Difference between revisions of "The Arena"

Revision as of 11:01, 1 July 2024

The Arena is a recurring special area in the Make a Good Mega Man Level series. Named and designed after the Arena from Kirby Super Star, it is an endurance match where Mega Man goes up against a group of bosses, visiting a "rest area" between fights where he can choose to use resources provided to refill his health and weapon energy.

Make a Good Mega Man Level

In Make a Good Mega Man Level, The Arena becomes available to Mega Man in the attic of Dr. Light's Lab after he has cleared the entry stages and the Wily Castle. This Arena consists of nearly every boss in the game, and the rest area will always have three small weapon energy capsules and three small health capsules available, regardless of how many were used up the last time Mega Man entered the area. The use of E-Tanks and W-Tanks is disabled in the Arena, as is the Charged Buster Upgrade. The bosses are fought in a fixed order:

• The four tier bosses (in ascending order based on tier).
• The custom entry bosses (in order from lowest-ranked stage to highest-ranked stage; midbosses, such as The Moon and Ronrez, are included).
• The seven fortress bosses (ordered by fortress stage).
• Zero Soul.

Make a Good Mega Man Level Remastered

In Make a Good Mega Man Level Remastered, The Arena is now accessed in a new room beneath the Target Practice room. Unlike the original iteration of the Arena, E-Tanks, M-Tanks, and Buster upgrades are able to be used. Additionally, both a large Weapon Energy capsule and a large Health Energy capsule will be provided upon beating a boss (before facing Wily Machine TROPHY, the latter becomes an E-Tank, and before Zero Soul, a Yashichi and E-Tank are instead provided).

Like before, the bosses are faced in a fixed order starting with tier bosses, then entry bosses, then fortress bosses, capped off with Zero Soul at the end. However, in-between Air Capsule and Wily Machine TROPHY, a brand new boss exclusive to the Arena, The Impaler, must be challenged.

Make a Good Mega Man Level 2

Because Make a Good Mega Man Level 2 is a much bigger game than its predecessor, there are three arenas as opposed to simply one, all of which are located in the Dojo. Each arena has a fixed amount of resources, which consists of 1-Ups, large weapon energy capsules, and Yashichi‏s. In addition, all of the bosses in these arenas are fought in a random order, save for their respective final bosses. Super Mode is not allowed in any of these arenas until they have been cleared.

The Arena

The first arena, known simply as The Arena, is available from the start, and includes the 18 bosses available in the devkit, plus Quick Man. The end boss of this arena is Gamma.

The Arena provides five 1-Ups, ten large weapon energy capsules, and one Yashichi. Clearing this arena unlocks the Cut Man costume.

The Mega Arena

The second arena, known as The Mega Arena, is unlocked after clearing The Arena and Wily Star II. It includes most of the custom bosses and midbosses fought in the entries, with the following exceptions:

• Crator, Cream, and Kichona, from Yggdrasil.
• Joe Man R from Joe Man.
• Avoidance Cherry from Spiky Situation.
• Warp Anomaly from Cyber Man.
• Hall Master from Quarantine Woman.
• Pharaoh Man's Revenge from The Stage Nobody Asked For.

The Mega Arena also includes the Volt Man battle from Poorly Named Level, and the Mecha Dragon battle from City Under Siege (referred to as Siege Dragon).

The following changes have been made to the bosses:

• The Whopper from Orbital Station is positioned lower.
• Match Man's invincibility frames have been reduced.
• Mega Man now teleports away before The Kid uses his post-defeat attack.
• Doc Robot's health has been reduced from 84 to 28.
• Final Toad now takes 2 points of damage from semi-charged Mega Buster shots and 3 points of damage from charged Mega Buster shots.
• The bouncing gimmick is never present when fighting Boundin' Crash Man, regardless of the ON/OFF switch's status outside of Bouncy Castle.
• Siege Dragon's arena has a set of conveyor belts at the bottom.

The end boss of this arena is Volt Man the Assimilator.

The Mega Arena provides twenty-five 1-Ups, thirty large weapon energy capsules, and five Yashichis. Clearing this arena unlocks the Sonic costume.

The True Arena

The third and final arena, known as The True Arena, is unlocked after clearing The Mega Arena and Null and Void. It includes the game's tier bosses, bosses and midbosses from Wily Star II, bosses and midbosses from Tier X (including Null and Void), and other secret bosses not covered in the previous two arenas. The following bosses are excluded:

• Strawberry Milk, a secret boss found by visiting the Tier 1 boss arena after defeating Butter Nezumi.
• The Air Man midboss from the lower route of Mario Land.
• The upgraded Cheat Man battle from Deep Thoughts.
• The alternate 8 Centipeder Tower design from Wily Fortress VR.
• Stone Butterfly from Null and Void.
• The two superbosses, Knight Man and Galaxy Man.

The following changes have been made to the bosses:

• Door Man's health has been reduced from 112 to 28.
• Holo Wily and Unbeatable Air Man are now fought with Mega Man instead of Mario.

In addition, Mega Man's weapon energy is refilled after fighting Autobounce.

The end boss of this arena is Absolute ZERO, with a different fourth phase.

The True Arena provides twenty-five 1-Ups, fifteen large weapon energy capsules, and two Yashichis. This arena needs to be cleared without using weapon energy (i.e. by only using the Mega Buster unless fighting Autobounce or the second phase of Wily Machine SWORD) to reach 100% completion.

Make a Good Mega Man Level 3

In Make a Good Mega Man Level 3, there are a total of five arenas (plus two optional ones), although each is much smaller than the ones in MaGMML2. The arenas are now found in their own dedicated hub area, the Limestone Pagoda, after earning two Tier Ranks. The area is run by Ghost Woman and a small group of sub-hosts, each of whom appear in the current arena's rest area and will explain the effects of items when spoken to.

As in previous games, each arena has a fixed amount of resources, which consists of 1-Ups, large health energy, large weapon energy, and Yashichis. Two new items are now included: a skull that allows Mega Man to skip a boss, and a floppy disk that gives all his weapons infinite energy for the next fight. However, they can only be used on one fight each, and will not work on the current arena's final boss; if Mega Man reaches said boss without using them, they will transform into large bolt rewards. Like in MaGMML2, all of the bosses in these arenas are typically fought in a random order, save for their respective final bosses.

Foes of Antiquity

Due to the large increase in devkit bosses, there are now three arenas devoted to them, collectively known as the Foes of Antiquity. All three are available upon unlocking the Limestone Pagoda.

Colosseum of Cohorts Arena

The Colosseum of Cohorts Arena includes all the minibosses from the devkit. It is hosted by a Tama using its shrunken sprites from Mega Man II (here dubbed "Armored Tama"). Many of them are combined into a single room, with each boss spawning in after the previous has been defeated. The combinations and order are as follows:

• Wily's Warriors All-Stars 1: Hot Dog, Tama, Lantern Fish.
• Wily's Warriors All-Stars 2: Big Snakey, Penpen Maker, Giant Metall.
• Cossack's Comrades All-Stars: Escaroo, Whopper, Kabatoncue, Moby.
• Octoper & Family All-Stars: Octoper OA, Octoboss (Both are are fought on a Wave Man Jetski)
• The Uncanny X-Force All-Stars: Metall Potton, Gorilla Tank, Squidon, Gamarn and Gamadayu.
• World All-Stars: Gundrill, Giant Metall Cannon, Hyoey, Tyhorn, T. Khamen.
• Lucky Sevens All-Stars: Shirokumachine GTV, Truck Joe.
• Melody Response Cannon: Melody Response Cannon is encountered twice.
• Dimension Warp All-Stars 1: Bee Blader, Stompy, Knuckle Duster.
• Dimension Warp All-Stars 2: Doc Kumo, Twin Shooter G.
• The Absolute Paozo Units: Paozo is encountered three times, featuring both variants, the third being the first variant, but with spike pits in the floor.

All minibosses not listed have been split into unique rooms. Also included as a bonus fight are the Gold Gear Guardians All-Stars: a battle against Power Muscler, Gachappon, Yudon, Dachone, and Sniper Armor, all modified based on their miniboss status in Mega Man for the Game Gear.

The final boss of this arena is Break Man; defeating him unlocks him as a costume and awards the Miniboss Champion achievement.

Master's Mausoleum Arena

The Master's Mausoleum Arena, hosted by a Fishman enemy from Mega Man 3: The Robots are Revolting (here dubbed "Aqua Man"), includes the 26 new Robot Master bosses available in the devkit, plus Fake Man as an extra boss. These are defined as Robot Masters who are fought in their source game's main set of stages: thus, Robot Master-adjacent bosses encountered in fortress stages, such as the Mega Man Killers, are not included. None of the Robot Masters introduced in MaGMML2's devkit are included, nor is Quick Man.

The final boss of this arena is Terra; defeating him unlocks the Sunstar costume and awards the Robot Master Champion achievement.

Skull Caverns Arena

The Skull Caverns Arena, hosted by "Toad Ruler" (a Toad Man with Wave Man elements, based on their status as fortress bosses in the Game Gear Mega Man) includes the 18 new non-Robot Master bosses available in the devkit. Bosses also include the Mega Man Killers, the Grey Devil, Giant Suzy, and Hunters Type A and Type B. Also present as a bonus fight is CWU-01P, which was not included with the devkit. The Mecha Dragon from MaGMML2's devkit is omitted.

The following changes have been made to the bosses:

• Boobeam Trap's guns and shielding (made with Destroyable Blocks) have increased HP, but are vulnerable to the Mega Buster.
• Dark Man 4 & Ballade deal less contact damage than they otherwise would.

The final boss of this arena is the Yellow Devil, who now has a second phase dubbed the "Tetris Devil". Upon defeating it, the Waltz costume is unlocked and the Fortress Guardian Champion achievement is awarded.

Spoiler warning: Details of plots, secrets and/or endings may follow.

The Judges' Choice Arena

The Judges' Choice Arena, hosted by Ghost Woman herself, is a curated selection of entry bosses as chosen by the judges. Unlocking it requires collecting all 15 Tier Ranks. It has a total of 37 fights, and as with the Colosseum of Cohorts arena, minibosses are combined into single "All-Stars" rooms, this time with matching themes. Bosses occasionally have nerfs to make them more suitable for the arena, and any pits in boss rooms are no longer lethal: instead Mega Man is bounced out, with some damage.

The bosses present in this arena are:

• Worlds Collided All-Stars: Donkey Joe, Namonaki Robo, Devil Woods
• Refurbished Legion All-Stars: Iggy & Mariah, Train Trio, Emperor Pepe, Mannequin
• History of the Earth All-Stars: Bireezu, Mr. Bocianowsky, Devil's Pillar, Record Keeper
• Blizzard Behemoth: The fight against the Blizzard Brigade is skipped entirely.
• DigiTiger
• Royal Man
• Mafia Man: Both phases are included as separate encounters, with the second phase being dubbed "Mafia Man's Revenge".
• Hodenki
• Bubble Crab
• Propeller Woman
• Dust Devil
• Dark Wyvern
• Treasure Man
• Lantern Man
• Shoe Man
• Beet Man
• Cassette Man
• Grand Tellow
• Yamato Man W
• Zombie Devil
• Necrozma
• Beam Stack MK2
• Cable Woman
• Banshee Woman
• Skull Sans
• Kine
• 28 Devil Cores
• Cosmos
• Pipe Man
• Judgement Man
• Battery Man
• Rook Man
• Alraune Woman
• Fracture
• Token Woman

The final boss of the Judges' Choice Arena is Alter Man, who now has a second phase with a redesigned larger appearance. Completing the arena awards the Judges' Choice Champion achievement and also unlocks Alter Man's new form as a costume.

The True Arena

The final arena in the game, the True Arena, consists of 22 bosses created by the developers, mostly from the Wily Stadium, Tier X, and Shrine of Nebula. It is blocked off for most of the game, and is only unlocked after clearing the aforementioned Shrine of Nebula. Unlike the other arenas, there is no host present in the rest area.

Unlike the other arenas, the True Arena has a semi-set order of bosses. Initially, Mega Man must fight 12 bosses at random:

• Reel Man
• King Man
• Static Man
• Falcon Rock
• Neko Man
• Metilda McBossface
• King Leonis
• Diabolico
• Mist Man & Bowl Man
• Stadium Showstopper All-Stars: Ururuun Steel, Bigby Tank, Tin Hawk and Big Brute
• Dusty Desires All-Stars: Kachikachi, Shork, Jabber Walker, Volt Boss the Refurbished
• Time-Space Jumper All-Stars: Returning Flash Armor, Theodore Thunderdunk Owner Of Thundervale Thunderdome, Top Dummy, Gharial Man

After all 12 are defeated, the pool consists of the six rival fights from The Greatest Show of All Time: Forge Woman, Presto, Element Man, Hunter Woman, Cerberus Man, and Bass. Each one is faced in a random order. After their defeat, the last four bosses (dubbed the Final Four) are encountered consecutively:

• Vacant Avatar
• Regal Machine
• Pillar of Nebula
• The final boss, Ernest Will, who uses a harder iteration of Wily Machine SPIRE and the Wily Jet, the latter of which uses the Parallel Weapons and has a new second phase that uses the Contest Weapon Data.

Unlike the other arenas, there is no costume unlocked by clearing the True Arena, although it does reward the True Champion achievement.

Ghosts of Yamato Arena

Hidden behind a slide passage near the entrance to the Custom Arena is the Ghosts of Yamato Arena, hosted by Ghost Man from Mega Man Revolution. It is a straight port of MaGMML2's devkit boss arena, with Gamma returning as its final boss. However, each of the bosses' rooms have been made more accurate to their source game's arenas, and the Mecha Dragon's bottomless pit now bounces Mega Man out if he falls into it. This arena is completely optional, and no reward is given for unlocking it; however, clearing it will unlock Gamma in the Boss Gallery without needing to clear the True Arena.

Custom Arena

Hosted by Red Arremer Man, the Custom Arena allows players to create their own arenas using whatever bosses they've faced up to that point. The option to set specific final bosses is also included. In addition to this, there are a number of preset arenas featuring bosses not included in the main arenas. By its nature, this arena is entirely optional and exists merely for the player to challenge themselves.

The presets are:

• X Challenge:
• Alter Rush: Fight against all Robot Masters that are apart of the Alter Weapon series.
• Parallel Rush: Fight against all Robot Masters that are apart of the Parallel Weapon series
• All Boss Tour: Fight every single boss in one run.
• Tier Boss Rush: Fight all 14 Tier bosses.
• Rival Weaponry: Fight your tournament rivals and against all bosses that grant them their weapons.
• Super Showdown: Fight against every Superboss in the game.
• Unboss Rush: Survive against more unconventional traps and platforming.
• Mystery: TBA
• In the Details: TBA
• Lackey Rush: TBA
• Robot Rush: Fight against every Robot Master in the main game.
• Major Foe Rush: TBA

Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero

Main article: The Ultimate Choice

Unlike previous MaGMML games, Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero lacks a traditional arena. Instead, Dr. Wily's Secret Bunker features The Ultimate Choice, which puts Zero against a predetermined set of bosses based on the chosen Intensity setting, with higher difficulties giving bigger rewards. However, it also has a Custom Battle mode that allows players to create a more traditional arena using whatever bosses they like, including those not faced in the preset Intensity settings.

Trivia

• In the normal arenas from both the original MaGMML1 and MaGMML2, and the Colosseum of Cohorts Arena from MaGMML3, the music that plays when fighting bosses that don't use unique battle themes is a rendition of the song Illusion from F-Zero Climax (the first game uses the original song, while the sequel uses an 8-bit arrangement). This is a reference to the ROM Hack Rockman 4 Minus Infinity, which had its own set of arenas that played the same song during a battle. In MaGMML3, the music no longer resets after each fight, and is played throughout.