Mega Man 4 Longplay by MontyMole

Don't know what to put here, so have a longplay.

PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man 4 - Part 8 of 8

...and Dr. Wily goes down for the fourth time!

Dr. Wily 3

The music here is really good. Too bad you don't get to hear it often.

Anyway, the teleporters are (in counter-clockwise order): Drill Man, Bright Man, Skull Man, Dive Man, Toad Man, Dust Man, Ring Man, and Pharaoh Man.

After you beat the Robot Masters a second time, you'll face Dr. Wily again. Just stand right next to the area where Dr. Wily's ship is going to be, and jump and shoot a fully charged Mega Buster shot when it's not spitting out huge purple fireballs.

The second form is difficult as anything. You have to hit the flashing light under Dr. Wily with fully charged Mega Buster shots, and the fireballs that his second form shoots out make this anything but easy. Using energy cans is going to be a big must here. You can also use the Drill Bomb, but just remember that you have to press B again while the Drill Bomb is out to make the explosion hit the weak spot for maximum damage.

Dr. Wily 4

The only way you're going to be able to refill your stuff now is to fight off the worms that come out of the ceiling before the boss door. Just keep walking back and forth after that huge jump down and you should be able to get everything you need - especially for the Pharaoh Shot and the Ring Boomerang. You'll know why in the next paragraph.

When you enter the boss door, the whole room will be dark. There's going to be one attack, and it's a bunch of light-blue fireballs coming together to make one big one...and it homes in directly at you regardless of where you are. When the fireball comes at you, Dr. Wily will show up for a brief instance. There is where the Pharaoh Shot and Ring Boomerang are going to come in. You need to remember where he popped up and shoot the weapon in that direction to hit Dr. Wily. It's easier with Pharaoh Shot, since you can just touch him with the fully charged projectile when necessary so you can damage him without wasting much needed weapon energy for it. If you need to fire it at him, do so. What have you got to lose? If you somehow lose all the energy for that, stick to Ring Boomerang.

When you take down Dr. Wily, you've done it! Enjoy your ending!

PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man 4 - Part 7 of 8

Of course he's back. He always comes back.

Dr. Wily 1

The beginning of the stage is full of Mettaurs. Some of them actually spin around, unwittingly exposing themselves to attack longer than usual because of it. Ha, ha.

You'll also be dealing with some underwater bits as well as...the disappearing platforms. Again. Goddammit, Capcom.

There's another easily obtainable Energy Can near the boss.

The boss here is a giant Mettaur. This one leaps around the room in an attempt to squash you, and when its eyes bounce around, four Mettaurs will come down from the ceiling. This is pretty easy to beat with the Mega Buster for the most part, but you can also use the Ring Boomerang. Just watch out for all those Mettaurs, which usually land where you are at the time of the stomp.

You can only shoot the boss when his face is exposed, and that stomp of yours will freeze you, making it easy for the small Mettaurs to hit you unless you somehow jump before he hits the ground.

Dr. Wily 2

You'll be dealing with a ton of spikes placed in the most unforgiving spots, followed by a jump that requires Rush Jet to get to.

Slide to Eddy to get whatever he has, then take the right ladder (the left one leads to that buzzsaw robot and takes you back down after you take damage from something you couldn't possibly avoid).

The majority of the enemies here are from Pharaoh Man's stage.

To beat the boss here, just use either the Mega Buster's charge shots or the Ring Boomerang. Avoid both the fireballs and the big red balls that act as bombs that have quite the explosion. The big red balls are easier said than done, so stay on the left of the two conveyor belts to give yourself more time to avoid them, and be sure to jump and control yourself in the air to avoid them if you need to do so. If you have any energy cans, this is a good boss to save them for.

The weak point is the blinking green light on the boss's forehead. Use fully charged Mega Buster shots or the Ring Boomerang whenever you shoot at the boss so you can finish it off in less time.

PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man 4 - Part 6 of 8

In this entry, we see a rare auto-scrolling level in the Mega Man series, then find out why Dr. Cossack suddenly wanted to fight us.

Dr. Cossack 3

The music here is even better than the last two stages.

This part is auto-scrolling, and there are a ton of onion-domed roofs in the background, too. Watch out for the red circles that revolve around some of the platforms, as they cover the perimeter of the platforms they patrol in seconds and are impossible to destroy.

Well, boy howdy! The saws that act as the so-called "indestructible enemy that prowls the floor and speeds up when you're at their level" can be destroyed with either the Pharaoh Shot or the Dive Missile!

Climb up the second ladder, and boom...more auto-scrolling. If you couldn't tell already, you'll be dealing with enemies from Ring Man's stage around here. Keep the Dive Missile equipped so you can destroy all the enemies here with ease.

The gold platforms that show up with a glint in the corner are interesting. When you stand on them, they start sinking. When you jump off, they quickly rise up. Use this to your advantage to make some of the jumps from one platform to another, as you won't be able to make some of these jumps otherwise.

You can get the Energy Can at the end with the Balloon Adapter. Yeah, I was stumped, too.

The boss here is really easy. These robots either shoot one bullet down or two bullets diagonally. Believe it or not, the Pharaoh Shot actually goes in eight directions, and you can charge it up to finish this entire battle in seconds. The first one just moves back and forth on the ceiling, but the second one moves all over the walls and ceilings and has a four-way shot, making fully-charge Pharaoh Shots immeasurably useful.

Dr. Cossack 4

Use the Drill Bomb to get the Energy Can at the beginning.

For the first time in a Mega Man game, the path branches off. Take the path that takes you down and left (which is reachable with either Rush Coil or the Balloon Adapter and is blocked by a wall that can be destroyed with the Drill Bomb), as you can score a second Energy Can. Also, the Drill Bomb is uber powerful against the crusher robots as well as anything else that's dumb enough to take you on. Also, this path is easier, believe it or not.

The boss here is Dr. Cossack himself. He has a triple shot as well as a claw that can grab you for immense damage. The Dust Crusher is the best weapon to use here. Just watch out where you're jumping and always slide when you're trying to move underneath Dr. Cossack. The uneven ground may be a problem, but if you stay on the move and keep sliding under Dr. Cossack, you'll be fine.

When you get Dr. Cossack down to one bar, Proto Man shows up with Dr. Cossack's daughter Kalinka. She tells you that Dr. Cossack is being used as an unwitting figurehead in Dr. Wily's plans...

PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man 4 - Part 5 of 8

Here we go...Dr. Cossack's Castle! Time to get down to business and see why he's suddenly challenging us!

Dr. Cossack 1

The slinky robot slowly moves towards you. It acts like a slinky when it drops off an edge.

The thick snow slows you down tremendously, so jump through it to get through the level faster.

When you make it to the rooftop, you'll be dealing with the Skull Joes from Skull Man's stage as well as the little robots that come out of the pits from Dust Man's stage, and to top it off you'll also be dealing with ice floor physics.

The second vertical climb will require Rush Coil, and you'll have to time your climbs on the ladder near the end so that the crushing robots that roam up and down the ladders near the end don't close on you.

The boss in the first section is some giant moth robot thing. The fireballs fire right to where you are when the fireball is launched, so it has a tracking ability that can easily be exploited. You can stay all the way to the left and fire at the flashing light where the fireballs come from with either the Ring Boomerang or charged Mega Buster shots, but just be careful with those fireballs and jump later than usual when the boss is right next to you. Also, the boss can destroy the floor with its tail. Be careful.

If you die against this boss, you'll start back at the rooftop section before the second vertical climb complete with all those ladders. That's horse shit.

Dr. Cossack 2

This time around, you'll be inside a building, so don't worry about any ice physics.

Use the Rush Jet to get over the pit, and use Up and Down on the Control Pad to get higher and lower whenever necessary. The Rush Jet automatically flies forward this time around compared to the near-total freedom of movement 

The small square platforms have spikes that change from being horizontal to being vertical and back again every few seconds. Use Rush Jet for the first set. You'll have to be patient with the second set...unless you have the Balloon. If you do, you can use that to slip past all the blocks.

The boss here is a miniature room in a room that has three segments. The top and bottom go to the right while the middle goes to the left. Slide under the bottom segment as it passes. It makes three passes at you, and each successful pass is slower than the last. When it goes slow enough for you to get in (read: when it passes around a third time), slide into the miniature room as it comes together, then get on one of the two platforms and hit the red circle at the top with Dust Crusher and try not to get shot at yourself. Switching between platforms isn't as efficient as staying on one, but the laser from the red circle will miss every single time. The circle fires three lasers before the miniature room comes apart again. When the miniature room comes apart, get out of there. From there, wait until it's slowed down considerably and try your luck at damaging the miniature room again.

CGR Undertow reviews Mega Man 4

Another Mega Man game, another CGR Undertow review.

PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man 4 - Part 4 of 8

That's all eight Robot Masters beaten! Next stop: Dr. Cossack!

Dive Man

We finally get to see what indestructible things crawl on the floor this time around: buzzsaws on tracks. Yeah, nice one, game. They can be destroyed with the Pharaoh Shot or the Dive Missile.

The fish leap at you when they're close enough to you. Thankfully, you can shoot them down at the apex of their jump.

As with all Mega Man games, watch out when you're in the water. Your vertical leap is almost exponentially higher when you're submerged, and that can lead to a big tragedy when there are spikes on the ceiling, which you're definitely going to see later in the level.

The green things with the spikes on the bottom drop down on you and return to their original location before coming down again. They keep doing this over and over again after you slide under them, which is the best way to deal with more than one of these things at one time.

The Mettaurs here have snorkels. They'll swim upwards a little bit once they peep out to fire at you before coming back down to the ground, all the while exposing themselves to attack. A single shot will do them in.

Every so often, you'll be fighting a mechanical whale. These guys will spit huge torpedoes at you that track you vertically. Wait for the torpedoes to come down to you before jumping, and hit the whales with charged shots. They also have an attack where they send four mines down at you while trying to suck you towards them like Dust Man. They don't even attack while they're sucking you in, so wail away at them when they do this (no pun intended).

Once you make it out of the water and past the crusher, you'll be swimming again. This time, the water's depth rises and sinks, making this next section a little more difficult as you'll be playing the waiting game with some of the jumps. Watch out for the manta rays, which will vertically track you and DO MORE DAMAGE THAN THEY SHOULD EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE RIDICULOUSLY EASY TO KILL OFF. THANKS, GAME.

After killing the second whale, jump into the first pit you see and try not to get killed by the spikes. At the bottom, you'll get the Wire Adapter. Equip it, then press Up + B to shoot it up into a ceiling and hang off of it. Once you get this very much optional weapon, you'll go back a bit, but you'll have full health.

Are we back? Yep, we're back. This next section has the water rising and sinking again, and you'll be dealing with mines that explode when you get near them as well as platforms covered with spikes that go up and down with the water. After you make it to the right side of this section, it's just a waltz to the boss room.

To beat Dive Man, stay within Skull Barrier striking distance and jump high enough to go over him and hit him with the Skull Barrier as he goes under you. If you keep it low, but just high enough, you'll be able to tag Dive Man with the Skull Barrier without getting hit and maybe get it down to an art form. Beating Dive Man awards you with the Dive Missile...which he also fires at you, by the way. The Skull Barrier takes care of that.

Drill Man

The red turrets open and close every few seconds, shooting out a single shot while it's open. They're pretty easy for the most part. Just shoot at them when their cannons are open.

The wheel robots close themselves up and start spinning around when you're close enough to them, and they're indestructible while they're spinning. Wait until you can see the whites of their eyes before shooting at them, and use charged shots if you can.

The extra life in the section full of spikes just after the start can be grabbed with the Balloon.

The tubes with the triangles pointing down drop rocks. You can shoot them down if you need to, but you can just wait for them to stop dropping momentarily before passing them by or simply slide past while passing through. The robots that continuously spin just home in on you and can be destroyed in one hit. Nothing special. If they get the drop on you, they'll stick to the floor and shoot at you. They're still weak.

Hit the blue switches on the wall to trigger more of the level. Be careful, as there are pits that you can fall down if you're not careful. Just jump into the switch at the edge of the pit and keep going to the right as you fall, and you'll make it.

Drill Man's weakness is the Dive Missile. He burrows into the ground with the drill on his head, then he comes back up at a random location, so you'd better move around and keep jumping while he's underground. When he comes back out, he'll come at you and start firing explosive drills every few seconds. You're better off shooting him with the Dive Missile and jumping over all of the missiles, because this part is annoying as all get out. He'll also jump around, too. He'll switch it up between the whole jumping around, shooting and diving into the group at random, as he doesn't have a set pattern. Get your energy cans ready, folks.

Beating Drill Man gives you the Drill Bomb as well as the Rush Jet Adapter. The Drill Bomb can be fired like any other projectile, but if you press B while the Drill Bomb is out, you can make it explode to deal even more damage.

PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man 4 - Part 3 of 8

The fun continues as we take on two more Robot Masters.

Dust Man

The shields that fly around can only be hit in the back.

Those things that pop out of the pits when you get near? Shoot it and continue on immediately. The longer you stay in that area around the pit, the more of them that show up.

The crushers this time are a lot smaller and stay in the air longer, making it really easy to avoid them with the slide.

The mushroom head-like things with the copters detach said copters and home in on you when they get close enough. It makes them easy at times, aggravating at others.

The four blocks that combine to make one big one are platforms. Use those to get over the spike pits.

After Eddy, you'll get the crusher section. Destroy the blocks in your path, preferably the top two rows, so you can get through without getting crushed on the way forward. Some of them are a little lower, and some of them come right before a bunch of blocks, so you'll have to fire on at least almost all of the blocks and and slide accordingly to get past that.

To beat Dust Man, use the Ring Boomerang against him. But what if you don't have it? Equip the Mega Buster, then jump straight up when the dust shots come your way so the fragments miss you when they split into four diagonally-travelling segments right where you're standing. He'll jump towards you, then try to suck you in with his vacuum power. Keep walking away and you'll be able to avoid this, and use this attack as your opportunity to charge up the Mega Buster and let him have it. His attack pattern is that simple.

Beating Dust Man gives you the Dust Crusher.

Skull Man

The green turrets shoot out red balls that bounce off walls, floors and ceilings. It's better to use charged shots on them.

The green things with the spikes that fly around can go through walls, but that's the only special things they do.

The skeleton robots throw bones at you. I like to call them "Skull Joes" since they have that one-eye thing going on just like the Sniper Joes. You could hit them with a regular shot and jump over them as they pull themselves together, but a charged shot destroys them completely.

After you see Eddy, you can take the high road and the low road. If you fall down the pit on the higher road, you will still die; you will not drop down to the low road, which leads to a dead end but also has an Energy Tank.

The caterpillar robots as well as the yellow turrets can be taken out effectively with a charged shot.

You'll need Rush Jet to get the Energy Tank on the high road.

Well, since we have Dust Crusher from Dust Man, we have something to kill Skull Man with. Nice. All he does is shoot at you a couple times, and it's probably at random where the shots go: either straight at you or at an upward angle. Keep hitting him with Dust Crusher. After he stops firing, he leaps around. He'll then use the Skull Barrier, but he'll stand still when he uses it. You won't be able to hit him with anything as he's got it set up, so don't even bother. Just wait for it to disappear so he'll walk around a bit and start his attack pattern over.

Also, fun fact; Skull Man doesn't move until you do at the beginning of the battle.

Beating Skull Man gives you the Skull Barrier.

PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man 4 - Part 2 of 8

With Pharaoh Man's stage, you could tell that Capcom was still doing some fun stuff with the NES.

Pharaoh Man

Ooh, boy. Pharaoh Man is one of the better Robot Master designs in the series, in my opinion, and the music for his stage shows how far the series has come to this point. It's just amazing what leaps and bounds Capcom had made in just four years with the Nintendo Entertainment System!

The flying bugs here at the beginning fly around and shoot bullets down at you, which can be pretty easy to avoid if you're paying attention. They always shoot down once on the first pass, two on the second pass, The scorpion robots move in at you, and dive in and out of the quicksand. The quicksand will definitely drag you down, but you should still be able to move around fairly quickly if you just keep jumping.

If you use Rush Coil to jump over the pit leading into the pyramid after the start, you can keep going right and get the Balloon power-up. Using it will give you the ability to produce balloons that you can use as platforms, much like Item 1 in the second game. You'll then teleport into the pyramid.

Once you get into the pyramid (the seemingly normal way), you'll start dealing with mummy robots that pop in and out of their walls and launch their heads at you as part of their attack. They can easily be dealt with with a charged shot. The energy can near the beginning of the whole pyramid area is really easy to get with Rush Coil.

The platforms that take you over the spike pits also shoot bullets in two directions, so be careful when you get close so you don't get shot at.

If you have the Flash Stopper, Pharaoh Man is easy, as he leaps around very quickly and throws the Pharaoh Shot at you constantly. He has a charged version that also goes left and right across the room, too. Just activate the Flash Stopper, then keep blasting him with the Mega Buster until he falls. Just keep pressing the B button and you'll keep activating the Flash Stopper when necessary, as it last for about five seconds.

Beating Pharaoh Man gives you the Pharaoh Shot. Remember, you can charge the Pharaoh Shot up by holding the B button, and as long as you have it held down you'll have a huge Pharaoh Shot above your head that can also damage anything that touches it, which proves to be rather interesting. When charged, you can throw it in eight directions.

Ring Man

Not only will you have red turrets sticking to the walls tracking your every move and shooting at you, you'll also have rainbow-colored platforms that disappear from one end to the other you step foot on them. The best thing to do with these platforms is to jump onto the middle and try to jump to the end whenever necessary in order, since there's no way of knowing which direction they disappear in until you step on them.

When the background turns black, you'll be fighting a hippo on a platform. Shoot down the column holding up the platform, then hit the hippo with everything you've got while avoiding its missiles, which have homing capabilities. The platform will start coming back up, so alternate between shooting the column and the hippo every so often.

The ring monster that blocks your path exposes its defenses when it shoots its six rings out in an asterisk-shaped pattern. Hit the eyes when they're exposed. You'll then fight another hippo.

Once you beat the second hippo, the rainbow platforms now have a completely different look. As a matter of fact, they don't look like rainbows at all. They'll all disappear from one end to the other, too, so jump either on the center of it or close to the center as you can, and jump to the other end.

If you use Rush Coil or Balloon to get to the ladder after the second hippo, you can climb up and meet Eddie, a red flip-top robot who will give you a random power-up. If you don't like what he gives you, leave the room and re-enter without taking the power-up. You can get extra lives and Energy Tanks from Eddie, too.

You'll fight another ring monster before taking on Ring Man.

Ring Man throws a Ring Boomerang, then waits for it to return to him before jumping up and throwing another one. When he hits the ground, he runs to the right and starts the attack pattern over, and he'll run to the left after the second time. He'll then alternate between running right and running left. This is yet another easy attack pattern, which adds to the haphazard "level is harder than the boss" pattern that the game seems to have. 

You can destroy him with charged-up Pharaoh Shots, but you can just as easily beat him with the Mega Buster.

Beating Ring Man gives you the Ring Boomerang, which works much like Ring Man's version of the ring.

PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man 4 - Part 1 of 8

Time to play the fourth game, since I've played and beaten the first three.

Anyway, in this one, you're taking on Dr. Cossack, a Russian (neo-Soviet? This was created in 1991, after all) scientist who has created eight new robots to take on Mega Man. Why is he taking on Mega Man? The introductory story never really says. He's just taking him on and Mega Man's sense of justice already kicks in.

Toad Man

Controls are the same as ever. Control Pad moves, A jumps, B shoots, Down+A lets you slide and Start lets you pause and select weapons. It should be noted right now that by holding the B button, you can charge up the default weapon. When Mega Man is glowing green (which will be other colors in the series), he'll shoot a flashing green shot that can power through some enemies that would take a few regular shots to kill off. This is the Mega Buster, which is the new and improved version of the Proto Buster that we've been using for the past three games. Guess what? It's going to start appearing a lot more often now, even in other Mega Man series such as X and Zero. Finally, now I can stop calling it the Proto Buster.

You also start out with the Rush Coil. Using it calls Rush, and you can jump on him to get launched to higher places. Doing this costs energy for the Rush Coil, however.

Finally, Toad Man. I suggest starting here, since he's the easiest boss in the game (and probably the entire Original/Classic saga, depending on what you want to call it) to beat with the regular arm cannon.

The rain in this area pushes you back, so you'd better be on the very edge of a platform when you jump to another one. Also, when you take a step in the rain, water splashes up a bit on the platform where Mega Man steps. That is a detail that I have never really noticed until now.

The bird robots have three smaller clones behind them that home in on you when you're close enough. This is the best introduction to the charge shot in my opinion, as firing one at the big bird takes out the three behind it as well. Sheesh, this thing would have made the second and third games easy as anything.

The robots that come down on parasols can also be taken down rather easily with a charged shot. Same thing with the robot rats as well as the little bubble robots that can stick to both the floor and ceiling as they chase after you. Once again...best introduction to a new feature ever by having you finding out that using it makes the whole stage really easy except for the jumps.

The water on the ground from the waterfalls will push you around according to where they're moving. If they're moving left, you're moving left. 'Nuff said.

Shoot the snails in the eyes when they're open, and dodge the shots that it shoots at you like a catapult. Charged shots make this easier, as there's a chance that you won't even have to deal with its second attack - the snail's eyes coming right at your present location. Six fully charged shots will do it in. The second snail battle has a waterfall involved, and the water lands almost dead center on the platform with a pit on both sides of it, so you'll have to be on the move constantly for the second one.

The fish that jump out of the water when close enough to you are easier to avoid here than on Dive Man's stage. Just be careful with the platform directly under another one (there's only one instance here), since you can bump your head and land right into the spikes below.

Toad Man is really, really easy. You could beat him with the Drill Bomb...but screw it. Hit him when he's jumping around with regular shots. Move around and shoot him till he stops jumping and stands still. This will usually happen if you start shooting at him from a fixed point. When he stands there, he's about to do some sort of hula dance where he activates his completely unavoidable Rain Flush attack. There's a trick to make him not do it. Shoot him when he's doing the little hula thing just before the attack launches, and you'll instantly cancel it out. He's that easy, as he doesn't move until you do and he fires the weapon if you're not moving.

Beating Toad Man gives you the Rain Flush and Rush Marine Adaptor.

Bright Man

The green guys that walk around shoot out fireworks that light up the room, while the red robots with the light underneath them that fire a shot that splits into five projectiles that fan out. Destroying a red robot will darken the room, since they're red light bulb robots. Destroying a green guy afterward lights up the area again.

The totem poles just spit projectiles at you from the second totem, while the robot crickets act as platforms that help you ride across the massive spike pits. Just stand on them and they'll start moving.

The "gumball machine" robot will shoot projectiles forward and shoot mortar shots that drop at your current position.

The green robots that hang on the ceiling and come down at you before spinning around like a top in your direction can be easily rid of with a charged shot.

After that, go down and head to the right to get an extra life and an energy can. The red platforms fall down when they reach the end of the track, but the green ones actually go back. You'll see these a little later in the stage. Use Rush Coil if you want to keep your extra life. It's up to you.

Once you climb up the ladder further on the "main" path, you'll see those red and green platforms mentioned in the last entry again. This time, you'll be going from one platform to another while dealing with the projectiles from those red light bulb robots.

The only thing that Bright Man does (aside from the Flash Stopper, which freezes you in place for either ten seconds or until you get hit, whichever happens first) is jump around trying to land on you, while shooting bullets at you that goes in three directions at times. His attack pattern is a bit random. You could beat him with the Mega Buster (he's not that much trouble), but Rain Flush makes it that much easier since you can just launch it into the air and hit him regardless of where you are, which makes it easier to concentrate on dodging his attacks.

Beating Bright Man gives you the Flash Stopper, which freezes enemies like you would expect it to.

Mega Man 4 - The OST

Here's all the music from Mega Man 4! Go for it!

NintendoCapriSun plays Mega Man 4 - Part 10 of 10

This is it...the final battle. For the fourth time.

Dr. Wily 3

After you beat the Robot Masters a second time, you'll face Dr. Wily again. Just stand right next to the area where Dr. Wily's ship is going to be, and jump and shoot a fully charged Mega Buster shot when it's not spitting out huge purple fireballs.

The second form is difficult as anything. You have to hit the flashing light under Dr. Wily with fully charged Mega Buster shots, and the fireballs that his second form shoots out make this anything but easy. Using energy cans is going to be a big must here.

Dr. Wily 4

The only way you're going to be able to refill your stuff now is to fight off the worms that come out of the ceiling before the boss door. Just keep walking back and forth after that huge jump down and you should be able to get everything you need - especially for the Pharaoh Shot and the Ring Boomerang. You'll know why in the next paragraph.

When you enter the boss door, the whole room will be dark. There's going to be one attack, and it's a bunch of light-blue fireballs coming together to make one big one...and it homes in directly at you regardless of where you are. When the fireball comes at you, Dr. Wily will show up for a brief instance. There is where the Pharaoh Shot and Ring Boomerang are going to come in. You need to remember where he popped up and shoot the weapon in that direction to hit Dr. Wily. It's easier with Pharaoh Shot, since you can just touch him with the fully charged projectile when necessary so you can damage him without wasting much needed weapon energy for it. If you need to fire it at him, do so. What have you got to lose? If you somehow lose all the energy for that, stick to Ring Boomerang.

When you take down Dr. Wily, you've done it! Enjoy your ending!

NintendoCapriSun plays Mega Man 4 - Part 9 of 10

Before I did this entry, I had no idea how many times I got the "a" and "o" in the end of "Pharaoh" transposed. I'm usually perfect when it comes to spelling anything.

Dr. Wily 2

(continued)

To beat the boss here, just use your Arm Cannon. Avoid both the fireballs and the big red balls that act as bombs that have quite the explosion. The big red balls are easier said than done, so stay on the left of the two conveyor belts to give yourself more time to avoid them, and be sure to jump and control yourself in the air to avoid them if you need to do so. If you have any energy cans, this is a good boss to save them for.

The weak point is the blinking green light on the boss's forehead. Use fully charged Mega Buster shots whenever you shoot at the boss so you can finish it off in less time.

Dr. Wily 3

The music here is really good. Too bad you don't get to hear it often.

Anyway, the teleporters are (in counter-clockwise order): Drill Man, Bright Man, Skull Man, Dive Man, Toad Man, Dust Man, Ring Man, and Pharaoh Man.

LOL, glitch.

NintendoCapriSun plays Mega Man 4 - Part 8 of 10

We enter Dr. Wily's lair, and we find out the entrance is a toilet. Seriously, the wall is a bunch of forest green bathroom tiles and there are pipes all around the walls.

Dr. Wily 1

The beginning of the stage is full of Mettaurs. Some of them actually spin around, unwittingly exposing themselves to attack longer than usual because of it. Ha, ha.

You'll also be dealing with some underwater bits as well as...the disappearing platforms. Again. Goddammit, Capcom.

There's another easily obtainable Energy Can near the boss.

The boss here is a giant Mettaur. This one leaps around the room in an attempt to squash you, and when its eyes bounce around, four Mettaurs will come down from the ceiling. This is pretty easy to beat with the Mega Buster for the most part, but you can also use the Ring Boomerang. Just watch out for all those Mettaurs, which usually land where you are at the time of the stomp.

You can only shoot the boss when his face is exposed, and that stomp of yours will freeze you, making it easy for the small Mettaurs to hit you unless you somehow jump before he hits the ground.

Dr. Wily 2

You'll be dealing with a ton of spikes placed in the most unforgiving spots, followed by a jump that requires Rush Jet to get to.

Slide to Eddy to get whatever he has, then take the right ladder (the left one leads to that buzzsaw robot and takes you back down after you take damage from something you couldn't possibly avoid).

The majority of the enemies here are from Pharaoh Man's stage.

NintendoCapriSun plays Mega Man 4 - Part 7 of 10

We fight Dr. Cossack, but we find out it's not over yet!

Dr. Cossack 2

(continued)

The boss here is a miniature room in a room that has three segments. The top and bottom go to the right while the middle goes to the left. Slide under the bottom segment as it passes. It makes three passes at you, and each successful pass is slower than the last. When it goes slow enough for you to get in (read: when it passes around a third time), slide into the miniature room as it comes together, then get on one of the two platforms and hit the red circle at the top with Dust Crusher and try not to get shot at yourself. Switching between platforms isn't as efficient as staying on one, but the laser from the red circle will miss every single time. The circle fires three lasers before the miniature room comes apart again. When the miniature room comes apart, get out of there. From there, wait until it's slowed down considerably and try your luck at damaging the miniature room again.

Dr. Cossack 3

The music here is even better than the last two stages.

This part is auto-scrolling, and there are a ton of onion-domed roofs in the background, too. Watch out for the red circles that revolve around some of the platforms, as they cover the perimeter of the platforms they patrol in seconds and are impossible to destroy.

Well, boy howdy! The saws that act as the so-called "indestructible enemy that prowls the floor and speeds up when you're at their level" can be destroyed with the Dive Missile!

Climb up the second ladder, and boom...more auto-scrolling. If you couldn't tell already, you'll be dealing with enemies from Ring Man's stage around here. Keep the Dive Missile equipped so you can destroy all the enemies here with ease.

The gold platforms that show up with a glint in the corner are interesting. When you stand on them, they start sinking. When you jump off, they quickly rise up. Use this to your advantage to make some of the jumps from one platform to another, as you won't be able to make some of these jumps otherwise.

You can get the Energy Can at the end with the Balloon Adapter. Yeah, I was stumped, too.

The boss here is really easy. These robots either shoot one bullet down or two bullets diagonally. Believe it or not, the Pharaoh Shot actually goes in eight directions, and you can charge it up to finish this entire battle in seconds. The first one just moves back and forth on the ceiling, but the second one moves all over the walls and ceilings and has a four-way shot, making fully-charge Pharaoh Shots immeasurably useful.

Dr. Cossack 4

Use the Drill Bomb to get the Energy Can at the beginning.

For the first time in a Mega Man game, the path branches off. Take the path that takes you down and left (which is reachable with either Rush Coil or the Balloon Adapter and is blocked by a wall that can be destroyed with the Drill Bomb), as you can score a second Energy Can. Also, the Drill Bomb is uber powerful against the crusher robots as well as anything else that's dumb enough to take you on. Also, this path is easier, believe it or not.

The boss here is Dr. Cossack himself. He has a triple shot as well as a claw that can grab you for immense damage. The Dust Crusher is the best weapon to use here. Just watch out where you're jumping and always slide when you're trying to move underneath Dr. Cossack. The uneven ground may be a problem, but if you stay on the move and keep sliding under Dr. Cossack, you'll be fine.

When you get Dr. Cossack down to one bar, Proto Man shows up with Dr. Cossack's daughter Kalinka. She tells you that Dr. Cossack is being used as an unwitting figurehead in Dr. Wily's plans...

NintendoCapriSun plays Mega Man 4 - Part 6 of 10

After seven minutes of fail that involves the end of the first Cossack section, I actually get to type something for once.

Dr. Cossack 2

This time around, you'll be inside a building, so don't worry about any ice physics.

Use the Rush Jet to get over the pit, and use Up and Down on the Control Pad to get higher and lower whenever necessary.

The small square platforms have spikes that change from being horizontal to being vertical and back again every few seconds. Use Rush Jet for the first set. You'll have to be patient with the second set.

CyberMoonStudios does it again.

Yep, he made another one. Click the link for the Robot Master weaknesses for this game.

NintendoCapriSun plays Mega Man 4 - Part 5 of 10

asdf

Ring Man

(continued)

Once you beat the second hippo, the rainbow platforms now have a completely different look. As a matter of fact, they don't look like rainbows at all. They'll all disappear from right to left, too, so jump either on the center of it or close to the center as you can, and jump to the other end.

You'll fight another ring monster before taking on Ring Man.

Ring Man throws a Ring Boomerang, then waits for it to return to him before jumping up and throwing another one. When he hits the ground, he runs to the right and starts the attack pattern over, and he'll run to the left after the second time. He'll then alternate between running right and running left. This is yet another easy attack pattern, which adds to the haphazard "level is harder than the boss" pattern that the game seems to have. 

You can destroy him with charged-up Pharaoh Shots, but you can just as easily beat him with the Mega Buster.

Beating Ring Man gives you the Ring Boomerang.

Dr. Cossack 1

The slinky robot slowly moves towards you.

The thick snow slows you down tremendously, so jump through it to get through the level faster.

When you make it to the rooftop, you'll be dealing with the Skull Joes from Skull Man's stage as well as the little robots that come out of the pits from Dust Man's stage, and to top it off you'll also be dealing with ice floor physics.

The second vertical climb will require Rush Coil, and you'll have to time your climbs on the ladder near the end so that the crushing robots that roam up and down the ladders near the end don't close on you.

The boss in the first section is some giant moth robot thing. The fireballs fire right to where you are when the fireball is launched, so it has a tracking ability that can easily be exploited. You can stay all the way to the left and fire at the flashing light where the fireballs come from with either the Ring Boomerang or charged Mega Buster shots, but just be careful with those fireballs and jump later than usual when the boss is right next to you.

If you die against this boss, you'll start back at the rooftop section before the second vertical climb complete with all those ladders. That's horseshit.

NintendoCapriSun plays Mega Man 4 - Part 4 of 10

We're at the last Robot Master already...?

Bright Man

(continued)

Once you climb up the ladder further on the "main" path, you'll see those red and green platforms mentioned in the last entry again. This time, you'll be going from one platform to another while dealing with the projectiles from those red light bulb robots.

The only thing that Bright Man does (aside from the Flash Stopper, which freezes you in place) is jump around trying to land on you, while shooting bullets at you that goes in three directions at times. His attack pattern is a bit random. You could beat him with the Mega Buster (he's not that much trouble), but Rain Flush makes it that much easier since you can just launch it into the air and hit him regardless of where you are, which makes it easier to concentrate on dodging his attacks.

Beating Bright Man gives you the Flash Stopper.

Pharaoh Man

Ooh, boy. Pharaoh Man is one of the better Robot Master designs in the series, in my opinion, and the music for his stage shows how far the series has come to this point. It's just amazing what leaps and bounds Capcom had made in just four years with the Nintendo Entertainment System!

The flying bugs here at the beginning fly around and shoot bullets down at you, which can be pretty easy to avoid if you're paying attention. The scorpion robots move in at you, and dive in and out of the quicksand. The quicksand will definitely drag you down, but you should still be able to move around fairly quickly if you just keep jumping.

Once you get into the pyramid, you'll start dealing with mummy robots that pop in and out of their walls and launch their heads at you as part of their attack. They can easily be dealt with with a charged shot. The energy can near the beginning of the whole pyramid area is really easy to get with Rush Coil.

The platforms that take you over the spike pits also shoot bullets in two directions, so be careful when you get close so you don't get shot at.

If you have the Flash Stopper, Pharaoh Man is easy, as he leaps around very quickly and throws the Pharaoh Shot at you constantly. He has a charged version that also goes left and right across the room, too. Just activate the Flash Stopper, then keep blasting him with the Mega Buster until he falls. Just keep pressing the B button and you'll keep activating the Flash Stopper when necessary, as it last for about five seconds.

Beating Pharaoh Man gives you the Pharaoh Shot. Remember, you can charge the Pharaoh Shot up by holding the B button, and as long as you have it held down you'll have a huge Pharaoh Shot above your head that can also damage anything that touches it, which proves to be rather interesting.

Ring Man

Not only will you have red turrets sticking to the walls tracking your every move and shooting at you, you'll also have rainbow-colored platforms that disappear from one end to the other once you step foot on them. The best thing to do with these platforms is to jump onto the middle and try to jump to the end whenever necessary, since there is no way of knowing which direction they'll start to disappear.

When the background turns black, you'll be fighting a hippo on a platform. Shoot down the column holding up the platform, then hit the hippo with everything you've got while avoiding its missiles, which have homing capabilities. The platform will start coming back up, so alternate between shooting the column and the hippo every so often.

The ring monster that blocks your path exposes its defenses when it shoots its six rings out in an asterisk-shaped pattern. Hit they eyes when they're exposed with charged Mega Buster shots. You'll then fight another hippo.

NintendoCapriSun plays Mega Man 4 - Part 3 of 10

We finally...FINALLY...do Toad Man.

Drill Man

The red turrets open and close every few seconds, shooting out a single shot while it's open. They're pretty easy for the most part. Just shoot at them when their cannons are open.

The wheel robots close themselves up and start spinning around when you're close enough to them, and they're indestructible while they're spinning. Wait until you can see the whites of their eyes before shooting at them, and use charged shots if you can.

The tubes with the triangles pointing down drop rocks. You can shoot them down if you need to, but you can just wait for them to stop dropping momentarily before passing them by. The robots that continuously spin just home in on you and can be destroyed in one hit. Nothing special. If they get the drop on you, they'll stick to the floor and shoot at you. They're still weak.

Hit the blue switches on the wall to trigger more of the level. Be careful, as there are pits that you can fall down if you're not careful. Just jump into the switch at the edge of the pit and keep going to the right as you fall, and you'll make it.

Drill Man's weakness is the Dive Missile. He burrows into the ground with the drill on his head, then he comes back up at a random location, so you'd better move around and keep jumping while he's underground. When he comes back out, he'll come at you and start firing explosive drills every few seconds. You're better off shooting him with the Dive Missile and jumping over all of the missiles, because this part is annoying as all get out. He'll also jump around, too. He'll switch it up between the whole jumping around, shooting and diving into the group at random, as he doesn't have a set pattern. Get your energy cans ready, folks.

Beating Drill Man gives you the Drill Bomb as well as the Rush Jet Adaptor.

Toad Man

Finally, Toad Man. I suggest starting here, since he's the easiest boss in the game (and probably the entire Original/Classic saga, depending on what you want to call it) to beat with the regular arm cannon.

The rain in this area pushes you back, so you'd better be on the very edge of a platform when you jump to another one.

The bird robots have three smaller clones behind them that home in on you when you're close enough. This is the best introduction to the charge shot in my opinion, as firing one at the big bird takes out the three behind it as well. Sheesh, this thing would have made the second and third games easy as anything.

The robots that come down on parasols can also be taken down rather easily with a charged shot. Same thing with the robot rats as well as the little bubble robots that can stick to both the floor and ceiling as they chase after you. Once again...best introduction to a new feature ever by having you finding out that using it makes the whole stage really easy except for the jumps.

The water on the ground from the waterfalls will push you around according to where they're moving. If they're moving left, you're moving left. 'Nuff said.

Shoot the snails in the eyes when they're open, and dodge the shots that it shoots at you like a catapult. Charged shots make this easier, as there's a chance that you won't even have to deal with its second attack - the snail's eyes coming right at your present location. The second snail battle has a waterfall involved, and the water lands almost dead center on the platform with a pit on both sides of it, so you'll have to be on the move constantly for the second one.

The fish are easier to avoid here than on Dive Man's stage. Just be careful with the platform directly under another one (there's only one instance here), since you can bump your head and land right into the spikes below.

Toad Man is really, really easy. You could beat him with the Drill Bomb...but screw it. Hit him when he's jumping around with regular shots. Move around and shoot him till he stops jumping and stands still. This will usually happen if you start shooting at him from a fixed point. When he stands there, he's about to do some sort of hula dance where he activates his completely unavoidable Rain Flush attack. There's a trick to make him not do it. Shoot him when he's doing the little hula thing just before the attack launches, and you'll instantly cancel it out. He's that easy, as he doesn't move until you do and he fires the weapon if you're not moving.

Beating Toad Man gives you the Rain Flush and Rush Marine Adaptor.

Bright Man

The green guys that walk around shoot out fireworks that light up the room, while the red robots with the light underneath them that fire a shot that splits into five projectiles that fan out. Destroying a red robot will darken the room, since they're red light bulb robots. Destroying a green guy afterward lights up the area again.

The totem poles just spit projectiles at you from the second totem, while the robot crickets act as platforms that help you ride across the massive spike pits. Just stand on them and they'll start moving.

The green robots that hang on the ceiling and come down at you before spinning around like a top in your direction can be easily rid of with a charged shot.

After that, go down and head to the right to get an extra life and an energy can. The red platforms fall down when they reach the end of the track, but the green ones actually go back. You'll see these a little later in the stage. Use Rush Coil if you want to keep your extra life. It's up to you.