Who Put All These Robots Here? Let's Play Mega Man: Day in the Limelight 2

you just answered your own

Apparently Quick Man has a neat boomerang launching thingy on the top of his arm that would make Bat Man proud.

I figured the stage was telegraphing Yellow Devil's appearance with those blocks. I vastly prefer fighting him in Mega Man 3 over the first game even if he gets that wall of blobs formation after taking enough damage.

Another day, another room in the mad science death castle laboratory.



Oh hey, it's the gimmick from Shadow Man's stage that never saw usage.



Don't be fooled here, it doesn't have much play here either. It does have a little, mind you, with redirecting the Hammers. You can also use them to your advantage, launching a projectile to the upper right to take care of the one in your way.



No, the central focus of this area is the enemy duplicators.



As we go through the area, these duplicators will keep bringing in new enemies.



You can tell if one is about to trigger by the sparks you can see offscreen.



The first gauntlet has Mets, the prototype of Grenade Man, and hoppers.



This E Tank is deceptively evil to get to. Those Shotman+ enemies are difficult for just about anyone to fight, except for maybe Bubble Man.



I retrieve the item, BUT AT WHAT COST?



Even getting out is a sticky wicket. You have to use a vertical Heat Wave to clear the wall, but while timing your charge to bypass the shots.



Later on, the duplicators will summon stompers. This is, of course, completely evil, but by no means an impassable obstacle.



And up here, we have this. Those platforms shift about as you attempt to scale the platforms, while continually generating nuts/bolts attack you.



While the Time Stopper makes that part easy, it's less simple here, where once again, a Heat Wave is required to make the jump.



Incidentally, you don't have to switch back to use the ladder. If a Robot Master jumps through a vertical transition, they usually jump super high, enough to clear this jump.



Anyway, I'm full up on health and E Tanks, so let's just see what the boss is.

Oh no! IT ARE MEEGA MAHN.



The Copy Mega Man fight here is actually a really difficult fight. It's something of a gauntlet fight, with each phase composed of two clones, each armed with a weapon from the Mega Man 3 Robot Masters. They can and will use these weapons in conjunction to make your day harder.



Only one of the Megas can be hit, and it's randomly decided at the start of each phase which you can hit. I have no idea if these guys have a weakness, though.



As their colors indicate, the green Mega Man is equipped with Search Snakes, and the brown one with Needle Cannon. The AI for them is pretty good too, with Snake Mega taking care to stay at the top of the level, while Needle Mega will position himself at the end of a long straightaway before firing.



Take down the vulnerable one of the two, and you'll get a large chunk of energy while the boss meter refills. Consider this an alternative to the boss refights if you want.



Okay, top one is Shadow Blade, and bottom is Gemini Laser.



This phase I don't like very much, due to the coinflip that determines which one is vulnerable. If Shadow Mega is the one you can damage, that's fine.



However, getting down to actually hit Gemini Mega is easier said that done. Gemini Mega always stays on the bottom, where the bouncing property of the Gemini Laser can be fully abused, and Shadow Mega sticks to the middle platform, where he can hit pretty much the whole arena with the Shadow Blade.



Back to the start, then. Snake Mega isn't the weak one this time.



If Needle Mega is your target, even if it's not his weakness, you should still use Bubble Man, due to the straightforward path of the Needle Cannon.



However, I don't have a good way to bypass the Shadow/Gemini team. Any suggestions you can make would be welcome.



Huh, this is an odd pair. Top Spin (on top of course) and Spark Shock, eh?



If you've played Mega Man 3, you'll understand why I'm not particularly impressed with this pair.



However, both Megas here will relentlessly hunt you down, with Spark Mega firing a Spark Shock to immobilize your Robot Master long enough for Top Mega to come over and brutalize them with the contact-range Top Spin.



It's actually a very effective pair.

Most of this fight, I was trying to use the perceived weakness of the Robot Master that would have awarded the weapon, but in many cases it's too hard to hit with the weapon (hitting Gemini Mega with the Air Shooter? haha no) and the damage output isn't reasonably different.



In this case, who you use depends almost completely on the vulnerable Mega. If it's Top Mega, you should probably stick with Metal or Crash Man.



Just be extremely cautious of the Spark Shock. It might not look deadly, but it can pin you down for more than long enough for Top Mega to catch up.



As seen here.



My patience, she wanes.



Next round! Only two weapons left.



Hard Knuckle and Magnet Missile.



Which, as it turns out, is a really damn hard thing to avoid. Magnet Missiles alone are difficult here, since the arena is very tightly packed, and sometimes you have to eat a hit from one just to not get murdered by the normally slow Hard Knuckle.



To survive this matchup, you really have to pay attention to where they're moving to, and get somewhere where you have ample time to dodge both attacks.



Originally, my intent for the Wily Saucer was to abuse it for the Yellow Devil, because Yellow Devil fights are almost always tedious, but since I'd burned an E Tank here to no effect, I decided now was as good a time as any to try the Wily Saucer.



As always, however, Gemini Mega is the vulnerable one, and since the magnetic sparks the Wily Saucer shoots will go after the non-vulnerable Mega, actually hitting Gemini Mega can be easier said than done.



However, I did find a way to cheese the third round if Spark Mega is the vulnerable one. Since Top Spin relies on contact damage, and the Megas can't actually contact damage you if you hit the fake one, all you have to do is use the Leaf Shield. Top Mega becomes completely ineffectual, and you can wait for Spark Mega to fire, then launch your shield and replenish it out of range of Top Mega.



As for the fourth phase, while Bubble Man has as much trouble with the Magnet Missiles as anyone else, the Bubble Lead and the Hard Knuckle destroy each other. And since you fire faster than he does, this makes the fight simple if Hard Mega is the vulnerable one. If it's Magnet Mega you need to worry about, my advice is to switch to Wood Man and stay high up, switching away if you need to make a jump.



And after that, we're done!



If you made it this far, pat yourself on the back, because that fight is deceptively tricky for a match that only uses the Mega Man 3 weapons.

Next Time: JOIN ME, AND I MAY SPARE YOUR LIFE

Quick Man does well! You can take one out in one round of boomerangs; just drop down to the middle and jump kill the top one, then wait for the gap in shots to drop down and kill the bottom one. Then you just have to worry about getting up and out, which isn't too bad.

As for Shadow/Gemini men, Quick Man works pretty well if Gemini's vulnerable. Stay on one of the two little blocks near the bottom; when he runs away from you, follow him and pound boomerangs into his back. Rinse and repeat, occasionally dodging a shuriken or laser. If Shadow's your target, stay along the top and drop down to hit him when you get an opening, but dodging stuff's harder.

Can you tell who my favorite man is? He's just so...quick.

You mean "surprisingly tricky", right? I insist:

Sorry Kalir, I was rooting for the Mega Men this time. It's kind of hard-coded into my being to cheer that little guy on.

I'm glad to see this game found a way to make Top Man's weapon hilariously ineffectual from an enemy's standpoint.

This is, what, the fourth room now? Gotta be getting close.



Well, this place hasn't seen service in some time.



The first part has junk robots falling from the ceiling, which then throw Super Arm-style junk blocks at you. They come out really fast, so you need to be careful.



I like to use Crash for this, but they're not terribly threatening that you have to.



And there's only like five or so of the guys over three screens.



Teleporter, eh?



Ah, of course. No Mega Man game would be complete without a teleporter gauntlet.



I think I'll hit up the stages in the order I fought the bosses. Snake Man up here first.



Wait, where's Snake Man?



What



So, remember how I said Mega Lime doesn't do boss refights? It does a slightly different thing instead: each mini-stage the teleporters link to are populated with modifications of enemies you've seen all game, equipped with a weapon that your Robot Masters use.



As you can see here, these guys are all outfitted with an Air Shooter of their own.



The big snakes even push you back while firing, like Air Man himself.



I don't know if they inherit the weaknesses of the boss that gives their weapon, but I find that using that Robot Master for most of the stage is, if not effective, at least fitting. Hence, Wood Man will be used for the Air stage.



Further on, the floor above these spikes is trashed, and the fans below them switch on!

This leads to an autoscroll section which moves up, carrying you upwards with the fans.



There are enemies here and there, but the Leaf Shield is more than sufficient to stop them.



You have to switch between air currents every so often, because of platforms that pop up in the way.



And, of course, they afford no protection from the winds of the giant air snake.



Once you get to the end, just take the exit teleporter. No boss at the end.



Right, so after Snake Man, we went for Magnet Man...



Hm, a blue porcupine. It's Flashing, though...



Yep. Welcome to the Flash stage. Most enemies here will have the Time Stopper, and activate it just before attacking to prevent you from dodging.



If you don't time yourself properly with knowledge of their attacks, this'll whittle your health down pretty quickly.



The parachute mans don't have Time Stopper, and thank goodness for that.



Maybe using Crash Man here isn't the best idea, what with the flying enemies.



Shut up, I know how to play this game!



After absolutely no further problems there, we find a familiar face!



Rush Jet, activate!



Rush doesn't consume any ammo here, so you can fly around in any of the eight directions to your heart's content. There's also pole-vaulter robots, as you can plainly see, and they like to stop time before launching themselves.

Since Rush makes up for Crash Man's altered attack in midair, I always enjoy flying through here bombing everything.



This area is pretty tricky. Plot out where the safe spots in the porcupine's attacks are the second they unroll.



And that's the last of the Flash stage. Thanks, Rush!



Over here is where Gemini Man's stage was...



Hm. Tiny buzzsaws! This must be the Metal area.



Most of the enemies here, fittingly for Metal Man, are automated traps like these.



And, as the new Metal Blade does, the shots from them will hit the ground and stay there for a while, or roll along the floor if given an angle.



The nuts and bolts will launch Metal Blades in diagonal directions upon connecting, too.



Even though this area isn't too hard, it's pretty interesting.



I stand corrected. Stupid girders.



Wait, what.



SWEET MERCIFUL CHEIBRIADOS, TRIPLE METAL BLADES



Screw it, Metal Man is weak to his own weapon and I will abuse that illogic to my own needs!



Fortunately, that's the last obstacle in the Metal area.



Lessee... next was Needle Man, up here.

What's this doohickey?



Quick sparks?! Crazy.



Okay, uh... this is actually kind of worrying.



Quick Mets waste no time in running forward as soon as they pop out, launching (only a single) Quick Boomerang as they do so. They're very difficult to deal with properly.



I will not suffer your shenanigans today!



...Aw hell.



That should be the last of the Mets, though. Things can't get any worse than th--



AY DIOS MIO, QUICK STOMPERS



So yeah. These guys waste no time sitting there being invincible, but constantly hop forwards. The conveyor here makes dodging them a little tricky, but not overtly so.



Let's head down here, then.



Oh dear.



This area is pretty difficult any way you slice it, but thankfully, like Quick Man before them, the enemies here tend to move too fast to worry about where they're going, so if you need to, you can avoid them, and of course, the Time Stopper makes dealing with them much cleaner.



For example.



Just fire it off before dropping down and you're set against that guy.



I mentioned this already, but ammo capsules restore the Time Stopper as well as the Wily Saucer. Yoink!

All right. Next up, whatever happens to be in Top Man's spot.



Wooden magnets? Don't be ridiculous.



Since everything here is shielded, but a normally weak enemy, the Heat Wave is aces for getting through, since you can charge right through a Leaf Shield and take down the enemy responsible.



Just be sure you have the time to actually charge up first.



And yet, Heat Man still cannot climb ladders.



Well nuts to you, game, I'm still going to use him!



Wood Mets? Well, that'll be hard to get past.



Fortunately, these guys are fliers, so you don't have anything to really worry about.



Your magnetism doesn't work when I'm MADE OF FIRE! HAHAHAHAHA



Right, that's over with.



Next up is whatever's in Hard Man's spot.



Ah. Heat it is. And I guess the game makers think the Cherry Vanilla Hemlock Dr. Pepper is lava too.



While there's no water here, don't forget that the Bubble Lead can destroy fire-based attacks.



Since most of the threats here are from the terrain rather than enemies, this makes Bubble Man a very safe choice here.



In this part, the lavaballs jump up in pairs, with very little respite in between. Getting through without Bubble Lead requires pinpoint timing.

Uh... those vents are glowing.



Whatever's inside, it's using the Heat Wave to travel.



Just be careful while traversing.



Because those giant bear traps have learned how to move.



Behold, a powerful transmuter! He can transform tops into Atomic Fire!



But yeah, those are the only two enemies in the area.



As for the rest, destroy the flames you can and time your way past the ones you can't.



Unlike the other exits, this one is very dangerous, full of Heat Bear Traps.



But we scrape by anyhow. Next up, Shadow Man.



Wait... a familiar whistle?!



Proto Man arrives on the scene!



And he throws us an energy refill. Wait... the room is made of teleporters.



Yeah! Proto Man teams up with your favorite Robot Master for an endurance match with a bunch of Crash themed enemies. If you don't think this is awesome, I don't even want to know you.



Proto Man's AI is the same as in the source game, and his Proto Shield is easily strong enough to endure a Crash Bomb, letting him block hits for you while you do your business. Since most of the enemies are flying and positioned above you, Air Man is an ideal choice.



Proto Man can do damage to the enemies as well as block them, but he doesn't actually take damage himself, so don't be afraid to rely on his help.

The most dangerous are the dragonflies, which fire diagonal Crash Bombs that move fast and are hard to dodge.



The further on you go, the more the enemies pile on...



Once you find the nearly-impossible-to-dodge dragonfly duo, you're at the end.



Proto Man throws an E Tank to us as thanks for sticking with him, and warps off to go be mysterious somewhere else.



Last up, Spark Man. And since we've exhausted all the other Robot Master weapons...



Bubble cat.



This guy is really dangerous to fight with spam, due to the properties of the new and improved Bubble Lead.



Oh no, sea monkeys!



The giant springy thingies launch two Bubble Leads high into the air, which is difficult even if you do tackle this area with Bubble Man and flood everything.



Damn you and your terrain cover.



Oddly enough, this area is kind of difficult for Metal Man, since the bubbles stop his shots and the terrain usually doesn't favor his attacks.



Two bubble cats?



And I can't hit either without dropping into the water?



Save me, Bubble Man!



There. You don't have to kill both, but you can if you want.

With the last of the teleporter rooms cleared, we're free to move on. And none of our Robot Masters was eaten by glitches along the way. Hooray!



One last teleporter, and...



...that's it.

No seriously, that stage has no boss. Clear all eight of the teleporter rooms to win. And y'know what? I am perfectly okay with that.

Next Time: YOU FOOLS CAN'T BEAT MY SECRET WEAPON

I really liked the twist on the "refights" and you are correct, the Crash Man Room where you pair up with Proto Man is the best by far. I actually went into that room first on my playthrough.

Objection! You didn't use Metal Man for most of these stages. I don't know what kind of bizarre, warped version of MM2 you played, but I want none of it.

Does Proto Man really still hop around the battlefield and fire those two shots? I can't help but think he just decides to go spastic for no reason.

...I'm really ashamed to admit this, but I had no idea Proto Man was on my side and was attempting to avoid/fight him while taking on everything else. I guess I was just too overwhelmed by everything to notice, and thought he was being an "honorable opponent" by giving me stuff before and after. So yeah, teaming up with Proto Man against a horrible gauntlet does sound awesome...I just wish I'd known it was happening.

Anyway, when I'm not stupidly misinterpreting its events, this is a pretty great game. Mega Man Powered Up is right up there with 2 for me (right behind 3 and 9), and I love seeing the "play as Robot Masters" concept being done well outside the realm of MM1.

Now I'm really just waiting for Lime 3 to exist so I can play as the MM3 RMs. Maybe have Doc Robot as the super-secret prize?

Since the first Lime was kinda crappy and Mega Man 4 was crappy they should just do a game where you play as the MM3 characters in MM2. Or better yet, skip ahead and put the MM3 characters in MM9, since that would cover all the good MM games.

Ha, me too. I was actually prioritizing shooting him until I realized about halfway through that it wasn't hurting him. Then I just ignored him and Air Manned everything. I didn't realize he was actually helping until the fight was over.

I would fully support both of these premises!

Huh, the only real problems I have with 4 are the charged shot and some underutilized stage gimmicky and dull bosses. Seems like they could easily fix all of that in Mega Lime.

Aha! Wily's final area!



There's a good chunk of supplies right off the bat. Crash Man is suspicious.



And rightly so!



At the bottom of the pit is a bunch of trap doors...



And a Wily Machine!



The Spike Walker is armed with a cannon on the underside that fires spinning shots. He may have imported it from the gunsmiths of Crocodile Isle.



Because of their unpredictable movement, the shots are difficult to dodge, and because of the platforms' nature, getting hit means dropping to ground level with 95% certainty.



As should be obvious by my choice here, it's weak to Crash Bombs. Fire while standing on the bottom-most platform to hit it, which destroys the cannon and initiates the second phase.



Here, Wily is plainly visible, and the eyeball holders now fire arcing shots that go very quickly. Here, Crash Man's midair shot is very valuable, since you can get up top and bombard him easily.



He's got a new trick, though. If the machine crouches in the middle and a targeting reticule pops up, get out the way, because a flurry of shots will be there to hit you.



Don't forget to stay out of the way of the machine's path, of course.



Ah, that's why they give us so much stuff right off the bat.



Really, this boss isn't too hard. Just keep up the assault and watch out for its heavy attacks and you'll be fine.



Woohoo, we beat Wily!



This has been Let's Play Mega Man: Day in the Limelight 2. I hope you enjoyed it!

Next Time: CURSES, FOILED AGAIN

CURSES, FOILED AGAIN



Looks like that entire machine was a last-ditch ruse to buy time. What could Wily have left, though?



Let's go find out!



Okay, now if the former room was suspicious, this one is outright guilty.



Oh well. Charge in, Metal Blade first!



Ah, it's Gamma! The robot so powerful that no one can hope to defeat it!



Gamma's attack pattern starts out simple, with the little head firing two arcing shots, the second of which splits into two upon landing.



It's only vulnerable to the Metal Blade. This isn't a very tough battle at all, just hop out of the way of the shots, land where they did, and spam Metal Blades at Gamma.



Take that! Time to strike a badass Metal Pose!



But suddenly! A strange shot immobilizes Metal Man and transports him away!



As if that wasn't bad enough, Gamma brings in two shield generators and amps it up to three shots!



This is the way final bosses in Mega Lime work: a marathon match where each phase can only be damaged by one of your Robot Masters. As should be apparent, this phase is weak to the Flash Buster.



The shield generators are stopped when you use the Time Stopper, so you can stand on them, and from there, fire at Gamma. It should only take two Time Stoppers to do the job.



The problem is timing them to get around the projectile barrages, as well as making sure the lower shield is low enough for Flash to jump on. And, of course, waiting for the Time Stopper to recharge, but by now that ain't no thang.



The game doesn't automatically switch to the correct next Robot Master when one is taken away, so it's a bit of a guessing game here. Oddly, this is one thing Mega Lime 1 did not have a problem with (but the final boss was problematic in so many other ways).

Gamma is now fully activated, and apparently his idea of a strategy is to make a pug face.



For reasons unknown, this lets him shoot everywhere.



Don't forget that you get two E Tanks and an extra life every time you die. These are IMPORTANT.



Anyway, as should be obvious, Gamma's projectile spam form is only weak to the Leaf Shield. Each eye can be damaged individually, but when one is destroyed, the other kicks into overdrive. Those red shots are indestructible and take out any leaves they hit.



To make this phase go easier, remember that the shield spins a different way depending on which way Wood Man faces when he makes it. If he faces right, it goes clockwise.



So to make hitting easier, stand with your back just under the eyeball, and fire up. As long as there's no red shots heading right where the leaves go, your odds of hitting skyrocket, and the leaves also head right for the projectiles, so you spend less time on a miss.



So, we blinded Gamma. What's next?



What's next is he vomits girder bits at us.



They can be destroyed with Crash Bombs. For reasons, we want to take out the ones on the right.



This may have something to do with it.



In between punching attempts, Gamma will also fire shots from his mouth that destroy all blocks they hit.



Crash Man's goal here is to hit the machine atop Gamma's arm, which is easiest if he has a stack of girders to stand on.



Without it, you have to time the approach of Gamma's punch, jump on his arm, and fire from there. It's way easier to just cultivate a proper platform with the girders.



Oh, uh, don't get stuck in between his fist and a girder when Crash Man gets taken away.



Gamma's arm stays out longer if it punches far enough to destroy girders. So if it doesn't, then act fast and jump up as soon as you see it.

Right, now where were we?



Okay, we're halfway done, I think an E Tank is in order.



At this point, we can hit Wily directly in the control room of Gamma, but only with Quick Boomerangs. Thankfully, Gamma's arm is still there, and Quick Man can easily jump up to the platform.



However, the shots Gamma fires are now homing, and gradually decelerate. Once they come to a full stop, they fire out in the diagonal directions.



Every so often, Wily will close up the cockpit, which blocks your shots, but prevents him from firing as well. This is a good time to catch your breath and reposition yourself.



Haha, we did it!



However, we still have the Wily Saucer to contend with.



The first phase has Wily dropping roving bombs onto the ground, and hovering back and forth.



The Air Shooter can, as always, push him away, which gives you more time to react to the bombs.



Just make sure to time your jumps right.



Upon exploding, they emit four arcing shots in a square shape. It's not a real threat unless they explode right under you.



Busted up the Saucer enough for phase two!



Huh, I didn't know Wily had a death ray installed in his saucer.



Since most of the saucer's power is diverted to the ray, he can only fire one magnetic spark.



Your goal here is to hit with the top shot of Atomic Fire until he gets close, then charge a Heat Wave to dash to the other side of the death ray.