This was actually my first planned run, which I had since February 2005, but it isn't until now that I've had the hardware to tape it. While I personally think this run is very good, there are plenty of improvable areas, especially 2 that I'll discuss further down. While most of the techniques in this run were my own ideas, I have to give credit where credit's due and thank Bag of Magic Food for his TAS which helped fill the gaps.

Simply put, The Rolling Cutter is, by far, the single best weapon in Mega Man history. The closest 2nd being the Metal Blade from the NES Mega Man II. Rolling Cutter has the potential to kill any enemy in the game in one hit, (excluding bosses and invincible enemies, of course.) even the Bigeyes and Sniper Joe, so it isn't surprising that I use the weapon for a good 80% of the run. Obviously, I tackle Cut Man first for it.

The beginning of Cut Man's level is riddled with difficult, tight jumps, so I'm glad that I tackle this level early on. I only take one unwanted hit and overall I do very well. Cut Man could've been nicer to me, but those are the breaks. (Now that I've looked back on the run, it's pretty obvious that each hit was because of my own stupidity.)

Now that I'm armed with the Rolling Cutter, nothing can stop me. On to Elec Man's stage. This entire stage is basically timed jumps and I don't miss a single one. This stage went perfectly and Elec Man fell quickly and quietly.

Ice Man's stage is a cake walk compared to Cut Man's and Elec Man's level. Everything goes according to plan. There's not really much else to say about this level.

Now Fire Man is where things get tense for me. I don't have enough Rolling Cutters to make it through the stage, so I have to rely on refills if I want a smooth run. Luckily for me, I get a huge refill near the end of the level. I take my share of damage throughout the stage, but it's a decent run none the less.

At this point, I'm feeling pretty confident in myself, and this is where my run begins to slide a bit. Those damn Moles cost me a lot of time, but there's no safe way through them without going slowly. My first real big mistake happens halfway through the level, where I fail to use Carry properly and am stuck waiting for it to run out. Now, it's faster to beat Bubble Man first, then Heat Man, and then Quick Man with the Atomic Fire, but I'm too frazzled by the damage I took against the Moles so I play it safe and tackle Flash Man first. None of my boss fights are great and my time could be improved by a lot because of this section.

Last Level. By this time, I'm sweating and my hands start shaking. I suck under any sort of pressure. During the disappearing block sections (which I sucked at terribly when I was a kid), I swear I was muttering "Don'tfallonthespikes, don'tfallonthespikes..." over and over. The second biggest improvement in this run is the ladder section with the birds and electricity. I can use Carry to make it up those ladders much faster, but the bird can easily get me if they come out on my side of the screen and could end up being much, much slower. By this time in the run, I'm much too cautious and don't attempt to pull it off. I miss one shot against Wily, but it's a good fight none the less.

I believe that a sub-20 run is possible, and those two areas I mentioned are the best ways to go about it. I may improve this run later on, but right now I want to get away from Mega Man and try a few other games.