MEGAMAN 2: The Power Fighters FAQ by RadioFingernail (jeremymeerkreebs AT gbronline DOT com) Version 0.1 - Created 4/12/2003 Table of Contents 0. Version History I. Introduction II. Story III. Characters IV. General Strategy V. Find Dr. Wily VI. Save Roll VII. Retrieve the Stolen Parts VIII. Multiplayer IX. Endings X. Nostalgia Guide XI. FAQ XII. Contact Me XIII. Legal Info S E C T I O N 0. - Version History 4/13/2003 - Version 0.1: The inaugural version. Yay. The entire first scenario is up, and so is the general stratgy. I plan on fleshing out the Wily strategy a bit later, but send in your own strategies for him or any other boss, and I'll put them up for you. More to come! (60% complete) S E C T I O N I. - Introduction Good ol' RadioFingernail here with his premiere foray into FAQery. Yup, my first try. I've been using this website's FAQs and forums for nigh on three (or is it more than that?) years now, so I guess it's time to give a little back to the community. This FAQ is here to help you, so if it doesn't, drop me a line! I can't imagine there will be a huge audience for it, so I imagine I'd be able to help you personally. Why MM2:PF, you ask? Good question. It's neither a fantastic, nor a particularly challenging game. Hell, if you're using an emulator (which I think you are), you have unlimited continues! Well, it's still one of my favorite games. Mostly due to nostalgia. The Megaman games are the single greatest accomplishment on the NES, hands down. Since then, it's been a little downhill. I mean, I enjoyed MM 7, but it was a little... bland. I loved the 16-bit facelift, but the game wasn't up to the 8-bit standards. Anyone who's ever played Megaman knows that it's all about one thing: bosses. Metroid had exploration, Mario had creativity, Sonic had speed, Prince of Persia had a feeling of danger, but Megaman beat all at the end of the level. Each boss had a full armament of devious moves and tricky movement patterns thta had to be studied as much as played. And the weakness was the key, always. Getting a weapon from a defeated foe was neat, but using it on another and CRUSHING him with it? Fantastic. And what Megaman 2: Power Fighters does is mix the colorful, detailed 16-bit graphics with the boss battles we know and love (and remember) in a very effective way that is a perfect thirty minute timekill. So join me, will you? Let us take a journey through the world of MM2:PF, and encounter obstacles, and joy, and we shall drink the rain untill our bellies are filled, and make love like angry rabbits, or perhaps owls. Or not. S E C T I O N II. - Story Long ago, in a time of peace in the Japanese empire, a lone warrior hikes up a lonely path. His Katana and Tanto sheathed, remembering and regretting well the taste of blood, he marches on, silently, grimacing into the wind, his mind lost in thought. Kobayashi Light journeys to pray to his ancestors that his descendants will be strong, brave, and most importantly, NOT senile fools who build young, nubile, spandex-clad boybots for dubious purposes. ... no seriously. This game has no story line. Well, I guess it does: Dr. Wily escapes from... somwhere, steals some parts from Doc. Light, and kidnaps Roll. Megaman, Protoman, Bass, or Duo goes to capture/recover/save him/it/her. Hilarity ensues. There are three scenarios, but they only affect which bosses your spandex-clad boybot battles. If you want a story, go play Chrono Cross or Metal Gear: Solid. Otherwise, still go play them, cuz they're great. On with the FAQ. S E C T I O N III. - Characters PLAYABLE CHARACTERS: Megaman (A.K.A. Rockman, the Blue Bomber) Special Move: Slide Eddie: Summons Rush The original spandex-clad boybot. Built as a maid by Dr. Light, Megaman was converted into a superhero when Dr. Wily first attempted to take over the world so many years ago. Ahhh.... good times. Every subsequent attempt by Wily has been foiled by the little guy's abilty to use fallen enemies weapons. Protoman (A.K.A. Blues, Breakman) Special Move: Dash Eddie: Beat creates frontal shield Megaman's older brother. With his stylish yellow scarf and mysterious whistle, he is the coolest mechanical fella around. He was built by Dr. Light, but his insatiable wanderlust made him leave, never to return. How dramatic. Bass (A.K.A. Forte) Special Move: Dive Eddie: Summons Treble Megaman's nemesis. He was built by Dr. Wily to counter Megaman, and can absorb an enemy's power just like the thonged crusader himself. He always seems to be just a little weaker than Megaman, and has a major complex about it. He never follows Wily's instructions, and often goes as far as to foil his master's plan for absolutely NO reason at all. Duo Special Move: Tackle Eddie: Beat grants FULL invincibility Duo is a robot. Now this may not seem incredible in a game where everyone is a robot, but GET THIS.... he's from OUTER SPACE! MADNESS! Besides being an Optimus Prime lookalike, he likes long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, and saving Earth from "Evil Energy". SUPPORTING CAST: Dr. Light This is the good doc. He looks like Santa Claus, and is a total moron. Dr. Wily This is the evil doc. He looks like Einstein, and would be a brilliant madman, except he uses the same exact strategy of world domination EVERY DAMN TIME. Roll Megaman's sister. I think her hands are glued together. Get it? Rock and Roll? Rush Megaman's dog. He sometimes does cool stuff, and other times does very stupid stuff. Beat A bird built by Dr. Cossack for Dr. Light. He can do stuff... AND things. Eddie A walking tupperwar container. Apparently, Dr. Light was tired of burping them himself. Treble Bass' dog. He can merge with Bass to form a badass Dark Angel... but not in this game. Mysterious Girly Robot You know who this is. S E C T I O N IV. - General Strategy So you want to beat he baddies, eh? Well, there are a few tricks you HAVE to get down. REALIZE THAT THE SPECIALI MOVE IS YOUR FRIEND Though it's different for each character, I'll just term it "dash" for ease. The dash move is the best way to avoid damage coming at you from any angle other than horizontally. In most cases, anything coming from above means dash. Megaman has the best dash, Bass has the worst, and Protoman and Duo are in between. We'll get more into that later. JUMP, JUMP, JUMP Jumping is obviously a big part of Megaman, as well. This is how you'll be avoiding smaller projectile shots (those yellow balls). One of the first things to do is get used to your jump. It seems to me all the characters jump the same, and if there is a difference, it's inconsequential. CHARGE, DAMMIT! Your finger should ALWAYS be on the shoot button. The only time it WON'T be pressing the button is when you actually shoot, and it should go right back on. A constant barrage of fully charged shots is the difference between victory and failure. USE THE WEAKNESS, LUKE The most important tip is to understand your enemy. If you can get a perfect on your first try against an enemy, mazel tov. But you won't. You have to watch an enemy's movement pattern, and study his attacks, in order to smack his naughty bottom into the junkyard. And remember- every robot has a weakness to one weapon. If you hit him with that weapon, he'll fold like a napkin, so choose the order you fight in carefully. (OR just read this guide) WHICH CHARACTER SHOULD I CHOOSE? Honestly? Whoever looks the coolest to you. They really play pretty much the same, with a few subtle differences: One, they have a different Eddie Powerup. At a random part of a fight, or after a continue, Eddie (a little red guy) will teleport in and eject a powerup. It has a different effect for each character. Megaman gets to summon his dog Rush, who will fly into an enemy whenever you fire a fully charged shot (and you can jump on his back to be launched higher). Protoman gets to have a shield, making him invulnerable to the front. Bass summons his wolf Treble, who shoots when Bass does. Duo gets fully invulnerable. Secondly, they have different dashes. Megaman slides underneath attacks. Protoman just moves forward quickly. Bass flies up a little (often INTO an attack), but moves the farthest. Duo has a tackle, similar to Protoman's dash, but it does damage, and is perfect for removing weak mini-enemies. Finally, Duo has a different attack: his uncharged shot is just a punch. The charged ones still shoot. In my opinion Duo is the best character, followed by Megaman, then Protoman, then Bass. However, the difference is so small, I still play as Protoman and Bass exclusively, because they're so cool. It really doesn't matter as much as YOUR skill does. S E C T I O N V. - Find Dr. Wily Objective: Fight robots, fight more robots, fight Wily. MY HIGH SCORE: 329405 READER HIGH SCORE (send one in, if it's higher than mine it'll go here) OK, here's the first scenario. You'll fight Shadowman, Gyroman, Plantman, Centaurman, Bubbleman, and Heatman, then fight the Mad Roller, and finally Dr. Wily himself. RECOMENDED ORDER: Bubbleman Heatman - Use Lead Bubble Plantman - Use Atomic Fire Gyroman - Use Plant Barrier Centaurman - Use Gyro Attack Shadowman - Use Centaur Arrow Mad Grinder - Use Centaur Arrow Wily Machine - Use Lead Bubble Dr. Wily - Use Shadow Blade STRATEGIES Bubbleman Weakness: Shadow Blade Get: Lead Bubble Dr. Light's Advice: You can't move once you're caught in Bubbleman's bubble. Attack with a sharp weapon that can cut through the bubble! Moves- Bubble Grab: Bubbleman fires a bubble up diagonally to grab you. This takes three hits of damage, and can easily be comboed as you fall into other bubbles, but it's very easy to avoid. Pressure Blast: Bubbleman fires a projectile straight at you, which moves slowly and does only one damage. Jump over it and punish the little fatty. I recommend taking this guy on first because, well, he's incredibly easy. Like, HUMOROUSLY easy. For God's sake, he's got a BEER GUT! I mean, why would a robot have a gut like that, anyway? They don't eat. Oh well, this guy is a good warm up, I guess. Simply jump over him and his attacks if they get dangerously near you, and just charge up and spank him 'till he goes down. Heatman Weakness: Lead Bubble Get: Atomic Fire Dr. Light's Advice: Heatman will try to do the bodily crash if you go near him. Watch out! There can be one weapon that extinguishes fire. Find it, and you'll win! Moves- Atomic Fire: Shoots a bud of fire that changes into a wall of flame, which moves forward. Alternatively, fires three bursts at once the don't move. Just get and stay out of range. Bodily Crash: Turns into fire, and shoots out at you. Does a lot of damage, but is easy to avoid. This guy is slightly more chalenging. Roll some Lead Bubbles at him if you have them, otherwise just hit him with charged attacks. Avoid his moves like I say up there, and get ready for a challenge next. Plantman Weakness: Atomic Fire Get: Plant Barrier Dr. Light's Advice: The Plant Barrier is powerful. The opponent's attacks will be useless. Burn him with the "flame" weapon. Moves- Plant Buster: Fires yellow balls at you. Sometimes he'll shoot just one, but he'll also fire an arc at you that can be hard to jump over. Pay attention and try to jump early. Seedling: Every no and then, particularly when he hits you, Plantman will... plant... a... plant. The little flower will slowly fire Plant Busters at you, and is only annoying in large numbers, so go ahead and clear it out before more come. Break Moves- Spores: From here on, the seeds are launched into the air. there they float around, bouncing off walls, and dropping leaves on you. VERY annoying, so shoot them. Plant Barrier: Four leaves will orbit around Plantman, protecting him from your attacks. That's right, folks. He's INVULNERABLE. Don't waste any Atomic Flame on him. When he has had enough of toying with you, he'll throw the leaves at you. Dodge them, and do as much damage as you can before he can do this move again. Plantman is the first hard fight. He's acceptable until he breaks, when he becomes a monster. The spores flying around and his leaf shield are a lot to handle at once, so try and clear away the spores, so you won't need to worry about leaves. Whenever he's open, use atomic flame and charged attacks and dodge dodge dodge. Gyroman Weakness: Plant Barrier Get: Gyro Attack Dr. Light's Advice: Your best chance is when Gyroman lands on the ground. A multi-angle weapon is effective against flying mechs. Moves- Gyro Attack: Throws a little copter blade, which moves forward slowly until it's right above (or right below) you. Then it falls (or rises), making an "L" shape. To avoid it, let it find you, then as it moves vertically, move horizontally, and it can't hit you. Gyro Rush: Gyroman telegraphs this move like crazy, so don't worry too much. It is very powerful, but if you know how to avoid it, it's a piece of cake. Gyroman lands, and moves backwards away from you, often off the screen. Then he says something and rushes towards you, streaking blue. The trick is to jump up when he's about halfway near you, so he follows up, and then landing and dashing underneath him. Easy. Break Moves- Gyro Attack Mk II: Every so often, he'll jump up and throw four gyros below him. These guys are the OPPOSITE of the other gyros. That is, they go DOWN until they see you on the SIDE, then they go towards you. The trick is to jump up as soon as they begin moving down, so when they move across, they go OVER your head. Unfortunately, you won't always to manage jumping in time. If you notice that you're late, DO NOT jump. Wait til they come over to you at the bottom, and TRY to jump over them. You probably won't be able to, but hell, you just might. It's possible. Gyroman's not too bad. His moves are tricky, but when you figure them out, he's a pushover. Besides Gyro Attack Mk II, they can all be avoided easily. The only other problem is that you only have four or five shots of the Plant Barrier, so most of this fight will have to be charged shots, but that's not too bad. This guy would make another good choice for first fight, by the way. Centaurman Weakness: Gyro Attack Get: Centaur Arrow Dr. Light's Advice: You can go through his legs by sliding if you time it right, Centaurman can't jump. Remember this! Moves- Centaur Arrow: Centaurman will fire an arrow.... usually at the ground. Yeah, none too threatening. If he does fire AT you, just jump over it. No biggie. Stallion Dash: Centaurman charges you. It does some hefty damage, so jump over it. Methat: Centaurman will occasionally summon two flying Methats who shoot diagonally down. They can be easily cleared off, so do so. Break Moves- Halberd: Centaurman will begin to use a Halberd when he breaks. He gets a bunch of new melee moves with it, and they have a rather long range. This makes him MUCH more dangerous. Be careful to not get close to him, and be ready to jump when he charges. This guy is pretty hard. He's fast and strong, and none to easy to avoid. You're going to have to learn to notice his telegraphs, and be ready to jump and move very fast. This is a reflex fight, so there's not much I can tell you but pay attention and practice. Shadowman Weakness: Centaur Arrow Get: Shadow Blade Dr. Light's Advice: This is a mysterious robot who attacks with Ninjitsu. You could easily defeat him if you had a weapon that shoots vertically. Moves- Shadow Blade: Shadowman will throw three ninja stars in varying patterns. In general they're easy to avoid from far off, but up close, they're murder. Ninja Dash: Shadowman dashes towards you quickly, or may do a slide kick. Either way, just jump over. Caltrops: Shadowman jumps to the top of the screen, and drops four caltrops (little spiky ground thingys) that hurt badly when you step on them. Break Attack- Umm... Frog: ... he, summons... a... giant... frog. Riiight. I have no clue what this has to do with anything. Anyway, he's much bigger now that he's got a steed, so give him more room. Sometimes he'll use his tongue. Jump that. Stay away from him when he breathes fire. Still avoid the Shadow Blades. Frogbots: Little frogbots will be summoned sometimes. Deal with them like any other minions: quickly and efficiently. This guy is a CHALLENGE. He's a ninja with ADD. He moves fast and has fast moves. It'll take all you've got to avoid his moves. However, he gets easier when he breaks, because he's a bigger target and moves slower. Essentially, read the move list and pay attention, cuz like Centaurman, this is a reflex battle. Mad Grinder Weakness: Centaur Arrow Moves- Mad Stomp: MG rockets up, and then falls, knocking you down. I don't think it hurts, and he's not really fast enough to take advantage of it. To avoid it, jump right before he lands. Mohawkarang: MG's mohawk flies off his head and circles the room. It's easy to avoid, just stay out of its path. Break Moves- Mad Flight: A lot like Mad Stomp, except it won't knock you out. This time, MG will fly over to land on your head. Wait till he stops moving, then dash out from under him. Mad Bash: MG slaps his rolling pin against the ground, and moves forward about halfway across the screen. Just stay to the side, and let him vent. This guy is HARD. Really hard. You need to stay away from al of his moves, cuz this is a LONG battle. His head is the weak point. The Centaur arrow is hard to aim, as you never know if it'll go forward or up, so you may want to just use charged beams. Your choice. Just keep up your health and whittle him down. Dr. Wily - Wily Machine Weakness: Lead Bubble Moves- Mask: The flying Mask in the middle is a real menace, so clear him out. Bubble: Whenever Dr. Wily moves to the skull's mouth, slam him before he can make the bubble, because it's hard to avoid. It bounces off the side if it's made. Bombs: Avoid the bombs (duh) by moving around, and making them explode away from you. They'll keep coming, and they hurt. Break Moves- Rock On!: I'm not sure if that's what it's SUPPOSED to be, or if it's Engrish for "Lock On!". Anywho, a targeting reticle will follow you as you move, so keep on moving. When the words "Rock On!" appear by it, DASH! if you're in the reticle after that, you get a lot of damage, which you don't want. Big Beam: Again, Wily'll move to the bottom. If you don't knock him back up, he'll begin charging up a huge beam. Keep yourself out of it by jumping, and hope you're not in it when it fully charges, cuz then you'll get hit very hard. Here you are, man! Time to take out the Doc! Actually, he's easier than the last guy. Not by too much, though. Use all the skills you have to avoid getting hit. Try not to be overwhelmed by what's happening onscreen; try and get a kind of Zen going on. Hit the Doc, he's the weak point. Use his weakness as much as possible, and good luck! Dr. Wily - Escape Pod Weakness: Shadow Blade This is just a minigame. He'll teleport 9 times, if you can kill him in that time then you get bonus points. If not, he "escapes", and crashes in front of you. Either way, you win the game. S E C T I O N VI. - Rescue Roll TO BE DONE S E C T I O N VII. - Retrieve the Stolen Parts TO BE DONE S E C T I O N VIII. - Multiplayer TO BE DONE S E C T I O N IX. - Endings TO BE DONE S E C T I O N X. - Nostalgia Guide TO BE DONE S E C T I O N XI. - FAQ Well, actually, I'll just put in a few questions you MAY have, as I haven't gotten any questions yet. And even if I did, they probably won't be FREQUENT. Q. What is a break move? A. Depending on when you fight a boss, they may gain new moves as you fight them. Essentially, after the second or so boss, you'll notice them flash when they hit half health, and then they'll use some more, stronger moves. It's a cool feature. Q. How do I know if I'm using my enemies weakness? A. When you first hit him with it, a little cutscene will play. The action will freeze, and the enemy will look real beat up, as a bunch of hits pound on him real fast. You'll know when you see it. If that doesn't happen, then you DID NOT use his weakness. No arguments. Q. What does the device do? A. I have no clue. If you do, please tell me, and of course I'll credit you. Q. How can I contact you? A. Any of the methods in the section below will do, but E-Mail is best. I don't like being surprised by new people on instant messaging, I'm too paranoid. Q. How can I help you with this FAQ? A. Plenty of ways. Reading it, for one. Sending me any feedback, good or bad, is also good. Proofreading it would be cool, alternate strategies or other content is MORE than welcome. Just try and be readable when you write me, no "OK SO WEN U FIGHT WILLY U GOTTA USE TEH NINJA STARS NOT LED BUBLE K? LOL CUZ NINJA STARS ARE MUCH COLER AND CUZ BUBLES DONT HURT KTHX BYE". Got it? Q. Why are you so awesome? A. Carrot juice. Q. Spandex-clad boybot? A. I just don't trust a 60 year old man who builds little prepubescent boys to be his maid... Q. RadioFingernail? A. YOU UNCULTURED SWINE! It's from a Saturday Night Live fake commercial, about a car for crazy people. The slogan is "There's a radio in my fingernail... CAR!!!" It's been my pseudonym ever since. S E C T I O N XII. - Contact Info E-Mail: jeremymeerkreebs AT gbronline DOT com (I think you can figure that out) AIM: RadioFnord MSN: radiofingernail@hotmail.com Yahoo!: radiofingernail ICQ: I don't remember. S E C T I O N XIII. - Legal Information I, Jeremy Meerkreebs (RadioFingernail), being of sound mind and body, or something, I dunno. Don't steal this FAQ and say you wrote it. You didm't; I did. It's not even that good, I mean, c'mon. You can steal better stuff. Also, don't put this up on your site without notifying me. If you notify me, I almost guarantee I'll let you (as long as this file is UNCHANGED). Just let me know. The following websites have my permission to post this: GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) And remember: if you ever see JWM on a high score list at your local arcade, please don't knock me off. My fragile self-esteem couldn't take it. This FAQ is Copyright 2003, Jeremy Meerkreebs. This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.