Mega Man V
General Information
Versions
Regions
The US and Japanese releases of this game play exactly the same, and both are accepted for runs.
Text on the Japanese cart takes approximately 0:28 seconds longer than the US version. Much of this is locked in stone, such as the passageway before Dark Moon, and the player cannot mash through any text boxes to adjust this.
The megaman leaderboard .net timing will adjust your time for region automatically to compare a US cart time to a Japanese cart time.
Hardware
The original release is a Super Gameboy enabled Game Boy Cart. The only other official releases are the 3DS Virtual Console, and the Switch Game Boy.
Each version is valid for runs, however the 3DS version has longer invincibility frames for enemies. This is apparent from the Jupiter/Electric Shot weapon get demo (as noticed by Brook)
If using Super Game Boy 1, note that your time will be adjusted by the leaderboard to be 102% of the original time due to speed differences. Super Game Boy 2 runs closer to the correct speed.
Game Cube Game Boy Player runs at an appropriate speed.
Weakness Order
This page is something of a troll, but it is true.
Neptune > Mars > Venus > Jupiter > Saturn > Mercury > Pluto > Uranus > Terra > Neptune
Bolded robots are in the second half of the game. As such, it is true you cannot use only weakness order.
Other Weaknesses
Dark Moon: Mars
Enker: Buster Only
Quint: Mars
Punk: Neptune
Ballade: Mars & Venus
Fists: Neptune
Wily Phase 2: Terra
Sunstar takes 1 point of damage from all attacks (Jupiter lasts long enough to hit twice)
Route
Suggested Route is
- Neptune First
- Mercury
- Mars
- Venus
- Dark Moon
- Pluto
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
Route Rationale
Neptune and Mercury have good early game weapons. Mercury's weapon does 2 points of damage a shot, and Mars is weak to Neptune.
Venus could conceivably be first, as the Bubble Bomb is a very effective weapon. Unfortunately it is also a laggy and awkward to use at range weapon. Feel free to try this route, as Venus is not a difficult buster fight, but it is likely slower overall.
Pluto's weapon is integral to Jupiter's stage.
Jupiter has the best weapon in the game, so that goes next.
Saturn has Rush Jet which is strangely not used in this run.
Other Notes
There is an enforced shopping trip after Dark Moon. If you want a W-Tank, this is the time to buy it.
If you are collecting all Crystals, note a revisit to one of Pluto or Uranus is required, as each blocks the other's crystal.
General Techniques
Up Canceling Slides
That's it. Up canceling slides. In addition to the expected methods of slide canceling (back canceling and jumping out of slides), you can cancel slides with the up button.
There are a few places this is useful throughout the run, though it is also almost required to reach some of the awkwardly placed E-Tanks in stages (such as the end of Mercury's stage, where there are slides under interestingly spaced spikes).
This also works in Mega Man III and Mega Man IV.
The Mega Arm
Mega Man's charge shot is replaced by firing his entire fist.
Charge Shots
A "half charge" is about 30-89 frames of holding B. A full charge is then 90+ frames.
Half charges deal 2 damage, full charges 3. The fist after that returns to Mega Man, and the behavior is the same.
Snapback Damage
When Mega Man's fist returns, it can damage enemies it touches on the way back. This can be used to do extra damage to enemies, notably the end of Mercury's stage, as the fist deals as much damage as the initial charge shot (typically 3).
Pluto Break Dash
Pluto's Break Dash weapon works by charging.
- Uncharged fires a normal lemon
- 15-29 frames of charge is a very short dash that uses 0.5 energy
- 30-89 frames is a longer-but-still-short dash that uses 1 energy
- 90+ frames is a full charge long dash using 2 energy
At the end of the dash, Mega Man has invincibility as if he was hit by an attack (but without the knockback).
Mega Man is almost invincible during the dash itself - however Mercury's Grab Buster will still cause Mega Man to lose an item if he is hit while dashing.
Invincibility Abuse
The invincibility after dashing works similarly to NES Mega Man 4's Flash Stopper - your invincibility time does not decrease while you are sliding.
This means if you use break dash and chain slides, you can remain invincible for a long time. Unfortunately there are not many places this can be used in the run.
Notably, this is used in the Punk section of the Wily Star, and has some utility in the last screen of Jupiter's stage (typically extending it by a single slide).
Mashing Text
Most text in this game can be mashed forward with any button, including the D-pad (up/down/left/right). As such an effective way of advancing text is to spin your thumb around the D-pad.
Leaving the Shop
Since the D-pad advances text, you can mash left/right, without worrying about A or B triggering other shop text boxes. When you reach Dr. Light's prompt (and you can therefore use B to leave the shop), items will start scrolling since you are already pushing left/right.
When you see items move, Press B. advance text with left/right, then press A to confirm.