Most of the robot masters' weaknesses are now more aligned with the NES games. My order this time is Snakeman, Geminiman, Shadowman, Sparkman; then Diveman, Drillman, Dustman, and Skullman. The reason I don't go for Dustman first is that his stage is ridiculously hard, and the Drill Bomb may make it slightly easier. The bosses aren't too bad in this game, especially since you can charge your buster against the MM3 bosses. The real challenge comes from the stages themselves. Many of them involve some tricky jumps that require incredible timing.
You get Rush Coil from Snakeman and Rush Jet from Dustman. Rush Jet now works more like Item 2 from MM2 in this game; he only flies straight forward and he disappears as soon as he hits something.
The stage features the same enemies as last time, just with a different layout. Shortly after the first Giant Snakey, there's a difficult jump that I mentioned. You have to run to the very edge before jumping, or you'll plummet to your death.
The jumping robots are missing their vaulting poles, but they are still invincible before they jump.
There are no rising cloud platforms, thankfully, on the approach to Snakeman's room. But there are still plenty of Pottons and Dadas.
Snakeman: Snakeman should go down easily enough if you stay on the center platform and blast him with charged buster shots or Spark Shock.
A similar stage as before, only Yambos assault you at the start instead of flame bombers.
Charged Mega Buster shots will quickly clear out rows of Pole eggs.
Shoot the Giant Pepes' cranks this time instead of the eyes.
Don't worry about no having Rush Marine; the water area is a breeze.
Geminiman: As before, Geminiman is powerful, but he is quite predictable. He's still weak against Search Snakes, just remember that he fires whenever you do while his copy is around. Also, when the copy disappears, he jumps when you shoot at him. The Gemini Laser can be lethal, so avoid it at all costs.
This stage is nealy identical to the NES stage, only there are several time bomb platforms around. These things start a countdown from 3 when you step on them and explode when they hit 0. Jump straight up as soon as it reaches 0 to avoid being damaged by the blast.
Shadowman: Shadowman is a bit more managable than in the NES game. He's still strong, no doubt about it, but he's a bit slower, and thus more predictable. Remember that he hops 3 times before sliding or throwing two Shadow Blades. Use the Gemini Laser or charged buster shots to finish him.
Very early on, there is an extremely difficult jump. You will have to run to the very edge and jump. If you jump too early, you'll hit your hrad on the low ceiling and fall.
The rising platroms move more slowly than the NES stage. But you should still make careful, small jumps to make it across without hitting spikes.
Other than that difficult jump at the beginning, the rest of the stage is pretty easy, and similar to the NES game.
Sparkman: Sparkman follows a similar pattern as the last time you fought him, but it's modified a little. He hops around, and stops to either fire a big Spark Shock, or an 8-way spread. He alternates between the two. Knowing that, you should be able to anticipate his moves easily. Shadow Blade is still your best weapon.
There's not much to this stage; just a set of appearing/disappearing platforms, along with trap-door platforms. Time your jumps well.
The boss is a Giant Suzy. It slides or bounces along the walls, floor, and ceiling trying to crash into you. Keep as far away from it as possible so you can react to its movements and use the Spark Shock.
The next four robot masters are available after beating the Giant Suzy.
This level is completely covered in spikes! Great care must be taken to avoid them.
Use the Spark Shock to stun the giant hoppers, then finish them off with your buster.
The area with rising/falling water can be very difficult. First of all, the Mantans can be a lot of trouble, since they do a lot of damage. A single Gemini Laser should stop them, or stun them with the Spark Shock. Just take your time and be patient.
Diveman: Diveman should be simple after all you went through to get here. A charged Mega Buster should rip right through his Dive Missiles, or just rapid-fire them. Jump over him as he charges at you. Like before, look at his face to anticipate his moves.
Early on, there's a tricky jump to make over a spike pit using trap-door platforms. Just use Rush Coil instead; he can stand on the spikes.
If you have Skull Barrier to block the falling rocks, great. If not, angle Shadow Blades up at them to destroy them early.
Like the jump mentioned above, position Rush Coil over the spike pit with the two Energy Tanks to get them without risking doing yourself in.
Drillman: It doesn't take a lot of hits from Drillman to finish you off, so don't mess around with him. Use Dive Missiles on him and keep your distance! Unlike in MM4, you can hit him as he's about to burrow underground.
I'll say it right now; this stage SUCKS! It's got enough cheap traps to send even advanced Megaman players screaming into the night. Rush Coil is a godsend in this stage.
Starting out, there are numerous pits with Up-n-Downs hiding in them. Shoot any that pop out, then jump to the other side before another comes out.
There's another masher section like in the NES version; it's only a little tricker than before. Not so bad considering what's to come.
Now the real hard stuff begins. There's some jumps that you must make once again by running to the very edge before jumping. Any sooner and you're dead. When jumping over spikes, I use Rush Coil as a safety net.
Further along, the path kind of splits. The upper path is blocked by a wall that you need Drill Bombs to destroy. The bottom half is really hard. The corridor is very cramped, with more pits to jump over. Once more, you must move to the very edge.
Finally, there's a spike covered floor you must clear, but you don't get Rush Jet until you clear this level. You have one of two choices; 1) Destroy the Shield Attacker, then jump partway across the pit, call Rush Coil, then arc back before you fall on the spikes. Then use Rush to vault the rest of the chasm. You must have Rush as far out as possible, however, or you won't make it. 2) Let the Shield Attacker hit you on purpose and use your momentary invincibility take you across. If you don't think you'll make it, jump and let it hit you again. Only attempt this if you have enough health to spare (there's a large health capsule right after this hellish section.
Dustman: Thankfully, Dustman is no more difficult than he was last time you fought him. Just jump straight up to avoid the Dust Crusher and counter with charged shots or Drill Bombs.
After Dustman's nightmare of a stage, this one's a cakewalk. There's really not much for me to say about it, other than to make good use of your newfound Rush Jet to cross some area where your footing isn't so great.
Skullman: He too fights the same as before. When his Skull Barrier is down, pound him with the Dust Crusher.
Punk: Punk is very powerful and can take you out in just a few hits. He's also immune to your plasma shots. Your buster shots are the only thing that'll hurt him. He'll bounce up and down, throwing Screw Crushers at you, ala Metalman. After a while, he turns into one big buzzsaw and charges you. Watch him and his height so you know whether to jump or slide to avoid him. Keep charging the whole time and blast him whenever you have an opening.
You're first tough spot is a spike-lined tunnel to cross with Rush Jet. Parasyus will bombard you as well. You'll have to jump before calling Rush to get enough height to make it without hitting a spike.
Right after is a section where you must slide under more spikes to pass. Holograns make things worse by darkening the room. Once you're in a safe spot, destroy them with Dive Missiles or Shadow Blades to see where the next ones are.
Next is a crusher area like in Dustman's level. Now with more spikes and plenty more obsticles. It's not super-tough, but you must be cautious.
A Drill Bomb will destroy a wall blocking another Energy Tank. You'll want it for the challenges ahead.
There are a few more spike chasms that you must use either timb-bomb or trap-door platforms to cross on. Rush Jet is more reliable.
About two-thirds of the way through the stage, you fight the Giant Suzy again. It falls to Spark Shock in the same manner as before.
There isn't much to the rest of the stage. There is a wierd spot where you must call Rush on some spikes to reach a higher platform.
Dr. Wily: As always, Doc fights you in another battle mech. This thing is, like Punk, immune to special weapons, and you can only hurt it with Charged buster shots. It follows a simple pattern, though, and you can beat this thing fairly easilly without getting hit. The mech jumps from the left side of the room to the left, or vice versa, firing two missiles when it lands that converge on where you stand. If you stay on the absolute left side of the room, you won't get stomped on and the missiles will go over your head. When it jumps to the right, jump the missiles and fire a buster shot at the mech's eyes. When it's had enough, the cokcpit will open up. The mech will now remain stationary and fire shots that arc down at you. The Screw Crusher is the only weapon that'll reach the cockpit, so equip that, and hit it while didging the shots. It's not hard, it just takes a little persistance.
Ending: Wily grovels some more, but as always, he has an escape route. We see his saucer flying out of the exploding fortress, but it sputters out and crashes into the sea.
