- Joined
- Jan 27, 2008
- Messages
- 13,520
- Location
- Michigan
- NNID
- TripleDash
- 3DS FC
- 1719-3728-6991
- Switch FC
- SW-1574-3686-1211
Story - Shortly after the events of MM8, Dr. Wily has just finished his new castle when a mysterious new robot named King appears, kicks Wily out, and claims the fortress as his own. He soon recruits Robot Masters old and new in order to create his army and wipe out the human race, declaring himself the Robot King and the strongest robot in the world. First attacking the Robot Museum in order to steal data to finish creating his army, Dr. Light sends Mega Man in order to stop this new threat, while Bass, feeling that he has been issued a challenge, forms a truce with his rival in order to stop King.
Gameplay - It's the same tried and true Mega Man formula, fight all 8 Robot Masters, take their weapon, and then move onto the final levels. As a small note though, 2 Robot Masters from MM8, Tengu and Astro Man, reappear in this game, but with redesigned levels and new weapons. This time, however, the gameplay is changed in order to accommodate the now playable Bass.
Bass himself has significantly different powers and strengths compared to the Blue Bomber:
Pros:
Can Double Jump
Is able to pull a MMX style Dash
Is able to shoot rapid fire bullets
Is able to fire in 7 different directions
Cons:
Cannot shoot while running
Bullets do not go through walls
Bullets are much weaker than MMs and cannot be charged
Dashing does not reduce his hit-box
Overall this makes Mega Man a better choice for boss fights, while Bass is more suited for quickly progressing through levels. They each also have their own multiple unique skills that can be purchased (using dropped bolts, the in-game currency) in an item shop, such as Bass can fly for a short time using his dog Treble, while Mega Man has access to Rush Search (which will be explained in a sec).
The other new features are CDs that are hidden within the game's multiple levels. More or less collectables, 100 in total, they challenge your skills in order to collect them. Some can only be collected by a certain character, so you'll have to master each character in order to collect them all. The CDs themselves contain character profiles for the series many robot masters throughout the years.
The only other thing about this game is the difficulty. This game being hard is an understatement, as this is by far the hardest game in the classic series. Levels are much more challenging and are longer than normal; the bosses themselves have very difficult patterns and attacks as well even with their weaknesses. The final levels are especially tough as each of the bosses have special conditions per battle and often have you fighting them without rest (E-Tanks are not in this game). You've beaten Air Man, let’s see you try Burner Man.
Graphics - Rather surprising to say the least, but the graphics are the same as in Mega Man 8 literally, as many of the bosses, levels and enemies are all revamped levels that appeared in 8. While that does call into question the originally of the game, it can be said that pulling off next Gen graphics on a lesser system is nothing short of impressive. Although it does not have the anime cut scenes (thank god). The Gameboy Advance, however, does increase in the screen size, so the game is slightly more cramped, which can have some minor problems depending on the level, as it’s harder to see what’s coming.
Music - It's a Mega Man game, so the music is as good as it's ever been. Thankfully, while it pulled off the graphics of 8, the anime cut scenes and voice acting is also gone. Not to mention the new tracks are all original. So I give the win to this game as well. The Gameboy Advance version, however, does lower the quality slightly in order to fit the system.
Cold Man's Theme
Ground Man's Theme
Burner Man's Theme
Extras/Re-Playability - If having two characters isn't enough for ya, there is also the 100 CDs that you can unlock along with a rather large item shop that will take a while to collect every skill from. This is by far the longest MM game at the time if not ever.
Final Thoughts - Keeping true to its platforming roots and not having the many complaints it's already next Gen prequel had, I've always seen this game as the true sequel to Mega Man 7 (ironically though this game is also known as MM8.5). This is by far largest step the series has taken since the introduction of the slide and Rush the Dog all the way back in MM3. The difficulty of the gameplay, however, is what keeps this game from being recommendable for everyone. If you're a fan of the series or of the platforming genre this is a great game to pick out, everyone else would be better off practicing on some easier games in the series such as MM5 or "insert Air Man is easy joke here."
Rating Back Then: ?
Rating Now: 7.5/10
Recommendation: 7/10
How Much I Paid for it: $5 (for the GBA used, you can import the original console version for around $35-40 used)
Next Review: Sin & Punishment: Successor to Earth (Once I finish it of course
)