"Mega Man II Veryhard"
Level hacks by Mike Hayes (mjhayes@pcgeek.net)
Date Of Last Modification:  December 6, 2000
Thanks to Fx3 (http://rocknes.emuviews.com) for visine, the level editor

---------> Getting started

    There were two files in this archive:  veryhard.txt (the file you are now
reading) and patch.exe (A patch in the form of a Win32 executable).  To play
the new levels, do the following:
1. You need the NES Mega Man II ROM image.  Do not ask me for it.
2. Copy the ROM image and patch.exe to a temp folder.  Make sure the ROM image
   is named megaman2.nes
3. Run patch.exe.  The copy of the ROM image will be updated.

---------> Background

    I was in the 8th grade when I first played Mega Man II.  Mega Man I made
quite a splash, but I paid no attention because I still had not forgiven
CapCom for their previous titles (I disliked their early NES ports of arcade
games.  Ghosts 'n' Goblins comes to mind, but I think I hated it for its
insane difficulty level, and not the arcade-to-NES conversion.).  When a
friend who had just moved into the area came to visit and brought Mega Man II
with him, I gave it a try and was hooked right away.  I ended up getting Mega
Man III the following Christmas, and bought Mega Man IV and V the first day
they appeared at the local Babbages.  Although everyone else had had their
fill of Mega Man after III, I wasn't so easily fazed.  I was disappointed with
Mega Man V however, thinking it was too similar to Mega Man IV.  In fact, I
used to call it "Mega Man IV II."  So disappointed was I that I did not even
buy Mega Man VI.  But that is trivial.
    As I played Mega Man II and III over and over again, I used to daydream of
designing my own levels someday, although I somehow knew it would never
happen.  Who would have guessed that 11 years later, I would finally get a
chance to fulfill that silly dream?  Of course, I never envisioned being able
to play any and every NES game in existence, not to mention every other video
game from nearly every other video game platform, all conveniently on one
computer!  Finally, 11 years of pent-up idle daydreaming manifests itself in
what I call "the 14 hardest levels of Mega Man you have ever played."  If you
have the hardware, I dare you to finish even one level on a real NES!
    Now that I think about it, does anybody remember the Intellivision game
Vectron?  Mattel Electronics put a dare on the back of the box for anybody to
make it to Level 10.  There were 99 levels, and most people could not even
make it as far as Level 4.  When "Intellivision Lives!" was released
commercially, I put the emulator's features (state saving/loading,
sprite/sprite and sprite/background hardware collision detection disabling) to
full use and got revenge on that evil game.  In the process, I discovered that
Level 16 is impossible to finish on a real Intellivision (and possibly many
others), and on Level 40 I began disabling sprite/sprite hardware collision
detection because the game simply got too fast, even after tweaking the
refresh rate to slow the game down.  At any rate, unlike Vectron, these hacked
levels are not impossible, but difficult enough to cast doubt on the fact that
anyone will finish the game without cheating.

---------> Read this!

    The first thing I set out to do was to redesign the stages to create some
very tricky jumps.  Because I was working within the limitations of visine
v1.0 (more on that later), I realized I could only do so much to prevent the
player from playing the Heat Man, Air Man, and Flash Man stages first to get
the lift items and spoil some of the fun.  I did as much as possible to force
the player to play other stages first, but as a result I had to require that
the first eight stages be played in a certain order.  Although that was not my
original intention, I like the extra challenge that the player now has of
figuring out the correct order.
    Having said that, I now warn the reader (that means you) -- do not read
any further unless you are absolutely stuck or have finished all the levels
and want to know why I designed the levels the way I did.  The text that
follows may inadvertently give away a few solutions and decrease your overall
enjoyment of the game.  (Doesn't that sound familiar?  Anybody remember
Infocom?)

---------> Philosophy

    First of all, I want to re-emphasize that you should not be reading past
this point if you have not finished all the levels and are not in need of help
in order to do so.  To try to avoid revealing the correct order in which the
first eight levels must be played, I sorted the respective sections
alphabetically, rather than the order in which I revised them.
    Although it was quite likely that a new version of visine would be
available before I finished revising the levels, the features in v1.0 were
enough for me.  The fact that some things are missing (enemy placement and
moving platform behavior for example) isn't a problem; like a good artist, I
prefer to work within these limitations.  I especially enjoyed making the
clouds in the Crash Man stage.  They only made a cameo appearance in the
original level, and as a result there are only so many tile structures to work
with, but I used them as liberally as possible.

---------> Air Man

    Oh boy -- clouds!  Unlike in the Crash Man stage, there are lots of clouds
to work with here.  In fact, clouds and "Air Tikis" (I think that was their
original name) comprise the majority of the tile structures in this stage, and
there is little garbage.  The hardest part was figuring out which tile
structures contained solid ground and which ones did not, since many of them
look identical.
    The first horizontal passage was untouched for the most part, since the
Air Tikis and cloud enemies are fixed in place.  Only the clouds and a few
footholds were tampered with.  The increase in cloud cover makes the enemies
difficult to see.  Also, do not run to the left at the beginning.  The hole in
the cloud was added to allow the player to see Mega Man and part of the READY
message at the beginning.
    Fast forward to the eighth room, after the cloud enemies.  Jump on the
footholds above, and walk until Mega Man is almost entirely concealed in
cloud.  From that point, make a long jump.  The ground below disappears behind
the cloud.  The holes in the cloud near the top of the room are provided to
allow the player to see the approaching bird enemies.  Continue walking until
the ground is once again concealed in cloud.  Walk until Mega Man's feet can
be seen, then long jump to the right.  If you jump far enough, you will fall
to the eleventh room instead of dying.  The reason is covered in the Bubble
Man stage, fifth room description.
    The next two rooms are almost entirely concealed in cloud, with a few
holes for visibility.  Run all the way to the left of the room, then fight the
"worm generator."  Run all the way to the right of the room, then fight the
other worm generator.  Run all the way to the left of the room, then all the
way to the right of the room, and you will fall to the next room.
(Admittedly, this could have been more challenging.  I either became lazy or
compassionate at this point, but I don't remember which.)
    Run all the way to the left of the next room.  When you see Mega Man
falling through the hole on the left side of the room, run a little bit to the
right.  Jump over the hole in the middle of the room because there is a small
gap in the floor there.  (My original intent was to create a lot of blind
jumps such as this, but somewhere along the way I felt that would be unfair.
If there were any E-tanks or extra lives in this stage, I would have created a
lot of blind jumps.)
    Two successive Air Tikis dominate the thirteenth room.  A long jump is
required to land on the first one, and another is required to land on the
foothold after the second one.  After two more long jumps, the first "fan
enemy" will appear.  Jump carefully to reach the foothold where you can jump
and fire shots at the enemy.  Watch out for birds that will start appearing at
this point.  Use the holes in the clouds to help you see them as they
approach.
    After two jumps, there will be another (final) blind jump, and this one is
the worst.  Walk slowly to the right until you see Mega Man in the small hole
between the two larger holes through which footholds can be seen.  Halfway
between the small hole and the one to the right, the ground ends.  A long jump
is required to land on the foothold here.  All the while, bird enemies are
still appearing.
    This foothold continues a little bit into the cloud cover, and a long jump
is required to reach the next foothold.  The next jump is the same, but the
visibility is better here.  The second fan enemy will appear now.  The tiny
jump to the highest foothold is not so difficult, but the long jump to the
foothold where the enemy stands is very difficult, but possible.  I was about
to have another moment of compassion when I discovered there is a way to make
the fan enemy disappear.  I am not able to duplicate it, but if you know how
to do it, you can use that to your advantage here.  You also should have Item
1 to help you with the trickier jumps -- if you don't, you won't get much
further anyway.
    The third and final fan enemy will appear just after the second one, and
is easy to defeat.  After two long jumps, you will be standing on a small
foothold at the bottom of the eighteenth room.  Item 1 is required at this
point.  It will take roughly five uses to reach the next foothold.  Watch out
for the bird enemies.  I was kind enough to eliminate the clouds here.
Another long jump, and two more uses of Item 1 are all it takes to reach the
gate.  Air Man is another easy enemy, and after defeating him, you will have
Item 2 at last.

---------> Bubble Man

    This is the first stage I set out to revise, and I knew there was an
underwater section with spikes to work with.  There weren't many tile
structures containing scenery, so I didn't get as artistic as I later did with
the clouds in the Crash Man stage.  I wanted to put the underwater physics to
use and create long jumps, and I used the spikes to create tricky jumps.  I
didn't put the enemies to strategic use to complicate the jumps as I did quite
well in earlier stages.
    Although this was the first stage I completed, I later realized I couldn't
come up with a way to force the player to complete this stage before acquiring
any lift items, so I re-revised the level, making it impossible to complete
without Item 2.  It was apparent that Item 2 would spoil the fun of some of
the long jumps, so I built them accordingly to compensate for its possible
use.
    In the second and third rooms, there are frogs, around which I managed to
build the footholds to make their behavior considerably more menacing.  The
third frog in particular will knock you overboard after completing the long
jump unless you jump just right.
    The falling platforms in the fourth room are implemented as enemies
instead of background tiles, so I couldn't change them.  One thing I did was
remove a single tile in the solid foothold at the end of the successive jumps,
making the last jump a bit harder.  Previously I had removed two tiles, but
the jump became so difficult that even I felt it was unfair (Despite my strong
evil streak, I did show a little compassion in rare moments.  To be frank, I
actually missed the jump one too many consecutive times and put one tile back
for my own sake.).
    It was at the fifth room that I discovered what makes the difference
between falling to the player's death and moving to the next room when it
scrolls downward -- if the current room has finished scrolling horizontally,
then the player will fall to the next room.  Otherwise the player dies.
CapCom placed vertical beams here to make the difference distinct, but I felt
like exploiting the difference, so I removed the beams and enough tiles at the
foothold to require a long jump.
    The next few rooms scroll downward and contain a vertical beam on either
side.  To prevent the player from landing on top of the beams in the first of
these rooms, I put a small foothold above the right beam at the bottom of the
previous room.  It is impossible for the player to land on top of the left
beam since falling at this horizontal position at the previous screen would
kill the player.
    These vertically-scrolling rooms also contain enemies that move back and
forth along the ground and do not fall.  I had to put a platform underneath
them or they would remain suspended in midair, forever making themselves dizzy
by turning around at a rate of what I would guess is 30 times per second
(Correct me if I'm wrong about the frame rate.)  Since this was the first stage
I created, I originally built the platforms so the player could shoot the
enemies with the humble plasma cannon (This is not a concern on the Normal
difficulty level -- which in my opinion is for wimps -- since the shells do
not detach after the first shot.), but after I realized that the player would
certainly complete the Heat Man, Air Man, and Flash Man stages early to get
the lift items, I rebuilt the platforms accordingly since the player would be
able to use Atomic Fire to destroy all of the enemy.
    There is a restart point in the ninth room.  The vertical position of the
restart point is not editable (and even if it is with the now-current version
of visine, I prefer to work within that limitation), and in this case it
produces a very cool side effect.  I wanted to have a long jump here, since
the player is now underwater (Of course, the entire level could be underwater
if I so chose to make it that way.) and the ground on the other side of the
jump is just beyond the restart point.  Hold the direction pad to the right
to avoid immediately falling to your death should you be unfortunate enough to
have to restart here.
    There is a large anglerfish in the next room.  It is assumed the player
knows how to defeat this enemy, so it shouldn't be necessary to discuss it
here.  Don't forget the plasma cannon shots travel through walls.  The sea
horses are certain to cause a headache here, since the player is forced to get
close to the anglerfish.  Be careful when jumping over the pit after
defeating the anglerfish.
    Now, a high jump, followed by a long jump.  At this time, the glass
metroids will appear.  Since the player is so high on the screen when they
first appear, they will disappear as soon as they appear, so don't worry
about them.  Following the long jump are three high jumps involving spikes.
By now the player should be used to dealing with spikes.  In the next room the
player must make tiny jumps to avoid hitting the low spikes.  Watch out for
the metroids, which have already begun to get in the way.
    After the small jumps, continue moving to the right to avoid the ground
spikes as you fall.  Don't jump, or you will hit the ceiling spikes.  After
the jump, take tiny steps to the right until you fall.  One pixel closer will
spell death by the nearby spike.  After a couple jumps, jump high into the air
and blindly position yourself so you will fall between the two columns of
spikes.
    Another anglerfish is in the next room.  Jump over the cluster of spikes
and fight at close range as before.  After a couple jumps, there will be a
frog on the other side of a pit.  One of the baby frogs will reach the tiny
ledge you are standing on.  Jump to the right to avoid it, fire a couple shots
at the frog, then move back to land on the ledge.  Repeat as often as
necessary.  A tricky jump follows the fight with the frog.  I nearly raised
the spikes that you will most likely touch while attempting the jump.
    Finally, a few tiny jumps, and the end of the underwater scene is in
sight.  Take baby steps to get as close to the spikes without touching them.
Keep jumping until you finally go up for air, then jump up and over the
spikes.
    Back at the waterfall, there are many footholds to jump across.  The first
of many long jumps is the worst of all.  Get as close to the edge as possible
to complete the jump.  Watch out for the falling crabs while jumping; they are
sure to get in the way at least once.
    Home free to the boss just yet?  Not quite.  The column of spikes just
outside the gate and the low ceiling will work together to produce yet another
tricky jump.

---------> Crash Man

    The more I look at the tile structures in each level, the more I
appreciate how much work and attention to detail CapCom put into this game.  A
quick glance at the tile structures, specifically the ones containing tiles of
twisty little tubes that form the ground and walls, reveals something
interesting -- these tile structures connect to each other in an unusual way.
The top pair of tiles, for example, connect to the bottom pair of tiles in the
tile structure above in one of four ways.  The same is true for the bottom
pair, the left pair, and the right pair; there are four combinations of
connectivity, requiring a little binary math (something that doesn't faze me).
I quickly realized that it would be impossible for there to be a tile
structure for every combination.  Since every tile structure has a top edge,
a bottom edge, a left edge, and a right edge, and each edge has four
combinations, it means that we would need 256 tile structures to cover every
possibility.  256 tile structures are all we have on this level, and we must
have other types of tiles besides "twisty little tubes," so I concluded that
there must be combinations for which no tile structures exist.
    With that in mind, I knew I would have to take great care to build the
walls so the tile structures would properly connect to each other.  I had
trouble building the rooms near the end of the level, when the sky gets dark.
The problem is that there are special tile structures, fewer in number than
the original ones, where the background color changes from blue to dark blue,
and from dark blue to black.  It is in these rooms that I notice CapCom
finally threw connectivity to the wind.
    I noticed there were quite a few tile structures where the left or right
pair of tiles contains ladder, and the opposite pair of tiles contains tubing
that connect to the ladder.  Since these were available, I chose to pretend
the tubing is covered up by the ladder and used ladder tiles as wildcard
connectors.  That accounts for the rather strange use of ladders near the end
of the level.
    Very early in the level, I perused the entire set of tile structures and
recorded their connectivity combinations into the early stage of this text
file's evolution.  I frequently used the text to search for tile structures
containing certain connections.  I give myself credit for designing the
entire level without breaking my self-imposed laws of connectivity and without
compromising the general form I wanted.  Score myself extra clever points for
utilizing tile structures with garbage in the bottom half -- the bottom tiles
are truncated at the bottom row of each room and are never seen, even in rooms
that scroll vertically.
    Following is the text I generated for quick-reference to build the walls
in the Crash Man stage.  Each line should be read as follows:
[structure]: t[bb] b[bb] l[bb] r[bb] "[c][c][c][c]" {comments}
where:
- [structure] is a hexadecimal index (There are 256 different structures to
  use in this level.)
- t[bb] denotes the top connection from this structure, reading from left to
  right
- b[bb] denotes the bottom connection from this structure, reading from left
  to right
- l[bb] denotes the left connection from this structure, reading from top to
  bottom
- r[bb] denotes the right connection from this structure, reading from top to
  bottom
- [c][c][c][c] indicates the type of tiles in the top left, top right, bottom
  left, and bottom right corners of the tile structure, respectively.
  - b = blank
  - c = cloud
  - g = ground
  - p = pipe
  - t = tread
- {comments} was used to indicate garbage tiles in the structure or whether
  the structure could be used for "wildcard" connections (CapCom made liberal
  use of structure 15 to connect the tubes.).  I also made a few mistakes
  along the way, and placed question marks where I thought I found a
  discrepancy, but didn't take the time to verify.

00: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
01: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
02: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cccc"
03: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
04: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
05: t1 b3 l3 r3 "gggg"
06: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gggg"
07: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ccgg"
08: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
09: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ppbb"
0a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbpp"
0b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "pbbb"
0c: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbp"
0d: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ppbb"
0e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ppbb"
0f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbpp"
10: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
11: t3 b2 l3 r1 "gggg"
12: t2 b3 l1 r2 "gggg"
13: t3 b3 l1 r3 "gggg"
14: t3 b3 l2 r1 "gggg"
15: t0 b0 l0 r0 "gggg" (wild all)
16: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
17: t2 b0 l3 r0 "gbgb"
18: t0 b2 l3 r1 "gggg"
19: t0 b3 l1 r3 "gggg"
1a: t0 b3 l1 r2 "gggg"
1b: t0 b3 l2 r1 "gggg"
1c: t2 b0 l1 r2 "gggg"
1d: t3 b0 l2 r1 "gggg"
1e: t3 b0 l1 r3 "gggg"
1f: t3 b0 l3 r1 "gggg"
20: t3 b2 l3 r0 "gggg"
21: t2 b3 l1 r0 "gggg"
22: t3 b3 l1 r0 "gggg"
23: t3 b3 l2 r0 "gggg"
24: t3 b0 l0 r1 "gggg"
25: t0 b3 l0 r2 "gggg"
26: t3 b3 l0 r3 "gggg"
27: t3 b3 l0 r1 "gggg"
28: t0 b1 l0 r0 "ppgg" (wild top)
29: t3 b0 l0 r0 "ggpp" (wild bottom)
2a: t0 b0 l0 r2 "ggbb"
2b: t0 b0 l2 r2 "ggbb"
2c: t0 b0 l2 r0 "ggbb"
2d: t2 b1 l2 r2 "gggg"
2e: t1 b0 l0 r1 "bgbg"
2f: t1 b0 l3 r1 "gggg"
30: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
31: t1 b0 l0 r2 "bgpp" (wild bottom)
32: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbbg"
33: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbgb"
34: t3 b0 l0 r0 "ggbb"
35: t1 b3 l2 r2 "ggbb" (garbage) (?)
36: t3 b0 l2 r0 "ggbb"
37: t2 b0 l0 r2 "ggbb"
38: t0 b3 l0 r1 "bbgg"
39: t0 b3 l1 r0 "bbgg"
3a: t0 b3 l0 r0 "bbgg"
3b: t1 b1 l0 r1 "bgbg"
3c: t3 b1 l0 r0 "ggbg"
3d: t0 b2 l3 r0 "gbgb"
3e: t2 b2 l0 r0 "gbgb"
3f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
40: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
41: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lglb" (wild left)
42: t0 b0 l0 r2 "lgbb"
43: t0 b0 l2 r0 "glbl" (wild right)
44: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
45: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
46: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bblg" (wild left)
47: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
48: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
49: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbgl" (wild right)
4a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
4b: t1 b1 l0 r2 "lglg" (wild left)
4c: t1 b1 l0 r2 "lgbg"
4d: t0 b1 l0 r3 "lglg" (wild left)
4e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
4f: t1 b0 l0 r0 "lglb" (wild left)
50: t0 b0 l0 r0 "blbl" (wild right)
51: t0 b0 l0 r0 "blbb"
52: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lblb" (wild left)
53: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lbbb"
54: t2 b0 l0 r0 "glbl" (wild right)
55: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
56: t0 b0 l0 r0 "btbt"
57: t0 b2 l3 r0 "glgl" (wild right)
58: t0 b2 l0 r0 "glgl" (wild right)
59: t0 b0 l0 r0 "glgl" (wild right)
5a: t1 b1 l0 r3 "lglg" (wild left)
5b: t0 b0 l0 r1 "lglg" (wild left)
5c: t0 b0 l0 r2 "lglb" (wild left)
5d: t0 b2 l0 r2 "gggb"
5e: t1 b1 l0 r2 "bglg"
5f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbt"
60: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttb"
61: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ttbb"
62: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ttbt"
63: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tbbb"
64: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ttbt"
65: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbtt"
66: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
67: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttb"
68: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tbtb"
69: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ttbb"
6a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "btbt"
6b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
6c: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
6d: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
6e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
6f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
70: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ttbb"
71: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ttbb"
72: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ttbb"
73: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bttt"
74: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
75: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
76: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tbtt"
77: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
78: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
79: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
7a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "tttt"
7b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bgbg" (garbage)
7c: t0 b0 l0 r0 "gggg"
7d: t0 b0 l0 r0 "gggg"
7e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
7f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
80: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
81: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
82: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
83: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bgbg"
84: t0 b0 l0 r0 "gbgb"
85: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
86: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
87: t0 b3 l0 r1 "bbgg"
88: t1 b0 l0 r0 "lglg" (wild left)
89: t0 b1 l0 r0 "lglg"
8a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
8b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
8c: t0 b1 l0 r1 "bblg"
8d: t0 b2 l1 r0 "bbgb"
8e: t0 b3 l1 r0 "bbgg"
8f: t0 b0 l1 r1 "lbgg"
90: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbbg"
91: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
92: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
93: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
94: t0 b3 l2 r0 "gggg"
95: t0 b0 l1 r2 "gggb"
96: t1 b0 l1 r0 "bggg"
97: t0 b1 l0 r1 "bbbg"
98: t2 b0 l1 r0 "gbgb"
99: t0 b2 l0 r1 "bbgg"
9a: t0 b1 l1 r0 "bbgg"
9b: t1 b1 l0 r0 "bgbg"
9c: t1 b0 l2 r2 "ggbb"
9d: t2 b0 l2 r1 "gbgg"
9e: t2 b0 l1 r2 "gggb"
9f: t2 b0 l2 r0 "gbbb"
a0: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
a1: t0 b2 l2 r3 "gggg"
a2: t0 b0 l3 r3 "gggg"
a3: t2 b2 l2 r0 "gbgb"
a4: t0 b0 l3 r3 "gggg"
a5: t1 b0 l0 r1 "bgbg"
a6: t0 b1 l0 r3 "bgbg"
a7: t1 b0 l0 r3 "bgbg"
a8: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cccc"
a9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cccc"
aa: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cccc"
ab: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ccbb"
ac: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cbcc"
ad: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cbcb"
ae: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ccbb"
af: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cccb"
b0: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bcbb"
b1: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cbbb"
b2: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cccc"
b3: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbcc"
b4: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b5: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b6: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b7: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b8: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ba: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
bb: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
bc: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
bd: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
be: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
bf: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c0: t0 b2 l3 r1 "gggg"
c1: t1 b3 l1 r3 "gggg"
c2: t2 b0 l0 r2 "ggbb"
c3: t3 b0 l2 r0 "ggbb"
c4: t0 b2 l3 r0 "gbgb"
c5: t2 b0 l3 r0 "gbgb"
c6: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lblb" (wild left)
c7: t0 b1 l0 r1 "lglg" (wild left)
c8: t1 b1 l0 r2 "lglg" (wild left)
c9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lblb" (garbage)
ca: t1 b0 l0 r0 "lglb" (wild left)
cb: t2 b2 l0 r0 "gbgb" (garbage)
cc: t2 b0 l2 r0 "gbbb"
cd: t0 b3 l0 r2 "gggg"
ce: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
cf: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lbtt"
d0: t3 b2 l3 r0 "gggg"
d1: t2 b3 l1 r0 "gggg"
d2: t3 b3 l1 r0 "gggg"
d3: t3 b3 l2 r0 "gggg"
d4: t3 b0 l0 r1 "gggg"
d5: t0 b3 l0 r2 "gggg"
d6: t3 b3 l0 r3 "gggg"
d7: t3 b3 l0 r1 "gggg"
d8: t0 b2 l3 r1 "gggg"
d9: t1 b3 l1 r3 "gggg"
da: t2 b3 l1 r2 "gggg"
db: t3 b0 l2 r1 "gggg"
dc: t0 b0 l1 r1 "bbgg"
dd: t1 b1 l0 r1 "lglg" (wild left)
de: t0 b0 l2 r2 "ggbb"
df: t2 b2 l1 r0 "gggg"
e0: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lblb"
e1: t2 b0 l3 r0 "gbgb"
e2: t0 b2 l3 r0 "gbgb"
e3: t1 b1 l0 r2 "bglg"
e4: t0 b0 l0 r0 "blbl" (wild right)
e5: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lbbb"
e6: t0 b0 l0 r2 "lglb"
e7: t1 b2 l3 r1 "gggg"
e8: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
e9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
ea: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
eb: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
ec: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
ed: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
ee: t1 b1 l0 r0 "bgbg"
ef: t0 b0 l0 r0 "blbl" (wild right)
f0: t0 b0 l0 r0 "lblb" (wild left)
f1: t2 b0 l3 r0 "gbgb"
f2: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
f3: t3 b0 l0 r2 "ggbb"
f4: t2 b0 l2 r2 "ggbb"
f5: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
f6: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
f7: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
f8: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
f9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
fa: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
fb: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
fc: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
fd: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bblg"
fe: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
ff: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"

    The first two rooms contain pipes from which enemies appear.  I wanted to
use the pipes as footholds, and built the room accordingly.  Throughout the
entire stage, the strange configuration of footholds and ladders will make the
journey to the next room somewhat confusing.  The first room should be
straightforward.  Wait at the rightmost ledge and fight monsters until you can
climb the tiny ladder without being hit by an enemy emerging from the nearby
pipe.  All three pipes must be used as footholds to reach the ladder in the
second room.  Climb the nearby ladder and move counter-clockwise around the
room.
    Climb all the way to the top of the third room, then use the small
footholds to advance toward the hard-hat enemy that makes an appearance in
every Mega Man game.  Jump to the orange dome on which it is perched, then
jump back to avoid the shots.  Wait for the enemy to run into the pit, then
continue.  The foothold above the second dome makes a tricky jump.  It will
take some practice to land on the dome.  Watch out for the bottomless pit.  I
created the ledge below not as an act of mercy, but because the connectivity
of the tile structures make it necessary.  The ladder can be reached from the
dome, not the platform above.  It will take a long jump.
    The moving platforms in the next three rooms haven't changed, simply
because visine v1.0 didn't allow me to change their patterns.  This is one
thing I would like to have done.  At any rate, there is much less ground in
these rooms.  Be careful not to lose your footing.
    The next pair of rooms look similar to the third and fourth rooms.
Proceed in the same manner as before.  The tread at the edge of the ninth room
is a red herring.  Make the long jump to the small foothold at the far edge of
the room, then jump for the small ladder above.  The other ladder is out of
reach from the first ladder.  Jump to the foothold, then make a long jump to
reach the top ladder.
    From the topmost foothold in the next room, long jump to grab the ladder
in midair.  There is another hard-hat enemy on the dome in the room above, and
it will fall to the foothold you are standing on.  If you wait at the ladder,
you might want to shoot the enemy to prevent it from shooting you as you jump
to the next foothold.  Zigzag your way to the topmost foothold, then jump to
the dome, and from there to the ladder.  (I would love to see somebody perform
such aerial gymnastics in real life, and fight enemies on the way.)
    This is where the sky begins to get dark, and I had to use special tile
structures whose background color changes with the sky (The ordinary tile
structures are no good here.).  Since they are quite limited, I had a hard
time building floor and walls while preserving connectivity.  Not even CapCom
pulled it off.  Maybe it would have been pretty to use tile structures that
would make only half of the screen change color.
    This room and the next will be visited three times as the player performs
some of the toughest jumps possible.  Climb all the way to the next room, then
make a long jump to the right, falling back to the previous room and getting
shot by the hard-hat enemy just to reach the stairs on the right half of the
room.  Climb the ladder dangling within reach all the way to the top.  When
you reach the top, you will begin to fall.  Hold the direction pad up to watch
in amusement as Mega Man dances to the YMCA song at 30 (60?) frames per
second.  When ready, hold the direction pad to the left while falling once
again to the previous room, then up-left to grab the ladder just to your left.
Climb to the top of this ladder, then jump to the left to grab the next ladder
(This ladder used to start two tiles higher, but the ceiling above makes it a
very difficult jump; so difficult that I was forced to commit another act of
mercy and extend it.).  Climb this ladder and jump to the right.  Watch out
for the birds.  In case you are wondering why the ladder in the top right
corner starts two tiles into the ground, it has to do with connectivity and
wildcards, which I have discussed enough times already.
    Climb the ladder to the next room, then take a couple baby steps to the
left.  The ceiling above is low and makes the next jump to the left somewhat
tricky.  The ladder above is just out of reach, so make a long jump to the
left (Another hard jump, but if the ladder were any longer, it would be
reachable from the room below, and we wouldn't want that, would we?), then
climb the ladder back to this room.  Now there is a decision to make.  There
are three ladders that lead to the next room.  The one on the left leads to
an E-tank or an extra life; the one in the middle leads to a life capsule; the
one on the right leads to an easy path to the end of the level.  Be careful
not to fall through the floor where the ladder is present if you choose the
middle or right ladder.  To reach the ladder on the right, jump from the end
of the foothold.
    From the left side of the next room, you have a chance to take the life
capsule.  If you take it, you will be on the center path and will have to fall
back to the previous room.  Watch out for the birds and the shots of the
"clock enemy" if you continue on the left path.  The right path is rather
straightforward.  Watch out for the low ceiling while jumping to the next
ladder, then make two jumps and stand next to the clock enemy to reach the top
ladder.  From there, keep climbing the ladder until you reach the top, two
rooms above.
    If you chose the left ladder, make a long jump to the right.  You will now
have a choice between the E-tank or the extra life in the room above.  If you
continue on the left path, be careful when climbing the ladder in the middle
of the next room.  Hold the direction pad to the top-left before reaching the
top ladder or you will magically appear on the other side of the wall, away
from the extra life.  (I think this is a neat little trick.  Don't be
surprised if I ended up putting it to use in another level.)  Ignore the small
ladder just below the extra life; its only function is as a connection
wildcard.
    The three paths merge here.  Do not climb down the ladder from the right
path, hoping to take the E-tank as well as the extra life.  You will die if
you do.  The reason for this is covered in the Bubble Man stage, and has to do
with scrolling.  See the Fifth Room description for a full explanation.  From
the merge point, proceed to the right.  Watch out for the "hopper enemies" as
you jump across the pits before finally reaching the gate.

---------> Flash Man

    The first oddity I noticed as I perused the tile structures was all over
the place.  There are numerous triplets of tile structures that appear
identical.  I remembered that the ice flashed like neon lights in three
frames, and it turns out that is exactly what the triplets are for -- there is
one tile structure for each starting frame in the animation.  I have taken
care to make all of the larger chunks of ice flash together, and have tried to
make the ice flash in a pattern whenever possible.
    Just as I did for the Crash Man stage, I recorded the connectivity for
each tile structure as well as the type of tiles used and comments on garbage
(I avoided using boss room tile structures, so they are dismissed as
garbage.).  Note f[x{x}] was used to find the appropriate tile structure with
the desired flashing animation starting frame.

- b = "blank"
- c = "combination" (shadow/pipe)
- g = "ground"
- i = "ice"
- p = "pipe"
- s = "shadow"

00: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
01: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
02: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ssbb"
03: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ssbb"
04: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bsbb"
05: t0 b0 l0 r0 "sbbb"
06: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bsbb"
07: t0 b0 l0 r0 "sbbb"
08: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbii" f31
09: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbii" f12
0a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbii" f3
0b: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbii" f3
0c: t0 b0 l1 r1 "bbii" f3
0d: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbii" f3
0e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbii" f31
0f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
10: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbii" f23
11: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbii" f31
12: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbii" f2
13: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbii" f2
14: t0 b0 l1 r1 "bbii" f2
15: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbii" f2
16: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbii" f23
17: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bibs" f2
18: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbii" f12
19: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbii" f23
1a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbii" f1
1b: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbii" f1
1c: t0 b0 l1 r1 "bbii" f1
1d: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbii" f1
1e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbii" f12
1f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ibsb" f1
20: t0 b0 l0 r2 "iiss" f23
21: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iiss" f31
22: t0 b0 l0 r0 "iiss" f2
23: t0 b0 l0 r2 "iiss" f2
24: t0 b0 l2 r2 "iiss" f2
25: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iiss" f2
26: t0 b0 l0 r0 "iiss" f23
27: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbi" f2
28: t0 b0 l0 r2 "iiss" f12
29: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iiss" f23
2a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "iiss" f1
2b: t0 b0 l0 r2 "iiss" f1
2c: t0 b0 l2 r2 "iiss" f1
2d: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iiss" f1
2e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "iiss" f12
2f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbi" f1
30: t0 b0 l0 r2 "iiss" f31
31: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iiss" f12
32: t0 b0 l0 r0 "iiss" f3
33: t0 b0 l0 r2 "iiss" f3
34: t0 b0 l2 r2 "iiss" f3
35: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iiss" f3
36: t0 b0 l0 r0 "iiss" f31
37: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbib" f3
38: t0 b0 l0 r0 "isib" f3
39: t0 b0 l2 r0 "sibi" f2
3a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "iisi" f23
3b: t0 b0 l0 r2 "iisi" f23
3c: t0 b0 l2 r2 "iiis" f31
3d: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iiis" f21
3e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbib" f2
3f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bibs" f3
40: t1 b0 l0 r3 "bgbg" f3
41: t0 b0 l0 r0 "sgbg" f3
42: t0 b1 l0 r0 "bibi" f12
43: t0 b1 l0 r0 "bibi" f31
44: t0 b1 l0 r0 "bibi" f23
45: t0 b2 l0 r0 "ibib" f12
46: t0 b2 l0 r0 "ibib" f31
47: t0 b2 l0 r0 "ibib" f23
48: t1 b1 l0 r0 "bgbg" f3
49: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gggg" f3
4a: t1 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f23
4b: t1 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f12
4c: t1 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f31
4d: t2 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f23
4e: t2 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f12
4f: t2 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f31
50: t3 b0 l3 r3 "gggg" f3
51: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bgbg" f3
52: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f1
53: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f3
54: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f2
55: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f1
56: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f3
57: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f2
58: t0 b0 l0 r0 "iisc" f3
59: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bpbp"
5a: t0 b1 l0 r0 "bibi" f1
5b: t0 b1 l0 r0 "bibi" f3
5c: t0 b1 l0 r0 "bibi" f2
5d: t0 b2 l0 r0 "ibib" f1
5e: t0 b2 l0 r0 "ibib" f3
5f: t0 b2 l0 r0 "ibib" f2
60: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iics" f12
61: t0 b0 l0 r0 "pbpb"
62: t1 b1 l0 r3 "bibi" f1
63: t1 b1 l0 r3 "bibi" f3
64: t1 b1 l0 r3 "bibi" f2
65: t2 b2 l3 r0 "ibib" f1
66: t2 b2 l3 r0 "ibib" f3
67: t2 b2 l3 r0 "ibib" f2
68: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bpii" f12
69: t0 b0 l0 r0 "scbp"
6a: t1 b0 l0 r3 "bibi" f1
6b: t1 b0 l0 r3 "bibi" f3
6c: t1 b0 l0 r3 "bibi" f2
6d: t2 b0 l3 r0 "ibib" f1
6e: t2 b0 l3 r0 "ibib" f3
6f: t2 b0 l3 r0 "ibib" f2
70: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ppii" f2
71: t0 b0 l0 r0 "cspb"
72: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f12
73: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f31
74: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bibi" f23
75: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f12
76: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f31
77: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ibib" f23
78: t0 b0 l0 r1 "ibii" f31
79: t0 b0 l0 r0 "biii" f31
7a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "sibb" f1
7b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "isbb" f2
7c: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ibii" f12
7d: t0 b0 l0 r0 "sspp"
7e: t2 b0 l0 r0 "ibii" f12
7f: t1 b0 l0 r0 "biii" f23
80: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
81: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
82: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
83: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
84: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
85: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
86: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
87: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
88: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
89: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
8a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
8b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
8c: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
8d: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
8e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
8f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
90: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
91: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
92: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
93: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
94: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
95: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
96: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
97: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
98: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
99: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
9a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
9b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
9c: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
9d: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
9e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
9f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
a0: t0 b2 l0 r1 "bbii" f3
a1: t2 b0 l0 r0 "iibb" f3
a2: t0 b0 l0 r2 "iicc" f12
a3: t0 b0 l0 r0 "pppp"
a4: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
a5: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
a6: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
a7: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
a8: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
a9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
aa: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ab: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ac: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ad: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ae: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
af: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b0: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b1: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b2: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b3: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b4: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b5: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b6: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b7: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b8: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
b9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ba: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
bb: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
bc: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
bd: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
be: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
bf: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c0: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c1: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c2: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c3: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c4: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c5: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c6: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c7: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c8: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
c9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ca: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
cb: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
cc: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
cd: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ce: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
cf: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d0: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d1: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d2: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d3: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d4: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d5: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d6: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d7: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d8: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
d9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
da: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
db: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
dc: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
dd: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
de: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
df: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
e0: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
e1: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iicc" f21
e2: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
e3: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
e4: t0 b0 l2 r0 "iisi" f21
e5: t0 b1 l1 r0 "biii" f23
e6: t1 b0 l0 r0 "sibi" f2
e7: t2 b0 l0 r1 "isii" f23
e8: t0 b0 l1 r1 "ssii" f3
e9: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
ea: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
eb: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)

    Throughout the entire stage, there will be difficult jumps.  The ice
certainly doesn't help.  The first room is a big mess.  A jump up to the left,
up to the right, then up to the left will put you on top of a long horizontal
slab of ice at the top of the room.  Run to the left, then fall to the right
to land on the tiny block of ice at the bottom of the room.  Jump a couple
times to the right, then run across the small pit.  Stand on the right side of
the oddly-shaped chunk of ice and jump upward four times to reach the top of
the room.  Make a long jump to the right, then zigzag to the top of the second
room and jump to the small block of ice at the bottom of the third room.
    The next few rooms contain clock enemies that will shoot you into a
bottomless pit unless you jump just right.  Jump to the highest block of ice
in the fourth room and make two jumps to the right to find yourself at the
first breakable wall.  At this point you will be unable to continue unless you
have the Crash Bomber.  Wait for the clock enemy to your right to fire at a
higher angle, then stand just to the right of the wall, face it, and fire a
Crash Bomb to destroy it.  Maneuver to the ice blocks below, then fight the
clock enemy in your way.  Zigzag to the highest block of ice in the fifth
room, then jump to the long horizontal slab of ice just above the extra life.
Continue to the right and use three Crash Bombs to clear the path to the next
room.  To reach the extra life, hook to the left as you fall and work your way
to the left, going all the way back to the last zigzag.
    Having fallen from the seventh room, you will now face a "Mech Joe" in the
current room and a clock enemy in the next room.  There is another life
capsule in the tenth room.  Use a Crash Bomb to destroy the wall if you want
to take it.  If you take the life capsule, hook to the right as you fall and
you will get an energy capsule in the next room.  Fight the "worm generators"
to proceed to the twelfth room, where you will fight a "stack enemy" (Do these
enemies have names?).  There is another Mech Joe in the thirteenth room,
guarding yet another life capsule.  Take it if you need it, or stay where you
are and jump over the Mech Joe when it is right in front and below you.  Hook
to the right as you fall.
    Another zigzag in the next room, with a Mech Joe for extra fun.  Quickly
make three jumps up the zigzag and you will be safe from the Mech Joe.  At the
top, make two long jumps to the right, then prepare to fight another Mech Joe
as you jump across the pits leading to still another zigzag.  When you finally
reach the long horizontal slab of ice just beyond the zigzag, you will have a
chance to try to get the E-tank.
    If you take the lower route (to get the E-tank), the first thing you
should know is that the two blocks of ice next to each other at the bottom of
the room are holograms (They are from a garbage tile structure, only the top
half of which can be seen.  That was a dirty trick, but not dirty enough for
me to omit.).  Make a long jump across the false ice blocks, then wait for
the Mech Joe fall to where you are standing.  If you are in just the right
position, you will not get hit.  Quickly jump upward twice, then stand on the
edge of the tiny block of ice and make a small jump to the left to reach the
block of ice just before the E-tank.
    The two paths merge here.  Jump upward to the wall, then use another Crash
Bomb to clear the path to the gate.

---------> Heat Man

    The backdrop in this stage is good-looking, and also imposes the biggest
limitation to level redesign.  There are eight tiers of background, and all
the tile structures containing blank tiles contain background artwork
respective to one of the eight tiers.  I wanted to play with the background
quite a bit, but could not do so in the two long horizontal sections where
monster generators were used.  That left me with one room in the middle, and
the last four.  The lava I added to bottom of the room in the middle of the
stage limited me to moving the background down one tier, moving the tier of
black tiles to the top.  Similarly, the lava I added to the room in the second
short vertical passage forced me to keep the background the way it was, and I
wanted to be consistent in the last horizontal passage, so I left the
background alone in the last room before the gate.
    Besides the backdrop, the shadows above all solid tiles and the lava flow
made placement tricky in some rooms, especially since there are no tile
structures containing shadows in the higher tiers.  I didn't feel the need to
map every tile structure like I did in the Crash Man and Flash Man stages,
because there is very little connectivity to adjacent tile structures.  Also,
I didn't try to utilize as much space as possible in every room, only in
certain rooms, as I will discuss later.
    In the beginning, the player will make two relatively easy jumps before
encountering hopper enemies.  To get things off to a rough start, there will be
a long jump across the pit where the first wave of hopper enemies appears.
Another wave of hopper enemies appears where the player makes two high jumps
followed by a long jump.  There is another long jump where the third and
final wave of hopper enemies appear.  Now for the monster generators (the
holes).  There are nothing but long jumps throughout this area.  I had another
rare moment of compassion in the spot where the player jumps from the top of
one ladder to another ladder; the second ladder used to be shorter at the
bottom.  Finally, in the eighth room, there are two spring enemies, requiring
one to three Crash Bombs to destroy.  It is possible, but unlikely, that the
player will make it past this point without destroying the enemies.  Move to
the right while falling to the next room.
    The ninth room contains appearing/disappearing blocks.  I couldn't change
their behavior in visine v1.0, but I did manage to work with them in ways that
make them more challenging.  In this case, there is lava underneath, and the
wall to the left is higher, requiring the use of all the blocks to get across.
Climb the ladder down to the next room and move to the right as you fall.
    More monster generator holes.  Make two long jumps, then wait for the
block to appear that will help you reach the ladder above.  Jump onto the
floating brick wall, then watch as two blocks appear and disappear above the
concrete foothold onto which you will make your next jump.  Timing is
important here; the lower of the two blocks will force you into the lava.  It
is possible to land directly onto the lower block, but so difficult that I
decided once again to be compassionate.  The brick wall at the top of the room
prevents the player from jumping directly to the top block, which would
otherwise be possible.
    After a few more jumps, there will be a block in front of a breakable
wall.  Fire a Crash Bomb at the wall, but time your shot so it doesn't attach
itself to the block, or you will miss the wall.  If you jump just after
firing, you will reach the wall before it is destroyed, and you will notice
there is an invisible obstruction just above the wall.  Some, but not all
breakable walls exhibit this behavior; it is as though they are twice as tall
as they appear.  Fall to the foothold below, then work your way to the ladder
at the top of the room, and long jump to the brick wall just below the
concrete ceiling.
    There are two blocks here, and another breakable wall.  Starting at the
top block, fall to the lower block, fire a Crash Bomb, then time your jump so
you will be above the location of the top block when it appears.  You may want
to watch them for a moment to get the timing right.  After the wall is
destroyed, walk across the small gap, and fall to the foothold below.  Now
there is another block and another breakable wall.  There are no new
techniques here, just a combination of techniques used before.  The ladder is
reachable from the brick wall above.
    After two long jumps, there will be three large slabs of concrete.  There
is a spring enemy patrolling the lower of two tunnels.  If enough Crash Bomber
energy remains, fire Crash Bombs at the enemy, or use Item 3 to climb to the
higher tunnel and avoid the enemy entirely.  At the ladder, blocks will
appear.  In the original game, it was possible to use Item 2 to bypass all
these jumps, but I made the Air Man stage impassable without Item 1 for a
reason.  One might have noticed that the lava disappeared a long time ago.
There are two reasons for that.  The first is that some sections required
footholds at the bottom of the screen, and the lava took up the vertical
space that was needed.  The second reason is that it is possible to avoid some
jumps by taking a hit from an enemy and walking through the lava while still
flashing, and I wanted to take away that possibility.
    Two thirds of the way across the long pit is the extra life, which is easy
to take.  As I recall, it originally was impossible to take without Item 2, so
I could have made it a red herring.  Instead, I decided to give the player a
much-deserved break and make it easy to take.  After reaching the concrete at
the end of this section, the player will be unable to continue without Item 3.
Go ahead and hate me all you want.  It would have been too easy to let the
player use Item 1 throughout the Flash Man stage.  After scaling the rightmost
brick wall, simply fall to the twenty-first room.
    The first and last Mech Joe in this stage is at the bottom of the room.
Wait until it jumps a few times, then proceed to the left and face the enemy.
It will not disappear, even if it falls into the pit, so you will have no
choice but to fight it.  Move a little to the left while falling to the next
room.  At this point, it should be known that the lava tiles themselves are
blanks and do not hurt the player.  It is the tiles beneath the lava that are
treated as spikes and kill the player on contact; that way the player is seen
dying in the lava and not on top of it.  Therefore it is safe to touch the
falling lava, but unsafe to touch the corner of the concrete.
    In the final room before the gate, use Item 3 to complete the jump.  A
more clever use of Item 3 could have been implemented here, but I decided to
save it for later stages.  One can be grateful for the fact that Heat Man is
an easy enemy to defeat.

---------> Metal Man

    This was the last level I modified.  Since the player does not acquire any
lift items after this stage and I could not require the player to use the
Metal Blade anywhere, I designed the level so the player could not complete it
without all three lift items.  I would like to have designed it so the player
would have to complete this stage before acquiring any lift items.  The
treadmills could have been put to use to create a lot of tricky jumps.
    There are a lot of ground structures and a variety of animated background
structures, in addition to all the treadmills.  If this hadn't been the last
level I modified, I would have put much more effort into this stage.  I used
many of the background tile structures at least once, but I didn't do anything
artistic except in the middle of the stage where I put a bunch of gears in a
pattern.
    As soon as the level begins, move to the left to avoid falling to your
death.  After three high jumps, you will be at the top of the room.  Make a
long jump to the right, then you can try to take the first of two E-tanks.
This one is easy to take.  Not so easy is taking it with impunity.  The
treadmill on which it rests changes direction in the middle.  Be careful not
to fall when you take the E-tank.  It takes a very careful jump to land either
on the treadmill above or the one to the left from there.
    Watch out for the spike traps above.  The first two are relatively easy to
avoid.  (Notice they disappear behind the background.  I didn't bother to
position the gears so the player wouldn't notice.)  Jump toward the third
trap, then land on the treadmill and wait for it to rise.  When the fourth
trap rises, jump toward the fifth one.  You will be standing under the fourth
trap as you wait for the fifth one to rise.  Just before the fourth trap falls
again, jump toward the fifth trap.  You should be able to land safely just
after the fifth trap rises out of harm's way.
    This treadmill also changes direction in the middle.  Get used to it.
Make a long jump, then prepare to fight lots of "drill enemies."  The long
treadmill under your feet changes direction a third of the way through the
tunnel, then several times near the end.
    Jump to the next treadmill, then jump between the two treadmills above and
go left.  Jump onto the topmost treadmill and proceed to the right.  The tiny
treadmill below can be reached without jumping; just keep moving to the right.
Jump to the next treadmill, then make a long jump at the end.  If you want to
take the extra life, use Item 2 to reach the other treadmill.  Move to the
right as you fall through the vertical passage.  There is a restart point at
the bottom of the passage.  Jump to the right to reach the treadmills.
    Jump to the highest treadmill, then fight the first two "pierobots" (That
was their name in the Game Boy Mega Man series, if I remember correctly.).
Continue to the right, fighting pierobots and dealing with bi-directional
treadmills.  When you reach the last pierobot, the treadmills will no longer
have arrows.  You will also fight the first "stack enemy" that made cameo
appearances in the Crash Man and Flash Man stages.
    Continue until you reach the first "spring enemy."  Use Item 2 to take the
second E-tank.  After the second spring enemy, use Item 1 or Item 3 to reach
the top of the wall.  You will need Item 2 to reach the gate.

---------> Quick Man

    I love the BGM in this stage.  The noise channel was used to produce a
rhythmic buzzing that I thought was cool.  Once again I had to map the tile
structure information.  The walls have "edges" and "corners," both inside and
outside, as well as "lines" running through them.  As a result, there are many
wall structures to cover a number of combinations.  There are not as many tile
structures as there were in the Crash Man stage, but there is very little
garbage.  In addition to the walls, there is a variety of blank tile
structures.  The background is not very pleasing to the eye though.

- b = "blank"
- c = "cross lines"
- e = "edge"
- g = "ground"
- h = "horizontal line"
- s = "shadow"
- v = "vertical line"

00: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
01: t3 b3 l3 r0 "gege"
02: t3 b3 l0 r3 "egeg"
03: t0 b3 l2 r0 "eege"
04: t0 b3 l0 r3 "eeeg"
05: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gegg"
06: t3 b3 l3 r3 "eggg"
07: t0 b3 l0 r1 "bbee"
08: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gggg"
09: t3 b3 l3 r0 "veve"
0a: t3 b3 l0 r3 "evev"
0b: t0 b3 l3 r0 "eeve"
0c: t0 b3 l0 r3 "eeev"
0d: t3 b3 l3 r3 "vevg"
0e: t3 b3 l3 r3 "evgv"
0f: t3 b0 l2 r3 "egee"
10: t0 b3 l3 r3 "eegg"
11: t3 b3 l3 r0 "ceve"
12: t3 b3 l0 r3 "ecev"
13: t3 b0 l3 r0 "geee"
14: t3 b0 l0 r3 "egee"
15: t3 b3 l3 r3 "ggge"
16: t3 b3 l3 r3 "ggeg"
17: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gege"
18: t0 b3 l3 r3 "eegv"
19: t3 b3 l3 r3 "vgvg"
1a: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gvgv"
1b: t3 b0 l3 r0 "veee"
1c: t3 b0 l0 r3 "evee"
1d: t3 b3 l3 r3 "hhge"
1e: t3 b3 l3 r3 "hheg"
1f: t0 b0 l3 r3 "eeee"
20: t0 b3 l3 r3 "eevg"
21: t3 b3 l3 r3 "chvg"
22: t3 b3 l3 r3 "hcgv"
23: t3 b0 l3 r0 "heee"
24: t3 b0 l0 r3 "ehee"
25: t3 b3 l3 r3 "vgve"
26: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gvev"
27: t0 b0 l3 r0 "eeee"
28: t3 b0 l3 r3 "ggee"
29: t3 b0 l3 r3 "hhee"
2a: t3 b0 l3 r3 "gvee"
2b: t3 b0 l3 r0 "ceee"
2c: t3 b0 l0 r3 "ecee"
2d: t3 b3 l3 r3 "chve"
2e: t3 b3 l3 r3 "hcev"
2f: t0 b0 l2 r2 "eess"
30: t3 b0 l3 r3 "vgee"
31: t3 b0 l3 r3 "chee"
32: t3 b0 l3 r3 "hcee"
33: t3 b3 l3 r3 "hhgg"
34: t2 b2 l3 r0 "eseb"
35: t0 b3 l0 r0 "eeee"
36: t0 b3 l3 r1 "eeve"
37: t0 b0 l0 r3 "eeee"
38: t3 b2 l3 r0 "geee"
39: t3 b3 l3 r0 "hege"
3a: t3 b3 l0 r3 "eheg"
3b: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gghh"
3c: t2 b0 l3 r0 "ebeb"
3d: t3 b3 l0 r3 "eeeg"
3e: t0 b3 l1 r1 "bbee"
3f: t0 b3 l1 r0 "bbee"
40: t0 b3 l1 r1 "ssee"
41: t0 b3 l1 r0 "ssee"
42: t0 b3 l0 r1 "ssee"
43: t3 b3 l1 r3 "eheg"
44: t0 b0 l0 r1 "bbee"
45: t3 b3 l0 r0 "eeee"
46: t0 b0 l0 r1 "ssee"
47: t2 b2 l3 r0 "ebeb"
48: t3 b0 l2 r2 "eess"
49: t3 b0 l2 r0 "eess"
4a: t3 b0 l0 r2 "eess"
4b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "eeee"
4c: t0 b3 l0 r0 "ssee"
4d: t3 b0 l0 r0 "eeee"
4e: t0 b2 l1 r0 "bbeb"
4f: t2 b0 l2 r0 "ebsb"
50: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbee"
51: t3 b3 l0 r1 "eeee"
52: t3 b3 l0 r3 "ehee"
53: t0 b0 l3 r0 "ebeb"
54: t3 b0 l0 r2 "eess"
55: t1 b3 l0 r3 "eeeg"
56: t0 b1 l0 r1 "bbbe"
57: t1 b1 l0 r3 "bebe"
58: t0 b0 l2 r0 "eess"
59: t3 b1 l3 r3 "hhee"
5a: t3 b0 l0 r0 "eess"
5b: t2 b3 l3 r3 "geee"
5c: t1 b0 l0 r3 "sebe"
5d: t1 b0 l0 r3 "bebe"
5e: t3 b1 l0 r3 "egee"
5f: t1 b1 l0 r3 "sebe"
60: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
61: t0 b0 l0 r3 "bbbb"
62: t0 b0 l3 r0 "bbbb"
63: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ssbb"
64: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ggss" (garbage?)
65: t0 b0 l2 r0 "ebsb"
66: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbgg" (garbage?)
67: t0 b0 l0 r2 "bgbs"
68: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
69: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
6a: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
6b: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ssbb"
6c: t0 b0 l0 r0 "sbbb"
6d: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bsbb"
6e: t0 b0 l0 r3 "bebe"
6f: t0 b3 l3 r3 "eege"
70: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
71: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
72: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
73: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
74: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
75: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
76: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ssbb"
77: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
78: t0 b0 l0 r2 "eess"
79: t3 b3 l3 r3 "eegg"
7a: t0 b3 l0 r0 "bbee"
7b: t3 b3 l3 r3 "egeg"
7c: t3 b3 l3 r3 "gggg"
7d: t3 b0 l3 r3 "gggg"
7e: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (dual gates)
7f: t0 b0 l0 r0 "sbbb"
80: t0 b2 l3 r0 "ebeb"
81: t1 b3 l3 r3 "eegg"
82: t2 b3 l3 r3 "eegg"
83: t3 b1 l3 r3 "ggee"
84: t3 b2 l3 r3 "ggee"
85: t2 b0 l3 r0 "eseb"
86: t3 b2 l3 r3 "egeg"
87: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
88: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb"
89: t0 b0 l0 r0 "ssbb"
8a: t0 b3 l2 r3 "eeeg"
8b: t1 b0 l0 r0 "bebs"
8c: t0 b1 l0 r0 "bbbe"
8d: t0 b0 l1 r0 "bbeb"
8e: t1 b0 l0 r2 "bebs"
8f: t3 b0 l2 r3 "evee"
90: t0 b0 l0 r0 "gbgb" (garbage)
91: t0 b1 l0 r1 "bbbe"
92: t0 b3 l1 r3 "beee"
93: t0 b3 l3 r1 "ebee"
94: t0 b2 l1 r0 "bbeb"
95: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
96: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)
97: t0 b0 l0 r0 "bbbb" (garbage)

    To take the extra life, use Item 1 or 3 to scale the wall directly above
the starting point.  Jump to the foothold above the extra life, then launch
Item 3 to the right.  Jump up and down repeatedly on Item 3 to make it descend
until you can reach the extra life.  Fall to the next room.
    There are two worm generators.  The easiest way to defeat them is to stand
in the bottom left corner of the room, face to the right, and use the Air
Shooter.  One shot will destroy both of them.  Proceed to the right and move
to the left as you fall so you land on the small foothold at the bottom of the
third room.  Jump onto the tiny foothold next to you, then fall to the left.
Quickly fall onto the spring enemy in the fourth room.  Don't bother shooting
it.  From the ground at the bottom of the room, fall to the left.
    Now you have three choices.  Fall to the left if you want an E-tank; fall
to the right, then left if you want an extra life; fall to the right twice if
you want an energy capsule.  The eighth room is the beginning of a horizontal
passage.  If you took the E-tank or extra life, fall toward the middle of the
room to avoid the pit below.  If you took the energy capsule, fall to the
right.
    Lights out.  There are "firepot enemies" that keep the room lit, and you
will end up Alone In The Dark when you defeat them.  The darkness makes the
long jumps more treacherous.  After the third and final firepot enemy, you
will need to use Item 2 to reach the next vertical passage.  Fall in the
middle of the room to avoid the lasers.
    You will be unable to reach the fourteenth room without using the Time
Stopper.  Try to reach the ground at the bottom of the room before using it.
Fall to the left to reach the first energy capsule.  Two rooms below the
energy capsule lie a life capsule and the third extra life, yours for the
taking if you fall to the left.  You won't be able to reach the end of the
vertical passage in time if you stop to take them, so fall to the right
instead.  When you reach the ground in the nineteenth room, move quickly
before time runs out.  There is an energy capsule in the middle of the room,
giving you just enough time to avoid the lasers that will begin to appear
before you leave.
    No more dirty tricks in this stage.  Fight the Mech Joes to recover energy
if you want to defeat Quick Man the easy way.  Use any lift item to reach the
gate.

---------> Wood Man

    I had high expectations for this level.  The scenery is well-detailed, and
there are plenty of enemies throughout the stage.  The new level is ugly by
comparison.  Only a few rooms are scenic, but I like the new "underground
forest" design; it makes me reminisce of the Zork games.  There are a couple
tricks in the game engine that I exploited here, which I am proud of.
    Instead of the lovely, dark, and deep woods ("... I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep."), the player begins above the trees.  There
are continuous jumps in the first horizontal passage, and most of them are
simple jumps.  Watch out for the "bubble bats" nested in the treetops and the
"rabbit enemies" that stand in your way as you proceed.  The Metal Blade comes
in handy here.  Fall when you reach the wall at the end of the passage.
    There are more bubble bats here, and apparently no way down to the next
room.  Notice there is grass on the left side of the room, but no visible
ground underneath.  If you fall from a fair distance, you will fall through to
the next room.  You will need to use Item 1 or Item 2 to elevate yourself to a
position where you can jump and fall through the ground.
    Move to the right as you fall to avoid the bottomless pit in the seventh
room.  No sooner will you touch the ground than you will have to jump to avoid
the first attack from the fire-breathing dog guarding the path to the next
room.  Keep jumping and attacking until you destroy the dog.  Jump just before
you proceed to the next room.  It might take some practice to time the jump
just right to land on the ground in the next room.  Fight the second "firedog"
as before, and jump to reach the ground in the following room.  The third and
final firedog is easy to defeat if you use Metal Blade and throw it at an
angle from below.  Three high jumps are required to reach the high ground to
the tenth room.
    After sailing through the wall into the tenth room, walk to the right
until you reach the end of the floor.  Use Item 2, then high jump before you
hit the wall.  Use Item 1 or Item 3 to reach the ladder above.  There is a
restart point in this room.  Move to the right, then fall to the left if you
restart.
    Use Item 1 or Item 2 to cross the pit in the middle of the next room, then
defeat the bubble bats.  Item 1 is required to reach the ladder above.  After
three long jumps beyond the ladder, "ape enemies" and "bird enemies" will
appear.  The Crash Bomber is probably the best weapon to use on the apes.  Use
Item 2 to cross the first long gap.  At the second gap, use Item 1, then fall
to the right until you land on invisible ground near the bottom of the room.
The Bubble Lead will help you find the holes in the ground.  Proceed to the
right and make a long jump as you approach the wall.
    All the rooms in the vertical passage contain a rabbit enemy and plenty of
invisible ground.  In the first of the three rooms, simply move all the way to
the right, then all the way to the left.  The ground at the top of the second
room is zigzagged.  Jump continuously as you move to the right, then move to
the left and jump continuously.  Just before reaching the left side of the
room, there will be a jump that is too high for a normal jump.  Jump to the
right, then jump to the left to clear the high jump.  Move to the right as you
fall to the third room.  Try to reach the right side of the room, because the
following room has no floor, and you need to jump far to the right.
    In the final horizontal passage, there are "chicken enemies" and no more
pits; just a little bit of scenery.  Wood Man is normally a difficult enemy to
defeat, but you will have some weapons in your arsenal that will defeat him
easily.

---------> Dr. Wily Stage 1

    This level was fairly easy to modify.  The hardest part was in the middle,
where there were ladders and brick walls with left-right connectivity and
shadows.  There was a little room for decoration with cloud tile structures
and so on.
    To begin, make a tricky jump to the left (The ceiling is too low for any
lift items here.) and use Item 3 to scale the wall to the left.  Jump onto the
building hovering above, and watch out for bird enemies.  Use any lift item to
make the next jump to the right, then make a long jump.  (Lift items cannot be
used here, because the player is too close to the top of the room.)  Use Item
1 or 3 to reach the top of the building to the right.  Watch out for bird
enemies.
    After three more jumps, there will be a large gap.  Use item 2, launching
it as high as you can while being able to jump onto it.  The ground on the
other side will require a high jump to reach.  Worm generators will appear at
this point.  The Metal Blade is probably the best way to dispatch these
enemies.  Two of the jumps will require a lift item to cross.  There are two
large gaps, each requiring Item 2 to cross.  After the last of the large gaps,
there will be a ladder that is far out of reach.  There are no walls, so Item
1 is required.  Move as far to the right as possible, then face left and use
Item 1.  Face right while standing on Item 1, and use another Item 1 when the
first one begins to flicker.  The ladder can be reached from the second lift.
    After climbing the ladder, you can go down the next ladder to reach the
extra life, or continue upward.  The extra life is easy to take, but you will
be forced to take the path that leads back to the left of the last large gap.
Simply use another Item 2 and two Item 1 lifts, then take the upper path next
time.  A lift item will be required to complete the high jump.
    There are two ladders here; the left one is guarded by a mechless Mech
Joe.  The right ladder leads to a dead-end, so fight the Joe and take the left
path.  Climb to the top of the ladder.  If you do not go through the wall to
your right, then climb down the ladder a short distance and try again.  Once
magically inside the small room, climb the ladder above and fight the Joe.
    At the top of the next ladder, there will be a spring enemy.  It can be
destroyed with only a single Crash Bomb if you time your shot right and shoot
at the ground while holding onto the ladder.  Walk across the small gap and
climb the ladder above.
    Does this look familiar?  The same method as before is required to reach
the ladder on the left.  The only difference here is that the ladder above is
a little further out of reach.  While climbing the ladder, enemies will appear
and will knock you downward.  The Metal Blade or Leaf Shield are recommended
here.
    After climbing to the top of the ladder, run to the right and jump over
the relatively small gap.  Your Item 2 energy must be at least half full to
cross the huge gap before the next foothold.  When you see the footholds, jump
onto them soon.  If you wait until the screen begins to auto-scroll you will
fall off the Item 2 and into the pit.

---------> Dr. Wily Stage 2

    I thought I would have a lot of fun with this stage.  The end result isn't
quite as pleasing as I had hoped.  The rooms after the restart point were a
pain, mostly because the walls had strange connectivity.  Another thing that
bothers me about this level is that it is too generous with powerups -- there
are two extra lives and two E-tanks among other things.
    The first thing to do is move to the right while falling.  Use Item 1 or 3
to reach the energy capsule if necessary.  Watch out for the hopper enemies as
you make the easy jumps to the last foothold before the huge gap.  Metal Blade
works well against these enemies.  Jump up and use Item 2 to reach the ladder
in the middle of the gap.  At the top of the ladder, use Item 2 again to reach
the top of the high wall on the other side.  Fall onto the foothold nearby,
then decide whether you need the E-tank at the end of the room.  If so, jump
as high as you can and fire a Crash Bomb toward the breakable wall.  After
destroying the first wall, use Item 1 or 2 to reach the high foothold, and use
two more Crash Bombs to clear the path to the E-tank.  From the foothold at
the bottom of the room, make a long jump to the right to fall to the seventh
room.
    The extra life is easy to obtain; the small spikes will not hurt you.
After easily taking everything this room has to offer, jump between the spikes
to the next room.  The extra life is easy to take, but fall to the next room
from the right side of the current room.  Do not fall from the left side of
the room, and do not destroy the breakable wall and fall from the ladder
nearby.  Fall to the left to reach the tiny foothold in the ninth room, then
use Item 1 or 2 to reach the ladder if you want to take the E-tank in the room
above.  Holding onto the ladder just beneath the breakable wall, fire a Crash
Bomb to the right and the explosion will destroy the wall.
    In the next room, walk to the left until you fall, then use Item 2 to
cross over the spikes on the ground.  Proceed to the right, fighting the
"drill enemies" along the way, until you reach the spike trap.  Avoid the
trap, then use Item 1 or Item 3 to scale the wall to the right.  Watch out for
the spike trap above.  At the third spike trap, jump over the spikes, using
the foothold to help you.  Use any lift item to clear the small gap to the
right, and avoid the next spike trap in the way.  Watch out for the fifth
spike trap as you climb the ladder nearby.  Jump to the foothold above and to
the right of the ladder.  Use Item 1 or 2 and make a long jump to the right to
fall to the sixteenth room.
    Avoid the spikes as you fall, and use Item 1 to take the life capsule if
you need it.  Fall once more to fight the level boss.

---------> Dr. Wily Stage 3

    I knew right from the start that I wouldn't be very pleased with the way
this level turned out.  There are few enemies, the placement of the powerups
and breakable walls left little room for creativity, and the color scheme is
ugly.  At least there are spikes.
    Carefully land on the ground in the first room after falling into the
murky water.  The way to the next room is divided into seven paths.  Take the
third from the left if you want an energy capsule, the fifth from the left if
you want an E-tank, or the middle if you want neither.  Any of the other paths
lead to death by spikes.  If you want the energy capsule, stand on the
breakable walls and fire a Crash Bomb to the left, then move as you fall when
the walls are destroyed.  If you want the E-tank, jump as high as you can and
fire a Crash Bomb to the right, then use a lift item to reach the point where
the breakable walls once stood.  Watch out for the spikes above, and fall to
the left into the next room.
    Use a lift item to reach the energy capsule in the third room if you did
not enter from the left.  Fight the snail enemy, and carefully jump to take
the other energy capsule if you need it.  Watch out for the spike in the
bottom corner as you fall to the fourth room.
    Walk to the left and make a long jump to avoid the spikes and land on the
ground far to the left of the room.  Jump over the single spike over the
ground, then fall twice to land on the lowest foothold.  The next jump is
tricky, and Item 2 can be used to make it easier.  Use a lift item to reach
the top of the wall in the next room, then make a long jump to the right.
Item 2 can be used, but be aware it will disappear without warning.  A large
metal fish will appear without warning and will probably hit you, causing
tremendous damage.  It can be destroyed with a Crash Bomb, but that probably
won't do much good.
    Use Item 2 to reach the next foothold.  Jump straight up when you get
close to the foothold, and if you do it right, the second metal fish will
appear and disappear again as you fall, without hitting you.  Use Item 1 or 3
to scale the wall.  The next few jumps are very tricky, but need no
explanation since the Bubble Man stage contained similar jumps.  The long
row of spikes on the ground pose the greatest threat.  Use Item 2 to cross.
It is not as hard to activate Item 2 in the right spot as it is to get off at
the right moment without touching spikes on either side.  Maneuver as you fall
to avoid the spikes on either side of the passage.
    Keep to the right as you fall into the inky darkness.  There is a restart
point in the middle of the long fall, and the tiny foothold is provided to
make it possible to reach the ground at the bottom after restarting.  The last
three enemies (six total in this level), all clock enemies, will appear.  If
you took a heavy beating from the metal fish above, it would be better to use
Item 2 to pass over all of them, then fight them from behind if powerups are
needed.


---------> Dr. Wily Stage 4

    This level has false floors, and I intended to use them a lot.  Perhaps I
overdid it a little.  Whereas the Air Man stage had a few blind jumps behind
clouds, I didn't feel too bad about using false floors for two reasons.  The
first is that Mega Man does not disappear behind the scenery in this stage;
the second is that the player now has Bubble Lead.
    You will probably need the energy capsules, but be aware there are false
floors on either side of you.  Jump to collect the one to the right.  A long
jump is required to reach the capsule to the left, and it is very hard unless
the player knows exactly where to jump from.  Item 1 should be used.  After
collecting both energy capsules, jump to the nearest ladder (There is another
false floor below the ladder.), then jump to the second ladder.
    All of the floor at the bottom of the second room is false, so jump to the
next ladder.  The ceiling directly above the first ladder is false, making the
jump to the ladder possible.  Attack the hard-hat enemy, then use Item 1 where
the enemy was at.  There is more false ground on the right side of the room
and directly above you.  Just below the ladder is false ground.  The extra
life cannot be obtained yet.
    There is a hard-hat enemy that will knock you back into the second room.
Use Metal Blade to defeat it, then use Item 1 three times to reach the top
right corner of the room.  Jump to the left to reach the ground inside the
false wall.  Keep walking until you fall, then jump to reach the ladder.
    Use Item 3 to scale the wall, then make a long jump to reach the ground
between the spikes.  The middle of the ground is false, so stay close to the
spikes without touching them.  Use Item 1 or 3 to reach the ladder above.
Item 2 cannot be used because you are too close to the top of the room.
    Yet another room with a large section of false wall.  This is as bad as it
gets, so sit tight.  While still holding onto the ladder, launch Item 2 to the
left.  Jump off to land on the ground directly below the ladder.  Launch Item
1 to the left, and jump to the right when it begins to flicker.  There is
solid ground that steps up to the right, and the ladder can be reached from
one of the steps.
    There are two hard-hat enemies waiting for you at the top of the ladder.
Fire a Metal Blade upward as soon as you get to the top, then attack the enemy
to the right.  All the ground is false except for the tile immediately to the
left of the ladder, and the ground where the enemies were at.  Use Item 1 to
reach the foothold above the ladder, then fall to the right to reach the solid
ground to the right of the ladder.  From there, use Item 1 twice to reach the
ladder.
    To get the E-tank as well as the extra life from the second room, use Item
3 to scale the wall above the ladder.  The topmost tile structure is false.
Walk a little bit to the left and fall straight down.  There is a trick in
this room -- if you are going for the E-tank and extra life, never move to the
right.  If you do, the screen will scroll, and you will die if you fall to the
previous room.  As it turns out, there is also a restart point in this room.
If you end up restarting, walk as far to the left as you can go, jump to the
left, then jump up to the right four times to get out of the wall.  If you
came up the ladder, move back and forth until the screen scrolls both ways.
If you don't, you will not survive the fall to the ninth room.
    The next four rooms haven't changed much overall, but I did move a few
footholds and ladders to make them more challenging.  Be careful when falling
from the third of the four rooms.  The last four rooms before the boss room
were left untouched.  There is only so much fun that can be squeezed out of
false floors, and I think I overdid it at the beginning of the stage anyway.
Fight the Mech Joes as before, then fight the boss, also as before.  I would
have tweaked the boss room, but I frankly don't think I could make it any more
sinister.

---------> Dr. Wily Stage 5

    There wasn't anything I could change here.  The position of the teleports
cannot be changed in visine v1.0, and the background animation requires strict
alignment of the tile structures.  That's okay; I assume the player needs a
break from all the torture inflicted in all the previous levels.

---------> Dr. Wily Stage 6

    CapCom ran out of creative genius at this point, it appears.  First, no
BGM; second, only nine rooms before the gate; third, only twenty-four tile
structures to work with, only five of which are unique in function (not
counting the gate); fourth, no enemies except a few acid drops from the
ceiling.  The level begins with Mega Man free-falling all the way to the
fourth room.  The best I could do was remove the floor in the fourth room and
require the player to hold the direction pad to the right to land on solid
ground near the fifth room, already halfway to the final boss room.  Of course
the acid drops are fixed in place.
    Move to the right as you fall until you reach the ground on the bottom.
Because there are no energy capsules and no enemies that yield energy
capsules, I did not create any jumps that would require lift items.  The path
to the final boss room should be straightforward.  Watch out for the acid
drops as you jump.  You shouldn't need any help at this point.  If you are
stuck, go ahead and E-mail me.
