================================
========Mega Man 2 Guide========
================================
by Tim
: http://megaman.retrofaction.com
: tim@megaman-network.com
======
Index:
======
1. Introduction
2. Boss Weaknesses / Recommended Order
3. Power-Up Uses and Locations
4. Metal Man's stage
5. Flash Man's stage
6. Quick Man's stage
7. Wood Man's stage
8. Air Man's stage
9. Crash Man's stage
10. Bubble Man's stage
11. Heat Man's stage
12. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 1
13. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 2
14. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 3
15. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 4
16. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 5
17. Final Stage
18. Boss Weapons
19. Secrets and Tips
20. Legal
================
1. Introduction:
================
Welcome to the official Mega Man Network guide for Mega Man 2, the second installment
in the Classic Series. Refer to the index above for an easy reference guide, and go to
http://megaman.retrofaction.com/mmc/guides/ to find guides for all of the other games
in the Classic Mega Man series. Happy gaming.
=======================================
2. Boss Weaknesses / Recommended Order:
=======================================
-Metal Man -------- Arm Cannon / Metal Blade
-Flash Man -------- Metal Blade
-Quick Man -------- Time Stopper / Arm Cannon
-Wood Man --------- Metal Blade
-Air Man ---------- Leaf Shield
-Crash Man -------- Air Shooter
-Bubble Man ------- Metal Blade
-Heat Man --------- Bubble Lead
===============================
3. Power-Up Uses and Locations:
===============================
Power-Up Use Location
-------------------------------------------
Item-1 - Platform device - Defeat Heat Man
Item-2 - Jetsled device - Defeat Air Man
Item-3 - Wall walker device - Defeat Flash Man
Energy Tank - Refills your Health - Found Randomly
=====================
4. Metal Man's Stage:
=====================
This stage is full of conveyor belts, so watch your step. Start off by heading to the
right, and grab the Energy Tank near the beginning here. After a while, get back on
solid ground, and take care to avoid the giant spike platforms on chains that take a
chunk of your life meter. After you cross this section, make a leap out into space to
land on another platform. Slowly progress through this section, shooting the cornscrews
that pop out of the floor and ceiling. Stay in one place and fire constantly to gain
lots of power-ups. After here, you'll head across another conveyor and head into a short
pit. Head through this part to reach another conveyor and you'll start dealing with some
new enemies that roll on wheels. Defeat the wheels first and then take out the riders,
and head across this large conveyor platform section. At the end, you'll head up a
series of platforms with stacked robots on them. Shoot their eyes to make them blow up.
Next, you'll see an Energy Tank below you; don't attempt to get this until you have the
Item-2 as it's a suicide move otherwise. Here at the end, you just have to make your way
across the floors while avoiding the sliding robots, and you'll wind up at the boss gate.
Metal Man Strategy
==================
A single Metal Blade will finish him off, if you're using it in the teleport room. Other
than that, Metal Man is rather easy. He won't attack you unless you attack first, but
when you do, he will go into a frenzy. The best method of defeating him is to constantly
jump up and down on his conveyor track while hitting him with Arm Cannon shots. This
battle is frenetic, but use his constantly repeating pattern to your advantage.
====================
5. Flash Man's Stage
====================
This stage is rather unique in that it can both hurt your eyes and be hazardous at the
same time. The problem is that the screen is flashing, and the terrain has an icy feel
to it, meaning you slip and slide everywhere. Halt your forward momentum by jumping.
Head through the complicated maze of the first part, taking out the pink shooters as you
come across them, and work your way to the first tunnel. Jump down and take out the
Sniper Joe in his walker. After he's gone. proceed to the right and fall down the tunnel
while holding Right so you drop into the small alcove. Make your way through the down-
wards maze here, taking out the boomerang thrower robots. Wind your way around until you
fall down another tunnel where you'll face another Sniper Joe. Stay in the safe spot at
the far right. Defeat him from this spot and head down again. Now carefully make your
way across the top section of one-block platforms until you reach a ledge with an Energy
Tank on it. Grab it and head back to your left. Drop down and start heading right again;
destroy the last Sniper Joe you find and jump across the last two ledges to get to the
boss gate.
Flash Man Strategy
==================
This Robot Master's lair is staggered, and thus makes it a bit hard to maneuver around,
but if you're a good shot, you can knock off Flash Man before he even reaches you. He'll
start off running across the uneven room. Fire Metal Blade after Metal Blade to cut him
down, and you'll have no problems. If he does manage to get over to you, don't worry too
much about getting hit; he doesn't hurt you that bad.
=====================
6. Quick Man's Stage:
=====================
This stage is a bit on the difficult side, and it's near impossible to clear without the
Time Stopper. From the start, drop down the first tunnel and take out the boomerang
shooters. Drop down the next tunnel and you'll face your first bout with Wily's trade-
mark Force Beams. These fly out from the walls and will kill you instantly, so move
quickly and get by them (the Time Stopper is good here, but you'll need it again later
on). After you get past this section, you'll drop down and land. The lights will go out,
so move cautiously and memorize the terrain when it comes back on. Destroy the flame
throwers and keep moving. After a while, you'll reach the end of this section, and
you'll have to get past a second, much harder Force Beam section. Definitely use the
Time Stopper here. Move as fast as you can while the beams are frozen, and make sure
that you grab every weapon energy capsule that Mega Man comes across. Once you make it
through, you'll face a couple of Sniper Joes; keep defeating them so you can refill your
Time Stopper energy, and head on to the boss gate.
Quick Man Strategy
==================
Now this Robot Master is hard. I recommend having the Time Stopper fully charged before
entering his lair. Use it to knock off half of his life meter, and spend the remainder
of your time dodging him and his Quick Boomerangs while pelting him with your Arm Cannon
or the Metal Blade. Also having a spare Energy Tank never hurts either since this battle
is pretty tough to nail.
====================
7. Wood Man's Stage:
====================
This stage is one of the toughest because of the large variety of enemies. Head through
the first section while destroying the Bubble Bats when they come after you. Equip the
Metal Blade for best results and take out both the bats and rabbits as they come charg-
ing at you. At the end, you'll find a ladder - go down it and take out the next three
bats. Head down the next ladder and take on the first of two Hot Dogs. Jump over the
fire arcs while shooting him to beat him. After he's gone, head to the right and you'll
encounter another Hot Dog. Take him out too and go up the ladder to the right, then head
outside. Stand close to the swinging monkeys to trigger them to jump. Defeat them and
watch out for some Bomb Birds as you cross the platform section. After you're done here,
head inside once more and go down the ladder. Take out the rabbit enemies in the next
two sections as you head down. You'll find one more ladder to climb down, and you'll end
up back outside. Equip the Metal Blade once again to take out the roosters that charge
at you. Sometimes you can time it right so they simply jump over you, but you're better
off defeating them. Make it through here and you'll reach the next boss gate.
Wood Man Strategy
=================
Depending on what weapons you have, you can beat this Robot Master a few ways. If you
have the Atomic Fire, charge it up all the way and let loose the blast when Wood Man
tosses his Shield away, and you'll beat him in one shot. If you have Crash Bombs, you
can destroy his Shield and pelt him that way. Or (the best way), wait him out until he
tosses the Leaf Shield, and then blast him to oblivion with the Metal Blade. However you
do it, do it fast, because Wood Man can get kind of nasty with some attacks.
===================
8. Air Man's Stage:
===================
His stage takes place in the clouds, so your main hazard here is falling. Start off by
moving from Air Tiki to Air Tiki while avoiding or taking out the mini-Tikis that pop
out from the sides. Wait for each giant Tiki's horns to retract before proceeding to the
next one, and repeat for each Tiki you come across. Eventually you'll reach some Thunder
Gods - shoot them and then take their clouds they were riding on. Use this method of
transporation to cross the large expanse, until you reach solid ground once more. Here,
deal with some annoying Bomb Birds and keep heading to your right. At the end, you'll
fall off the edge and land on a platform obscured by some clouds. Equip the Metal Blade
and take out the boomerang shooters that you encounter, then head to the far left to
fall down to another obscured platform. Head right and you'll find some more Air Tikis.
Make your way across these the same way you did at the beginning. At the end, you'll
reach some more of the Bomb Birds and then deal with some robots equipped with fans. Try
to keep them on the very edge of the screen so you don't trigger them. Jump from plat-
form to platform, taking out these enemies and you will eventually reach the boss gate.
Air Man Strategy
================
This Robot Master is a cinch with the Leaf Shield, but the key is your timing. Wait
until he stops his initial Air Shooter tornado attack, then let a Shield fly at him.
Repeat this process, and if he jumps at you, it only makes your job easier. If you must,
supplement with the normal Arm Cannon. Three hits if I remember correctly will take him
down.
=====================
9. Crash Man's Stage:
=====================
If any stage sets an altitude record, it's this one. Seriously, you actually head out
into space near the end, it seems. Anyway, at the start, you should get around the pipe
sections and climb the ladders you come across very quickly, as robots similar to the
ones in Heat Man's stage (that came out of the walls) flow out of the pipes here. Make
it through this initial part and you'll get to a new section that is similar in nature.
Destroy the flying robots and head up the ladder. Here, equip the Leaf Shield, and ride
on the platforms so you can defeat more flying enemies with ease. Jump to each ladder as
the platform nears it, and ascend the next two sections like this one. At the top,
you'll find some more of the tower robots that you have to shoot in the eye to destroy.
Take them out, and climb up the next ladder. Keep climbing until you start seeing more
enemies. Defeat the Metool and climb up his ladder. Climb some more until you have a
choice of ladders. Take the left one, and get up to where you can choose from three more
ladders. Here, take the middle one and ascend it while taking out the Bomb Birds flying
from the sides of the screen. Once you finally reach the top, you'll see an Energy Tank
to your left. Drop off to get it, then use Item-2 as a small stepping stone to get back
up to where you were. Head across this last section destroying some more of the copter
robots and you'll reach the boss gate.
Crash Man Strategy
==================
Despite his weakness against the Air Shooter (three hits), he is very difficult to hit
with it. The key tactic is to hit him when he's busy reaching the apex of his jump, as
the tornadoes curve slightly up wards. Crash Man spends most of his time jumping and
firing Crash Bombs at you (which do a great deal of damage), so it's not a bad idea to
have an Energy Tank on hand if you need it. Approach this battle carefully.
=======================
10. Bubble Man's Stage:
=======================
This stage is straightforward enough, but there are some tricky parts you'll have to
watch out for. Start off moving across the suspended platforms and take out the frog
robots. After you beat them, you'll come to some small platforms. Make your way across
these quickly since they drop out from under you. At the end, you'll have to head down a
small passage while taking out some crab enemies. At the very end of this, you'll find
yourself submerged underwater. This is where you have to be cautious - Mega Man's aqua-
tic buoyancy will take him almost to the ceiling when he jumps, so you'll have to watch
your step. You'll encounter some giant red fish that send shrimp robots after you; hit
the gem on the head to defeat these, and move on. In this next section you have to
maneuver around a somewhat complicated spike section while avoiding enemies that float
down from the top and follow you around. The best thing to do is shoot them with your
Arm Cannon before they can home in on you. At the end, carefully float down the spike-
lined short pit and head to your right. Take out the second giant red fish, deal with
some more frog enemies, and you'll end up back outside. Here, jump from ledge to ledge,
avoiding/destroying the crabs that fall from the sky. At the end, you'll reach the boss
gate.
Bubble Man Strategy
===================
He'll just float across the room, occasionally firing his Bubble Lead at you. Bubble Man
is the epitome of easy, in this case, wait until he's hovering next to or above you, and
pelt him with Metal Blades either diagonally or straight up. This Master falls to these
in no time. The only attacks he even uses are firing bubbles at you or unsuccessfully
trying to float away from your attacks. Make sure that you stay on the ground, because
his ceiling is spiked, and you don't want to hit them.
=====================
11. Heat Man's Stage:
=====================
You get a slight respite from the difficult stages in Heat Man's lair. If you have the
Item-2, your job is made a whole lot easier. Start off destroying the copter robots and
keep making your way to the right while jumping over the lava pits. Eventually you'll
reach a section where gray floating robots come out of wall pits and come after you.
Use the chances you have to fill up any weapons or life you may need and keep crossing
over the ledges. After you're done with that part, head across the solid ground while
avoiding the sliding blue robots. Get to the ladder and head down. Deal with an easy
pattern of disappearing blocks and get to the next ladder. Head down to get to another
section of tower tower-hopping, except you have to maneuver around some disappearing
blocks that are there to help you ascend the towers. On top of that, you have to do this
while avoiding more of those gray robots that come out of the holes in the wall and
avoid lava pits. Use the Metal Blade to take care of the robots, and keep heading to
your right. After this part, you'll start seeing numerous disappearing blocks start
appearing over your head. Make it easier on you and use the Item-2 jetsled to simply fly
across the expansive lava pit. At the end, head down the ladder, and take out the Sniper
Joe/walker combo and you'll be able to reach the boss gate.
Heat Man Strategy
=================
He's simple if you have the Bubble Lead on you. Fire one off, and then wait for it to
impact him, then count to two and leap out of the way as he comes screaming across the
screen. Repeat this strategy and you'll have him beat. You'll still have to avoid his
arcing Atomic Fire attack, but this isn't hard to deal with, especially seeing as the
Bubble Lead stuns, interrupts, and basically scrambles him.
===============================
12. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 1:
===============================
Get ready - this stage is long. You'll start out outside, moving across some relatively
uneven terrain. Destroy the bomb birds and their mini bomb birds that drop from the sky,
and make your way to the castle. Deal with some of the boomerang tossers and use Item-3
to climb up to a high ladder. Keep climbing and make your way through this section while
destroying the Sniper Joes in your path. Eventually, you'll get back outside; hang on
the top rung to let the slider go past you, then head to the ladder. Go up this insanely
long ladder while avoiding the enemies that get in your way, and hang on about four Mega
Man heights from the top of the ladder, and start using the Item-1 to create some plat-
forms so you can get up to the high ladder on the left. Once you do, climb another
insanely long ladder and get up top. Here, equip the Quick Boomerangs and jump from
platform to platform until you reach the stacked section where you'll fight the
Mechadragon.
MechaDragon Strategy
====================
When the MechaDragon first appears, you can't hurt him, so concentrate on getting away
from him. He'll chase you through a long passage, so wait until you get to the three
stacked blocks, then when his energy meter fills, start chucking Quick Boomerangs at
him. The best way to go about this involves standing on the very top block, so if you
get hit, you fall down to the one right below you. He goes down really quickly, so just
make sure you don't fall off your precarious perch.
===============================
13. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 2:
===============================
At the beginning, refill your Item-1 with the weapon energy you find, and destroy the
green copter enemies that you faced earler in the game. Head to the edge and use the
Item-2 to cross the long spike pit. On your flight across, you'll see some ladders. Skip
the first and jump to the second one so you can score an Energy Tank. Take the next
ladder down and use the Crash Bombs to gain some more weapon energy and yet another
Energy Tank. Keep heading down while holding right so you drop between the two spike
traps. Now face another set of the cornscrew robots from Metal Man's stage (refill your
supplies if needed), and then keep heading right. use the Item-3 to ascend a tall wall,
and proceed to cross under the chained spike platforms. After a while of this, you'll
reach a tunnel. Equip the Metal Blades and jump down this tunnel to reach the boss.
Moving Blocks Strategy
======================
This boss can be both easy and an absolute pain. The basic premise behind the boss is
that blocks separate from the walls at different points, attach to form bigger blocks,
and then come flying at you. Your defense against this attack should be the Bubble Lead
or the Metal Blade. I personally use the Blade since it flies in eight directions,
and is relatively easy to aim, but the Bubble Lead destroys each block faster. The
blocks will increase in speed as the battle progresses, so you'd better have some quick
reflexes as the blocks deal a lot of damage if they hit you.
===============================
14. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 3:
===============================
You'll begin on a small ledge. Jump to the left or right (it doesn't really matter) and
use the Crash Bombs to gain some good power-ups). Destroy the enemies on your way down
and head into the watery section. This section can be dangerous as it's lined with
spikes, but you have a lot of buoyancy so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Watch
out for the giant fish that come soaring out of the two wide pits in the floor, though,
and make your way back to solid ground, but again, be wary as the ceiling is lined with
spikes. Now jump down the pit and maneuver around the spikes the best you can (holding
towards the left side is usually good, but still be careful). After you land, you will
have to maneuver around two more spiked platforms. Get around them and head down the
next tunnel while holding right so you don't hit the two spikes at the bottom here.
Maneuver through this next section while destroying any enemies that get in your way,
and you'll eventually reach the boss gate.
GutsDozer Strategy
==================
From the moment you enter the room and his energy meter fills up, run towards him and
jump up on his front end. From there, keep jumping while chucking Quick Boomerangs at
him to take him out. You'll probably get hit by the minor stuff he throws at you, but as
long as you keep hitting him, you'll far outlast him.
===============================
15. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 4:
===============================
Capcom decided to be extremely mean in this stage and throw all the hard stuff you've
faced until now in here, along with false floors! However, even with these obstacles,
the stage is fairly straightforward. Start off by using the Weapon energy to refill your
supplies (Crash Bombs are the primary one you want full). Head up the ladder and destroy
the Met there, and climb the next ladder. Ignore the next Met you come across, and head
up the right hand ladder (the one to the left leads to a false floor that drops you
right in aforementioned Met's lap). At the top, head left and fall through a floor while
holding Left. Now work your way back around so you can grab a 1-Up while re-ascending.
Fall down that same hole from before, but hold Right this time. Go back up the ladder
and head right to the next ladder. You can try and experiment where the false floors are
here, I personally can't give exact locations other than that one is slightly to your
left, and the next one a little bit after that - I used Item-2 to cross to the ladder.
However you do it, get to this ladder and head up. Take out some more Mets and watch for
more false floors (it's ok to fall here since none of them drop you to anything really
lethal), and use the Item 1 or 3 (depends on your position) to reach the Energy Tank,
then head up the ladder at the top left. Head right along this path and drop down at the
end. Here you have to maneuver along some more of those complicated platform tracks that
you saw in Crash Man's stage. To make your life easier, use the Leaf Shield and leave it
equipped while on the platforms to take out the enemies. Just remember that Mega Man
will toss it whenever you move, so don't move unless you plan to get off the platform.
You may need to use Item-2 to cross a section on the last one, but once you're done,
head along the last section while destroying the Sniper Joes in their little chicken-
walkers, and you'll wind up at the boss gate.
Wall Orbs Strategy
==================
Now this boss is incredibly annoying. First off, the only way to defeat it is to fight
it twice. The objective is to destroy the orbs in the room, however, most are blocked by
little walls that can only be destroyed using the Crash Bombs. However, given that the
Crash Bombs are also needed to destroy the orbs, and you do not have the necessary
energy with which to do both, you must first destroy the walls in the room. Allow your-
self to be killed, and then use the enemies in the stage to recharge your Crash Bomb
energy, then go through a second time and destroy the orbs. It's complicated, but this
is really the only conventional way to accomplish this task. As a bonus, though, you can
use the faintwarp trick described in the Secrets and Tips section to avoid any damage;
simply start pressing Start rapidly as the orbs begin to flash, and their energy bullets
will pass right through you.
===============================
16. Dr. Wily's Castle, Stage 5:
===============================
This stage drops you into a room with eight small teleports. Hop into each to re-fight
the Robot Masters one by one. Once you've beaten all of them, you can hop into the new
ninth teleport to warp to the first battle against Dr. Wily.
Here's a guide to the layout of the teleports.
Heat Man Flash Man
Air Man Metal Man
Wood Man Bubble Man Quick Man Crash Man
Dr. Wily Strategy (Phase 1)
===========================
To start off, charge the Atomic Fire all the way up and shoot the front of Wily's ship
to destroy part of it. Then switch to the Metal Blades and start firing like crazy at
him until you get him. Jump over his shots and try your best to avoid him.
================
17. Final Stage:
================
Here it is: the final level. It helps to have all your weapons and life full, especially
four Energy Tanks and the Bubble Lead full. There are no enemies, but you'll want to be
very cautious as you proceed as the acid that drips from the ceiling does considerable
harm to your life. Make it through this dangerous section and you'll move on to face
Wily in his final form.
Dr. Wily Strategy (Phase 2)
===========================
Wily appears to transform into an alien for this battle; but Wily is only using a holo-
gram. Nevertheless, you must beat it. The Alien moves in a perfect Figure-8, so keep
this in mind, and blast the thing with the Bubble Lead to defeat it. I recommend carry-
ing an Energy Tank or two into battle with you here.
=================
18. Boss Weapons:
=================
- Metal Blade - Mega Man fires a blade in any of eight directions; it's easily the most
useful of any weapon ever in terms of longevity and effectiveness.
- Time Stopper - The screen flashes and time stops while the screen twinkles. Mega Man
can move during this time, but he can't fire his Arm Cannon. It's usefulness lies
primarily in Quick Man's stage.
- Quick Boomerang - Mega Man rapid-fires pink boomerangs. Not really useful, but it
affects some bosses.
- Bubble Lead - Mega Man fires a small moving bubble across the floor that is pretty
effective against some bosses.
- Atomic Fire - Mega Man can fire three types of fire blasts, and it can be charged to
fire bigger blasts.
- Leaf Shield - The first of a line of weapons that will be excessively overused, this
one allows Mega Man to shield himself with leaves and then shoot them off forward.
- Air Shooter - Mega Man can shoot up to three small tornadoes that rise vertically.
- Crash Bomb - Mega Man fires a bomb which can attach itself to walls and then explode.
It's time-delayed, and can also attach to enemies.
=====================
19. Secrets and Tips:
=====================
1. Password to Wily's Castle: A5 / B2, B4 / C1, C3, C5 / D4, D5 / E2
2. Never have I seen a more useful weapon than the Metal Blade. It works against just
about every enemy, and has remarkable durability (about 60 uses per full meter). Use
it to get out of tight situations.
3. There are certain sections in stages where you can make good use of your Items, so
make sure you have the proper equipment before tackling certain stages. Having the
Item-2 prior to visiting Heat Man's stage is a good idea.
4. Whenever you press Start (and pause the game), Mega Man "faintwarps", in other words,
he does a mini-teleport. While in this faintwarp state, you can't take damage. This
can be useful in some situations; by pressing Start rapidly, you can actually be hit
and not take damage (use this in the room with the Wall Orbs in Wily's Castle).
5. There are three bosses you can defeat in this game that require only one shot/hit.
Metal Man can be beaten by using his own weapon on him, Wood Man can be beaten if you
charge the Atomic Fire, and Crash Man can be beaten if you can line up the three
tornadoes from the Air Shooter into a single consecutive 1-2-3 punch.
6. Here's something cute: Press and hold A when selecting a Robot Master, and the stars
in the background will change to miniature Bomb Birds.
==========
20. Legal:
==========
This guide must always be shown in full form with credit given to the author, and a link
and credit must be given to Mega Man Network (http://megaman.retrofaction.com/). All
associated characters and games are copyright to Capcom.
