Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
We go deeper into Dr. Wily's fortress, which is full of fake floors, Mettaurs, and the worst boss enemy ever.
Dr. Wily - Stage 3
Oh, hey, the music changes.
You could use your Crash Bombs to get that Energy Can and refill your energy at the beginning, but why would you want to? Also, just go all the way to the right if you need to refill weapon energy.
When you make your way down, you'll land in the water. Avoid landing on the spikes as well as the giant metal fish that come out of the bottomless pits. When you make it to the end, you'll have to traverse a downward path lined with spikes. Avoid the spikes as you fall, which is harder than it looks because you fall faster for every consecutive screen you go down.
Once you reach the bottom, it's a short trip to the Guts Man Tank. To take it out, throw Metal Blades or shot the Proto Buster at its eyes while you avoid the tiny fireballs it spits out and the Mettaurs that come out of its stomach.
Dr. Wily - Stage 4
Oh, joy. The whole place is purple.
In case you need to refill some special weapons, you have two large weapons pick-ups at the beginning.
There are invisible floors in this level. To find out where they are, just use your Bubble Lead. The Bubble Lead drops straight down at the edge of a platform, so you can tell where to jump. The spike pit has a fake floor title just next to the ladder.
If you can successfully traverse the fake floors afterwards, you'll be able to help yourself to another Energy Can.
When you make it to the top, do not jump straight off the next ladder. Instead, climb down and wait. It's those moving platforms from Crash Man's stage again. Thankfully, these things are easy when you know where to wait at. You're better off using Item 2 at the last moving platform to ensure that you make it to the other side. You can also use Bubble Lead to see where the fake floors are so you can jump over them.
The Crash Bomb orbs are probably the hardest boss in the game. The only walls you need to take out are the ones that directly block the orbs. Use the Items to reach the rest. If you die and recharge the Crash Bomber, the orbs will re-spawn, but the walls won't.
These things flash before they shoot at you, but if you rapidly press Start right before they hit you, they'll pass right through Mega Man and cause no damage whatsoever.
We finally start Dr. Wily's Fortress in this entry!
Dr. Wily - Stage 1
You'll be using Item 3 a few times to make your way over the walls at the beginning.
The 1-up you see when you reach the inside of the fortress is easy to get if you use the ladder above the platform that leads to it.
When you reach the top of the ladder that seemingly leads to nothing, use Item 1 to get to the ladder on the other side. Stand on the very edge of the platforms you create in order to go farther before you reach the ceiling. Once you start going up, you'll be dealing with the little blue guys again. Then, you'll be going over a very desolate hallway. Once you jump over a few platforms, the screen gets dark and starts to autoscroll. You'll have to deal with a dragon that follows you, and when you reach the end, you'll have to fight it.
To beat the dragon, pound him in the head with the Quick Boomerang. You'll be able to do the most damage as quickly as possible. Avoid those fireballs, and don't fall into the pit!
Dr. Wily - Stage 2
Use Item 2 to go past the spike pit. Take the ladder on the right to get an Energy Can. If you keep going down from here, you'll be able to get another Energy Can as well as two 1-ups and a bunch of weapon pick-ups.
When you drop down after the second 1-Up and second Energy Can, avoid the spike pits and aim for the hole in the center. You'll finally hit ground below. Deal with all the drills (and refill everything you need), and then use Item 3 to get up the wall.
After you make it past all those crushers, drop down and avoid the spikes. At the bottom, you'll face panels of the walls combining together to form robots. Use the Bubble Lead, the Metal Blade or the Quick Boomerang on them to bring them down as quickly as possible.
If you hold A when you choose his stage, the stars in the background will change to birds. Why? Not sure. Nevertheless, it's one of the first Capcom Easter eggs.
The first enemy you'll meet up with in this stage is the bats. When they uncurl themselves, they make themselves vulnerable. All they can do is fly towards you, though.
Not sure if those are rabbits or kangaroos, but they throw carrots at you. They don't move around very much either. They just jump towards you and throw carrots in your direction (and those carrots track really well). I'm guessing they're rabbits, but they still look like kangaroos to me. Maybe it's their noses?
You'll also fight giant robot dogs. Shoot them down with the Proto Buster (or the Metal Blade) as you avoid their flame attack, which curve down and then up. If you use the Time Stopper before the first one, you can skip these guys entirely.
The gorillas jump up from under the platforms if you get close. If you jump straight up and take them out with a Metal Blade or two, they should be no problem. There will also be egg-dropping birds in this section, but the Metal Blade will take them out, too.
The ostriches just jump every so often. You could take them down, but why would you want to when they leap right over you?
To beat Wood Man, you could use Atomic Fire. However, you can hit him multiple times before he sends those leaves from above in addition to the Leaf Shield if you use Metal Blade. Just avoid all those leaves and use an Energy Can if necessary.
Beating Wood Man gives you the Leaf Shield.
Heat Man
You'll be dealing with a lot of platform jumping over lava while avoiding the little blue guys. The lava is instant death if you touch it.
Guess what? You'll be dealing with those crazy blocks in the wall that appear and disappear while acting as platforms from the Elec and Ice Man stage. They're still as annoying as ever.
You could do that long, long wall block segment, but if you have Item 2, it becomes a lot easier and you can breeze through it. You'll miss an extra life, but is it really worth getting?
Heat Man looks like a Zippo lighter, in case you're wondering. Hit him with Bubble Lead, and jump over him to the other side of the room when he lights up.
Beating Heat Man gives you Atomic Fire and Item 1. Item 1 produces a platform that slowly rises upwards and disappears after a few seconds. This is a much more reliable platform than Item 3, since you don't have to lean it against a wall to get it to work.
And with that, we have all eight Robot Masters finished!
One stage is easy. The other is not. Just two more Robot Masters to go...
Flash Man
I always did this guy first. Seriously, he's even easier than Bubble Man in an all-Proto Buster run.
The robots that look like gas canisters shoot both straight and at an angle. They take a short break from shooting before they switch between the two angles, so use that as opportunity to get some extra shots in on him. The straight shots have a bit of range and speed, so be careful.
As you go through this level, you'll be going through a maze of sorts. There are only a few dead ends, but if you take certain paths, you may be able to get extra lives or an Energy Can. (More on those later.) The floor also has quasi-ice physics, so you'll be sliding around for about a second after you come to a stop.
The walls that are comprised of squares with smaller squares in them can only be destroyed with the Crash Bomb, which you won't get until you beat Crash Man.
As you start going down the vertical portion of this stage, you'll meet MM2's version of the crusher robot. It's a Sniper Joe in a two-legged mecha, and he shoots at you in five angles. Even if you can (very easily) take this robot out, you'll still have the Sniper Joe to deal with. At least he can't move and he's got a pattern this time around.
The enemy that looks like a stack of cans can only be shot in the portion with eyes. If you're playing on Difficult mode, he takes two hits instead of one, and after that first hit, the other portions fly off of his head and come straight at you with no warning.
If you can stay on the top of the screen and manage to make it across all the small platforms at the end of the vertical portion, you'll be able to get an Energy Can. These cans can be used to completely refill your energy in the midst of a difficult situation (preferably boss battles), and you can carry up to four.
Flash Man is hilariously easy. Just shoot at him with the Mega Buster and stay out of his way. Stay in the air he pulls his arm cannon out. There's a good chance you might avoid his firepower completely. If you have the Metal Blade, however, you'll really be able to tear him apart.
When you beat Flash Man, you'll get the Time Stopper. You'll also get Item 3, which is a bouncing platform that stops and rises when it hits a floor. When you jump onto it, it will lower, and it will last until it disappears after enough time on-screen or when it lowers into a floor.
Quick Man
Using Item 3 here will help you to the extra life at the beginning.
Shortly after the beginning, you'll be seeing lasers coming out of the walls. Touching these will cause instant death. They're easy now, but not long into the level...
If you take the right path, you'll get another extra life and another Energy Path. You'll have to be quick to get in that cranny, though.
When you finally hit ground, you'll meet up with robots that look like torches. I'm guessing these guys were supposed to be in Heat Man's stage. When you get near them, the room finally lights up. When you defeat them, the room turns dark again. If it feels like you're (literally) going nowhere, jump to the right and you'll be able to continue.
The first two screens afterwards have the lasers but are thankfully pretty easy. For the third screen, avoid the weapons pick-up and go right as soon as you starting falling towards the fourth screen. You'll get a head start on the first three lasers. Stay away from the power-ups on the fifth screen, and run like hell on the sixth. The seventh is dead easy, thankfully.
Fighting Quick Man can be a pain. Carry plenty of Energy Cans with you, and use the Time Stopper when his energy is less than half.
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.
If you're wondering what the difference between Normal and Difficult is, all the bosses take less damage from special weapons and some enemies take more shots to destroyed. With that taken care of, one with the show.
Instead of six Robot Masters to deal with, you have eight Robot Masters this time around. Once again, you can start with any Robot Master you want, but I have a method to the madness.
Bubble Man
Left and Right let you move around, Up and Down lets you climb ladders, A lets you jump and B lets you shoot. Pressing Start will allow you to pause the game and select your weapon.
Unlike the first game, there is no score in the top center of the screen; as a result, the bonus point pick-ups no longer ruin your life and refilling your health and weapon energies is much easier.
Bubble Man is perhaps the easiest to deal with if you have just the Proto Buster, so let's go ahead and do that.
The frogs shoot miniature clones out of its mouth. Take out the source, then stand still to kill off all the underlings.
The robots with the red shells go faster when you shoot their shells off. Either hit them directly from a lower point or jump out of the way!
When you jump into the water, you'll jump higher than usual. Keep that in mind so you don't accidentally drift upwards into the spiked ceiling.
To destroy the big angler fish, just shoot at the angler on its head. The shrimp that come out of its mouth and lunge towards you can give you power-ups (and come in quite handy if you're playing this later in the game), so shoot them down as you take out the big fish. Unlike the last game, the health power-ups come out much more often from destroyed enemies, and you no longer have those pesky point icons to deal with. You can also get extra lives off of enemies if you're lucky.
Watch out for the jellyfish. Not only do they come down rather slowly, they also start following you shortly after they reach your level and explode upon contact.
Once you get out of the water, you'll start seeing crabs falling down the waterfall in the background. If they hit the platforms, though, they're not very fast and they go down in one shot.
To beat Bubble Man, walk under the bubbles and jump over the bullets, and shoot him as he slowly comes back down to the ground. For best results, shoot at him while in mid-air and just below where his head is, so you can shoot him in the foot. He just keeps doing this while going from one side of the room to the other, so he's really not that hard at all.
When you beat Bubble Man, you'll get Bubble Lead. You'll also get a password for beating the stage; be sure to select "Password" and write down where the red dots are so you can save your progress.
Metal Man
Metal Man not only has one of the most awesome weapons in Mega Man history, he's also got one of the better BGMs and level designs in the franchise as well. Gears spinning in the background, the earliest uses of conveyor belts, and one of the most frantic pieces of video game music from the late '80s.
The pink arrows that flash at the ends of the conveyor belt tell you which direction the conveyor belt you're on is going at a glance. One of the first that goes left has an Energy Can at the end, which is easily attainable as long as you keep mashing the A button while moving towards it.
The spiked crushers take out almost a third of a full energy bar, so avoid these at all costs. You can jump through the chains that hold them, but I wouldn't recommend it.
The drills come out in certain section of stages, they take a few hits before they go away, they give out a lot of power-ups if you go slowly, and they don't stop coming at all until you reach the end of said section. They can also hit you by surprise, so go slowly.
If you have one of the items near where the vertical portion begins, you can get the 1-up on the top conveyor belt at the end.
The guys that take a ride on the gears are really hilarious. You can see when they're coming, too. Shoot the gear and the clown riding on it will be sent tumbling down.
If you have one of the Items (preferably Item 1), you can get the Energy Can here.
To beat Metal Man, just avoid the buzzsaws he throws at you and stay on one side of the screen. If you come towards him, he'll just leap all the way to the other side. Whenever you shoot, he shoots. Also, the direction on the conveyor belt changes every so often, so you'll have to be on your toes and keep an eye on what direction the floor is sending you.
The little dome-shaped guys that are low to the ground and move quickly when you're at their level can be taken care of with Bubble Lead or the Quick Boomerang.
When you beat Metal Man, the Metal Blade is yours. This deadly buzzsaw not only fires in eight directions (something no other Robot Master has never done and hasn't done since), it also takes out a lot of bosses.
In case you beat a Robot Master and die at the same time, you still win and get the Robot Master weapon.
