Bombman Stage Overview- Bombman’s stage is
first on my list as it provides a good place to get an
understanding of Megaman’s movements, and the stage itself
is pretty straightforward. It contains a few explosive
enemies, which can be easily dealt with if you keep your
distance.
Bombman Stage Enemies- Kamadohma, Boom Boom Boom,
Screw Driver, Blaster, Sniper Joe, Killer Bomb, Gabyoall,
Man Bu, Adhering Suzy
Bombman Stage Walkthrough- No sooner than you
arrive and take a few steps forward, the first Kamadohma
(leaping robot) starts to jump towards you and attack you.
Hitting these things on the ground with the standard Mega
Buster is impossible when they’re on the same plane as
you, so wait for them to take to the sky and then shoot
them down. They only take one hit to destroy, so fire off
a pair of shots just to make sure you don’t miss and risk
having it smash into you. Five of these baddies will show
up and try to take you down as you jump over the first few
ledges, so take them down as quickly as they show up to
avoid being chased by a small army.
After a short break, you find yourself facing a small
chasm next to another set of ledges. Don’t approach this
too fast just yet, as a “Boom Boom Boom”-type bomb will
jump out of the pit and explode above it, sending four
smaller objects onto the ground around it. Double back for
a second to avoid the blast and proceed forth over the pit
before another one shows up. After the first pit four more
will be in front of you. Instead of doubling back like the
first one, run forward into the wall in front of each pit-
the debris will fly over your head and you can jump
forward and repeat until you clear this area.
After escaping the bomb pits, you find yourself over
looking a small cliff with a Screw Driver (roto cannon) at
the bottom. These things spray a five-shot patter of
plasma that attacks it’s sides, directly over head area,
and two 45-degree areas between, and they fire twice
before sinking back into the floor for a few seconds.
Stand on this ledge in the center and wait for the two
shots to sail over you head before going down the ledge
and opening fire on the cannon. If you’re quick enough,
it’ll raise up as soon as you touch the ground and you’ll
destroy it before it can even fire another shot, allowing
you to continue forth. A few steps after destroying the
first Screw Driver, a second will appear- destroy this one
as quickly as possible and you can avoid any damage. After
that, watch for a somewhat hidden Screw Driver to pop out
from just behind a floating block and kill it fast.
After the three Screw Drivers have been dealt with, you’ll
find yourself in an area with two small health pick ups, a
large weapon energy item, and a ladder at the very
top-right corner. Hopefully, you won’t need any of the
items and you can proceed up the ladder.
Once the screen changes, you’ll find the ladder to be a
very tall one with a battery of four Blasters mounted
vertically on a wall next to another ladder to your left.
Honestly, it’s very tough to avoid being hit at least once
unless you memorize the pattern of the guns. To make
matters worse, the Blasters are shielded whenever they’re
not firing, so you can only destroy them when they’re
firing in their automated pattern. Luckily, they only take
one shot to destroy, so destroy them one by one as you
move up the ladder. Remember that you’ll be knocked off
the ladder if you’re hit, so push “up” as soon as you get
shot to avoid falling to the screen below and having to
start this fight all over again. As a reward for you
battle, a large heath item will be waiting on a ledge
beneath the second ladder, so grab it if you need it and
proceed up the third ladder to the very left.
After making your way up the ladder, keep moving to the
right and you find the first Sniper Joe of the game. These
guys can be tough to deal with if you’re not patient, so
shoot only when they’ve made a shot of their own or are
jumping. They’re shielded from any attack, so you’ll have
to wait for their moves and avoid any shots they make by
leaping over them. This’ll probably take a bit longer than
any other enemy fight before, so stay patient to avoid
unnecessary damage. Once the Joe has been killed, keep
moving forward and you’ll run a small stretch of ground
before finding a Killer Bomb headed right for you in a
zigzag pattern. Instead of destroying these things, you’re
better off attempting to jump over them, as when you shoot
them they explode and a rather large and very damaging
explosion happens that you do not want to find yourself
in.
As you avoid the Killer Bombs, you’ll note how this part
of the stage looks exactly like the bomb pits from the
start of the stage, with Blasters mounted on the walls
instead of Boom Boom Booms jumping out of the crevices.
Continue to avoid shooting the Killer Bombs while taking
out the Blasters as you go, making constant progress. The
Killer Bombs won’t stop coming as you make your way up a
ladder at the end of the second series of pits and you’ll
be faced with a small maze of ledges patrolled by
Gabyoalls. These things are annoying and can only be
frozen for a second with the Mega Buster, and with the
Killer Bombs continuing to stream forward, it’s best to do
your best to avoid these enemies by jumping over them,
which can be tricky. Gabyoalls speed up when you’re on the
same level as them and slow down when you jump, so you’ll
have to leap over them just as they’re about to crash into
you. Thankfully, you don’t have to actually go down the
zigzag maze and you can just keep going right all the way
until you reach the ladder in the upper right corner. Get
up that ladder fast, man.
You’ll be on another long ladder as the screen changes
(this screen is a return point in case you die in a part
after this), with a short series of blocks that you must
use to jump to the ladder on the left side of the screen.
The Killer Bombs are still coming, so move quickly and
jump over them when you have to. After you get up the
ladder, you’ll be faced with your next challenge- spikes.
In this game, spikes mean instant death even if you’re
“invincible” after an enemy has hit you, so avoid standing
at the edge of a block for too long. As you use the series
of ledges to get over the spikes, a few Man Bus will
slowly come from the right side of the screen, replacing
the Killer Bombs. These things shoot out a pattern of 8
shots in assorted directions when they stop for a second.
And of course they’re bullet proof as they travel, so only
shoot them when you see the whites of their eyes.
After getting over the small area of spikes, avoid any
other Man Bus and you find another ladder. Go up and you
see a Sniper Joe guarding a 1up in a small room midway
down the fall from the top of the ledge. Walk over the
side of the ledge and keep pressing “right” to land on the
entrance to the room. Luckily, the Joe is on a ledge lower
than you, so he can’t shoot you. Fire a few shots at him
whenever he jumps to eventually end him and take your
bounty. 1ups are really hard to come by in this game, and
with no E-tanks to work with, they’re your best friends.
Get them whenever you can.
After doubling back out of the room and down the ledge,
keep running right until you’ve come across a large step
in front of the door to Bombman’s room. A sniper Joe will
be on top of the step waiting for you, so stay on the
lower lever and shoot him whenever he’s vulnerable. By
now, you should know the deal with these guys, so take the
time to properly defeat them and avoid taking damage you
don’t need to take. Enter the door by walking into it.
Past the door, you’ll be in a hallway with a steep decline
with a ladder in the center. Jump on top of the ladder and
proceed down until the screen changes.
Once the screen changes, there’ll be four Adhering Suzies
moving to the left side. As soon as they’re all on the
left side of the ladder, jump off and curve to the left,
grabbing onto the ladder as the screen changes again. Wait
for the second batch of Suzies to move to the left and
jump down again to have a little powwow with Bombman…
Boss Fight: Bombman- For his Wily Wars appearance,
Bombman has changed his battle tactics slightly. In the
NES version, he would never be anywhere near one of his
own exploding bombs, meaning you could stay near him and
avoid his bombs while taking whatever shots you could as
he jumped over you. In the WW version, he’s a bit braver
and he’ll be right there as his Hyper Bomb explodes.
Naturally, it doesn’t damage him, but it’ll smack you
around if you get caught in it. Still, try to stay near
him to keep him jumping around. Even though he’s a bit
more difficult in this game, he’s still fairly easy to
beat compared to the other Robot Masters, and it’s
possible to avoid being hit once. Just steer clear of the
Hyper Bomb’s slow moving radial blast while avoiding
Bombman’s crazy jumps and you should do just fine even
without the Fire Storm (Bombman’s weakness). This fight
shouldn’t take very long, and you’ll most likely have your
prize in around thirty seconds.
Weapon Profile: Hyper Bomb- After beating Bombman,
you’ll get his signature weapon. While the concept of
having some big ol’ bombs is cool, they run on a fairly
long timer. Quicker enemies will be able avoid it’s blast
with ease, so timing is hard to get down to a science with
this weapon. It’s not particularly useful in most stages,
but it does have a few shining moments later in the game.
It’ll be most useful when you take on Gutsman.
Oh hell, let’s just say it…Bombman’s weapon sucks. There.
I said it. Happy?