The WWW’s base, Castle Wily, is similar in structure to the base from the first game, with multiple levels both inside and out, with a skull-shaped building resting at the top, a foul-looking, polluted water pouring out into the sea. As soon as the group arrives we have to head down a path by the water to reach a door leading in, but there’s a secret jack in point in the wall directly ahead. Inside is the Collect program and a Heel Navi selling Sub Chips.
- Full Energy – 1000z
- Locate Enemy – 10000z
- Unlocker – 4000z
Collect is a godsend because what it does is guarantee a chip drop once a battle is over. This streamlines the process of filling out the Standard library considerably, and makes it a lot easier to get chips from especially stubborn viruses.
Through the door is a small room covered in monitors displaying charts and graphs of the human body, all of which are hooked up to some sort of chair-like device in the center of the room. None of them can be jacked in to, though there is a Regular UP 2 hidden on one of the devices in the room. The elevator at the far end of the room is currently inactive, meaning that the party is stuck. While everyone looks around for a port, Chaud wonders what the chair is for, and a voice answers that it’s called a Pulse Transmission System. The bearded man, of all people, enters the lab and finally introduces himself as Cossak
◊, a former SciLab scientist and another character from the Classic series revisited in Battle Network form (this is why I haven’t provided any art of him up until now, it would’ve been obvious who he was). How he got here short of stowing away on the boat I have no clue though. He’s here for some unfinished business, he claims.
Chaud recognizes the name as belonging to the former head of SciLab’s Independent Navi Project, the creator of the Auto Navi. Cossak changes the subject to the chair. The Pulse Transmission System, he explains, was an old SciLab project that was for the purpose of allowing humans the enter Cyberworld by converting their brainwaves into data and then transmitting them. Everything a person would experience there would be sent back to their brain. Tora hesitantly asks what would happen if someone died in Cyberworld and Cossak matter-of-factly states that their body would thus die in the real world as well, explaining why the project was originally scrapped. But still, it’s the only way to access the Cyberworld and free up the elevator, so Cossak gets into the chair and transmits himself, allowing the others to see what’s going on on one of the monitors.
The scene changes to the Cyberworld where Cossak’s virtual form is manipulating a control console. We he’s done he starts to head to the pulse out point but stops when a voice expresses bemusement at a human entering “my world.” The screen distorts, and sure enough Bass appears. Bass, as it turns out, is the Auto Navi mentioned earlier, and Cossak is his creator. Cossak is shocked at how strong Bass has become, at which Bass throws back his cloak to reveal a huge slash running through his Navi emblem, symbolizing how he was “betrayed.”
We’re given a quick crash course on Bass’s backstory, which is fleshed out a bit in the manga, one of the very few pieces of it that can fit within the game’s canon. As the Auto Navi, Bass was designed to not need a human operator or any outside support to function, and as a result of this he was something of an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy even before he turned to evil. He would constantly delete SciLab’s Navis and programs, thinking that he was helping the staff by showing how inefficient their creations were, but of course the scientists did not take kindly to this. When Alpha caused all of SciLab’s systems to malfunction the staff naturally thought that Bass was behind it, and against Cossak’s protests they sent an elite corps of Navis to delete him. Bass fought back and destroyed them all thanks to his main support ability, the Get Ability Program (nice Engrish) that allows him to copy other abilities, but was still injured in the process, hence the scar. Afterwards he crept away, vowing vengeance on the humans who had betrayed him, and he grew more and more powerful over the years by absorbing the powers of Navis and viruses that attacked him until the present day.
Cossak expresses his guilt at being responsible for such a hate-filled creation and declares that he will destroy Bass with his bare hands. Of course, Bass doesn’t feel threatened at all, even when Cossak begins gathering power…somehow…to himself. He simply attacks his creator with Earthbreaker. In the real world Cossak slumps in the chair as he suffers the effects of Bass’s attack. After muttering a few words regreting his hubris he urges Lan to delete Bass and loses consciousness. Dex says that he’ll take the man back to the boat while the others go on ahead.
The elevator leads outside, and the group quickly finds another door. However, a guard robot drops down from above and bars the way. The robot happens to resemble the Auto Tanks that were in ACDC, which is no coincidence as one of the NP Cs in Sci Lab I think it was mentioned that Wily designed them back when he worked for the place. The robot fires a beam of light at Lan, which he recognizes as Flashman’s Hypno Flash from back at the school. Tora distracts the robot by yelling at it, allowing Lan and Chaud to slip closer. Chaud says that he’ll do something about the beam, while Lan jacks in the shut the whole thing down.
The WWW Computer will serve as our final dungeon. It’s pretty simple in concept – Megaman just has to get to the end of the area, gathering ID-Data items to get through security doors. However, the robot has additional security in the form of guard programs that look sort of like the grasper claws in those UFO catcher games. They patrol the paths and if Megaman gets caught by one of them he’s hauled off to a containment area at the beginning of the network. Additionally, red puddles of Alpha goop are spread throughout the place. If Megaman runs into one of them Alpha will latch on to him, and his cry of surprise will attract the guard programs, and they’ll haul him off. The Alpha blobs are invisible, and can only be seen when the Alpha program we got from Yuuichiro is installed. But despite that it is possible to make it all the way through these areas without using the program, since they’re generally only in locations that would normally be a shortcut. So rule of thumb is to take the long way around whenever possible.
At the end of the area Megaman finds both Flashman and Rei awaiting him. Rei explains that since he’s been digitized, he and his Navi can now merge together, increasing their power, and Full Synchro finally gets officially named as they do so. Since I highly doubt Flashman was programmed with Rei’s genetic code I assume that this is basically a low-rent version of the phenomenon, not measuring up to the real thing. Still, Rei’s pretty confident about his chances of winning. We’ll see about that!
Flashman Alpha
HP: 500
Element: Elec
Attacks:
- Neon Light – Flashman sends a stream of balls of light towards Megaman for 30 Elec damage.
- Spark Arm – Flashman puts a hand to the ground, electrifying the column in front of him and one panel beyond in a truncated T shape for 45 Elec damage.
- Flash Light – Flashman summons two flashbulbs on Megaman’s field which will flash after a few moments, paralyzing him.
- Area Grab – Flashman steals the rightmost column of Megaman’s area.
Odd that the battle with Beastman before got bumped up to Beta yet Flashman did not. Well, the main thing about this battle is that if you try to stay in the back row to avoid Spark Arm after being paralyzed this time he’ll use Area Grab so that he can land the attack anyway. This combo can be pretty dangerous if you try fighting him early in the game, but not so much now, especially since I have a Wood Style. His very low HP doesn’t do him any favors either.
After the battle Flashman gears up for another last resort attack like he did before, expect this time Kingman drops down from above and smashes him. Flashman explodes, Lan thanks Tora, and everyone jacks out so that they can proceed. Tora will now stay near the deactivated robot where he can be challenged to a Net Battle at any time.
Through the next door is Wily’s lab, the room where we’ve seen him talking in throughout the game. Wily’s not here, but his presence remains thanks to two statues of himself that flank his desk, one of which Lan kicks over, allowing him and Chaud to reach the elevator behind the desk. Examining the laptop on the desk yields the Magnum 1 V chip. The elevator exits at the top of the castle with the path leading downward, and another robot blocks the way. Lan and Chaud attempt to sneak by it but fail, and the robot shoots a bubble out of a nozzle to cut Lan and Chaud off. Chaud goes on ahead while Lan deals with the robot. Dex returns to help out, and plugs up the nozzle with a rock, allowing Lan to jack in. It doesn’t take very long to encounter our next foe, Bubbleman.
Bubbleman Alpha
HP: 800
Element: Aqua
Attacks:
- Bubble Parade – Bubbles constantly issue from the empty panel in the center of Bubbleman’s field. They’ll drift into Megaman’s field and deal 80 Aqua damage upon contact.
- Fish Missile – Several of the Bubble Parade bubbles will have fish inside of them. Upon being popped the fish will rocket down its row for 80 Aqua damage.
- Mine – Occasionally a pink, sturdier bubble with a mine inside of it will be emitted from the empty panel. Once it gets up close to Megaman it’ll begin flashing before exploding in a plus shape for 80 damage.
- Sea Crab – Bubbleman lobs a crab into Megaman’s field which will behave exactly like a ratton projectile, dealing 80 Aqua damage.
- Aqua Shot – Bubbleman fires a volley of spears from his harpoon gun down one row for 100 Aqua damage.
- Bubble Wrap – Bubbleman encases himself in a reforming bubble to protect himself from attacks.
This battle is a royal pain thanks to Bubble Parade’s high damage and constant clogging of the field. But, as before, Flashman’s chips work well, especially on ice panels. On ice Flashman V3 deals out 360 points of damage, and 720 if Bubbleman’s using Bubble Wrap on top of that.
Bubbleman’s destruction does not stop the robot, however. At the end of the area Megaman finds Desertman and Sunayama. Upon expressing surprise at seeing the former producer, Sunayama tells Lan that Wily hacked the system to free him. He goes on to express relief that he can watch television again, since Chaud didn’t even keep his promise to tell him the N1 ratings. He and Desertman initiate Full Synchro and hide in the floor to attack Megaman, but this time Gutsman jacks in and forces him to the surface with his Guts Hammer attack.
Desertman Alpha
HP: 1200
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Lion Head – Desertman’s hands turn into lions and shoot down one row for 80 damage.
- Antlion – Two quicksand pits randomly appear on Megaman’s area that deal 80 damage if stepped on.
- Heavy Sand – A block of hardened sand appears above Megaman and crashes down on his panel for 120 damage.
This battle isn’t terribly fun mainly because taking out 1200 HP with Desertman’s dissolving gimmick in play is rather tedious. At least the field isn’t completely covered in sand like it is in his Beta battle.
Upon jacking out of the deactivated robot we can now freely challenge Dex to a Net Battle.
Moving on Lan heads down some stairs and encounters Chaud trapped by a ring of fire courtesy of a robot with a flamethrower attachment. He urges Lan to go on without him but Lan has none of that and jacks in.
At the end of this area are Anetta, Mr. Match, and their Navis. Lan’s still pissed at the two for what they’ve done, especially since Mr. Match rubs the fact that Lan inadvertently helped him in his face one last time. Both WWW members are completely unrepentant and merge with their Navis. Two boss fights in a row this time.
Plantman
HP: 1000
Element: Wood
Attacks:
- Rose Needle – Plantman shoots several spikes down one row for 50 Wood damage.
- Plant Weed – Plantman sticks his vines into the ground and they will track Megaman’s movements from below, hitting twice for 40 Wood damage per hit and immobilizing him.
- Yellow Flower – A yellow flower sprouts on the field and spreads pollen in a plus shape that will paralyze Megaman.
- Red Flower – A red flower sprouts on the field and spreads pollen in a plus shape that messes up Megaman’s movements.
This is one fight that should’ve been bumped up to at least Alpha. Plantman provides a much more interesting battle when Leaf Shield is in play.
Flameman
HP: 1000
Element: Fire
Attacks:
- Flame Breath – Flameman breathes a stream of fire down one row for 60 Fire damage.
- Fire Blaze – Flameman breathes a stream of fire that hits the panel in front of him before spreading out to hit the following 2 x 3 area for 60 Fire damage.
- Chaos Blaze – When one of the candles on Flameman’s field is burning orange two fireballs will circle around the perimeter of Megaman’s area for 60 Fire damage per hit.
- Life Blaze – When one of the candles on Flameman’s field is burning green Flameman is invulnerable.
- Healing Blaze – When one of the candles on Flameman’s field is burning red Flameman will regenerate HP.
This guy, on the other hand, I’m glad didn’t get any buffs.
With this robot shut down we’re free to move ahead. Like the others, Chaud says behind, but we can’t battle him yet. The door leads back into the laboratory, only on the opposite side of the room (it’s divided into two halves by a stream of the polluted water) where a bunch of prototype and experimental Pulse Transmission Systems are stored. Lan finds a secret passage further in behind some cables and comes out into a corridor that looks exactly the same as the ones from the WWW base in the first game. At the end is a giant door that Lan and Megaman assume Wily to be behind, but before they can go through they hear a grinding noise and a fourth robot, this one armed with a drill, suddenly bursts through the wall. Drillman demands Lan to jack in so that he can fight Megaman and since he’s proven willing to skewer Lan he has no choice but to comply. Drillman awaits at the end of the area.
Drillman
HP: 600
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Drill Drive – Drillman flies down one row in his drill form along with two additional drills on the other two rows for 80 damage.
- Panel Crusher – Drillman and his two drills burst from three random panels in Megaman’s area, breaking them and causing three pieces of rubble to randomly fall. Each part of the attack deals 80 damage.
- Triple Hole – Three portals open up on each row in Drillman’s area and fire a constant barrage of drills down all rows for 80 damage per hit.
Yet another Navi that I’m glad wasn’t beefed up any for the rematch.
After he’s defeated Drillman decides to blow the robot up, killing both Lan and Megaman, but this time Protoman jacks and well, you should the drill (heh) with him by now. Chaud’s standing next to the giant door , and if you talk to him he says that they’ll settle their rivalry after this is all over (meaning the postgame) at Hades Isle. For now, saving the world comes first.
This is the point of no return, so it’s time to sign off for now. The world will be saved next time.
Virus Listing
- Elebee
- These viruses are electric wasps that prove very difficult to hit and vanish completely from the field for seconds at a time. They attack by appearing either in front of or behind Megaman and attempting to sting him.
Soundtrack
- Wily Research Lab
- Castle Wily's theme. Very ominous.
- Final Transmission
- The WWW Computer's theme. Having so few dungeons in this game was worth it for this track alone.
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