Mega Man 2/Wily Fortress 4

This stage is considered one of the most difficult stages in the game, let alone Wily's fortress. It earns this reputation primarily because of the stage boss, but also due to trap floors and difficult jumps. Fortunately, it's not too long. You begin by climbing up one side of the fortress where bits of the floor are merely illusions, and Mega Man plunges right through them. Once you reach the top, you must descend via a series of moving platforms similar to the ones found in ../Crash Man/'s stage. Then finally, you must rush down a hall full of Sniper Joes, both in and out of armor, before facing a boss where one mistake can leave you defenseless.

Stage



 * G: The final leg of this stage features four Sniper Joes, two in Sniper Armor, and two standing alone. It's not difficult to make it through this corridor, but it is difficult to do with most of your health in tact. And you'll want to bring as much health with you into the boss battle as possible. Remember: it's always better to get shot by Sniper Armor than stomped on.

Boobeam Trap
The boss of this stage is actually five wall-mounted domes known as the Boobeam Trap. This is a particularly difficult battle for the following reason: There are five domes and five walls in this room, and none of them can be destroyed by anything other than the Crash Bomb. However, you only have the ability to shoot seven Crash Bombs. You need to destroy all five domes which means you only have enough ammo to destroy two of the walls. As it happens, two of the bombs (the left dome above the door and the lower right dome) are blocked off by walls, so those are the two walls you must destroy.

Be aware that the domes store up energy until they are ready to release that energy in the form of a shot that rips across the room from every surviving dome simultaneously. It is very difficult, but not impossible, to avoid these shots. If it comes down to it, use an E-Tank to restore your energy, as dying in this room and being forced to start over after you've fired some of your Crash Bombs is a difficult alternative.

There are some clever ways to deploy your bombs, and experts can even make it through the room in as few as six bombs. The following strategy is a more straightforward approach, and is by no means the only method possible:


 * 1) Fire off two Transport Item 1 floating platforms, one above the other, so that you rise through the gap near the entrance, all the way up to the highest dome on the left side. As soon as the last platform disappears, switch to the Crash Bomb and remove this dome.
 * 2) Drop down to the ledge below. At this time, the most strategic choice is to remove the highest dome on the right, which is accessible from this ledge, to reduce the number of domes shooting at you from four to three.
 * 3) Then turn around to face left. Fire a Crash Bomb at the wall blocking in the dome above the door. When the wall is destroyed, fire a second Crash Bomb to destroy the dome itself.
 * 4) From this ledge, turn around and jump up to the short ledge on the right, and up and over the platform above the higher of the two remaining domes on the right. Standing in front of this dome, fire a Crash Bomb to remove it.
 * 5) Use Transport Item 3 to climb out of this pit, and then drop down to the floor in front of the wall enclosing the last dome. Use a Crash Bomb to destroy this wall, and use your final Crash Bomb to destroy the final dome.

If you die
If you happen to lose a life in the middle of this fight, it will be difficult but not impossible to win when you return to the boss room. For one thing, any wall that you destroyed prior to getting killed will not return, so you will need one less bomb for every wall you destroyed. When you return to the game, you will be just before point C on the map above. The room for point C is the safest opportunity you will get to refuel your Crash Bomb weapon. Wait by the ladder to the next room and shoot Tellies when they get close in an effort to harvest weapon energy. Don't proceed until your Crash Bomb energy is full.