Action

The gameplay in Mega Man 6 is largely similar to its five NES counterparts.

The player takes control of Mega Man to complete a series of side-scrolling platform stages littered with smaller robot enemies and occasional larger mini-bosses. The player’s primary method of attack is the “Mega Buster” cannon, which can be charged for more powerful shots. At the end of each of the initial eight stages is a boss battle, where the player inherits that Robot Master’s unique “Master Weapon” if successful.

These eight levels can be completed in any order, although all Robot Masters are weak to a specific Master Weapon, adding an element of strategy to the order chosen by the player.

The player’s health is represented by a gauge that can be refilled by picking up energy pellets. Extra lives, reserve energy tanks, and pellets that refill Master Weapon power can also be found throughout each level. Mega Man 6 introduces the “Energy Balancer”, which automatically refills the weapon with the lowest energy when picking up Master Weapon power.

Previous Mega Man games typically allowed the player to call on the transformable dog Rush or use other support items in order to traverse difficult or otherwise inaccessible parts of a stage. Mega Man 6 instead features a pair of “Rush Adaptors” that fuse Mega Man and Rush into special forms. The first, “Jet Mega Man”, lets the player fly upward or hover for a brief period of time, but prevents the use of charge shots. The second, “Power Mega Man”, utilizes a powerful, short-range punch attack for destroying large blocks.

The player cannot slide when using either adapter. Mega Man 6 also presents less linear ways to complete the stages than in previous entries in the series. There are two pathways in many of the stages that lead to boss rooms, but the player is often required to use one of the Rush adaptors to begin an alternate route. Although either one will clear the stage, only one of them will give the player a letter circuit board for assembling the helper bird Beat.

Collecting all four parts will allow the player to call on Beat to attack enemies

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Mega Man 3 retains the platforming and action game elements established by the two Mega Man games released before it.

The player controls the protagonist Mega Man as he traverses eight selectable stages. The player’s primary blaster weapon is used to fend off the game’s numerous enemies. Several power-ups can be picked up in each stage, including life energy, special weapon ammunition, extra lives, and “E-Tanks”, which are stored and can be selected to completely refill the player’s life energy. At the end of every stage the player must defeat a Robot Master boss: Magnet Man, Hard Man, Top Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, Snake Man, Gemini Man, or Needle Man.

Each Robot Master features a unique weapon and stage related to the weapon’s power. After defeating a boss, their signature weapon is added to Mega Man’s arsenal.The Robot Masters are weak to the weapons of certain other Robot Masters, allowing the player to ease the boss battles by clearing some stages before others.

Mega Man 3 is the first Mega Man game to feature the slide maneuver, which lets the player slip under enemy attacks and low-level barriers.After completing certain stages, Mega Man can access new abilities in his robot dog companion Rush.

Rush’s transformations include the “Rush Coil” for jumping higher, the “Rush Jet” for flying around the screen, and the “Rush Marine” for traveling underwater.

Throughout the various stages the player encounters Proto Man (as Break Man), a mini-boss who, once defeated, will open passageways for the player to advance. Mega Man 3 also expands upon the two preceding games by having additional stages set between the initial eight Robot Masters and the linear stages of Dr. Wily’s fortress.

The “Doc Robots” are fought after defeating all 8 Robot Masters. You face the Doc Robots in the Spark Man stage, Needle Man stage, Gemini Man stage, and Shadow Man stage.

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Mega Man 2 is a platform and action game. The player controls Mega Man as he traverses eight stages to defeat the bosses, Dr. Wily’s Robot Masters: Metal Man, Air Man, Bubble Man, Quick Man, Crash Man, Flash Man, Heat Man, and Wood Man. Each Robot Master features a unique weapon and a stage related to their weapon’s power. For example, Air Man shoots small tornadoes and is fought in a sky-themed level, while Wood Man can use a shield of leaves and is found in a forest-themed stage.

After defeating a boss, their signature weapon becomes available to the player. The Robot Masters have weaknesses to the weapons of certain other Robot Masters; therefore, choosing the order in which the levels are played is a vital component of the gameplay. After completing certain stages, Mega Man receives a special item.These items create platforms that allow Mega Man to access areas that he otherwise could not.

After defeating the eight Robot Masters, the player proceeds to Dr. Wily’s fortress, which consists of six levels that are played linearly.As in the first game, the player is required to fight each Robot Master a second time in Dr. Wily’s fortress. However, these battles take place in a single room rather than a series of linearly connected rooms. The room contains teleportation devices that lead to each Robot Master. The devices can be entered in any order, but are not labeled. Once the bosses are defeated again, the player must fight Dr. Wily.

Mega Man 2 features a few gameplay changes from the original Mega Man.A new item, the Energy Tank, allows a player to refill Mega Man’s health at any time.Also introduced is a password system. After defeating each Robot Master a password is displayed, allowing the player to return to that particular point in the game after restarting the system.The password stores the particular list of completed Robot Masters, as well as the number of accumulated Energy Tanks. Unlike the first game, Mega Man 2 does not feature a score counter, and the player is unable to return to Robot Master levels once completed.

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