Mega Man X high playthrough log part 2/2

Storm Eagle's level is a bit scary... you're high up on a bunch of towers... but the latter part actually has a floor beneath it. Found the helmet upgrade capsule in Storm Eagle's level... had to use fire to destroy a wall...

the boss was pretty easy... only died against him once due to his wind knocking me off when I was on the wrong side of him...

went back to Kuwanger's level.. now that I know the boomerang can grab that heart tank... retried Storm Eagle's level again, and all those other fire door sidepaths I missed the first time are just for health/1up pickups. this level is actually kinda hard if you don't cheese it with missiles.

I'm pretty sure I'm at the point now where I've found just about everything I could on my own (although I kinda remember finding a few more subtanks in a previous playthrough before (I only found 1 this time), and maybe one or two more heart tanks...

Now I'm using a guide for the rest of the items I'm missing... I've probably never done this before which might be why I've never managed to beat this game yet.

also

- Flame Mammoth's Stage - After defeating Chill Penguin, the lava in
Flame Mammoth's stage will cool and solidify, allowing you to walk on
it. You'll find a heart tank at the end of an area with platforms and
several Dig Labors.

oh wow I never knew this... no wonder it was so easy.

I was missing the Storm Eagle heart tank (got it, that wouldn't have been too hard to find actually), the Chill Penguin heart tank (I WAS meaning to check this out again after I got all the powers), and the Sting Chameleon heart tank (that one's a bit tricky, it's in an area below a pit where you need to go after beating Launch Octopus AND after getting the helmet upgrade)... and for subtanks I was missing the Spark Mandrill one (needed to break a pipe with the cutter), Flame Mammoth's one (turning back at some point and sliding along a wall behind where a 1up is?), and the Armored Armadillo one (needed to let that first digger tank pass you then go left, probably did get this one without a guide before)...

oh and also, the upgraded X-Buster is in Flame Mammoth's stage too, above a breakable wall you need the helmet for... this is some Wario Land shit...

also I didn't know this about the Ice Shotgun until now, or just forgot...

When this item is charged, it will create a platform of ice to stand on

actually it seems all the weapons have charged variations, huh... I guess I just never found out because it cancels your charge when you switch with L+R and I never thought to start holding Y again...

Armored Armadillo would've been a lot easier if I got the spark or storm tornado first... Launch Octopus would've been easier with the Armadillo's rolling shield first.. Sting Chameleon would've been easier with the boomerang...

You can also use the Boomerang Cutter to slice off Flame Mammoth's trunk and Launch Octopus's tentacles, which prevents them from using their main attacks.

jeez.. with that and killing Chill Penguin to make his stage a cakewalk, this guy really never had a chance.

AAAHHH there's another thing I'm missing... above the Armored Armadillo boss room is the Hadoken power.
oh and you can only access it after you collect ALL the other items, AND even then the capsule will only appear randomly if you're lucky... I've definitely never gotten this before.

By performing the button combination of Ryu and Ken's Hadouken attack in Street Fight - Down + Down-Forward + Y - while at maximum energy, X will release a fireball from his hands that destroys anything and everything.

Most Effective Against: Everything. Seriously, the Hadouken is the most powerful attack in the game, so as long as you can time the attack correctly, you can destroy any enemy with it. The Hadouken makes the fight with Vile, Sigma's Dog, and Sigma himself and absolute joke instead of the severe pain that they are otherwise. As for Sigma's final form, actually damaging Sigma with it is next to impossible since you have to be on top of the claws and time it perfectly, and even then it doesn't automatically destroy him. That's also not mentioning the fact that you have to maintain full energy, too, which can be a challenge. Still, that's quite a weapon.

holy fuck that X Buster upgrade was hard to get.... it doesn't even look like it should be possible... you can just BARELY dash jump onto some breakable blocks, and then slide down JUST far enough so you break the first block with your boots/helmet and then immediately jump to the next one before falling off... once you get onto the wall it's easy enough, but if you mess up you have to restart the stage to try again.

got the Hadoken... now the only thing left is the Sigma stages... that'll be for the next time this is rolled in a high session because I'm totally in come down mode, the initial "comfy" factor of this game wore out after Armored Armadillo, and I've only been continuing from there out of pure interest/momentum...

first Sigma stage is easy... only hard part is the Spider boss. I had to keep pause-buffering to see where the spider was gonna land so I could avoid him.. couldn't figure out how to dodge the mini spiders he drops though (probably could've if I had missiles equipped)

Sigma 2 would be kind of annoying if you don't make good use of the boss weapons like homing missiles... that eyeball boss you really just gotta use X buster on it and focus on dodging...

Sigma 3 was mostly just boss fights, with some easy sections between that have like no health-dropping enemies... 1st stage had 1 boss refight (well 2 if you count the rematch with that armored guy), 2nd stage had 3 boss refights, and 3rd stage had 5 boss refights... the end boss of that stage is kind of like flame mammoth, but instead of quaking floor, it quakes both walls by ramming into the wall back and forth... and it has an upper section that flies up and down randomly, so you have to try and go between it when the upper section is up in the air...

now it's just the final battle... first I have to fight Sigma's robot dog... he's easy but can hit me a few times if I get sloppy... Sigma's first form is stupidly easy once you figure out the pattern. I can now beat him without getting hit.. it's just a matter of patience...

Sigma's 2nd form is ridiculous... first of all none of my boss weapons work against it, and I can only hit it by jumping up on a hand that swoops down at me (and can only get one hit in by then because the hand will zap you if you stay on it)

that is really tough... I have 3 subtanks available but I'm hesitant to use them just because he can kill me very quickly from full health.
no wait seriously... I REALLY don't understand how to dodge that one attack where he shoots rapid energy balls down from one side to the other... the walkthrough doesn't help...
watching a youtube no damage video definitely does help though... ice against wolf and spark against Sigma 1 to speed up those phases... and it turns out rolling ball does damage Sigma 2 for twice as much as the charged buster... and it turns out you can stand on the hand just barely on the right edge of it to dodge its lightning, and kill Sigma 2 very quickly...

still had to use all my subtanks though...
but finally, I 100% completed this game entirely without savestates... I did have to use a guide but whatever

oh man... that after-credits scene with Sigma essentially becoming Ganon/Demise, a villain that curses the main villains by coming back again and again...