=============================================================================== __________ __________ _______ ___ \ _/ \ / \_ | / /___________ ___\ \ / / / |/ / ____/ __ \ / |\ \ / / ___ _______________ / / /___/ / /_ / | |\ \ / / / _ \/ __/ _ \__ __/ / / / / ___/ | ___ / /| | \ \ / / ___ / // / /_/ // / / / / // // / /___| \\ \/ _ | \ \/ / /__/ / ___/ __/ _ / / / /___//__//__/_______\_____/__/ |_| \ / / / / /_/ /\ \ / / ________ ______ __ _____ / / /_/ /___/_/ \_\_/ \_ | / / | / |/ _/ / \ / |/ / | |/ | / / /\ \ - GUIDE FOR: MEGAMAN X / / /| |/ / / / \ \ / / / / _ | | / / / \ \ / // // /_/ |_|_/|__// / \ \_ /___//__//__/ /_____\ /______\ Copyright CRESPO99 - August/2001 - Version 1.3 =============================================================================== ----------------------------------CONTENTS------------------------------------- [1] INTRODUCTION [1.01] What is MEGAMAN X? [1.02] Game Review [2] MEGAMAN X By CAPCOM 1993 [2.01] Story [2.02] Gameplay Set-up Skills Regular Items Special Items Upgrades Maverick Weapons [3] WALKTHROUGH [3.01] Highway Stage VILE [3.02] Stage Select Boss Order Boss and Stage Difficulty [3.03] Snow Mountain Stage CHILL PENGUIN [3.04] Power Plant Stage SPARK MANDRILL [3.05] Gallery Stage ARMORED ARMADILLO [3.06] Ocean Stage LAUNCH OCTOPUS [3.07] Tower Stage BOOMER KUWANGER [3.08] Forest Stage STING CHAMELEON [3.09] Sky Stage STORM EAGLE [3.10] Factory Stage FLAME MAMMOTH [3.11] HADOUKEN UPGRADE [3.12] SIGMA Stage 1 VILE Bospider [3.13] SIGMA Stage 2 Rangda Bangda [3.14] SIGMA Stage 3 D-Rex [3.15] SIGMA Stage 4 Velguader SIGMA Final SIGMA [4] ENDING [4.01] Story [4.02] Cast [5] FAQ INFORMATION [5.01] Updates [5.02] Disclaimer =============================================================================== [1] INTRODUCTION =============================================================================== -[1.01]-----------------------WHAT IS MEGAMAN X?------------------------------- MEGAMAN X (CAPCOM 1993) was the first 16 BIT game to feature the ever popular Blue Bomber - but there was more that just a few extra "console bits" to distance this from his previous outing (MEGAMAN 6 on the NES). Possibly scared that they were running out of respectable numbers, CAPCOM gave this game a much needed change of direction - set in the distant future, with an overly darker tone and all-new characters. This game would begin the "X" spin-off series - hence the next SNES Megaman game was called MEGAMAN 7, and did feature a continuation of the original series for the first time in 16bit. Although the two Megaman characters might appear similar, our hero in this game is simply known as X, and has learned a few new tricks too. The general format of the game remains the same - as before there are eight adversaries to defeat, each at the end of their own level, and which can be chosen in any order. When you defeat each boss you obtain its special weapon (sound familiar), and which helps you greatly when playing the rest of the game. Apart from a few other slight additions there was nothing that anyone who had played a previous MEGAMAN game wouldn't quickly pick up. Within two years this new series had spawned two sequels, with a 32bit fourth instalment predictably arriving in 1997. Each game introduced many new friends and adversaries for our hero, but it was the psychotic super-robot SIGMA who provided the final challenge in each. Two more recent 32bit instalments have bought the series up to its 6th episode(!), although Megaman X5 was the last to be released here in the UK. -[1.02]---------------------------GAME REVIEW---------------------------------- Hopefully a different and unbiased look at Megaman X - but being a fan of the series, character, and genre - can it be possible? MEGAMAN 7? As well as being one of the best known video game characters ever (and arguably CAPCOM'S main gaming icon), Megaman possibly holds the dubious title of staring in the most video games ever. You could therefore be forgiven by thinking that this is just another Megaman title - because you would be wrong (but obviously right to!). For starters this is not Megaman 7, instead it's the beginning of a completely different series of games (I have heard that the X could possibly stand for 10, and that this game ties in with the more recent Megaman 9?). As with most of his previous outings, this is a 1 player, 2d platform affair. If you think back to when this game first came out (hopefully you can remember that far back), the Super Nintendo had already been knocking around for a couple of years even in the UK, so far from this being just a launch title, CAPCOM where always going to pull out all the stops to make Megaman's 16 bit debut special. I for one was very excited at the prospect of a new Megaman game, although this change of direction with a new cast, and new animal like bosses was met with scepticism. PRESENTATION? The game intro simply profiles this supposed latest incarnation of Megaman, and with the actually game plot barely hinted upon, you will have to read the manual if you are even remotely interested in what's going on (you do have a manual right?). Luckily though, the storylines have never been the strong point of Megaman games, but the gameplay is usually spot on - which is the case here. Begin the actual game and the first thing you will notice are the enhanced graphics, with colourful sprites and interesting backgrounds - especially on the great looking intro stage (cars, lights, and the enemies that destroy the ground are a very nice touch). You really wouldn't expect anything less than enhanced graphics seeing as Megaman has spent most of his existence in 8 BIT, but they are actually quite good even by SNES standards. Despite the nifty visuals, there are a few moments of slowdown in the game, most noticeably on the fast moving mine cart stage (make that slow motion). Overall though, the graphics are definitely a strong point. The easy intro level quickly gets new players adjusted to the controls, and then onto the familiar stage select. The eight bosses all look equally daunting in profile form, and come in all shapes and sizes due to the SNES' extra processing power. Being able to choose any one of 8 stages has always been a good thing about Megaman games, with most being pretty varied (if unoriginal), consisting of the usual ice stage, mine cart stage, factory stage with conveyer belts etc. A single familiar face returns in the shape of those Hardhat wearing robots from the previous games, while robot bunnies, robot woodcutters, even robot caterpillars make up the rest of the enemies (everything is robotic remember). Perhaps some of the enemies seem uninspired, but the bosses all look great - the chameleon boss who blends in with the background is especially neat. GAMEPLAY? The new Megaman character runs, jumps, shoots, and even climbs with ease - the control is easily this games best feature, in fact the Megaman X character is probably the most responsive 2D character ever (better even than Mario). The new wall climbing feature can often prevents you from falling to your death, and once you get the hang everything you will realise what a huge dimension this adds to the game. The slide from the last few games has gone, and replaced with a dash button which overall proves more effective. The other trick from Megaman's original array of abilities is being able to charge up his weapon, and this also remains relatively unchanged. After playing for a while you will notice how none of the stages are particularly long or difficult, and it is mainly those damn bosses that will prevent you from completing most early on - with some proving particularly tough. What comes into play here is the thing that Megaman X is all about - enhancements. At the start your character seems nicely reminiscent of the original Megaman, but grab a few upgrades and the added defensive armour changes his looks completely. Other extras include extending your life bar up to 100%, and spare energy tanks to call upon when you need them. Needless to say, with the fully powered up Megaman you can defeat any of the Mavericks with ease, but these enhancements are not at all easy to find - so bear that in mind. Another nice new trick is the addition of altering stages, which although not to the extent of adding much to the already good replay value, is still a nice touch. Defeat the penguin boss for example, and the dangerous lava in another stage freezes, while defeating the eagle boss will cause his plane to crash into the power plant stage, removing the dangerous sparks from the floor. SOUNDS LIKE? The familiar catchy tunes return, but now make use of SNES' formidable audio chip - the result is one of the more memorable game soundtracks, and one of Megaman's finest moments. The original tinny NES tunes are replaced with some classic drum and bass, guitar and piano style tunes - most of which are perfectly in fitting with the surroundings. The overall music quality is very high, with great themes for the title screen and stage select, and the accompanying fanfares and sound effects are all perfect. The crazy mine cart stage has an equally hip tune, while the snow stage has a serene and slow tune, and the boss theme is perfect for the Maverick showdowns. STORM EAGLE and SPARK MANDRILL both have great catchy tune's, and the end theme and ZERO'S theme are quite moving with the storyline. The few poor tunes just seem a bit hard to make out the rhythm, with LAUNCH OCTOPUS' and STING CHAMELEON'S tunes both seemingly lacking, but that's about it. OVERALL? This is a great platform game, and most Megaman fans will rate this as one of the best, but others should enjoy it too. It might appear difficult at first, but is in fact is one of the easier Megaman games once you discover all of the power-ups, but the last boss just might be to difficult for some people - damn is he tough. The number of sequels has proved that this is still a very popular series, and hopefully CAPCOM will continue to do it justice. HIGHS LOWS COMPARISON Its Megaman! Uneven Difficulty Megaman X3 9/10 Great Graphics Unoriginal Levels Rockman & Forte 9/10 Amazing Control Some Poor Enemies >> MEGAMAN X << 9/10 Excellent Music A Bit Short Megaman 7 8/10 Altering Stages TO MANY SEQUELS!! Megaman X2 7/10 =============================================================================== [2] MEGAMAN X By CAPCOM 1993 =============================================================================== -[2.01]-----------------------------STORY-------------------------------------- MEGAMAN X SPECIFICATION _-----_ "HEAD" IS EQUIPPED WITH: /_|/-\|_\ Broad-range eye camera | _\___/_ | Ultra-sensitive Voice Recognition System || \_ _/ || Voice Generation System made by HAYATON Inc. \ \_o|o_/ / \| -_ |/ ___ _\___/_ ___ "CHEST" IS EQUIPPED WITH: / |/ \_/ \| \ Accumulative Energy Generator \ |__ __| / Micro-fusion Fuel Tank /\_// \___/ \\_/\ Central Joint-controlling System |_/ \__/ \__/ \_| / \ \ / / \ "ARMS" ARE EQUIPPED WITH: / | -\___/- | | X Buster (Mega Buster Mark17) | __ | | | \__/ Energy Amplifier \/ \/ /_\ /_\ / _| Variable Weapon system \()/ / \_/ \ \/_/ / / \ \ "LEGS" ARE EQUIPPED WITH: / \_/ \_/ \ Gyroscopic Stabilization System / \ / \ Emergency Acceleration System (Optional) | | | | | \ / | INTERIOR SKELETON: / | | \ Reactive armor skeleton which reduces | | | | damage by 93 percent. | | | | | | | | BODY SKIN: _|___ / \ ___|_ Lightweight "Titanium-X" alloy. / \___/ \___/ \ /___________\ /___________\ WARNING: "X" IS THE FIRST OF A NEW GENERATION OF ROBOTS WHICH CONTAIN AN INNOVATIVE NEW FEATURE - THE ABILITY TO THINK, FEEL AND MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS. HOWEVER THIS ABILITY COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS. IF "X" WERE TO BREAK THE FIRST RULE OF ROBOTICS, "A ROBOT MUST NEVER HARM A HUMAN BEING", THE RESULTS WOULD BE DISASTROUS AND I FEAR THAT NO FORCE ON EARTH COULD STOP HIM. APPROXIMATELY 30 YEARS WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE WE CAN SAFELY CONFIRM HIS RELIABILITY. UNFORTUNATELY I WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE THAT DAY, NOR DO I HAVE ANYONE TO CARRY ON MY WORK. THEREFORE, I HAVE DECIDED TO SEAL HIM IN THIS CAPSULE, WHICH WILL TEST HIS INTERNAL SYSTEMS UNTIL HIS RELIABILITY HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. PLEASE DO NO DISTURB THE CAPSULE UNTIL THAT TIME. "X" POSSESSES GREAT RISKS AS WELL AS GREAT POSSIBILITIES. I CAN HOPE FOR THE BEST. SEPTEMBER 18, 20XX T. LIGHT You have to read the game manual to get a better idea of the actual story, which centres around an archaeologist named Dr. CAIN who stumbles upon the remains of what was Dr. Thomas LIGHTS Laboratory (Dr. LIGHT Invented the original MEGAMAN). Inside he discovered a capsule containing a robot simply named X - and the warning shown above, but all the lengthy system checks seemed to have been completed on him. Realising Dr. LIGHTS genius, Dr. CAIN witnessed a robot that could think and make its own decisions in an almost human way. With Dr. LIGHT'S knowledge, Dr. CAIN hoped to create a new era of robotics. X helped Dr. CAIN create a replica, from now on know as a "REPLOID", and it seemed to function ok. Within months the REPLOIDS where running off the assembly line, and most people seemed to accept them and the jobs they performed. After a while, it was clear that all was not well - certain robots were going MAVERICK and harming people before they could be shut down. The people's reaction was mixed simply because of the dependency on REPLOIDS, and so instead a new group of REPLOIDS were assigned to stop these malfunctioning machines - known as the MAVERICK HUNTERS and led by the incredibly intelligent SIGMA! All went well for a while, with only X's constant wondering about his role in life seeming to disturb him. Eventually though, SIGMA also went MAVERICK, and took most of the HUNTERS with him. In thinking that REPLOIDS are more intelligent than humans, they are preventing their development - and so must be eradicated! With the terrified humans fleeing the city, X is very distressed by these events and decides to join the MAVERICK HUNTERS and their new leader ZERO... -[2.02]---------------------------GAMEPLAY------------------------------------- SET-UP: PASSWORDS: This game uses a password system to save your progress, so remember to write this down as you progress through the game - you get one whenever you leave a stage regardless of the circumstances. You can re-enter your password from the title screen later, which will restore your exact status to the stage select screen. In some cases, certain special events WILL NOT be saved, and this includes your progress through the four final SIGMA stages. OPTION MODE: From the title screen you can also choose the options menu, offering a nice sound test and the ability to reconfig your buttons (I find it easier to switch the dash button to R on the top of the pad) - but unfortunately there is no difficulty option. SKILLS: CHARGING: You standard weapon is the trusty X-Buster, for which you can rely on to defeat any enemy in the game, albeit with varying levels of ease. It will never run out of ammo, and can be charged up to 2 higher damaging levels. Simply hold the fire button down, and as soon as you see X begin to absorb energy then he is ready to fire the medium shot (1 second approx.). Hold the fire button down slightly longer (2 seconds approx.) and the energy absorbed will turn yellow, enabling you to fire the larger shot. Later in the game you will acquire the ability to charge up to an even higher level - hold down the button for even longer and the energy absorbed will turn pink (3 seconds approx.), which releases an awesome pink wave of energy. STATUS SCREEN: Pressing the START button during the game will immediately bring up the STATUS SCREEN - displaying the number of lives, various energy levels for any weapons or SUB TANKS you have obtained (see below), and also providing an EXIT function if you are returning to an already completed stage (taking you back to the stage select). From here the game is effectively paused, allowing you to choose your weapon or use a SUB TANK without hindrance. WEAPON SELECT: In this game you can cycle through the special weapons you have obtained by pressing buttons L or R (L or A if you change them like I do), although it is probably still easier just to press start and choose one from the status screen. Pressing R will cycle forward, while pressing L will cycle through in reverse order - you can also revert immediately back to the X-Buster by pressing both buttons simultaneously. WALL CLIMB: The wall climb is a new skill unique to Megaman X, and is an invaluable tactic for avoiding death on many occasions. When X is falling or jumping next to a wall, press the jump button and he will propel from it - this is made slightly easier if you hold the joypad towards the wall, which makes X slide slowly down it. This tactic allows easy navigation of vertical walls right from the start, and is something that you will need to do a lot of (this is something that the original MEGAMAN still cannot do). REGULAR ITEMS: ENERGY CAPSULES: When you start the game you will see your LIFE BAR in the top left, which provides 16 easily lost bars of energy - so you need to be careful and constantly on the look out for energy capsules. There are two types of these - small and large, both of which can be found scattered all over the levels, but most often appear randomly from destroyed enemies. WEAPON CAPSULES: Two similar items that you will come across are the blue weapon capsules, which recharge the energy of any special weapons you might have obtained. Weapons gained from each defeated MAVERICK will drain WEAPON ENERGY as you use them - which is denoted by a separate bar that appears to the right of your LIFE BAR when you select one. If the current weapon is at full energy, then the power will automatically be transferred to the weapon in your inventory which has the lowest energy. EXTRA LIFE: There is also a less common item that can be found scattered around a few of the levels, or possibly dropped by destroyed enemies - a Megaman head, providing you with a much needed EXTRA LIFE (a maximum of 9). SPECIAL ITEMS: The Special items can only be found hidden throughout the eight regular stages, and usually require a lot of skill to locate or obtain. HEART TANK: The HEART TANK extends your maximum LIFE BAR by two small bars, of which there are Eight in the game - one on each MAVERICK stage (collect them all to effectively double your LIFE BAR). SUB TANK: The SUB TANK (of which there are four) allows you to store surplus energy, meaning that any energy capsules collected when you are at full power will instead be stored and not wasted. When you run low of energy, simply select a SUB TANK from the status screen and press Y - it will then completely empty into your LIFE BAR (filling up to 14 bars). UPGRADES: Megaman X's final surprise is the new UPGRADE system. There are five capsules hidden throughout the eight regular stages, and each provides X with an enhancement that not only makes the character look cooler, but provides abilities that are invaluable for your survival later on. DASH UPGRADE (Found on CHILL PENGUIN'S stage): This is the easiest upgrade to obtain, but also the MOST important. Without this you will not be able to get any of the other upgrades, or many of the special items - not to mention the fact that most bosses are considerably more difficult without it! You cannot avoid picking up this upgrade during CHILL PENGUIN'S stage, but you should still aim to get it as early as possible. Simply press the assigned dash button (or double tap in the direction you're facing) and X will boost forward - best used in conjunction with the jump button. With good timing you can also use this to jump further off of the walls, and just by having this upgrade you can break certain bricks by jumping against them. ARMOUR UPGRADE (Found on STING CHAMELEON'S stage): This is the second most important upgrade, which simply halves all of the damage you receive, but you still need to be wary of Instant Death situations! HELMET UPGRADE (Found on STORM EAGLE'S stage): This is the least most useful upgrade, which simply allows X to destroy breakable bricks by bashing them with his head. It only has one positive use in the game, which is to obtain the..... X-BUSTER UPGRADE (Found on FLAME MAMMOTH'S STAGE): You will eventually obtain this upgrade during the course of the game even if you fail to gain it on FLAME MAMMOTH'S stage - but at a much later point in SIGMA'S fortress. It allows you to charge your normal X-Buster to a higher level, but more importantly is the added ability to charge the weapons you gain from each MAVERICK. HADOUKEN UPGRADE (Found on ARMORED ARMADILLO'S STAGE): The hardest Upgrade to find, and one which provides the most amazing power to wield. Press the Joypad DOWN, then FORWARD, then FIRE to perform RYU'S trademark move from STREET FIGHTER 2. It can only be performed when you have a full LIFE BAR, but defeats enemies and MAVERICKS (including SIGMA!) with just one hit!!! MAVERICK WEAPONS: SHOTGUN ICE (S.ICE): Fires a fast shot which rebounds and sprays into 5 smaller (but equally damaging) shots when it hits a wall. Charge it up to create an ice platform that will slide forward along any flat surface and can be stood on - it will only break against strong enemies or if it hits a wall. ELECTRIC SPARK (E.SPARK): Fires a medium speed shot that splits into two sparks that hug the walls on contact. Charged up will create a powerful electric wall that fires both back and forward. ROLLING SHIELD (R.SHIELD): Fires a slow moving forcefield that rolls forward, rebounding once from a wall and rolling indefinitely before crashing into a second wall or enemy. Charged up will create a permanent force field around X which can destroy all weak enemies, but will be absorbed by anything stronger. HOMING TORPEDO (HOMING.T): Fires a slow moving missile that will seek and follow an enemy - a maximum of 2 can be fired at once. Charged up will create 5 fish missiles that will also home in on enemies, but are much more damaging. BOOMERANG CUTTER (B.CUTTER): Fires a medium speed boomerang that circles a short range in an upwards arc (occasionally a downwards arc while jumping). You can fire a maximum of 3 at a time, and they will all return to you unless they leave the screen or hit an enemy (WEAPON ENERGY w ill return when reclaimed). Another benefit from this useful weapon is the way it grabs onto both regular and special items, and then brings them to you - which is the only way to obtain some of them. Charged up this will produce 4 large green boomerangs that will circle the screen in all directions before leaving (you will not get the energy back). CHAMELEON STING (C.STING): Sprays 3 fast green laser beams forward, but charged up will make you transparent (invincible) for just under 10 seconds - during which for can move through enemies and even over spikes. You can also fire the CHAMELEON STING while transparent. STORM TORNADO (STORM.T): This creates a long stream of air in front of you that hovers briefly before shooting forward - excellent against enemies that require multiple hits to destroy. Charged up will create a huge tornado around you, severely damaging anything close, above or below you. FIRE WAVE (FIRE.W) You can hold the button down for a short-range but constant stream of fire. This flame-thrower attack will charge up automatically if you have the X-BUSTER UPGRADE, so you might want to tap the button instead. Charge it up to shoot a flame into the ground - creating a wall of fire that travels forward along flat surfaces. This weapon is also excellent against stronger enemies but remember that it will not work while you are underwater, so be careful! =============================================================================== [3] WALKTHROUGH =============================================================================== This Walkthrough details the stages in the order which is probably best for new players, although each section has been written without any assumptions made on the number of upgrades collected, or previous levels completed. In other words, you can go with any order you wish and still find the guide (hopefully) useful. -[3.01]------------------------Highway Stage----------------------------------- The first MEGAMAN game to feature the now customary introduction level, which takes place on a collapsing highway, and populated with all sorts of robotic enemies as well as cosmetic vehicles fleeing the Reploid overrun city. You just need to head right, constantly charging the X-Buster helps because the largest shot can destroy many enemies at once. Small flying enemies attempt to destroy the floor, but pose little worry, but a few larger enemies tend to take many hits. There is a section where you have to fight a large robotic wasp-like flying enemy, and you will need to use the new wall climb after it. There is an identical situation right after, with another giant wasp like thing - just keep blasting it while avoiding its missiles. Shortly after a few collapsing platforms you will see enemy cars driving towards you - just keep shooting to slow them down. If you don't kill the driver and attempt to jump over them, then the car will turn around and chase you. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| A large spaceship will drop a few more car |----------------------------| enemies onto the ground before VILE appears. | | VILE is the small purple guy in the giant | Name: VILE | Ride-Armour, and no matter how much you avoid | Difficulty: Very Easy | him or fight back, he will eventually pummel | Normal X Shots: NA | you into submission. Just before you are dead, | Large X Shots: NA | he will stop running into you and try to hit | Weakness: NA | you with a paralysing weapon (so you can't beat | | him, but you can still die if you are not |----------------------------| careful). After a mocking speech, a red robot called ZERO shows up and blasts the arm off of VILE'S Ride-Armour, after which VILE makes a hasty retreat. X is reassured by ZERO that he will soon get stronger, possibly even as strong as him one day! ZERO then departs for SIGMA'S fortress, while X goes on a quest to build his strength and abilities up. -[3.02]-------------------------Stage Select----------------------------------- A new twist this time, no longer do we have humanoid robots all ending in ***man, but all of X's adversaries now resemble various animal like forms (which is also hinted in their name). You can click on SPEC/STAGE/MAP on this screen before highlighting each MAVERICK to get an idea of each ones stage and abilities, although this is mostly cosmetic and helps little. While it is possible to defeat a number of the MAVERICKS from the start, it is only something that the best players should attempt, and even then - some of these are nigh on impossible at this point. Each of the eight MAVERICKS possess an obtainable weapon that seriously damages another Maverick, so in theory it is best to tackle them in this order regardless of who you start with, but this often means returning to previous levels to obtain important items - and so it is less efficient. Below is a guide to help you decide the order in which to tackle each stage. BOSS ORDER (Clockwise): By using the first order (starting with Chill Penguin) you will always have the correct SPECIAL WEAPON to defeat the next boss. By using the second order (again starting with CHILL PENGUIN) you will only have to return to a stage once - so it is by far the most efficient (but more taxing). (1) EASIEST: (2) OPTIMAL: CHILL PENGUIN CHILL PENGUIN / \ / \ FLAME MAMMOTH SPARK MANDRILL STING CHAMELEON STORM EAGLE / \ / \ STORM EAGLE ARMORED ARMADILLO LAUNCH OCTOPUS FLAME MAMMOTH \ / \ / STING CHAMELEON LAUNCH OCTOPUS ARMORED ARMADILLO BOOMER KUWANGER \ / \ / BOOMER KUWANGER SPARK MANDRILL When using the OPTIMAL order, note that it is actually possible to place either LAUNCH OCTOPUS' or ARMORED ARMADILLO'S stage at any point in the ring - this is simply because neither stage requires any items or upgrades to obtain every item on the level. The only exception to this rule is that STING CHAMELEON *MUST* be chosen *AFTER* LAUNCH OCTOPUS so that the level will flood - allowing you to reach a vital SPECIAL ITEM. All of the other other levels must be done in the order stated, leaving you needing only to revisit CHILL PENGUIN'S stage to collect the HEART TANK. BOSS AND STAGE DIFFICULTY (When chosen first): The BOSS table assumes you will collect all possible power-ups from the level before fighting the boss (e.g. even if you select ARMORED ARMADILLO first, you can still obtain both the HEART TANK and the SUB TANK - whereas if you choose STING CHAMELEON first you will be unable to pick up any of the levels special items). The STAGE difficulty table in mainly ranked on aspects such as the overall size and the number of instant death situations - although to be honest, none of the level can really be classed as difficult. BOSS STAGE VERY HARD HARD |- LAUNCH OCTOPUS |- LAUNCH OCTOPUS |- SPARK MANDRILL |- SPARK MANDRILL |- STING CHAMELEON |- ARMORED ARMADILLO |- BOOMER KUWANGER |- STORM EAGLE |- ARMORED ARMADILLO |- FLAME MAMMOTH |- STORM EAGLE |- BOOMER KUWANGER |- FLAME MAMMOTH |- CHILL PENGUIN |- CHILL PENGUIN |- STING CHAMELEON EASY EASY -[3.03]---------------Snow Mountain Stage: CHILL PENGUIN----------------------- This stage is the obvious first choice because not only is it an easy level, but you will obtain the DASH UPGRADE at no real effort. Just head right and then up (remember to use the wall climb jump), and you will eventually find the upgrade capsule blocking your path. The accelerator system (DASH UPGRADE) is a must at this early stage, giving you a longer jump when used in combination, and which can also be used when jumping from the wall (very helpful against the bosses). Shortly after, you will find a Ride-Armour suit similar to the one used by VILE on the Highway Stage. While using this armour you can smash the ice covered houses, and if you jump out of it while it is also jumping, you can get some extra height. Right after the Ride-Armour is a situation like this, you can either go through the cave, or jump up and then out of the armour and go across the top. It is slightly easier to go over, although you might want to muck around in the Ride-Armour for a while (remember to jump out of the armour if you fall into a hole inside the cave - you can easily wall climb out). Over the top of the cave are more of those small iced buildings, but you are unable to destroy these unless you have the FIRE WAVE from FLAME MAMMOTH. Inside the first small building is the HEART TANK for this level (come back here later). Continue and you will soon find snowballs being thrown at you, but these are pretty easy to avoid, and when you reach the boss-door keep destroying the robots that throw them to get energy capsules (full energy is a must for any boss battle). Then enter the door to face CHILL PENGUIN... |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| CHILL PENGUIN is small compared to most of the |----------------------------| others, giving a large area to avoid him. He | | often jumps across the screen in an attempt | Name: CHILL PENGUIN | to hit you (contact is very damaging), but | Height: 5.34ft | you should easily be able to avoid it. When | Weight: 237lb | he lands he sometimes breathes icy breath, | Difficulty: Easy | creating two ice statures that remain on the | Normal X Shots: 32 | level until destroyed (and also damage on | Large X Shots: 10 | contact), his breath can also freezes you | Weakness: FIRE WAVE | temporarily if you are close enough, giving | (11 Hits) | him a damaging free hit. Sometimes while |----------------------------| jumping he might grab the hook in the middle on the ceiling instead, summoning an icy wind that blows you either left or right, also sending any statues smashing into the wall. He can also shoot slow or fast ice rocks at you, although these stop if they hit an ice statue (so you can hide behind them). His final attack is the Slide, where he shoots forward on his stomach - also very damaging. As long as you hit him with Charged shots, and remain on the walls (just watch for him jumping when he is near to the wall you are climbing), you can defeat him quite easily. Just hit him constantly, the easiest time being when he jumps, lands or finishes a slide attack. Using the FIRE WAVE doesn't really make him much easier, although you can now destroy the ice statues almost immediately. He will still jump around and slide on his stomach, so you still need to be careful while on the ground. The charged up FIRE WAVE is completely useless because it is so hard to hit him with and will run out after about 4 or 5 hits. Because the Fire Wave requires you to hold down the fire button, it will charge up automatically anyway - which is actually more of a hindrance during the battle. -[3.04]---------------Power Plant Stage: SPARK MANDRILL------------------------ This stage is one of the more difficult ones, so you need to watch out for the constant sparks shooting across parts of the floor. These sparks will disappear after you defeat STORM EAGLE (looks like the remains of his plane at the start!), but this will cause some areas to plunge into darkness - making a few sections actually more difficult. Shortly after the start you will see two ladders, the one going down leads to a SUB TANK, but you cannot get it unless you have defeated BOOMER KUWANGER so just go up (use his BOOMERANG CUTTER to snatch the SUB TANK later). It will soon get dark, and fast flying enemies will try to knock you off platforms to your death - so remember to wall climb back up if you can't avoid them (just stop and wait if this part goes completely dark). The strange mid level boss is quite tough early on in the game, with the best advice simply to avoid the sticky slime it leaves on the floor (move the d-pad left and right if you do get stuck). You can use the wall climb to hit it while it is high up, which is useful for when it shoots sparks downwards (defeat STORM EAGLE and it can no longer shoot these sparks). It does moves quite slowly, and occasionally pauses, which is when you should get close and fire rapidly to defeat it in no time. After this you can then continue right - avoiding the wall turrets is easy, but the giant turtle enemies take many hits, so you will need to avoid the missiles they shoot back. When you come to a ladder going down, you should see the HEART TANK for this level above you - this can be obtained by dash- jumping from the right wall and then trying to just touch the ledge (needs good judgement as well as the DASH UPGRADE), you can also use the BOOMERANG CUTTER if you have it. Keep going and it will get dark like before, so watch out for more of those those fast birds (try and anticipate when they fly across the screen to shoot them) before reaching the door. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| SPARK MANDRILL is huuuge, but not impossible to |----------------------------| beat even without the DASH UPGRADE. He only | | has a few different attacks, his most damaging | Name: SPARK MANDRILL | being the dash punch - which takes off lots of | Height: 10.0ft | energy, and tends to knock you off the wall | Weight: 646lb | that he bashes (so you might land on him if you | Difficulty: Hard | climbed the wall to avoid it). The dash punch | Normal X Shots: 32 | is a good move to counter however, so if you | Large X Shots: 11 | anticipate it a nd hit him with a charged shot | Weakness: SHOTGUN ICE | you will knock him back. Watch out if he | (11 Hits) | repeats the punch however, you wont have enough | Charged SHOTGUN ICE | time to charge up another shot, so its a good | (8 Hits) | idea to prepare to jump against the wall and |----------------------------| vault him afterwards. He also tries to jumps on you, but sometimes grabs the ceiling instead - slowly swinging across (also a good time to hit him with a charged shot). His special attack is when he punches the floor, sending two pink sparks (the ELECTRIC SPARK) each way hugging the arena wall (jump them and you can hit him with a charged shot). He is easy to hit, and charged shots damage him severely - so always have one ready and try to make them count. Hit him from the start because he usually does the dash punch, and prepare for his follow up because you can only take a few hits early on. When he hangs on the ceiling you can hit him at least twice, and he is particularly vulnerable during the ELECTRIC SPARK. As long as you avoid his contact and anticipate the Dash punch, you should be able to beat him first with practice. His weakness is the SHOTGUN ICE, with which you can just keep on hitting him over and over to freeze him, making him a doddle (shoot again just as he breaks free). -[3.05]----------------Gallery Stage: ARMORED ARMADILLO------------------------ The customary mine cart level is another tough stage - so jump on the cart at the beginning and shoot like crazy (enemies hit by the cart are killed instantly). If you jump off after the first downward slope you should see a bat that is considerably larger than the normal ones - blast this for an almost certain EXTRA LIFE, and then keep walking forward and back to refresh the enemies for more lives from it! If you stayed on the cart you will hit the wall at the end, so remember to jump off - the momentum throws you off a bit so be careful. When you reach the wall going down, slide down slowly until the rock-crusher goes past underneath, just behind it is a SUB TANK. This level is good for filling your SUB TANKS, so boss fights from now on will be slightly fairer. Just follow the rock-crusher until it destroys itself, and carry on until you reach the next mine cart. When you jump off you have another vertical wall to slide down, but this time you want to get in front of the rock-crusher - so stay to the right as you descend (touching its front is instant death). Go on ahead until you see the HEART TANK above (you cannot reach this if the rock-crusher went in front), and then wait for the rock-crusher to go past below and destroy itself again. It is possible to destroy the rock-crusher using the X-Buster, and before it reaches the HEART TANK - but unless you are quick on the buttons you will need either the STORM TORNADO or the FIRE WAVE. Right after this is the final mine cart ride, so shoot like crazy and remember to jump off at the end - just before the door to ARMORED ARMADILLO. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| This small Boss is annoying because he will |----------------------------| almost always block your shots, and even when | | you hit him you don't do much damage (charged | Name: ARMORED ARMADILLO | hits do no extra damage). His main attack is | Height: 6.36ft | to roll up into a ball and bounce around the | Weight: 510lb | screen at 45 degree angles (you need to judge | Difficulty: Intermediate | where he will hit regardless of where you are | Normal X Shots: 32 | on the screen) - this is very damaging and you | Large X Shots: 32 | will probably need that SUB TANK from earlier | Weakness: ELECTRIC SPARK | after a few hits. You can usually get a hit in | (11 Hits) | just as he comes out of the roll, and just as | Charged ELECTRIC SPARK | he enters it if you are quick. When he stands | (5 Hits) | still he will begin shooting small shots at |----------------------------| you, this is easiest time hit him even though he will still block some of your shots. If he blocks a charged shot he will absorb it and release a blast of energy in many directions (very damaging). I prefer to remain on the left side for the entire battle, where you should eventually notice a pattern in his roll attack (knowing when to be either up the left wall, or on the ground to avoid it). When he jumps out of his roll attack you want to shoot him constantly - hitting him a few times while avoiding the small laser beams he fires back. Because of the high number of hits he takes to kill, this battle will last quite a while - so your only real worry is the occasional lack of judgement... If you have the ENERGY SPARK you just need to hit him properly once - he can block this as before, but as soon as you DO hit him he will lose his armour, allowing you to keep hitting him no matter what he does. Without his armour he cannot even block X-Buster shots, but try and hit him as often as possible with the ENERGY SPARK because he still has a lot of vitality. -[3.06]------------------Ocean Stage: LAUNCH OCTOPUS--------------------------- This level takes place mostly underwater, allowing you to jump higher but very slowly (hold the jump button to jump really high). Keep going across the seabed until you stop to fight a large fish, this will shoot eels at you that are annoying to avoid, he also tries to draw you in - not too difficult. You will then come across many fish that will try to suck you inside them, these do not appear to damage you but actually drain you energy quite rapidly after a few seconds if you do nothing - so shoot to escape from their stomach. The second pause is another of those giant fish's, except this time parts of the ground have spikes, and so you need to be extra careful when he draws you towards him (jumping high helps you land back on the small floor section). Soon after you will find whirlpool machines that you can use to climb to the water surface, the second of which allows you to jump onto a Whale like boat which can be sunk after a pummelling (shoot the orb on the top). When the Whale sinks it destroys the spiked ground on the seabed, revealing a large fighting area and a serpent like mini-boss. You can stand on is back as it weaves around the area, making it easier to hit its head and tail weakpoints. If you have the STORM TORNADO you can defeat it in just a few hits, but always be wary of the spike patches below. When you destroy it, a small cave appears to the right which contains the HEART TANK. Head back left and up to the main path and continue to another pause, here you fight another of those serpents, although the shallower water means you can't stay on its back for as long. Destroy it and walk up to the boss door (there are no enemies to obtain energy capsules from so you might not be in a good position to do him first time). |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| This underwater boss is a really tough one, but |----------------------------| still possible to defeat very early on. He will | | mainly stand or hop forward while firing three | Name: LAUNCH OCTOPUS | missiles at you, so keep your distance and | Height: 7.80ft | continuously fire normal shots - by standing | Weight: 348lb | your ground you can destroy these missiles and | Difficulty: Very Hard | hit him in-between (so don't bother to charge). | Normal X Shots: 32 | He less frequently fires 4 fish like homing | Large X Shots: 11 | missiles (you can prepare because he waves his | Weakness: ROLLING SHIELD | arms before firing them), which are harder to | (11 Hits) | avoid and more damaging. His last attack is to | BOOMERANG CUTTER | jump up and create a whirlpool that tries to | (3 Hits to cut off arms) | draw you inside - so watch out for this if you |----------------------------| do not have the DASH UPGRADE because you will not be able to escape from it. If you do have the DASH UPGRADE then you can easily avoid this and even escape if you do get caught in it - allowing you more time to charge up your X-Buster and hit him when he stops spinning. If you do get caught, he will move down and suck your energy (healing himself too), so wiggle the d-pad to escape with minimum damage. The best tactic is just stay away from him and shoot - only hitting him with charged shots when he is in the air. This battle is only difficult because the fish missiles are so hard to avoid, and you will almost certainly need a lucky match if you don't have the DASH UPGRADE or a SUB TANK. LAUNCH OCTOPUS' weakness is the ROLLING SHIELD, which damages him badly, but is hard to actually hit him with because many shots will be cancelled by his missiles. From the start its best to just get close to him and unload the ROLLING SHIELD continuously, he should only have about a third of his energy left when it runs out, then revert to the X-Buster and you should beat him comfortably (I hope). Strangely this boss has a second weakness which is overall more effective than his true weakness. If you have the BOOMERANG CUTTER, you just need to hit him with it three times (normal or charged) to remove his arms. Without his arms he loses the ability to fire the homing fish missiles or use his whirlpool attack. All he is left with is those easily countered rockets, making him one of the easiest battles! -[3.07]------------------Tower Stage: BOOMER KUWANGER-------------------------- This level takes place inside a tower, and the direction you travel most is up - so be prepared to climb. Various ladders help you most of the time, but make use of the wall climb to quickly reach the top of the short first section. You soon have to go right past laser detectors turning on and off - break any of theses beams and the guns will shoot you. Its difficult not to get hit a few times and so the best tactic here is to just sprint dash (using the DASH UPGRADE) all the way through regardless - proving too quick for the guns to hit you before you reach the end. Continue up and you will soon come to a fast moving lift taking you even higher, here you have to avoid instant death spikes as well as flying enemies - the walls on the side also kill instantly. You then move outside, here you need to use the wall climb ability, made slightly harder by the presence of gun turrets popping out of the wall. At the top you can clearly see the HEART TANK for this level, which you can easily grab later on with the weapon from this levels boss (use the BOOMERANG CUTTER). If you already have both the SHOTGUN ICE and the X-BUSTER UPGRADE however, it is possible to ride the charged up ice platform off the edge and then jump up onto the ledge (needs good timing). Continue up afterwards, destroying the enemies on the platforms so you can ride them up to entrance to the boss room. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| Apparently BOOMER KUWANGER is a Cockroach, but |----------------------------| during the Japanese translation it would seem | | CAPCOM decided BOOMER COCKROACH just doesn't | Name: BOOMER KUWANGER | sound right, but either way this boss is not to | Height: 7.93ft | difficult. His most common technique is the | Weight: 206lb | teleport, and he does seem to make a nasty | Difficulty: Intermediate | habit of appearing in front of you regardless | Normal X Shots: 32 | of which way you move (often making contact for | Large X Shots: 11 | big damage). He can also charge into you, and | Weakness: HOMING TORPEDO | likes following up both these attacks with the | (11 hits) | damaging "Dead Lift" - where he lifts you up | Charged HOMING TORPEDO | with his horns and throws you into the ceiling. | (8 Hits) | If you face him Without the DASH UPGRADE, then |----------------------------| these two attacks are quite hard to avoid unless you stay high up the walls. His final move is the BOOMERANG CUTTER, where he removes his horns and throws them towards you, but this often misses and is not particularly damaging anyway - usually done if you are up a wall when he stops teleporting. My best tactic is to just keep wall climbing on either side, and then jumping over him when he appears right below - usually getting in a charged shot before climbing up the other wall. By doing this he almost constantly teleports, pausing only to throw the BOOMERANG CUTTER which as also a good time to hit him - he cannot teleport while the boomerang is travelling through the air, so make use of this vulnerability. If you have the HOMING TORPEDOES then BOOMER KUWANGER is very easy indeed - just shoot them one at a time and they will always hit him. Because he can still teleport next to you, it is best not to just stand still and fire away, instead the best place to be is either of the top corners - here you can just shoot continuously. -[3.08]------------------Forest Stage: STING CHAMELEON------------------------- This Stage is a poor first choice because none of the cool bonuses can be obtained without the DASH UPGRADE. At the start are those annoying wood cutting robots, so have the charged shot ready to destroy them and the tree's they hide behind. Not far from the start is a vertical cliff face at the entrance to a cave (where rock-robots fall inside) - dash jump and climb this cliff face instead of going inside the cave. At the top you will be caved-in to face a giant green robot with pincer claws - this is Dr. Light's test for the second most-important upgrade, the ARMOUR UPGRADE. This mini boss is not too hard, and his moves are not particularly damaging either, but he does take a lot of hits. He will jump to where you are standing most of the time, so always move when he jumps. His other attack is to extend his claw about 2 thirds a screen in length, sometimes grabbing and smashing you into the wall - but this is also pretty weak. Just keep dashing from wall to wall, and concentrate on shooting his head with charged shots (he takes 64 regular hits and 32 of the larger shot!!!!). Afterwards take the ARMOUR UPGRADE, which will help you considerably from now on (all damage is halved). Also, by destroying this secret boss, there will be no more rocks falling in the cave below. Go back and slide down the cliff face, and immediately below is a small gap in the ground - slide down here to find a secret area leading to the HEART TANK. If you have defeated LAUNCH OCTOPUS, this area will be filled with water, and this is vital for reaching the HEART TANK. Remember that you first need the DASH UPGRADE, and then its a leap of faith as far to the right as you can. When you reach the small ledge, grab the HEART TANK and attempt to jump all the way back - easier if you slide down the ledge before jumping. Now climb back up and continue through the level. There is an EXTRA LIFE in plain view shortly before a suit of Ride-Armour, grab this and head right, jumping to avoid the swamp that slows you down. Shortly ahead is the door to the boss. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| The Chameleon boss is a very difficult foe to |----------------------------| beat early on, but if you had the DASH UPGRADE | | and then acquired the ARMOUR UPGRADE from his | Name: STING CHAMELEON | stage, he becomes quite easy. The top of the | Height: 5.80ft | arena is covered in spikes that are incredibly | Weight: 169lb | damaging (even with the ARMOUR UPGRADE), so be | Difficulty: Hard | careful when climbing up the walls. His main | Normal X Shots: 20 | manoeuvre is moving while invisible (being a | Large X Shots: 16 | Chameleon he blends in with the background), | Weakness: BOOMERANG CUTTER | crawling across the arena and re-appearing | (11 hits) | either high or low. You can usually make out | Charged BOOMERANG CUTTER | where he is crawling, giving a split second to | (8 Hits) | react before he reappears, and which is vital |----------------------------| for avoiding the devastating tongue attack he usually does when he appears low (but this is still hard to avoid without the DASH UPGRADE). If he appears high, he can use his special weapon - the CHAMELEON STING, where he sprays three green spikes multiple times (not too damaging). Wherever he appears, he can also drop to the ground before jumping up to the ceiling and swinging from his tongue - this shakes spikes from the ceiling that are hard to avoid but also not very damaging. Because he disappears quite quickly you need to move fast if you want to hit him after avoiding his attacks. He is vulnerable during all his attacks, particularly when he sprays the CHAMELEON STING. When he swings from the ceiling you don't need to jump off the walls to hit him, he is low enough to hit with charged jump shots. If you see him about to reappear low, its really just best to concentrate on avoiding his tongue attack. If you have the BOOMERANG CUTTER then he is very easy even without any of the upgrades - and because the Boomerang goes in a high loop you can hit him even when he is high up. Every time you hit him he will fall down and jump up to the opposite side (almost always starting the tongue swing) - where you can knock him down again and repeat. Just watch out for him falling onto you if you knock him down from right above you. -[3.09]--------------------Sky Stage: STORM EAGLE------------------------------ A different stage compared to those so far, with good jumping and judgement required from the start. Head up from the beginning, carefully jumping from the small platforms while avoiding those annoying enemies that pick you up. You can destroy parts of the right wall where you can see platforms (only hiding large energy capsules), and when you reach the very top you should dash jump as far to the left as you can (need the DASH UPGRADE), to obtain the HEART TANK for this level. Drop down after and make your way all the way back to the top to carry on. Back at the top you will soon come to more platforms to navigate (destroy the turrets on each platform), but from here you can instead head up and left to reach the control tower. Just shoot the glass to easily obtain a SUB TANK, and then drop back down and head right. Without the DASH UPGRADE you will have to wait for the next platform to be lower than the one you are on before jumping to it, so you might have to judge where it is if you can't see it below you. At the end of this section is another wall to destroy, and inside is an EXTRA LIFE. Right after this is a tall mast to climb, taking you even higher, so climb it but slide down the other side instead of jumping to the higher Platform - and from here you can dash jump (need the DASH UPGRADE) to a right platform with another of those destroyable walls. Inside here is the HELMET UPGRADE, which allows you to destroy certain bricks in a "Super Mario Bros" style. Apart from looking pretty cool it does little else. Return back up to the main path and continue right (there is another easy EXTRA LIFE in plain sight). Just before the boss is a section where you have to jump onto a plane using platforms that fall when you land on them - needless to say be quick to jump off. Walk off the right edge of the plane instead of going through the door to find a large weapon and energy capsule - then jump on the platform to face STORM EAGLE. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| STORM EAGLE flaps his wings, blowing you back |----------------------------| from the start (ultimately trying to push you | | off the edge) - so without the DASH UPGRADE you | Name: STORM EAGLE | need to run desperately against it to make back | Height: 8.20ft | some ground. He might fly upwards and hover | Weight: 275lb | before splitting out an egg that 4 robot birds | Difficulty: Intermediate | hatch from and chase you - but time a charged | Normal X Shots: 32 | blast right and you can destroy all four with | Large X Shots: 16 | just one hit. While hovering he will either | Weakness: CHAMELEON STING | land again, or disappear upwards - and begin to | (11 hits) | dive-bomb you. This is easily his most damaging |----------------------------| attack, and unless you take action to evade it he will always hit you - so move constantly. He will later fly down from the top of the screen and hover once more, before possibly landing or disappearing upwards again and dive-bombing. If he lands he will try to blow you off the edge again, sometimes using his special weapon instead - the STORM TORNADO, which pushes you back with much more force than his wings but can be jumped to gain more ground, and also doesn't damage. You can easily hit him when he hovers or lands with a charged shot, and if you are quick also when he dive-bombs (although just evading this attack is more important). If you have the DASH UPGRADE you can nail him constantly by shooting and dashing as he blows you back. As long as you just concentrate on avoiding him you can beat this boss quite early in the game, just watch for him blowing you off the edge if you do not have the DASH UPGRADE. Using the CHAMELEON STING only makes it easier to hit him, but charging it up to turn yourself invincible will prevent him from hitting you with the dive-bomb or the STORM TORNADO - very helpful. -[3.10]------------------Factory Stage: FLAME MAMMOTH-------------------------- This shortish stage is a melting factory, so watch out for the robotic junk on the conveyer belts that can knock you into the very damaging lava (some shoot laser beams, so be careful). By defeating CHILL PENGUIN you can freeze all the lava at the bottom, allowing you to avoid the conveyer belts by running underneath. After this you will fall down to a lower section, where you should notice smashable bricks above you, this is just before the large area. Remember that you need the HELMET UPGRADE and DASH UPGRADE beforehand - to reach this you need to dash jump from the higher right platform as far as you can, then just press the jump button rapidly and you should find yourself climbing up to a small hidden chamber (need good jump timing). If you fall down after smashing some bricks then you cannot get the upgrade without exiting the level. Inside the capsule is the X-BUSTER UPGRADE, which allows you to charge your normal X-Buster to a higher level (the energy will turn pink when it is ready), but more importantly is the new ability to charge the weapons you gain from each MAVERICK. Continue Right until you come to more platforms over lava, except these fire flames upwards, destroying parts of the floor (not if it is frozen though). This area is quite high and contains both the HEART TANK and SUB TANK for this level. To the far bottom right is the HEART TANK, which you can get even without having frozen the lava, but you will take serious damage so make sure you can take a few hits. After this head up to the top left to find an EXTRA LIFE, and from here you can dash jump left (need DASH UPGRADE) to find a small room behind smashable blocks. Get the SUB TANK inside and head back to the right, where you will soon come to another conveyer section except this one has junk crushers (not an instant kill). Carry on and you will soon arrive at the boss door. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| You fight this boss in an unusually long arena, |----------------------------| with a conveyer belt floor which FLAME MAMMOTH | | can change the direction of by calling out. He | Name: FLAME MAMMOTH | is pretty agile for a Mammoth, with his main | Height: 10.5ft | attack simply trying to squash you by jumping | Weight: 719lb | forward over a screens length - and even if he | Difficulty: Intermediate | misses you will be stunned by the ground | Normal X Shots: 32 | shaking (but not damaged). He will stop | Large X Shots: 16 | in-between jumps to either spit tar from his | Weakness: STORM TORNADO | trunk (which slows you slightly if walked in), | (11 Hits) | or shooting far reaching flames from his arm | Charged STORM TORNADO | gun. If he hits a blob of tar with his flame - | (8 Hits) | it will ignite and burn away shortly, causing |----------------------------| you damage if you touch it. Because the arena is so long it is very easy to just keep your distance and shoot him. It is a good idea to be on a wall if you can, which will prevent you from being stunned when he shakes the ground, although you can also avoid this by jumping just before he lands. When he gets close it is possible to stand right next to him and shoot continuously - as long as he just stands and shoots, his flames will simply fly over your head, but watch out for the conveyer belt trapping you between him and the wall. It is generally best to be on the side which is taking him backwards, so either run underneath him when he jumps, or vault him when he comes close using the wall. You should then be able to hit him a few times before moving to the far side. If you have the DASH UPGRADE then you will have a much easier time avoiding him, and should beat him in no time. If you have the STORM TORNADO then you can just stand in front of him and fire away - you should hit him every time (just watch out for the conveyer drawing you towards him). He will probably fire back and still try to jump on you, so if you are low on energy or just don't want to get hit, just keep your distance when shooting as before. Similarly to the tactic against LAUNCH OCTOPUS , you can use the BOOMERANG CUTTER to remove his trunk (just hit him 3 times). Without his trunk he is unable to drop blobs of tar, and is also unable to change the direction of the conveyer belt - but overall this doesn't effect the difficulty of the battle. -[3.11]-----------------------HADOUKEN UPGRADE--------------------------------- After defeating all eight MAVERICKS you will join ZERO at the entrance to SIGMA'S fortress, and after a short conversation you will return to the stage select. You can select SIGMA'S stage by choosing the bottom right box, but first you should return to some of the MAVERICK'S stages to pick up any missed items (although you can do this in-between SIGMA stages if you want - but I don't recommend it). The final upgrade can now be found at the end of ARMORED ARMADILLO'S stage after you have obtained all eight HEART TANKS, all four SUB TANKS, and the other four upgrades. Just make your way to the final mine cart ride, and when you jump off at the end just before the boss's door, jump up and get the energy capsule before jumping into the ravine to your death. Repeat this strange requirement four more times, making sure you have Full Energy and all full SUB TANKS on the fifth time - and you should see the final capsule on the cliff. You need a lot of lives for this, so make sure you get a maximum of nine from the "Fat Bat" at the start of this level (see ARMORED ARMADILLO stage guide above). With the HADOUKEN UPGRADE in your possession it's time to take on SIGMA! -[3.12]-------------------------SIGMA STAGE 1---------------------------------- SIGMA'S fortress is divided into 4 incredibly difficult stage's which must all be completed in one sitting - so passwords from now on will only remember special items collected from the regular stages (apart from the HADOUKEN UPGRADE). You will have another conversation with Zero at the start of the first stage, and he will then run off ahead and create a diversion allowing you to sneak in! Shortly after the start you will come to a very difficult section where you must make your way up the screen using moving platforms over a bottomless pit, and made all the more difficult by the quick flying enemies. If you have the X-BUSTER UPGRADE then you can charge up the ROLLING SHIELD to create a force field, preventing the enemies from knocking you to your death. If you missed that upgrade then you will have to be really careful jumping, and try and shoot each enemy as you jump because they keep coming back! Inside the base you will soon come face to face with VILE, who will then be chased through a boss door by ZERO. As you follow you will hear the battle in the room ahead, and soon discover ZERO captured by VILE who is now riding his Ride-Armour. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| You will have to fight against his Ride-Armour |----------------------------| first of all, and just as with your previous | | meeting you will not be able to harm him (so | Name: VILE | don't waste any SUB TANKS on him). After he has | Difficulty: Easy | given you a beating, he will paralyse you like | Normal X Shots: 32 | before - except this time ZERO will sacrifice | Large X Shots: 8 | himself, and the last of his power to destroy | Weakness: ROLLING SHIELD | VILE'S Ride-Armour. You will kindly be given a | (8 Hits) | full LIFE BAR to fight him now, and this should | Charged SHOTGUN ICE | be enough to beat him with unless you have a | (4 Hits) | short LIFE BAR or missed some of the upgrades |----------------------------| (but don't be afraid to use a SUB TANK if you need one). He will run or fly from left to right, pausing only to shoot yellow paralysing plasma balls (which don't damage, but give him a free hit). When he flies overhead he drops two bombs that send sparks across the floor - but contact with either is pretty weak. He is sometimes unpredictable in movement, and very damaging to make contact with - so avoid him at all costs. Vault the paralysing Plasma balls he shoots, and either jump over or run under him as he crosses the screen. You will have a hard time avoiding the bombs he drops if you are close to him, but you can easily hit him at any point during the battle, and as long as you use charged shots then he wont last long. His weakness is the ROLLING SHIELD, although the charged-up SHOTGUN ICE actually kills him in just 4 hits(!!), but you will probably have a harder time hitting him with it. Of course you could always just use the HADOUKEN UPGRADE if you can pull it off at the right time. After beating VILE, you will find ZERO close to death, and If you didn't obtain the X-BUSTER UPGRADE on FLAME MAMMOTH'S stage, then you will receive it now from ZERO before he dies. Make your way right and then up a long and annoying vertical section (you can make use of the charged up CHAMELEON STING here), and at the top you will face BOOMER KUWANGER for the second time. He will be a lot easier now you definitely have the HOMING TORPEDO, which you can now charge up for an even quicker dispatch. After these two easy bosses you will soon come to the real boss for this level. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| You will notice the four web-track in the |----------------------------| background that this large spider boss will | | travel downwards on. Every time he pauses at | Name: BOSPIDER | the top of the screen, eight random connectors | Difficulty: Very Hard | will appear between these tracks, and which he | Normal X Shots: 32 | will always use to switch between them. The | Large X Shots: 11 | trick here is work out where he will end up at | Weakness: SHOTGUN ICE | the bottom of the the screen so that can get a | (11 Hits) | quick shot in when he opens his eye. Although | Charged SHOTGUN ICE | shooting him is the main objective, you will | (7 Hits) | also have to judge where he will finish up so |----------------------------| that you can avoid his damaging contact. He also speeds up as you reduce his energy, and if he uses the outer tracks he can hit you even when you are right against the wall - very irritating. He will only open the eye for a split second before quickly retreating upwards, so unless you are close to him you will need to shoot just before he reaches the bottom. During the pause at the top, he sometimes drops four smaller robot spiders that are too low to hit with Normal X-Buster shots, and which will walk along the floor and up the walls unless you destroy them. He will also stop and drop these spiders if you become level with him while he descends (such as you jumping or wall climbing). This boss can be really annoying, and sometimes always seems go the way you do - constantly damaging you really badly. The smaller spiders are also annoying to avoid, so try not to make him drop extra ones if you can help it. The charged up X-Buster is effective, but takes too long to recharge if you use it to destroy the smaller spiders. The SHOTGUN ICE is not only his weakness, but destroys the smaller spiders too, but you are likely to run out unless you can manage to hit consistently. If you ever miss your shot, then you will not get another chance to hit him unless you are using the X-Buster - so try to make them all count. Use a SUB TANK if you need one, and don't bother to charge up the SHOTGUN ICE - it is too difficult to get close enough for it to hit him. You can also use the HADOUKEN if you get lucky... -[3.13]-------------------------SIGMA STAGE 2---------------------------------- A short distance into this level and you will face CHILL PENGUIN for the second time, but you should have even less problems this time around. Shortly on and you fight STORM EAGLE again - also easy, but you may want to save the CHAMELEON STING for the real Boss. You should soon come to the boss door of this easier stage - but its not a particularly easy boss. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| This boss consists of three different parts |----------------------------| that must all be destroyed separately. The two | | eyes can only be hit after they open - where | Name: RANGDA BANGDA | they will either be green, blue or red. The | LEFT EYE/RIGHT EYE/NOSE | green eye shoots 1 bullet, the blue one will | Difficulty: Intermediate | fly towards you, and the red one can do both | Normal X Shots: 10/10/12 | but fires 3 bullets. The bottom of the screen | Large X Shots: 5/5/6 | has instant death spikes in the middle, and | Weakness: CHAMELEON STING | every so often the walls will close together | (4/4/4 Hits) | and the nose will come to life - so you need | | to cling on to the wall and watch out for it |----------------------------| knocking you onto them. It will repeat this over and over until you either destroy the nose, or both of the eyes - in which case the walls will close in for good, and you will have to destroy the rest while desperately clinging on the wall. Not too difficult as long as you can competently remain on the walls when they close together. By using the CHAMELEON STING you can destroy all three parts quite easily, but if you used it up earlier then you will have to hang on for slightly longer. The best tactic either way is to hit all three in equal measures - just to make sure the last part when you have to remain on the wall indefinitely, is as short as possible. -[3.14]-------------------------SIGMA STAGE 3---------------------------------- This level is basically the rematch against all the remaining MAVERICKS. Right at the Start you will have to fight ARMORED ARMADILLO before coming up against STING CHAMELEON again. SPARK MANDRILL, LAUNCH OCTOPUS, and finally FLAME MAMMOTH completes the order, but you really shouldn't be having trouble against them this time around. Just use the correct weapon for each, charging it up for a quicker kill (but you may want to save the BOOMERANG CUTTER for the proper boss of this level) - or even using the HADOUKEN if you have full energy. When you leave the water after beating LAUNCH OCTOPUS but before facing FLAME MAMMOTH, you will see a platform of instant death spikes above you which holds a large energy capsule, a large weapon capsule, and an Extra Life. Simply charge up the CHAMELEON STING and run across the spikes to get all three items - and if you are quick you can even make it to the boss door while still invincible, thus evading the many enemies outside. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| A very strange looking boss that is in two |----------------------------| separate parts, but only the top one will take | | damage. It will split up and the two parts | Name: D-REX | will move independently across the screen, with | Difficulty: Hard | the bottom half knocking you off any wall by | Normal X Shots: 32 | crashing against either - very annoying. The | Large X Shots: 16 | bottom part can only actually damage you by | Weakness: BOOMERANG CUTTER | crushing you against the wall, so you can | (11 Hits) | stand on it to avoid its charge, but watch out | Charged BOOMERANG CUTTER | for the top half trying to crush you when you | (8 Hits) | do. Both parts will occasionally pause on the |----------------------------| right side of the screen before charging up and then firing a huge plasma ball, which is best avoided by being in the top left corner and jumping forward when it fires - this is its most damaging attack. You will have to be quick to avoid contact with this unpredictable boss, who will speed up as its energy decreases. Dash jump between the two halves - towards the right when it comes towards you, and back to the left as it returns. It is risky to shoot while both parts are moving because you might be knocked off the wall you need to jump from (and then stunned), so try to hit it with charged shots while it is charging up the plasma ball. You will almost certainly need a SUB TANK if you are relying on the X-Buster, but you can fill them up to the max easily on the final level. If you are using the BOOMERANG CUTTER then you just need to watch out for the bottom half of the boss, which will simply cancel the boomerangs on contact. -[3.15]-------------------------SIGMA STAGE 4---------------------------------- You just need to climb upwards to finally face SIGMA, but first charge up the ROLLING SHIELD, and destroy the caterpillars that emerge from the holes in the wall to fill your SUB TANKS. With everything full, make your way to the top - and the start of a sequence of battles that will give you nightmares! |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| SIGMA will teleport into the arena and give you |----------------------------| the usual bad-guy speech before setting his pet | | dog onto you. It is not a hard battle, and | Name: VELGUADER | possible to do without getting hit - but you | Difficulty: Easy | should aim for at least half a LIFE BAR | Normal X Shots: 32 | remaining. VELGUADER is quite agile, and can | Large X Shots: 11 | leap towards you from quite a distance - which | Weakness: SHOTGUN ICE | he will do right at the start (stand still and | (11 Hits) | he will jump over you). He can also jump from | Charged SHOTGUN ICE | the walls as well, and if you are hiding high | (8 Hits) | up one, then he will vault from wall-to-wall to |----------------------------| reach you. His final attack is the ability to breath either a fire or ice attack - both deadly in their own right. The ice will spray in a rainbow arc, and is very hard to avoid while standing on the floor, but it cannot reach you high up the walls. The fire shoots in an upwards arc, and can hit you high up the walls at distance, plus he can also sneakily fire it vertically if he is right below you. His biggest weakness is the push-back effect from either the yellow or pink X-Buster charged shots. So if you constantly charge and hide up the walls, you can knock him back to the ground every time with a well timed charged shot. He will probably do the vertical fire move at least once, so you need to jump across the arena and quickly up the other wall if he does - then repeat. You can use this weakness successfully from the ground too if you cannot bear to hide like a coward, just move from side to side, quickly jumping over him using the walls. And remember to try the HADOUKEN UPGRADE at the start, once you know what he does you can get him every time. Because the SHOTGUN ICE shatters into smaller shots when it hits the wall, you can fire it while hiding high up and hit him while he is on the ground. Unfortunately it doesn't push him back after a hit so it cannot prevent him from chasing you up the walls - and therefore it's not as useful as the charged X-Buster. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| After a second speech, SIGMA ditches his cloak |----------------------------| and faces you himself - with his light Sabre! | | Using his Light Sabre he can block anything you | Name: SIGMA | throw at him, including the HADOUKEN UPGRADE. | Difficulty: Intermediate | His main method of attack is to simply zig-zag | Normal X Shots: 32 | from wall to wall climbing up the screen - done | Large X Shots: 32 | to chase you if you hide in the top corners | Weakness: ELECTRIC SPARK | (which is where you should be). He will damage | (16 Hits) | you most often simply by crashing into you, but | Charged ELECTRIC SPARK | while you are on the floor he has two other | (11 Hits) | attacks. He sometimes shoots fast laser shots |----------------------------| from his forehead, which are hard to avoid from close range, but not much threat at distance. His final attack is to shoot forward and slash you with his light sabre - taking off almost a quarter of the maximum LIFE BAR, but you should see it coming unless you are really close to him (which you shouldn't ever be). He doesn't really have a pattern, but by staying high up the walls he will always zig-zag up and down the screen - over and over. Just wait in a top corner until he is just below you, then prepare to jump down and shoot him as you fall. He will then zig-zag down, so you need to judge and then dash away from where he will land - and then get in another shot before climbing up again. You can sometimes get him into a (kind of) pattern, where you can safely remain in the same place whenever you fall - but this is risky because he will eventually come out of it. You can also use the HADOUKEN UPGRADE, but unless you have full energy, don't waste a SUB TANK. He takes too many regular hits, and so you should always use the ELECTRIC SPARK against him. The ELECTRIC SPARK splits into two when it hits a wall, which is really useful for hitting him while he climbs them. The ELECTRIC SPARK is a rapid fire weapon, and easy to get carried away with - so unless you time your shots right then you are almost certain to run out of it during the battle. Just try to get his energy down significantly before you are forced to use something else (use anything else except the ROLLING SHIELD) - try the charged CHAMELEON STING (temporary invincible) for the safest time, and its worth noting that the HOMING TORPEDO will not home onto him. You should ultimately aim not to use any SUB TANKS on either of these battles because the final boss is very tough, and drains energy at a frightening rate. |----------------------------| |---------| Boss |-----------| SIGMA'S head will rise and attach itself onto |----------------------------| the head of a giant machine that appears in the | | background. He is so high up that the only way | Name: FINAL SIGMA | to hit him is to stand on either of his two | Difficulty: Very Very Hard | moving claws which unfortunately shoot | Normal X Shots: NA | lightning out of their top and bottom. This | Large X Shots: (PINK) 32 | lighting is very damaging, as is contact with | Weakness: ROLLING SHIELD | the spikes underneath the claws - which he will | (16 Hits) | occasionally send downwards to hit you. His | | other move is to breath fast laser beams, which |----------------------------| will sweep either left or right, but can be expertly avoided by dashing through when they get close. His final move is to breath fire, but this will miss if you are standing against either wall. All these moves are very damaging, and take skill to avoid - so you will probably need "at least" 3 SUB TANKS to defeat him, and which you should use whenever you fall below half energy. You should try to get onto one of the claws as early as possible rather than wait for him to send one down. Then just do all you can to remain on it for as long as possible, while hitting him at every opportunity. Stand on the very edge or try jumping onto the wall when it shoots lighting upwards, and also watch out for the other claw occasionally moving across. Whenever you jump always try to land back onto the claw - this is very tough in its own right, but from up here you will avoid the laser and fire it breathes. You will need to jump up to drop the ROLLING SHIELD onto his head, but you can also hit him with the largest charged X-BUSTER shot (pink energy) just by remaining standing (it does take a long time to charge this remember). There is not really much more advice to give because even veteran players can sometimes come unstuck, but with practice (and luck) you will beat him - and finish the game (HOORAY!)... When the credits finish, wait for a few moments to see a message from SIGMA - he will be back! =============================================================================== [4] ENDING =============================================================================== -[4.01]-----------------------------STORY-------------------------------------- THE WAR HAS ENDED FOR NOW AND PEACE HAS BEEN RESTORED. BUT THOSE WHO SACRIFICED THEM-SELVES FOR THE VICTORY WILL NEVER RETURN. EXHAUSTED, X GAZES AT THE DESTRUCTION HE HELPED CAUSE AND WONDERS WHY HE CHOSE TO FIGHT. WAS THERE ANOTHER WAY? STANDING ON THE CLIFF, THE ANSWERS SEEM TO ESCAPE HIM. HE ONLY KNOWS THAT HE'LL FIGHT AGAIN BEFORE HE FINDS HIS ANSWER. HOW LONG WILL HE KEEP FIGHTING? HOW LONG WILL HIS PAIN LAST? MAYBE ONLY THE X-BUSTER ON HIS HAND KNOWS FOR SURE..... -[4.02]------------------------------CAST-------------------------------------- HIGHWAY STAGE: OCEAN STAGE: SNOW MOUNTAIN STAGE: POWER PLANT STAGE: Spiky Amenhopper Ray Bit Gun Volt Crusher Sea Attacker Tombot Hotarion Ball De Voux Gulpfer Bomb Been Flammingle Road Attackers Armor Soldier Turn Cannon Anglerge Snow Shooter Bee Blader Cruiziler Thunder Slimer Utuboros SKY STAGE: FACTORY STAGE: GALLERY STAGE: TOWER STAGE: Lift Cannon Scrap Robo Batton Bone Dodge Blaster Flamer Dig Labour Batton M-501 Sine Faller Sky Claw Rolling Gabyool Mettool C-15 Jamminger Hoganmer Metal Wing Mega Tortois Death Rogumer Slide Cannon Mole Borer Ladder Yadder FOREST STAGE: SIGMA STAGE: CHILL PENGUIN Planty Bospider LAUNCH OCTOPUS Iworm Rangda Bangda STORM EAGLE Axe Max D-Rex ARMORED ARMADILLO Crag Man Velguader FLAME MAMMOTH Mad Pecker STING CHAMELEON Creeper SPARK MANDRILL BOOMER KUWANGER RT-55J VILE SIGMA ZERO And you as MEGAMAN X =============================================================================== [5] VERSION HISTORY =============================================================================== -[5.01]-----------------------------UPDATES------------------------------------ 1.0 - Initial Release 1.1 - Added a few missing bits of information. - Mentioned that the BOOMERANG CUTTER grabs onto items, - Added that you can only smash blocks by jumping against them if you have the DASH UPGRADE, - Mentioned that the HEART TANK secret room in STING CHAMELEON'S stage will not be filled with water unless you have defeated LAUNCH OCTOPUS. - Added that destroying the secret boss on STING CHAMELEON'S stage will stop rocks from falling in the cave below, - Fixed some spellings. 1.2 - Tidied up everything and added a few more missing bits of information. - Added a contents. - Added the Ending section. - Added a paragraph about the Status Screen. - Added to the quick Weapon Select with L and R. - Mentioned that the Fire Wave does not work while underwater. - Added the Optimal Boss order, and a Stage difficulty table. - Mentioned another way to gain the HEART TANK on the Tower Stage. - Mentioned the ability to cut off FLAME MAMMOTH'S trunk. - Also added many small bits here and there. 1.3 - Lots of tidying up and formatting everywhere. - Added my game review. - Updated for Megaman X5's UK release. - Finally mentioned that Boomer Kuwanger is a Cockroach. - A few poorly explained strategy points have been fixed, Sting Chameleon, Flame Mammoth, Velguader, etc. - Slightly changed the Stage Difficulty chart. -[5.01]---------------------------DISCLAIMER----------------------------------- All main characters names are possibly copyrighted to CAPCOM (the people who made the game that this guide was wriiten for). This guide is all my own work, with all opinions also being mine, and not that of anyone connected to CAPCOM. You may only reproduce this document for non-profit use, and if you want to put this file on your site please ask me first (I have always said yes so far). I hope you find this guide useful, and remember to always respect the work of others! -------------------------------------END--------------------------------------- Thanks for reading crespo99@btinternet.com