Mega Man/Wily Fortress 4

Now that you've made it to the heart of the fortress, you must clear this final stage in order to confront Dr. Wily in person. Naturally, it won't be easy for you. Dr. Wily has been expecting you, and he has a few surprises left up his sleeves, including a reprise visit from the four Robot Masters you've yet to fight a second time. Though this stage isn't particularly long, it will be difficult to make it all the way through without taking a good amount of damage. If you happen to lose against the Robot Masters before you make it past the fourth, you will be forced to fight them over and over until you survive. And even after all of that, you'll still have to fight Dr. Wily!

Stage

 * A: You start at the bottom of the final section of his fortress. Spikes that line the floor are the first ominous sight that you see.  A set of Watchers will appear from the top and bottom of the screen, just like in Elec Man's stage.  Climb up the left ladder to the screen above, and another set will appear.  They try to zap you off the ladder.  If you get hit, just keep pushing up on the control pad until you regain your composure and grab the ladder again.


 * B: The sight of the large weapon capsule above the blocks may entice you, but it takes a fair bit of work to reach it. The truth is, something even better awaits you further into the stage if you can reach it.  Instead, just employ the Super Arm or the Thunder Beam to remove one of the blocks from your path, and run to the right.


 * C: You will only encounter Screw Drivers through this corridor. All but one of them are mounted to the ceiling, making them particularly difficult to clear out of the way.  While you can use the Thunder Beam against them, it's generally more trouble than it's worth.  Instead, get close enough to them to trigger their firing sequence, stand in a safe location, and run forward when they stop shooting.
 * D: After you jump to this small platform, you will hear the sound of the moving platforms that you encountered in Guts Man's stage. You may have to wait a while for this one to return to the left and pick you up, but it will arrive eventually.  This platform works identically to the ones in the past; the platform drops away when the left side crosses the broken part of the rail.  However, the broken portion of the rail is so large, there's no way you can hop up and safely land back down.  You have two choices.  You can run to the right of the platform and be prepared to jump to the small platform above the center of the break, or you can rely on the trusty Magnet Beam, and create your own way across the break.  No matter what you choose, get to the other side safely, and resume the trip on the platform.  Don't be so quick to climb up the ladder, there are some special items waiting for you to the right.  The first is a 1-Up, while the second is a very rare and special item known as the Yashichi.  If you collect it, it will restore all of the energy to all of your weapons, as well as your health, and give you a 100,000 point bonus to boot.  It may be safer to rely on the Magnet Beam to go between the two items and getting back to the ladder that leads to the teleporter up above.
 * E: Just as you faced Cut Man and Elec Man in the second Dr. Wily stage, you must now face the remaining four Robot Masters that you've yet to rematch. However, not only must you fight all four in a row, there will be no capsule to restore you energy between each fight.  You will have to survive all four fights without fail in order to gain access to Dr. Wily.

You start off by facing Bomb Man. Bomb Man likes to leap around the room as he fights. He usually makes huge leaps that can transport him to the opposite side of the room. You may wish to get close to him while you fight. This generally works in your favor since Bomb Man will often leap away in order to get some distance between you. Just be prepared for his shorter hops and don't get taken by surprise.

After defeating Bomb Man, you'll move on to Fire Man. Out of the four fights, this is by far the hardest fight to avoid taking damage. A flame will appear beneath you if you simply jump up over Fire Man's weapon. And he fires them particularly fast, making it difficult to time your jumps forward or backward effectively. The best strategy is to simply out-fire him. Move around in order to be as safe as you can, and hammer the fire button as quickly as possible to put a quick end to his attacks.

The next Robot Master that you must take on is Ice Man. In comparison to the last fight, this is the easiest fight to avoid taking any damage in. Ice Man's attacks are so rhythmic and predictable that you should have no trouble leaping over any threats. He also succumbs to his weakness pretty fast, so you probably won't have dodge all that many attacks to begin with.

Dr. Wily saved the biggest Robot Master for last: Guts Man. Unlike the other fights, a little more luck is involved when it comes to taking or avoiding damage. If all Guts Man does is leap around the room a lot, you won't have much to worry about. If, on the other hand, he decides to throw a lot of blocks at you, you'll have to stay on your toes and leap over any attacks he dishes out. All while trying to counter his attacks with your own. Using the weapon he is weakest too will certainly reduce the amount of time your luck needs to hold out.


 * F: If you beat Guts Man, congratulations. You will end up here, in the hallway that leads to Dr. Wily's control room.  There isn't a lot to look at actually.  One simple large weapon capsule lies waiting for you on the floor just before the entrance.  Choose the weapon you wish to refuel wisely, as this is the only preparation you'll receive before the big battle.

Dr. Wily
Upon entering the room, Dr. Wily's small personal transport saucer will fly into the room… only to connect with a far larger machine. The craft that the saucer connects with comes into view and begins slowly flying across the room. It is armed with a cannon in the front which lobs projectiles into the air at an arc. These projectiles can do quite a bit of damage to Mega Man, so it's very important to avoid them. The cannon itself is the vulnerable point on the machine, and where you should focus your attack. After a little experimentation, you should find that the Fire Storm is the most effective weapon against the cannon. Not only does it do the most damage to the machine, but the shield effect it creates is also especially effective against the cannon. Although it means putting yourself considerably closer to the trajectory of the projectiles, good use and timing of the Fire Storm can take out the cannon in as few as three shots. If you got excited when you defeated the cannon, think again. Dr. Wily will not go down that easy. After destroying the cannon, the glass exterior of the machine breaks open, revealing Dr. Wily as the pilot inside. Removing the cannon also reveals a second gun hidden behind the first. This one shoots out an orb of energy that loops around in circles as it travels across the screen. It is fired to the left at the place where Mega Man stands, so you can actually avoid it pretty easily by running to the right when it appears. Once again, you might experiment with the various weapons to find out which one is most effective, but you will find that no one weapon does more damage than any other. That being said, certain weapons are still more effective, simply due to their ability to hit multiple times. From that perspective, the Rolling Cutter is particularly useful against Dr. Wily's craft. It can typically hit the craft two or three times with a single use. Get into a rhythm with the timing of the gun, running right when the gun is fired at you, and then back out to the left in order to jump up and fire off a Rolling Cutter. If you repeat this, you should be able to take out Dr. Wily in as few as eight or nine shots, depending on how good your timing is. Once destroyed, Dr. Wily will hop out of his craft and grovel at your feet for mercy. You will then be treated to one of the greatest ending animation sequences ever devised at the time of the original game's making. Congratulations!