Mega Man 3 FAQ/Walkthrough - Version 1.0 By VirgilKX 4/10/02 Sections: 1. Comments 2. Version History 3. The Story 4. Controls 5. Weapons and Items 6. Eight Robot Masters 7. Doc Robot Stages 8. Mega Man 3 Changes 9. Walkthrough - First Eight Stages - Top Man - Shadow Man - Spark Man - Magnet Man - Hard Man - Snake Man - Gemini Man - Needle Man - Stages 9-12: Doc Robot Stages - Stage 13: Break Man - Stage 14: Dr. Wily's Castle 10. Secrets 11. FAQ list 12. Closing and Contact Information ======================================================================= SECTION 1. COMMENTS ======================================================================= To start things off, this is a pretty descriptive Mega Man 3 walkthrough and FAQ. If you're having trouble in the game at any particular point, there's a 99% chance I thought of it and made note of how to solve or get past it. If you can't find the answer in the walkthrough itself, check the FAQ. If you still can't find it, e-mail me and I'm sure I'll be able to answer your question. Note: Use Ctrl + F to find a particular item in this FAQ. ======================================================================= SECTION 2. VERSION HISTORY ======================================================================= Version 1.0 (4//02: Finished the walkthrough, which is the meat of this guide. I'll update it more and more as I figure certain things out. Mail me your FAQs and I'll add them to this guide. ======================================================================= SECTION 3. THE STORY ======================================================================= Nothing yet. ======================================================================= SECTION 4. CONTROLS ======================================================================= To start off, you have the control pad, the start and select button, and the A/B buttons. The control pad moves Mega Man, left or right. Down and up are used to control the Hard Knuckles movement, the Shadow Blades direction, and to go up or down a ladder. The control pad also has full movement with the Rush Marine and the Rush Jet. The start button pulls up the menu and pauses gameplay. Choose your weapon or items, or take a brief break from the game play. Use the start button to return to game play once you have decided on your weapon or time of choice. The select button has no real important use, other than to obviously select from different options in the game. The control pad has the same feature, so don't sweat it. The A button makes Mega Man jump. Press it lightly for a small jump, and holding the A button down will make Mega Man do a full jump. The B button is the primary fire button. Having just the standard Plasma Cannon equipped, the B button will fire off up to three shots on screen. Switch to another weapon and the B button will take control for that weapon until you run out of weapon energy. Down and then A will make Mega Man slide. You'll need to use this to get by narrow passages, but it's also useful to slide under certain enemies that leap toward and over you. You can also jump and fire in the air at the same time. Jumping and shooting is a useful tactic when you need to fire at an enemy, but can't damage them from a ground position. ======================================================================= SECTION 5. WEAPONS AND ITEMS ======================================================================= Mega Man needs weapons and even transportation devices to help him out in his fight. You automatically come with the Plasma Cannon and the Rush Coil, but the only way to get more is to beat the first eight bosses for a completed set. Right after listing the 11 weapons and items you find from bosses, I'll list the random items you can find throughout the game. These include small weapon capsules and 1-ups. They can't be dropped from bosses, but instead regular enemies. If an enemy can drop an item, it can drop any item. The rarity of items appears to be the same for each, however an enemy won't ALWAYS drop an item. If you're looking for energy capsules of any item, you should hunt in areas that have enemies which constantly respawn. You'll find that 1-ups and Energy Tanks and such will usually drop when you least expect them. It's kind of futile to actively seek them out on your own, as you're unlikely to find them within a reasonable ammount of time. I'll list off a description and a usefulness rating of each item(possible 1-5, 5 being the best rating). The rating will be based on the weapon/item's use throughout the game mainly, and it's ease of use. Also, I'll list where you get each said item. TOP SPIN - FROM TOP MAN(1): This is a really useless weapon. It can hardly damage regular enemies at all, and its only use is to defeat Shadow Man and the last boss easily. The concept makes it sound like a good weapon: Spin through the air, and enemies will take damage if they come into contact with you. I've hardly seen any enemies affected by this greatly, and even if they are, the weapon energy for this item depletes way too fast. Defeat Shadow Man with it, and never use it again. SHADOW BLADES - FROM SHADOW MAN(4.5): You'll notice in my walkthrough that I make note to this weapon quite often. It is quite handy against the majority of enemies in this game, including bosses. You can fire a single metal star in five different directions, going from the left, upper left, up, upper right and right. Better yet, the energy for this weapon doesn't decrease very fast after multiple shots. It doesn't have infinite range, and it isn't very powerful, but the ability to control its direction makes a very handy weapon to have. SPARK SHOCK - FROM SPARK MAN(2.5): Although it can be a useful weapon, you still won't be using it much in the game. It kills Magnet Man in four shots, along with Dr. Wily's first mode, but it doesn't much else besides that. However, it CAN paralyze certain enemies and prevent them from doing anything at all for a short period of time. The downfall is that you can not even switch weapons while an enemy is paralyzed, and you can still get damaged by coming into contact with a paralyzed enemy. Try using it if an enemy is about to jump on top of you, and then run under it. Don't worry if you don't try this strategy, since you won't really need it much at all in the game. MAGNET MISSLES - FROM MAGNET MAN(2): A homing missle that first fires straight, and if an enemy is above or below, it'll arc to up or down accordingly to try and hit it. The aim is pretty good unless the enemy is moving fast. Unfortunetely, this weapon takes a hit for being a huge drain on the weapon energy. It's definetely not to be used as a rapid fire weapon. It does have its uses though, such as hitting out of reach enemies, and for one annoying boss in Dr. Wily's castle. Don't plan on bringing this weapon out too often in the heat of battle though. HARD KNUCKLES - FROM HARD MAN(4): This goes right up there with the Shadow Blades as one of the most useful weapons in the game. It fires a single large blue fist, and as it speeds in a straight direction left or right, you can control vertical movement slightly with the control pad. Also, it is very handy against a lot of enemies and bosses. It can destroy certain walls in Dr. Wily's castle as well. The firing speed isn't too great, as using it can leave you open for a few seconds, and using it drains your weapon energy somewhat fast. You'll still find plenty of uses though, as it is a very powerful weapon. SEARCH SNAKE - FROM SNAKE MAN(1.5): Eh. I don't much use this weapon at all. It travels along the ground until it hits an enemy. It can only be used as a ground weapon, and it can't even kill the rabites that you fight. I only use it for fighting Gemini Man, Snake Man (the second time you fight him) and the final boss. Dissapointing otherwise. GEMINI LASER - FROM GEMINI MAN(2): I shouldn't technically give this weapon a 2 rating, since I didn't use it much more than the Search Snake. I think this weapon has some potential, though, but not much. It fires off a single laser, which either disappears when it his an enemy, or bounces along a few walls. With the right position, you can bank the Gemini Laser off a wall or two, and hit an enemy. There are only a few situations where this comes in somewhat handy, and it isn't even a big deal when it does happen. It can used against some enemies, and it kills Needle Man in four shots, but don't strain yourself too much trying to find good use for this weapon. NEEDLE CANNON - FROM NEEDLE MAN(2): Firing this weapon off is like firing a somewhat more powerful version of the Plasma Cannon. So then why did I give it a lower rank? I just don't like using it much. No bosses have a real weakness to this weapon either, giving it a lower usefulness rating. It can be useful against the three Protoman fights, the Doc Robot Wood Man fight and a boss or two in Dr. Wily's castle, but like most other weapons, don't knock yourself over for not using this weapon much. RUSH COIL - START WITH IT(4.5): I can't help but give this a high ranking. The only reason it gets a 4.5 is because it is basically overshadowed by the Rush Jet once you get it. But it will always remain a terrific stepping stool. Simply deploy the Rush Coil, jump on top of Rush, and you'll get a fairly generous boost in the air. You'll use this device multiple times in the games to reach power-ups or other hard to reach areas. Also, you can use the Plasma Cannon while you have the Rush Coil equipped. RUSH MARINE - FROM SHADOW MAN(2.5): It's unfortunate there are so few water areas in the game, since this the ideal vehicle to use underwater. The 2.5 primarily comes from using it in Gemini Man's stage, since it makes the near end of the stage much more easier. You can control the Rush Marine in all different directions, and fire off the Plasma Cannon from inside the Rush Marine. Like I said, it's a useful item, it just isn't much at all during the course of the game. RUSH JET - FROM NEEDLE MAN(5): The best transportation device. Full control in the air, and you can go in any direction to reach most anything you need to reach. You'll even HAVE to use this when you revisit Needle Man's stage, and you'll definetely use it a good many times after you get it. SMALL ENERGY CAPSUEL ======================================================================= SECTION 6. NINE ROBOT MASTERS ======================================================================= Yep, there are eight more robots for Mega Man to combat, and they're even tougher this time around. A description for each is listed below. Each robot master has a weakness, and when you use the weapon it it weak against, it takes off a sizable amount of damage. I've taken the liberty of putting down each robot master's weakness, too. In addition to the weakness, I've noted a difficulty level (possible 1-5). This difficulty level corresponds to the ease of defeating the specific robot. The first number factors in if you use the robot's weakness, and the second number factors in if you just use the Plasma cannon, with no energy tanks. For better use, W(weakness) and P(Plasma Cannon). In 'numerical' order (that is, the order in which they were created), the robots you must defeat: Magnet Man: The ultimate wielder of magnetic force. Capable of launching power magnets with incredible force, making itself into a living magnet, and boosting great agility. An electric charge should be enough to jolt Magnet Man out of existence. Weakness: Spark Shot Difficulty: W-1.5 P-2 Spark Man: Much like Elec Man, it can send out waves of electricity. The difference between the two being, Spark Man's shots are discharged through small or large sparks. The largest spark it can produce is pretty powerful. Cold, sharade Difficulty: W-1.5 P-3 Shadow Man: Shadow Man possesses incredible jumping and speed abilities. His weapon of choice includes his rather large ninja sta It is often hard to predict what Shadow Man is going to do next, as his wild jumping will catch his opponents off guard. Dizzying Shadow Man with the Top Spin will lead to his downfall. Weakness: Top Spin Difficulty: W-3 P-4.5 Top Man: Shapped like a large top, its weapon includes throwing large spinning tops through the air, and using its own body to launch itself against opponents. Unfortunetely for Top Man, its predictable pattern and weakness to a hard punch makes this robot master fairly easy to defeat. Weakness: Hard Punch Difficulty: W-1 P-1.5 Hard Man: When it leaps into the air and smashes into the ground, its body sends off a tremendous force and severly damages any being it hits. It temporarily paralyzes an opponent, too. Also, Hard Man can fire out two small iron fists, that try to smack into an opponent. Being a large casing of iron and metal, powerful magnets cause great damage to this robot. Weakness: Magnet Difficulty: W-2 P-3 Needle Man: A giant extendable needle is the best description for this robot. It's able to fire off small but deadly needles, and it can dish out a very painful strike from its head. Topple on a superior jumping ability, and you have one fierce robot... it would be almost unstoppable, had it not been for its severe weakness to lasers. Weakness: Gemini Laser Difficulty: W-1.5 P-4 Gemini Man: This robot's main ability is its ability to split itself into two seperate beings. Strangely enough, they share the same power core, and when it when reaches 50% power, it changes back into one. Another useful ability it uses is a mimicking ability. Gemini Man (or its clone) will fire a shot off for every shot fired at it. Snakes are Gemini Man's primary weakness. Weakness: Snake Shot Difficulty: W-2.5 P-4 Snake Man: Snake Man's abilities are weak in terms in the number of them, as he follows a predictable pattern, and can only shoot out small snakes. These snakes will travel along the ground and attempt to run into an opponent. However, Snake Man has no real glaring weakness, thus making him a little tougher to defeat than the rest of the robots. Weakness: Difficulty: W-- P-2.5 ======================================================================= SECTION 7. DOC ROBOT BOSSES ======================================================================= Doc Robot: This is the robot that you meet after you have defeated the original eight robot masters. Uniquely designed, Doc Robot's abilities take from after absorbing another robot's abilities. Weapons, patterns, weaknesses, everything is mimicked almost exactly. Dr. Wily stole the designs from the second chapter in Mega Man's battle, so the robots you see Doc Robot clone, are the ones from Mega Man 2. Unfortunetely, you can not gain the powers from a Doc Robot clone, thus you must make due with the initial eight weapons you gained. You'll fight two Doc Robots in the course of a redesigned stage from the first eight stages. To be more precise, Needle Man, Gemini Man, Spark Man and Shadow Man's stages are the ones that get redesigned. You'll encounter one Doc Robot halfway through each stage, and then one at the end. They're all about the same in terms of difficulty, so it is like fighting two robot masters in one stage. There's no need to list the original Mega Man 2 descriptions for each robot, but I will mark off what makes each boss tougher than its counterpart. Crash Man Clone: Although it still follows the same pattern, it is a little more wayward in execution than before. Thus, you are not guarenteed 100% safe if you follow the same strategy from Mega Man 2. Still, it is still safer to employ that method than to blindly attack it. (The method I talk about is as follows: Run at Crash Man, and jump and fire off a shot. Crash Man will leap into the air and fire off a crash bomb at you. If you time the shot right and are close enough, you can pass under Crash Man as he leaps, and avoid the crash bomb. The reason it does not work as well here, is because Doc Robot can fire off another Crash Bomb randomly, and will not always react to your shots.) Weakness: Hard Punch Difficulty: W-2.5 P-- Air Man Clone: Quick Man Clone: The surface you fight it in is completely flat. Thus, it will not get stuck in a corner momentarily. Smacking into this clone will cause massive damage, so it is better that if you must take damage, you take damage from the quick boomerangs. It is overall much tougher to avoid this clone than before. Weakness: Snake Shot Difficulty: W-3.5 P-4.5 Wood Man Clone: Everything takes off a lot of damage here. Doc Robot will also reach you in less strides as well, and trying to defeat it without an energy tank can be very tough. It's made pretty much impossible to do with the Plasma Cannon and no energy tanks, as well. Weakness: Difficulty: W-- P-5 Heat Man Clone: Everything is about the same as it was before, although it may be a little tougher to avoid smacking into the clone's body. Compared to the other Doc Robot clones, this one shouldn't be too hard. Weakness: Shadow Blade Difficulty: W-2.5 P-3 Metal Man Clone: There is no conveyor belt to worry about, so that's a plus. Bubble Man Clone: Flash Man Clone: ======================================================================= SECTION 8. MEGA MAN 3 CHANGES ======================================================================= Certain things have changed from Mega Man 2. Changes are listed as follows: - You can no longer change the difficulty level. It is as it was back in Mega Man 1. - You can hold up to nine energy tanks. - Items 1, 2 and 3 have been removed. Rush, Mega Man's robotic dog, has taken over as the transportation device. - The item menu has been redone. There are still two pages, but items are listed in a more horizontal fashion. - The password option now features blue and red dots. - It is no longer possible to continously damage a robot master. There is a slight invincibility time after a robot master has been damaged. - You can now slide by pressing down and then A. Use it to get past tight spots, or pass under certain robots. - Birds will not appear anymore in the boss stage introduction when you hold down certain buttons. - You won't go right onto Dr. Wily's castle upon defeating the first eight stages. You'll first have to revisit four of the original stages, and then fight Break Man, and THEN you will go to Dr. Wily's castle. ======================================================================= SECTION 9. WALKTHROUGH ======================================================================= You can start off by going to any of the eight robot master's stage. However, it is easiest to go to Top Man's stage first. Also, this guide takes note that you are following my order. Thus, I won't mention to use a specific weapon unless you have it at the time. (e.g. Won't be able to use Shadow Blades in Top Man's stage.) **************** STAGE 1: TOP MAN **************** - You can't damage the bolts at all until they connect. Wait until they do before blasting them. - Any shots you fire from your cannon will fly right over the rabbits. Wait until they leap into the air and time your shots right. Or, you can lure them over to a platform and shoot them from a lower platform. - When you proceed down the first ladder, you can shoot the *top enemy* without climbing off the ladder. - You'll need the Rush Coil to reach the three small energy capsules. You can then use the weapon capsule to refill its energy. - Inch forward in the spiked floor section before you jump. A bolt will materialize. Rememeber, touching the spikes means instant death. - The met bulldozers* can only be damaged in the head. Also, remember to grab the 1-up you see in this area. - When you reach the two stationary mets, take note that they won't open up until you get near them. They'll fire off three shots once you get close enough. Also, you can't damage them unless they open up. Get in close, and then back away and fire when they appear. - The cat enemy can be tough to defeat. Don't bother attacking the yarn, just try to avoid them and fire away at the cat. - When you see the cat later on, try to defeat it before both balls of yarn dissapear. Three fleas will jump from the cat's back and make it difficult to attack the cat easily. - In the next spiked section, hold up as you jump to the ladder. You'll grab onto it that way. - It's possible to get past the top enemy* without taking damage, but the tops cause minimal damage anyway. - When jumping from top to top, try to be closer to the right edge of the corresponding top when you jump. This reduces the risk of you missing a jump. %%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: TOP MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%% Not to be condensending or anything... but if you can't beat Top Man, then I'm amazed you even made it to him. Seriously though, Top Man is pretty easy to beat. He has a very predictable pattern: He'll fire off three tops, which zoom in towards you. Slide to the left or right (depending on where Top Man is) to avoid them. He'll then spin towards you, wait for him to start moving towards you, and then jump over him. He'll then continue this pattern. Just fire off the plasma cannon when he isn't spinning (since he's invincible when he is spinning), and then continusly slide to the right or left to avoid the tops. You'll get the hang of it, trust me. ITEM(S) RECEIVED: TOP SPIN - The top spin is a pretty useless weapon to use. It really has only one use: Defeating Shadow Man. I wouldn't even bother trying to use it against anything else, since there are better weapons to use for whatever you're using the Top Spin against. ******************* STAGE 2: SHADOW MAN ******************* To be honest, Shadow Man and his stage is a bit of a leap in difficulty after Top Man's stage. As long as you're more patient, you shouldn't have too much trouble reaching Shadow Man. - The new shotman isn't tough to defeat. However, it'll release ground shots when you get near. Like the first shotman from Mega Man 2, it'll pause after firing off 3 horizontal shots. MINI-BOSS: PROTOMAN After dealing with the rabits and the metdozer, you'll meet up with Protoman, your robot brother. He's here to test your ability, so now you must fight him. He's not too tough, all he does is jump from side to the other and fire shots off when he jumps. Slide under his jumps and fire away with the Plasma Cannon. Not tough at all. - You'll see a projector in the air up ahead. This makes the entire screen black, save for yourself and enemies. It's no real big deal now, just keep moving forward and jumping. Destroy any enemies along the way. - You'll come across some walking grenades. Best to blast them from a distance, as they pack a damaging explosion when destroyed. - When you reach the waterfalls, this is where you should take my advice about being patient. When you jump to the second flatform, you'll see a parachuter* fly in from the sky. Blast it, and then inch forward to bring down another one in the next screen. Jump to the next platform and repeat. Don't be hasty, and you'll do all right. - Just jump over the dragonflies when they come towards you. Or you can make a stand and rapidly fire with the plasma cannon when they're at your level. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: SHADOW MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Shadow Man is tough to defeat, even with the Top Spin. The best thing to do when damaging him with it is to sparingly hit him. You'll drain all of your Top Spin power if you try to get him in one shot. If you do run out of Top Spin power, then you're in for some serious hurt. Slide underneath his Shadow Blades, and try to watch when he's going to slide. Don't get too panicky when he's hopping around the room. You'll want to have some energy tanks handy if you're going to attempt to whittle down his energy with the Plasma Cannon. ITEM(S) RECEIVED: SHADOW BLADE and RUSH MARINE - The Shadow Blade is pretty useful. You can fire it in any direction, while having a pretty good punch. The Rush Marine can only be used underwater, and even though there are few underwater areas, it serves its purpose for those short occassions. ****************** STAGE 3: SPARK MAN ****************** - Try using your newly aquired Shadow Blades to take care of the eye walker*. - Watch the electric movers*. When they flash, a lightning bolt will strike inbetween them. Jump over the bottom one before or after it flashes. - Only one spark robot* will come out per hatch. No need to worry about continous attacks. - The Hammer Joe can only be damaged when its eye is open. Blast its eye with the Plasma Cannon or the Shadow Blades when he opens his eye, but avoid the hammers he throws. - The arrow platforms will fly up to the spiked ceiling when you step on them. Jump off when you are parallel or above the following platform. Yep, instant death awaits you if you touch the spikes. - It's possible to make it through the two electric movers* without taking any damage. Just make a beeline for the ladder once you get off the last arrow platform. - Take out the metdozer and use the rush coil to get up to a well deserved weapon and energy capsule. - When you fall down the vertical shaft, you don't have to worry about the walls being lined with spikes. Not for now, anyway. - You'll see garbage being lined up ahead. When the first one drops, jump and slide over it to avoid the second one crushing you. If both fall down, rapidly destroy both, and then jump and slide over the first one that appears. - After getting the four small weapon capsules, equip the Shadow Blades. Inch forward before hopping on the arrow platform, and destroy the bolt that appears. Jump to the next platform, and make a light jump to the pillar, otherwise you'll smack into the bolt. If you don't think you'll make it, try to land yourself back onto the arrow platform. Until the arrow platform lowers back into its original position, you don't have to worry about it flying back up into the spiked ceiling. When you hop onto the last arrow platform, hop back onto the previous platform and take out the bolt that appears. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: SPARK MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The area you fight Spark Man is a bit small, so it can be very tough to avoid hitting his body. His attacks consist of firing out eight small sparks in eight different directions, and then firing out one large spark. Use the Shadow Blades against him, and try to predict when he'll jump past you. Otherwise, seven shots from the Shadow Blades will be all that you need to defeat Spark Man. ITEMS RECEIVED: SPARK SHOCK - Think of a small upgrade to the plasma cannon. It's useful against certain enemies and bosses. Plus, it can paralyze some enemies. Unfortunetely, a handful of enemies can block the shot entirely. ******************* STAGE 4: MAGNET MAN ******************* - The flying magnets* will pull you up, but not all the way up to their body. Meaning, you won't take any damage as long as you don't hold up. Watch for any them before making a jump, but at the same time, you can use any ones that are flying to the right to carry you over pits. - Your brother appears again. Same strategy as before. Although you can try to use the Shadow Blades against him, since you'll defeat him in half the time if you used the Plasma Cannon. - You can also try using the Shadow Blades against the spring enemies* here. Mainly to shoot the ever annoying missles it fires at you. If you get too close to it, it'll do a berserk swing back and forth. Destroy them from afar. - The generators here will pull you towards them with a magnetic field. Other than causing a strain on your movement, they won't damage you. - Right after you get done with the two generators, drop down from the ladder and hold left. You'll land on a platform with four small energy capsules. - What Mega Man game would be complete without disappearing blocks? Sorry, the Rush Coil won't get you an easy ticket out of the first set. It's not hard though, just start from the left, and watch the pattern of blocks. Follow and jump across each block as they appear. ** - If the generator is giving you any problems, (which it really shouldn't)then use the rush coil to jump to the highest block when it appears, and then jump out of the 2nd set. - You avoid jumping with the generator getting in your way. Simple jump on the lefthand side of the first block, and when you see the second block finish materializing (right after it's done flashing), jump a little to the right and you'll land on the third block. Watch this once or twice before you actually attempt it. Jump from the third block to the fourth block, and you're home free for the 3rd set. - The last set of blocks can be a little tough, but the truth is there is there are really no surprises or hesitant blocks. Just be quick about jumping from block to block as they appear, otherwise you'll fall victim to the generator's magnetic force. - The new shotman here can be tricky to defeat. Try jumping and using the Shadow Blade against him. One hit will kill it. - Before heading up the top ladder, head down and grab the weapon and energy capsules there. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: MAGNET MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Magnet Man isn't really all that tough. He's just a little more difficult than Top Man, and not by that much. He only has two real attacks: Clinging to the ceiling with his magnetic head, and trying to use his magnetic power to draw you into him. He'll jump across the room before doing either attack, so just follow his jumps and slide under them. Also, the magnets he fires from the ceiling will home in on you. Stay close to his body, and then run to the other side when he fires his magnets. Or you can try sliding under them. Just a matter of timing. As for his weakness, the Spark Shock damages him like a baby. I should note however, that Magnet Man is impervious to attacks when he powers you into him. Just ignore attacking him and pull yourself away. After all is said and done, you shouldn't really even need this description to beat him. ITEM(S) RECEIVED: MAGNET MISSLE - Not a bad weapon. It fires off a magnet that travels straight, and flies up or down if there is an enemy near. Mainly good for out of reach enemies. ***************** STAGE 5: HARD MAN ***************** - When you see a bee fly by, he'll drop a hive which releases a bunch of smaller bees. They can be annoying to deal with, but to avoid them completely, simply walk to the left side of the screen to 'scroll' the big bee off screen, before it has a chance to drop the beehive. - When you reach the green panels, be aware that stepping on will release a claw trap almost immediately after. Keep jumping and moving to the right to avoid getting snapped. - You can try to the same technique to get the large energy capsule, but constantly sliding works just as good. Or, if you don't even need it, don't bother. - Time to put those magnet missles to good use. It will only take two to defeat the Hammer Joe here, so just shoot them at the right time. Try not to use them when a hammer is in the air, otherwise there is the possibility the Magnet Missle will try to fire at the flying hammer. Then use the Rush Coil to boost yourself up and continue. - Try using the Shadow Blade to take care of the two monkeys* up ahead. Don't get TOO close, otherwise they will fall and constantly hop around, following you. - Inch yourself slightly up the ladder, so that you can fire at Hammer Joe, and narrowly miss the hammers that swing by your head at the same time. - Good old Shadow Blades. Use it to take care of the third monkey* here and then proceed. - When you reach an intersection after dealing with some metdozers, take the top path, instead of sliding through the bottom path. An energy tank awaits. Or, you can take the bottom path and go up to the next screen. A few mets will wait there. Collect the three small capsules, and THEN backtrack to get the energy tank. - The claw traps are back. This time, they're accompanied by a bee, and to make matters worse, there are no safe spots in between claw traps. This can be easily remedied, though. Move left and constantly jump, and then when you see the bee appear, jump to the left. The bee will disappear out of the screen, and now you can continue your passage to the right unbothered. - Protoman appears for the third and final fight. He won't stop jumping and firing shots now, due to the hindering terrain, so just do your best to avoid his shots, and unload with the Shadow Blades. - After defeating Protoman, you will find a large energy capsule. - Right before going through the boss' door, you'll find a hopper*. Firing a barrage of Plasma Cannon shots at it should work in your favor, even though this enemy is only vunlerable when its eyes are open. Just jump and fire when it jumps towards you. Alternatively, you can slide under it when it jumps. Time it right, and you should make it through. Do this if you don't think you can defeat it in time. A third and VERY easy way to make it by, is to use the Spark Shock. Fire it while the hopper* is in mid-air, and it'll get paralyzed. Quickly move to the boss' door. %%%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: HARD MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%% Hard Man can be tricky to defeat without taking any damage. He first fires off a metal fist at you, and then a second one fires at you depending on your position. If you're good, you can time it so that you jump over the first one, and then the second one will fire at your previous mid-air position. Both will then arc around to try and hit you again, but you can jump over the first one and avoid both. It's tricky to explain, but you'll understand when you see it. (I wouldn't stress too much if you can't get this to work though - only worry about it if you're trying to beat him with the Plasma Cannon.) After that, he will jump and try to smash down on top of you. Slide under his jump and you'll avoid it. The impact creates a shock that temporarily paralyzes you, but it's no big deal unless you've been hit by Hard Man's crushing blow. The Magnet Missles will be the weapon of choice here. Fire them off in intervals, as with every other robot master. Since Hard Man will be temporarily invulnerable immediately after he's hit, firing off two or three at the same time is foolish. After about 12 hits, Hard Man will be defeated. ITEM(S) RECEIVED: HARD KNUCKLE - A large blue fist is created next to Mega Man. It builds up momentum and flies in the direction you fired it, and you can also control the vertical movement slightly using the control pad. It's quite useful against a few bosses and mini-bosses, but don't plan on using it against regular enemies. ****************** STAGE 6: SNAKE MAN ****************** - The hopping enemies* can be a little annoying. Time your shots right so that they don't bother you too much. On the same note, the snakes here fire fairly fast shots at you. The damage they give can build up over time, so try to take care of them quickly. - After climbing up the ladder, immediately jump, and you'll avoid the three shots the snakes here will fire. Systematically destroy each one of them with the Shadow Blades, as it will only take one hit per snake. Quite a handy weapon. - Although it would only take a few shots from the Shadow Blades to destroy the large snake, you'll get hit a lot by the blasts. But if you don't think you're going to avoid the blasts anyway, by all means go at it and barrage its head with Shadow Blades. Otherwise, use good timing and the Plasma Cannon, or better yet, the Hard Knuckle. It'll only take TWO hits from it to destroy it. - The flying mec* will drop its head on you when you get below it. Slide underneath it, or destroy it before it gets too close. In the same screen, try using the Hard Knuckle to destroy both of the snakes here. Aim the Hard Knuckle down to hit the second snake. - Relief is up ahead. After defeating the stationary snake, climb the ladder to get the two large energy capsules. - A combination of head droppers* and spring mecs* will make trouble for you here. While avoiding the head droppers from hitting you from above, let the spring mec get in close, and then slide under its jump, and then jump over it when it runs back at you. Continue this process until you reach the ladder. - The ever useful Shadow Blades help out once again. Use them to destroy the Hammer Joe from below. - Destroy the Hammer Joe, and then take the right ladder. Both of these question mark capsules contain something random. Hope for a 1-up or energy tank. After collecting your prizes, climb back down the ladder, destroy the Hammer Joe again, and then go up the left ladder. - Use the weapon of your choosing to defeat the large snake again. Hard Knuckles, Shadow Blades, Plasma Cannon, it's all up to you. - Deploy the same techniques for the spring mecs* as before. Wait for them to get close, and then slide underneath their jumps right after their prop drops below. Jump over them when they run at you. Easy enough. - The jump over the large gap isn't as tough as you might think. Just run at the edge and jump when you're semi-close to the pit. If you're too paranoid, use the Rush Coil to make the jump. - When you climb up the ladder to the next screen, use the Plasma Cannon or the Shadow Blades to take care of the bug* on the other ladder. - You'll see vents here. Clouds underneath platforms will float up from them. The platforms are completely safe to jump on, although you may want to jump right before they appear below your feet. There is a small chance that you'll get knocked off and fall into the abyss. - The clouds with eyes in them are really bullets in disguise. After shooting it, it'll fly in a straight path to the left or right, depending on which way it's pointing. Time your shot right so that it flies above or below you. - After jumping off the last vent and onto the row of green blocks, exercise caution. A small fleet of cloud-bullets will appear one by one. As mentioned above, time your shots right to have them fly above you. Try to put yourself on the right edge of each block, so that in case you do get hit, you won't get sent flying below. Snake Man is just up ahead. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: SNAKE MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Snake Man's pattern and attacks aren't usually too tough to avoid, to start off. He'll jump across the room, going from the right side of the room to the left, and repeating. At the middle, far left or far right side, he'll make a leap in the air and shoot out some small snakes, which travel across the floor. This, combined with his walking/jumping pattern, can make avoiding him a little difficult. In the end though, that's really all you have to worry about. To best avoid him, try to stay in the middle. Jump over him at the right time when he's coming from the left or right, and then get back in the middle when you can. Even if he fires snakes at the left or right side, you can time your jump so that you leap right over Snake Man and his snakes. Coupled with that, Snake Man has no real weakness. Based on testing though, the Shadow Blades seem to work the best. Just don't smack into his body, and take your time firing away. You should be able to defeat him without any major problems. ITEM(S) RECEIVED: SEARCH SNAKE - When you fire one, it travels along the ground until it hits an enemy. Because of its limited range, it's usually not that handy. It can still pack a good punch though, and I'll point out good times to use it. ******************* STAGE 7: GEMINI MAN ******************* - The first part of this stage is a little long. It mainly consists of pits, cyclops fire spitters* and penguins that shoot exploding eggs out at you. Take your time through this area. Use the Shadow Blades to defeat the flying cyclops*, and you can also use them to defeat the penguins. Look before you jump, as you may inadvertenly smack into an enemy and fall to your doom. - In the next area, Protoman stands on top a structure. Instead of testing your ability, he helps you out by destroying the structure. Jump down the shaft and continue. - You won't be able to get the 1-up by using the Rush Coil at ground level. Get yourself on the first platform on the left, and call the Rush Coil there. Jump to the ground level, and then leap onto the Rush Coil, and you should be able to reach the 1-up. - The eggs here will release floating tadpoles when you shoot them with the Plasma Cannon. Blast your way through the walls, and make it to the right, by the ladder. Shoot the rest of the eggs through the wall, so that you can create a gap in the eggs, and reach the mystery capsule. Use the Rush coil once you have room, and collect your mystery prize. - Use the Rush coil up ahead to reach the large weapon capsule. You could try to blast the eggs to create a way through up top, but it's so much easier to use the Rush Coil to boost yourself to the top, and then shoot your way to the right. - Dragonflies will swoop from above now. Avoid them as you did back in Shadow Man's stage; Wait for them to get eye level with you, and then jump over them. - The large penguin will dispense smaller penguins from its belly. While jumping over the smaller penguins, shoot the large penguin in the eyes to destroy it. You can use the Hard Knuckles to defeat it in three shots. - After defeating the second large penguin, jump down the shaft. Use the Rush Coil to get the large energy capsule. - This part is a real pain. Here's a very good oppurtunity to put that Rush Marine to the test. Try to make this in one try, because the energy won't refill itself if you die. Collect the power-ups along the way, especially the large weapon ones. You can jump out of the water to get them, while still in the Rush Marine. It's very tough to avoid getting hit, but the enemies here don't take off too much damage anyway. If you have to make it by the upper path without the Rush Marine, just take things very slowly. Avoid the Dragonflies when they swoop in, and watch for the submarines below to fire a missle at you. It'll explode when it impacts, so try not to be on the platform when it happens. When you reach the end, get the easy Energy Tank and climb out. - As before, time your shots to defeat the rabbits. The Search Snake won't be of much help here, so don't bother with it. - Simply fire at the hopper* through the wall to defeat it. No sense in making things difficult. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: GEMINI MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Gemini Man will immediately split himself into two beings. They'll then follow the same pattern along the room, which you'll catch wind of fairly quickly. You should note that only one of them attacks, and it's when you do. If you do nothing besides avoid their attacks, they'll never attack you directly. Use the Search Snake here, and use it sparingly. If you fire off a stream of snakes, they'll also barrage you with shot after shot to combat each of yours. When they fire at you, they'll pause, so be careful about jumping and shooting here. Try to time your shot so that you can shoot one, and yet jump and avoid their shots. Also, coming into contact with their bodies scores major damage against you, and with all the commotion, you may get lost in trying to fire at them. When half his energy is gone, Gemini Man will now split back into one being. He'll now just walk from the left to right side, only jumping when you fire at him. Along the way, he'll now fire a single laser, which bounces along the room, and disappears after it hits the wall a few times. It should only take about three shots now with the Search Snake to defeat him. Jump and fire the Search Snake at him, while avoiding his jump. As long as you know there are no surprises, you'll have this battle won quickly enough. ITEM(S) RECEIVED: GEMINI LASER - Just like Gemini Man's laser, this will bounce across the room and either disappear when it hits a few walls, or when it hits an enemy. This can be useful for bank shots, but as a direct weapon it isn't very helpful. It's especially helpful against Needle Man though, as it will kill him in four easy blasts. ******************* STAGE 8: NEEDLE MAN ******************* - The Gemini Laser will kill the Needle Harries here in one shot. If you shoot a needle it fires accidently, just jump over it when it spins towards you, and continue. - Dragonflies, mets and cannons are in this area. To destroy the cannons, wait for them to open up. Fire constant shots at them, and avoid the ball they fire at you. The Shadow Blades will also destroy them in one shot. You already know how to avoid the mets and dragonflies. - After climbing down the ladder, be cautious of needles here. As you slide through the narrow passages here, you'll see a needle strike down. They're easy to know where they're going to appear, so have it strike down first, and then slide forward past it. - To get past the set of two and three needles, slide past them when you have an opening. Easy. - Move fast along the mid-air platforms. You'll see the needle in the middle. Jump on and off the middle platform when you have a chance, and do it before the needle has a chance to halt your jumps. - Avoid the Needle Harry, and use the Rush Coil to get the Energy tank. - Destroy the Hammer Joes as before; Inch up the ladder and snipe at their bodies, while avoiding their hammers. - You should have plenty of time to defeat the hopper* here. Otherwise, slide under it. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: NEEDLE MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Needle Man likes to jump around the room a lot and try to bash into you. Hitting his body won't cause too much damage, but hitting the extended needle part of his head will. He'll only be able to hit you when this if you're close by, so you should try not to be near him. Besides that, he'll usually jump into the air and fire off a stream of needles. The number varies, but they can be somewhat easily avoided. They don't cause much damage if you do happen to get hit. Use the Gemini Laser here, as it'll only take four beams to destroy him. Since the beam bounces along the room, you should try to make each shot count. Especially since you won't be able to do much else until the beam goes away. You can even try to arc the shot to hit his body. However you try to defeat him, I'm sure it won't be too tough. ITEM(S) RECEIVED: NEEDLE CANNON and RUSH JET - The Needle Cannon is like firing off the Plasma Cannon, only slightly better. It doesn't pack too much of a punch, but it's a useful weapon, and there a few instances where it can come in handy. The Rush Jet is your ultimate transportation device. You can hop on, and have full complete control as to where you want to pilot it to. It uses energy pretty fast though, like the Rush Marine, so use it sparingly. ---------------- DOC ROBOT STAGES ---------------- Immediately after defeating the last of the eight robot masters, you'll be whisked back to the stage select screen. Four stages will be 'remodeled', and bosses will flock to them. To be more accurate, the Doc Robots have infested each of the four stages, and you will have to fight two Doc Robots per stage. All of the Doc Robots look alike, but all eight of them have absored the powers and abilities of the Mega Man 2 eight robot masters. They're all pretty tough, but each of them has a weakness to one of your weapons. First, the stages and Doc Robots you must fight: Gemini Man stage revisited: Flash Man and Bubble Man Needle Man stage revisited: Air Man and Crash Man Shadow Man stage revisited: Wood Man and Heat Man Spark Man stage revisited: Metal Man and Quick Man You get nothing for beating each Doc Robot, by the way. No items or weapons. You'll have to make due with what you've got. It should be noted that each stage is much tougher than its precedent, too. Constant hazards, many instant death moments and powerful enemies in annoying spots. A great challenge indeed. Well, might as well start off with Needle Man's revisited stage, just to start things fresh. ***************************** STAGE 9: NEEDLE MAN REVISITED ***************************** - The Needle Harries are back, but nothing much has changed. Avoid or confront them, and then make it over the spiked floor. - The needles here make things a little more tricky, as there is a spot where they come from the ceiling AND the floor now. Cautiously jump and slide through them, and try not to get knocked into the spiked ditch. Get the large energy capsule at the end with the Rush Coil and continue. - The spring enemy* is back, but that should be the least of your worries. Destroy it with a weapon of your choosing, and then use the Rush Jet to quickly get the 1-up here. De-equip the Rush Jet as soon as you get it. Use the Rush Coil to reach the ladder. - As with the 1-up, use the Rush Jet to get the Energy Tank quickly, and then fly it to the ladder. - Leap over the Needle Harry, since destroying it may take away some precious energy, and then proceed through the boss doors. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BOSS: DOC ROBOT - AIR MAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% This Air Man clone will fire off a set of three air blasts; Jump and slide through the lot to try and avoid them. Don't worry too much if you get hit, your main priority should be to use the Spark Shock to inflict damage. After firing off three sets, he'll jump to the other side, and you should be able to get off a good many shots when he is doing this. He'll repeat this pattern, which is nothing special. Shouldn't take long at all. - You'll continue the stage now. Things get a bit tricky now. Use the large weapon capsule ahead to refill your Rush Jet to the max. You'll need it all to get by this next part. Call the Rush Jet, and start your flight to the right. 
Your only enemies will be parachuters* and dragonflies, so there are no
surprises there.  Don't bother trying to kill ANY enemies here, first off. 
Just do your best to avoid getting hit, and collect all of the weapon capsules
along the way.  Also, if you are not standing on the Rush Jet, no energy will
be depleted.  This allows you to exploit a rather helpful trick: Keep jumping
as you move to the right, and very little energy will be drained.  This can be
very beneficial, especially if you're having trouble navigating this area. 
Remember, if you die, the Rush Jet energy will be at the same state it was when
you died.  On the same note, the weapon capsules you collected will be gone
too.  If you can't make it through here, your only choice then would be to die,
and start this stage over again.
- When you make it up the ladder, simply use the Rush Jet to make it to the
next ladder.  That's the end of that.  ***Oh, but try not to die before you
reach the boss fight.  You'll start back at the Rush Jet scenario if you do.***
- A lone spring mec* awaits here.  Get past him and move to the right.
- Now, you'll be greeted by a very large met.  You can only damage it by
shooting it in the red cross section of its head. (Yes, this was the being you
saw submerged halfway through the original Needle Man's stage) It'll shoot out
a three way blast, and launch several mets at you, but that's about it.  The
Shadow Blades show their usefulness again.  Get in close when it appears, and
barrage it.
- Helicopter mets will be in this area.  They're nothing special, just use
something like the Shadow Blades to defeat them before they become too much of
a nuisance.
- The cannons up ahead can be defeated with the Shadow Blades.
- The large met is back again.  Like before, the Shadow Blades will easily put
an end to it.
- Get past the Needle Harry, and a large energy capsule awaits you.  Now you've
got the boss to deal with.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DOC ROBOT - CRASH MAN
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Its pattern is like the old Crash Man, except now it can jump and shoot crash
bombs a little more freely, without your influence.  Use the Hard Knuckle
against it, and jump and fire when you use it, since Doc Robot will jump when
you fire.  Try to fire it so that it flies right into him.  After about four
shots, this clone will be destroyed.  If you're out of Hard Knuckles, try using
the Needle Cannon.

******************************
STAGE 10: GEMINI MAN REVISITED
******************************
Luckily for you, Gemini Man's remodeled stage is the easiest out of the four. 
That doesn't mean it's going to be a complete cakewalk, though.  Only
partially.

- This first part is just like the first part in previous Gemini Man stage. 
Except that bugs replace the penguins, which is sad, because the bugs can be
destroyed easily.  Like before, move slowly, and use the Shadow Blades to take
out the cyclops*.
- In the underground, use the Rush Jet to get to the mystery prize.  Avoid the
enemies here, and then proceed to the right.
- Use the same tactics as before to weed through the eggs.  Don't destroy the
very bottom row, otherwise you could fall into the spikes.  Try using the Rush
Jet to reach the mystery capsule.
- Nothing special in the next area.  Just blast through the eggs, and use the
Rush Coil to reach the higher areas ahead.  Spend some time destroying the eggs
to get some energy if you're low on it.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DOC ROBOT - FLASH MAN
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
This is a little tougher than the Mega Man 2 counterpart.  Doc Robot, like
Flash Man did before, will always try to stay on top of you.  Due to the small
room and terrain, he'll usually do a good job of it.  Equip the Needle Cannon,
and let loose with a flurry of shots.  You'll have a good deal of trouble
trying to avoid his body, but luckily you won't take much damage if you do get
hit.  Just try to outweigh the damage he gives to you.

- Use the Rush Coil to ascend the wall.  Up ahead you'll see a crack in the
ceiling.  Bugs will continually pour from the opening.  You could take this
oppurtunity to refill your energy by harvesting the bugs here.
- Use either the Rush Marine or the Rush Jet here.  You don't even need to
bother to collect the weapon capsules, just keep moving left and destroying the
submarines or the head droppers*, depending on which vehicle you choose.
- Slide under the three head droppers* blasts, destroy them, and continue up
the ladder.  No need to use the Rush Coil, since you'll be able to jump right
up thanks to the water.
- The last areas here have multiple cracks in the ceilings.  Tread carefully
past the bugs here, and know that they can climb down ladders as well.  You
shouldn't have trouble here, not even in the spiked floor section.  The boss is
waiting.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DOC ROBOT - BUBBLE MAN
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Note the spikes on the ceiling.  Don't jump too high, otherwise you'll hit
them.  Other than that, you won't have any trouble with this match-up.  Avoid
Bubble Man's attacks as best as you can, although it can be trickier than it
was with his previous incarnation.  The Shadow Blades will make this fight go
by very quickly, and even with the low energy you may still have from the Flash
Man encounter, you'll be able to beat him way before he inflicts too much
damage on you.

*****************************
STAGE 11: SPARK MAN REVISITED
*****************************
- After destroying the walker*, use the Rush Coil to spring yourself up to the
platform.
- Use the Shadow Blades or the Gemini Laser to destroy the bug on the ladder.
- If for some crazy reason you need that large energy capsule, you can use the
Rush Coil to reach it.
- The spark robots* will be back, but like before, only one will come out of
each vent.  Destroy each one, and focus on continuing.  Watch the gears here. 
They'll spin in one direction, and try to force you that way when you step on
them.  Don't stay on too long.  Familarize yourself with jumping and moving on
the first one you see before continuing.
- You can jump across the three gears here to reach the ladder, but for the
safest results you should probably use the Rush Jet.
- Destroy the spring enemies* here, and you'll reach the first boss.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DOC ROBOT - METAL MAN
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
There's no conveyor belt, so this match is a little easier.  All he does is
fire metal gears at you, when he jumps into the air.  That's it.  If you get
too close, he'll run to the other side of the room.  The gears can be tough to
avoid, since they seem to move faster than they did before, but it's no big
deal.  You'll be able to use the Magnet Missles to deal with him long before he
can inflict serious hurt on you.

- Remember that shaft back in Spark Man's original stage?  It's been modified
now; Spikes line the walls, and you'll have to do your best to navigate down
the shaft to avoid the cheesy instant death.  Slide through the passage and
push right a little, and when you fall to the next screen, press to the left a
little.  Do the same for the next screen, and then the shaft will even out.  It
shouldn't take more than a couple of attempts to make it by here.
- The bolts make their return appearance here, along with the electric movers*.
 Destroy the bolts with the Shadow Blades.  Also, you can use the same
technique you used against the bees back in Hard Man's stage.  Scroll the
electric movers* up ahead off the screen, and you'll be able to make it through
without worrying about them.
- The final area of this stage is a little tough.  Make it past the first
garbage dispenser like before.  When the first garbage block drops down, jump
on top of it and slide to the right.  To make it past the last two, you'll need
to jump onto the first garbage block that appears, and make a light jump to the
platform.  IMMEDIATELY jump to the next garbage set, since the block will be
there by the time you land.  Make another light jump off it, and then you'll be
set for the boss.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DOC ROBOT - QUICK MAN
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
This is probably the hardest Doc Robot, in my opinion.  This incarnation of
Quick Man is very fast, and instead of mainly running at you, it'll jump at
you.  Smacking into its body causes massive damage, more than the boomerangs he
fires at you.  Worse than that, the two weapons which cause noticeable damage,
are the Gemini Laser and Search Snake.  I don't like using the Search Snake
against him; I'd rather use the Gemini Laser.  That way, you can fire one off,
and concentrate your energy on avoiding his attacks.  I'd even go so far as to
recommend you get hit by the boomerangs.  They take off miniscule damage, and
you can use the temporary invincibility to avoid getting hit.  Try firing off
the Gemini Laser a few times when he's close by, as well.  You sometimes can
get lucky and hit him for some good damage while he runs at you.  If you're
quick about defeating him, and score your hits well, you may even defeat him
without spending an energy tank.

******************************
STAGE 12: SHADOW MAN REVISITED
******************************
This stage is tough.  Probably the toughest out of the four.  Spikes line the
majority of the ceilings and walls, and you have a very tough Boss to deal with
halfway, as well.
- Jump off either side, and avoid hitting the spikes that are on the walls. 
Continue this procedure for the next screen, and then the screen.  After that,
when you jump down the shaft on the left, avoid the spikes on the left, and
when you get a chance, lean yourself to the right to position your landing away
from the nasty pit of spikes.
- Careful jumping to the ladder here.  Stand in the middle, and make a light
jump to reach the ladder.  When climbing down the second one, climb down it
fully, instead of jumping off.
- A hopper* has replaced Protoman's spot.  Defeat it using your favorite
method, or slide underneath it.  Alternatively, use the Rush Jet to completely
dodge it.
- Grenades and the ever popular projectors are back.  Accompanied by the
projectors are platforms that drop out from underneath you the second you step
on one.  The only way to avoid falling is to jump from one to the next in a
fluid motion.  A mis-press of the jump button could result you in your falling
to the ground (or pit) below you.  Jumping up the first four set isn't terribly
difficult.
- Jumping across the next set, however, is very difficult.  It's a long enough
trek across the open space below, and a projector will interfere with your
jumping sequence.  You'll have to drop to the lower set of the platforms, and
then jump across.  While it isn't impossible, all of it can be made so much
easier by simply using the Rush Jet to glide across the chasm.
- After defeating the grenedes up ahead and making it down the ladder, defeat
the cyclop walkers* here, and then go through the boss doors.  It's time for
the seventh Doc Robot clone.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DOC ROBOT - WOOD MAN
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
I sure hope you don't plan on fighting this boss with the Plasma Cannon.  It's
almost impossible to do, in fact it IS impossible to do if you don't have any
Energy Tanks.  While the original Wood Man wasn't TOO tough, his attacks didn't
have amazing range, either.  You're almost completely bound to get hit in this
fight, and constantly firing your Needle Cannon at him when he's not shielded
by leaves is your only real way to win this fight.  You'll want to defeat him
before he does the final leap to your position, but as you'll see, you'll
probably just barely win as he's jumping towards you.  It's that tough.  Don't
hesitate to use an Energy Tank.

- A generous large energy capsule waits for you beyond the boss.
- You'll have to approach the Hammer Joe here a little differently than you
have before.  You'll need to fire at him the same way still, but you have to
slide under the hammers he throws, now.
- The following Hammer Joes can be defeated without stepping into the narrow
hallway.  Just get close enough to see him, and jump and fire away when he
opens up.  Like in Hard Man's stage, try using the Magnet Missles.
- In the next area, parachuters* AND rabites greet you.  Proceed with caution. 
Inch forward as you did before to avoid having the parachuters* swoop right on
top of you, and try defeating the rabites before they leap onto the same
platform you're on.  For better luck, try using the Rush Jet.  Four small
weapon capsules are your prize for getting through this section alive, use them
on whatever you see fit, like say, your Shadow Blades if you used them.
- Abuse the Magnet Missles here.  You won't be using them again in this stage,
so use them to take out the spring enemy* easily.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DOC ROBOT - HEAT MAN
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Heat Man this time around isn't too bad, although it can be a little harder to
get off a shot immediately after he turns to fire and reappears.  Equip the
Shadow Blades here.  You COULD use the Top Spin, but you COULD also jump into a
vat of acid, which you won't do.  I rest my case.

He'll fire off three fire waves at you, which turn into pillars when they land.
 He'll keep doing this until you damage him with a weapon.  At that point,
he'll materialize into fire, and rush to another section of the room.  When he
appears, he repeats this pattern.  The best way to defeat him is trying to make
sure he never attacks.  Hit him with a Shadow Blade, jump over his rush, and as
soon as he appears, fire off another Shadow Blade.  Repeat this pattern, and
it's very possible you may not even take a hit during this fight.  Due to
difficulties with launching a Shadow Blade when he appears sometimes, this is
very tough.  Either way, you'll be able to defeat the last of the eight Doc
Robots without too much difficulty.

*******************
STAGE 13: BREAK MAN
*******************
When you defeat the last Doc Robot, the revisited stages turned to wrecked
symbols, and a picture of Protoman appears in the middle.  It's really an evil
version of Protoman sent by Dr. Wily.

This fight with Break Man will be like any other fight with Protoman.  Treat it
like you were fighting him on Hard Man's stage, and you'll know his attacks. 
The difference is, he is completely impervious to any weapon besides the Plasma
Cannon.  It's no big deal, since he's easy enough anyway.

After the fight, you'll learn that Dr. Wily ran off with the powerful robot,
Gamma, while you were away.  You must now chase Dr. Wily to his castle.  You're
in luck, because these stages are the most fun to be had of the game.

**********************************
STAGE 14: DR. WILY'S CASTLE PART 1
**********************************
First, a few things of interest.  Any weapons you use will retain their energy
status going into the next stage.  The only way to refill them is to use a
weapon capsule, or lose all of your lives.  Losing all of your lives will still
retain your Energy Tanks, though.

If you lose all of your lives, choose "Continue".  If you choose "Stage
Select", you'll return to the beginning of Dr. Wily's castle.

The password you receive from any of the Dr. Wily castles will only allow you
access to the first Dr. Wily stage.  You'll have to complete all of the stages
in one run.

- I shouldn't even have to tell you this, but you can reach the 1-up with the
Rush Coil.  Use the Rush Coil again to get out of the pit.
- Destroy the top enemies* like you did back at Top Man's stage.  They still
don't pose any real threat.
- Jump from the ladder at the end to get the energy tank.  If you have trouble
reaching it, which you shouldn't, try the Rush Jet, but be quick about it.
- Might as well get one last use out of the Rush Marine.  Use it to more easily
navigate the underwater depths, and to destroy the small penguins here.
- You can use the Hard Knuckles here to destroy the walls housing the 1-up.
- The Hard Knuckles will destroy the walls here, too.  Use the weapon capsule
for the Hard Knuckle, and quickly use the Rush Jet to reach the very top
platform for the Energy Tank.
- Defeat the Hammer Joe like before.  Inch up the ladder, and blast him within
the safety of the ladder.  Use the Plasma Cannon to destroy the next two Hammer
Joes as well.
- When you reach the tall wall, with the Hammer Joe up top, stand next to the
wall, and fire the Gemini Laser at the opposite wall.  With the correct timing,
you should be able to defeat the Hammer Joe in two shots, due to the bank shot
available to you.  The Rush Coil will propell you up.
- There's no surprise with the appearing and disappearing blocks here.  Slide
from the block over to the large energy capsules, and wait for the block to
appear below the ladder before you slide out.
- Use the Rush Coil to reach the two large weapon capsules here.  Refill your
Hard Knuckle energy, Gemini Laser energy, or your Rush Coil energy.  If you
happen to use the Magnet Missles or the Shadow Blades at all in this stage,
refill them first.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: PRODUCER
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The Shadow Blades, as usual, will be your savior here.  You won't be attacking
the machine above directly, rather you will attempt to "overload" its core by
destroying all of the turtles it sends out after you.  The whirls will attempt
to drive you up to the machine or against the wall, but even if they do drive
you against the wall, no damage will be inflicted.  They shouldn't be too much
of a bother.  You just have to defeat five turtles, but the fifth one that's
released will speed around the pool.  This is probably the easiest boss fight
in the game, even easier than Top Man, in the end.

**********************************
STAGE 14: DR. WILY'S CASTLE PART 2
**********************************
- For no other reason than to just aggravate you, the platforms here don't have
a special meaning.  Just jump up and proceed to the left.
- After climbing up the ladders, you'll need good timing to get the 1-up.  You
should have plenty of experience with them by now(unless you Rush Jetted the
whole way through the 2nd Shadow Man stage) to get this 1-up easily.  Two large
weapon capsules are waiting below, too.  Select the Shadow Blades and another
weapon/item(besides the Rush Marine, its not useful anymore.) of your choosing.
 After that, climb up the right set of ladders and continue to the top.
- Slide past the set of claw traps* here, and you'll immediately land on
another claw trap.  Jump from claw trap to claw trap, and you'll be greeted by
two sets of bees along the way.  Scroll them off the screen, destroy the
remaining bees, and continue to the large weapon capsule.  If you have trouble
getting past the spiked pit for some reason, use the Rush Jet.
- Right after you get the large weapon capsule, another bee will drop a hive. 
Scroll it off, and continue onward to the right, collecting various power-ups
along the way.  You'll get two very generous Energy Tanks.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: ROCK MONSTER
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The infamous cyclops Rock Monster from the first Mega Man makes another
appearance.  It's been upgraded slightly, and will be slightly tougher to deal
with.  Position yourself to the right side of the room, and wait for the blocks
to fly at you.  Only jump over the ones that will hit you.  If one passes over
your head, don't bother with it then.  After you get through with this, the
Rock Monster will form.  When it forms, start shooting its eye with the Hard
Knuckle, while avoiding its shots.

It'll now transfer its body to the left.  Jump over the ones that will hit you,
and wait it out.  Right when you see the last block sweep over, fire off Hard
Knuckles.  After this attack, it'll transfer its body in five different blocks.
 You can try to jump and slide over all of them, but if you're fast enough, you
can deploy the Rush Jet to take out of there safely.  Of course, you'll have to
live with getting off one shot, and that shot must be started early.

It now repeats everything it did before, starting from when it first
materialized.  If you're having trouble, or don't want to use the Hard
Knuckles, try using the Needle Cannon.  You can fire off Needles and damage him
rapidly, without the annoying temporary invulnerability.

One last note: Since this stage is very short, you won't have the luxury of a
midway point.  If you die anywhere during this stage, including this boss,
you'll start back at the beginning of the stage.  Keep that in mind.

**********************************
STAGE 14: DR. WILY'S CASTLE PART 3
**********************************
- Fire off the Gemini Laser to the right twice to take out the New shotman.  Or
you can use the Shadow Blades.  Head up the right ladder after using the Rush
Coil to jet you up.
- You'll probably need to refill your Hard Knuckles' energy.  Hopefully you
have some energy to use so that you can destroy the walls.  Ignore the New
shotman itself, but avoid its shots, and continue up the ladder.
- An easy to reach Energy Tank will be waiting on your right.  Get that, and
Rush Coil your way up for the 6,424th time.
- What a pain.  The projectors in this area stand right out of your reach. 
Unless you use the Hard Knuckles.  Don't use them unless you have a good supply
of energy in them, though.  Avoid the grenades in this area, and make sure to
collect that 1-up.  Feel your way around in the room if you didn't destroy the
generator, and try to jump to the platform the 1-up is in.  You'll have to
slide once you're on the platform.
- Slide through the passegeway at the end to collect the small energy capsules,
and then use that large weapon capsule for say, your Hard Knuckles.  Slide out
and fall down the chasm.
- There's no real point in destroying that Hammer Joe there.  I'm guessing he'd
be annoying if you weren't expecting, like you fell down onto his level or
something.  Just ignore him.
- Sliding under the hoppers here is made impossible due to the low ceiling, so
just unload your Plasma Cannon when he jumps.  It shouldn't cause any problems.
- When you continue up the ladder, you'll see spikes on both sides of the room,
and platforms moving left and right.  Continue from the first platform you can
jump to, to the second and finally the third in order to easily make it to the
ladder.
- Move fast here once you jump on the first platform, since you may have a
tricky jump from the second to the third.  This isn't that tough either, just
wait until you have an opening.
- Rush Coil your way up to the wall, and use the Hard Knuckles to destroy it. 
Open the two mystery capsules, and proceed to the next boss.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: MEGA MAN CLONES
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
This boss was in the first Mega Man game, too.  It takes on a different form
here, though.  You'll see three different Mega Man clones, but only one can be
damaged.  They'll shuffle positions using the teleporters you see there, and
when they appear, they'll briefly walk back and forth firing their cannons. 
It's a pain to try and figure out which one is the real one, but the painless
way is to fire a Magnet Missle from the middle left platform.  It'll home in on
the real clone and bounce of its body.  Switch to Needle or Plasma Cannon then,
and fire away at it.  Continue this process, and you should beat them pretty
easily.  You may have to use an Energy Tank though, since they'll constantly be
unloading shot after shot at you, which is nigh impossible to avoid without
this battle taking a while.

**********************************
STAGE 14: DR. WILY'S CASTLE PART 4
**********************************
- This stage is almost completely void of any enemies, and you'll get a small
chance to refill some weapons of yours.  You might've used the Magnet Missle a
lot in the previous fight, use the energy here to refill that first, and then
go for whatever else you wish, such as the Rush Jet, if you used it at all.
- I said ALMOST completely void.  It's home to one enemy, an annoying garbage
block thrower*.  It appears from above, and throws blocks of garbage at you,
which I think is impossible to avoid.  I wouldn't worry about the damage it
causes you, since it isn't too much of a bother.  Just defeat it with the
Plasma Cannon before it has a chance to throw a second block at you.
- A mystery capsule, four small energy capsules and a large weapon capsule are
here.  Enjoy.
- Another garbage enemy is in the next area.  Destroy it and continue.
- Two garbage enemies are in this room, now.  The first one appears instantly,
the second one comes up when you head for the ladder.
- Proceed through the boss door, and then the teleporter.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: EIGHT ROBOT MASTERS
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
You'll see eight teleporters here.  You now have to fight the original eight
bosses from this game in order to proceed.  You have your choice of the order
you want to fight them in, and now that you've had experience, you should be
able to do this more easily.  Better yet, you get a handy large energy capsule
when you defeat each boss.  Make sure you get that before you step on the
teleporter to exit the room.

First, I'll list the bosses that you fight through the teleporters, starting
from the upper left teleporter, going counter-clockwise: Needle Man, Magnet
Man, Gemini Man, Hard Man, Top Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man and Snake Man.

Proceed as planned, but note that the Needle Cannon or even the Search Snake
works well on Snake Man.

After defeating all eight bosses, you can now head through the door on the
right.  Eight weapon capsules and a 1-up are the prizes for your valor.  Refill
your Rush Jet, Shadow Blades, Spark Shock and Search Snake, in that order if
you can.

**********************************
STAGE 14: DR. WILY'S CASTLE PART 5
**********************************
- No other enemies here, besides Dr. Wily.  Yep, you're now going after him. 
Before you do, you have a minute to collect some last power-ups.
- Refill your other weapons, like mentioned above, the Rush Jet and Spark Shock
especially.  The Shadow Blades and Search Snake come after that.  Spend the
rest on whatever.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DR. WILY PART 1
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Equip the Spark Shock here.  Wait for Dr. Wily to appear in his machine, and
when you see the blue shot projector on the bottom of his machine, fire at
that.  Sadly enough, it only takes four shots from the Spark Shock to defeat
this first form.  No need for further details.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: DR. WILY PART 2
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Immediately after you defeat his first form, Dr. Wily's face will be seen. 
Load up the Rush Jet now, for an easier time on defeating this boss.  Shots
will come out the side cannons, but you shouldn't even have to worry about
that.  Aim your Plasma Cannon towards Wily's capsule, and keep your shots
locked on him.  If you run out of Rush Jet power, you'll have to wait for Wily
to lower his machine in order to be able to hit him.  Of course, the Hard
Knuckles will make this fight MUCH shorter and MUCH easier, so maybe you should
try that.

But good old Wily isn't defeated.  Nope, that was just a robot clone of him. 
The real Wily is just up ahead, in the SECRET stage.

**********************************
STAGE 14: DR. WILY'S CASTLE PART 6
**********************************
- NOW there are some last minute capsules to be collected.  Truth be told, the
only weapons/items you'll be using are the Rush Jet(briefly), Shadow Blades(or
the Hard Knuckles) and the Search Snakes(OR even the dreaded Top Spin).  Fill
up on your energy and such before venturing through the dreaded doors.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: GAMMA PART 1
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
This isn't so tough.  Use the Rush Jet to get yourself up to the platform on
the right.  The head acts just like a new shotman does.  Fires three shots to
the left and right, and fires off ground shots when you get close.  Use the
Shadow Blades or the Hard Knuckles to blast its head, and get ready for..

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BOSS: GAMMA PART 2
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
They couldn't even spare to give Wily a second life bar.  Nope, you deal with
this boss when Gamma's lifebar drops to half.  Things get a little trickier
now, but not by much.  You should start this battle on the right platform.  Its
main attacks include shooting an oval blue energy blast at you every 5 or so
seconds, and swinging its large arm from the right to the left.  Note that if
you touch the spikes on the arm or its hand, you will be killed instantly.

The only way to damage this boss is to use the Search Snakes or the formerly
useless Top Spin.  If you use the Search Snakes, you should try to jump towards
Wily, fire off a shot, and land yourself back on the platform.  This way you
don't even have to deal with the arm below at all.  It'll take about 7 Search
Snakes if you use them.  The Top Spin can kill this boss in one shot,
surprisingly.  Just leap towards it, and activate the Top Spin, holding down
the button as you twirl through Gamma's weak spot.  It should be defeated
instantly.

After defeating Gamma, Wily will fly out and start looking really pathetic. 
Before you can capture him though, blocks fall from the ceiling and crush the
both of you.  Protoman appears in time, and saves you.  Unfortunetely, Dr. Wily
apparently made it out before he was actually crushed to death.  The epilogue
now rolls on.  Congratulations!

===============================================================================================
SECTION 10. SECRETS
===============================================================================================
Nothing yet.
===============================================================================================
SECTION 11. FAQ LIST
===============================================================================================
Nothing yet.
===============================================================================================
SECTION 12. CLOSING AND CONTACTING INFORMATION
===============================================================================================
If you want to put this FAQ on your page or something to that effect, for some
reason or another, make sure you ASK ME first, and give me credit.  It'll be up
to you get to the latest up to date version.  The latest update will always and
only come from GameFAQs.

If you need to contact me, my e-mail address is dukevirgil@aol.com.  Make sure
you put something to the effect of "Mega Man 3 walkthrough" in your subject
header, so I don't delete it believing your mail to be spam.  Similarilly, you
can IM me on my AIM name virgilkx.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this guide was helpful to you!