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Mega Man 3 Guide > Robot Masters > Top Man

Top Man's domain appears to be nestled in some sort of toy factory, so far as I can tell. This is a great level to serve as your introduction to Mega Man 3, and embodies all that makes the game great.

Begin by heading to the right. Here, enemies materialize out of thin air. Wait for the two halves to fly together and for the newly-constructed robots to glide toward you, then take them out with single shots from your arm cannon. Another threat in this area comes in the form of mechanical rabbits. Like the other robots, they fall to one good shot from the arm cannon.

When you come to the ladder, climb down but make sure you don't drop to the bottom of that screen. Instead, fire left from your vantage point. If you're far enough down the ladder, your shots will hit the robot to your left in the head, and you won't have to brave the stairs while he is sending out small tops. When the way is safe, go ahead and climb up those stairs and
descend the ladder to the next screen.

Here you can collect tiny energy capsules if you need them, then drop down the next ladder. In the next room, the floor is lined with spikes. Not good to touch. There's also an enemy that will materialize in this room. If he bumps you off a ledge, you should be invulnerable long enough to hop from the spikes and onto the lower ledge, then from there to the safety of the ledge on the screen's left side. Descend that ladder into the next room.

This next corridor has hardhat enemies that ride dozers. If you just stand and shoot, the blades will deflect your fire. Instead, jump and shoot the operators. Three direct hits will take them out and allow you to proceed down the corridor to the next ladder.

Climb down this ladder and you're in another room with our top-spewing friend. This time you must fight. The tops will vanish easily with shots from your arm cannon, and he only sends out three at a time, so keep that in mind as you hop up toward the left and take the fellow out. Then climb down the ladder into the next room.

Here you get to fight a giant, mechanical cat that sends out bouncy balls of damaging pink aura. They look like yarn, but will harm your armor a lot more. Around six to ten hits from the arm cannon will cause cat and balls to vanish, and you can climb down the next ladder.

Drop down to the lower ledge in this room, and head right up another staircase guarded by the top-spewing fellow that by now should be so very familiar. Next you'll see the black background that indicates another of the mechanical cats. This one is easier to defeat than the one that came before, as the balls don't bounce about quite so much. Push past the cat and climb the ladder to the next room, which is a bit more dangerous.

Above you, there are four blocks. On one rests a hardhat enemy, which will drop down to attack as you come within sight. When it lands, defeat it and then hop onto the lowest of the two right blocks. From there hop left to the block the hardhat occupied, left again to the next block, and left again to the ladder. Do so carefully, or you'll plummet to the instant death the spikes below offer.

Once you've climbed the ladder, you're in a room where the top-spewing robot makes his final appearance. Slide under the low roof to your right, then hop back around and shoot any tops in the way before sliding under the next ledge. Now you're free to hop up and right to dispose of your nemesis. Continue right and you'll come down a staircase that overlooks a wide, bottomless expanse.

Tops rise out of this pit, or fall from the skies, and you'll have to use them to cross the gap. It's easiest to start by jumping from about the halfway point on the staircase, out to the first top. From there, none of the jumps you'll have to make should be particularly taxing, so long as you keep moving to the right. When you reach the other side, you'll find the gate leading to the encounter with Top Man.

Top Man


This guy really isn't that hard to finish off with the arm cannon. When he first appears, he'll toss three tops up into the air. Fire as many shots as you safely can, but be prepared to jump the tops when they whiz toward your location where you are standing.

Once the tops are jumped, Top Man will spin more quickly in preparation for a dash across the screen. During this time, he is invulnerable. When he's spun for a while, start toward the right and leap him as he flies across. The most damage he can do is if he strikes you with his body while spinning.

When he's passed underneath, quickly turn and start firing. He'll be vulnerable again, and will send out three more tops. Hit him a few times, then slide quickly to the right so the tops miss you. Then be prepared as he spins across the screen toward you. For the duration of the battle, just keep switching sides of the screen as necessary, sliding under the tops at the last minute so you get more shots in with your arm cannon. Easy.

Password: A-3 (red), C-5 (red)

NEXT: Shadow Man