Where supported this game also has official achievements; as of this writing, this list for the Xbox has hints and suggestions about how to acquire each one. (Click on each achievement name individually.)
Similarities and Differences
Just a quick list of where the designers borrowed certain aspects of the game and where they diverged from the classics. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but covers some of the highlights:
Note that when the face boulder goes back up to the top of the screen, you can watch the bits of dust to determine where it will come down again. If you have a weapon that can hit it up there, you can interrupt most of the boulders and cause the face to fall early. Otherwise, it’s not really helpful to know where it is because the real problem in this battle is all of the other boulders, not the one with the face. If you don’t have a weapon that can hit the face at the top of the screen, P.Ball seems to work fairly well as a substitute, defeating the boulder face in about 2-3 cycles.
The T.Blow can move all four balls at once, but of course you’ll run out of energy for it in no time flat. You are probably better off just rapid-firing the spiked balls. Just make sure you don’t touch them bodily because they will kill you instantly.
The second mode puts you right underneath the ship. Those are spikes right over your head, even though they don’t look like it. Two hatches release flying fish. Shoot the hatches to damage the boss; I would recommend against jumping because you are too likely to hit the underside of the ship and finish yourself off. M.Bazooka can hit the hatches without jumping, or use B.Bomb to both damage the hatches and suck up the fish. Fausk also suggests using T.Blow to accomplish the same thing. You can stand on the right side of the right hatch without being hit if you don’t jump, but beware of the fish.
The third mode is the head of the ship. (The game puts you right underneath it. Do move.) This one fires short lasers, and of course you have to hit the cannon which is only open while it is firing. Once again, L.Trident does pretty good damage, if you have any energy left for it. Be careful when jumping to shoot at this boss because usually you take damage only if you put yourself in the way of a laser.
That is:
Hornets are pretty useful here since they don’t have to be aimed, but they don’t track Wily like Beat did, so you have to wait until Wily appears before shooting one. T.Blow is good for easy hits and defense (it blows away his shots) but you only get 4 blasts out of it. B.Bomb can also suck up his shots but it’s hard to hit Wily with it unless you get lucky. J.Satellite will do okay damage on Wily (try flinging it at him) but does not protect you from his shots, so you still have to dodge. M.Bazooka can hit most if not all of his locations.
Feel free to use your M-Tank on Wily if necessary. You won’t need it after this anyway.
I really wish they’d let you save the game off the stage select screen, though. The only way to save the game is to clear or die to a stage, which, lacking an Escape Unit, makes it hard to stock up on items and then save them for use later. (What’s the use of buying extra lives if you have to lose them all just to save the game?)
Note: After you beat the game, you can make a save game that puts you back at the beginning of the game, but you retain whatever number of Screws you’d had from when you’d beaten the game. I’m not sure yet if anything else changes.
During the icy sections, jump straight up in order to stop your sliding motion. In fact, it’s good idea to move by hopping, instead of trying to walk. Do not die on the spikes here because if you do you have to do the whole magnet section again. This is worth using a Shock Guard on. In fact, if you think you might land on the spikes, don’t even bother to shoot the Shield Attackers. Just touch them and walk across the spikes that way.
Also note that you can use J.Satellite to protect yourself from the umbrellas, allowing you to concentrate on making jumps.
Use the J.Satellite during the section of spikes with the scissors, and the scissors won’t hurt you.
During the second tunnel, you can avoid the first two sets of spikes from the position where you start; however, the designers ever-so-thoughtfully put an enemy right on that path, so you’ll have to move out of its way just to have to move right back to where you started again. Fire exactly four times to get through the first diagonal section at the top of this tunnel, then when you are high enough to clear the spikes, just turn around and rapid-tap the fire button to fling yourself back toward the left.
At any rate, Dr. Wily begs for forgiveness, and Mega Man calls Rush and tells Wily, “I want you to see where you went wrong!” He then proceeds to show Wily projected images of all of Wily’s major defeats in the past. (If you’ve ever complained, teasingly, that you haven’t seen Wily beg enough, this game certainly makes up for it!) What’s really clever about these scenes is they show Mega Man using the “proper” weapon against Wily, based on what colors he is. (The ninth image is from Mega Man & Bass.)
At any rate, Wily admits his defeat and informs Mega Man that he used police robots to capture Dr. Light under the pretense of arresting him. Dr. Wily claims that Dr. Light fell ill and needs to be taken to the hospital. He then leads Mega Man to a cell guarded by police robots with the captive scientist lying inside.
Wily gloats that Mega Man will be destroyed along with his castle. Personally, I think dropping a castle on his head is a somewhat expensive way to finish him off, but hey, whatever. Wily and his police robots leave. On the floor, Mega Man lifts his head for a moment and comments, “I’m glad it wasn’t Dr. Light, but that poor robot...” (This fits his character but totally contradicts earlier plot points in the game where Mega Man seemed fine with Robot Masters being scrapped...)
Mega Man goes thud, alarms blare, and Proto Man reappears, commenting, “Looks like I have to save you...again.” He then teleports the two of them out.
Interestingly, this game does not actually show Wily’s castle blowing up from the outside like most games; instead, it cuts directly to the epilogue (Dr. Light was cleared of all charges, but Dr. Wily escaped and disappeared), then goes to the credits.
The credits sequence is worth watching because it contains images of the various Robot Masters (apparently they were rebuilt) along with Dr. Light, Mega Man, Roll, Auto, and the rest of the gang.