Mega Man 2

Three small tornadoes fly upward in a tight group, spreading apart as they get farther up the screen.

Fires spheres of red-hot energy. Can be charged up to increase the size and power of the sphere, but this also increases the energy consumed.

A large bubble travels along the floor. Very powerful in that it can destroy most objects, even those the arm cannon alone cannot harm.

Shoots a bomb across the screen. Touching an enemy causes it to explode instantly; however, if it hits a wall or other solid object, it will attach itself and sit there for a few seconds before exploding. Very useful and powerful explosive.

A circle of green leaves surrounds the user. The shield can withstand hits from minor opponents, although some enemies may manage to get through it. Press any direction on the control pad to hurl the shield in that direction.

This is perhaps the most useful weapon in any Mega Man game. Blades can be fired in any of eight directions by pressing the desired direction before firing. They fly straight, affect most robots, and can be fired over 60 times on one stock of energy.

Fires a rapid volley of small pink boomerangs. Useful in some cases but has short range.

When activated, this stops nearly everything in the area in its tracks. This mode is sustained by constantly consuming weapon energy; when it is drained, the Stopper shuts off. Unfortunately, there is no way to fire or otherwise take an offensive while the Time Stopper is in effect, and there’s no way to turn it off early either.

Energy pellets refill your life meter. The small ones refill 2 units—not a lot, but it can really add up.

These globes are the same as energy pellets except that more energy is refilled (8 to 10 units usually).

The colored pellets are weapon energy. They refill your current weapon or adapter rather than your life energy. Weapon energy changes color according to which weapon you are currently equipped with. Before picking up a pellet be sure to equip a weapon that needs the energy.

These are the same as weapon energy pellets except that more energy is refilled (8 to 10 units usually).

Extra lives. If you have one of these when you bite the dust, you’ll be given another chance at the stage, restarting at the furthest continue point that you’d reached.

This is an entire stock of energy that Mega Man can carry around until needed. You use these off the subscreen (select the little blue dots with the “E” next to them). When used, Mega Man’s energy meter will be refilled completely. Mega Man can carry up to four of these at a time.

Creates platforms that drift upward. Mega Man can place up to three of them at a time. They disappear after a preset period of time.

This is the predecessor to the Rush Jet. The jetboard begins moving shortly after Mega Man places it (so better hop on quick!) and cannot be maneuvered. It merely flies horizontally, and at a rapid pace to boot. It disappears when it runs out of energy or goes off the screen.

This item is a platform that climbs walls. It is pretty useless unless you have a wall to attach it to; however, it can get higher than the Item-1 provided the wall goes high enough. When this item reaches the top of a wall or when Mega Man jumps off, it will reverse and begin climbing back down.

Mega Man was once a household robot named Rock, but when Dr. Wily turned evil, Rock was converted by his creator Dr. Light into the fighting robot known as Mega Man. This small blue robot is equipped with twin arm cannons and the Weapon Copy system which lets him take weapons from defeated foes.

This is the scientist that started it all, for he was the one who first created revolutionary human-like robots. He was responsible for creating Mega Man and Roll, and he worked with Dr. Wily for a time.

Dr. Wily was once Dr. Light’s partner, but then he turned against his former colleague. After being soundly defeated by Mega Man, he tries again with eight of his own Robot Masters.

Air Man is definitely an odd-looking Robot Master as he has no neck. It looks as though his mouth is the giant fan-shaped Air Shooter built into his chest, which can not only blow things around, but is also what produces his tornados. The small blue tornados, coupled with the fierce wind Air Man produces, can prove difficult to dodge. However, Air Man does not have a very hardy construction and a few good hits will finish him. Rumor has it you can also equip the Leaf Shield and stand behind him, where his tornados cannot reach...

Bubble Man is a small aquatic robot complete with fins and a mask that he doesn’t really need. His Bubble Lead is certainly unique, for it is heavy except when underwater, yet flows like a bubble. Bubble Man also has a plasma cannon to keep you entertained while you are trying to dodge his bubbles, and he loves lairs with ceilings lined with spikes. The Metal Blade will slice and dice him quickly enough.

Do not be fooled by how quickly this guy falls to the Air Shooter, for without this weapon you are in for a fierce battle. Crash Man will pace his room rapidly, jumping your shots when you fire and returning fire with his Crash Bombs. A thorough dousing of bombs will make short work of any attacker, though the Air Shooter makes even shorter work of Crash Man. Don’t enter this battle without it!

Flash Man’s weapon doesn’t actually do any damage; it merely freezes his opponent in place. This is why he also has plasma cannons to supplement his Time Stopper. Thus he can easily freeze his enemy before giving him a quick spray from his cannons. When Mega Man uses the Time Stopper he doesn’t have this luxury. Metal Blades work well on Flash Man, as do normal arm cannon shots.

Heat Man can turn himself into a comet of fire and blaze across the room. Other than this, he attacks by tossing out bursts of fire. Bubble Lead will extinguish him quite quickly.

Metal Man’s Metal Blades are a prized reward, for they are perhaps the most useful of the Master Weapons. Metal Man can toss them out rapidly, but usually he won’t fire unless you shoot first, though occasionally he will chuck a Blade at you for lack of something better to do. He won’t move from where he is standing until you move in too close, so keep your distance and fire away. His weakness listing is not a mistake; Metal Man is incredibly vulnerable to the very weapon he chucks out—a single Metal Blade will finish him. You can also hack him apart with the Quick Boomerang, if you don’t mind getting so close.

This infamous horned Robot Master actually isn’t as fast as his name suggests, though he can move at a decent clip. The biggest danger is lack of room to maneuver, for while bouncing around the room Quick Man will toss several Quick Boomerangs from the special shooter mounted on his arm. A fully-charged Time Stopper will hack away half of Quick Man’s energy, though, and Crash Bombs also make a serious dent.

Built to look as though he is made out of a tree trunk, Wood Man has a great defense in his Leaf Shield. Crash Bombs are one of the only weapons that can penetrate the special leaves. A burst of Atomic Fire is favored once Wood Man tosses away his shield, for a single fully-powered shot can destroy Wood Man if it hits solidly enough.

It’s a good thing you can’t destroy these because you need them to serve as platforms. They appear when you get close to them; you might have to move forward carefully to coax one appear first, before you prepare to make the actual jump. Watch out for the horns that raise and fall from the corners of their heads, though. Air Tikkis release Gremlins when you stand on their heads, so it’s best not to linger.

These roadrunners dash quickly forward and occasionally jump. Until you know the level well, they can approach unexpectedly, but once you get used to their timing, you’ll find you can often just run underneath them without breaking your stride.

These bulbous black bats hang upside down from objects in the background until you get close, then drop and fly toward you. Attack them when they have their wings open.

This enemy is four barrels stacked on top of each other; one of them has eyes. Not surprisingly, shoot the face. Sometimes when you defeat this thing, it will shoot its other three barrels outward, and the head falls to the ground, only to restore itself a few moments later. Shoot it again to defeat it.

A crab on wheels. If you hit this with certain weapons, you will knock its shell off. This is cute, but not always helpful, since the Crabbot speeds up when you do this.

This guy has a little hand on one side which it can use to adjust the aim of its cannon barrel. Kind of cute, but it means that the trajectory of its shots is subject to change.

Giant frogs that sit still and release tiny little versions of themselves, usually in groups of three. It’s the mini-frogs that really are the trouble. Notice they jump higher underwater.

These things don’t really have a direct attack, but they can blow you away from them or toward them, which can interfere with your jumping. Luckily, you can destroy them.

Despite its name, this is a bird which flies by and drops an egg. The egg explodes into tiny little birds that will swoop in on you. Defend yourself with the Leaf Shield and you can avoid them easily. Or, try to destroy the egg before it breaks.

Not really dangerous individually, but these little heads released by the Air Tikki can get in your way when you are attempting to leap from one Tikki to the next. Up to three of them can be on the screen at once, and they will tend to gang up on you if you hang around too long.

This robot dog doesn’t move, but continuously breathes fire in an arc pattern forward. When you drop into a room with a Hot Dog, stand in a safe place and watch the pattern of the flames, then move in for the kill.

This robot stands and tosses flames at you from the top of its head. You can always tell when you are approaching one because it lights the way.

Naturally you’ll find these things underwater. Hit the bulb on the top of their heads to damage them. They keep releasing Shrimp to come after you, so take them out to put a stop to this.

Ah, the fun Lightning Lords. These float around on cloud platforms and toss lightning bolts at you. Shoot them off their platforms and claim them for your own. Just be careful about scrolling them back onto the screen.

One of the more high-tech looking robots in the game. This one looks remotely like a jellyfish, but honestly, it resembles the bubble boss from Mega Man 1 even more. These float around in the water in Bubble Man’s stage.

This monkey leaps upward from underneath branches when you get close. After that, it will bounce around and basically make a pest of itself.

The trademark of the Mega Man series, these are yellow hard hats with green crosses. They usually lie in wait with their hats down, covering their eyes and feet. Their helmets are impervious to most known weaponry, so one must wait until they pop up to fire. When Mets are firing is also when they can be damaged. Mets usually fire a three-way spread shot.

These drill out from the ceilings and floors of certain areas. Inch forward slowly and destroy them for power-ups. Whenever you encounter a hall of Moles, you should never leave it until you have full health and full weapons. Moles will never appear right where you are standing, so if you are not moving, you won’t be touched.

Jester-like robots that drop down onto wheels, then ride them as they try to run you over. You can destroy either the jester or the wheel separately, though you’re better off aiming at the wheel. Just remember not to get hit by the jester itself as it falls off the wheel.

These appear out of pipes in the background, and relentlessly move toward you. They can go through walls and everything. (It’s not fair, I tell you.) Only about three of them can be on the screen at once, but if you destroy one or more of them, the pipes will release additional ones to replace them.

This is a spiked weight on a chain that falls down from above, trying to land on you. Oddly, you cannot jump over it while it is down because even the chain hurts you. You have to run under it while it is raised.

Springs with a helicopter prop on the top. They drop down from above, then try to jump and land on you. If you aren’t aiming to destroy them, it’s easiest to just run underneath when they hop.

This thing jumps around and tosses carrots at you. No, I’m not joking. Not really all that dangerous, though anything with a ranged attack can get at you unexpectedly.

As you’d expect, these appear to move backwards. They come at you in little spurts, but are really only a danger when they gang up on you, or approach from inconvenient angles. The Metal Blade can take care of that last part fairly well, however.

These things drop down at you at the most inopportune times sometimes. Once you are familiar with the stage, you will know when to expect them, but otherwise, it’s best to move carefully and react quickly.

A giant, two-legged mecha that a Sniper Joe rides around in. You can’t hit the armor with your normal weapons. Also, once you destroy the armor, the Sniper Joe will drop down and fight you himself.

The fabled Sniper Joes are the first incarnation of what would later become a whole family of Joes, each similar in appearance and attack style and almost always possessing the trademark visor. Sniper Joes defend themselves with their shields and, while standing, are only vulnerable from the front while they are firing. If you want to take one on head-to-head, wait until it fires, then jump its shots while hitting it with your own. Sniper Joes can also be damaged while they are jumping.

Similar to the Spine enemies from other games. They move back and forth, speeding up when you are standing on the same ledge as they are. If you touch them, they will spring upward (thus their name). You can’t destroy them with the arm cannon. Despite the stated weakness, I usually use the Bubble Lead to take care of these guys. If you don’t have a weapon that can touch them, sometimes you can deal with them by scrolling them off the screen.

These boomerang-shaped things constantly spill out of their holes. You can shoot the worms for power-ups, or destroy the base to stop them entirely.