Route Information

There are two main routes for speedrunning Mega Man 4. They are largely even in length except for the Grasshopper Skip. While "The Nintendo Power Route" suggests Toad first, speedrun routes do either Bright or Pharoah first. The final 6 stages are the same for each route, so there is very little variation.

For reference, Weakness Order is Bright->Pharaoh->Ring->Skull->Dive->Drill->Toad->Bright. However, it is faster to kill Pharaoh with the Buster.

Bright First vs. Pharaoh First

If you do Bright first

• You can clear the first screen of Pharoah with enemies frozen, drastically reducing the need to mash against the scorpions, and the chances of a bee hitting you out of the air in the Balloon jump.
• You'll also have Pharoah Man's weakness, but as noted above, it's faster to defeat him without using it.

If you do Pharaoh first

• You have Pharaoh shot for the second half of Bright Man's stage, giving you diagonal shots against the darkness inducing enemies.
• You'll have Pharaoh Shot for Bright Man himself, which is slightly faster than using buster
• As an advanced strat, you can use Balloon in the Grasshopper section, the biggest and hardest difference between the routes.

Bright...Fourth?

In theory, the first stage you truly need Bright is Skull Man. There was once a school of thought to do Bright Fourth as a result to save menu time.