In this game, you have a pretty straight-forward loop. Nearly every robot master is weak against just one weapon. The only real trick is to find a robot master to fight first. Everyone seems to agree with Nintendo Power's order: Toadman, Brightman, Pharaohman, Ringman, Dustman, Skullman, Diveman, Drillman. Not too shabby; Toadman is by far the easiest robot master to take on first, as long as you know how to counter his Rain Flush. But, being the rebel that I am, I've found an order that I like better. It's the same loop, only I start with Dustman. He's also pretty easy, you get cooler weapons like Dive Missile and Drill Bomb earlier, along with Rush Jet. Rush Jet might be useful in crossing that irritating part near the end of Brightman's stage. The only disadvantages I can think of is 1) You don't get the awesome Pharaoh Shot until later on, and 2) You'll don't get Rush Marine until after Diveman's level, where it may have been useful (The only other spot to use it is the first part of Wily's fortress).
Eddie makes his debut in this game. He appears in certain parts of certain stages and gives you a random power-up.
Rush returns as well.
Rush Coil: Acts as a springboard, allowing you to jump higher. You begin the game with it.
Rush Marine: Allows you to maneuver easily underwater. Acquired after beating Toadman.
Rush Jet: Allows you to fly, but you don't quite have freedom as you did in MM3; it moves straight ahead and disappears when it hits something. Acquired after beating Drillman.
A deadly trap welcomes you to this junkyard level; little robotic creatures called Up-n-Downs. These guys jump out of pits when you get close enough to them, hoping to knock you into the void. To prevent this, get close enough to the pit to make them appear, shoot them, and then jump the pit before another jumps out.
Another recuuring enemy that makes it's beginning here is the Shield Attacker. These hovering robots move back and forth, protected in front with an invincible shield. To defeat them, you must shoot them from behind.
There is one portion where you must cross a spike pit on red platforms that assemble over the spikes. Destroy the red ladybug-looking robots and move on before the platofrms disassemble.
Later, you must make your way through a garbage masher. There are some blocks in the area that you must shoot out to proceed (use a charged Mega Buster to clear out a whole row of them). You'll have to proceed quickly to avoid being recycled.
By the way, Metools have been modified quite a bit. The ones in this stage hop around while firing spread-shots, and there are others that fire many shots straight forward and take several shots to kill.
Dustman: Dustman's attacks consist mostly of his Dust Crusher, which can be easilly avoided by jumping straight up when it gets close to avoid the shrapnel that flys from it. He'll also turn his vaccum on, which will simply suck you toward him, very much like one of Magnetman's moves. Like Magnetman's force field, this also makes Dustman invincible, so don't bother firing at him at this time. Other than that, he just jumps around the place. He shouldn't be hard to defeat with just the Mega Buster. If you beat Ringman already, his Ring Boomerangs work very well also.
Skeleton Joes are all over this stage. This new incarnation of the Joe series throws bones at you and is very resiliant. When hit, it crumbles, but then reassembles after a couple seconds. The only things that will totally destroy them are fully charged Mega Busters or Pharaoh Shots.
Battontons are back. Luckilly, they haven't improved at all.
When the ladder continues up, there is a section that branches to the right, go right first and fight through several Shield Attackers to find an Energy Tank.
Another Energy Tank can be found later, but you can only reach it with the Balloon Adapter, or some very careful jumping.
Proceed carefully; Imorms will drop from the ceiling in some areas to attack.
Skullman: Skullman has a bit of a pattern. He fires plasma shots at you for a while, then jumps and puts up his Skull Barrier. Nothing can penetrate it, so you'll just have to wait until he lowers it and starts shooting again. The Dust Crusher is your best offense.
Metools with scuba masks and inhabit this area. When you get close, they bob around, firing their shots.
The metal-plated jellyfish-looking mechanoids cannot be destroyed. Just jump over them and move on.
You'll fight your first Garyobies here. They behave exactly like Gabyoals, they just look a little different. As with their similar models, these cannot be destroyed with your Mega Buster. You have to use a special weapon, or just avoid them.
You'll fight two big whales in this level. They fire large torpedoes at you and shoot spiked balls. They shouldn't be super difficult, though.
After the second whale, jump down the hole that appears right after and dodge the spikes that line the pit at the bottom of the chasm. The Wire Adaptor awaits at the bottom.
Near the end of the stage, you'll fight Mantans and large mines. Mantans don't look like much, but they do a considerable amount of damage, so avoid them as best you can. The mines can't be destroyed, but they explode when you get close enough. Walk up to them until they start flashing, then back off until they detonate.
Diveman: Diveman has two attacks; one is his trademark Dive Missile. These torpedoes home in on you, but they can be destroyed by most attacks. He'll also try to ram you; this attack really hurts. You can tell what attack he's going to do by looking at his face as he's getting ready to strike. A closed mouth mean's he's going to ram you. Jump to avoid him. If his mouth is open, he'll fire a Dive Missile. Knowing that, you should be able to predict all of his moves. Your best defense is your best offense here; the Skull Barrier. Use it to block the missiles and to do a heavy amount of damage to Diveman. If you run out of weapon energy, or you're not comfortable with getting too close to Diveman, the Dust Crusher also works fine.
The first half of the stage shouldn't be too difficult, just be careful of all of those annoying ladybug robots.
The shielded cannons are also irritating. They are only vulernable for the brief time when they fire.
The real fun part is near the end of the stage. Large rocks fall out of chutes and break into pieces that fly around when they hit the ground. In addition, there are small Helipons flying around the place, firing at you when they land. Then, it gets even better; you have to make sure to hit the switches you see to raise parts of the floor so you can pass by. The Skull Barrier is a lifesaver here, it's perfect for keeping the rocks and Helipons away.
Drillman: This guy is one tough mother. He spends lots of time burrowing underground; he's invincible at this time and he'll try to pop up right under you. Run and jump around the room so that doesn't happen. He'll then run around the room and launch Drill Bombs. It's hard to jump over them, since they can explode right underneath you, and they do a lot of damage. This is one of those fights where you don't want to play around. Dive Missiles are your best shot.
The first section of this level has powerful torrents that push you back whenever you jump. Be aware of that when jumping gaps. There are also a new breed of Pepes that send smaller ones to dive-bomb you, and little robots that float down with an umbrella, then lauch it at you when they land.
Once you get out of the rain, you'll end up in a sewer inhabited by rats and strange jelly-looking creatures. Both are easy to kill. There are also water currents that you have to be aware of so you don't get washed down the drain.
This stage is home to two giant snails. They launch bombs at you as well as their own eyes. As well as a weapon, the eyes are the snail's weakness. Fully-charged Mega Busters do great.
The final stretch consists of a small water area with fish jumping out at you. There are a couple of tricky jumps that you can bypass with Rush Jet.
Toadman: This guy can be easy or hard, depending on how you fight him. The bad news is, his attacks do tremendous damage; both from hopping on you as well as his Rain Flush, which is impossible to dodge. The good news is, his attacks are very predictable and preventable. First off, he only does the Rain Flush when he's standing still. Second, he jumps whenever you shoot at him. So, if you just shoot, slide out of the way of his jump, and shoot again, you can keep him from using the Rain Flush as well as avoid getting jumped on. Drill Bombs work best; if you don't have them, use normal plasma shots (If you charge, Toadman may have enough time to Flush you).
I freakin' hate this guy's stage...Anyway, you'll fight these two kind of enemies usually together; a flying red enemy that drops exploding shots, and little green robots that walk and hop. Shooting the red robots will turn the lights out, and shooting the green ones will turn them back on. So, as annoying as they are, try not to shoot the red robots!
I don't know what grasshoppers and totem poles have to do with Brightman, but they're here, and you must ride the grasshoppers across a spiked pit guarded by the totem poles. Brightman's a lousy interior decorator...
When you see a ladder going down and the path continues right, go down the ladder and cross the U tracks for a 1-up and an Energy Tank. It's quite a chore getting back across, however, you may want to just kill yourself. You'll lose the 1-up, but you still get to keep the Energy Tank.
The area near the end of the stage can be hard. There are lots of those red robots flying around, as well as a long chasm you must cross on the U tracks. The color of the platofrms on the tracks tell what they will do when they reach the end. Red platforms fall off the track when they reach the end, green ones just move back and forth along the track. It's very easy for a red robot to knock you into the darkened abyss, though. Just ride Rush across.
Brightman: After making it through his annoying stage, Brightman still doen't go easy on you. He fires plasma shots, plus he's got his Flash Stopper, which freezes you temporarily. It's usually long enough, though, for him to shoot you or jump on your face. The latter really hurts, so if you're not frozen, do your best to avoid it. The Rain Flush will even things out pretty good. Fire a Rain Flush capsule at the start of the fight, and just keep firing new ones when the rain dies down. If you didn't waste any shots earlier, you should have just enough weapon energy to win this fight. if you need an Energy Tank, go for it.
The first part of the stage has robotic scorpions running around on quicksand. If you stand in the sand too long, you'll sink and die. Keep jumping to avoid that. The scorpions can't be hurt while they're burrowing in the sand.
Near the end of the sand area is the hole you jump into to enter they pyramid. Use Rush Coil to jump over it and continue across the desert to aquire the Balloon Adapter. As a bonus, you'll also be transported farthur into the pyramid.
Inside the pyramid, you'll fight mummies that pop out of the walls and throw their heads at you. They shouldn't be any major threat, though.
A later danger are platforms much like the Foot Holders from MM1. They are your ride across the spiked floors, but they vanish when they hit a wall. Be ready to jump when they happens, and be careful a Batonton doesn't knock you off your ride.
Pharaohman: This guy can be very tough without the Flash Stopper. He jumps around shooting small Pharaoh Shots at you, and will periodicaly stop and charge for a big Shot. That's a perfect time to freeze him and pummel him with plasma shots until it wears off. If you just keep hammering the fire button, he may never even get a chance to attack!
This stage is filled with these psychadelic rainbow swirling light beams. you can stand on them only briefly before they disintegrate, then reappear again a moment later. You'll have to move quickly!
You'll fight two big hippos in this stage. Normally, you must shoot out the column holding up the platform its on to shoot at it, but you can also just use the Rain Flush to kill the hippo and dissolve the missiles it fires.
The hippo isn't the only mini-boss in this stage. There are also two ring towers. This awkward things have a pair of eyes in the center which are the weak spot, but it's protected by a bunch of rings. Every so often, it shoots the rings out in all directions, allowing you to hit it. When it throws the rings out, freeze them with Flash Stopper to give yourself more time to hit the eyes.
Near the end of the stage, there is a chasm for you to cross on those funky light beams. Plus, there are Saturn Seekers everywhere hoping to knock you in. You can keep those guys away with Dive Missiles, or just fly Rush Jet over the whole thing.
Ringman: Ringman is another tricky robot master. He follows a pattern, he runs to one side of the room, jumps, and repeats, throwing Ring boomerangs the whole time. It's hard to avoid all of them, but the Pharaoh Shot is devestating to him. Charge up before entering his room so you can blast him with one as soon as the fight starts. Only a few fully charged shots should take Ringman down fairly quickly.
Dr. Cossack greets you to his fortress with...slinkies!! Don't laugh too hard, though; they do a considerable amount of damage somehow, and they take a few good hits to destroy.
This stage has a lot of icy floors. It's hard to get moving, and harder to stop. Move around by jumping instead.
The last part of the stage has a couple of ladder presses guarding a large group of ladders. It's nuts to try and climb around and jump form ladder to ladder, so just use Rush Jet again. Just be careful that you get to the far left ladder before the Press bites down on you.
The first boss here is a giant moth-looking robot. It fires big plasma shots at you and will sometimes stop and use the spike on its underside to wreck part of the floor, which can create a pit if it breaks it enough. Use Ring Boomerangs on this monstrosety and aim for the red flashing crystal under the eyes.
This is a simple and straightforward stage, except for a couple of spots. First is a long spike pit to cross with Rush Jet, reminiscent of MM3. Be sure to grab the enrgy capsules to you have enough juice to make it across.
These wierd blocks will alternate what side spikes come out of every couple of seconds. When the lights on it start to flash, that's your cue to jump. Don't worry, these spikes don't kill you in one hit, but they still hurt.
There are some walls that can be blown away with Drill Bombs.
This is one odd boss. It slides around in three sections until it forms, where the large red crystal on top shoots oval beams at you. You must get inside the cube when it forms, then hop on the green platforms to shoot the crystal. Dust Crusher seems to be your best weapon here.
Don't you just love how the programmers can't make up their minds on what the weather is doing? Anyways, this is one of the few stages in the entire Megaman saga where the screen auto-scrolls. Regardless, it shouldn't be a difficult stage. The platforms at the end just may seem a little strange. They are still until you jump on them; as you stand on them, they fall, when you jump, they shoot upwards.
The boss is a pair of crab/spider-looking robots. The first one only moves along the ceiling, firing plasma shots at you. When you destroy that one, the other one appears, and that one moves along the spiked floor and the walls as well. Just throw charged Pharaoh Shots at them. The biggest danger here is getting knocked off your perch onto the spikes.
Maybe it's because I've played these games so much, but this isn't a very hard stage either. There is one point where the path splits. Take the ladder on the left to an area with a bunch of Up-n-Downs and Helipons. A better alternative is to blow the wall on the right and jump down the hole to find an Energy Tank and you'll just fight a couple of slinkies.
Dr. Cossack:Dr. Cossack can be tough, but only if you let him. Just shoot his saucer with the Dust Crusher or charged Mega Busters and make sure he doesn't grab you with that hook!
This stage is infested with Metools of every kind. But the first part is okay. The next part is underwater, and can be tough to manuver in without Rush Marine. there is one part, though, where there is a tight spiked corridor that you'll want to jump out and make your way to the other side before calling him again.
After that is another appearing/disappearing block session (you were wondering when they'd show up, weren't you?) Just cheat and fly Rush past them. On the last screen, use the Wire Adaptor to pull yourself to the top platform.
After a stage full of Metools, of course the boss is going to be a giant Metool! This is a difficult boss. There doesn't seem to be any weapon that works especially well against it, so just stick with charged Mega Busters. When it sticks its head out, shoot it as much as possible before it jumps at you. When it lands, four regular Metools will fall from the ceiling and run off the screen. Its hard to avoid getting stepped on, so don't be afraid to use Energy Tanks. In fact, I encourage it; if you die, they stick you all the way back at the beginning of the water section. So you certainly want to stay alive.
Other than the spikey area at the beginning, this stage is just the old man trying to put as much crap between you and him as possible. Even Eddie was able to make it here, so you should have little trouble in this level.
This boss looks pretty formidable, but its not as bad as that big Metool. It shoots fire straight forward and it throws bombs at you. That's it. Just hop on the track and shoot the green crystal on the forehead with Ring Boomerangs. You may have to do a little dodging, but it's not difficult.
You have a brief stage to fight through with just a bunch of Shield Attackers. Afterwards is the infamous teleporter room. Again, here is the mapped out room. You should know each robot's weakness by now, so go for it! (Just don't waste a lot of Drill Bombs on Toadman; you'll need them later)
After defeating the robot masters again, step in the new teleporter to fight Wily's new mech. This giant craft with a skull on the front shoots big fireballs in sets of three. If you stand as shown, right in front of the mouth, the fireballs will travel right over your head. When you have a clear shot, jump and fire a Ring Boomerang into the skull's mouth. After destroying the front of the craft, you'll fight the next phase, and boy it is hard! It now moves back and forth, shooting fireballs at a seemingly constant rate. The best weapons are Drill Bombs, and you have to aim for the blue crystal right under Wily's cockpit. However, You can't jump high enough to hit it directly, so you have to detonate the Drill Bombs early (hit the fire button again in mid-air) right before they strike the craft. They should get the crystal in the blast radius, and damage the craft. After enough of those, Wily runs off again.
This seems reminiscent to the last stage in MM2. Only there are Imorms instead of acid. If you need weapon energy, you can run back and forth and fight them over and over until you've collected enough.
Dr. Wily: Who turned out the lights? At least Wily's not an alien this time, but I'd still like to be able to see him!! With the lights out, Wily will fire powerful shots at you from random locations. You will see a brief flash right before he fires, giving away his location. If you can, shoot a charged Pharaoh Shot at him. You can also just hold the shot above your head. If Wily's saucer passes over it, it'll get hit. You can them throw the Shot at him and do additional damage. This fight isn't really as ahrd as the last one, it's just more of an annoyance.
Ending:Wily quickly escapes the exploding fortress and Megaman follows suit. He stows a ride on a passing train and rides home.
