Contest Weapon Data
The Contest Weapon Data, also known as alternate weapons, or alter weapons for short, is a feature introduced in Make a Good Mega Man Level 2. It is a unique set of unlockable Special Weapons that are typically based on the various Robot Masters showcased in the contest entries. Each weapon is designed and implemented by the devteam, and was not available for the entrants to use or test with during submission period; hence them being late-game unlockables.
Contents
Make a Good Mega Man Level 2
The Contest Weapon Data debuts in Make a Good Mega Man Level 2 as an unlockable obtained by talking to Knight Man at Chateau Chevaleresque upon having at least 170 Noble Nickels. As he gives them (along with the Alter Man costume) to Mega Man, he informs the player about their use. A purple Sniper Joe will also appear next to the counter on subsequent visits to the pub; talking to it while equipped with a Contest Weapon will prompt it to give a brief explanation about said weapon's properties. The original and alternate weapon sets are mutually exclusive, and can be toggled between by pressing the Fire button on the pause menu. The Contest Weapons in this game are as follows:
Each weapon acts as a fairly direct counterpart to a weapon in the original set, not only in terms of function but going so far as to share the same ammo count and weakness calculations. For example, Milk takes the same amount of damage from Neapolitan Bomb as it would take from the Grab Buster. Launch Rocket and Carry are the exceptions, as Carry cannot damage enemies, and Launch Rocket shares the same damage table as Grab Buster due to an oversight.
Contest Weapons also face the same restrictions that are placed on the normal weapons for levels. For example, the only Contest Weapon that can be used in Quirky Unconsistent Incomprehensible Nonsensical Track is Force Beam, due to it restricting every Special Weapon but Slash Claw. Furthermore, they are entirely disabled in Escape Sequence, Inner Sanctum, and while Mega Man is transformed into another Robot Master in Identity Crisis and Reality Core.
Only certain costumes can use Contest Weapons, due to the presence of aiming frames for Cyber Distorter. The costumes that can use alternate weapons are as follows: Mega Man (default), Super Saiyan Mega Man, Mega Man (Hair), Roll, Bass, Proto Man, Cut Man, Alter Man, Mega Man?, Rockman CX, Rokko Chan, and Zero, along with certain Custom Costumes if a setting on the costume sheet is enabled.
Destroyable Blocks are changed when Mega Man switches to the alternate set. They take on new sprites matching the alternate weapon corresponding to their corresponding normal weapon (Jewel Blocks will be replaced with Badge Blocks, for example). If Mega Man switches back to the default set, the blocks will also return to their default appearance.
Switching to alternate weapons at any point during a playthrough of a stage forces the player into an alternate leaderboard for speedruns, aptly named the "Alter Run" (or a cheat run if cheats are also in use). This prevents players from registering times for normal, perfect, no-damage, buster-only, and no-death runs; however, they do not prevent players from clearing the Challenges for beating stages without taking damage.
Make a Good Mega Man Level Remastered
The Contest Weapons make their second appearance in Make a Good Mega Man Level Remastered, although there is only one available, purchased from Eddie's Shop for 300 bolts after obtaining all 24 Energy Elements in the entries.
| Weapon | Original Robot Master |
|---|---|
 Power Orb
|
Glass Man |
Unlike the MaGMML2 weapons, Power Orb takes up its own weapon slot in the menu, and is entirely distinct from the weapon set otherwise, sharing no traits or damage tables with any other weapon. There is also no limitation on what costumes can use it, nor does using the weapon lock the player out of any leaderboard category.
Due to being its own weapon, Destroyable Blocks are unaffected by equipping Power Orb, and Destroyable Blocks for Power Orb do not appear except when using the Power Orb Only cheat.
Make a Good Mega Man Level 3
It is your destiny! This article contains content on an upcoming game. Beware of any potential spoilers!
Contest Weapons have been confirmed to return in Make a Good Mega Man Level 3 by various promotional posts and the developers in the MaGMML3 Discord. Additionally, the game introduces a second type of Contest Weapon, the Parallel Weapons, which act as cosmetic upgrades to the original weapon set themed after Robot Masters who did not receive Contest Weapons, similar in functionality to the Rare Weapons from Make a Good 48 Hour Mega Man Level.
Trivia
- Concepts for an alternate weapon for almost every Robot Master in MaGMML2 were drafted before the list was trimmed and modified to suit the same archetypes as the default set of weapons. This was done primarily for the sake of the scrapped Tier X level, Alter Man's Revenge - the original inspiration and intended method of obtaining for the contest weapons.
- Launch Rocket and Shuttle Jet were unavailable in MaGMML2 at launch, instead being added in update 1.4.
