Mega Man X2/Energen Crystal

A beautiful locale within the depths of the Mega Man world, the Energen Crystal Caves tend to be a bat infested place with wondrous gems which twinkle merrily as you dash toward victory. Beware the falling slabs of crystal, and look out for Crystal Snail's time manipulation.

Items

 * Head Upgrade
 * Heart (need Leg Upgrade)

The Head Upgrade is the reason for this stage to be the first one, because that item helps to find the other ones. Expert players can leave this stage last and start from Overdrive Ostrich's Desert Base.

Stage walkthrough
When you get to the section where there's a green ice block above you (one bound to move) and a silver ramp leading diagonally down to the right, simply run and dash down it. When you get to the bottom wall jump upwards before you get crushed by the block! Run forwards, slide down the left wall and head through the small tunnel past 3 wall clinging enemies to reach the head armor upgrade. Get it, get the extra life if you like, run back to the big gap, dash jump to the other side and wall climb to safety. Follow the ramp to the upper right (ignore the ladder), kill the 3 bats, then approach the green ice block. It will unhinge as usual, so run back to safety. You can either climb the ladder slightly, or just stand to the left of the small indentation below the ladder (it fits nicely right there). After it slides down, go to where it was before, climb through a small corridor and reach Crystal Snail.

Maverick boss: Crystal Snail
Weakness: Magna Centipede's Magnet Mine

Crystal Snail is pretty easy with the buster, and even easier with the Magnet Mine. Use it once to knock his shell off, and then keep firing it at him when he jumps. If you don't hit him quickly, he will put his shell back on, so be aware. Otherwise, he has two attacks: he will shoot 3 ice blobs at you which freeze you, or get into his shell and dash to another place in the room. To escape being frozen, you can rapidly tap jump, dash, or shoot. To avoid the ice blobs, just scale on the wall into one corner of the room. If he rolls into his shell, scale up the wall and be prepared to wall-dash over or slide under him if he dashes at you. Once he gets to low health, he may jump into his shell and in the air, and spin very fast. This attack slows down time, so make sure you can dodge his attacks.