Wily Fortress Assaults

Lore & Background

The conflict begins on a seemingly peaceful day when Dr. Wily reprograms robots at an annual Robot Master Exposition. While Mega Man and his dog Rush resist the signal due to their strong sense of justice, the robotic bird Beat is incapacitated, losing four parts during the chaos. Wily deploys eight rebuilt robots: Toad Man, Bright Man, Pharaoh Man, and Ring Man (originally from Mega Man 4), followed by Crystal Man, Napalm Man, Stone Man, and Charge Man (from Mega Man 5). After clearing these stages, Mega Man proceeds directly to the Wily Fortress stages, which include a rematch with Ballade. Collecting the letters 'W-I-L-Y' in the second half of the game is required to access the final stage and the true ending.

In Their Own Story

Having cleared the initial eight stages, Mega Man locates Beat's scattered parts to restore his companion. He then tracks Dr. Wily to a massive tank-like mobile base hidden in the forest. Inside this fortress, he confronts Ballade, a robot specifically designed as a Mega Man Killer. After defeating him, Mega Man defeats Crystal Man, Napalm Man, Stone Man, and Charge Man, who were part of Wily's scheme to frame Proto Man. Returning to the base, Mega Man faces Ballade again in a victorious rematch. However, Dr. Wily quickly retreats to his secret space battleship. Dr. Light equips Rush with a space flight ability, allowing Mega Man to launch a one-man assault on this new stronghold. Inside the exploding space station, Mega Man defeats Wily but finds himself trapped. In a final act of repentance, Ballade appears badly damaged from his two prior losses against Mega Man. He self-destructs, creating an escape hole through which the hero safely flees as the fortress is destroyed.

Reader's Guide

Players traverse two sets of selectable stages in any order, facing Robot Masters who drop Power Chips (P-Chips). These chips are used at Dr. Light's lab to purchase items like health, lives, Energy Tanks, or the Auto Charger (Energy Balancer), which restores energy to the weapon with the least charge. The first four stages contain letters spelling "B-E-A-T"; collecting all four allows the player to summon Beat for assistance. The latter four stages house letters spelling "W-I-L-Y," which are mandatory to collect to access the fortress rematch with Ballade and the final battleship. Hidden passages in the second half may reveal Eddie, who gives random items, or Proto Man, who leaves Energy Tanks or weapon refills. A new feature allows players to purchase restorative items using P-Chips found throughout stages. The game also introduces a boss rush where Mega Man must fight all eight Robot Masters again in a teleportation hatch within Dr. Wily's castle before facing the final confrontation.

Did You Know?

• The Ballade rematch occurs regardless of whether the player collects the letters 'W-I-L-Y'.
• Collecting the four letters spelling 'W-I-L-Y' in the second half of the game is required to access the final stage and the true ending; the Ballade rematch occurs regardless.
• The Auto Charger (Energy Balancer) was originally conceived for Mega Man 5 but was removed until its introduction in this title via Dr. Light's shop.
• Ballade sacrifices himself at the end of the game to blast open a wall for Mega Man's escape, having been badly damaged from two previous losses against Mega Man.