FAQ AND GUIDE
MEGA MAN X5 for Sony Playstation

By Ben Gesiak (deathegg@sega.net)

Welcome to my FAQ for the American version of Mega Man X5 for Sony 
Playstation! I hope you find it very helpful. 

This FAQ is copyright 2001 Ben Gesiak. This FAQ is only for the Internet. You 
may post it or any part of it on the Internet as long as you put my name on 
it. I want credit! Thank you!



FAQ revision history:
   1.0  February 22, 2001. The FAQ is ready.



THE CONTENTS OF THIS FAQ

[1] HOW TO PLAY. Basic information about the game.

[2] ITEMS AND WEAPONS. Full list of weapons, parts, armor capsules, and other 
items, what they do, and how to get them.

[3] THE GUIDE. Maps and Brief walkthroughs for every stage and boss in the 
American version of Mega Man X5.




==================== [1] HOW TO PLAY

The point of the game is to save the world!

Mega Man X5 is a 2D platformer. Maneuver through the stages as either Mega 
Man X or Zero and defeat the boss at the end of each stage. Here are the 
default controls:

BUTTON               MEGA MAN X                  ZERO
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
UP                   Grab onto wires.            Grab onto wires.
DOWN                 Duck.                       Duck.
LEFT                 Move left.                  Move left.
RIGHT                Move right.                 Move right.
X                    Jump.                       Jump.
O                    Dash.                       Dash.
Square               Use X-Buster.               Attack with Z-Saber.
Triangle             Use special weapon.         Z-Buster, special weapon.
L1, R1               Switch weapon.              Switch weapon.
R2                   Use Giga Attack.            Use C-Flasher.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The jump, dash, X-Buster/Z-Saber, special weapon, switch weapon, and Giga 
Attack/C-Flasher commands can be assigned to different buttons on the 
controller. You can do this by going to the Options menu from the title 
screen. I strongly recommend that you make the R1 button dash instead of the 
O button.)

You can also do some special moves.
-As Mega Man X, hold down the X-Buster button to charge up. When you let go, 
your shot will be more powerful.
-If you press left twice or right twice, you will dash. This is the same 
action as if you pressed the dash button.
-If you jump from a dash, you will dash-jump. You can jump farther this way.
-While holding down the dash button, all your jumps are dash-jumps.
-Zero can dash in air. Mega Man X can dash in air as well, but only if you 
have the Fourth Armor or Ultimate Armor.
-If you are playing as Mega Man X with the Fourth Armor or Ultimate Armor, 
pressing the jump button in air will make you hover. You can hover for a long 
time before you fall to the ground. You can move left and right while 
hovering, but you will not hover as long.
-If you jump up to a wall, you will cling to it. Keep holding down left/right 
on the controller and you will slide down the wall. Pressing the jump button 
repeatedly will make you jump up the wall. You can scale many walls this way.
-While clinging to a wall, jump and in mid-air change direction to jump off 
the wall instead of going back on it. You can reach some high places this 
way. Holding the dash button while doing it lets you dash-jump off a wall.
-You can grab certain wires and hang from them. You will need to do so to get 
through some stages. Jump up to a wire and hold up on the controller to grab 
it.

You can earn other special moves later in the game.

The game has a training level. Pick TRAINING at the title screen to go it. It 
is an easy level, and Alia (the navigator) guides you through it. It teaches 
the basics of the game, and I think that you should complete it at least 
once.

To play the main game, pick GAME START at the title screen. And so the 
adventure begins! First thing you will do is to pick which character you want 
to play as: Mega Man X or Zero. You can switch from one to another between 
stages, but you get special items depending on who you pick now. If you pick 
Mega Man X, you get his Fourth Armor. If you pick Zero, you get his Z-Buster. 
Here are more details about the 2:

MEGA MAN X (X for short)
He has an X-Buster that shoots to the left and right. He can charge up his 
weapon for a more powerful shot. If you pick him, you get the Fourth Armor, 
which lets you air-dash, hover, and fire a very powerful charge up shot.

ZERO
He has a Z-Saber that attacks short-range. It attacks left and right but can 
reach above and below him. If you pick him, you get the Z-Buster, which lets 
you fire shots that can reach enemies far away. (You can use the Z-Buster 
only if you are on the ground.)

When you start the first stage, take note of the bar at the top-left of the 
screen. That is your life bar. When you touch an enemy or one of their 
attacks, you lose life. When you lose all your life, you blow up, and you 
lose a 1-UP. When you lose a 1-UP, you are put back in a recent part of the 
stage, so you can try again. There is a number under the life bar that tells 
you how many 1-UPs you have left. When you run out of 1-UPs, you are taken to 
a screen that asks you whether you want to try the stage again.

There are other ways to lose 1-UPs, besides losing all the life in your life 
bar. Here they are:

-If you fall off the screen.
-If you touch the spikes on a floor, ceiling, or wall.
-If you get crushed under some terrain or other obstacle.
-If you touch the green laser beams in the Zero Virus stages.

When you use a special weapon, a second bar appears to the right of the life 
bar. It tells you how much energy you have left for that weapon. When you use 
the weapon, your energy goes down. When you run out of energy, you can no 
longer use the weapon.

(Later in the game there will be a virus meter at the bottom-left of the 
screen. When you touch a Sigma Virus or a Zero Virus you come closer to 
getting infected. The meter tells you how close you are to being infected. If 
X is infected with the virus, he loses life for a short period of time. If 
Zero is infected with the virus, he becomes invincible for a short period of 
time.)

Throughout the stages, look for item pick-ups. Yellow capsule-like items 
refill your life. Blue ball-like items refill your weapons. Helmets give you 
an extra 1-UP. Hidden in some stages are Life-Up tanks. They are pink and are 
shaped like hearts. They permanently increase the size of your life bar. Also 
hidden in the stages are armor capsules. Enter them to get an armor piece for 
X. Get all 4 armor pieces to get a new armor for X! Also, some stages have 
injured reploids in them. They are yellow, and tagging them refills some life 
and gives you a 1-UP.

The first stage is just an introduction. After you beat it, you go to a stage 
select screen. You can choose from 8 stages. At the bottom of the screen it 
tells you how many hours you have left until collision. The hours are not 
real hours. Instead, an hour passes whenever you enter a stage. It does not 
matter if you beat the stage, or if you exit it, it still counts as an hour.

At the stage select screen press L1 to go to the parts setup screen. You can 
attach parts to Zero, X, and X in his different armors. At first you don't 
have any parts but you will get them later.

At the stage select screen press R1 to go to the Enigma screen. You can look 
at the Enigma's status and you can also choose to fire it. If the Enigma is 
launched but is not successful, this screen becomes the shuttle screen.

At the very end of each stage there is a boss. Each time you beat 1 of the 8 
bosses, you get DNA which gives you a special weapon. X and Zero use 
different versions of these weapons. Every boss is weak against 1 weapon of 
another boss.

Each boss has a level. The level represents how much life that boss has. The 
higher level a boss has, the more life he has, and the more difficult it is 
to beat him. At first, all the bosses have low levels. But as hours pass, and 
as you beat more bosses, their levels rise. After you beat a boss you get 1 
of 3 messages. The messages ask you what kind of items you want to create 
using the DNA you got from beating the boss. The messages are:

   WEAPONS. (This just gives you the boss's weapon. You usually get this 
message after beating your first boss.)

   WEAPONS AND LIFE or WEAPONS AND ENERGY. (Picking WEAPONS AND LIFE gives 
you the boss's weapon, and you get a Life-Up 1 hour later. Picking WEAPONS 
AND ENERGY gives you the boss's weapon, and you get an Energy-Up for your 
special weapons 1 hour later. You get this message when you beat a boss of a 
higher level.)

   WEAPONS AND LIFE + or WEAPONS AND ENERGY +. (Picking WEAPONS AND LIFE + 
gives you the weapon, a Life-Up 1 hour later, and a Power-up Part 2 hours 
later. Picking WEAPONS AND ENERGY + gives you the weapon, an Energy-Up 1 hour 
later, and a Power-up Part 2 hours later. You get this message when you beat 
a boss of an even higher level.)

Watch out! An agent called Dynamo will attack your base after you beat 2 
bosses, and again after you beat 6 bosses. When this happens, you can't pick 
any other stage. You have to fight him. This, of course, takes up an hour.

To win the game you have to access the Zero Virus stages. They are opened 
when 1 of 3 things happen.

1] You run out of hours before you can destroy the colony.
2] Both the Enigma and the shuttle are unsuccessful in destroying the colony.
3] Either the Enigma or the shuttle destroy the colony.

There are 3 Zero Virus stages. You have to beat them in order. You will not 
get DNA for beating them. After you beat them, there will be 1 final stage 
before you win the game. You can see 1 of 3 endings to the game. If event 1 
or 2 happens, you will see the ending where X doesn't remember Zero. If event 
3 happens, you will either see the ending where Zero's life flashes before 
his eyes, or the ending in which you see X 3 years in the future.

Here are some tips:
-First pick the stages that have the bosses that are the most difficult for 
you. The boss will have a lower level and will be easier to beat.
-Turning on Rapid Fire and/or Auto Charge is a legitimate way to make X 
easier to control. However, Auto Charge does not work with special weapons. 
Rapid Fire also works for the Land Chaser, but not for Zero. :(
-I strongly recommend that you program the R1 button to dash!

Here are the codes:
-To begin the game with X's Ultimate Armor, highlight X in the character 
selection screen. Then press up 2 times and down 9 times. If you pressed the 
buttons correctly, you should hear a sound. Press X (or start) to begin the 
game with Ultimate Armor.
-To begin the game with Gray Zero, highlight Zero in the character selection 
screen. Then press down 2 times and up 9 times. If you pressed the buttons 
correctly, you should hear a sound. Press X (or start) to begin the game with 
Gray Zero.




==================== [2] ITEMS AND WEAPONS

There are 8 weapons which you get from the 8 bosses. X and Zero use different 
versions of them, except for Dark Hold. They both use Dark Hold.

BOSS                  WEAPON (X)          WEAPON (ZERO)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Grizzly Slash         C-Shot              C-Sword
Squid Adler           Tri-Thunder         E-Blade
Izzy Glow             F-Laser             C-Flasher
Duff McWhalen         Goo Shaver          F-Splasher
The Skiver            Wing Spiral         W-Shredder
Axle The Red          Spike Ball          Twin Dream
Dark Dizzy            Dark Hold           Dark Hold
Mattrex               Ground Fire         Quake Blazer
------------------------------------------------------------------

With the Fourth Armor and the Ultimate Armor, X can charge up special weapons 
and use powerful versions of them, except for Dark Hold. However, the charged 
up versions of the weapons aren't very useful.

Every boss is weak against the weapon of one other boss. Here are the bosses 
and their weaknesses:

Grizzly Slash is weak against Spike Ball/Twin Dream.
Squid Adler is weak against Goo Shaver/F-Splasher.
Izzy Glow is weak against Tri-Thunder/E-Blade.
Duff McWhalen is weak against C-Shot/C-Sword.
The Skiver is weak against Dark Hold.
Axle The Red is weak against Ground Fire/Quake Blazer.
Dark Dizzy is weak against F-Laser/C-Flasher.
Mattrex is weak against Wing Spiral/W-Shredder.

C-SHOT: You can rapidly shoot claws in 3 directions at random. (straight 
forward, diagonally up, or diagonally down) When X charges up C-Shot, he 
creates a shield around him. It attacks enemies that are close to him. After 
a while, the shield goes away.
C-SWORD: To use it, press the attack button in air. Instead of his normal 
attack, Zero does a flip and attacks in every direction. This weapon also 
gives Zero the ability to jump in air.

TRI-THUNDER: X shoots 3 bolts of electricity. One up, one down, and one 
forward. When a bolt hits a floor/wall/ceiling it turns into a ball that 
travels along the floor/wall/ceiling. When X charges up Tri-Thunder, 6 bolts 
come from the top of the screen to the bottom, one after the other. The first 
1 goes through X, the last 5 appear at random places on the screen.
E-BLADE: To use it, hold up on the controller and press the attack button. 
Zero will jump up and attack with electricity. It also attacks enemies below 
him. Using the E-Blade, you can reach high places.

F-LASER: X shoots a remote control firefly. Use the D-pad on the controller 
to change its direction. When using the firefly you can't control X. When the 
firefly hits something, or if X is hit, the firefly disappears. When X 
charges up F-Laser, he fires a giant orange laser beam, and keeps firing it 
for a while. You can move around while using it.
C-FLASHER: To use it, press the Giga Attack button. (You can also use it by 
selecting it and pressing the special weapon button, but the Giga Attack 
button is faster.) C-Flasher is Zero's version of X's Giga Attack. He shoots 
fireballs to each side, straight up, and everywhere in between. As Zero takes 
damage, energy for the C-Flasher is replenished.

GOO SHAVER: X shoots small waves that fall and move along the ground. When X 
charges up Goo Shaver, he throws 4 large blocks to each side of him. They go 
up before crashing down on enemies.
F-SPLASHER: To use it, dash in air. Zero's air dash is now an attack. You can 
dash through enemies and come out unharmed. You can dash through the Sigma 
Virus and the Zero Virus too. Also, if you hold up or down when using it, 
Zero will air-dash diagonally.

WING SPIRAL: X does an uppercut and releases wind that goes straight up. If 
you hold forward while using it, the wind will go up and forward. When X 
charges up Wing Spiral, he does an uppercut and releases a tornado that moves 
forward and grows bigger as it moves.
W-SHREDDER: To use it, press the attack button while dashing on the ground. 
Zero releases a shadow of himself that dashes forward and attacks whatever is 
there.

SPIKE BALL: X fires a spike ball that travels a short distance. Then it 
pauses for a second and returns to X. When X charges up Spike Ball, he fires 
a spike ball that bounces around the screen for a few seconds.
TWIN DREAM: To use it, select it and press the special weapon button. Zero 
creates a double of himself. The double mimics Zero, and attacks whenever he 
does. Because the double is in front of him, it can attack enemies without 
having the real Zero get too close.

DARK HOLD: Both X and Zero use the Dark Hold. To use it, select it and press 
the special weapon button. X/Zero stops time, and all the enemies and most 
moving obstacles stop moving. It's not really a weapon, but using it can make 
things easier for you. It has no effect on most bosses and sub-bosses, but it 
does work against The Skiver. When X charges up Dark Hold, it does the same 
thing.

GROUND FIRE: X launches a ball of fire. When it hits something it stays there 
for a couple of seconds and shoots 3 smaller balls of fire in random 
directions. When X charges up Ground Fire, he shoots fire to his left and 
right.
QUAKE BLAZER: To use it, hold down and press the attack button while in air. 
Zero attacks downward with fire. You can move left and right a little when 
doing the attack.


The full list of collectable items in the game:

4 Falcon Armor pieces
4 Gaea Armor pieces
1 Ultimate Armor
2 E-tanks
1 W-tanks
1 EX item
8 Life-Up tanks
4 Enigma parts
4 Shuttle parts
8 boss DNA, which give you:
        -8 weapons
        -up to 8 extra Life-Ups/Energy-Ups
        -up to 8 of 16 power-up parts

NOTE: When you pick up one of these special items and then die, you still 
keep the item, and you don't have to get it again. Also, check section 3 (THE 
GUIDE) for maps that show where the items are located in the stages.


FALCON ARMOR
X's Falcon Armor has many features:
-Press the jump button in air and X will fly. He can move around in 8 
directions. After a while, X stops flying and falls to the ground. While 
flying, he can touch enemies and it will hurt them. He can't shoot while 
flying.
-X has a Giga Attack. Press the Giga Attack button to cause blue lasers to 
attack everything on the screen. Using it once will make you run out of 
energy for it. As X takes damage, energy for the attack will be replenished.
-X's normal green charge-up shot is replaced with a thin blue one that can go 
through walls.
-Special weapon usage is reduced. Where you would normally have 24 shots of a 
weapon, now you have 36.
-X takes as much damage as he would with the Fourth Armor.
-The Falcon Armor has 2 slots for Power-up Parts.

To get the Falcon Armor you must get all 4 pieces for it from 4 armor 
capsules. Both X and Zero can get them but only X can use them. Each capsule 
is in a different stage:

-Grizzly Slash.
Right after you jump off the trucks, look up to find a hole in the ceiling. 
To get up there, dash-jump off the wall and turn back in mid-air to reach the 
higher wall. If that's too hard, come back to the stage as Zero after you 
beat Grizzly Slash. Zero can now do a double jump to go high enough to reach 
the higher wall. Climb up to a room with the capsule for the Falcon Armor leg 
piece.

-Squid Adler.
You start the stage on the Land Chaser. Throughout this part there are small 
sky-blue colored items. If you get all 8 of them, you can open the door right 
after the Land Chaser part. Through the door is the Falcon Armor head piece. 
Go to section 3 (THE GUIDE) for strategy on how to get the 8 items easily.

-Izzy Glow.
After the spiral staircase you go to a part with these big generators that 
make balls of plasma. In this area in one of the hallways there will be a 
purple firefly shooting blue lasers downward. Above the firefly there will be 
no ceiling, and if you wait there will be balls of plasma coming from the 
opening. Destroy the firefly and climb up to find the generator that was 
making the balls of plasma. Destroy it with C-Shot or C-Sword. When it 
explodes the wall will disappear. Go inside to find the capsule for the 
Falcon Armor arm piece.

-Duff McWhalen.
At the end of the sunken ship part, you fall down to a place where the 
capsule for the Falcon Armor body piece is in plain sight. It is blocked by a 
wall. To destroy the wall, come back to the stage as X, stand back, and shoot 
Goo Shaver. Goo Shaver will go under the wall and hit the bomb which will 
destroy the wall.


GAEA ARMOR
X's Gaea Armor has many features:
-X takes as much damage as he would with the Fourth Armor.
-Spikes that would normally kill X on contact have no effect.
-When X clings to a wall he does not slide down the wall. He stays right 
where he is.
-X's normal X-Buster shots are replaced with more powerful green shots. He 
can only shoot one shot at a time, and they travel a short distance before 
phasing out. His charge up shot is weaker and also travels a short distance 
before phasing out, but it can destroy the black blocks. X can charge up much 
faster.
-The Gaea Armor has no slots for Power-up Parts.
-X can't use special weapons with the Gaea Armor.
-X's dash is slower, but it can push the black blocks.
-X has a Giga Attack. Press the Giga Attack button and X will create a shield 
in front of him. He can't move while using the shield, and using it once will 
take up all the energy. As X takes damage, energy for the attack is 
replenished.

To get the Gaea Armor you must get all 4 pieces for it from 4 armor capsules. 
Both X and Zero can get them but only X can use them. Each capsule is in a 
different stage:

-The Skiver.
After going through the door after the first elevator ride, you find a 
smaller elevator on a diagonal rail. Using the Falcon Armor fly up over the 
elevator and keep flying straight up until you get to the platform with the 
capsule for the Gaea Armor body piece.

-Axle The Red.
In the part with a lot of yellow wires there is an opening in one part of the 
ceiling. Use the Falcon Armor to fly up. Watch out for spikes. At the top is 
the capsule for the Gaea Armor leg piece.

-Dark Dizzy.
At the very end of the stage, right before the gray door to the boss's lair, 
there is a hole in the floor. Jump in. There is the capsule for the Gaea 
Armor head piece. It is blocked by a wall. You have to use X's F-Laser and 
guide the firefly through the narrow passages and make it hit the wall from 
the other side. The wall will blow up.

-Mattrex.
After you beat the pterodactyl sub-boss, Use the Falcon Armor to fly right. 
At the end of the big room is a Ride Armor and the capsule for the Gaea Armor 
Arm piece. You can also get it using the Ride Armor.


ULTIMATE ARMOR
X's Ultimate Armor is a special armor that is similar to the Fourth Armor.
-Like the Fourth Armor, it has 2 slots for Power-up Parts, it can dash air, 
hover in air, charge special weapons, and it takes less damage.
-The only thing different from the Fourth Armor is that the Ultimate Armor 
gives X a powerful Giga Attack that can be used as many times as you want 
without using up energy. Pressing the Giga Attack button will make X jump up 
and fly forward very fast, hurting any enemy he touches.

There are 2 ways to get the Ultimate Armor. The easy way is to start a new 
game. When you are at the character select screen, highlight X and press up 2 
times, then press down 9 times. You should hear a sound if you pressed the 
right buttons. Then press X (or start) and you will begin the game with the 
Ultimate Armor. The hard way to get it is to play the third Zero Virus stage 
(the red one) as X without any armor. In the stage there is a hole with a 
floating platform on the left side. Slide down the right side of the hole and 
you will find a hidden passage with the capsule for the Ultimate Armor.


E-TANKS
When you pick up items that replenish your life, some extra life goes to your 
E-tank. When you are low on life, press start to go to the weapons menu and 
select the E-tank. Press X, and the life stored in your E-tank will be 
transferred to you. It's like having an extra life bar! There are 2 E-tanks, 
and you should get them because it is very difficult to win the game without 
them. X and Zero share the E-tanks.

-Grizzly Slash.
In the part where the trucks are exploding in advance, the last exploding 
truck has an E-tank on the front. The explosions may make it hard to see.

-Dark Dizzy.
At the very end of first part of the stage, (the part with the 
constellations) there will be a platform with the E-tank on it. The problem 
is that it's too high! Use the Falcon Armor to fly up there. If you don't 
have that, you can still reach it simply by jumping from the moving platform 
as it gets there. As Zero, you can also get it by using E-Blade, or if you 
have the C-Sword, you can just double jump.


W-TANK
The W-tank works just like the E-tank except it stores weapon energy instead 
of life. Press start, select and press X to refill your weapons. X and Zero 
share the W-tank. There is only 1 W-tank, and it is located in The Skiver's 
stage. It is under the first big elevator. Feel free to get off the elevator. 
After it breaks through the floor the second time, jump down and grab the W-
tank before you get crushed. Just ignore the enemies.


EX ITEM
The EX item just changes the amount of 1-UPs you start with to 5 instead of 
3. If you want it, you can find it near the beginning of Izzy Glow's stage. 
Keep your eye at the top of the screen, and you'll see that part of the 
ceiling is made of wood. You can actually see the EX item as well, next to an 
injured reploid. Use X's Ground Fire to burn the wood, so you can climb up 
and get it.


LIFE-UP TANKS
There are 8 Life-Up tanks, 1 in each of the 8 stages. They permanently 
increase the size of your life bar. You should get them, or else it will be 
difficult to win the game. Note: If X gets a Life-Up tank, his life bar will 
become bigger, but Zero's won't. They only work for the character that 
actually gets them.

-Grizzly Slash.
There are 2 large truck trailers halfway through the stage. In between them 
there is an opening. You can climb up the opening to find that the tops of 
both trailers are covered with spikes. Use the Gaea Armor to walk on the 
spikes to the right to find the Life-Up Tank. You can also use the Falcon 
Armor to fly over the spikes and get it, but you will die in doing so. Zero 
can't get this one.

-Squid Adler.
At the end of the stage there is an orange gate going up. Go up and use the 
Gaea Armor to break the blocks and walk across the spikes. There will be 
another orange gate. Open it and go through it to get the Life-Up tank. Zero 
can't get this one.

-Izzy Glow.
At the very beginning there is a door that becomes a bridge when you shoot at 
it. Instead of going across go under to find a lot of spikes. To the left is 
an injured reploid. To the right is a Life-Up tank. Use the Gaea Armor or the 
Falcon Armor to get it.

-Duff McWhalen.
In the sunken ship part, keep an eye on the ceiling because there is a gray 
section that can be destroyed with E-Blade. Go up and there is another gray 
section and a Life-Up tank. Don't go through the second gray section because 
it is too easy to touch the spikes on the ceiling. Instead, go around to get 
the tank. To get it with X, go to the end of the sunken ship part. There is a 
split, you can go up or down. Going down takes you to an armor capsule and 
the rest of the stage. Use the Falcon Armor or the Gaea Armor to go up. When 
you reach the top, keep going left until you find the tank.

-The Skiver.
This one's easy. It's near the big elevator that goes STRAIGHT UP. When it 
makes its SECOND stop, go right and grab the Life-Up tank.

-Axle The Red.
When you start, keep going right until you reach the part where you have to 
use the wires to climb up. Instead of going up, use the Gaea Armor to break 
the black blocks in the wall. Go inside to find a new area. Keep going until 
you're up to a big pit, and up high there is a platform with the Life-Up 
tank. You have to arrange them so that one of them goes inside the small 
hole. Then push another block over the small hole (which is now covered) and 
on the edge of the big pit. Jump from that block to reach the tank. (Having 
trouble? Destroy all the enemies so they don't bother you. Destroy blocks you 
don't need, they get in the way. Stand back when you do, because you don't 
want to destroy the blocks you want to keep. If you mess up, go left to leave 
the screen. When you go back, the blocks should reappear.) Zero can't get 
this one.

-Dark Dizzy.
In the second part of the stage, (the part with the gravity switches) there 
is a Life-Up tank in plain sight. If purple blocks are in the way, go back 
and change the gravity. The tank should be at the top of the screen, on a 
platform. It's hard to get it without touching the spikes on the ceiling, so 
use the Gaea Armor. You can also use Falcon Armor, but be careful. Zero can 
get it if he has the C-Sword. If you time it right, he can get it using a 
double jump.

-Mattrex.
In the part where the lava comes at fixed intervals (and you have to hide in 
the black spots) go left instead of right. Fall down the pit and get the 
Life-Up tank. You have to hurry so the lava doesn't come before you get it.


ENIGMA PARTS
You get 4 parts for the Enigma by beating 4 bosses. Each boss gives you 1 
part:

Get the CRYSTAL BALL from Grizzly Slash.
Get the ENERGY CART from Squid Adler.
Get the LASER DEVICE from Izzy Glow.
Get the HYDROGEN from Duff McWhalen.

Each part increases the Enigma's stats in the status screen. The parts 
probably affect the outcome of the Enigma's launch but I don't know how they 
work, and I don't know why the Enigma works when I have 1 part and fails when 
I have all 4.


SHUTTLE PARTS
You get 4 parts for the space shuttle by beating 4 bosses. Each boss gives 
you 1 part:

Get the ORBITER WING from The Skiver.
Get the ORBITER ENGINE from Axle The Red.
Get the FUEL TANK from Dark Dizzy.
Get the BOOSTER from Mattrex.

Each part increases the shuttle's stats in the status screen. The parts 
probably affect the outcome of the shuttle's launch but I don't know how they 
work, and I don't know why the shuttle fails one time and works another time.


BOSS DNA
Beating one of the 8 bosses gives you DNA that can be used for different 
things depending on that boss's level. When you beat a boss you get different 
choices on what to do with the DNA. Here are the choices and what they do:

  WEAPONS. This just gives you the boss's weapon.

  WEAPONS AND LIFE. This gives you the weapon and a Life-Up 1 hour later. The 
character you pick for the next hour gets the Life-Up. A Life-Up is the same 
as a Life-Up tank. It increases the size of that character's life bar.

  WEAPONS AND ENERGY. This gives you the weapon and an Energy-Up 1 hour 
later. The character you pick for the next hour gets the Energy-Up. An 
Energy-Up permanently increases the amount of weapons energy that character 
can have.

  WEAPONS AND LIFE +. This gives you the weapon, a Life-Up in 1 hour, and a 
Power-up Part in 2 hours. The part you get depends on what boss you beat.

  WEAPONS AND ENERGY +. This gives you the weapon, an Energy-Up in 1 hour, 
and a Power-up Part in 2 hours. The part you get depends on what boss you 
beat. Picking WEAPONS AND ENERGY + gives you different parts than if you 
picked WEAPONS AND LIFE +.

Remember that the hours are not in real time. An hour passes in the game 
whenever you enter a stage. After you end the stage (by completing it or 
exiting it) you get all items you get for that hour.


POWER-UP PARTS
Power-up Parts can be used to upgrade X and Zero. Some give X and Zero new 
abilities and some increase the power of their weapons. There are 8 bosses, 
and it is possible to choose WEAPONS AND LIFE + or WEAPONS AND ENERGY + after 
beating each one.

   8 bosses
 x 2 choices
--------------------
  16 Power-up parts

This is a list of what parts you get from each boss and each choice.

Grizzly Slash: Pick WEAPONS AND LIFE + to get Shock Buffer.
               Pick WEAPONS AND ENERGY + to get Hyper Dash.

Squid Adler: Pick WEAPONS AND LIFE + to get Quick Charge.
             Pick WEAPONS AND ENERGY + to get Z-Saber Extend.

Izzy Glow: Pick WEAPONS AND LIFE + to get Burst Shot.
           Pick WEAPONS AND ENERGY + to get Shot Eraser.

Duff McWhalen: Pick WEAPONS AND LIFE + to get Super Recover.
               Pick WEAPONS AND ENERGY + to get W Energy Saver.

The Skiver: Pick WEAPONS AND LIFE + to get Jumper.
            Pick WEAPONS AND ENERGY + to get Speedster.

Axle The Red: Pick WEAPONS AND LIFE + to get Ultimate Buster.
              Pick WEAPONS AND ENERGY + to get Z-Saber Plus.

Dark Dizzy: Pick WEAPONS AND LIFE + to get Anti-Virus Guard.
            Pick WEAPONS AND ENERGY + to get Virus Buster.

Mattrex: Pick WEAPONS AND LIFE + to get Speed Shot.
         Pick WEAPONS AND ENERGY + to get Buster Plus.

You should get the parts 2 hours after you order them. To equip them, press 
L1 at the stage select screen and choose Zero, X, or one of his armors. Then 
pick a part and press X to equip it. When you are finished equipping parts, 
press Triangle and then press R1 to go back to the stage select. Now when you 
choose that character he will have new abilities. Here is what the parts do:

Shock Buffer: For X and Zero. Your character will take less damage, and when 
he is hit, he will not get pushed back as much.

Hyper Dash: For X and Zero. Your character's dash is faster. He can also 
dash-jump farther and faster.

Quick Charge: For X only. X can charge up his X-Buster and other weapons 
faster than before.

Z-Saber Extend: For Zero only. Whenever Zero attacks with his Z-Saber, small 
blades appear in front of it, extending the range of his attack.

Burst Shot: For X only. X can fire up to 5 X-Buster shots instead of 3. This 
part works great with Rapid Fire.

Shot Eraser: For Zero only. Certain enemy shots can now be destroyed with 
Zero's saber.

Super Recover: For X and Zero. When your character picks up an item that 
gives some life, the item gives more life than it normally would.

W Energy Saver: For X and Zero. It halves your character's weapon energy 
usage. Where you would normally be able to use a special weapon 24 times, you 
can now use it 48 times.

Jumper: For X and Zero. Your character can jump higher and farther, and he 
can stay in the air longer. This part does not work with Zero's jump in air 
ability.

Speedster: For X and Zero. Your character runs faster and moves faster in the 
air.

Ultimate Buster: For X only. X can only fire charged up shots of his X-Buster 
and special weapons, but he charges them automatically, and he charges them 
faster than he normally could.

Z-Saber Plus: For Zero only. Zero's saber deals more damage to enemies.

Anti-Virus Guard: For X and Zero. Your character needs to touch more Sigma 
Viruses and Zero Viruses to become infected.

Virus Buster: For X and Zero. Your character can now attack and kill the 
Sigma and Zero Viruses with his weapons.

Speed Shot: For X and Zero. Your character's X-Buster/Z-Buster shots and 
charged up shots travel faster.

Buster Plus: For X and Zero. Your character's X-Buster/Z-Buster shots and 
charged up shots deal more damage.

Certain parts don't work with other parts. For example, Ultimate Buster only 
lets X fire charged up shots. It is pointless to pair it with Burst Shot, 
because Burst Shot only works for regular shots. Also, certain parts change 
the color of Zero's saber or X's shots.




==================== [3] THE GUIDE

I made simple maps for this guide using @'s. The maps aren't perfect, and 
they're certainly not to scale, but they work. Also, I don't want to repeat 
this too many times, but whenever you are fighting a boss or sub-boss as X, 
use only charged up shots, except when using special weapons. For special 
weapons, never use charged up shots!

THE MAP KEY
-----------------------------------------------
a         armor capsule
l         Life-Up tank
e         E-tank
w         W-tank
x         EX item
s         sub-boss
|         gravity device/rock wall
-----------------------------------------------

GAME START!
First thing you'll do is to pick your character: X or Zero. You can switch 
between stages, but who you pick determines what item you keep for the rest 
of the game. If you pick X you get the Fourth Armor, and if you pick Zero you 
get the Z-Buster. I strongly recommend that you pick X, because the Fourth 
Armor is very powerful. The Z-Buster, however, is slow and weak. You'll 
probably never use it anyway. But if you're sure that you never want to use 
X, then go ahead and pick Zero.


THE FIRST STAGE  EURASIA

                     @@-BOSS
                     @
START-@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

This stage is too simple for me to offer much strategy. There is one part at 
the end that requires you to quickly climb the moving walls. Don't press the 
jump button too quickly, time your jumps and do 1 jump at a time. After that 
you fight the... 

Boss: Sigma 
Throughout the battle just stay at the very left. You can't attack him until 
he opens his mouth, revealing a ball-type thing. He usually opens it when he 
comes right up to you, giving both X and Zero a chance to strike. When he 
shoots 2 green balls, wait until the first one moves, then jump up the wall 
right away. He has 2 other attacks, 1 where he fires a giant purple laser and 
another where he fires hundreds of little blue balls. Just duck both of them, 
and fire away as X. As Zero, whenever he gets close and opens his mouth, 
stand up and slash away.

After you beat the first stage you go to the stage select screen! You can 
beat the stages in any order, but I will list them in order of the boss's 
weaknesses, starting with Grizzly Slash  Chase The Truck!


GRIZZLY SLASH  CHASE THE TRUCK!

                @@@@l@                           a  @@@-BOSS
                @@@@@@                           @  @
START-@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@e@@-!CRASH!-@@@@@@

Don't fall off the trucks! Multiple times in this stage you have to destroy 
the blue core of the trucks. This is easy, just duck, and slash as Zero or 
fire charged shots as X. Ignore the guns on the left side of trucks. (The 
ones that shoot the small, thin blue laser.) As for those taxis, stand back 
and shoot them as X, but as Zero they are harder. Jump and slash them, and 
run away when they are about to attack with cutsaws. At the part where the 
trucks are already exploding, hold down the dash button and keep jumping 
forward. Don't touch the magic drills, they kill you on contact. Keep an eye 
out for the E-tank. The last truck crashes into another truck, throwing you 
to the next part of the stage. You might want to try and get that armor 
piece, or come back later. Go up through the door and fight the...

Boss: Grizzly Slash
-weak against Spike Ball and Twin Dream.
His first attack will be to throw 3 claws which you can easily duck. He likes 
to jump from place to place, but he's real slow so it's no big deal. As X 
just stand back and shoot, as Zero get close and slash away. After you hurt 
him some he will jump into the ceiling and start playing peek-a-boo. He will 
either pop out from the ground, the background, or the ceiling. At this point 
just keep moving, and try to get in a hit or 2 when the opportunity comes. 
You can easily attack his drill arm when he comes from the ground. After you 
hurt him some more, he comes back and fights like a man as he did at the 
beginning of the fight. This time, however, he throws 2 HUGE claws! Dodge 
them by climbing up the wall. When he moves his fingers, he is about to 
attack, so if you are Zero you'd better run away! Using his weakness 
interrupts his attacks, but you should pretty much use the same strategy.


DUFF McWHALEN  OBLITERATE THE BATTLESHIP!

                              s@-BOSS
                              @
START-@@@@@@@@@@@s     l@@@@@ @
                 @     @    @ @
                 @ @@@@@@@@@@ @
                 s@@        @ @
                           a@@@

This stage is one long, hard battle with the U-555 battleship. You have to 
fight it 3 times before the stage is over! As soon as the stage begins it 
starts chasing you to the right. Stay away from it, and pay attention to the 
terrain. Later it will stop firing small beams at you and will use the big 
laser. Keep an eye on its mouth for when the gun appears. It's a 1 second 
warning of the giant laser to come from it, so find a place to hide. There 
will be only 2 pits with spikes, those are your only spike problems for this 
part. When you have time you should destroy the top and bottom sections of U-
555. If you do, it will be easier to defeat it. When the U-555's life bar 
appears, it's time to fight! Aim for the middle. It is easy to dodge the 
small beams, the red fish are the main concern. X's Fourth Armor charge shot 
creates a ball of plasma that will kill the fish as they come out. As Zero, 
keep slashing away and the fish will die most of the time. If you destroyed 
the top and bottom sections: As X, jump once or twice, shooting a charge shot 
each time, then wait for U-555 to shoot the laser, repeat. As Zero, just go 
up to it and slash away.

After you beat it, U-555 goes away, then comes from the right. This is 
easier. Keep attacking the orange caps, so they spend more time regenerating 
than they do firing at you. Watch out for more of those hungry blue fish. You 
will come down to a yellow wire, and when the life bar appears, it's time to 
fight again! If you have Tri-Thunder as X, just stand back and fire away. If 
you have E-Blade as Zero, get closer and use it! If you do not have those 
weapons, then it will be a bit harder. Evenly distribute your attacks to the 
top 2 caps, bottom 2 caps, and the red middle part. The wire will make it 
easier to attack the top part. Keep putting pressure on the caps. To dodge 
the torpedoes, blow them up, or run under them, or jump over them, and they 
will miss you. As X, you can duck and keep firing charged shots to attack the 
lower and middle parts, and destroy any missiles that come out.

After you beat it, the water goes away and you go inside a sunken ship. Take 
it slow, and be careful because there are lots of spikes. The small red 
stingrays aren't an issue. Just wait for them ducking, and attack as they 
come. If you are Zero and have E-Blade then you should get the Life-Up tank 
above the gray section in the ceiling. Anyway, keep going until you fall down 
and see an armor capsule. (You need Goo Shaver to get it.) Go right to find 
the U-555, ready for another beating. This time, stay out from under the 
platforms (VERY IMPORTANT) as not to get squished. The orange caps are on the 
bottom. To get rid of them, Ground Fire and Quake Blazer work best. Even if 
you don't have those weapons, Zero's slash is able to reach them. As X, you 
can reach them by shooting charged shots while ducking. The caps will 
regenerate after a while. Once again, more blue fish. When you reach the top, 
you will fight U-555 for a third and final time. In this battle, do not touch 
the yellow part! It hurts! Stay to the left or right side and attack the 
shield generator bottom-left of the yellow part. When you destroy it, the 
yellow shield goes away. Quickly attack the core (don't touch it, it still 
hurts) before the shield comes back. Repeat. Not only will the caps shoot at 
you, but more fish will come. If you have Zero's C-Flasher, use it when 
things get out of control. If you have X's Tri-Thunder, just use that. When 
you defeat it, cling to the wall on the right, because the U-555 will fall 
down, and you do not want to fall with it. After it falls, go through the 
gray door to meet the...

Boss: Duff McWhalen
-weak against C-Shot and C-Sword.
This guy is hard if you don't have his weakness. At first he will create 
blocks that move left. Stay above the blocks and close to him and keep 
attacking. Then the blocks start moving right, and in a different 
arrangement. Run away from McWhalen and keep left to give yourself more time 
to maneuver through the blocks. If you use his weakness, all the blocks 
disappear and he starts over each time you hit him. After you deal enough 
damage to him, he moves to the left side of the arena. Now this is annoying: 
He will shoot fast-moving blocks that will push you into the spikes. Dodge 
them. This is easier if you use his weakness. It might even be a good idea 
sometimes to jump over him, or cling to the left wall. He can hurt you by 
touching you, but at least the blocks won't push you into the spikes.


SQUID ADLER  ELECTRIC TRAP!

          1             2      3           4     5          6       7     8
                                                        |__________|  |____
          *  __  __     *  ___          ___* ___ *       ___*______ *  __ *|
__   ___  _ |  ||  | ___       * ___  _________  __  _  |          |  |  | |_
  | |   || ||  ||  |    ___  ___     |         ||  || | |          |  |  |___
  | |   || ||  ||  |                 |         ||  || | |          |  |

The beginning of this stage puts you on the Land Chaser. This is a difficult 
part of the game. The map above covers the whole Land Chaser sequence. The * 
means 1 of the 8 energy pieces you need to get to get the armor piece in this 
stage. You do not have to get them unless you want the Falcon Armor. To 
continue in this stage, you just have to survive. This is difficult because 
not only can you fall in the gaps, but you will also die if you get left 
behind the screen. So you have to avoid the walls. To make this a lot easier, 
turn on Rapid Fire in the options menu and hold down the fire button 
throughout the WHOLE sequence.

Assuming that Rapid Fire is on and your finger is firmly placed on the fire 
button, just follow these 8 steps to get all 8 energy pieces:

1] Just jump over the gaps. Get the energy piece.
2] Make a jump over the first gray platform, getting the energy piece while 
doing so.
3] When you land, the bike should be able to fly over the next small gap. 
Jump for the next energy piece, landing on the next platform.
4] Jump up on top of the gray platform, and jump off it onto the next 
platform, getting the energy piece.
5] Jump off the last gray platform, getting the energy piece. Make sure you 
land somewhere safe. ;)
6] Jump into the long passage and look for the energy piece near the ceiling. 
Jump for it.
7] There will be a big gap. Make a small jump, then dash in air, getting the 
energy piece and landing in the next passage.
8] This is easy. You will most likely just run into it without any effort.

After that your character will fire the energy pieces at the mystery door, 
which (if you got all 8) will blow up. Walk inside to get the armor piece. 
Having trouble pulling it off? You're using rapid fire, right? Stay near the 
left side of the screen, but not too close, so you have some room to correct 
your mistakes. Just keep trying. When you run out of 1-UPs, just pick 
CONTINUE and try again. As soon as you miss an energy piece, let go of the 
controller so your character will die, and you can try again. Patience!

Now that the Land Chaser is out of the way, here is the rest of the stage:

          FROM LAND CHASER-@a
                           @
                      @@@@@@  @@@
                      @      @@@@l
                      @@     @
                       @@@@@ @@@-BOSS
                           @@@

Take it slow. The real challenges in this part of the stage are the orange 
and purple gates. Hit the locks once at a time, and hit them again when they 
stop moving. Hit a lock 2 times before going to the next lock. After a while, 
the lock starts moving back, so you have to hurry. Hitting a moving lock 
makes it stop moving. After you seal the lock, you have a limited amount of 
time before the seal breaks and the door closes. Whenever you mess up, just 
wait and let the locks go back to their original positions. The locks take 
either 3 or 4 hits to seal. As for the purple mavericks in the stage, just 
ignore them. Tag the injured reploids to refill your life.

Boss: Squid Adler
-weak against Goo Shaver and F-Splasher.
This guy is confusing. Avoid all his bolts'n'beams, and run away when he 
follows you. When he lowers himself onto the ground, climb up the wall, as he 
is likely to punch it and cover the floor with electricity. Sometimes there 
will be a blue and white block in the middle of the arena. Use it to your 
advantage, but sometimes it turns electric, so watch out. He does this attack 
where he extends his tentacles and shoots bolts from it. Whether he does it 
horizontally or vertically, ducking should do the trick. Using his weakness 
doesn't change your strategy much, but when using F-Splasher, make sure to 
dash THROUGH him or else you will take damage.


IZZY GLOW  FORTRESS LAB INFILTRATION!

                                  @@-BOSS
                                  @
                                  @
                                  @
                           a@ @@@ @@
                            @ @ @  @@
                           @@@@ @   @
                           @    @@@@@
                           @@@@
                              @
          x @@@@ @@-STAIRS-@@@@
START-@@@@@@@  @@@
       @
       @l

A long stage. At the beginning, take it slow, because there are lots of those 
platforms with spikes on the bottom. It's annoying how those platforms take 
so long to move, but if you rush you will probably get crushed. It's pretty 
straightforward until you reach the stairs. Unlike the beginning of the 
stage, the best way to get past the stairs is to rush. It's okay to take a 
hit here or there. And remember that the Sigma Virus doesn't do anything 
until you're fully infected. At the end of the stairs you fight a sub-boss. 
There are 2 pink blocks and 1 black block that come down and shoot giant 
lasers, before going back up and coming down again in different places. Use 
the wires to find a place safe from their fire. To defeat it, use Ground Fire 
or Tri-Thunder on the front of the black block to destroy it. As Zero, use E-
Blade. You have to destroy the black block multiple times to beat the sub-
boss. The pink blocks are invincible. After the stairs you go to an area 
where generators create balls of plasma. Ignore the generators, but attack 
the plasma balls that are in your way. You might want to get the armor piece, 
just use C-Shot or C-Sword to destroy the generator. At the end there is a 
long passage going up. It helps to destroy the generators on the way up using 
C-Shot/C-Sword. Air-dash or dash-jump to get from one side of the passage to 
the other. After the passage there is the gray door that leads to the...

Boss: Izzy Glow
-weak against Tri-Thunder and E-Blade.
He can teleport! He usually hangs around the ceiling, and he teleports all 
the time, so climb the wall to get a better shot as X. Zero should be able to 
reach him just by jumping or double jumping. Use Tri-Thunder as X, the bolts 
will follow the ceiling and touch him. You should use Zero's E-Blade 
sparingly, because using it usually ends up in touching him, so you get hurt 
as well. When Izzy Glow launches the remote-control firefly, don't destroy 
it. It's no threat, but Izzy Glow stays in one place when he uses it, making 
him easy to get! Sometimes he charges up, then fires a large green laser. Use 
his weakness on him before he gets the chance. Otherwise, you can duck the 
laser if he fires it horizontally. As Izzy Glow takes more damage, he moves 
faster.


DARK DIZZY  ESCAPE THE SPACE TRAP!

START-@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@e --- @@@|@@|@|@|@@l|@@|@@@@-BOSS
                                                     @
                                                     a

If you have the Falcon Armor, you should definitely use it in this stage. If 
you don't have it, you should get it. Anyway, the beginning of the stage has 
a lot of purple mavericks. Ignore them, jump over them all. You'll notice how 
there is a black hole in the background causing everything to be in slow 
motion. After a while it goes away and is replaced with constellations. After 
a while the constellations turn into bats that attack you. Then it goes back 
to the black hole and repeats the pattern. When the constellations turn to 
bats, spikes also appear and fall on the platforms. Be ready for them. Keep 
going until you get to the floating platform. If you have the Falcon Armor, 
you don't need the floating platform, you can just fly all the way from here. 
Just be sure to take rest stops on the platforms on the way. If you are not 
using the Falcon Armor, then you have to take the floating platform. Listen 
to what Alia tells you, and when you come up to the platform with spikes on 
its bottom, duck. Get the E-tank by flying or use Zero's double jump.

The second part of the stage has gravity devices that turn the stage upside-
down when you go through them. Change the gravity to your liking, but it 
really doesn't make a difference until you reach the Life-Up tank. You can't 
get it unless it is at the top. If it isn't then go back and change the 
gravity. You can use the Falcon Armor to get it. Zero can get it, too, with a 
well-timed double jump. At the end of the stage before the gray door there is 
a gap. Fall down and use F-Laser to open the wall from the other side so you 
can get the armor piece. Then go back up and through the gray door to the...

Boss: Dark Dizzy
-weak against F-Laser and C-Flasher.
This guy is easy. You should start by emptying your supply of F-Laser/C-
Flasher on him. Wait before he stops flashing from the first hit before 
firing again. He basically just flies around most of the time. Climb up the 
wall and attack him. If you don't beat him quickly he will attack with giant 
rings. The Falcon Armor's charged shot can go right through them and stun 
Dark Dizzy. If you aren't using Falcon Armor, then he will at this time use 
Dark Hold to freeze you for a second or 2 while he does another attack. No 
big deal.


THE SKIVER  DESTROY THE TIME BOMBS!

                        @@@-BOSS
                        @
                        @@l
                        @
                        @@@
           @@@@@ @@@@@@ @
           @   @ a@@@@@@@
           @   w @@@@@@
START-@@@@@@   @ @@@@@@
               @@@@@@@@

The main challenge in this stage is the time bombs. Deal with them in 1 of 2 
ways. Either destroy them very quickly before they detonate, or get hit by 
something right before they detonate. While you are flashing after taking a 
hit, the bombs can't hurt you. The damage you took is nothing compared to 
what the bomb would have done to you. Anyway, grab the W-tank under the first 
elevator. If you have Falcon Armor then get the armor piece way up high. The 
second elevator goes diagonally past some spikes toward the third elevator. 
To avoid the spikes coming from the top you have to cling to the right side 
of the elevator. Keep jumping as not to slide off. It's dangerous but it's 
the best way to avoid those spikes. The third elevator is easy. It goes to 3 
other floors. Just make sure to get back on it before it starts moving again.
The last floor has the gray door that takes you to a plane with the...

Boss: The Skiver
-weak against Dark Hold.
Find a good time where The Skiver is on the plane and not moving to do Dark 
Hold. This freezes him and you can shoot/slash away until Dark Hold runs out 
of energy. You can use your new W-tank to refill Dark Hold before it runs out 
so you have more time to deal damage to The Skiver. Anyway, the normal 
strategy is to stay in the middle of the plane so The Skiver can't knock you 
off. He will start by staying on the plane, dashing left and right. Sometimes 
he will launch his shadow at you. When he goes high up he is about to charge 
you so get ready to dash away or jump over him. When he leaves the screen he 
will fly at you over and over. Keep moving and remember that he will not 
strike from the same place twice in a row. When he puts his hand up he is 
about to throw a tornado that can blow you off the plane.

MATTREX  RED-HOT WORLD!

START-@
      @
      @
      @                                         @@@@@-BOSS
      @@@                                       @@
        @@@@@@                                  @@@@@
           @ @                                  @@@@@
         @@@@@@@@@|@@|@@|@@@@ --- @@@@@@@@@@@@s@@@@@a
         l                         @             @ @
                                   @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Go down. Take it slow, to keep from getting hit by the fire-breathing dragon 
heads. You can also avoid them by being quick. When you come up against the 
green dragonflies, wait until the lava passes before going down 1 of the 2 
holes. You should then go left to get the Life-Up tank if you haven't 
already. Then go right. The lava comes at fixed intervals, and when it comes 
you have to be in the black spots or else you will die. When you come up to a 
rock wall you have to wait for the lava to break it down before you can 
continue. This whole lava part takes some patience. Take it slow, because if 
you die of the lava you will take even more time playing it from the 
beginning. When you reach the door, destroy it and continue to part 2 of the 
stage.

Now you have a choice: go straight or go down into the lava. I recommend that 
you go straight. Going down is faster but harder. Take the Ride Armor, jump 
over the gap, and jump out of the Ride Armor and onto the block. (Hold up and 
jump to get out of the Ride Armor.) Keep going forward by jumping on the 
blocks over the lava and be mindful of the pterodactyl. You will have to 
break the walls to continue. Zero can attack the wall by standing at the edge 
of the block and slashing. At the end, you will fight the pterodactyl. As X, 
use Goo Shaver or charged shots, but Falcon Armor charged shots don't work 
well on it. As Zero, stand on the left platform and slash away. This sub-boss 
is easy, all you have to do is not to fall in the lava. After you beat it go 
through they gray door.

If you took the Ride Armor at the beginning and went down instead of 
straight, don't press up because it is easy to get out of the Ride Armor by 
accident. Doing so will kill you because of the lava. Keep attacking while 
jumping because it works better than the ground attack. The Ride Armor can 
explode, but it starts flashing a few seconds in advance, so when it does you 
should find a way out of the lava or else you are doomed. The hardest part of 
the Ride Armor section is getting out of the lava. You have to jump, and jump 
again, this time holding up. The Ride Armor will jump and then your character 
will jump out of the Ride Armor in mid-air, and the Ride Armor falls back 
down to the lava. Then find a safe place for your character to land. Anyway, 
whether you chose to go straight or down at the beginning, you go to a big 
room with wires. If you have Falcon Armor, then use it to fly right to the 
armor capsule. Otherwise climb the wires and go through the gray door.

Boss: Mattrex
-weak against Wing Spiral and W-Shredder.
Without his weakness, I can't offer any real strategy. This guy is insane. 
Just remember to use the walls to your advantage. If you have Wing Spiral, 
use it near him while moving forward. Wait for him to stop flashing and 
repeat. As Zero use W-Shredder on him, and make sure to wait for him to stop 
flashing before attacking again because W-Shredder is a slow move. When he 
clings to the wall you can't use W-Shredder, so jump and slash.


AXLE THE RED  INTO THE JUNGLE!

          @@@@@@@@@@@   a
          @         @   @
START-@@@@@@@@@@@@l@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@-BOSS

This stage is fast and easy. Just keep moving forward. Ignore the purple 
flower enemies, and it's okay if you touch some of the Sigma Viruses. Nothing 
happens until you are infected. At the beginning there is a part with wires. 
Hold up all the way and jump from wire to wire. Sometimes there will be 
thorns that pop out from the ground and ceiling. You might have to take a hit 
or 2 from them. Note that you can see them before they strike, they first 
appear as tiny green dots on the floor and ceiling. Alia will warn you about 
the big hole in the cave, the one with the purple flower on each side of it. 
Slide down the left wall to continue into another part with wires. Keep 
holding up, and watch out on the lowest wire. From the low ceiling a thorn 
will strike. Be ready for it and approach it closely. When you get close it 
will strike but it won't touch you. Kill it or dash under it. Use the Falcon 
Armor to get the armor capsule above the wires. Later you come up to 2 holes 
with spikes on the bottom. Watch out for thorns above them. Kill them and 
move on. Before you know it you are at the...

Boss: Axle The Red
-weak against Ground Fire and Quake Blazer.
Wait a second! The first thing he will do is to make a clone of himself, and 
then the clone disappears. You can't hurt him while is doing this, (strange) 
so wait until the clone disappears before you attack. He will sometimes throw 
a spike ball that can easily be destroyed. When he goes to the very left or 
right side of the room, he will throw his tentacles. Run to the opposite side 
so he can't catch you. He may split up and attack from both sides, in which 
case you should cling to the wall. Ground Fire and Quake Blazer stun him and 
disrupt his attack. Use those weapons and he should not be able to get a 
chance to attack you.


DYNAMO

After you beat 2 of the bosses, Dynamo will attack your base and you have to 
fight him. He is very easy. Pick Zero, go right up to him and just slash 
away.

Dynamo will attack again after you beat 6 of the bosses. This time he has a 
new move. He will charge up and make giant lasers appear all over the arena. 
Use Wing Spiral or W-Shredder on him to disrupt his attack. If you don't have 
those weapons, use Zero and you should be able to beat him using the same 
strategy. Just slash away.


ZERO VIRUS  BLUE

By this time the Zero Virus stages should be opened. Before you enter them 
you should go back to the other stages and get the items you may have missed.

START-@
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         @@@@@-BOSS

For this stage pick the character that has the bigger life bar. You'll need 
all the life you can get for the boss.

Near the beginning of the stage there are guns that shoot green lasers that 
kill you in 1 shot. If they are giving you trouble use Dark Hold to freeze 
the guns. After that you meet the Zero Virus and green Ride Armors for the 
first time. You can easily destroy the Ride Armor by using Giga Attack, C-
Flasher, or Spike Ball. Then you come to a part with a LOT of green lasers. 
Right before that part use Dark Hold again. Then maneuver down through the 
terrain as quickly as you can before Dark Hold runs out, if you want to make 
it easier, press start and use your W-tank for more Dark Hold time. If you 
die, it's no big loss. All your weapon energy is refilled each time you die.

Boss: A black blob
Attack pattern: Blocks will come in from the left to the right side of the 
room. They accumulate and morph into a giant blob with limbs. A red eye (the 
weak point) appears, fires 2 shots, and disappears. The blob turns into 
blocks again which move one by one to the left side of the room until all the 
blocks are there. Then they turn into a blob again, and so on. THIS IS HARD! 
Don't use your E-tanks on your first try. Lose a few lives learning how to 
avoid the blocks. Here are some pointers:
-Recognize the pattern. Only 1 block comes at a time.
-Also, 1 column of 4 blocks will pass before the next column does.
-Always duck so only 4 of the 16 blocks can get you. Jump those blocks.
-Start far away from the blocks, and move in bit by bit as they accumulate 
behind you.
To attack him as X, use charged shots. With Ultimate Buster or Quick Charge 
you can hit him up to 3 times each time the eye appears. To attack him as 
Zero, jump up and slash his eye and use C-Flasher as soon as you land. After 
a while the blob will split up and blocks will come from both sides. After a 
longer while the blob will morph into a skull that will charge you just once. 
Dash in air over the skull. After that it jumps around and reveals its eye. 
You should be able to kill the skull before it morphs into blocks again.

Practice a few times, and use your E-tanks only when you're ready.


ZERO VIRUS  PURPLE

                  @@@-BOSS
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For this stage, pick Falcon Armor. 

Falcon Armor charged shots can go through the green Ride Armor's shield. 
Destroy them and use the armor's flying ability to easily navigate through 
the part with the floating platforms. Fly, fly, fly past the part with the 
wires all the way to the end of the stage. Before going through the gray 
door, go left to a hidden passage and get the pick-up that will refill your 
life %100. Then go to the door.

Boss: A wall with a face.
It will attack you with 1 eye at a time. Each eye will make its move before 
going back, then another eye will attack. After a few eye attacks, the walls 
close in and spikes appear on the floor. The nose will attack you by moving 
into you. After a while the walls open and the eyes attack again. And so on.

Get the red eye with 5 shots of Tri-Thunder. The blue eye will try to touch 
you, hit it with Ground Fire. The green eye is tricky. Quickly hit it with C-
Shot and immediately start flying to block all its shots. Shoot it with C-
Shot again after it stops shooting, as the eye closes. When the walls close 
in, use the flying ability so the nose can't hurt you. Do not attack the nose 
until you have killed the 3 eyes. After you kill the 3 eyes, shoot the nose 
with Goo Shaver. (Sometimes when the walls close in, spikes will appear on 
the sides. Just fly to avoid them.) This boss is much easier than the black 
blob in the stage before.


ZERO VIRUS  RED

START-@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@-BOSS
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               @a

This stage is all about spikes, but it's not too hard if you have the air-
dash.

There is an armor capsule in this stage, hidden in a gap. It's the one with a 
floating platform on the left side of it. Go to the capsule as regular X 
(hard because he has no air-dash) to get the Ultimate Armor. Get it as Zero 
and he will turn dark gray and become stronger. It is possible to get both of 
them. I recommend that you get at least 1 of them.

If you are X, you will fight Zero as the boss. If you are Zero, you will 
fight X in his Ultimate Armor.

Boss as X: Zero
Zero will dash around a lot. He will stop and fire 2 Z-Buster shots followed 
by a Z-Saber slash. Jump the buster shots and the slash should fly over you. 
He also punches the ground and makes fireballs fly up from the floor. If you 
have the Ultimate Armor, just ignore everything he does and keep using Giga 
Attack. If you lost Zero and the shuttle mission failed, then this battle is 
harder.

Boss as Zero: X in Ultimate Armor
X dashes around a lot, shooting charged shots here and there. That's what he 
will do most of the time. Jump over him and attack him at the same time. Use 
C-Flasher when far away. Sometimes X will use attacks from Mega Man X4. The 
only ones I've seen are Soul Body, Double Cyclone, and Frost Tower. You can 
tell what weapon he is going to use when he changes color. Jump over Double 
Cyclone. Frost Tower will make ice appear at the top of the screen. Just move 
out of the way before they fall. To dodge Soul Body, jump over every other 
soul.


THE FINAL STAGE  SIGMA

START PART 1-@
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                  THE BOSSES

Pick Ultimate Armor or Gray Zero for this stage. If you don't have them, pick 
Fourth Armor. If you don't have that, pick Falcon Armor.

Fall down, then go right. Don't touch the red things, they kill you on 
contact. They are everywhere. You come up to a small gap. To the right is a 
life pick-up. Fall in the gap to find 8 teleports. To continue you have to go 
to each teleport and beat the boss there. All the bosses have level 96, so 
they have enormous life bars. Follow the same strategies to beat them, unless 
you have the Ultimate Armor. In that case just use Giga Attack over and over 
and over. After you beat a boss you go back to the teleport room. Be sure to 
get the 2 life pick-ups after each boss you beat, so you can fill up your E-
tanks. After you beat all 8 bosses, go to the yellow teleport to continue.

The 8 teleports go to the following bosses, from left to right: Mattrex, Dark 
Dizzy, Izzy Glow, Squid Adler, Duff McWhalen, Grizzly Slash, Axle The Red, 
The Skiver.

The second part of the stage is easy until you get to the part with the 
blocks. Whenever a block (or 2) appears in front of you, quickly jump to it 
before the last ones disappear. When there is a set of 2 blocks followed by 
another set of 2 blocks, those are the last ones. Dash-jump or Giga Attack to 
the right and go through the gray door to Sigma.

NOTE: Like with the black blob in the first Zero Virus stage, this boss is 
very hard (after all, it is the final boss) and you should not use your E-
tanks until you are ready, because you can only use them once before you have 
to refill them.

Final Boss: Sigma
Cling to the wall when he throws the balls. When he warps to the right side 
he will shoot large waves of energy. Climb over the low one, duck the high 
one, and dash in air in between the double waves. As Zero, look for good 
opportunities to use E-Blade. You have to be quick as Zero, as it is not a 
good idea to be close to Sigma for too long. As X in Ultimate Armor, use Giga 
Attack. You should be able to do it right through him most of the time. Don't 
use an E-tank when fighting Sigma, you need to save them for the...

FINAL Final Boss: Wily's unfinished-but-good-enough ultimate body Sigma.
His weak point is the red spot on his forehead. You can't hurt Sigma when he 
turns wireframe.

As Ultimate Armor, cling to the top part of the walls, doing Giga Attack back 
and forth across his forehead. The Giga Attack will go right through most of 
his attacks, so just keep doing it. Use E-tank when necessary.

As Zero, cling to the right side of the wall. Jump off it, slash Sigma's 
forehead, and get back to the wall. You can also reach his forehead by 
jumping off his hands, but stay off the floor because of the hands. Zero's 
saber is strong so you can deal a lot of damage very quickly. Don't let his 
hands crush you, destroy them if they get in the way. When 4 balls come from 
his forehead, find some fancy maneuver to avoid them. When the purple squares 
appear, keep moving so they don't form on you. It really hurts to touch them. 
The last purple square will travel across the ceiling/wall/floor in your 
direction. Avoid it, and keep slashing Sigma the whole time. As X without the 
Ultimate Armor, use a similar strategy to Zero's, except instead of slashing 
him, use Spike Ball.

After you beat ultimate body Sigma, the game is over. Enjoy the ending. :)



_____________________________________________________________________________
This FAQ is copyright 2001 Ben Gesiak. This FAQ is only for the Internet. You 
may post it or any part of it on the Internet as long as you put my name on 
it. I want credit! Thank you!
