Mega Man X2 - RetroAchievements/guides GitHub Wiki
| Set Difficulty | 5/10 |
| Approx. time to master | 20 hrs |
| No. of missables | N/A |
| Does difficulty affect achievements? | N/A |
| Minimum numbers of playthroughs needed | At least 2. I recommend saving the 50 point achievements for their own playthrough though. |
| Hardest achievement of the set | eXtreme Dedication (50) |
Mega Man X2 is the second game in the Mega Man X series. Released on the SNES in 1995, it made use of a special chip to generate 3D wireframe graphics. It's also widely considered one of the best Mega Man X games. It follows the story of the first Mega Man X. A mysterious group of Mavericks called the X-Hunters lure Mega Man X into battle by holding Zero's parts, who died in the first game.
The set has 70 achievements worth 667 points. It also has 4 leaderboards.
Red Hot Chilli Pepper (5) Defeat Wire Sponge
Interior Crocodile Alligator (5) Defeat Wheel Gator
Road Runner (5) Defeat Overdrive Ostrich
Arriba! (5) Defeat Bubble Crab
Out of Flames (5) Defeat Flame Stag
Evolutionism (5) Defeat Morph Moth
Psychic Type (5) Defeat Magna Centipede
Snailed it! (5) Defeat Crystal Snail
Bullying The Bully (10) Defeat Violen in X-Hunter Base
Dr. Wily Is Disappointed (10) Defeat Serges in X-Hunter Base
Undefined Hovering Object (10) Defeat Agile in X-Hunter Base
Return of the Revenge (10) Defeat all 8 bosses in the boss rush!
All Over Once Again (10) Beat the game
You will get all of these achievements by completing the game normally.
Everything In Its Right Place (5) Watch Zero defeat his dark persona
What Is He Fighting For? (10) Defeat Zero
These two achievements are mutually exclusive. Zero's parts are obtained by defeating the X-Hunters when they appear in Maverick stages. You either defeat the X-Hunters or you don't. This set requires at least 2 playthroughs for that reason.
Violent (5) Defeat Violen in one of the eight Maverick stages
Not So Agile After All (5) Defeat Agile in one of the eight Maverick stages
In-Genius (5) Defeat Serges in one of the eight Maverick stages
As mentioned above, the X-Hunters appear after clearing two Maverick stages. They are in areas off the beaten path. Defeating them will earn you these achievements.
I Know Your Secrets (5) Get the head upgrade
The head upgrade is located in Crystal Snail's stage. After the midboss, there will be a wide pit. Fall down it and go to the left to find the head upgrade.
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Detonation in 3... 2... 1... (5) Get the body upgrade
The body upgrade is located in Morph Moth's stage. When the stage begins to go indoors, there will be a corner. You can use Spin Wheel to break the tiles and creating a pit to fall down. Down there is the body upgrade.
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Full Power (5) Get the arm upgrade
The arm upgrade is located in Wheel Gator's stage. Near the beginning, there will be an opening in the top. There are several ways to get this. The intended way is to use the leg upgrade to dash into the left wall. However, you can also use Strike Chain to save having to revisit the stage. There are also a couple other methods that are covered later in this guide.
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What Is Physics? (5) Get the leg upgrade
The leg upgrade is located in Overdrive Ostrich's stage. After the hoverbike section, there will be a wall of breakable blocks. Use the Spin Wheel to obtain the leg upgrade.
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Overpowered (10) Get all the armor upgrades [Secret Technique excluded, No Passwords Allowed]
You'll get this one after getting the 4 upgrades mentioned.
Heart-Warming (10) Get all the heart containers [No Passwords Allowed]
Helpful (10) Obtain all Sub Tanks [No Passwords Allowed]
There is a heart container in every stage. The Sub Tanks are in Flame Stag, Wire Sponge, Magna Centipede and Bubble Crab's stages.
Street Fighting (25) Get the special technique
The hidden technique (Shoryuken) is in the third X-Hunter stage. You MUST have all hearts, sub tanks, and armor parts in order for the capsule to appear. There is a hidden upper path that can be accessed by freezing a bat enemy with Crystal Hunter. Make it through unscathed and slide down the wall for the Shoryuken! At full health and with the X Buster equipped, press →↓↘ and Attack to execute this move.
Completely Done! (25) Beat the game with all heart containers, sub tanks, upgrades, Zero parts and technique
You will get this achievement by finishing the game with all items.
This section is achievements with specific requirements which are obtained within the levels.
Starting Well (5) Complete the initial stage without taking damage
It's honestly pretty simple to get through the opening stage without taking damage. You shouldn't have too much trouble here. Just be careful.
Mega Weatherman (5) Manipulate all four possible weathers through the same orb pedestal in Wire Sponge Stage
You need to hit one weather orb with Speed Burner (sunny), Bubble Splash (rainy), Strike Chain (normal), and Crystal Hunter (misty). Be sure to do Crystal Hunter last as the orb will shatter after using it.
Staying for the Night (1) Enjoy the city view while at full night in Wheel Gator Stage
Enter Wheel Gator's stage. Wait for a while. Eventually it turns to nighttime. Enjoy your 1 point.
Few Resources (10) Get the arm upgrade without having the leg upgrade, S. Chain or G. Crush
You can do a ridiculously precise, possibly pixel perfect walljump. Or you can utilize Crystal Hunter by luring the tank enemy to the right. This is sort of tricky as the enemy will freeze after getting a certain distance. Once the enemy freezes, tiptoe over to the right and it should move forward with you. Eventually, you will hit the sweet spot and the enemy will roll over to the next platform. Freeze it with Crystal Hunter and dash into the hole. If you accidentally kill the enemy, go down and then back up and it'll respawn.
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Putting Your Life at Risk (5) Get the Second extra life in Flame Stag's Stage and get to the top of the volcano without taking damage
Honestly a simple achievement. You just need to be quick.
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Magna Heart (5) Get the Heart Container in Magna Centipede's Stage without upgrades or weapons
Line yourself up with the block under the hole (respawn it by moving to the right then going back.). If you press B at the right time you can grab onto the wall and jump off it. It's more forgiving than you might expect.
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Magna Sub-Tank (5) Get the Sub-Tank in Magna Centipede's Stage without upgrades using only the X-Buster
Provided you are quick enough in the crushing block section, a lone gray block will await you at the end. This block falls and moves to the right. Land on the block and dash to the right to get into the sub tank alcove. If you don't make it, you'll have to die and try again.
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Shhh, Silence (10) Reach the second miniboss of Magna Centipede's Stage without activating any alarm
I would recommend having the leg upgrade when doing this. It's not impossible without it, but it makes one spot in the last section loads easier. It's not incredibly difficult to do this, just study the searchlight patterns from a safe spot and be careful. You will have to exit the stage if you fail the 2nd set.
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Watch Out! You Gonna Crash! AAAAAHHH!!! (5) Get the Heart Container in Overdrive Ostrich's Stage without dying in the process
Two steps to this achievement: First, you need to get the bike up to where the heart is. Hold down the dash button and spam shots and you should get past every obstacle and make it up there. Now, the tricky part: You need to grab the heart in a way where you don't crash the bike and die. I try to turn immediately after passing the overhang. If you turn too early, you can still try again, but turning too late means you will crash and have to reset. Try to turn so that the momentum carries you into the heart while turning. Once you get the hang of the timing, it's not too hard.
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Very Hidden Life (5) Get the first Extra Life in X-Hunter Stage 3
You need to use Strike Chain and drag it towards you.
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Crystal Energy (4) Find the Secret Energy Weapon drop in Crystal Snail's Stage and use it
Water Energy (3) Find the Secret Energy Weapon drop in Bubble Crab's Stage and use it
Sand Energy (3) Find the Secret Energy Weapon drop in Overdrive Ostrich's Stage and use it
Charged Silk Shot normally gathers a bunch of trash, but in specific spots it will instead gather energy. This is a good way to farm Sub-Tanks if needed.
Bubble Crab: Right under the area where the fish robot comes out.
Overdrive Ostrich: Over the area where you first get the bike. You need to have Spin Wheel in order to access it.
Crystal Snail: After the head upgrade, there will be a ladder. Climb up it.
Mighty No.9 (5) Get 9 lives
I couldn't find a good spot to put this one... Be sure to grab any 1-up you happen to find. You can farm the first one in Crystal Snail's stage if you've already beaten him, as it's close enough to the entrance of the stage.
This section is achievements with specific requirements which are obtained in boss fights.
There are 8 achievements for defeating each of the 8 Mavericks buster only. The only restriction is you must only use the X Buster.
Sponge Man (5) Defeat Wire Sponge using only the X-Buster
He's the Maverick most people choose first, so naturally this won't be too difficult. He'll spin his chain around making himself invincible before throwing it at you, make sure you're on the wall when he decides to throw it to avoid it. He can also attach himself to the ceiling and spit seeds which sprout into growths upon hitting the ground or wall. He can also jump and grapple to the wall so be mindful of that if it happens. At low HP, he'll suddenly begin turning red before doing a little dance and zapping you with lightning. The lightning comes out in predetermined spots. The safest spot is right next to him, since lightning never strikes there. With luck, you can get the no damage achievement on Wire Sponge as well.
Moth Man (10) Defeat Morph Moth using only the X-Buster
Morph Moth is resistant to dashing lemons (shooting from a dash does double damage), so charge shots are more viable here. He starts out in a cocoon, swinging back and forth and spewing garbage. Depending on the emulator, this will lag the game tremendously and make it somewhat easier to dodge. YMMV. Eventually, he'll break the string and slide around on the floor. Stick to the walls when he does this. Eventually he'll go back up and spew garbage in a circular motion. You'll have to dash over and under him repeatedly until he decides to stop. After enough damage has been dealt, the cocoon will break and the ceiling will be destroyed. In this second phase, Morph Moth has a pattern of swooping and firing a beam from his hands. It's not difficult to grasp this pattern, but sometimes he can be a jerk and stay swooping for a while. He doesn't have a lot of health in Phase 2 so just keep at it and he'll be down before you know it. Be wary because he deals a large amount of contact damage.
Stag Man (10) Defeat Flame Stag using only the X-Buster
Flame Stag is a very mobile opponent, making use of his tall room during the fight. The battle is honestly really simple, you just need to react to what he does. He usually starts with walljumping. Stay on the ground and wait for him to come down. I like to dash under him to ensure he doesn't corner me. What he'll usually do next is try to uppercut you by dashing towards you. Dash away and onto the wall when he does this, then fall back down because he'll walljump right after you. He can also do a 1-2 punch fireball move. The first shot goes on the ground while the second goes up at an arc and climbs the wall. At less than half health, Flame Stag's fire turns blue and deals more damage. You shouldn't have too much trouble on this boss.
Magna Man (10) Defeat Magna Centipede using only the X-Buster
Magna Centipede is easier than one might think buster only. Hitting him with dash lemons sends him into recoil, and after that, he will teleport. If you're lucky, you can get him into a sort of loop of getting hit, teleporting, and getting hit again. He can attack by throwing shurikens, and with his tail. If he does a pose with his fist in the air, he is going to try magnetizing you to his tail. You must dash away to avoid this, as otherwise your abilities will get inhibited and the fight gets way more difficult. The leg upgrade helps a lot in the event he does this while on the ceiling. He can also break his tail off and have the pieces circle around X before closing in. It's two to start and three when his health gets low. Look for the opening when the pieces stop spinning. I get unlucky in the video.
Ostrich Man (5) Defeat Overdrive Ostrich using only the X-Buster
Overdrive Ostrich can be a tricky foe. His main method of attacking is by running into you. He'll let out a battle cry before doing this. He is invulnerable until he skids to a halt. He can also jump instead of running. Dash under him instead of jumping over. He is vulnerable while jumping. Overdrive Ostrich can also attack using the Sonic Slicer. He may jump in place and shoot a single slicer at you, which is avoided easily. He can also jump and shoot a bunch of Sonic Slicers up into the air, which come down shortly after. The Sonic Slicers are almost baited by your position on the screen, so dash under Ostrich when he jumps, stop, then move out of the way of the Sonic Slicers. It's kind of hard to explain through just text what I mean, you're just going to have to get a feel for it. Be careful not to let Ostrich get too far off screen. He'll run in from the background and try to land on top of you, being completely invulnerable while doing so.
Crab Man (5) Defeat Bubble Crab using only the X-Buster
Probably my least favorite Maverick to do Buster Only. In this fight, you want to exploit the fact that Bubble Crab tries to jam you with energy from his shoulders whenever you go straight above him. This is another fight where having the leg upgrade helps a lot, as you can airdash over him then quickly turn away to avoid damage. It doesn't always work. I try to do this when Bubble Crab creates his protective bubble shield. If you don't do this strategy, then the fight quickly turns messy as Crab summons his minions which float on the top of the water. If you shoot them, they dash towards you. He can also fire his Bubble Splash at you which you need to jump over. But yeah, don't let him summon his minions.
Gator Man (5) Defeat Wheel Gator using only the X-Buster
Be prepared for a long boss as Wheel Gator likes to spend most of the fight submerged under oil/blood/mystery liquid. This is another fight where charged shots are useful, as you can smack him with a high damage charge shot after he resurfaces. After that, pay attention to what he decides to do next. He can launch Spin Wheel from his shoulders in an arcing pattern. Stay close to him and they should go over your head. He can also open his mouth and eat your shots before spitting them back at you. This is telegraphed by him flashing blue and turning invincible. You can get a lot of damage when he's above the oil so capitalize on that and hopefully the time he spends diving is kept to a minimum. If he happens to dive again, charge and stick to the wall. He will launch a Spin Wheel that climbs the wall. Using the leg upgrade you can hop off the wall and dash onto it again which dodges the wheel. It's not impossible without them, though. Stay off the oil as Wheel Gator will grab you when he resurfaces, dealing a ton of damage in the process. At low health, he will also drill into the wall and create spikes. He will close his mouth before doing this compared to leaving his mouth open when he decides to launch Spin Wheel. Depending on what he decides to do, he should go down rather quickly.
Snail Man (10) Defeat Crystal Snail using only the X-Buster
Another long boss. Crystal Snail has armor, that being his shell which can block shots. He has two forms of attack: spinning in his shell before rocketing towards you, and Crystal Hunter. He is completely invincible while inside his shell, so the best shot to hit him is when he's on the ground. Utilize dash lemons! Be careful as he will counterattack with Crystal Hunter. It doesn't do damage but it does freeze you in place and he'll take the opportunity to ram into you. What you need to watch out for is at low health, he will charge Crystal Hunter and cause a slowdown effect. This can make his ramming attack incredibly difficult to dodge. This fight is probably one of the more difficult ones but it's still not particularily dangerous, just don't get too hasty.
There are 13 no damage boss achievements. Obviously the 8 Mavericks, but also each of the X-Hunters and 2 minibosses.
The tips given in this section will focus more on weakness interactions with bosses as I already gave indepth explanations for what each boss does in the Buster Only section.
No Damage, Dry Sponge (10) Defeat Wire Sponge without taking damage
Wire Sponge's weakness is Sonic Slicer. However, the boss is simple enough that you can easily defeat him without taking damage even using only the X Buster. His weakness can be used to cut through his spinning chain. It shouldn't take you very long to defeat him. Weakness not recommended, as Sonic Slicer is slow should you happen to miss.
It's Morphin Time! (10) Defeat Morph Moth without taking damage
Morph Moth's weakness is Speed Burner. It burns him while in the cocoon phase, but otherwise the strategy is relatively the same as a Buster Only fight, only it's finished much faster. Weakness recommended.
X Is Going Stag (10) Defeat Flame Stag without taking damage
Flame Stag's weakness is Bubble Splash and it can be used to easily stunlock him. Wait until he lands back on the ground, then shoot Bubble Splash at him. He will retaliate by throwing a fireball, which is easily jumped over. You can get into a rhythm of shooting, dodging, and shooting again. Flame Stag will go down in record time using this strategy. Weakness recommended, although I think it makes the fight a lot less interesting.
Magna Man X (10) Defeat Magna Centipede without taking damage
Magna Centipede's weakness is Silk Shot. Using Silk Shot severely neuters the fight's difficulty, as the weapon chops off Centipede's tail when he's hit by it. This gets rid of 2 attacks (his most dangerous ones). Not only that, but getting Magna Centipede into a loop of teleporting is much easier with Silk Shot, since the weapon is perfect at hitting him on the ceiling as well as in front of you. Stay in the middle and react to where Centipede teleports. Watch out because Magna Centipede, as demonstrated in the video, can teleport a high number of times before eventually becoming vulnerable again. Weakness recommended.
Magna Centipede (with weakness)
Meep Meep (10) Defeat Overdrive Ostrich without taking damage
Overdrive Ostrich's weakness is Crystal Hunter. Another boss easily cheesed by their weakness. Hit Ostrich with Crystal Hunter, and he'll retaliate by doing his attack where he shoots a bunch of Sonic Slicers in the air. Let's hope you learned to dodge that attack, as it's the only one you'll have to worry about. As demonstrated in the video, doing this properly renders Overdrive Ostrich as simple as Toad Man! Weakness recommended.
Overdrive Ostrich (with weakness)
Bubble Popper (10) Defeat Bubble Crab without taking damage
Bubble Crab's weakness is Spin Wheel. Even with the weakness, this guy finds a way to be annoying. The strategy is pretty much the same as defeating him Buster Only, only you don't have to jump over him as often. Spin Wheel will get rid of his bubble shield in 1 hit. Be cautious of his movement. Weakness recommended.
No Damage Wheeling (10) Defeat Wheel Gator without taking damage
Wheel Gator's weakness is Strike Chain. The strategy is pretty much the same as Buster Only. Weakness not recommended, as using Strike Chain forces Wheel Gator to dive again and its damage is outclassed by charged X Buster shots.
The Quick Multi-Colored X (10) Defeat Crystal Snail without taking damage
Crystal Snail's weakness is Magnet Mine. Using Magnet Mine will launch Crystal Snail forward from his shell. You can plant another Magnet Mine behind you for more damage. The fun begins from here, as the fight radically changes to a game of keep away. Ideally, you want to keep Crystal Snail out of his shell as long as possible. You can dash into it to knock it away. Crystal Snail will try his absolute hardest to get back in the shell, dashing and jumping. He moves surprisingly fast for a snail, so you may be better off letting him reenter the shell if you want to avoid damage. Once inside the shell, he will try to counterattack with his time slowing move, but can be hit before it activates. Weakness recommended, but be ready to deal with Crystal Snail's fast movement.
Failure in Tracking (5) Defeat the sub boss without taking damage in Magna Centipede's Stage
Not difficult in the slightest, provided you don't let it scan you before entering the miniboss room. The only thing it can do is shoot a low shot at you, which can be jumped over, and jump at you while shooting a spread of 3 shots, which can be dashed under. It gets more difficult if you let it scan you. It's weak to Speed Burner.
Breaking Diamond (5) Defeat the sub boss without taking damage in Crystal Snail's Stage
It takes 4 Spin Wheels to defeat this boss. The boss itself is stationary, but the issue is the little node it sends out to fire shots at you. Keep a constant watch of whatever this node is doing. If you take too long, the boss will spawn another.
The big boys. These 3 are worth 25 each for a reason. Their fights are more difficult than any of the other fights, they do not react to their weaknesses, and (if I'm remembering this correctly), they will eventually leave the stage if you fail too many times and Game Over repeatedly.
A password will be provided that spawns the X-Hunter in Overdrive Ostrich's stage (which has the quickest way to access an X-Hunter room for ease in retrying.) It provides you with most armor except the Body and no heart tanks in case you need to retry (and you probably will).
Super Intelligent (25) Defeat Serges without taking damage in one of the eight Maverick stages
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Sort of like Morph Moth, this boss is easier if your emulator of choice properly emulates the lag. Serges attacks by spinjumping and shooting a spray of bullets in a circular motion. There are gaps between the bullets so you can dodge. Leaving him alone, he will try dropping landmines. These mines make the fight more difficult, so you should never let him place them. He also has a reflective shield that he puts up if you try to damage him. You need to sort of catch him offguard. Dash lemons are your friend in this fight. You can get Serges in a loop if you time it right, but this is honestly more difficult than it's worth. Weakness not recommended, as it's Sonic Slicer and is a bit too slow to reliably hit Serges with.
Super Agile (25) Defeat Agile without taking damage in one of the eight Maverick stages
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Agile is, as the name suggests, very quick. His method of attacking is dashing at you, slashing his saber. This dash is incredibly difficult, if not impossible to react to on the ground. Your best bet is staying on the walls. He can also send a shockwave based on your vertical position. The way you want this fight to play out is: get on the wall, Agile sends a shockwave, fall off and land on the ground, rinse & repeat. You need to be prepared if he decides to dash along the ground to quickly airdash over him. It's hard, but doable. Just be prepared for it to take a couple tries as Agile can easily mix you up with dash timings. Weakness recommended. Although Magnet Mine is slow, the explosion hitbox is forgiving enough that if it misses, it might hit Agile on the way back down from jumping.
Super Violent (25) Defeat Violen without taking damage in one of the eight Maverick stages
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So... you ready to go gambling? A successful no-hit Violen is heavily decided on RNG. Let's start with the simple stuff. He can shoot in a spread from his hands. Climb the wall to avoid it. He can also jump and do this. You need to dash and stand in the safe spot, which is near the edge of the spread. Refer to the video. Now for the thing that will probably make you claw your hair out in frustration: the wrecking ball. It's NOT completely random where he throws it. As far as I can tell, he has a fast and slow pattern. The fast pattern has him throw the ball in 3 predictable arcs, gradually getting closer to himself. Try to figure out what the safe spots are first, then stand in them in case he decides to do the attack again. The slow pattern has the ball kind of tracked to your position. The strategy I find is to bait the ball to slam above your head. Just be prepared to die because usually the slow ball will end your attempt swiftly. What you're looking for is either: A. he slams the ball in the predictable fast pattern and you get a lot of damage by standing in a safe spot or B. he keeps jumping. Don't let Violen corner you, try to keep him at a distance from the wall. If RNGesus is in your favor, he'll play nice and you'll get this achievement. Good luck. Weakness recommended. Bubble Splash tears through his HP very quickly if he lets you get free damage.
Two Sponges (5) Cut Wire Sponge in half in its stage
Defeating Wire Sponge with Sonic Slicer plays a special death animation where he gets sliced in half.
No Teleport Here (3) Cut off Magna Centipede's tail
Hitting Magna Centipede with Silk Shot, his weakness, for the first time causes his tail to be cut off.
Get Out of This Shell Now (3) Knock Crystal Snail out of his shell
Shellshock! (10) Using only Magnet Mine, never let Crystal Snail re-enter his shell
Hitting Crystal Snail with his weakness launches him from his shell. From there, dashing into the shell bumps it around. Crystal Snail will try his best to reenter the shell and you need to constantly bump into it and keep it away from him.
Butterfree (5) Let Moth transform to his second form without damaging him
Morph Moth will gradually grow larger the longer he stays in his cocoon. Just be good at dodging and make sure not to deal any damage to him and this one should pop easily.
Face to all Face (25) Finish the boss rush without dying and not recovering HP, using only the X-Buster [Shoryuken banned]
So you can beat all 8 Mavericks with only the X Buster? Good! Now do it without dying and without recovering HP in between. To be honest, knowing the correct strategies for each boss makes this achievement easier than you might initially think.
Refer back to the Buster Only strategies listed above if you need help. There are a couple differences here. Bubble Crab has spikes on the ceiling of his arena. Flame Stag starts out with blue flames. Wheel Gator can do his drill attack whenever he wants. The differences are honestly minor enough that you probably won't notice any difference from fighting them normally. This is going to sound crazy, but I actually think you should save the ones you find more difficult for last. I'm prone to making more mistakes if I go after, say, Bubble Crab first compared to someone easy such as Wire Sponge. And being too reckless means death considering you aren't allowed to heal. My order in the video is:
- Wire Sponge
- Magna Centipede
- Wheel Gator
- Morph Moth
- Flame Stag
- Overdrive Ostrich
- Bubble Crab
- Crystal Snail
This is not a be-all-end-all order so adjust it as needed. Again, this achievement isn't too difficult if you're already used to doing these bosses buster only. If you mess up, you will either need to restart the game (the password will be saved) or game over. Good luck! Video
The 2 achievements left both require full playthroughs of the game. I'd recommend saving them until after you get every other achievement, as while I think hypothetically it is possible to get these achievements within the 2 required playthroughs (with and without Zero), it's more trouble than it's really worth. Plus, the game is fairly short as it is.
Both of these achievements are worth 50 points, and they are worth that much for their own separate reasons.
Maverick Power (50) Beat the game without dying
This achievement is as simple as it sounds, beat the whole game without dying in one sitting. What makes this challenging is the large amount of instant kill spikes within most levels. If you don't know the stages very well, you will probably die to these spikes more often than not. I recommend going for all the items in this playthrough, as having more heart tanks and armor makes it so you're less likely to die to bosses. I went for Shoryuken, but you can forgo that for safety if you decide to skip the more challenging hearts (Wheel Gator, Overdrive Ostrich, Crystal Snail). With practice, this is very doable. Good luck.
eXtreme Dedication (50) Beat the game without any Upgrades, Sub-Tanks, Heart Containers and Zero Parts [No Passwords]
Now you're forced to do a low% run. This achievement really doesn't get awful until the fortress stages and then it's like a myriad of awful bosses all stacked on top of one another. You will most likely die tens of thousands of times because the bosses are brutal without any armor parts. The early game is not too bad, though, especially since you don't have to worry about the X Hunters. I'll give tips on how to beat the fortress bosses:
Hey, remember no damaging Violen? Cool, now try doing it with him spawning blocks making the ball even more unpredictable! Thankfully, you don't have to no damage him this time. The strategy is pretty much the same as normal Violen, but you'll have to take into account how the blocks screw with the ball's trajectory. It's more likely for the ball to get caught on the blocks in this fight. Still very, very difficult and will probably be your first roadblock.
This boss is really, really difficult if you have no idea what exactly to do. You obviously don't have charged Sonic Slicer to take him out by staying under him, but you also don't have Giga Crush to deal with his first phase quickly. You can use Silk Shot to deal with the pods in Phase 1, as they are usually dealt with in 1 hit, but you will have to watch out for him shooting. Still, the phase will probably be dealt with quickly before it gets too hectic. Now comes Phase 2 which is where the real fun begins. Serges will shoot out orbs that split into either an X or + pattern, it alternates between the two. X>+>X>+ and so on. The position Serges shoots these orbs is actually dependent on your own position. If you are high on the screen, he will shoot low and vice versa. Since the Sonic Slicer has a slight downward trajectory, I like to stay above Serges as I find the orbs much easier to dodge from the top. Use the platforms to maintain your position and if an opening arrives, shoot Serges with the Sonic Slicer. Once you find this strategy, the boss really isn't too difficult but be mindful of the orbs as you have to constantly be aware of how they'll split and where you need to stand. It goes from impossibly difficult to doable but agonizingly long with this strategy.
You get a bit of a breather for 2 stages. Agile is weak to Magnet Mine and his attacks are pretty easy to dodge, just stay on the platform and shoot up at him. For the rematches, you've fought these bosses before, so just do it again. You're free to utilize their weaknesses as much as you'd like.
And suddenly you will slam straight into another brick wall because the final bosses are TOUGH. You have to fight 3 in a row, with only one health bar (pretty much... we'll get into that.) and with no checkpoints in between and demand complete mastery of their patterns.
You are forced to fight Zero for this achievement. He is probably the easiest of the 3 bosses as his pattern is fairly easy to grasp. Stick to the wall when he fires his opening barrage. Then he'll dash towards you and slam the ground. You want to jump earlier than you might think to dodge this attack. You then hit him with Speed Burner, rinse, repeat. Any damage you take here will hurt you for the next fight, so try to keep it to a minimum. Once you are used to it, he goes down easy.
Now the real fun begins. Sigma is very erratic with what he decides to do so you are very likely to get hit frequently. He is weak to Sonic Slicer. Most of the time, he will open the fight dashing at you and slashing you when he gets close which knocks you around and deals a lot of damage. Go to the wall immediately. From there, he can jump up the wall and disappear before reappearing right on top of you. Constantly keep moving to avoid this attack, I like to shoot Sonic Slicers as they bound off the wall and are likely to hit him when he returns. He can also summon electric orbs, which is probably his most difficult attack as you have to weave between them properly in order to not take huge damage. When he reaches half health, he will glow yellow and fire a huge wall of electricity. This is actually more desirable than the orbs as it's pretty easy and he can get stuck doing this over and over leading to an easy victory. Be aware constantly of Sigma's options, he is really fun but also incredibly tough and can mix you up if you're not on top of things.
I would argue this boss is more difficult than Sigma, but mostly it's a war of attrition. He has 64 HP and every charged X Buster shot does 1 damage, so prepare yourself for the long haul. I think this fight genuinely took me over half an hour on my successful attempt. Sigma Virus has a pattern, he first tracks to your position, then fires a laser, then tracks to your position, spawns enemies, rinse repeat. For the laser, if you stand right next to the wall on the side he starts firing, it will miss, but I wouldn't rely on doing this and it's better to dodge it normally. What you're looking to do here is bait Sigma to spawn enemies in a way where you can take care of them easily. You're wanting to bait him to aim downward, and this can be achieved by trying to make him go to the upper middle of the room. From there, the enemies are very simply taken care of with a charged shot. The orbs he spits do a lot of damage before summoning an enemy so be careful! This boss is made easier solely because he spawns enemies, as they can drop health pickups for you. The enemy most likely to do this is the purple screwdriver one. Sigma's health is determined by his color. He starts out green, then light blue, a dark blue, purple, orange, light red, dark red. What makes it difficult is the lag that the enemies can generate, which can and probably will throw you off the rhythm of the pattern. This is, once again, emulator dependent. When Sigma turns light red, he'll start teleporting around the room, and you're basically already done at this point provided you have good health. You can switch to Strike Chain and let him teleport on top of you (I didn't do this in the video). This will damage you but you can also spam the everloving hell out of Strike Chain to chunk his lifebar. After that, stay on Strike Chain because after that he usually won't have very much health at all. Provided you can maintain a constant rhythm through this marathon of a final boss, the achievement is yours!
Video by HikanowaGuild, less lag
If you're reached the end of this guide, congratulations on your mastery of Mega Man X2! Playing through this set and working on this guide has really cemented this game's place as my favorite Mega Man X game. If I ever feel like it, I may do a guide for the first Mega Man X game as well, but it's been a while since I mastered that game and I'd prefer to focus on other things at the moment. Thank you for reading.
Special thanks to:
Mega Man Home Page's X2 Password Generator
HikanowaGuild for their Sigma strategy as I don't think I ever would've figured it out and completed the set without their video and explanation in the comments.
FrozenRain, Marverick23, AlexHylian, StingX2, GalacticSpear, Thoreau for their fantastic work on the set.
Guide by emmjay86. All footage is mine unless otherwise stated. Recorded off an original SNES with authentic cartridge.