The path to Cut Man takes you through an abandoned industrial factory. To reach him, you'll have to climb up to a roof top, and then up over the tower. Blades will come flying out of two machines along the way. Cut Man was originally designed for land reclamation work; particularly deforestation. His battle abilities center around his advanced jumping abilities and the pair of boomerang-like shears on his head. Cut Man makes a few cameos as well later on in the series.
Stage[edit]
- A: When you arrive, you may notice several blocks lying around. If you have acquired Guts Man's Super Arm ability, you can pick them up and toss them at enemies. Speaking of enemies, a group of Bunby Helies will fly in the to attack you when you start running to the right. They don't present a major threat, they're more of a nuisance. Shoot them and collect any power-ups they leave behind.
- B: From this point, you begin your first ascent. Along the entire way, you will encounter a series of Blasters that are strategically placed against the walls. You can only destroy them when they open their shell. You don't have to destroy them, but it will make the journey safer. Don't forget that you can fire through walls to hit them from behind whenever you get the opportunity.
- C: When you reach the top, you'll see a machine that pumps out a series of Super Cutter blades. You won't have to worry about anything if you run continuously along the ground. To the right, a trio of Kamadomas are bouncing around. Take them out before you jump on the steps.
- D: You now start the second ascent. This time, the enemy you will face throughout the climb are the Suzys. They open their eye and fly left/right, or up/down until they hit the opposite wall. You can shoot them at any time, but they take a number of shots to destroy, so you must be persistent. If they are in your way, it may be better to wait for them to move then to try to scramble past them.
- E: You'll see another Super Cutter machine when you reach the top. Run to the right below the chute where the blades pop out. As you continue right, a group of Bunby Helis will appear and approach you. Before you climb down the ladder to the section below, you can run to the left and collect the large health capsule if you need to re-energize.
- F: As you climb down the right side of the tower, the next two screens will contain a Mambu flying from the right to the left. They open their shell and let eight bullets fly in every direction. You will be very safe on the first screen, but the second screen contains spikes all along the right side. Make sure you hug the edge of the platform as you drop down to the level below and stay away from the right side.
- G: When you reach the bottom, you will encounter the powerful Big Eye. He will start to the right of you, and you're goal is behind him. He hops up and down, and tries to get as close to you as possible in order to crush you. When he leaps up, sometimes he jumps low and sometimes he jumps high. The best strategy is to shoot at him while he stands on the platforms below you, as you can hit him pretty easily. When he gets close to you, watch the way he jumps. If he jumps very high, that's your chance to run beneath him and get on the other side. Other times, you may have no choice but to get hit once and run through him while you're invincible. Either way, get around him and run to the door. If you manage to get behind him, you can opt to destroy him before you go through the door.
- H: The tunnel that leads to Cut Man's room is lined with three Screw Drivers; two on the floor and one on the ceiling. If you are desperate for more health, you can run back and forth through the tunnel to make them reappear and attack them until they drop enough health capsules. However, Screw Drivers don't give health very often, so it make take a while to refuel. Head through the door to the right when you're ready.
Cut Man[edit]
Cut Man's head may look like a pair of scissors, but when he grabs the blades and throws them at you, they act like a boomerang. They travel to where you were before turning around and flying back to Cut Man's hands. No matter what strategy you use against Cut Man, you are very vulnerable if you are standing on the blocks while Cut Man is on the floor. Situated like this, Cut Man can hit you, but you can't hit him. Get down to the floor and over to the right wall. Shoot at him to push him away from you while he tosses his boomerang-blade at you. When the blade is about to strike you, leap off the ground and let it turn around below your feet. Fortunately, Cut Man is the Robot Master most vulnerable to your standard Mega Buster weapon. Of course, if you know Cut Man's weakness, you can make very short work of him, but if you don't, you'll have to attack him persistently until he is defeated. When that happens, he leaves behind the Rolling Cutter weapon, which gives you the same ability to toss a boomerang blade at your enemies.
While some weaknesses are a little obvious, others may not be so clear. In order to understand Cut Man's weakness, you must think of the game, "Rock, Paper, Scissors." In that game, scissors beats paper, but rock beats scissors, and Cut Man is no exception. If you collected the Super Arm from Guts Man, you can pick up the rocks in his room and chuck them at him. Each rock removes half of his total life, and he will go down after just two hits! However, if you miss with one or both blocks, you'll have to fall back to a traditional strategy. Also be aware that if you die and come back, any rock that you've previously thrown will not return unless you use a continue.
Note that Cut Man is also slightly weak to Fire Storm, which you can get from beating Fire Man. Fire Storm removes ~3-4 life bars per hit and it knocks Cut Man back, which is useful in keeping distance between you and him. The best time to use it is when he is up on the rocks on the left side of the screen. If Cut Man gets close to you, remember that Fire Man's attack provides a small shield around you, so if you use it at just the right time you can knock Cut Man away from you before he gets too close.