit and don't worry- his pattern is so simple, it may very well be the only fire he ever gets a chance to throw. Heat Man's fireballs do 4 points of damage. Touching him, either in robot form, surrounded by flame, or as a stream of fire, will do 8 points of damage. Heat Man is immune to attacks from the Leaf Shield and Crash Bomber, but if he's hit with the Crash Bomber in his fire stream form, he loses control and flies madly around the room. Using the Atomic Fire on Heat Man will restore his health. The Metal Blade take two units of Heat Man's health. The Arm Cannon, Air Shooter, and Quick Boomerang will take two units of Heat Man's health. The Bubble Lead will take six units of Heat Man's health. Your reward for beating Heat Man is the Atomic Fire and Item-1. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WOOD MAN Wood Man is weakest against: Atomic Fire Other items that are useful: Metal Blade, Time Stopper If you bring one thing, make it: Metal Blade -There aren't a whole lot of tricks to Wood Man's stage. A lot of enemies attack from above or below (Batton, Monking, some Rabbots), dispatch these with a few Metal Blades. -After you defeat the first Hot Dog, use the Time-Stopper before going to the next screen. Run quickly and you won't have to worry about fighting the other two canine contraptions. -The ostrich-like Cooks that attack near the end of the stage are easy to avoid. As soon as one comes onscreen, stop running. It'll charge forward, then jump over Megaman's head. Easy. BOSS BATTLE: Since this game was created, many have wondered about the practicality of building a robot with a wooden chassis. There's more to it than that, though-- according to his database entry in Rockman & Forte, it's not only the outer hull that's made of wood, but all the inner workings, too. Doc Wily might be a senile old fart, but I'm impressed by anyone who can build a circuit board out of lumber. Wood Man begins the battle by thumping on his chest. Other than probably making a pretty cool drum noise, this activates his Leaf Shield and sends four additional leaves flying to the ceiling. Wood Man then releases the shield to fly forward while the rest of the leaves drift in a zigzag pattern from the top of the screen. Wood Man hops forward and repeats the process. When he reaches the left side of the screen, he begins hopping back to the right. Yes, it's sad that Wood Man is actually made out of lumber. Yes, sadder still, he attacks with leaves. Saddest of all, however, is that these leaves REALLY FREAKIN' HURT. As the name suggests, Wood Man's Leaf Shield protects him from most incoming fire. The only weapon that can pierce it is the Crash Bomber. If you're lucky, you can hit the shield with a Crash Bomb just as Wood Man lets it fly. If this happens, Woodman will be standing unprotected in the Crash Bomb's explosion, taking lots of damage. Wood Man's Leaf Shield and the falling leaves will do 4 points of damage. Touching Wood Man will do 8 points. Yeah, eight points. From a log. Weird. Wood Man is immune to attacks from the Bubble Lead and Quick Boomerang. Using the Leaf Shield on Wood Man will restore his health. The Arm Cannon and a low-charged Atomic Fire will take one unit of Wood Man's health. The Metal Blade and Crash Bombs will take two units of Wood Man's health. The Air Shooter and medium-charged Atomic Fire will take four units of Wood Man's health. A fully-charged Atomic Fire will take fourteen units of Wood Man's health. Your reward for beating Wood Man is the Leaf Shield. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- METAL MAN Metal Man is weakest against: Metal Blade. But you don't have that yet the first time through, do you? Try the Quick Boomerang, then. Other items that are useful: Time-Stopper, Leaf Shield, Item-2 If you bring one thing, make it: Quick Boomerang -Most of the enemies here, with the exceptions of Traps and Moles, can be effectively eliminated with the Quick Boomerang. -The traps at the beginning may be safely passed using the Time Stopper. -The Leaf Shield is helpful in the next section, with the Moles. -Item-1 or Item-2 will allow you to get the 1-Up before the first drop. -It's difficult-to-impossible to get the second Energy tank and live to tell about it without Item-2. BOSS BATTLE: He's not exactly the most agressive Robot Master in the game. You can just sit there and stare at him and he'll only throw one or two blades out of boredom every once in a while. Maybe he doesn't mind you as long as you don't interrupt his jogging-in-place exercise routine. The battle only really begins when you decide it should. When you shoot at him, he'll leap into the air and start throwing buzzsaws at you. You'll always miss if you shoot from the ground, so jump before shooting and he'll leap upwards into your fire. Two notes- if the screen flashes, the conveyor belt on the floor has changed direction. And if you get too close to Metal Man, he'll jump to the other side of the room. Metal Man takes very little damage from the Arm Cannon, but his relative passiveness means you can stop for a breather any time you like. Use the Quick Boomerang for best results, but because of its poor range, you will find Metal Man jumping over your head a lot when you get close enough to fire. Metal Man's shots will do 4 points of damage. Touching Metal Man will do 8 points of damage. Metal Man is immune to attacks from the Air Shooter, Leaf Shield, Bubble Lead, and Crash Bomber. The Arm Cannon and a low-charged Atomic Fire will take one unit of Metal Man's health. The Quick Boomerang and a medium- or fully-charged Atomic Fire will take four units of Metal Man's life. The Metal Blade will take fourteen units of Metal Man's health. Your reward for beating Metal Man is the ultra-useful Metal Blade. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FLASH MAN Flash Man is weakest against: Metal Blades Other items that are useful: Crash Bomber, Item-1, Item-2 If you bring one thing, make it: Crash Bomber -The peculiar-looking walls that look like they're built out of eight squares stacked on top of one another can be destroyed with the Crash Bomber. After the first wall is destroyed, use Item-1 to get a 1-Up. -The paths you take through the stage don't matter much. The only one that leads to a reward worth mentioning is the last one-- when you see the second Walker Tank in the stage, make sure you take the path on the right. It leads to an Energy Tank. -Assuming you took the right path, the aforementioned Energy Tank may be easily reached using Item-2. If you took the left path or fall, you can salvage it with Item-1. BOSS BATTLE: The only dangerous thing about Flash Man is that he's always running and will often bowl right over you. Flash Man jumps when he takes damage, so if he's nearby, don't shoot or you won't be able to jump over him. Flash Man is pretty easy to beat with the Arm Cannon, and Metal Blades make your job even easier. Unload on him as he runs toward you, then stop shooting so you can jump over him. Proceed to the other side of the screen, turn, and fire again. Flash Man will occasionally use his Time Stopper to freeze Megaman in place (this keeps in theme with the rest of the flashy, disco-themed level by causing lots of sparkly lights to appear onscreen). Flash Man will then unload a shotgun burst from his arm cannon, but his aim is so horrible Megaman can literally be standing right in front of him and he'll still miss. Between the rarity that Flash Man uses his Time Stopper and the pathetic damage his shots do, you should beat him in no time. (From what I'm told, the burst of fire is only random in the NES version. In the rereleases Flash Man shoots at five different angles every time.) With all the obstacles in Flash Man's lair, it's not difficult to latch a Crash Bomb onto the wall and have Flash Man run through the explosion for several hits. Using Crash Bombs takes some luck, though, so it's still faster to use Metal Blades. Getting run over by Flash Man deals 4 damage. One of the shots from his Arm Cannon will do 2 damage. Flash Man is immune to attacks from the Air Shooter, Leaf Shield, and Quick Boomerang. The Arm Cannon, Bubble Lead, and low-power Atomic Fire will take 2 units of Flash Man's health. The Crash Bomber will take 3 units of Flash Man's health. The Metal Blades will take 4 units of Flash Man's health. A medium-charge Atomic Fire will take 6 units of Flash Man's health. A high-power Atomic Fire will take 8 units of Flash Man's health. Your reward for beating Flash Man is the Time Stopper and Item-3. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CRASH MAN: (Crash Man was called "Clash Man" in Japan. But since the colors in his outfit seem to match okay, I'm going to call him "Crash Man".) Crash Man is weakest against: Air Shooter Other items that are useful: Leaf Shield, Item-1 If you bring one thing, make it: Air Shooter -In the rail section, you may use Item-1 to get directly to the ladder, or use the Leaf Shield to keep the Tellys at bay. -When you have a choice of which ladder to take, always take the one on the right. -Use the Air Shooter or Leaf Shield to ward off the birds that attack while you climb the ladders in the area of the stage after the sky darkens. -Once you reach the top, jump down to the Energy Tank, then use Item-1 to get back up. Use Item-1 again to reach the left ladder for a 1-Up on the next screen. BOSS BATTLE: Like Metal Man, if you leave Crash Man alone, he'll just wander back and forth across the floor. Fire at him, though, and all hell breaks loose. Whenever you fire at Crash Man, he will leap into the air and fire a Crash Bomb at your current location at the peak of his jump. It's important to keep moving through the entire battle. If you use the Arm Cannon, you can win by running towards him, then shooting him right before he tackles you. KEEP RUNNING. You'll run beneath him as he jumps, and the Bomb he fires will just miss Megaman's metal posterior. If you have the Air Shooter, hop slightly when he gets close, and fire. It only takes three hits of Air to destroy Crash Man, so you can take your lumps when he fires Bombs at you. Nothing other than Air is terribly effective. Activating a Leaf Shield or charing up the Atomic Fire will cause Crash Man to attack relentlessly. I wouldn't recommend it. Getting tackled, shot, or caught in an explosion will deal 4 damage. Crash Man is immune to attacks from the Leaf Shield, Crash Bomber, and Metal Blades. The Arm Cannon, Bubble Lead, Quick Boomerang, and low-charge Atomic Fire will take one unit of Crash Man's life. A medium-charge shot of Atomic Fire will take three units of Crash Man's health. A fully-charged shot of Atomic Fire will take five units of Crash Man's health. The Air Shooter will take ten units of Crash Man's health. Your reward for beating Crash Man is the Crash Bomber. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section V- Dr. Wily's Castle After defeating all eight Robot Masters, you're treated to a quick cutscene of Dr. Wily retreating into his skull-motif fortress. This part of the game is entirely linear, and you'll need every weapon and item you've collected to get through. Be careful, though, as your weapon energy does NOT recharge between stages here. You'll have to consider what you'll need in the future before you pick up any weapon refills, and NONE of them should be wasted on the Arm Cannon. As Megaman is already powered up with all his gear, there's no longer any need to tell you what's helpful to bring. Instead, I'll list the items that are helpful in each level, letting you decide which to recharge. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WILY STAGE 1 Weapons required in this stage: Item-1, Item-3 Weapons helpful in this stage: Whatever you prefer to beat the enemies. -As usual, you can collect lots of powerups from Feathers using the Leaf Shield. You may also use the Air Shooter or Metal Blade to knock Pipi out of the sky before it drops its egg. -Climb the fortress walls with Item-3. This is probably the most use you'll get out of it in the entire game. -It's impossible to jump over Sniper Joe's shots in the narrow hallways, but you can duck down ladders to avoid them instead. -On the screen right above the Springer, you'll have to carefully use Item-1 to cross the large gap. Stand on the leftmost edge of the bottom ladder and use one Item-1, then jump on it, run to the left edge, and fire another. Jump on and run to the left edge of that one to fire a third, then jump to the ladder. Don't be slow about it, or the Item-1s will float upwards too high for you to make the final jump. -Keep climbing without stopping and the Tellys will never catch you. STAGE BOSS: The Dragon Wow, that's a mighty big robot. The Dragon appears behind Megaman just as the screen starts autoscrolling. Keep jumping from platform to platform, and don't worry about firing at the Dragon just yet-- it's invincible. Eventually you'll reach a group of three platforms arranged vertically; that's when the battle proper begins. The Dragon flaps around the left side of the screen and spits fireballs at Megaman. The danger isn't from the fire itself, oh no. The fire is quite capable of knocking Megaman off of the platform he's perched on and into the pit below. If you stand on the highest platform, there's a chance the middle platform will catch Megaman if he's knocked off. Other than that, try to stay on the left edge of the platforms to keep from falling. The Dragon's weak point is its head, but there aren't any weapons that are very effective against it. I generally use the Quick Boomerang because of its firing arc, but there's no reason not to use the Arm Cannon. The dragon's fire does six points of damage. Touching the dragon deals twenty-eight points of damage-- instant death. This probably isn't an issue, though-- I only found out about it testing the Bubble Lead. The Dragon is immune to the Air Shooter, the Bubble Lead, the Leaf Shield, and the Metal Blade. The Arm Cannon, the Quick Boomerang, the Crash Bomber, and the low-powered Atomic Fire deal one point of damage to the Dragon. A medium-power Atomic Fire does 4 points of damage to the Dragon. A high-power Atomic Fire does 8 points of damage to the Dragon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wily stage 2 Weapons required in this stage: Item-2 Weapons helpful in this stage: Crash Bomber -There are two free weapon powerups at the beginning of this stage. You'll only use Item-3 twice more in the entire game, so don't worry about recharging that unless it has no power left whatsoever. Put power into whatever you deem useful-- Item-2, if you used it at all in the first stage, will be used immediately, so power that up to full. -The bed of spikes can best be crossed with Item-2. If you hold out until the second ladder, you don't have to waste Crash Bombs blowing through the barriers. You also get a free Energy Tank, and on the next screen, a 1-Up and nearly a dozen small weapon refills. On the screen after ~that~, you automatically avoid a pair of Shotman and have the option of getting another 1-Up and Energy Tank in exchange for a couple Crash Bombs. So do yourself a favor and take the second ladder. -If you die later and restart at the beginning, blow up Flyboys to power up Item-2 so you can cross the spikes again. -The Leaf Shield, as always, can be thrown into clusters of Moles for lots of energy and weapon refills. -Let the first Trap drop, run under it, and use Item-3 to climb the wall. Once you get to the top, you're free to use the Time-Stopper to avoid the rest of the Traps. -After the Traps, drop straight down from the ladder. Drop off onto the following screen down the exact center of the hole provided, and you can use Item-2 to nab an Energy Refill. If you fall past the high platform, you can stand on the rim of the hole to the next screen and use Item-1. STAGE BOSS: Danger Room One of the stranger bosses in the game, the blocks that make up this room are actually a group of robots. Two blocks at a time will fly to the center of the room, join, and then fly after Megaman in an attempt to mow him down. When you beat that robot, two more blocks come together and the process repeats itself at a slightly faster pace. Drop into the room and take a few steps to the right. Jump and destroy the first two robots, then hop over the blocks as they fly at you to destroy the third. Run to the center of the room to destroy the fourth and fifth, then step to the left as two more robots attack from the center. Run back to the center to destroy the eighth on the right and ninth on the left. Jump to the right to avoid the tenth as it comes together, destroy it, and run to the center to beat the eleventh. The twelfth appears on the far right, the thirteenth comes together in the center, and the final robot assembles itself on the far left. Destroy them all and the room flashes, signalling your victory. Each robot has its own damage meter, and detroying one robot deals 2 points of damage to the boss as a whole. All robots are immune to the Air Shooter, Crash Bomber, and the Leaf Shield. Each robot is destroyed after three hits with the Arm Cannon, the Metal Blade, the Quick Boomerang, or a low-powered Atomic Fire. Each robot is destroyed after one hit with the Bubble Lead or a medium- or high-charge Atomic Fire. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wily stage 3 Weapons required in this stage: None, really... Weapons helpful in this stage: Crash Bomber, the pause button -Drop off the right side of the first platform for an Energy Tank, or the left to skip the Tank and head for a large weapon refill. Both are behind barriers that require the Crash Bomber to break. -Equip a weapon you want to recharge and drop off the second screen hugging the leftmost wall. You'll land on a small platform with another large weapon refill. Hop over to the right side of the room to claim yet another. Drop off this screen straight off the edge of the lowest platform to... - ...avoid being impaled on the spikes in the next section. The opposite of Bubble Man's stage, this area has spikes across the bottom. Jump as high and far as you can to make it to the next platforms and you'll automatically avoid the Big Fish snapping at your heels. If you have trouble, boost your jumps with Item-1, or fly across everything with Item-2. -If you have problems controlling Megaman in the next vertical area, try pausing the game. You'll reset Megaman's downward velocity when you unpause, and he'll be much easier to keep away from the spikes. -It's possible, albeit difficult, to pass through the hallway filled with Shotman without getting hit. Try using the Leaf Shield instead of the Arm Cannon to destroy them. STAGE BOSS: Guts Tank Wily must have loved the design for Gustman, as a variation of it appears in nearly every Megaman game. This time he's fitted with tank treads from the waist down and has a hatch filled with Metalls in his chest. If you're on the ground, he raises his fist to guard his face and Metalls rush from the hatch to tackle you. When you see an opening, hop up onto the red platform in front of his fist. He'll switch to the second mode of attack. The second mode of attack involves the tank lowering his fist and spitting shots in an arc from its mouth. Shoot it in the face with the Quick Boomerang and hop back down to avoid the bullet- it's possible to jump away and land back on the red platform, but not always practical. And, uh, don't get run over. The Guts Tank does 4 points of damage if Megaman touches its fist, its face, or gets caught under its treads. The Metalls that dash from its chest also do 4 points of damage. The bullet launched from the Guts Tank's mouth does 2 damage. The Guts Tank is immune to the Air Shooter, the Metal Blade, and the Leaf Shield. The Guts Tank takes one point of damage from the Arm Cannon, the Crash Bomber, the Bubble Lead, and a low-powered Atomic Fire. The Guts Tank takes two points of damage from the Quick Boomerang. The Guts Tank takes four points of damage from a medium-powered Atomic Fire. The Guts Tank takes eight points of damage from a high-powered Atomic Fire. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wily stage 4 Weapons required in this stage: Item-1, Item-3, Crash Bomber Weapons helpful in this stage: Bubble Lead, Item-2 -Like before, there are large weapon refills for the taking at the beginning of the stage. Fill up your Crash Bomber as high as it'll go, you'll need every shot later. After that, make sure you have some use left in Item-3 and Item-1. Only once those are filled, half-filled, and filled respectively, charge up your other weapons. -This stage is filled with fake floors. Use the Bubble Lead to seek them out, especially in areas where the floor being fake will drop you onto a bed of spikes. -The fake floor on the third screen is between the middle ladder and the Metall. -The fake floors on the fourth screen are between the two lowest ladders, then two more are on the higher platform you cross over to get to the highest ladder. -The fake floor on the fifth screen will drop you onto the spikes. -There are tons of fake floors on the sixth screen. The Energy Tank here is usually more trouble than it's worth, but is the last one in the game. Grab it if you want, you can get it by using Item-1 to climb through the fake floor nearby. -You may once again use the Leaf Shield to protect yourself from the Tellys while riding the rails, but as you're going from top to bottom, you can't use Item-1 to skip them entirely. -Climb, don't drop, down the ladder from the first rail system. You'll have to hang onto that ladder waiting for the next rail to come-- if you fall from one screen to another, you'll drop onto spikes below. Jump on the small outcropping in the center of this screen, wait for the rail carrier to pass through the tiny hole, then jump back onto the carrier to take you to the top. -On the fourth rail screen, use Item-2 to reach the far ladder. It's much easier than trying to jump from the tiny platform onto the rail, then from the rail to the platform. -The final stretch of the stage is full of Sniper Joes and Walker Tanks. Use the Air Shooter to get through, but don't use up all of it. STAGE BOSS: Wall Cannons The most irritating stage in this game is capped off with the most irritating stage boss in any Megaman game, ever. The Wall Cannons are vulnerable to only one thing- Crash Bombs. There are five cannons and five barriers in this room, and a fully-charged Crash Bomber gets seven shots. So, you can only destroy two barriers: the one furthest to the left, and one closest to the bottom. You'll have to work around all the others. Every few seconds, the Wall Cannons will blink and fire into the room. They all fire at the same time, with the shots triangulating on Megaman's current position. They're tough to avoid in the cramped quarters of the room, so use Energy Tanks as you need to. Because you can't break through the barrier in the middle of the room, you'll have to use Item-1 to go over it. Hop a little and fire an Item-1 so it rises through the gap above you, then ride it as high as you can go to reach the topmost Wall Cannon. Destroy that Cannon, then drop down and destroy the one in the middle of the room. Turn, break down the far left barrier, and destroy the Wall Cannon behind it. Drop to the floor on the right, break through the bottommost barrier, and destroy the Cannon behind it. Climb back up to the center of the room with Item-3, then jump into the narrow shaft on the right where the last Cannon is. Destroy it and you're done! If you miss with even one Crash Bomb, you're done for. But there is a trick-- if you know you can't win, blow up as many barriers as you can and don't worry about the Cannons. When Megaman dies and restarts the level, recharge your Crash Bomber to full capacity with the Tellys. When you return to the Wall Cannon room, all the barriers you destroyed last time will still be gone, making it a bit easier to maneuver. Touching a Wall Cannon or getting hit by a shot will do 4 damage. As stated before, the Wall Cannons are only vulnerable to Crash Bombs, each Cannon requires one Bomb to destroy, and the boss is defeated when all the Cannons are gone. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wily stage 5 Weapons required in this stage: None Weapons helpful in this stage: All of 'em, except maybe the numbered items. Ah, bosses on parade. You'll get no weapon powerups, but you do get one large energy refill from each boss you beat. Upper left- Heat Man. Use the Bubble Lead again, but don't run too low. You'll need lots of this later. Middle left- Air Man. Use the Leaf Shield again. You won't need it anymore, so don't be stingy. Bottom left corner- Wood Man. Use Metal Blades- you've used up all your Crash Bombs on the Wall Cannons and you'll need the Atomic Fire for later. Bottom Middle, left- Bubble Man. Keep using those Metal Blades. Bottom Middle, right- Quick Man. He's a little easier now that the floor is flat. Use the Arm Cannon to whittle him down, then finish him off with all the Time Stopper energy you've got. You can try to use any of your leftover Air Shooter you don't use on Crash Man. Bottom right corner- Crash Man. The reason I told you not to use your Air Shooter energy at the end of the last stage. You won't need any more Air Shooter after this, either, so go hog wild. Middle right- Metal Man. Two Metal Blades will work- but make sure you at least move off of the teleporter if you want to collect the energy ball when he dies. Top right- Flash Man. He's somewhat easier because he still hops when you hit him, so you can shoot him at point-blank range and run underneath him. His aim is still horrible, so he may miss you even on flat ground. Use the Arm Cannon or Metal Blades. Isn't it great that it's nearly impossible to run out of those nifty little buzzsaws? -When you've ousted all the Robot Masters for a second time, another teleporter will open up in the top center. Use it to battle Wily's Ship. STAGE BOSS: Wily's Ship Dr. Wily is inside, so throw all your might against this. It looks remarkably like the final enemy from the first Mega Man game, but you don't have the Thunder Beam with you this time. This is, however, the reason you've been saving your Atomic Fire. Hop over the arcing energy balls, charge it up to full blast and fire into the cockpit to blow the hull off of Wily's Ship in two hits. His life meter recharges and you get to fight phase two. Touching the ship does 10 points of damage. The energy balls do eight. You can destroy this phase of Wily's ship with 28 shots of the Arm Cannon, 28 Metal Blades, or Atomic Fire. Nothing else will even scratch it. Wily's Ship: Phase Two The energy balls bounce, rather than arc. They're not easy to avoid. This ship is immune to most of your weapons, and what few it does take damage from, it only loses one bar. The exception to this is the Crash Bomber, so if you tricked your way past the Wall Cannons with any power left, go on and use it up here. The Air Shooter can hit once with each tornado if it's fired close enough to the cockpit for a total of three damage. I prefer the Metal Blades, however, as they can be fired into the ship from the ground. Drain your energy tanks as you need them. Wily is vulnerable to the Arm Cannon, Quick Boomerangs, the Air Shooter, and Metal Blades, and Crash Bomber. When you beat Wily's ship, the floor shatters and drops Megaman into a subterranean tunnel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wily stage 6 Weapons required in this stage: Bubble Lead -Megaman drops for several screens before entering a corridor with Acid dripping from the ceiling. As he falls, hold right. When he lands, immediately start running to the right and the Acid will never touch him. This is an extremely short stage. STAGE BOSS: Wily Alien Wily's personal transport lowers, and he floats out. Floats? Yes! Dr. Wily then reveals his true form, that of a hideous green alien! Well, hideous by 8-bit graphic standards, anyway. Only one weapon hurts the Alien- the Bubble Lead. It takes a whopping 32 hits to beat it. And if you don't have 32 charges of the Bubble Lead? Well, tough cookies. You'll have to sacrifice all your lives and continue to recharge your weapon energy (or use the Infinite Ammo trick). This boss is actually pretty lazy. It floats in the same figure-eight pattern over and over again, firing a poorly-aimed shot that is easily avoided. The problem is that it never touches the ground, so to hit it with the Bubble Lead, you have to get very close to it. And that's a problem, because if Megaman touches the Alien, he can kiss about 3/4 of his life bar goodbye. Pain. Stick to the center of the screen and drop two or three bubbles onto the Alien as it swoops by. When it completes a low arc of the figure-eight, jump beside it as it floats upwards and hammer the fire button. Drop straight down, run underneath it, avoid its fire, and wait until it completes another loop and begins to rise upwards again. Be patient and don't get greedy- it takes a lot of even Bubble Lead's weapon energy to beat him. But, if you're willing to play smart, he really isn't that difficult a boss. Just don't try to body-tackle him while you drop your bubbles and eventually you'll wear away at his life bar and destroy Wily once and for all! ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section VI- Ending ...Okay, maybe you didn't destroy Wily once and for all. Turns out that Alien was an elaborate (*snicker*) hologram machine and the starry background of the cave was an illusion from the giant disco ball above you. Wily's control machine explodes for no readily apparent reason, and Wily dives out and begs the blue-diapered hero for mercy. Of course, Megaman spares his life instead of giving him the flaming death he deserves, because the next thirty or forty Megaman games would be pretty dull without Doc Wily's influence. Megaman begins the long walk home. Thankfully, he's a robot and doesn't have to worry about sustenance or sleep. As he walks home, his color scheme changes to match the season: red and orange for autumn, gray and white for winter, dark and light pinks for spring, blue and white for summer. After the summer rains finish, Megaman looks toward home. The screen flashes, and we see that Megaman has left his helmet behind-- with Wily defeated, he won't need it anymore. The fighting is over. Well, until next game. Roll credits. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section VII- Megaman's Arsenal Arm Cannon- Colors: Dark and light blue. Fires regular bullets. You have all you could possibly ever desire of this weapon, and more. Atomic Fire- Colors- Red and orange Fires blasts of... well... fire. Unlike other weapons that shoot when you press the fire button, the Atomic Fire is released when you let up. This allows you to charge it up to three levels. The smallest level is about as strong as the Arm Cannon, and consumes one bar of weapon energy. Medium is a bit stronger and rarely used; it consumes six bars of weapon energy. The highest power level will destroy most enemies that aren't immune to it in one shot, but consumes twelve bars of weapon energy. Air Shooter- Colors: Blue and white Fires a group of three tornadoes, which rise upwards at varying degrees in the direction they were fired. Since these do not disappear when they damage an enemy, they often travel through foes and do several times normal damage. One shot costs two bars of weapon energy. Leaf Shield Colors: Green and white Surrounds Megaman with a group of four rotating leaves. Pressing any of the cardinal directions will launch the shield in that direction. Therefore, Megaman can't move while this is activated, but can jump straight up into the air. Summoning the shield takes no energy, but firing it off takes three bars. However, the shield will still cease to function if there are fewer than three bars of weapon energy. Bubble Lead Colors: Grey and White Fires a bubble that arcs slightly, then drops to the ground and travels along the surface. If it reaches a decline, it will drop and roll along the lower surface, but if it strikes a wall, it disappears. Two shots will consume one bar of weapon energy. Quick Boomerang Colors: Dark and light pink Fires a boomerang that travels out across about a third of the screen, then returns. Very economical, though: You get eight boomerangs for each bar of weapon energy. Time-Stopper Colors: Dark and light purple Sparkles. While this is in effect, nothing but Megaman can move, and no one can fire. If you run into an enemy or trap while it's frozen in time, it still deals its normal tackle damage, so, uh, don't do that. When the Time-Stopper is activated, it consumes its weapon energy steadily and can't be turned off. A fully-charged stopper lasts for about eight seconds. Metal Blade Colors: Brown and tan Arguably the best weapon in the game. Can be fired in eight directions by holding the appropriate direction on the control pad and pressing the fire button. Up to three blades can be onscreen at a time. It takes four shots to consume a bar of weapon energy. Crash Bomber Colors: Orange and white Fires an explosive charge. When it strikes a wall, it will clamp onto that surface and explode after a second or two. The explosion lingers for several seconds, doing additional damage to anything inside the blast radius. If the bomb strikes an enemy rather than the wall, it does its damage but does not cause an explosion. Each shot consumes four bars of weapon energy. Item-1: Hover board Colors: Red and white This launches a platform that floats steadily upward, then disappears after a few seconds or whenever it hits a ceiling. Launching a platform consumes two bars of weapon energy. Item-2: Jet Sled Colors: Red and White This launches a rocket-powered platform that waits for a second for Megaman to board, then flies off in the direction it was fired. It consumes weapon energy steadily while in flight, providing about ten seconds of airtime from a full weapon meter. Item-3: Wall Crawler Colors: Red and White This launches a platform that bounces across the ground until it hits a wall. It will then move up the wall until it reaches the top, then begin its way back down. If Megaman is not standing on it while it is in contact with a wall, it will disappear after a few seconds. It consumes weapon energy steadily when it is in contact with a wall, providing about fifteen seconds of continuous use before it runs out. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section VIII- Enemy Guide All the robots and in the game are listed here, except for Robot Masters and the bosses in Dr. Wily's stages-- those are in the next section. Note that the game isn't very forthcoming about the names of these enemies, so in some cases I had to make them up. Some robot names are given at the end of some of the Game Boy Megaman games, others have been dubbed as they are by the article Nintendo Power ran on the game back when it was new, and the rest are my own. Robots are listed in alphabetical order by whatever name they've been awarded. I also list the stages each enemy appears in: B is Bubble Man's stage W1 is Wily level 1 A is Air Man's stage W2 is Wily level 2 Q is Quick Man's stage W3 is Wily level 3 H is Heat Man's stage W4 is Wily level 4 W is Wood Man's stage W5 is Wily level 5 M is Metal Man's stage W6 is Wily level 6 F is Flash Man's stage C is Crash Man's stage The entry's appearance and behavior are short descriptions of what the robot looks like and what it does. Damage is split into two types: "Tackle" damage is done by touching the robot's body, while "Shot" damage is done by a projectile fired by the enemy. Not all enemies have Shot damage. The "Weapons" list gives how many rounds from each weapon will defeat the robot in question. An "X" in this area denotes that the enemy is immune to that weapon. A "-" in this area denotes that the robot may or may not take damage from that weapon, but appear only in a stage where Megaman can't possibly have that weapon yet. For instance, enemies that only appear in Wood Man's stage are essentially immune to the Leaf Shield, because there's no way they'll ever be hit by it. If I list the entry as "Multiple Hits", like Sniper Joe's entry for the Air Shooter, that means the weapon goes through the enemy and hits many times over for essentially random damage. A number and "Multiple Hits" means it takes the number of hits listed to destroy the robot, but a single shot may strike more than once. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Acid Appearance: A drop of corrosive purple fluid Appears in: W6 Behavior: Acid pools on the ceiling, then drops down to the floor. Once it hits the floor, it's harmless, but it's something to avoid while it drops. Damage: Tackle- 10 Weapons: Arm Cannon- X Low Heat- X Medium Heat- X High Heat- X Air- X Wood- X Bubble- X Quick- X Metal- X Crash- X Name: Air Tiki Appearance: A large face with retractable horns. Appears in: A Behavior: You'll have to cross several Air Tikis in Air Man's stage. They are always extending and retracting their horns, which Megaman should try to avoid while he runs across the tops of the Tiki's heads. When Megaman stands on top of one, it begins releasing Puti Goblins from the sides of its head. Activating the Time Stopper before jumping across them makes for an easy journey. Damage: Tackle (Horns)- 2 Weapons: Arm Cannon- X Low Heat- X Medium Heat- X High Heat- X Air- - Wood- X Bubble- X Quick- X Metal- X Crash- X Name: Angler Appearance: A giant dome with eyes, a mouth, and fins. A glowing ball sits at the end of a protrusion from the robot's forehead. Appears in: B Behavior: Serving as a mid-stage boss in Bubble Man's stage, these behemoths of the deep sit in one place and release Prawns from their mouths. They're invincible everywhere but the lamps that sit on the end of the antenna on their foreheads. Damage: Tackle- 16 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 10 Low Heat- 10 Medium Heat- 4 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- 3 Bubble- - Quick- 10 Metal- 5 Crash- X Name: Batton/Bubble Bats Appearance: A black orb that hangs from the ceiling. It will transform into a pudgy bat when Megaman approaches it. Appears in: W Behavior: Invincible in its orb form. When it becomes a bat, it will lazily flap over to Megaman in an attempt to tackle him. If it hits, it will then rise back to the ceiling to roost once more. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 2 Low Heat- 2 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- - Bubble- X. Hardy har. Quick- 2 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Big Fish Appearance: A giant gray fish. Appears in: W3 Behavior: A giant fish that leaps up from the bottom of the screen and attempts to bite Megaman as he leaps overhead. Nearly invincible but not difficult to avoid. Damage: Tackle- 10 Weapons: Arm Cannon- X Low Heat- X Medium Heat- X High Heat- X Air- X Wood- X Bubble- X Quick- 1 Metal- X Crash- 1 Name: Can Stack Appearance: A stack of four cylinders. The third can from the bottom has eyes. Appears in: M, C, F Behavior: These creep slowly towards Megaman. If they aren't destroyed by the first hit, the eyed can will arc the other three segments forward and drop to the ground. Three more cans then rise from the floor, and the stack begins shuffling forward again. Damage: Shots- 4 Tackle- 8 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 2 Low Heat- 2 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- X Bubble- X Quick- 2 Metal- 2 Crash- 1 Name: Cook Appearance: A robotic ostrich. Appears in: W Behavior: Cooks do nothing but run from right to left, jumping occasionally. There's no weapon effective enough to destroy them before they get to Megaman, so play defensively. If you stop moving as soon as a Cook moves onscreen, it will jump harmlessly over Megaman's head. Cooks are damaged by low- and medium-level Atomic Fire, but I was never able to destroy one with that weapon before it ran away, so the information is missing. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 10 Low Heat- * Medium Heat- * High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- - Bubble- X Quick- 10 Metal- X Crash- 1 Name: Crabs Appearance: A mechanical crusacean. Appears in: B Behavior: These drop from the top of the screen, first in front of Megaman, then behind him. If they land on a platform, they roll forward until they fall off again. The only danger they pose is knocking Megaman out of the air and into a pit while he jumps. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- - Quick- 3 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Feather Appearance: A tiny bird that comes out of Pipi's egg. Appears in: W, A, C, W1 Behavior: When Pipi's egg touches the ground, it breaks and releases eight Feathers. The Feathers then fly towards Megaman. They don't do much damage or take much effort to beat, but there are a lot of them to deal with. Damage: Tackle- 1 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- 1 Quick- 1 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Fire Pot Appearance: A bowl, filled with fire, with arms and legs. Appears in: Q Behavior: These robots stand in one place and chuck burning material at Megaman in a high arc. Oddly enough, the low- and medium charges of Atomic Fire will damage these robots, but the high-power charge will not. Damage: Shots- 3 Tackle- 8 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 10 Low Heat- 10 Medium Heat- 4 High Heat- X Air- 1 Wood- 3 Bubble- 3 Quick- - Metal- 5 Crash- X Name: Flyboy Appearance: A robot with a propeller on its head. Appears in: H, C, W2 Behavior: These drop from the sky, tug three times on their ripcords, then launch themselves in an attempt to squash Megaman's titanium cranium. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 5 Low Heat- 5 Medium Heat- 2 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 3 Bubble- X Quick- 5 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Gears Appearance: A metal wheel with teeth on the outer rim. Appears in: M Behavior: I don't like these, or fighting. Gears float in the air until a Pierobot lands on top of them. The gear/robot combination will then drop to the ground and roll towards Megaman. If you beat the gear before the robot that rides it, the robot will comically vault offscreen. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 4 Low Heat- 4 Medium Heat- 2 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- 3 Bubble- X Quick- 3 Metal- - Crash- 1 Name: Hot Dog Appearance: A giant blue dog. Appears in: W Behavior: Three Hot Dogs serve as the midlevel boss of Wood Man's stage. These remain in one place, pawing the ground and spitting streams of fire from their mouths. Jump over the flame and shoot the dog. Once these appear, there's no getting around them. If you use the Time-Stopper, though, you have a good chance to leave the screen before they ever arrive. Hot Dogs are damaged by medium-level Atomic Fire, but because even a full weapon energy bar doesn't grant enough firepower to destroy it with medium-charge shots, the entry that it takes seven shots to defeat one is a conjecture based on firing four medium-charge Atomic Fire shots (draining all Atomic Fire weapon energy in the process) and finishing the Dog off with eight Arm Cannon shots. At that rate, one medium-charge Atomic Fire is worth three Arm Cannon shots. Damage: Shots- 4 Tackle- 8 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 20 Low Heat- 20 Medium Heat- 7 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- - Bubble- X Quick- 10 Metal- 10 Crash- X Name: Jellyfish Appearance: A dome full of sparkling orbs, with three spikes on the bottom. They look just a little like Metroids. Appears in: B Behavior: These come down from the top of the screen, then swim around Megaman in a circular pattern. Damage: Tackle- 2 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- - Quick- 1 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Kaminari Goro Appearance: The top half of a robot, holding a lightning bolt. Appears in: A Behavior: Kaminari Goros ride around in circles on small propeller- driven clouds, holding a piece of material shaped like a lightning bolt over their heads. After several seconds of contemplation, they throw the bolt at Megaman. After the Kaminari Goro is defeated, Megaman may ride on its cloud. Damage: Shots- 2 Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 3 Low Heat- 3 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- X Air- - Wood- 1 Bubble- 1 Quick- 3 Metal- 3 Crash- 1 Name: Matasaburo Appearance: A squat, fat blue robot with a fan in its midesection. Appears in: A Behavior: These pudgy robots sit in one place and try to blow Megaman back to the left. The Time-Stopper doesn't hurt them, but it will prevent them from blowing Megaman around. Damage: Tackle- 8 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 5 Low Heat- 5 Medium Heat- 2 High Heat- X Air- - Wood- 3 Bubble- 3 Quick- 5 Metal- 5 Crash- 3 Name: Metall Appearance: A construction helmet with eyes and feet underneath. Appears in: C, W4 Behavior: These sit on the ground, invincible, until Megaman draws near. When Megaman comes close, they pop open and spray three bullets. They then charge forward a few steps before hunkering down under their helmets again. Fire when they're open to destroy them. Damage: Shots- 2 Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- 1 Quick- 1 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Mole Appearance: A screw that burrows out of the floor and ceiling. Appears in: M, W2 Behavior: Moles aren't that complex. They burrow out of the floor, then rise up to the ceiling and burrow into that. Alternately, they may start and the ceiling and end in the floor. The Leaf Shield offers pretty good protection, and can be thrown into clusters of Moles for power-ups. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 5 Low Heat- 4 Medium Heat- 2 High Heat- 1 Air- 2 (Multiple) Wood- 1 Bubble- X Quick- 5 Metal- 3 Crash- 5 Name: Monking Appearance: A mechanical gorilla. Appears in: W Behavior: These only appear in an area where the platforms resemble slender tree branches. The Monking will leap from off the bottom of the screen and swing on the underside of a branch, then jump forward in an attempt to tackle Megaman. Fire downwards at Monkings with the Metal Blade to beat them before they attack. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 3 Low Heat- 3 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- - Bubble- X Quick- 3 Metal- 3 Crash- 1 Name: Peirobot Appearance: A purplish-pink humainoid robot, riding on a gear. Appears in: M Behavior: Mmm, pie. These robots balance themselves on the edge of a gear and roll towards Megaman. If you beat the robot before the gear it rides on, the gear will keep rolling towards Megaman, although at a slower pace. Damage: Tackle- Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- X Quick- 3 Metal- - Crash- 1 Name: Pipi Appearance: A small bird that carries an egg. Appears in: W, A, C, W1 Behavior: Winging its way high across the screen, Pipi will drop its egg when it's about to fly over Megaman. Shooting the bird or the egg before it hits the ground will prevent the egg from breaking. Damage: Shots- 4 Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- 1 Quick- 1 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Prawn Appearance: A robotic shrimp. Appears in: B Behavior: These relentlessly swim towards Megaman in a zigzag pattern, attempting to tackle him. Damage: Tackle- 2 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 3 Low Heat- 3 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- 1 Bubble- - Quick- 3 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Puti Goblin Appearance: A tiny Air Tiki. Appears in: A Behavior: After flying out of the side of an Air Tiki's head, a Puti Goblin floats slowly toward Megaman. They're pretty much a redesigned Telly. Damage: Tackle- 2 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- - Wood- 1 Bubble- 1 Quick- 1 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Robbit Appearance: A purple rabbit. Appears in: W Behavior: Far from divine, these pinkish-purple critters will hop around, pause, then fire a barrage of missiles shaped like carrots. Damage: Shots- 2 Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 10 Low Heat- 10 Medium Heat- 4 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- - Bubble- 3 Quick- 5 Metal- 5 Crash- 1 Name: Schworm Appearance: A lump on the ground. Appears in: A, F, Q, W1 Behavior: When Megaman comes close, the Schworm fires... um... bent... kind of... sausage... stick-looking... things. The shots will writhe around for a few seconds before disappearing. Damage: Shots- 2 Tackle- 2 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 5 Low Heat- 4 Medium Heat- 2 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- 3 Quick- 12 Metal- 1 Crash- 5 Name: Shellfish Appearance: A two-wheeled robot under a spiraled shell. Appears in: B, W3 Behavior: These robots wheel back and forth on their platforms. If they're not destroyed in one hit, the shell will fly off and the robot begins moving much faster. They're usually best avoided. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 2 Low Heat- 2 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- 1 Bubble- X Quick- 5 Metal- 5 Crash- 1 Name: Shotman Appearance: A squat, round robot with a cannon at the end of one arm and a lever on its back. The other arm grips the lever. Appears in: C, F, W2, W3 Behavior: Shotman will begin firing in a low arc as soon as it appears onscreen. After five or six shots, hit or miss, Shotman will crank his aim upwards and begin firing in a higher arc. After a bit of that, he adjust his aim again to fire in the low arc. Damage: Shots- 2 Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 5 Low Heat- 5 Medium Heat- 2 High Heat- 1 Air- 2 (Multiple) Wood- 1 Bubble- 10 Quick- 5 Metal- 5 Crash- 5 Name: Sniper Joe Appearance: A humanoid robot with one eye and a shield. Appears in: H, F, Q, W1, W4 Behavior: Sniper Joe stands in one place, presenting his shield. He will occasionally turn his shield to one side, aim, and open fire. He can only be damaged when he moves his shield. Damage: Shots- 2 Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 10 Low Heat- 10 Medium Heat- 4 High Heat- 1 Air- Multiple hits Wood- 3 Bubble- 5 Quick- 5 Metal- 10 Crash- 10 Name: Spawn Frog Appearance: A squat frog that sits in one place. Appears in: B Behavior: These machines do nothing but spit out Tiny Frogs. If there are no Tiny Frogs onscreen, the Spawn Frog will open its mouth and three more will hop out. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 10 Low Heat- 10 Medium Heat- 4 High Heat- 1 Air- X Wood- X Bubble- - Quick- 5 Metal- 10 Crash- X Name: Springer Appearance: A tiny dome that slides across the ground. Appears in: H, M, C, Q, W1 Behavior: They work hard, so you don't have to. When Megaman is on the same horizontal plane as a Springer, it will speed up considerably. When it slides its way over to Megaman's blue-booted feet, it will pop up on a spring and attempt to headbutt him. Damage: Tackle- 4 Weapons: Arm Cannon- X Low Heat- X Medium Heat- X High Heat- X Air- X Wood- 1 Bubble- 3 Quick- 3 Metal- X Crash- 3 Name: Telly Appearance: A cylinder with blue rims on the top and bottom. Appears in: H, C, W1, W4 Behavior: These appear from pipes and holes in the wall. They lazily float towards Megaman, spinning slowly. Not tough at all, except they tend to appear in areas where you're required to make tough jumps or climb ladders. The Air Shooter is helpful, because Tellys tend to attack from above. Damage: Tackle- 2 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- 1 Quick- 1 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Tiny Frog Appearance: An itty-bitty, teeny-weeny amphibian. Appears in: B Behavior: The amphibian equivelent to Feathers, these jump from the mouths of Spawn Frogs, then hop around and try to tackle Megaman. If they're underwater, they jump much higher. Damage: Tackle- 1 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 1 Low Heat- 1 Medium Heat- 1 High Heat- 1 Air- 1 Wood- 1 Bubble- - Quick- 1 Metal- 1 Crash- 1 Name: Trap Appearance: A plate with metal spikes, hanging from a chain. Appears in: M, W3 Behavior: When Megaman comes close, the Trap will drop and crash to the floor. It will then reel itself back up to the ceiling. Even the chain of the Trap hurts, so there's no jumping over it while it's down. Traps are entirely invincible, but the Time Stopper is an effective way to prevent them from crushing you. Activate it before they drop and they'll remain adhered to the ceiling. Damage: Tackle- 8 Weapons: Arm Cannon- X Low Heat- X Medium Heat- X High Heat- X Air- X Wood- X Bubble- X Quick- X Metal- X Crash- X Name: Walker Tank Appearance: A Sniper Joe piloting a two-legged mech. Appears in: H, F, Q, W4 Behavior: Okay, so they hop instead of walk. They look a lot like the AT-ST walkers in Star Wars, though, so that's what I call them. If Megaman is nearby, the tank will fire five shots. The first bullet goes almost straight down, but each one after that gets a bit closer to firing in a horizontal line. Once you destroy the tank, you have to deal with the Sniper Joe, as above. Damage: Shots- 2 Tackle- 8 Weapons: Arm Cannon- 20 Low Heat- 20 Medium Heat- 5 High Heat- 1 Air- Multiple hits Wood- 3 Bubble- X Quick- 5 Metal- X Crash- 3 ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section IX- Robot Master Strategies First, the name of the robot in question. Then a list of its different attacks and the damage they do to Megaman, followed by a list of Megaman's weaponry and the damage done to the robot. Another paragraph of robot AI, then strategies for beating that particular robot using only the Arm Cannon, any Special Weapons, and any different strategies that are helpful when facing the robot in stage 5 of Dr. Wily's Castle. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bubble Man Tackle: 4 Arm Cannon: 2 Bubble: 4 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 1 X X X H 2 - 4 2 Bubble Man has a harpoon gun in all the promotional art he's in, but never uses it in battle. According to the Rockman & Forte database, he's a big spendthrift. Bubble Man's tactics involve firing off up to three shots of the Bubble Lead, which bounce a bit as they travel offscreen. He then swims upwards at an angle towards Megaman, drifts downward, and fires a bubble or two more when he touches the floor. He then repeats his swimming pattern. If Bubble Man is on the same horizontal plane as Megaman at any time he's not firing bubbles, he'll shoot at Megaman with his arm cannon instead. Arm Cannon guide: Stay on the ground! You're more vulnerable in the air, given the two kinds of shots he fires. Be patient and shoot him when he lands to fire bubbles, then hop over the arm cannon shot and run underneath the bubbles as they bounce (and Bubble Man himself as he swims). When he sinks back to the floor to fire another round of bubbles, shoot him two or three more times, then dodge. Special Weapons Guide: You can modify the Arm Cannon strategy to work with the Quick Boomerang, but the best weapon to use here is the Metal Blade. Again, try to avoid jumping if you can, but as the Metal Blade can fire upwards, you can still nail Bubble Man as he swims around. It won't take long. Wily's Castle Guide: There are no spikes on the ceiling, but there's no reason to jump anyway. Use the Metal Blades again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Man Tackle: 4 Tornado: 8 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 2 2/6/6 H 8 X 2 - X X Air Man is the only robot master that you should consider using a defensive strategy against. Especially if you use the Leaf Shield, as it's often too big to fit in between his attacks. According to the Rockman & Forte database, his biggest pet peeve is autumn, when the leaves fall. Air Man's attack pattern involves firing out bursts of tornado-shaped shots that hover in the air. He then activates his torso-mounted fan, blowing the shots into Megaman (and pushing Megaman to the opposite side of the screen). After firing his tornadoes three times, he hops forward, then leaps to the opposite side of the screen. He then begins his pattern anew, firing to the right instead of the left. Arm Cannon guide: The Arm Cannon is small enough to fit between the tornadoes he shoots. You can often hop just far enough from the ground to squeeze a bullet over a tornado, hit Air Man in the face (as it were), and then jump over the tornado as it's blown towards Megaman. When he stops shooting and starts hopping, run to the far side of the screen so that you end up behind him for a few free hits. Megaman is still affected by the fan, so you'll want to jump over Air Man as you're shoved to the other side of the screen. Special Weapons Guide: If you have the Leaf Shield, be patient. Avoid his first three waves of tornadoes as best you can. When he starts hopping, activate a Shield and toss it at him— you want to hit him before he makes his big jump. As you would with the Arm Cannon, stand behind him if possible as you activate your Shield. You should defeat him by the time he fires his fourth wave of tornadoes. Wily's Castle Guide: Use the Leaf Shield as described above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quick Man Tackle: 4 Boomerangs: 4 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 2 2/6/10 2 X Stun X 14 Stun 4 According to the database in Rockman & Forte, Quick Man's design is based on that of Elecman from the first Megaman game. And just like Elecman, Quick Man is arguably the toughest boss conquer. He also has a mostly- vertical stage filled with irritating, noisy obstacles and a weird decoration on his forehead. Now that I think of it that way, he has everything but the Thunder Beam. Quick Man doesn't have any discernable pattern other than that he moves from right to left and back again constantly. I haven't been able to find any pattern to when he jumps, although he tends to fire while he's in the air. He's apparently not clever enough to notice when he's running straight into a wall-- he will often do so for several seconds before jumping or changing direction, allowing several free hits. Arm Cannon guide: Quick Man is tough to beat using just the Arm Cannon. Play as defensively as you can, avoiding his Boomerang and Tackle attacks while you wait for Quick Man to pin himself up against a wall. Stand next to him and fire as rapidly as possible before he jumps again. Go back on the defensive until your next chance, and you'll win eventually. Don't feel bad about using an Energy Tank. Special Weapons Guide: Doesn't it figure that the slowest weapons in the game are the ones most effective at going toe-to-toe with Quick Man? If you miss with the Crash Bomber, you can be fairly sure Quick Man will pummel you senseless while you wait for the chance to fire another one. On the same note, charging up a blast of Atomic Fire is tough without taking a hit or two. It's probably easier to use the Arm Cannon until Quick Man is low enough on health to activate the Time-Stopper and finish him off. Every two bars of Time-Stopper energy is worth one bar of Quick Man's health, so use your Time-Stopper when it doubles the amount of health Quick Man has left. Wily's Castle Guide: The floor is flat, making Quick Man a bit easier to avoid. Other than that, the strategies aren't that different from above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heat Man Tackle: 8 Fireball: 4 Fire column: 4 Fire shield: 8 Fire stream: 8 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 2 H 2 X 6 2 - 1 X According to the database in Rockman & Forte, Heat Man's design is based on that of Fire Man from the first Megaman game. Fire Man, however, didn't look like a giant Zippo cigarette lighter. Left unmolested, Heat Man will toss three fireballs in an arc. When these touch the ground, they explode into columns of flame. If there isn't any flame onscreen, Heat Man tosses another burst. When Heat Man takes damage, he surrounds himself in fire for a second or two, then turns his entire body into flame and flies toward Megaman. After this flight, he returns to his robot form and begins throwing fire again. He's entirely invincible when he's surrounded by or turned into flame, although the Crash Bomber can screw up his flight path. Arm Cannon guide: While not difficult, it's tedious to beat Heat Man using the Arm Cannon. It's simply a matter of firing on him, jumping over the stream of fire that results, running as far as possible, turning, and firing again to start the process over. The sooner Heat Man is hit after transforming back into a robot, the less chance he has of throwing another cluster of fireballs. Special Weapons Guide: As above, only substituting the Bubble Lead for the Arm Cannon. Now, however, it's possible to drop a Bubble Lead on Heat Man's head just as he transforms into a robot again after using his fire stream attack, giving him even fewer opportunities to throw fire. Wily's Castle Guide: Use the Bubble Lead, but don't use up much. You'll need lots of it later. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wood Man Tackle: 8 Leaf Shield: 4 Falling Leaves: 4 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 1 1/4/14 4 H X X - 2 2/M Wood Man starts the battle by activating his Leaf Shield and throwing four leaves into the ceiling. As the four leaves drift downward, he launches the Leaf Shield at Megaman. He then hops forward and repeats the pattern. Arm Cannon guide: Because the Arm Cannon does so little damage to Wood Man, and because the falling leaves and Leaf Shield are so tough to avoid, it's probably best to only face Wood Man when you're equipped with a special weapon. Otherwise, do your best to dodge Wood Man's attacks by jumping over the Shield between the falling leaves, then firing as many shots into Wood Man before he activates another Shield. Don't be afraid to use an Energy Tank, Wood Man definitely has the advantage in this fight. Special Weapons Guide: As tough as Wood Man is using only the Arm Cannon, nearly any special weapon will give you an advantage. If you've got the Atomic Fire, charge it up to full blast while he's inside his Leaf Shield, then let it fly when he's vulnerable to make the battle very quick indeed. Failing that, Metal Blades do fair damage and can be thrown rapidly. If you're feeling lucky, you can use the Crash Bomber against Wood Man. While he can be harmed by Crash Bombs just by throwing them into the Leaf Shield when Wood Man is surrounded by it, it's a better idea to wait until he throws it. If you hit Wood Man with a Crash Bomb, it won't explode, but if you hit a flying Leaf Shield, it explodes normally. If you can manage to hit the Leaf Shield with a Crash Bomb just as Wood Man throws it, Wood Man will get caught in the explosion for multiple hits. Sometimes this is even faster than using Atomic Fire, sometimes it's easier to use the Arm Cannon. Wily's Castle Guide: In Wily's Castle level 6, you've just spent all your Crash Bomber against the Wall Cannons in the last level, and you'll need all your Atomic Fire against the next boss. Use Metal Blades instead, following the same guidelines in the Arm Cannon section. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Metal Man Tackle: 8 Metal Blade: 4 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 1 1/4 X X X 4 - 14 X According to the database in Rockman & Forte, Metal Man is Dr. Wily's first original robot. At least that kind of explains the name-- in a series of robots, being named "Metal Man" is kind of lame, but if you're the only robot around a bunch of flesh-and-blood people, then it's perfectly fitting. Metal Man is fond of playing frisbee, but doesn't like dogs. Metal Man tends to stand in one place, running against the conveyor belt on the floor. Occasionally he jumps into the air and tosses one or two Metal Blades at Megaman, but unless Megaman moves or fires, he's docile. When Megaman gets too close, Metal Man leaps to the opposite side of the screen. He usually tosses a Metal Blade or two on the way over. When Megaman fires, Metal Man jumps and tosses two or three Metal Blades. Because he always jumps, it's tough to hit Metal Man without jumping yourself. Fire just above his head, and when he jumps into the air to counterattack, he'll leap upwards into your fire. Arm Cannon guide: Patience is the key here. If you attack wildly and constantly fire at him, Metal Man will fill the screen with Metal Blades and dice Megaman to bits. Hop and fire, wait to dodge Metal Man's counterattack, then repeat. Special Weapons guide: If you've got the Quick Boomerang, this battle is a snap. Just run over to Metal Man, hop into the air, and fire a barrage of Quick Boomerangs at him before he jumps to the opposite side of the screen. Only one or two will hit, perhaps, but that's all you need. Run back to the other side of the room to repeat the process, and you'll wear Metal Man down in no time. Wily Castle guide: Step off the teleporter and toss two or three Metal Blades at Metal Man. There, wasn't that easy? Take your free energy refill. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flash Man Tackle: 4 Arm Cannon: 2 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 2 2/6/8 X X 2 X - 4 3 According to the database in Rockman & Forte, Flash Man usually abuses his Time-Stopper while he's soaking in the bathtub. While I can understand the desire to extend a relaxing bath, I'm not sure why a robot would feel the need to bathe in the first place. I guess everyone needs to relax sometimes. Flash Man is easy to beat. He often forgets he has an arm cannon or a special power, so his main attack is to try to tackle Megaman. He will, occasionally, freeze Megaman wherever he is onscreen with his Time-Stopper, and fire a burst of five bullets (after which the Time-Stopper wears off and Megaman can move and fire again). His accuracy is horrible— Megaman can often be sitting right in front of Flashman and every shot will miss. And even if one hits, it's only a measly two bars of energy. He then attempts to run Megaman over again. Whenever Flashman runs into one of the interior walls of his chamber, or is hit by a shot from Megaman, he hops. Arm Cannon guide: Keep away from Flashman and open fire. When he gets close, stop shooting (so he'll stop hopping) and jump over him. Run to the other side of the screen, turn, and continue. He freezes and fires on a pretty regular basis. If you think he's about to stop time, jump to avoid his pea-shooter. He'll go down in no time. Special Weapons Guide: If you have an Atomic Fire charged up when he freezes time, you can still let it fly while Megaman is frozen. You would think that the "rotation" of Robot Master weaknesses would make Flash Man vulnerable to Crash Bombs, and, granted, he is probably more vulnerable to them than any other robot master. When the battle begins, fire a Crash Bomb (without jumping) onto the step in front of Megaman. It will explode just as Flash Man gets to it, hitting him three or four times. After that, fire at the left side of the highest step, then stand on the highest point in the room. Flash Man will follow you like a lost puppy, and get hit by that explosion several times. That's the pattern: fire a Bomb into the wall, then lure Flash Man to it when it explodes. However, Metal Blades are still more effective than Crash Bombs. Follow the Arm Cannon strategy above, and Flash Man will grant you use of his Time-Stopper with very little fuss. Wily's Castle Guide: The ground is flat here, so Crash Bombs are useless. But that's okay, since you probably don't have any after the Wall Cannons. Use your bountiful stock of Metal Blades, and jump over him when he gets close. If you're using the Arm Cannon, you can shoot Flash Man at close range, then run underneath him when he hops. (Don't try to run underneath him when using Metal Blades. You can run and shoot the Arm Cannon at the same time, but you stop moving when you fire Metal.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crash Man Tackle: 4 Crash Bomber: 4 Bomb Explosion: 4 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 1 1/3/5 10/M X 1 1 - X X According to the database in Rockman & Forte, Crash Man doesn't recycle. Crash Man is usually content to jog back and forth across his lair. He doesn't go far enough to actually touch either wall, so you're safe from being tackled if you stay near one. Crash Man will always move back and forth across his room in this fashion, regardless of anything else that's going on. When he's fired upon, Crash Man will jump into the air and fire a Crash Bomb right at Megaman. If it misses, it will cling to the floor or wall and explode. The explosion lasts for several seconds, so avoid running into it. Only one bomb or explosion can be onscreen at a time, so Crashman will often jump, but not fire (he goes through his bomb-tossing gestures, but nothing comes out). Unlike Metalman, Crashman doesn't stop attacking when you do. Once the first shot is fired, he won't stop until either he or Megaman explodes. Arm Cannon guide: He's tough! Not only does he take 28 hits to destroy with the arm cannon, but his accuracy and habit of counterattacking make things even worse. A fair strategy is to play a game of chicken with him. Run straight for him, then shoot him at the last possible second. He'll leap over Megaman, but keep running in the same direction. The bomb he throws will just barely graze Megman's metal kiester. Turn, wait for the explosion to die, and repeat. Use an Energy Tank if you have to, this is one of the more difficult battles. Special Weapons Guide: Use the Air shooter. You can use the same strategy as above, but you can fire a bit earlier to let the Air Shooter hit him when he jumps. Or just go for an all-out offensive, it only takes three hits to bring Crash Man down. Occasionally, if you're lucky, two of the tornadoes from one blast of the Air Shooter will connect, cutting Crash Man's life by about 3/4 with one shot. Wily's Castle Guide: If you used up all of your Air Shooter power fighting the Sniper Joes and Walker Tanks in the previous level, use the Arm Cannon and hope for the best. Otherwise... well, you won't be using the Air Shooter again. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section X- Dr. Wily Castle Bosses The collection of bosses found in Dr. Wily's castle, arranged here in order so the information can be skimmed easily. Because these are only encountered under one set of circumstances, there isn't much need to go into great detail about different strategies. In other words, this is the exact same information in Section V. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Dragon Tackle: 28 Fire Breath: 6 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 1 1/4/8 X X X 1 - X 1 Wow, that's a mighty big robot. The Dragon appears behind Megaman just as the screen starts autoscrolling. Keep jumping from platform to platform, and don't worry about firing at the Dragon just yet-- it's invincible. Eventually you'll reach a group of three platforms arranged vertically; that's when the battle proper begins. The Dragon flaps around the left side of the screen and spits fireballs at Megaman. The danger isn't from the fire itself, oh no. The fire is quite capable of knocking Megaman off of the platform he's perched on and into the pit below. If you stand on the highest platform, there's a chance the middle platform will catch Megaman if he's knocked off. Other than that, try to stay on the left edge of the platforms to keep from falling. The Dragon's weak point is its head, but there aren't any weapons that are very effective against it. I generally use the Quick Boomerang because of its firing arc, but there's no reason not to use the Arm Cannon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Danger Room Tackle: Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 3 3/1/1 X X 1 3 - 3 X (The above statistics work a little differently than those for all the other bosses in secions VIII and IX. Instead of listing the amount of damage each weapon does to each robot, I'm instead listing the number of shots each weapon takes to destroy each robot, as in section VII. Destroying one robot deals 2 points of damage to the boss as a whole.) One of the stranger bosses in the game, the blocks that make up this room are actually a group of robots. Two blocks at a time will fly to the center of the room, join, and then fly after Megaman in an attempt to mow him down. When you beat that robot, two more blocks come together and the process repeats itself at a slightly faster pace. Drop into the room and take a few steps to the right. Jump and destroy the first two robots, then hop over the blocks as they fly at you to destroy the third. Run to the center of the room to destroy the fourth and fifth, then step to the left as two more robots attack from the center. Run back to the center to destroy the eighth on the right and ninth on the left. Jump to the right to avoid the tenth as it comes together, destroy it, and run to the center to beat the eleventh. The twelfth appears on the far right, the thirteenth comes together in the center, and the final robot assembles itself on the far left. Destroy them all and the room flashes, signalling your victory. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guts Tank Tackle: 4 Fist: 4 Metall: 4 Bullet: 2 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 1 1/4/8 X X 1 2 - X 1 Wily must have loved the design for Gustman, as a variation of it appears in nearly every Megaman game. This time he's fitted with tank treads from the waist down and has a hatch filled with Metalls in his chest. If you're on the ground, he raises his fist to guard his face and Metalls rush from the hatch to tackle you. When you see an opening, hop up onto the red platform in front of his fist. He'll switch to the second mode of attack. The second mode of attack involves the tank lowering his fist and spitting shots in an arc from its mouth. Shoot it in the face with the Quick Boomerang and hop back down to avoid the bullet- it's possible to jump away and land back on the red platform, but not always practical. And, uh, don't get run over. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wall Cannons Tackle: 4 Shot: 4 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash X X X X X X - X 1 (The above statistics work a little differently than those for all the other bosses in secions VIII and IX. Instead of listing the amount of damage each weapon does to each cannon, I'm instead listing the number of shots each weapon takes to destroy each cannon, as in section VII. Destroying all the cannons defeats the boss.) The most irritating stage in this game is capped off with the most irritating stage boss in any Megaman game, ever. The Wall Cannons are vulnerable to only one thing- Crash Bombs. There are five cannons and five barriers in this room, and a fully-charged Crash Bomber gets seven shots. So, you can only destroy two barriers: the one furthest to the left, and one closest to the bottom. You'll have to work around all the others. Every few seconds, the Wall Cannons will blink and fire into the room. They all fire at the same time, with the shots triangulating on Megaman's current position. They're tough to avoid in the cramped quarters of the room, so use Energy Tanks as you need to. Because you can't break through the barrier in the middle of the room, you'll have to use Item-1 to go over it. Hop a little and fire an Item-1 so it rises through the gap above you, then ride it as high as you can go to reach the topmost Wall Cannon. Destroy that Cannon, then drop down and destroy the one in the middle of the room. Turn, break down the far left barrier, and destroy the Wall Cannon behind it. Drop to the floor on the right, break through the bottommost barrier, and destroy the Cannon behind it. Climb back up to the center of the room with Item-3, then jump into the narrow shaft on the right where the last Cannon is. Destroy it and you're done! If you miss with even one Crash Bomb, you're done for. But there is a trick-- if you know you can't win, blow up as many barriers as you can and don't worry about the Cannons. When Megaman dies and restarts the level, recharge your Crash Bomber to full capacity with the Tellys. When you return to the Wall Cannon room, all the barriers you destroyed last time will still be gone, making it a bit easier to maneuver. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robot Masters revisited See the statistics in section VIII. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wily's Ship Tackle: 10 Shot: 8 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 1 1/3/14 X X X X - 1 4 Dr. Wily is inside, so throw all your might against this. It looks remarkably like the final enemy from the first Mega Man game, but you don't have the Thunder Beam with you this time. This is, however, the reason you've been saving your Atomic Fire. Hop over the arcing energy balls, charge it up to full blast and fire into the cockpit to blow the hull off of Wily's Ship in two hits. His life meter recharges and you get to fight phase two. You can destroy this phase of Wily's ship with 28 shots of the Arm Cannon or 28 Metal Blades. Nothing else will even scratch it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wily's Ship: Phase Two Tackle: 10 Shot: 8 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash 1 X 1/M X X 1 - 1 4 The energy balls bounce, rather than arc. They're not easy to avoid. This ship is immune to most of your weapons, and what few it does take damage from, it only loses one bar. The exception to this is the Crash Bomber, so if you tricked your way past the Wall Cannons with any power left, go on and use it up here. The Air Shooter can hit once with each tornado if it's fired close enough to the cockpit for a total of three damage. I prefer the Metal Blades, however, as they can be fired into the ship from the ground. Drain your energy tanks as you need them. Wily is vulnerable to the Arm Cannon, Quick Boomerangs, the Air Shooter, and Metal Blades, and Crash Bomber. When you beat Wily's ship, the floor shatters and drops Megaman into a subterranean tunnel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wily Alien Tackle: 20 Shot: 6 Arm Heat Air Wood Bubble Quick Flash Metal Crash X X X X 1 X - X X Wily's personal transport lowers, and he floats out. Floats? Yes! Dr. Wily then reveals his true form, that of a hideous green alien! Well, hideous by 8-bit graphic standards, anyway. Only one weapon hurts the Alien- the Bubble Lead. It takes a whopping 32 hits to beat it. And if you don't have 32 charges of the Bubble Lead? Well, tough cookies. You'll have to sacrifice all your lives and continue to recharge your weapon energy (or use the Infinite Ammo trick). This boss is actually pretty lazy. It floats in the same figure-eight pattern over and over again, firing a poorly-aimed shot that is easily avoided. The problem is that it never touches the ground, so to hit it with the Bubble Lead, you have to get very close to it. And that's a problem, because if Megaman touches the Alien, he can kiss about 3/4 of his life bar goodbye. Pain. Stick to the center of the screen and drop two or three bubbles onto the Alien as it swoops by. When it completes a low arc of the figure-eight, jump beside it as it floats upwards and hammer the fire button. Drop straight down, run underneath it, avoid its fire, and wait until it completes another loop and begins to rise upwards again. Be patient and don't get greedy- it takes a lot of even Bubble Lead's weapon energy to beat him. But, if you're willing to play smart, he really isn't that difficult a boss. Just don't try to body-tackle him while you drop your bubbles and eventually you'll wear away at his life bar and destroy Wily once and for all! ========================================================================== ========================================================================== XI. Password Guide Passwords in Megaman 2 are quite hackable. The passwords are laid out in a 5x5 grid, with each column labelled with a number 1 through 5 and each row labelled with a letter A through E. There are nine dots to place on this grid, one to denote how many Energy Tanks Megaman starts with, and one for each Robot Master to declare whether it has been defeated or not. The first dot to place is the one that determines how many Energy Tanks Megman will carry as soon as the game starts. Where the other eight dots are placed depends on this dot. To start out with zero energy tanks, this dot goes in A-1. One Energy Tank, A-2. Two Energy Tanks, A-3. Three Energy Tanks, A-4. All four Energy Tanks filled, A-5. Each Robot Master has one dot. If the dot is in one position, the Robot Master is defeated. If it is in another position, the Robot Master has not been defeated. If it's in any of the other spots on the board, the password is invalid. The places on the board for each of the remaining dots, as determined by the first dot in row A, are as below. To start at Wily's Castle, simply input all the coordinates from the "Defeated" row. To start a new game with extra Energy Tanks, input all the coordinates from the "Remaining" column. For any place in between, choose coordinates from each column as desired, but remember to only take one coordinate for each Robot Master or the password won't work. NO ENERGY TANKS: DOT A-1 / DEFEATED REMAINING \ /| D-1 Bubble Man C-3 |\ | E-3 Air Man D-2 | | B-4 Quick Man C-4 | | B-2 Heat Man D-5 | | D-3 Wood Man B-5 | | E-5 Metal Man E-1 | \| C-1 Flash Man E-4 |/ \ C-5 Crash Man E-2 / ONE ENERGY TANK: DOT A-2 / DEFEATED REMAINING \ /| D-2 Bubble Man C-4 |\ | E-4 Air Man D-3 | | B-5 Quick Man C-5 | | B-3 Heat Man E-1 | | D-4 Wood Man C-1 | | B-1 Metal Man E-2 | \| C-2 Flash Man E-5 |/ \ D-1 Crash Man E-3 / TWO ENERGY TANKS: DOT A-3 / DEFEATED REMAINING \ /| D-3 Bubble Man C-5 |\ | E-5 Air Man D-4 | | C-1 Quick Man D-1 | | B-4 Heat Man E-2 | | D-5 Wood Man C-2 | | B-2 Metal Man E-3 | \| C-3 Flash Man B-1 |/ \ D-2 Crash Man E-4 / THREE ENERGY TANKS: DOT A-4 / DEFEATED REMAINING \ /| D-4 Bubble Man D-1 |\ | B-1 Air Man D-5 | | C-2 Quick Man D-2 | | B-5 Heat Man E-3 | | E-1 Wood Man C-3 | | B-3 Metal Man E-4 | \| C-4 Flash Man B-2 |/ \ D-3 Crash Man E-5 / FOUR ENERGY TANKS: DOT A-5 / DEFEATED REMAINING \ /| D-5 Bubble Man D-2 |\ | B-2 Air Man E-1 | | C-3 Quick Man D-3 | | C-1 Heat Man E-4 | | E-2 Wood Man C-4 | | B-4 Metal Man E-5 | \| C-5 Flash Man B-3 |/ \ D-4 Crash Man B-1 / ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section XII- Pause Button Cheats AVOID ENEMY FIRE When the game is paused, Megaman is considered removed from the game field entirely. When the game is unpaused, Megaman teleports back in. When he teleports, however, he's entirely invincible. Enemy fire travels through him; robots can't touch him. When under attack and you can't dodge, pause the game repeatedly to cause Megaman to teleport back in over and over. Each time the attack will pass a little further through Megaman, until he's completely in the clear. The attack will have passed straight through him without damage. This trick is especially helpful at avoiding the Wall Cannon boss's fire at the end in Wily stage 4, where it's near-impossible in such tight quarters to dodge shots coming from five directions. RESET FALLING SPEED Not only is Megaman invincible when he teleports back in after the game is paused, it resets his falling velocity as well. If you're falling too fast to control Megaman, or are about to fall onto a robot or bed of spikes, pause the game. When Megaman returns, he will be able to move a little more to the left or right than had he fallen straight down. This is helpful in Wily stage 3, with the long fall through a spike-lined shaft. INFINITE AMMUNITION This trick only works with the Metal Blade, the Bubble Lead, and the Quick Boomerang. These weapons get several shots to each bar of weapon energy: three Blades, two Bubbles, or eight Boomerangs per bar. However, if the game is paused, this value is rounded up to the nearest whole bar. It is possible, then, to fire two Metal Blades, pause the game, then fire two more without losing a bar of weapon energy. It's possible to fire seven Quick Boomerangs, pause, and fire seven more with the same result. And if you're running low on Bubble Lead when fighting the Wily Alien, pause between every shot and you'll never run out. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section XII- Legal Disclaimers, etc. This game guide is copyright 2003 Richard Rouse. It may not be duplicated or sold for profit without permission. Not like I'd expect there's a big market for guides on fifteen-year-old video games, but hey, I'm just covering my ass here. No guarantee, promised or implicit, is given for the authenticity of the information contained in this guide, but I'm pretty anal about insignificant details, so I'd imagine it's mostly right. This guide is only submitted to GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) and posted on my personal website at http://www.intentionallyblank.net, so if you found it anywhere else, I'd appreciate knowing about it; I can be contacted from the website listed above. Again, not like I figure there's a big market for pirated FAQs on games this old, but Capcom rereleases old Megaman games every hardware generation or so, so it's better safe than sorry.