As with every Mega Man game, Wily’s castle is the ultimate culmination of everything you’ve learned. Bastard-tough jumps, crushingly hard bosses, weapon-specific puzzles, literally every skill will be tested. The first real show-stopper is about 1:20 into the video, a room with one-hit-kill beams ripping through at seemingly unavoidable speeds. We got through by using the Rush Jet, though you’ll want to grab the first ladder, not the third like we do in the video (there’s a bonus Energy Tank up there).

Level one boss, near as we could tell, doesn’t have a preferred weakness, though T. Blow does send all of its spiky defense balls back simultaneously. Just pound away, avoid the angled blasts they fire near the end and keep your Energy Tanks in mind. Wily’s castle is about the best place to use the ½ damage enhancement, too.

Level 2 introduces an enemy that will create fake platforms – watch them carefully! Make note of what they produce and what’s actually there. Hornet Man’s miniboss shows up again, treat it the same way you did before. Any other problems, just check the video.

Wily’s second boss comes in three forms. The first, a giant missile-spewing tail, goes down easily enough to the Buster. Form two is the belly and its metal pods. Spikes line the top, so you can only jump so far without taking damage. It’s tough, but Buster works here, though Hornet makes one of them go down a little easer. The final form bows out to the Splash Trident.

The zero-g area may appear impossible, but if you follow our lead you’ll get through unscathed, plus have an M tank at your disposal (you’ll really want it for the boss). Speaking of said boss, it’s two globs of goo reminiscent of an old Mega Man/Mega Man 3 boss. We couldn’t find a weakness other than the buster, so you’ll have to learn its dispersal pattern and fire a few shots at a time when the center exits the blob. Very tough and time consuming.

Level four is mostly a path to fighting all the bosses again. Take them out and face Wily... three times.

Part one we just bounced his grenades back with the buster. Once it was gone we switched to Cement Shot. Keep away when Wily hovers or he’ll come down on top of you. Finally his third form will appear, weak against the Plug Ball. Avoid his shots, fire when able and you’ll be watching the ending in no time.

Sep 23, 2008

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