(This is a review of the SFC game, playing as Mega Man. I will revise or provide an additional review one day with the GBA port and Bass)

Maybe it’s the re-use of assets, maybe it’s how different it feels from the first generation of Mega Man titles, maybe it’s how ridiculously cheap it feels at times, but if someone had told me this was a fan-game that Capcom decided to publish for whatever reason I would believe it. It just feels so off.

The gameplay is rough. Mega Man’s descent from one of the tightest action-platformers into a loosey-goosey one where it’s never clear if it’s you or the game’s fault for any given sudden death is disheartening. The robot masters are alternately minor distractions or cheap nightmares, save for the rare gem of Dynamo Man, who is incredibly exciting to face off with, even with his weakness in play.

The item store returns again, with a few good options and a WHOLE PILE of needless crap, all at prices that really push the player to grind bolts, which is a miserable concept for a Mega Man game. Even the really useful ones are lesser to what has come before, or as cheap as reducing energy use or increasing health gain, which feel more like the way things should have been as default than actual fun power-ups.

Nothing feels good. Enemies aren’t that satisfying to destroy, hard jumps feel more like luck than tests of skill, and so satisfaction is low. Using the aesthetics of MM8 really drives home that Mega Man needs a level of simplicity to its visuals and feedback to get that serotonin flowing.

All this said? The King/Wily levels are some of the series’ best in the 16/32-bit generations, and course corrected a bit on what I was sure was going to be one of the worst in the series. Not that I’d want to be that harsh, but as a sort of Mega Man 8.5, released as late as 1998, I was hoping for something that built upon the presentation-lead design of that game, and polished things up to a mirror shine. Alas, hopping back from the PSX to the SNES has reduced that presentation to… basically nothing. Some speech bubbles and a tiny little window for an ending scene during the credits.

This review feels a little scatty, though I’ll put that down to this taking almost a full month to complete. Hopefully as we see out the final 3 games of the classic series I can pull myself together, and maybe the games will, too!

I’ve sat on this one for a few days, and am no closer to really knowing how I feel about Mega Man 8. I’ve made clear in previous reviews that I don’t like the feeling of angling for an anime that runs through the worst of these games, but this is such an accomplished attempt at that very thing that I can’t help but be charmed by it. From the cutscenes (haha bad dub, yes, but Xebec were no slouches, crafting some beautiful cutscenes to compress down into garbage. Almost five years since their closure and the wistful nostalgia is getting painful) to the meticulously over-animated sprites and lush environments, it’s some next level pandering to another medium.

The gameplay is… different. Sometimes it’s garbage, there’s a lot of instant death moments that feel like the game’s fault, which was rare in the 8-bit era. Sometimes it’s spectacular, such as the robot masters and other bosses, where the larger sprites and meticulous animation allows room for some amazing reading and reacting (Tengu Man in particular is a stand out for this, where you get so used to different poses and heights that you feel like a genius for handling). By and large though it doesn’t feel like Mega Man to me, which is why I was prepared to hate this from the start. Even positive changes like being able to have the buster and a sub-weapon equipped feel sacrilegious to this old brain.

Rush gets fucked over again, swapping utility and armour for a bike form(neat), and a bunch of far less interesting but far more… toyetic? Animation-friendly? applications that can collectively be used once per level. I’d moan about it more, but we still get Rush Jet for special shooter sections where you summon all your pals to your side, and the healing option is the only way I could stand a chance against Wily 2.

The limited screws and item purchase system is kind of neat, but only a small handful are particularly useful, so I never felt driven to 100% completion. It feels like the bones of a good idea, but needed more than half-baked options to really maximise its potential.

And so I’m in a weird position where this isn’t a game I like, but is a game I can recognise as being very good at its core aims, which is being a cartoon you can play. That’s… God, I mean that’s more than 7 ever did, and so three stars feels fair. I feel like I might revisit this one day on the Saturn just to see if the changes made there make for a better experience.

It’s very interesting that, when moving classic Mega Man onto the Super Nintendo, that they leaned more towards Mega Man IV of the Game Boy line than anything else, though aspects of MM6 are also here. Produced under an ungodly deadline, it had to be hard to decide what aspects were worth carrying across, but it feels notable that they went with the GB ‘4 masters at a time’ approach, with shopping functionality for a less reserved use of items. An understanding, perhaps, that it represented the best opportunity for change on the mainline, and was tried and tested enough to expect some success.

Anyway, this game is some cartoon shit, and as unfair a Mega Man game as I can ever imagine. The former is a matter of presentation: going from 8-bit to 16-bit afforded the artistic side of the development team to create something was more visually pleasing, and story cutscenes with laboriously slow text dialogue is as good an opportunity as any to show it off. I don’t like it myself, because for the most part classic Mega Man’s plot is naff, and drawing attention to it with another mysterious frenemy and the woeful antics of shopkeeper robot Auto is a terrible mistake. John Carmack one said that story in a video game is like story in a porno film, expected but not important. John himself has acknowledged that the statement was erroneous in years since, but if it was specifically classic Mega Man that he was referring to (it wasn’t) then I’d be fully on board. The story should never draw focus over the gameplay, and at this point it’s over the line. And yet it’ll get worse soon enough.

The unfairness seems to be related to the presentation. Hitboxes are rough in this, and instant death traps are everywhere. In the NES or GB games this wasn’t that much of a bother, but it felt like I was experiencing pointless twitch deaths for holding or not holding a button long enough way too often. I’d call it a challenge after so many games where dying was mostly saved for health checks at robot master fights, but if it doesn’t feel like an earned death, then it’s just so much getting kicked in the dick for no reason.

The robot masters themselves are… fine. Buster-only fights are few and far between for me on this outing, just for difficulty, and in its place are the laughably overpowered weaknesses matching of following the boss order. If you have the weakness of any given robot master they simplify their move sets and die on the spot. I’m told Cloud Man has moves, but with careful timing that dude just landed on his butt five times and fucked off into nowhere. It’s dull.

Power-ups are… fine. The Rush power-ups feature a fair compromise on Rush Jet and an okay Rush Coil, as well as a hilariously downgraded Power Adaptor, combining power and flight forms into something not quite as good as either. Still, you can find/buy a homing fist to make it an essential bit of kit, so it’s not all bad. Beat’s been turned into a fall save, which is a huge downgrade from the homing pigeon that allowed me to focus on dodging while it fought for me. The robot master weapons are… all quite fun and unique, actually, thumbs up. I enjoy how Freeze Cracker (best name) and Scorch Wheel make substantial environmental changes, and Thunder Bolt’s powering of machines is a neat touch.

The non-master bosses are a mixed bag. Bass is a joke, which is worrying when I have to play as him in the near future, Wily is infamously torturous (though I actually started to work out how to dodge the four lights by the end), but… I’ve lost my point, actually, maybe they all just suck. I hated the fat clown who kept losing his head, too. They are, at the least, pretty polished, as are most things in this, for good or ill. They look and feel finished, even if they are a bit shit.

It would be easy to dismiss this game, as I have done in the past, by looking at how Mega Man X changed things up, but the short development time didn’t allow for much innovation or satisfaction, and they were also making a new entry in a franchise that felt pretty complete. The world didn’t need Mega Man 7. I didn’t need it.

Imagine how I’ll feel about Mega Man 8.

Oh, it's Mega Man 7! When I decided to detour into the GB series, it was because someone had told me MM7 was more like them than the NES games, and splitting of bosses in half aside I was beginning to think they'd gone loopy. But no, it's here, in GB MM4, where it is in fact just the prototype for Mega Man 7.

Mostly it's the shop. Being able to stop in between levels, visit Dr. Light, and purchase a bunch of different canisters or canister portions (think like heart pieces, but for a health restoration item. I'm ambivalent), or the very useful balancer, is a neat change, and gives enemies something to drop other than health and ammo. It can feel a little grindy, but being able to grab extra energy tanks actually fixes a major problem with the series: that 'maybe I'll need it later' fear that stops you using any limited item in video games.

The other aspect that sticks out as 7-like is the abundance of plot, fed to you via such innovative things as cut scenes (well, you have to push the dialogue along manually), and recurring enemies beyond the robot masters. Ballade is actually kind of neat, from your initial encounter straight through to his ultimate sacrifice.

The robot masters are fine, petite versions of their console counterparts, and I stuck to my plan to go buster only on the first encounter, and then exploit their weaknesses on the boss rush. Some ten games into this adventure, I can safely say this is The Most Fun way to approach them.

I don't know if it's the shop, the way levels are broken up, or just the smaller nature of the GB series, but this didn't outstay its welcome at all. In earlier reviews I lamented the insertion of a more cartoon-esque presentation, but this game's whole-hearted commitment to it actually kind of works. It's not classic Mega Man, it's Narrative Mega Man, and that's fine. A new path has been opened, and it's inexplicably immediately after the worst Mega Man game I've played (so far!). I'm excited for the future again, and that's a relief. Bring on V and all its weirdness!

This game is so miserable to play that I almost packed the whole thing in. No more Mega Man reviews, purely because continuing on would mean playing more of this dreck.

It's hard to make a truly bad Mega Man, but the commitment of the development team here to choose the worst level designs, enemy layouts, boss patterns, structure (no boss rush?!)... well you have to commend them for messing everything up.

I don't want to dwell on this game. I want to come back for GB MM4 as soon as possible and wash the bad taste of my mouth. I like a lot of Mega Man, for good or ill, but this is just too much.

Pretty good! I had a little moment with this one outside of the intended game, as I realised retroachievements had an achievement for beating each robot master buster only, and decided that sounded really fun, and you know what? It was! The mega-compact boss areas lend themselves really well to a tight back and forth combat that’s more engaging than just cheesing it with the correct weapon, and it forced me to be a better player and survive longer. And by freeing up my weapons I got to use them more in stages, which made those feel less limited. A winning strategy that I might do again in the future.

The 4 plus 4 approach to Robot Masters feels stronger here for the second wave all getting stages (and passwords, thankfully). It substantially fleshes the game out over its predecessor and gives the new dev team more space to work out what the hell a Mega Man game should even be. I feel like they do a fairly decent, if limited, job on these. Like none of these levels are memorable, and they all sound terrible, but they feel like Mega Man in a way that satisfies enough to keep you playing.

Wily is… too easy in this, and bizarrely small, though not as easy as Quint, a sub-boss so easy that he doesn’t even get a health bar. Still, you get a hilarious pogo stick/piledriver, which is a fun reward that late in the game.

Finally, a shout out to Rush, who once again gets to be good AND not be clothing, which is every dog’s dream. I enjoy seeing him next to Mega Man on the weapon get screen, one of the cutest in the franchise. I don’t want to keep judging these games by how they use Rush, but I’m quickly realising that he’s the canary down the coal mine for Mega Man. Happy dog, happy life. Three stars.

A quick diversion from the mainline Mega Man games for the GB series, which if this first entry is any indication is just... fine. Okay. Some neat presentation for the weapon get screen and the approach of Wily's castle. Some... nope, that's it. It's okay. I like how it picks four robot masters each from Mega Man 1 and Mega Man 2 respectively. I like the little extra boss and the reflector power-up it grants. That's it. It's fine. Rolling Cutter is absurdly powerful. The uh... the disappearing platform sections feel less cheap than in the mainline... Jesus this game is insubstantive. But, ultimately, inoffensive.

Hard to review, but I deserve to do a brief one now and then.

Okay, I’m thoroughly convinced. I’m on board with a new truth, an idea not enough people come to: it isn’t the case that Mega Man 4-6 is a bad trilogy, it’s just that Mega Man 4 is bad. 5 was an eager course correction, one that gave me hope despite a few of its failings, and 6… well… Mega Man 6 is about as good as Mega Man 2, honestly.

A lot of it is because of Rush. Since his debut, Rush was progressively getting worse, to the point of just being an irritant partner in 5. A solution was needed to make the broader cast work, and we got it in the adapters, where Man and Dog combine to become their own best friend, available in two flavours, Jet and Power. Literal game changers.

The Jet Adapter allows Mega Man the power of flight, for a very limited period of time, a frankly broken level of platforming freedom that would have destroyed any earlier entry, but here inspired better level design, and often has you needing to use the Jet form to access power-ups or correct pathways (more on that in a bit), encouraging a bit of movement off the beaten path.

The Power Adapter is also this, but insanely destructive. Short range blasts of energy that can be charged for an even shorter range hit capable of destroying guarding enemies in a single hit, or even the suspiciously cracked blocks that hide power-ups or correct pathways (more on that in a- oh I said that already). The comical way some enemies speedily bounce off screen when hit with a charged shot is ridiculously satisfying, and I think this may rank among my favourite power-ups in the franchise. It helps that there’s a (skippable) little cutscene that shows our daring duo fuse together each time you select these costumes. Camp brilliance.

Both of these suits add a lot to the game, but take away Mega Man’s slide, so they don’t feel like a guaranteed optimum strategy as much as part of a three-pronged trident in Mega Man’s arsenal now. All three ways of being are necessary, and bring something to the party.

Another new, underrated feature is the Energy Balancer, a simple addition that stops you needing to change weapon when picking up energy, instead refilling the most empty one in your arsenal, which is just… that’s how it should be. It’s mad that this hasn’t always been the case. The only downside is that it’s hidden away on a different route to the correct pathway in the stage it’s on, and as such easy to miss.

Oh, the correct pathways, yeah. So often in robot master stages there’ll be two possible routes to take, and whichever one is harder to reach will inevitably turn out to be the better path to take, and rewards you with either some items or, upon beating the robot master, one of four BEAT letters to bring everyone’s favourite bird back into your arsenal. It’s a small bit of diversity in level design that makes the game feel bigger, even if you’re unlikely to ever take the wrong route once you’re aware of the feature.

The robot masters themselves are the most Kinnikuman they’ve ever been (and they have, by nature, always felt a bit like Kinnikuman characters). By virtue of an international competition we are graced by a range of characters that feature casual regional stereotyping, yes, but not offensively so, allowing for a greater sense of cartoon silliness to what are honestly the smallest obstacles in these games at this point. I like… most of them, design-wise, and gameplay wise the balance between challenge and gleeful destroying with the correct weapon feels pretty satisfying, shout-out to Centaur Man, who poses almost no threat, but whose gimmick makes the fight feel bigger than it is.

The final run (once again in two distinct parts, for the least convincing story reasons ever) was pretty good. I had taken some night nurse before going in, so my memory is pretty fuzzy, but it flew by without frustrating me or dragging itself out, and had me chuckling at some of the boss designs, which were either silly or I was just that out of it. At one point Wily is in a big shoe. It’s not a shoe, it’s a big UFO with spikes on the bottom, but it makes me think of a shoe, and does what shoes do. That’s great. How could anyone not love that. And there’s a dinosaur, I think! And a shitty Metal Slug! How did I finish the game in this state?!

I was going to take a break after 6, expecting to feel deflated, but this slapped, I’m energised again. Time to move onto the SNES, and see what 7 brings to the table. I’m not 100% sure I ever finished it as a kid/teen. Should be fun.

It would be far too easy to focus on everything Mega Man 5 lacks. It still feels a bit like Zombie Simpsons, and I don't think that stink ever truly goes away, but coming off of the massive disappointment of Mega Man 4 I think MM5 deserves appreciation for what it does right, and how it (mostly) course corrects the franchise into something that feels more gameplay-oriented than MM4.

Sometimes it's the little things. Having the weapon get screens show a rotating version of the sprite you control rather than a large cartoon head makes it feel like the plot is shifted ever so slightly back. And it is. Whilst the "is Proto Man evil?" plot does drive things, it feels more like a straight run of fun robot masters followed by a couple of trench runs through two big bases. I'm still largely of the mind that having two bases to conquer is kind of needless padding, but you can forgive it a bit when the rest of the game feels tight enough.

The robot masters are mmmmmmostly good. Star Man is a joke, but at least he's a joke that's fun to take on. Charge Man is... theoretically fine, but using Stone Man's absolutely dogshit weapon against him is... embarrassing? It's embarrassing that any weapon could be as poorly designed as the power stone. Especially as most other weapons are decent! Gravity Hold is a big old nothing, but these two aside I actually really like the implementation of the other weapons, including the new, rideable Super Arrow, which renders the weirdly nerfed Rush Jet pointless while also being a versatile weapon that feels essential to at least one fight.

Actually, poor Rush eats a lot of shit this time out. Rush Coil has changed so that he jumps with you, and it sucks. Just 99% less reliable and prone to all sorts of glitches, a stupid change that gained us nothing. And that's... it. Two forms, both not very good at all. I'm glad that his big expansion is on the horizon, at least.

No, the real useful creature is he mid-game unlockable bird Beat, who allows you to just fire and forget, freeing the player up to focus on precision dodging while Beat chips away at enemy health. An inspired idea that's just a smidge too over-powered to feel fair, especially as the letters you have to collect to unlock the bird are far too sloppily placed.

The final run of levels are pretty fun. The bosses in particular are neat challenges that kept me on my toes (except whenever I had energy for Beat) with memorable enough designs, and the levels leading to them merged repeating challenges from the main stages with new ideas that made it feel like more than a long victory lap before Wily.

I don't know, I'm feeling positive here. It's a good time. Even the charge shot is useful now. But the game still suffers from the negatives MM4 had, just a bit less so, and brings new problems to the table just to make this hard to rate. Still, a solid 3 stars, and evidence that just because you've entered a safe pattern, you don't have to just wallow in mediocrity. Let's hope 6 keeps this energy up.

There’s no real reason for Mega Man 4 to be a huge drop-off in quality. Really, looked at in a certain light, it’s got more polish than ever, but that’s part of the problem. Mega Man 4 is the double-digit seasons of The Simpsons; a high-quality failure whose greatest failing is a misunderstanding of what made the golden era of the franchise so perfect.

The plot and the presentation is straight-up intrusive here. From the opening video to Mega Man’s cartoon-ready presentation on the weapon get screens to the actual in-game dialogue from Cossack’s daughter, you get the feel of a game that really wants you to know it could be an animation if it really wanted. These touches don’t necessarily create the impression of a development team ashamed of the fact their creation is reduced to a video game, but it does make it seem aspirational, like being a fun, gameplay-focused video game isn’t enough anymore.

The levels are… cheaper? The series as a whole gets a bit of a bad rap for sudden enemies knocking you into pits or onto spikes, and up until now I don’t think that was merited, but the bullshit is here in spades. Lots of cheap one touch deaths, where twitch response or memorisation are now essential, and it feels like it’s replaced the smarter level design of the earlier games. This is particularly annoying in the obnoxiously plentiful Cossack/Wily stages, which outstay their welcome long before we even learn Cossack’s reasons for attacking us. Harsh but fair level design ruled the first three Mega Man games, and yet here it’s more common to just get comedically fucked over.

The robot masters… well… it’s nice to see Dust Man, a creation of Yusuke Murata, who would go on to be the artist for Eyeshield 21, as well as One-Punch Man. It’s nice to see him. But he’s a chump. As is Frog Man. Two entry points to the loop, and they’re both the sort of easy bullet sponge idiots I was hoping wouldn’t exist after MM3’s stronger opening gambits. On the plus side, half the weapons you get for blasting through this easy assortment of Masters are dreadfully boring, so you can resent your quick victories in more ways than one. It’s hard to be creative this many masters in, but a less good time freeze, a lump of shit, and a homing fist are not gonna get the old brain going, and frog man’s rain ability is just a great example of a power making ‘sense’ not stopping it from sucking.

The new robot master weapons aren’t the only new weaponry to hand, as we have a charge beam, which feels like a long overdue feature, mainstay of the series that it becomes, but that isn’t actually any more effective than my quickly flailing thumb is in most situations. Thankfully the wire grapple goes a bit further as a unique and interesting weapon, and the returning Rush abilities are… wait, why did this game have Rush Marine? I didn’t use it once! I forgot all about it!

All these abilities are chosen from the new pause menu, sending us completely away from the action for the first time so as to fit everything on one screen, and while it feels wrong somehow after the first three games, the added clarity of the full screen is appreciated.

I really can’t overstate how this outstayed its welcome with me. I don’t know that it’s actually any longer than the other games, especially considering the doc robot stuff in MM3, but by having two separate maps for the final sprint I had fatigue set in way earlier, not helped by the shittier design choices along the way. And then at the end I got a 3 stage Wily who’s beyond easy to beat. The first Wily boss literally has a safe spot to stand right next to it! That level of exhaustion with one of the most surefire franchises for me as a person who plays games is weird, especially when these games are all such short experiences.

A drop from 5 to 2 stars feels harsh, but MM4 feels like an exercise in making the wrong choices within the right framework. I know things improve quickly again, but for me this is the black sheep of the NES Mega Man games, and that’s a bit of a bummer. Onward to MM5, it can only go up from here.

Rush was the missing piece all along. The items from Mega Man 2 were all good and well, the magnet beam in Mega Man 1 was a neat starting point, but what non-boss, traversal based items needed all along was a bit of personality, something to make you want to see them beam down and hang out with you. Mega Man needed his Mega Man's Best Friend. Rush fills that slot brilliantly, is a good boy, isn't actually named after the band, and is emblematic of the sort of conclusions reached in Mega Man's earliest days, the very end points that make this the best Mega Man to date, and possibly the best Mega Man game of all time.

I've gotten a bit hung up on comparing the initial three games of the series in my previous reviews, and I think ultimately that was done with the wrong motivation. I was trying to work out which one is better, when instead what you should get from comparing the three is a sense of iteration and polish unmatched in any trilogy of games outside of maybe the first three Metroids, and that took three whole systems in comparison. Everything has levelled up game to game, and now we're here with excellent movement, challenging bosses, a greater sense of story, tight-ass level design, better weaponry, and a lovable dog. You couldn't get to this point without the first two games, and as I'm fairly sure I'm going to learn soon enough, you can't go past this point without additions or subtractions that negatively affect the experience.

Something I really appreciate is how challenging getting on the robot master loops can feel. Beating Snake Man with a buster isn't academically hard, I know I just have to occupy the middle pillar and jump over him when he approaches, but in action it's an exercise in timing and pixel-perfect jumps. In earlier games it definitely felt more like any loops required one lame duck master to get on, and that just isn't the case here.

Weapons all feel frequently useful outside of boss battles, especially with the Hammer Joes, who are a fantastic change from the Sniper Joe, especially as you can actually get a feel for their timing. Shadow Man's shuriken is less OP than the Metal Blade, which encourages more experimentation, and the Hard Knuckle's delayed attack leads to some fun scenarios all the way to Wily, where you just kind of chuckle and shake your head for jumping a smidge too early. And boy howdy, that final moment with Top Man's power. Unbeatable.

Proto Man's little theme is great, as is the continuing thread of his appearances and fights throughout the story. The world of Mega Man feels bigger because of it, and I'm glad for it.

Oh, and the slide. The slide is largely a novelty, but there was a moment where it finally clicked for being as brilliant as it is, and that's against the new Yellow Devil. The Yellow Devil sucks in Mega Man 1. It often feels undodgeable when it spawns in brick by brick. Here it's actively fun, because the slide means you get to make DECISIONS. Do you focus on jumps, do you slide under the head height ones, risking a need for split second timing on the next one? It's a small touch but it makes for a way more fun time. I love the slide because of bits like that, and less when it's just a way to pretend a 1-up is harder to get.

Oh, the negatives. I had way too many E-tanks and lives by the end. I don't think Mega Man 3 is easy, but it was making it feel too safe to have these options in the pocket. Sometimes you have to fake insecurity by not feeding the player goodies non-stop.

But that's it. My only criticism. I even like the Doc Robot stuff. Five stars, great game, best in series maybe.

I feel like an eternal question among Mega Man fans is whether this or Mega Man 3 is better. I’m still a whole replay of a game away from answering that question, but one I didn’t expect to come across was… is this even better than the original?

I’m the sort of game-playing person who loves exploratory first entries in series, warts and all, and as such the original Mega Man really does it for me, from the needless scores to the tight selection of bosses to the frankly impossibly useful elec beam pause glitch. Mega Man 2 still feels like it’s working stuff out, but has bells, whistles, and robot masters galore, a much more polished experience only really let down by a final boss trio that starts annoying and ends boring (hilarious as the final reveal is). But all that polish means I have to take the flaws more seriously (what few there are), and also means it’s just… less exciting.

That said, it still rules, and the things it does better it REALLY does better. I found myself using far more of my abilities outside of boss rooms, especially the new trio of items, all of which feel like what the magnet beam was supposed to be, but without the bullshit of being optional items. Item 1 in particular is kind of amazing, as being able to generate three platforms should be busted as all heck, but it just works and provides a couple of late game challenges. The wood shield… well, it is actually busted, trivialising certain rooms, but that just makes me feel like a certified G and bonafide stud for having obtained it. Also shout out to Flash Man’s power, which can’t even fully kill Quick Man. Miserable.

Having a specific boss rush rather than the original’s way of integrating them into the Wily levels is… better. I want to say better. It feels more video gamey, and is a nice challenge. It seems a shame to have lost that touch of stumbling across an old foe again as you close in on Wily. It’s more purposeful, more deliberate, for good or ill.

Beyond that it’s just the things you already know. Stages look good and are less cheap than the original. The music is genuinely an all-timer soundtrack for 8-bit systems. The little easter egg (ha) of being able to have birds replace the stars when you select a stage shows a sense of fun and attention to detail that would come to define the series for me. It just works. The whole thing just works.

But which would I rather replay? Well, the original, but this is nipping at its heels, and as I go to replay MM3 I feel like a new king is out to pick up his crown. But we’ll see how that plays out.

I don't know how Fair Play Labs have done it. Everything else GameMill Entertainment has published has been the drizzling shits, whether through deadlines, funding, or using the cheapest developers they can find. You would expect All Star Brawl 2 to be garbage, more games for the mill. But Fair Play Labs are just so passionate, so devoted to making the best possible Smash clone, with licensed characters given due care and attention, with quality modes and decent online, that they've pulled a miracle out. They've made the best Smash clone I've ever played.

My playthrough consisted of trying a few modes out, including the online, but mostly of many, many hours of the campaign mode, a roguelike jaunt through three large zones of group battles, one on ones with possessed characters, power-up stops, minigames, and boss battles. I used most of every character I could in this mode, but mostly focused on Rocko, Spongebob, Raphael, and Patrick. This mode is THE mode. Endlessly fun, and hilariously broken by the time you've funnelled enough slime and splats into the permanent power-ups in this mode. It sounds funny, but I appreciate this as a workaround to unlocking characters. Serious online players don't want to have to unlock characters before they get to grind them out, but the experience of unlocking new guys to play as is crucial to the casual experience. It's the best part of smash, and having unlocks in this one mode brings that feeling out nicely.

Mechanically this is... kind of brilliant? You've got all your air dodges and wavedashing and such that a melee player would want, but with some good additive changes to the Smash formula. You have a slime meter that lets you beef up your specials, as well as granting you a cinematic ultimate move when full. Your chargeable, smash-esque moves are on a separate button to your light attacks, removing the need to 'smash' the analogue stick. More accessible to kids, innit. The only thing you really lose is that not all your buttons do something different between side and neutral, but like... who cares? Immensely playable. Great game feel. Only occasionally bugged out the arse, and even then it's had regular updates to smooth stuff out.

I just really like this. Mr. Krabs just got added in as dlc. I should try him out as a main. The fun never ends. But sincerely so.

Fuck GameMill.

Revisited the original Mega Man for the first time in a long time, and I think, possibly, that we're all idiots who decided this one was lesser than the rest, basically because it doesn't have 8 robot masters and a slide.

It's a gorgeous game, even with the graphical flickering that runs throughout it. The colour palette is carefully used to maximise how clear and engaging everything can look within the NES' limitations. A lot is made of how Mega Man is blue because that gave them the best colour design options, but even in all the robot master power colours, Mega Man looks good, which is... funny, because if you really look at his weird little body it's actually quite unpleasant. But who's closely examining NES sprites, anyway.

Controls are tight, as simple as they are. He jump, he shoot. Each enemy and their placement is clearly built with one solution in mind, and without incredibly tight controls it would fall apart (and often does on slipperier surfaces).

Bosses are memorable. For all that later Mega Man games expand upon this base, they never have a robot master that looks quite as good as Fire Man, Elec Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, or Cut Man. There's something special to them. Okay, maybe Heat Man. And Guts Man is, of course, some sort of mad icon for the series, reappearing constantly because we all just love that big burly jaw.

If this specific game has any failings, they're two-fold. One is the magnet beam. Optional within its level, and only obtainable as intended with Guts Man or Elec Man (necessitating either foresight or a second play of the most irritating level in the game), and yet without it you cannot actually beat the first Wily stage. That's bad design. That is absolute dog shit.

The other failing is that Wily himself is easy as all get out to beat, even if you aren't using the hilariously overpowered Elec Man weapon combined with the pause button (doing damage each time you unpause, allowing you to win with as much as a single blast). I don't necessarily want Wily to be as painful to fight as he is in Mega Man 7, but I want to feel like I overcame something.

Mega Man is a better game than it will ever get credit for, and I recommend you go back and give it another go, and just have some fun with it. I've never been more glad for younger me to have been wrong about a game.