Oh, boy. These two stages. Then again, is there a stage that nobody thinks of when they think of this game?
Air Man
Oh, boy. Air Man. Probably one of the earliest known side-scrolling stages I can think of that created the illusion of 3D in a 2D platformer with those clouds.
The huge platforms that materialize as you make your way across have some nasty hazards of their own. As long as you stand on them, an infinite amount of flying robots will come at you from the vents in the sides. Also, spikes rise and sink at the edges, which can make leaping on and off these platforms a pain. They hurt, too.
The robots riding on the platforms going in circles throw lightning bolts at you. At least taking these things out and leaping onto the platforms they guard is a lot simpler than what you had to deal with in the Ice Man stage back in the first game.
Once you're done with those platforms, you'll be dealing with birds dropping eggs. If the egg hits the platform, you'll be dealing with a bunch of smaller birds. At least these things are likely to drop power-ups if you kill them. You're better off destroying the egg before it hits the floor, though.
In the vertical portion of the stage, you'll see floor pads that shoot out what looks like pieces of animated blue bacon. These things are really annoying if they land on you, and it makes shooting those little floor pads harder just with their presence. Thankfully, you can just avoid the ones here entirely.
The guys with the fans in their torsos slowly push you back. Thankfully, they don't do much else, which makes them a breeze (pun not intended) to take out. Walk forward and keep an eye out for other threats as you take them out.
Near the end, you'll be dealing with birds, but you won't be able to see them sometimes because of the clouds. So be careful.
To beat Air Man - without the Leaf Shield you get from Wood Man, which is easier to pull off - avoid the tornadoes as they blow towards you and shoot at him. After three salvos, he'll jump towards the other side of the room. Stay there so you can be close to him when he lands; you'll be able to pound on him with the Proto Buster for massive damage.
When you beat Air Man, you'll get the Air Shooter. You'll also get Item 2, which is a pre-cursor to Rush Jet from the third game; it produces a platform that launches itself forward when you jump onto it, provided you have the weapon energy.
Crash Man
You'll be doing a lot of climbing and falling in this stage.
First things first: the blue guys that come out of the pipes endlessly spawn. So don't even bother trying to kill them all unless they're in your way. They'll be doing that a lot, too, as they always fly towards you.
The Mettaurs make a return appearance here, and this time around they're easier. When they peek out of their hats, they shoot three bullets at you and then run towards you. They only do this when you're a certain distance away from them, though.
The platforms after the Mettaurs follow a specific path, indicated by the white line in the wall. As you take the path to the ladder, you'll be dealing with those little blue guys again. You'll be doing this for about three screens.
After dealing with another stack of sentient cans, you'll be climbing again. This time, you'll also have platform jumping and Mettaurs thrown into the mix.
If you have Item 3, you can take the left path. Otherwise, take the right path and take the ladder to the right of that after two screens. You'll be going into space (I guess) and dealing with those stupid birds from the Air Man stage again. If you're on the left, you'll see that gas canister-shaped robot. The path to the left leads to another Energy Can.
The last portion before the boss door has an extra life, which you can easily get if you have Item 3. The crushing robots here are smaller and a lot easier to take down.
Beating Crash Man is a snap if you have the Air Shooter. Just face him, jump and shoot the Air Shooter at the top of your jump. He'll jump and throw down the Crash Bomb whenever you shoot, which makes his pattern a complete weakness when he runs into the tornadoes of the Air Shooter every single time.
Beating Crash Man gives you the Crash Bomber, which works just like the bombs Crash Man throw at you, except they travel forward in a straight line.
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