This is the last Rockman/Megaman to come out on SNES, and is the last installment of the original Megaman series.
Overview
Probably the most forgotten Megaman installment, here's the game which as of now, wraps up the original Megaman series. It is also the final Rockman/Megaman game that came out for the SNES. This game is so forgotten, when mentioned to people, they immediately take it to be an unofficial installment of the series. Well, until I actually see Megaman 9, I will consider this game to be it, no matter what anyone else thinks. This is the second Megaman game (the first being X4) which allows you to go through the game with two different characters: Rock or Forte. Each character has their own storyline and their own ending as well.
Graphics 8/10
Much of this game (if not nearly all its sprites) were borrowed from Megaman 8 for PSX/Saturn; even some of the bosses as well (Tengu Man, Astro Man). But that's not to say that it is bad, on the contrary, I find that to be a good thing. Seeing graphics that were meant to be on a 32-bit system on this 16-bit system was quite the eye-candy. Some enemies behave differently than the previous games that they showed up in, but that's about all that's different. Some sections of levels have even been borrowed from previous games (like Astro Man's moving background), which I find to be cool. Oh and another noteable thing is that the way Bass looks and was animated and his personality is just looks too cool for words. He's waayyy cooler than Megaman in that game, so cool in fact, that if there will ever be another game with crossover characters, and they needed someone from Megaman, I'd hope for Bass.
Gameplay/Controls 8.5/10
The game plays through like many other typical Megaman games where you have to go through 8 stages and fight robot enemies at the end of each stage, defeat the enemies, acquire the weapon from the defeated enemy, and then use those weapons against different bosses. After defeating the 8 bosses, you play through 4 stages in Wily's castle to finally fight Wily in the end. Very typical, only this game did have some extra twists to it.
For one, instead of having the choice of fighting any boss you want, it first gives you the choice of facing 3 out of the 8 bosses. By defeating certain bosses, it then opens other stages which you can play through and fight its boss. You keep this up until all 8 bosses are destroyed.
Another thing is like Megaman 8, this game has a shop where you can buy weapon upgrades, and other neat little things that may assist you during the game (One of my favourite is buying Treble (Bass's Dog) and using his super purple flying mode for a bit. This can be really useful in some situations in the game.)
One really cool feature though is the gallery in the game. There are CDs which that are scattered throughout the game in various levels. Each CD that you get opens a certain official art in the gallery. This gallery contains pictures of all the Megaman enemies since Megaman 1 as well as some pics of Megaman and Roll, Wily and Bass, and many more. I believe there are about 128 CD's to be found, some are evident, some are hidden, and some are very ridiculous to get (for instance, I can't recall which level, but as the screen scrolls, the CD literally falls down large hole on the bottom of the screen and you have to get that CD before it drops. This requires a quick reflex and inevitably...it opens up the official art of Quick Man of Megaman 2.
The main thing I liked about this game is that unlike many other Megaman games, I found this one to be quite challenging. It took me quite a while to master bosses which were significantly harder than previous Megaman bosses (Burner Man comes to mind first). Plus the Wily stages weren't exactly your typical walk in the park either. The final Wily boss was quite disappointing though, since it had been used for the last 2 Megaman games (the ship that appears/disappears and shoots stuff), but other than that, the game is fast paced, full of action, flows together very nicely, and is quite fun to play through.
Megaman controls very similarily to the way he controls in his past games only his regular shot is super butt-ugly. He has his charge shot which is quite powerful, as well as his slide (which can get him into areas that Bass cannot.) It's hard to do many things with Megaman though because he is quite limited. He can only jump so far, and can only shoot in one direction with his super butt-ugly standard shot.
Now Bass on the other hand, his only drawback was he had no charge shot, and his regular shot is relatively weak too..but that's his ONLY drawback. Bass plays very much like Zero in the Megaman X Series. Instead of sliding, he dashes. You can do a double jump, as well as do many dash and jump combos. You can point his shot almost anywhere too, so he can take out almost any enemy no matter where they were on the screen with his firepower.
Other than that though, the controls are very tight and responsive. The button scheme was alright on the SNES; every move can be easily accessed and performed. I'm not too sure about the GBA though since I haven't had the chance of playing that version.
Sound/Music 5.5/10
The sound in this Megaman game is considered to be mediocre at best compared to the music that we know and love Megaman for. I can't recall a single tune from that game when I'm usually able to recall most if not all tunes from Megaman games (Well except for Cold Man, his song was alright...but it's sad when only one of the many tunes in this game can be remembered. Also, I realize hardware limitations, but if you played Megaman 8 (or any Megaman game for PSX/Saturn) you tend to take the voice acting for granted, and it really gives the game life. Because the graphics were ripped directly from that previous game, I found it pretty lifeless compared to Megaman 8, and the sound effects in its place unfortunately don't suffice. I'm used to hearing Tengu Man yelling when he attacks and gets hit, none of that in here. The music is "OK", but again, very disappointing for a Megaman game.
Replay Value 7/10
This game like most newer Megaman games has a save feature in which you can save your progress. This allows you to pick up basically from where you left off with regards to which bosses you killed, what items you have, how many bolts you have, weapons, official art CD's, etc.), and it gives you 3 different slots which you can save your progress in....but here's the really cool part. Since some CDs can only be accessed by Megaman, and some only by Bass, the CDs that are collected are cumulative! This means that when you get a CD, so long as your game is saved, the CD is found. This adds a nice replay value and makes the player play with both Megaman and Bass.
Overall 9/10
Overall I really enjoyed this game. Despite the way people critique this game, I find that it is very closely tied with the rest of the Megaman series....and follows the story quite nicely. If you're a Megaman fan, do not, I repeat, DO NOT let this gem pass you up. My only regret was that this game was not included in the anniversary collection.
Pros:
- Graphics are beautiful.
- Very responsive controls.
- Not too simple, not too hard.
- Bass.
Cons:
- Sound is not Megaman quality
- Megaman's dinky normal shot....ugh.....
- Could have been more innovative.
- By Hibikster
