This stage presents few challenges, and makes a good choice for the first stage played in the game. Conveyor belts are present throughout the stage, and they attempt to direct Mega Man into harmful obstacles or bottomless pits. Presses, spiked weights attached to chains, try to crush Mega Man near the beginning (touching the chains also causes damage). Later in the stage, odd jesters known as Pierobots ride on large cogs that try to flatten Mega Man. Transport Items 1 & 2 can be very helpful with obtaining out-of-reach items like the extra life early in the stage, and the second energy tank later on.
Stage[edit]
- A: You begin the stage on the conveyor belts which are found throughout the stage. Pay special attention to the direction that the conveyor belt is moving; you move twice as fast when you run in the same direction, and half as fast when you run against it. On the far right side of the second belt is an E-Tank that is very easy to claim. Collect it and then return to the left to jump up to the belt above.
- B: In addition to managing your speed on the conveyor belts, you must now watch out for the giant Presses that fall from the ceiling. They begin to drop to the floor when you get close, and then slowly rise back up. Carefully maintain your position on the belts until it's safe to continue. Wait until they have risen high enough to run beneath them and trigger the next Press.
- C: Throughout the next section, you must beware of Moles, small drills the both rise through the floor and fall through the ceiling. They can take a number of shots to defeat, but they appear in large numbers. If you are in need of health or weapon ammunition, you can stick around and shoot them in order to collect the energy capsules they leave behind. They may even drop a rare extra life. If you happen to have the Leaf Shield weapon, you can employ it here to quickly destroy any Moles that come close to you.
- D: You'll have to hop across a short series of conveyor platforms. If you have Transport Items 1 or 2, you can use it from the last short platform to reach the higher of the two platforms beyond, and go to the end to collect the extra life that's stationed there. Otherwise, drop down to the bottom, and fall through the gap in the floor on the right. Follow this down to the room below, where you must cross over to the left and fall down the next gap.
- E: Once you get clear of the low ceiling, you must prepare for the appearance of the Pierobots and their gigantic gears. The gears start out suspended in mid-air, and then the Pierobots jump down on top of them and cause them to fall to the ground, where they proceed to roll to the left, running over anything in their way. If you manage to shoot the Pierobot on top of the gear, the gear will continue to roll, although at a slightly slower speed. Ultimately, you must destroy or jump over the gear to avoid taking damage. Try not to retreat too far to the left, or the gear and robot will simply reappear.
- F: You will face a trio of Blockys as you attempt to climb the staircase of gears. If you chose Normal difficulty, these enemies are not much of a threat, as one shot of the Mega Buster clears them away. But if you are playing the Difficult version (or Rockman 2), it takes two shots to clear them. The first shot causes them to eject three of their blocks at various distances. Your goal is to stand just far enough away so that the block miss Mega Man when they land. Then more blocks rise from the bottom of the screen to replace the ejected blocks, and the Blocky continues to advance. A second shot will remove them for good.
- G: Metal Man is the only stage among the eight Robot Masters to have not one, but two E-Tanks. However, collecting this E-Tank requires taking something of a risk. It's easy to collect, but surviving the collection is another story. The only way to safely return to the remainder of the stage is by using Transport Items 1 or 2 to get you over the large gap. If you don't have these, it is still recommended that you sacrifice one of your extra lives to collect this. (Optionally, you can use the Jump Pause cheat to clear the gap in one jump.)
- H: In the final stretch of the stage, you are subjected to a trio of Springer robots. They wander back and forth at a slow speed until they detect Mega Man's presence nearby, at which time they speed up. If they reach Mega Man before he jumps away, they spring open and wiggle until they reset themselves and keep going. Jump over them and proceed to the door leading to Metal Man's lair.
Metal Man[edit]
Metal Man will stay in one spot and do very little as long as Mega Man does not fire a shot or go near him. Whenever Mega Man fires his weapon, Metal Man will jump high in the air and throw a number of metal blades in Mega Man's direction on his way down. If Mega Man gets too near, Metal Man will jump to the opposite side of the room and continue the same pattern. Like most of Metal Man's stage, this room is lined with a conveyor belt. Unlike most of the stage, however, this conveyor belt switches direction periodically, and the switch is accompanied by a brief flash on the screen. You must account for the conveyor's direction while you combat Metal Man. In order to beat him quickly, you should jump up and fire your weapon in mid-air, and continue shooting when you land. Metal Man is likely to jump into the first bullet when he leaves the ground, and land on the subsequent bullets below. Be prepared to jump over any blades that he throws close enough to the ground to hit you, but let the higher ones fly over your head. After his defeat, Mega Man is presented with the Metal Blade, a very handy weapon which can fire in eight directions, uses little energy, and damages most enemies quite nicely.
Out of all the other Robot Master's weapons, only the Quick Boomerang and Atomic Fire can put a dent in Metal Man. But the Atomic Fire has to be at full blast to do a good amount of damage, so the Quick Boomerang is the better choice. Due to their shorter range, you must get a bit closer to Metal Man to hit him with the boomerangs, but you can force Metal Man to hop back and forth by trying to attack from the middle of the conveyor belt. However, neither of these weapons are Metal Man's true weakness, as Metal Man has one very surprising vulnerability. The weapon which can do the most damage to Metal Man is actually the Metal Blade itself, a fact which you can test out for yourself during the rematch with Metal Man in Wily Fortress 5.