BOSS RUSH

In order to get to Dr Wily, you’re going to have to get past his hand-picked guardians – and he’s picked quite a few…

METAL MAN

■ This boss hangs out in a factory, and loves to throw circular blades to chop his opponent down to size – and unfortunately, that means you.

How To Beat Him If you get in close, he’ll leap to the other side of the screen making his blades easy to dodge. Shoot him as he lands – easy.

BUBBLE MAN

■ We’re not quite sure what’s supposed to be so deadly about bubbles – maybe corrosion? Still, this chap puts up a good fight.

How To Beat Him Bubble Man fires bubbles in a wave pattern, but these are pretty easy to dodge since the fight is underwater.

FLASH MAN

■ Thankfully, indecent exposure isn’t what this Robot Master is all about – instead, he rather likes stopping time to put Mega Man on the back foot.

How To Beat Him He leaps about the screen firing at you and stopping time to confound you. The flexibility of the Metal Blade is your friend here.

MECHA DRAGON

■ The first guardian of Dr Wily’s lair is this large and rather terrifying piece of flying, fire-breathing machinery. How To Beat Him Don’t bother attacking until the dragon has stopped chasing you. Once you’re one-on-one, you can use your regular arm cannon to defeat it – just time your jumps well to avoid the fireballs it shoots.

AIR MAN

■ This windbag uses a fan to generate mini-tornado attacks. These can be pretty hard to dodge, so he’s more than just hot air.

How To Beat Him Air Man attacks a set side of the screen. Once you’ve dodged his barrage, he’ll move and you can attack him from behind.

HEAT MAN

■ This hothead can turn himself into a shooting flame, and has a burning desire to see your energy bar go up in smoke.

How To Beat Him Heat Man will fire some shots, then blaze across the screen. To cool him off, we’d recommend using the Bubble Lead.

QUICK MAN

■ This speed freak likes to jump around and throw boomerangs at Mega Man – an odd method of attack, but one which proves surprisingly effective.

How To Beat Him This guy isn’t easy to topple, but he can be defeated relatively quickly with smart use of the Crash Bomb.

BOOBEAM TRAP

■ The most unusual boss in the game, consisting of wall-mounted laser cannons, and one of Wily’s final traps.

How To Beat Him Strategy is needed here. You have seven Crash Bombs, and you need all of them – two to destroy walls, and five to destroy the beam cannons. Don’t waste your ammo!

WILY MACHINE 2

■ The mad doctor himself joins the fight!

How To Beat Him For the first part of the boss fight, use fully charged Atomic Fire shots. The second form of the boss is immune to Atomic Fire, but still vulnerable to Crash Bombs. If you don’t have any left, try the Air Shooter or Metal Blade.

CRASH MAN

■ You might expect this guy to glitch the game, but he’s actually a mad bomber with a real appetite for destruction – a truly dangerous foe.

How To Beat Him Crash Man jumps and retaliates with a bomb when you shoot. We’d advise you to use the Air Shooter against him.

WOOD MAN

■ No, not a lumberjack – this oddball is genuinely threatening thanks to his ability to cloak himself with leaves while still attacking you.

How To Beat Him As well as shooting leaves at you, Wood Man will drop them from above. With Atomic Fire, you can take him out.

PICOPICO-KUN

■ The second line of defence at Wily’s fortress. This enemy isn’t big, but it comes in numbers and it only gets tougher to beat as time goes on.

How To Beat Him Use the Metal Blade for aiming flexibility, or if you’re feeling spicy, the Bubble Lead will inflict a one-hit kill.

GUTS TANK

■ Boss three in Wily’s defensive line is this lumbering thing. It shoots projectiles from its mouth and releases enemies from its chest. How To Beat Him The Quick Boomerang is probably the best weapon to use here. To damage Guts Tank, you need to attack its head. You might wish to stand atop the tank’s treads before jumping.

ALIEN

■ Could Dr Wily have been an impostor? It appears so as he transforms into the

Alien, Mega Man’s final foe. It flies about in a figure of eight pattern.

How To Beat Him Only the Bubble Lead will damage the alien. Not only are the other weapons ineffective, they’ll actively hinder your efforts by refilling the alien’s health!