Mega Man 7 Review

 (Originally published to Glitchwave on 1/9/2025)

[Image from glitchwave.com]

Mega Man 7

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Genre(s): 2D Platformer

Platforms: SNES

Release Date: May 24, 1995

Haha...what?!

Does Capcom mean to tell us with Mega Man 7 that Mega Man X WASN’T intended to be the changing of the guard into the next generation? Are they really pushing their shitty 1995 Buick Roadmaster up a hilly country road when it’s out of gas after they’ve purchased a strapping new automobile that’s completely fueled up? Is it sentimentalism that keeps Capcom from pulling the plug on the original Mega Man series, a sextet of NES titles that were beaten into a vegetative state of creative burnout due to oversaturation? Did they really think that shifting the series to a console that doubled the visual capacity with a seventh entry would make a difference? Whatever the impetus was, digging up the classic Mega Man series that was presumably dead when Mega Man X hit the scene has me befuddled to Hell and back. Coexisting alongside its evolved descendant like how monkeys still roam the Earth after we humans still reign supreme is a nice gesture, but what exactly can the classic series do to prove that the X series hasn’t condemned it to obsolescence? It doesn’t help that Mega Man 7 is not a particularly well-regarded entry to the classic series, so the case for its continued lifespan isn’t holding up all that well. However, even though it doesn’t hold a candle to the highest points of the X series, I’ve found that Mega Man 7’s ill-repute among its classic series peers can be heavily disputed.

Simply because Mega Man 7 shares a kinship with the primitive classic series doesn’t mean it’s restricted to sharing their 8-bit modesty. Due to existing on the same 16-bit system, Mega Man 7 borrows an abundance of presentational flair from Mega Man X. This is immediately apparent when the game begins with a cutscene sequence that sees Mega Man having a conversation with Roll and a new character named Auto, complete with scrolling text on screen contained in speech bubbles. Once the conversation stops, Mega Man is thrusted into the chaos on the futuristic city streets in a prologue level, an introductory standard stripped from the X sub-series. While the cinematic touches and expositional sequence put it on a relatively equal standing in narrative richness to any of the X games, Mega Man 7 does not choose to channel the sharper, slightly more mature aesthetic of the classic series’ offspring. Mega Man 7 still exists in the same timeline as the unrefined NES games with the same diminutive robot boy seen a century before Dr. Light advanced his darling automaton with that extra X chromosome, so the aesthetic needed to reflect the jejune status of our hero that we likely forgot since the first X game was released. The result of this consideration is a bright and colorful aesthetic akin to the lightheartedness of a Saturday morning cartoon, with the 16-bit graphics of the NES animating the pixel art to a discernible degree. As for Mega Man’s design, the developers found it essential for him to share that look of passionate, heroic determination as his X alter ego. In execution, the boyish baby fat of Mega Man’s face makes his serious visage resemble that of an annoyed Butters from South Park. It makes me want to give Mega Man a noogie, not treat him seriously as the savior of the cyber age.

Other than the animated visual overhaul and the marginal strides to elevate the narrative to be on par with the X games, Mega Man 7 is predictably the same old song and dance as any other Mega Man game. Eight robot masters must be vanquished and their powers will be downloaded into Mega Man’s all-purpose arm cannon, and checking them all off on the blue bomber’s hit list will unlock Wily’s fortress where Mega Man will confront the mustachioed menace. However, one change to the series’ formulaic arc found here is that only half of the robot master roster is available at the start. The opening cutscene explains what seems like an arbitrary, insignificant monkey wrench into a Mega Man tradition, in that only four robot masters beckoned to Dr. Wily’s command to tear up the city brick by brick if he did not make his presence known for six months (on account of being incarcerated). On one hand, only offering half of the lineup initially severely limits the possibilities of the progression trajectory. On the other hand, I suppose that the suppressed selection connotes that finding one of these robot masters’ weaknesses is a one-and-three chance instead of the usual one-and-seven, so the suggested progression course is quicker and easier to start.

Once the player finds the intended trajectory, they’ll find that Mega Man 7’s levels are perfectly cromulent and outstandingly diverse as always. The rubber of Turbo Man’s spare tires will bounce Mega Man into the hazardous spike pits if he collides with their conveyor system, while the refuse of Junk Man’s stage is being collected as a shelter for groups of repugnant little robot cockroaches. Freeze Man is the exhausted, yet effective snow stage, while the Jurassic Park jungle with robotic dinosaurs that Slash Man operates prolongs a pattern of humid environments usually prevalent across every X entry. The buoyancy of the liquid physics in Burst Man’s stage and how to calculate Mega Man’s jump force in relation to how far he will sink is a genuinely clever innovation on the standard water level. The standout level in Mega Man 7 for my money is Shade Man’s, for the bat and zombie-infested Halloween town is the series’ first stab at a horror-themed area. Sue me, I’m a sucker for spookiness. As for their weapons, each of them falls nicely in the middle of the spectrum between the orgasmic bodaciousness of the Metal Blade and the pitiful, horribly conceived Top Spin. Burst Man is an advancement on Bubble Man’s conceptual identity, as his liquid globules are dense enough to ensnare enemies and lift them to the great unknown or trap them to the ceiling. Cloud Man is evidently of the cumulonimbus variation, for Mega Man can condense the power of his lightning into an energy blast the size of the charge shot. Spring Man’s coils can be charged to unleash two simultaneously, and I guess Shade Man’s sonar blast is shrill enough to warp a robot’s circuitry. Slash Man’s weapon is especially notable not only because it compensates for Mega Man’s lack of close-ranged offense, but because it looks like Mega Man is bitch slapping his enemies. Pay your respects, Dr. Wily.

Some of the common negative discourse surrounding Mega Man 7 is that the game is far too facile to uphold the blistering Mega Man standard of difficulty. I criticized Mega Man 5 for loosening the classic difficulty grip on the player, but Mega Man 7 is comparatively a brisk walk in the park. Enemy placements are reasonable, level hazards are manageable, and the stage gimmicks such as the reappearing block platforms aren’t nearly as demanding as they used to be. Truthfully, the quality-of-life enhancements are quite refreshing. The level of accessibility on display feels far more organic than when Mega Man 5 attempted to ease the pain of steep difficulty because of the refinement that comes with the advanced hardware of the SNES. The inherent upgrade in graphics and mechanics aids Mega Man 7 while Mega Man 5 felt like a deliberate digression, especially since it was released after Mega Man 4 which was the quality peak of the NES titles. It’s not to say that the fifth entry in the classic Mega Man series failed miserably on all fronts in smoothing out Mega Man’s difficulty curve, for Mega Man 7 decides to reinstate some of that game’s ideas on hardware that complimented them. Firstly, in the first four robot master stages, letters that spell RUSH are scattered somewhere in the obscured corners of the area. Mega Man veterans should recognize that these four letters form the name of Mega Man’s trusty, robotic red pooch. Mega Man will still summon Rush on occasion to trampoline him on out-of-reach platforms with his trusty coil apparatus, but all of Rush's other applications have to be found on the field like collectibles. The process of uncovering these auxiliary utilities requires the same meticulous exploration as finding any health upgrade or special abilities in an X title, and it encourages a more intimate engagement with the level along with a replayability incentive. The selection of optional gadgets obtained through exploration is also marvelously vast. For one, if the player collects all of the letters, it will unlock a combined version of both the jet and power suits seen in the previous Mega Man game, which is definitely handy during a few platforming sections in Dr Wily’s castle. Depending on how you eradicate a spherical miniboss in Shade Man’s stage that is shaped like a pumpkin, the routes its explosion unveils will lead to two separate gadgets, which will of course encourage the player to revisit the stage to unlock the one they missed on the first go-around. Finding Protoman and defeating him in a friendly duel will even warrant him anteing up his shield, blocking all pesky projectiles from grazing Mega Man. It’s such a nice gesture on his behalf that I feel obliged to send him a fruit basket as a token of my gratitude.

Protoman is so charitable to Mega Man now, figuratively giving him the shirt off his back in the shape of his shield, that one could forget that he was once his rival who formerly antagonized him at inconvenient moments. The developers figured that a new character should fill the rival role’s vacancy in the form of Bass, another humanoid robot who dons black armor instead of blue. He, along with his own canine companion, Treble, (get the reference?) makes his acquaintance with Mega Man during the prologue and states that his order of business is to stop Dr. Wily, and his assessment of Mega Man’s ability to conquer the mad scientist depends on whether or not the player can defeat him at this moment. His motives are vague, but Mega Man recognizes that Bass is fighting for the same cause and treats this mysterious stranger as a worthy ally. However, Mega Man’s naive trust in the good in his fellow robot comes to bite him in the ass when he allows Bass to recuperate from his wounds in Dr. Light’s lab. Bass ransacks the place and steals potent upgrades designed for Mega Man and Rush, and Mega Man storms Dr Wily’s castle to retrieve them. Maybe it’s just because I’m cynical to the core, but I’m not sure how effective Bass is as an antagonist. They prop him up as the classic series’ iteration of Zero, but the red rogue already had a relationship with X before the events of the game’s prologue. Establishing trust immediately without earning it is the first rule in the book of duplicity, and I wish I could express this knowledge to Mega Man before he made a fool of himself letting this jerkoff walk all over him.

However, I wish that the souped-up fusion fight with Bass and Treble was the penultimate fight of Mega Man 7, and it’s not because Dr. Wily’s fight is predictable and boring as always. Dr. Wily is evidently cross at the fact that the X series ousted him from the limelight as the series’ abiding main villain, and a scorned Wily makes for an especially spiteful encounter at the game’s climax. The first stage where Wily is hopping around in a hefty mechanical skull on stilts has a perfectly learnable attack pattern. However, the subsequent section where he’s riding around in a floating capsule fires artillery that seemingly could only be dodged with the slowed-down special effects seen in The Matrix. Wily fires four energy balls with three different kinds of elemental properties, and the suggested tactic during this boss, no joke, is to collide with the electrical ones because they deal less damage to Mega Man. Sure, one can hone their dodging prowess and evade the balls with grace and proficiency with practice, but who has time for that? To make matters worse, the capsule’s weaknesses only shave slivers off of its stocky health bar, so the player is forced to tank an inordinate amount of damage in order to survive this grueling test of endurance. Mega Man 7’s Dr. Wily is not only the definitively hardest iteration of the mad doctor, but he has joined the ranks of bosses that have angered my dentist in how they make me grit my teeth down to the pulp in frustration. It sufficiently made us all respect Wily’s authority once again, that’s for damn sure. It even aggravates Mega Man so much that he decides to forgo his laurels as he shockingly plans to execute Wily once and for all, but this decision is ultimately thwarted. Kill him, Mega Man! Paint the walls of his fortress with his blood!

While it may seem like Wily has bested us all with his zooming energy balls that have the indecipherable pattern of a swarm of flies, there is a hidden method to utilize against Wily’s unforgiving onslaught. Unless the player has the manual on hand, which I don’t, they won’t know that pressing select in the main menu will access Auto’s garage, a one-stop shop for any conceivable item in the Mega Man series. Here, Mega Man can stock up on energy and weapon tanks, and guzzling them like beer at a frat party is the only way the player will withstand Wily. Unfortunately, Mega Man can only have four of each item at a time, and insisting on buying more than the maximum allowed will cause him to be chastised by Auto for “being greedy.” Do you know what I’m up against, you fat green dope? Miserly business practices aside, the shop is a genius point of innovation. The bolt currency is plentiful and the energy tanks on the field are too sparse to rely on, so the player is more than compelled to visit this service to stand a fighting chance. Maybe check to see if the open sign is on so the player will be aware of its existence, Auto?

After several years of trusting that Mega Man 7 “sucks big dinosaur balls,” I’ve come to find that this crude assessment of the game’s quality is totally undeserved. It’s a refined Mega Man experience in all contexts. Thanks to the advancements found on the SNES, the mainline Mega Man series can flourish with colorful pixel art, greater accessibility, and more nuanced level designs that reward the player handsomely by exploring them. By borrowing assets from the X series, Mega Man 7 still doesn’t stack up to the advancements of that series because it's inherently shackled to the exhausted properties of the mainline series. Still, anyone arguing that any Mega Man game from the NES is better than this one is smoking the nostalgia pipe. Hell, I think Mega Man 7 is better than the third X game released the same year. NES enthusiasts are adamant, man.

Mega Man X4 Review

 (Originally published to Glitchwave on 7/18/2024)

[Image from glitchwave.com]

Mega Man X4

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Genre(s): 2D Platformer

Platforms: PS1

Release Date: August 1, 1997

Prolonging the Mega Man X subseries beyond the SNES trilogy to a fourth game on a next-generation console? That’s actually not a bad idea. Both exceeding the succinct, rounded trilogy pairing and promoting the series to the upgraded system hardware have achieved wondrous results for Capcom’s flagship franchise in the past on two separate occasions. My sentimental attachment to Mega Man 2 pains me to state this, but the fourth entry in the original Mega Man series is the crown jewel among the long-drawn-out sextet of games on the NES. Finally forwarding the blue bomber’s career to the subsequent SNES model alongside his fellow NES debutants with Mega Man X not only gave the stale and plodded-out series some much-needed revitalization; it also produced the finest Mega Man outing period, and this is from a purely objective standpoint. Unfortunately, despite the superior hardware the X subseries was inherently blessed with compared to the paltry, 8-bit pixels that the original series had to settle on, the X subseries somehow managed to depreciate at a quicker rate. I much disliked the bitter and grimace-inducing taste that Mega Man X3 left in my mouth compared to the numbing of my taste buds that came with the original series overstimulating them. Isn’t the increased deceleration of new technology as it ages one of the most ironic aspects of progress? Mega Man X4 serendipitously finds itself as both the fourth entry in the Mega Man X subseries as well as the series’ second leap to another succeeding console generation. Not only did the simultaneous happenstances for Mega Man X4 prove to be doubly effective in bringing the sickly Mega Man back to health once again, but now the doors of conversation relating to which Mega Man game triumphs over the rest have been blown open to considerable debate.

In order to ensure Mega Man’s successful state of remission, Capcom wisely cut the publishing cord that has been connected to Nintendo since the blue bomber’s inception. Similarly to when Konami defected from Nintendo when developing Symphony of the Night, Capcom had the foresight to realize that the N64 would’ve given the bleeding Mega Man franchise a cosmetic nose job in the form of 3D graphics. All that the blocky rendering of Mega Man in the third dimension would have resulted in is an exacerbation of the dying process, and Capcom would’ve had to host an open-casket funeral. The fans could awe at their efforts, and their misguided malpractice wouldn’t have totally been in vain. While the fifth generation of consoles instilled the idea that pixel graphics were now for grandpa gamers, the PS1 at least offered some leeway to preserve the freshly “obsolete” method of rendering video game visuals. While the 32-bit graphics of the original Playstation generated 3D visuals that looked as malformed as a Dr. Moreau victim, doubling the fidelity of the SNES’ 16-bit capabilities proved to be the peak of the pixelated aesthetic. X looks so crisp and clear here that he seems meticulously drawn by a virtuoso Japanese animator, mending even the subtle, infinitesimal crumbs of pixel static that Symphony of the Night forgot to buff out. Actually, that comparison probably draws from a new presentational perk of fifth-generation console hardware that was absolutely out of the question on a primarily pixel-latent device. Mega Man X4’s periodic instances of exposition are depicted with fully-fledged animated cutscenes, and the animation quality is up to par with any Japanese anime studio operating during the time of the game’s release. Unfortunately, the English dub is regrettably at the same level of voice-acting ineptitude as the overseas anime translations were during this time as well. My impression of X being the rugged, “bearded” version of the bright-eyed and boyish original Mega Man has been tarnished thanks to his shaky, pubescent vocal delivery. Is it going to take another reincarnation of the character to represent the masculine maturity behind his name’s implications? Still, the voice acting on the PS1 equally sounded like it was performed by a group of stoned, unenthusiastic interns, so this is probably a case of coincidental convergence with two under-appreciated mediums.

A byproduct of X4’s higher production value is the expansion of complexities within the X series narrative. The Maverick menace is still a poison in this futuristic society, but the noxious impact the renegade league of robots has has been reduced to a tepid spider bite. Since the first Mega Man X game, every defeat of the diabolical Maverick chairman Sigma has diminished him from his reign as omnipresent revolutionary to somewhat tangible skeletal wiring, to incorporeal ghoul, to just an unpleasant fart passing through a maverick hunter’s nostril apparatus. As ephemeral and ultimately inconsequential as they might be, everyone knows that even the most silent of farts can still prove to be deadly, and Sigma’s gassy influence is attempting to waft over a military organization known as Repliforce. The general of this reploid army expresses no interest in helping Sigma lead a rebellion against mankind, so a Maverick retaliates in response to his refusal by sinking an airborne city called Sky Lagoon. X and Zero investigate this catastrophe and immediately pin the destruction on Repliforce, painting them as dirty, unruly Mavericks. The General doesn’t take this slander too kindly, and neither does his second in command Colonel. Together, they take offense at the accusations towards them and strive to build a reploid society segregated from the humans, so Sigma’s negotiation terms worked out in his favor after all. Because of the insurrection, X must eliminate the members of Repliforce, and their ranks total to the convenient number of eight, fitting for the lineup of a Mega Man boss selection. While the premise ultimately still results in the average Mega Man fare, the events leading up to the stage select screen present a far more intricate source of conflict. Sky Lagoon’s fall mirrors the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, manipulating two non-feuding factions to suddenly engage in an all-out war with one another. Mega Man X4 is the first of the series to contextualize the standard series gameplay with something genuinely riveting.

The Mavericks themselves have also been injected with a sizable boost of personality in Mega Man X4. Upon entering their domains at the horizontal apex of their environments, each Maverick will parlay a conversation with X relating to their decision to isolate themselves from mankind in their reploid city-state. Magma Dragoon reveals himself to be the perpetrator of Sky Lagoon’s destructive downfall, and this transgression from the former maverick hunter results in an exasperated X trying to make sense of it. Split Mushroom and Cyber Peacock’s health bars show Sigma’s insignia at the base, giving a subtle clue to where their allegiances truly lie without any pretenses of their Repliforce status. Frost Walrus scoffs at X for his comparatively petite physical stature, while Web Spider pities X for his dutiful narrow-mindedness for the maverick hunter’s cause. As intriguing as it is to witness the eloquent evolution of Mega Man’s bosses, their practicality as villains still boils down to how fun and effective their weapons are to use once X has dispatched them. Magma Dragoon’s “Rising Fire” is the only weapon I can recall that strictly shoots vertically up in the air, while Frost Walrus’ chunky icicle “Frost Tower” plummets to the ground after X briefly uses it to shield himself. Some hallucinogenic properties of Split Mushroom cause X to see a shadowy outline of himself, tethered to a few yards in front of him while dissolving anything that comes in contact with it. Storm Owl’s “Double Cyclone” pairs off and floats upward like two balloons being set free, while Cyber Peacock’s “Aiming Laser” is rather self-explanatory-dealing a surge of damage to whatever the target reticle settles on. Overall, the enemy weapons featured in Mega Man X4 are collectively the most diverse, unique, and efficient arsenal we’ve seen in the series thus far. If you’re a Mega Man fan who insists on sticking with the charge blaster as adamantly as a black coffee drinker like me, X4 offers the choice between two variations of X’s base means of offense. The charge shot that supplies four energy blasts shaped like the “hadouken” from the first game is utilized awkwardly, so I’ll gladly opt for augmenting the size of the charged blast that lingers a little longer on targeted enemies.

The impressive diversification found across the enemy weapons extends to their territories leading up to their encounters. At an initial glance, X4 fails to unshackle the bounds of a thematic comfort zone, for plenty of topographic-level themes are admittedly being reused. Magma Dragoon’s lair where flaming meteors constantly erupt from both the fiery pits beneath the Earth and diagonally from the sky should remind the player of the flowing lava lakes inside the rocky confines of Flame Stag’s area from Mega Man X2. As beautifully captivating as the roaring waterfalls and rainbows in the sky of Web Spider’s jungle area are, I’m starting to lose count of how many humid, tropical wildernesses have been selected as a prominent level theme so far in the series. A wintry stage is practically a requisite to fill in an eighth of a Mega Man game’s level lineup, hence why Frost Walrus’ dissolving snow slope platforms continue the apparent streak that hasn't been broken yet. Capcom realizes that there is a finite amount of elemental and geographical setpieces they can use without repetition, so X4’s stages always add a pinch of creativity to keep the realistic restrictions from growing stale. For one, Cyber Peacock’s computerized depiction of the final frontier is the most unorthodox level thus far for the Mega Man franchise. The first half is constructed like a series of obstacle courses where X must avoid electric holographic eyeballs that squeeze his circuits to the point of shorting, plus the walking turrets that appear from miniature black hole portals. If X manages to arrive at the end of the course under an unspecified time constraint, a letter grade will appear above the portal to the next level. The score doesn’t factor into simple progression but X will be rewarded with an upgrade for his skillful maneuvering. The second half of this level sees X warping perspectives so sporadically that I’m still unclear as to how I arrived at the end of the level. The base of Split Mushroom’s level is a panoramic tower with intermittent standard platforming sections between climbing its floors. Magma Dragoon’s encounter marks the first instance where X can bring a mech into the arena to duke it out with a Maverick, pounding this traitorous, terrorist sumbitch into the dirt so vigorously that I almost feel a hint of remorse. Jet Stingray’s stage stretches the vehicle sections from Mega Man X2 where X zooms around on a jet-powered motorbike for the duration of an entire level. As gimmicky and distracting as many of these implementations sound, I appreciate that the developers trust that the player might have grown tired of the meat and potatoes of shooting and jumping by this point with their intermingled offering of these alternative methods to standard 2D platforming.

The instance of caving Magma Dragoon’s metallic head in with the bulky, titanium arms of the flame-retardant mech reminds me of something else that could be considered another stride in the series’ evolution. Out of all the pained expletives I’ve loudly uttered due to the difficulty of video games, the Mega Man series has produced a substantial percentage of those flustered moments across nine different games thus far. Unexpectedly, X4 never caused me to frightfully wake my neighbors, making them believe that I had just been shot or was the instigator of a messy domestic dispute that required police attention. Only a handful of occurrences during my playthrough of X4 did I mutter a dirty interjection under my breath, for the game is far too accommodating the majority of the time to project my spoken frustrations. The absurdly circuitous escapades involved in retrieving the upgrades in X3 have been simplified to either spotting them off the main trajectory or returning to an area with the single, required boss weapon as opposed to a checklist of other necessary tools. One of these upgrades increases the stock number of lives given to X at the start from two to four, and this increase will remain the same and regenerate every time X is faced with the option to continue. Speaking of continues, possibly the most forgiving point of accessibility that X4 implements is the continues given upon exhausting all of X’s lives. No, I don’t mean as progress nets so the player doesn’t have to restart the entire game like a quarter-chomping arcade machine. Certain points in each level are treated like X has surpassed a significant mark of progress (ie. the open water docks from the underground tunnel in Jet Stingray’s stage). If X manages to burn through all of his lives, continuing after his outright failure will transport him back to that milestone instead of the very beginning of the stage. Is this accommodation a little too lenient perhaps? It’s not as if the Maverick stages are longer than those from the previous games, so this safety net to catch the player is wide enough to catch and hold an adult black bear. One aspect of X4 that a returning player might initially believe is one stiff regression that maintains that familiar difficulty curve is subtracting the total of four collectible energy tanks to two. Still, I could argue that a halved portion of the energy tanks is too excessive because a cylindrical capsule filled with floating atomic matter will greet X before entering the doors of a Maverick’s domain and fully replenish his health. Did I mention that the energy of each boss weapon is indefatigable unless it's charged up? Add the ability to save one’s progress to wrap all of these pleasant points of accessibility up in a package that is too sweet and thoughtful not to embrace even for the most hardcore of Mega Man purists.

I surely thought that a Mega Man game pampering me was a ruse to catch me off guard so it could deliver a swift kick to my testicles. The relative breeziness of eliminating these Mavericks reminded me of Mega Man 2, and I cannot forget how unceremoniously that game fucked me after hours of relative relaxation. As it turns out, the final few stages where I had anticipated the game tossing me into the oven after fattening me up didn’t occur. Fighting the Colonel is somewhat taxing because he doesn’t have a specific weakness, but his consistent attack patterns are manageably learnable. Opportunities to clear a shot to The General’s head are fleeting, but it's unlikely the player will stumble and trip to the point of total physical fracturing like with a certain mass of yellow matter that needs little mention. X still concludes the game by driving a proverbial stake into whatever artificial organ pumps Sigma’s blood (or blood-like fluid) to cause the Mavericks to collapse in a chain reaction, and all three of his phases require a modicum of trial and error learning to eventually put the persistent phantom leader of the reploid uprising to rest. The intrigue of X4’s climax lies entirely on what is unraveled in the narrative, something I never thought I’d state in regards to a Mega Man title. Throughout the game, X is joined in the stage select control room by an advisor named “Double,” a maverick hunter rookie whose dopey appearance and boobish mannerisms signal that perhaps he’s better suited to be their waterboy than a soldier on the frontlines. However, his endearing incompetency is revealed to be the incredibly convincing mirage devised by a deranged, murderous Maverick with a visage of pure malevolence only rivaled by Sigma. One cutscene in particular where Double slaughters a group of maverick hunters who called him “bitch tits” and other demeaning phrases is a scene so graphic that it's almost inappropriate to be featured in a Mega Man game. X eradicates Double’s true form like any other of Sigma's subordinates, but dealing with Double strikes a powerful chord with X that makes him question if he and Zero have the willpower not to succumb to the dark side and become Mavericks themselves. Zero shrugs off X’s concerns, but this ending does leave the player with something to ponder over. Whether it be the prevalence of Sigma’s anti-organic life rhetoric or the dumber viral infection that X3 introduced as a source of conflict, X4 manages to utilize both of them as possibilities for X’s potential heroic downfall, and the fact that X ruminates on these possibilities is a stride of maturity for a series that used to recycle the same simple hero versus villain plot like cardboard.

Throughout all of the duplicity, social upheaval, and existential introspection the player can delve into, everything I’ve detailed pertaining to Mega Man X4 is shockingly, only one-half of the game. Finally, the curtains have been divided completely and Capcom has unveiled Zero as a playable character. Technically, returning players got their first taste of the X subseries’ coveted secondary character in both the introduction of X3 and by summoning him in the menu through a code. Still, the restrictions set on Zero’s playability plus his total erasure from the game after dying only once is not at all what fans had yearned for, giving us all the more reason to resent X3. No, the sampler bullshit that served as a transitory avenue in granting everyone’s wish to play as Zero has been remedied with an additional full campaign in X4. In fact, players can supplement X’s campaign with this wish fulfillment, for it’s the exact same series of mavericks to conquer. However, I should state a disclaimer that if you divert from the standard gameplay by choosing Zero over X is a contractual dedication to X4’s “hard mode.” Sure, the bounty of life vessels X4 added is still present and pervasive, and Zero’s green energy blade will proficiently slice and dice enemies into cubed cheese. That is, it’ll make quick work of enemies situated directly in front of him. Zero’s campaign is the trickier one to persevere through not only because everyone will have far more experience with X and his long-ranged mode of offense, but because X4’s levels are still designed with X in mind. Suddenly, enemies and bosses alike that are safely engaged from a distance need tactical contemplation to defeat. Zero’s core can also absorb a Maverick’s weapon, but using it isn’t as elementary as a shift through a menu or flipping through buttons. The player must execute specific button combinations to perform all of Zero’s elemental martial arts like the hadouken move from the first game, and I’m not exactly Street Fight champion material. Still, for those who are, Zero’s stipulations raise the skill ceiling with a potential for combat proficiency that X could never reach.

As for the minute story alterations, Zero’s experience in facing the absconding Repliforce revolves around Iris, the Colonel’s little sister, and Zero’s obvious love interest despite their platonic relationship. She’s a stark supporter of the maverick hunter’s fight for human and reploid unity, but she cannot continue to support Zero and X after they slay her brother. Once Iris crosses over to avenge her brother in a boss fight exclusive to Zero, he is crestfallen when he has to euthanize her like a sick dog. This event rattles Zero, but he does not let the consternation of the drastic event affect his mental fortitude as it did for X. He assures X to keep calm and stick to his principles, for it is revealed that Zero was designed for evil by Dr. Wily long ago and chose the righteous path of justice on his own volition. He’s a super cool dude.

I’m not entirely certain if Mega Man X4 is definitively the greatest title across the entire franchise. I realize this is a colossally high metric to evaluate the game, considering it's my first dance with this dashing entry in the series. Still, all of the factors that would support this claim are too stacked in X4’s favor to support another opinion. Mega Man X4 is simply far too agreeable, creative, and narratively substantial to consider another game from the series as a contender, especially since I’ve never attributed the first or third terms to any Mega Man game prior to playing this one. Perhaps all of the quality-of-life enhancements make X4 a little TOO agreeable for veteran players, but that’s not where my skepticism stems. Besides the voice acting and anime cutscenes, I have a feeling that all of X4’s innovations could’ve been achieved on the SNES because aspects such as save points, automatic energy tanks, and swapping the gameplay to Zero’s sword slashing didn’t exceed the limitations of the console’s 16-bit hardware. The first X game still retains the monumental ecstasy felt when it was initially released because the leap from 8-bit to the twice multiplied 16-bit achieved things that Mega Man on the NES could never dream of. Still, any excuse or motivation for Capcom to dig the blue bomber out of the rut again that X3 almost hit to its irreparable, six-foot completion. At least diving off another sinking console ship to the next, newfangled game console produced something that surpassed its lackluster predecessor beyond the bare minimum.

Mega Man X3 Review

 (Originally published to Glitchwave on 5/15/2024)

[Image from igdb.com]

Mega Man X3

Developer: Capcom, Minakuchi Engineering

Publisher: Capcom

Genre(s): 2D Platformer

Platforms: SNES

Release Date: December 1, 1995

Back to the ol’ grind, eh Capcom? Forgive me if my humorous jab fails to veil my sense of apathy, but I’ve thrown in the towel on the Mega Man X series at this point. When the first Mega Man X game successfully defibrillated the flatlining mainline series that clogged its arteries with too many entries well into the NES’s elderly years, Mega Man’s futuristic second wave of relevancy put the blue bomber on a pedestal that soared far over the heights of when the series was still blossoming a generation prior. Sure, it’s sensible to hold higher expectations for the X series compared to the mainline Mega Man games because they’re inherently privileged by technological advancements. However, it’s difficult to maintain momentum when the first 2.0 upgraded entry practically peaks the franchise’s formula. Every subsequent title is fated to falter as a result, and Mega Man X2 already couldn’t hold a candle to the first game’s glory. Upon playing X 2’s numerical follow-up, Mega Man X3, not only does the game hardly align on the quality of the first game-it proves the damning precedent that I alluded to regarding Mega Man X2.

Mega Man X3’s story arc pertains to X (and Zero) stopping the evil deeds of a new Sigma disciple. However, he was previously a benevolent man of scientific discovery like Dr. Cain and Dr. Light before him. Dr. Doppler, the supposed radical lunatic in question, postulates that the defiant, homicidal nature of the Mavericks isn’t due to a lack of direction, human mistreatment, or listening to Sigma’s resistance dogma in their formative years. Using his gifted scientific mind, Dr. Doppler creates some sort of robotic antidote to pacify the Mavericks as if it were merely a viral corruption in their circuitry. Dr. Doppler’s feats of scientific progress usher in the futuristic utopia that Dr. Cain had envisioned, and they’ve even erected a city called “Doppler Town” to commemorate his accomplishments. However, this far-fetched halcyon scenario is quickly dispatched when eight reploids, the requisite and totally coincidental number of hostile bosses for a Mega Man game, revert to their Maverick status once again and Dr. Doppler is instead fingered as the culprit for what is figured to be an intentional malfunction on his part. Sigma’s Maverick manifesto may mirror many science fiction stories revolving around the sentient autonomy of humanoid robots with artificial intelligence, but at least the themes are still rousing enough to be reused to great effect. Chalking the primary conflict of the series up to an infectious bug in the matrix that seems accidental just strips the narrative of its substance.

So yes, X is hitting the pavement once again to nip the new Maverick menace in the bud before it spreads. What selection of exotic, automaton animals have the developers chosen to represent as the pinnacle challenges of each level? Upon glancing at the menu, we have little clue because there are no descriptions of any of these Mavericks. All we see is four Mavericks aligned across the top and bottom of the screen per usual with a headshot and a still image of their domain. Not even the names of these burly robotic creatures are given. I can only surmise that this is a developer error and an inexcusable one at that. C’mon guys, even the vestigial first mainline Mega Man game at least provided the names of the Robot Masters in the menu! At this point, the stages of the X games are beginning to reuse topographical tropes we’ve already seen in the previous titles. Tunnel Rhino resides in another mine-oriented level buried deep in the underground trenches of the Earth, and the mud spurting from its pores will ensnare X into its viscosity like quicksand. Blizzard Buffalo’s stage is another frosty one but with an artificial cyclone machine exacerbating the turbulent winter overhead as an interesting new gimmick. Surges of electricity shimmy alongside the walls of Volt Catfish’s stage as recurring obstacles, and the “water” stage one would anticipate from Toxic Seahorse is more akin to the gunky sewage of a treatment plant. One would probably expect the two Mavericks designed after bugs to buzz around a humid, untamed jungle area similar to Neon Tiger, but Blast Hornet and Gravity Beetle are located in what appears to be a military complex and airship respectively. At least the submarine stage where X fights Crush Crawfish is somewhat water-oriented, even though it's highly improbable that anyone will find the strictly freshwater crustaceans in the vast, saltwater habitat of the ocean. Nitpicks about the themes surrounding these Mavericks aside, what is actually worth griping about is that several of the stages include plenty of fatal sections such as bottomless pits and beds of spikes at the end of falling that the player cannot anticipate unless they are psychic. These blindspots haven’t marred any Mega Man game since the very first one in 1987, and they’re just as unfair and poorly placed here as they were way back then.

The collective arsenal X can accumulate from the charred remains of the Mavericks are really nothing of note. The “Tornado Fang” and “Frost Shield” penetrate the armor of foes by drilling into their internal wires for double damage. The “Ray Splasher” trickles a flurry of bullets for a few seconds, and Toxic Seahorse’s “Acid Bubble” will corrode the metal right off of enemies once X gingerly plops it out of his arm cannon. The “Gravity Well” and “Parasitic Bomb” effectiveness seems entirely situational, and the “Triad Thunder” is insufficient as a close-ranged weapon and undependable as a long-ranged projectile. The weapon I found to be the most effective blaster substitute was the powerful, dual-wield “Spinning Blade,” but it expends more energy than a clunky air conditioner. If my summary of the boss weapons sounds curt, it's because I’d rather discuss another alternating array of firepower that X3 incorporates. By now, I’m sure every returning player is familiar with the mechs that X can pilot for a short period on the field, caving in cracked corners of land and the faces of enemies with its kinetic punches. In X3, X cannot jack an idle mech or violently take one from an enemy by force. Instead, the mech is summoned from one of the circular podiums littered throughout the levels. X is given the choice of selecting four different mechs with their own unique attributes. The Chimera module is the standard one featured in X with the aforementioned pension for fisticuffs, the Kangaroo module is similar to the one from X2 equipped with a charged attack, the Hawk module borrows the flight function from X2’s mech with rocket arms to boot, and the Frog module is strictly for underwater traversal. Having four flavors of the mech at X’s disposal to boost his offensive and defensive attributes sounds incredibly exciting and convenient on paper. However, the restrictions on this privilege damper its fun factor severely. Firstly, X has to unlock every one of the different mechs by scrounging around the hidden corners of the levels like any other upgrade. Even if X locates three out of four of them, they won’t be available to use until X finds the Chimera module dangling from an elusive room off the beaten path of Blast Hornet’s level. Why does this mech have higher precedence over the others when they all have their own vital utility? In addition, the platforms where a mech is materialized seem to be located in spots where it’s inappropriate to use them. I began to stop bothering with these mechs altogether because using them is sadly burdensome when it should’ve been a highlight of the game.

Unfortunately, the developer’s questionable methods extend to other upgrades found in the game. Remember when finding the energy heart units in the first Mega Man X was just a matter of slightly verging off the intended trajectory? X2 presented a few out-of-reach upgrades locked behind an additional step of using a Maverick’s weapon from another stage, but X3 increased the circuity of obtaining upgrades to the point of overload. For example, one heart unit is located behind a boulder suspended from the ceiling in Tunnel Rhino’s stage, and grabbing it requires both another boss weapon and one of the armor upgrades attached to a specific part of X’s body. Hardly any of the upgrades in X3 are acquired through honest attention on the player’s part. While we’re on the subject of the armor upgrades, X3 tweaks the defensive component of X’s progressive growth into something else that the developers didn’t entirely think through. As usual, armor enhancements are obtained by finding the body-sized capsules in the same obscured corners as the other upgrades. There’s one for each major piece of X’s exterior anatomy, and they all range heavily in opposite spectrums of usefulness. The body upgrade that cuts X’s damage input in half is a given, but the only other new factor of the armor upgrades I appreciate are the vertical leaps granted by the leg armor. Obtaining the helmet upgrade will begin each level with X scanning the layout of the stage and displaying it on a crudely rendered blocked map of the level that indicates where the remaining upgrades are located. This would’ve been a helpful feature only if there was another blipping dot of a different color on the map signifying X’s location in relation to the upgrade. The blaster upgrade is supposed to enhance the magnitude of the charge shot, but the upgrade in X3 rather generates a lopsided beam that sluggishly shoots in whatever direction it damn well pleases. In addition to these, the base upgrades can be augmented even further with the color-swapped pink capsules that insert a chip into the specific piece of armor to increase its effectiveness. Strangely enough, the player can abstain from collecting any of the chips which will reward them with a golden-plated suit of armor with all upgrades attached. Why would the player knowingly pursue the other upgrades beforehand if they were aware that they would come as a package deal by the end? The developers should’ve offered one pink capsule including the golden armor for the player’s efforts to gather up all of the armor upgrades. Actually, scratch that: I advise everyone reading this to forgo the shiny upgrade conglomerate to preserve the practicality of the charge shot.

X3 continues X2’s new trend of secret bosses sporadically interspersed between the levels. I’m glad that not catching the subtle clues of their appearances no longer has permanent, penalizing effects. However, it’s the additional bosses themselves that feel shoehorned in to continue this trend. Dr. Doppler is feeling a tad paranoid to X zeroing in on his location, so he sics two of his specialized henchmen goons called Bit and Byte to dispose of the blue Maverick hunter. While intended to be intimidating, the duo dynamic of these two cronies reminds me less of robotic Vincent and Jules and more of Badger and Skinny Pete. They’re entirely worthless. Meanwhile, one section beneath Crush Crawfish’s stage teleports X to a pathway to a spacious arena where he fights an uncanny apparition of Vile exactly as he did at the first climactic stretch to Sigma in the first game. Despite how irrelevant these supplementary bosses seem initially, vanquishing them somehow has some consequential weight to the remainder of the game. Instead of facing off against the tusked Press Disposer and the abstract Volt Kurageil mech, X will swap their encounters on the way up to Dr. Doppler to fight an unholy fusion of Bit and Byte called the “Godkarmachine O Inary” and Vile for the umpteenth time. However, the player’s completionist pension will not affect the final two bosses of Dr. Doppler and Sigma. Yes, Sigma’s influence still resonates strongly with the corrupted reploids. Except in this context, he exists as the computer virus that has been infecting the Mavericks, and not in a metaphorical manner of spewing anti-organic life rhetoric like a revolutionary propagandist. After X forces Doppler to face the errors of his ways through a swift beating, he tackles a tangible, lifelike version of Sigma in two phases that prove to be far more tense and demanding than the unpolished wireframe head seen in X2. The second phase is especially taxing if the player has inadvertently buggered their charge shot with its upgrade. After an exhausting duel, Sigma reverts to his rudimentary digital self to pull one more trick on X: flooding the arena with ascending lava to literally burn off the last slivers of his health before Zero swoops in and slices him in half of his saber. Excuse me, Sigma, but you’re not allowed to pull a stunt like this unless you are the pinnacle boss of a Metroid game. No, I’m not mad because it killed me unexpectedly (okay, reasonably a little).

Mega Man X3 is a predictable continuation of what the first X game established to advance the Mega Man formula. It expands on what the second X game introduced, albeit all of its aspects that I wasn’t particularly fond of, and makes them reasonably more manageable such as the loosened importance of the additional bosses. Besides the reinstated assets it carries over, the distinctive changes it makes are so bewildering it is as if the developers failed to test the game before releasing it. I’m still scratching my head as to why X can’t freely use the mechs he unlocks, the menu doesn’t list the names of the Mavericks, and so many more to list that I’m frankly appalled. It feels reactionary to assign Mega Man X3 the status of the nadir of the franchise. Still, it’s certainly the most flawed and irritating Mega Man game I’ve played thus far.

Mega Man X2 Review

 (Originally published to Glitchwave on 3/4/2024)

[Image from igdb.com]

Mega Man X2

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Genre(s): 2D Platformer

Platforms: SNES

Release Date: December 16, 1994

Has Capcom ever heard the saying that too much of a good thing is a bad thing? Someone might think that I’m jumping the gun applying this adage to Mega Man X2 considering it’s merely one follow-up to the company’s advanced spin-off series that ushered in a new and improved era of Mega Man. However, anyone who is adept with the series and also possesses half a brain can already determine that releasing a sequel exactly one year after the first Mega Man X is a clear precedent that will follow the same long-winded trajectory as the classic Mega Man series. Five subsequent sequels to Mega Man X are going to render the blue bomber’s shiny, futuristic suit of cerulean armor as clanky and depleted as his 8-bit model through overuse, and it doesn’t take a soothsayer’s astronomical level of insight to come to the same conclusion. Also, a worrying aspect of the Mega Man X series compound its eventual fate is that the degradation process was liable to begin even sooner than its preceding series did because the first Mega Man X was such an exemplary entry. Mega Man X naturally dwarfed all of the older iterations on the NES thanks to the SNES’ superior hardware, so a case could definitely be made that it is objectively the blue bomber’s finest outing. How does one go about beating near perfection with a sequel? Well, perhaps I’m giving Capcom too much benefit of the doubt that their efforts stemmed from artistic inspiration as opposed to monetary gain, but the former is ideally what game companies should be striving for (in an ideal world where it rains beer and dogs live forever). As expected, Mega Man X2 is starkly similar to the first X game but proves to be much less impactful.

I guess one of the recurring attributes that a Mega Man X game will consistently implement is an introduction sequence that sets the scene of the game’s narrative. Destroying Sigma in the previous game wasn’t enough to dismantle the Mavericks, for he’s another example of a martyr whose ideas still persist long after his initial reign. However, X and his mentor Dr. Cain believe that they can extinguish the remainder of the Maverick forces that reside in an abandoned reploid factory and ransack the place hoping to finally oust the meddlesome resistance. After defeating a rotund robot boss with an endearingly primitive utilization of 3D graphics, the screen pans out to three figures named Serges, Violen, and Agile discussing how to eradicate the blue bomber who is projected as a running holographic still in their headquarters. Apparently, these new Maverick officials are cooking up a diabolical plan that is going to catch X by surprise, and the player has to wait for the events of this eventual disaster to unfold. Witnessing the game’s main villains plotting X’s demise is ominous, or at least it would be if the first moments in the opening didn’t inject a heaping load of exposition to set the scene. Removing context and simply catapulting the player into the game’s first level as the first game did and then filling the vagueness with the scene that follows would’ve been a more effective method of establishing the game’s narrative. Alas, this is the product of the earlier, pixelated era of gaming when narratives couldn’t have been presented with such liberal subversiveness, for the concept of gaming narrative was still in a vestigial state. However, the credit I will give this introduction is demonstrating that X is much stronger in will and mind than he was in the first game’s introduction, and his adept experience will avert the need for big brother Zero to rescue him.

As par for the course, Mega Man X2 follows the introduction with a menu that presents eight different Mavericks and their respective domains. One difference is that in the center of the two parallel grids of the Maverick’s headshots is a map of the island where all of the Maverick’s individual districts reside. When playing the classic Mega Man games on the NES, the thought had crossed my mind of where each robot master was located with the others in this hyper-futuristic world, so I suppose one gaming generation and one X game’s worth of hindsight now allows the player to use this neat little visual reference point. The compact space of Maverick Island should negate the eclecticism presented across all of Mega Man’s levels, but I suppose that all of the Maverick stages are artificial constructions built from the ground up with their design tropes in mind. As the eclectic definition would dictate, Mega Man X2’s stages are a diverse mishmash of elemental tropes as the series has always upheld. I guess if there was one elemental signifier that gives a few of the levels some kind of cohesion, it is...moisture? Bubble Crab’s deep, shaded reef is the only level where X is submerged underwater like Launch Octopuses stage, but we can infer that the Gemini Man-esque crystal caves and Wire Sponge’s humid, greenhouse conservatory are dripping with condensation. Infiltration is another relative theme across the levels. Wheel Gator’s stage sees X venturing through the interior of a flying battleship, and the security measures in Magna Centipede’s stage that activate when X triggers one of their alarms by barging into them convey that they’ve erected a solid fortress that has implemented extra precautions to make it harder to penetrate. Flame Stag’s volcanic cavern is turbulent, and Morph Moth’s junkyard has waste stacked up so high that it comes to life with the intermittent minibosses. Overall, the range of level themes is admirable as always, but none of them stand out as true cutting-edge examples of Mega Man’s evolution like the minecart rollercoaster ride that was Armored Armadillo’s domain. The closest Mega Man X2 comes to offering that same seamless exhilaration is riding X’s tricked-out motorbike across the dunes of Overdrive Ostrich’s stage, but the classic NES games already tried something similar with a jetski in Mega Man 5.

With this new gang of Mavericks comes a fresh batch of power-ups for X to absorb upon defeating them, a staple of the Mega Man franchise that should now go without saying. While the ability to charge up X’s blaster still decreases the motivation to use these power-ups in combat, particular instances on the field will at least warrant the shuffle process in X’s inventory. To reduce enemies to the stationary status of platforms, Crystal Snail’s glassy, freezing weapon will give X a makeshift boost when the roofs are too high. The Strike Chain stolen from Wire Sponge allows Mega Man to grapple to inclined surfaces and ceilings, as well as a trusty extended claw to reach for extra lives and energy capsules located in tight spaces. Bubble Splash brings bubbles upward to enemies at an elevated angle, as well as propelling X’s underwater jumps all the way up to the surface. Wheel Gator’s gigantic saw blades are the key to digging through the layers of specifically textured rows of rocks and blocks to gain items, and charging up the heat of Flame Stag’s weapon will transform X’s dash move into a projectile, flaming force of pure energy for a few seconds. The boss weapon gained from the Mavericks that I kept on my side as a secondary offensive tool from the charge blaster was Overdrive Ostrich’s Sonic Slicer, as the several spinning blades flying in all directions cutting down all enemies with little energy expended reminded me of the godly Metal Blade, touching a sentimental nerve in my brain. As lethal as the Sonic Slicer is, one interesting new entry to X’s arsenal is a special weapon where X unleashes a furious explosion that blows everything in the vicinity to smithereens. However, unlike the previous screen-clearing weapons from Mega Man games of yore, this uber tool of mass destruction depletes all of its energy upon using it, and it merely scratches every boss as if they anticipated it and wore reactive armor. Overall, Mega Man X2’s alternate weapons are satisfactorily beneficial and practical. Still, none of them are beating the convenience and inexhaustibility of the charged X-Blaster, which should be a disclaimer for every X game from here on out.

If there is one discerning factor between Mega Man X2 and its predecessor despite the striking similarities, it’s the swift increase in general difficulty. Somehow, all of the fanciful upgrades and quality-of-life enhancements that came with a successive gaming generation did not turn a series known for busting gamers’ balls into a cakewalk because its action-intensive 2D platformer gameplay with limited lives is inherently difficult. Still, the select choices in Mega Man X2 feel very deliberate to ensure that the player breaks out in a sweat. The falling two-ton bricks that slide around in Magna Centipede’s stage are too swift to anticipate and will kill X on impact like being crushed between any two surfaces. In the same stage, a target reticle that is inspecting the area will freezeframe X in place if it catches him, which is difficult to avoid due to the bulky clumps of clay(?) coming from the ceiling. The total number of snapshots the mysterious camera takes of X will influence how durable the proceeding miniboss will be, who is arguably a more formidable foe at his base than the power-up-sucking Maverick who commands the area. Quick ascension is also emphasized in several sections of the game where X must rush to the surface of a narrow climbing section, lest he suffers the scorching lava flow in Flame Stag’s stage or the crushing closing of the vertical surfaces in the first X-Hunter stage. A select few Mavericks have increased their defensive capabilities such as Crystal Snail blocking X’s firepower with his hardened backside, and Wheel Gator hiding in the rusty sludge of the boss arena’s foreground. I grew to detest the latter of these two bosses as he can seemingly submerge himself in the gunk forever and the moments where he jumps out of it to grab X out of the air and chomp on his armor like a seagull were randomly placed. Really, the most apparent case of Mega Man X2’s deliberate difficulty enhancement is seen in the placements of its upgrades. Finding these valuable assets that aid spectacularly during the game’s climax is no longer rewarded to especially observant players as quite a few of them are in plain sight. The catch to obtaining these items is the tight feats of skill needed to even come close to them, namely the two heart upgrades in Wheel Gator and Overdrive Ostrich’s stage whose integration with both the regular dash and Flame Stag’s fire boost felt like my fingers were playing Twister with the controller buttons. I knew from experience that obtaining all of the upgrades was paramount to success in the final series of stages leading up to the final boss from the first X game, so I had to stomach the pain of failure for several marginally imprecise attempts.

Despite my efforts to gather everything that makes X more powerful, something unknown to me prohibited my completionist reward of being able to execute Ryu’s deadly Shoryuken uppercut move for my troubles. Dr. Cain, who finally shows his face to the player here as opposed to acting as a lore figure, explains to X that the Mavericks have somehow disassembled Zero, and the three goons from the opening sequence are in possession of an individual piece of Zero’s body. To mend X’s red, ponytailed role model’s body, X has to hunt down the three fiends who are located in elusive corners at random in each of the levels. It turns out that the widescreen world map in the menu isn’t a lark, for it briefly indicates where Serges, Agile, and Violen are located. I caught onto that little hint quick enough, but what I didn’t understand is that once a certain number of Mavericks are defeated, it locks the player out of fighting the three core villains and Zero is forever lost. You see, when playing through the levels of an X game, I prefer to cruise through the levels at my own pace and only humor the collectibles if they happen to cross my path coincidentally. All of the other upgrades remain intact once the player revisits their respective sites, so I figured recovering Zero could wait as well. Permanently locking the player out of something valuable with unclear stipulations is the fault of the developers and not due to the player’s inattentiveness.

What occurs if the player fails to collect Zero’s parts beforehand feels like they’re being unfairly punished. Before facing another form of Sigma as the game’s final boss, the Maverick’s cold-hearted leader presents a renovated Zero by his side, and he is fucking PISSED. Zero saved X when his life was at stake in the first X game, and to think that X wouldn’t return the favor paints him as an ungrateful dickhead. Hey, I would’ve resuscitated Zero like an EMT if I had known the time to do so was fleeting. If the player fell victim to Capcom’s miscommunication as I did, a scorned Zero makes for what is easily the hardest boss in the game. Unlike the exploitable hound of Sigma that stalled his fight previously, Zero covers the ground and the air with an equal amount of ferocity and firepower. Because he’s a huge hindrance to finishing the game, it’s recommended to either reset the game or abuse its password system. “Wolverine Sigma” and the beta model computer head that follows are comparatively a joke, so dodging the Zero fight beforehand makes a world of difference. Leading up to this point, Mega Man X2’s ascension to Sigma’s base is a tad underwhelming. Vanquishing the three goons responsible for Zero’s incapacitation formally all makes for substantial bosses that will get every player’s pulse beating. Still, the run-up to all of them resembles ephemeral vestibules fit for the entrance of a final fight. I can’t believe I’m saying this given how it vexed me, but I wish the developers had constructed something like the first stage of the finale seen in the previous game.

Mega Man X2 is a loyal followup to the game that ushered in the new wave of Mega Man games to glowing, unprecedented praise. Because of its loyalty to the template established only a year prior, it really is as exemplary as the previous X game on a technical level. However, its inability to provide the player with anything of notable innovation for the sake of loyalty is what makes me leave Mega Man X2 a tad cold and unfulfilled. Simply because the developers compel the player to take greater risks in the game doesn’t mean they are risks on the part of the developers. Also, the Zero side quest was total bullshit. My report for Mega Man X2 is that for the most part, everything is fine and dandy. However, how long will it be before we’re discontented with being served the same meal every evening?

Mega Man X Review

 (Originally published to Glitchwave on 1/4/2024)

[Image from glitchwave.com]

Mega Man X

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Genre(s): 2D Platformer

Platforms: SNES

Release Date: December 17, 1993

“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.”

Although Capcom probably didn’t present this infamous quote from The Six-Million Dollar Man during their pitch to make Mega Man X, a parallel can still be connected to recrafting Steve Austin with information age advancements and the blue bomber’s shift to the SNES console. For too long, Mega Man was held back on the elementary hardware of the NES console with a whopping six titles that prolonged the lifespan of Nintendo’s first console far past its twilight years. The franchise managed not to disgrace itself with six subsequent outings, but the last two titles admittedly teetered with everyone’s engagements after the series peaked mechanically with Mega Man 4. The solution to the growing disinterest in the franchise that truly made Capcom a contender for video game developer royalty was so obvious that all of the gaming consumers probably thought of it far before the company held their first meeting discussing it, wondering if they were mute judging by how long it took for their echoes to reverberate to their offices. It was finally time for the blue bomber to evolve and join its 2D platformer contemporaries on the new and improved Nintendo console of the day. If the SNES could facilitate the blossoming of fellow debut NES franchises such as Mario, Castlevania, and The Legend of Zelda from stumpy and rugged, albeit charming and determined caterpillars, into beautiful, graceful butterflies, then certainly Mega Man’s metamorphosis should ideally prove successful as well. Fortunately, I’m happy to report that Mega Man X isn’t merely a fresh coat of 16-bit paint splattered onto Mega Man’s gleaming, azure 8-bit armor that has been weathered across six adventures: it’s another hard reboot that reworks Mega Man’s mechanics with 16-bit splendor, resulting in something spectacular.

We’re all used to the linear climaxes in Dr. Wily’s castle acting as the swirling giraffe neck of every Mega Man adventure, but what about a prologue level on the opposite side of the narrative spectrum? With no context, Mega Man X catapults our plucky hero into the action of some frantic scene on the streets of a nameless futuristic city. Mega Man blasts through tank units, robots with long, ropey legs, and wasp bots hovering overhead as the urban foundation of the setting crumbles beneath his feet. Plumper wasp units ambush Mega Man as more durable minibosses, offering specks of formidability at such short notice. While making quick work of the enemies on the steel, city architecture may make the player feel like a badass, Mega Man is humbled at the prologue’s culmination point when he is beaten senseless by the purple mech of Vile, an apt nickname for a villain character if there ever was one. As he’s about to have his life function strangled out of him by Vile as he’s writhing in staticky agony, a red ally robot named Zero pops out and saves Mega Man before he’s about to take his last breath. Zero then proceeds to lecture Mega Man that he’s got a lot to learn before he becomes a valiant hero, judging from the tragic scene that almost occurred. Letting Mega Man potentially fail in his heroic duties at the hands of the enemy implies that the stakes far outweigh that of the classic Mega Man fare and that the SNES advancements have granted the series a deeper layer of narrative complexities.

How bruised Mega Man’s ego must be after needing Zero to come to his rescue, for his redesign looks as serious and sternly determined as if he’s aiming to be a Medal of Honor recipient. Actually, before I become too accustomed to a bad habit, the reason why the Mega Man in Mega Man X vastly deviates from the charming, boyish expressions of the classic iteration is because this one is an entirely different character altogether. Mega Man X is set in the 22nd century, approximately one hundred years after the general period during all six Mega Man games on the NES. Every single facet of the Mega Man world we’ve come to know, both the good and evil of it, is now a buried relic of the early years of the futuristic digital age. The metaphor of how distant the days of the NES Mega Man are becomes literal when scientist Dr. Cain unearths this upgraded model of Mega Man, simply referred to as “X” from the ruins of Dr. Light’s laboratory. After living through the era where robots were modeled as vacant puppets designed to perform manual labor, Dr. Light’s progressive consciousness inspired him to conjure up a Mega Man model, “X”, that matched the cognitive and emotional capabilities of human beings. I’m willing to give X the benefit of the doubt that he’s sharp as a tack and sensitive as a poet, but I’d argue that Mega Man has always looked relatively humanoid. What the 16-bit graphics grant to the blue bomber’s heightened humanistic features is sanding off the vagueness of the already rendered facial and body proportions. We can acutely discern pupils on the whites of his eyes instead of cartoony black craters, and there are teeth in his shapely, proportional mouth that no longer resembles an obstruent censor bar. Add an athletic frame on a taller body and X is the adolescent next phase of Mega Man in more ways than one.

Even though we’ve already witnessed him struggle to apprehend his enemies, the post-pubescent X is exceptionally stronger than the 8-bit prototype we’re all familiar with. In saying that, the events of the prologue and Zero’s flinty words that end it illustrate that X’s extraordinary power has yet to reach its full potential. Mega Man X’s arc is one of growth, gaining the physical and mental fortitude to conquer the elevated odds. The physical aspect of X’s journey of personal betterment is rendered as the various upgrades, but they aren’t granted to X as rewards for completing the levels as they were on the NES. An acuter Mega Man must practice finer diligence in his efforts to maximize his proficiency, which involves the player seeking out the upgrades found in the inconspicuous corners of each level. Dr. Light may be dead and buried to everyone’s dismay, but he knew his fancy, vigorous X model needed his assistance in the years beyond what his mortal limit would allow. Unlike when Mega Man donned his dog as a suit of armor and refashioned his functionalities in Mega Man 6, the upgrades in Mega Man X are completely unique supplementary ways to spruce up Mega Man’s strength. The nifty dash move that gave the original Mega Man more flexible maneuverability has unfortunately been omitted, but I’d lament the loss of the blue bomber’s first ingenious addition more emphatically if the spiritual successor dash move didn’t allow X to leap great distances like a robotic frog. The dash also compliments X’s innate ability to stick to and jump between walls wonderfully to further strengthen the amphibious comparisons. Mega Man 6 did its best to nerf the charge shot after its inclusion began to overshadow the robot master weapons, but Mega Man X ditches that initiative in favor of a blast chain of crimson beams that decimate all in its gaping radius when the player charges it to its full capacity. One upgrade allows Mega Man to erode the softer surfaces of both natural and manmade materials with his helmet, whose use only seems warranted to break the barriers between other upgrades. Heart and energy units are scattered about to increase X’s maximum health and special weapon meters respectively, and the four obtainable energy tanks are now a reusable resource powered by the collective surplus of health pickups when X’s meter is full. On one hand, I appreciate the eco-friendly renewability of these ergonomic energy tanks, but filling them completely, especially upon depleting them entirely after a difficult section, verges into tedious grinding territory that I could’ve done without. When every single one of these upgrades is accounted for, the final reward for the player’s meticulous efforts is an additional super move that will shock and awe: a fucking Hadouken from Street Fighter. The stipulation in executing this iconic blast of pure palm energy is that the player must press a finicky combination of buttons with X at full health. Still, anything that comes across its impact will combust entirely. Perhaps the developers were having TOO good a time touching up their blue pride and joy, but enhancing Mega Man with the aid of new gaming technology should be an exciting prospect for everyone involved.

The new challenges X faces in the next century are the mavericks, a league of insubordinate robots whose goal is to eradicate the human race and usher in the age of robotic domination. Evidently, Dr. Cain was touched by Dr. Light’s empathetic approach to robotic intelligent design and copied X’s sophisticated genome to an array of freshly built machines, the mavericks in question, with the same hyper-human cognition. Any science fiction story with a similar premise always details that once these machines are given these advancements and start dreaming of electric sheep, their intellect will generate radical ideas and become a nuisance for their organic creators. Eight of the mavericks are the repaved robot masters at the end of their respective levels and thankfully, the “man” descriptor that conceptually connected each robot master from the six NES games has been retired. The thematic glue that holds the mavericks together is eight different animals with an elemental type attached, i.e. Chill Penguin, Spark Mandrill, Storm Eagle, etc. Not only do the mavericks encompass designs that the NES robot masters could never feasibly achieve, but how they conduct themselves during battle is highly individualistic. The body slams of the bulky Flame Mammoth are as earth-shattering as one would expect from an animal weighing a couple of tons, Sting Chameleon moves swiftly around his arena, and Storm Eagle soars through the air as if he commands the way the wind blows. Their mannerisms in battle exude far more personality than what could be boiled down to the same robot model in different robes and powers from the robot masters that were manufactured by Dr. Wily.

As for the elemental weapons that X absorbs from the mavericks, I can’t say any of them supersede those of Dr. Wily’s robot masters from the standpoint of power or accessibility. Nothing surpasses the unmitigated, divine power of the metal blade even on advanced hardware. That is until the player realizes they can charge the special weapons to deadly results like the standard blaster. Launch Octopuses homing missiles can be charged to launch five torpedoes shaped like piranhas to shred through anything in sight, Flame Mammoth's charged fire wave will erupt a chain of flame pillars, and Spark Mandrill’s 100% power potential will unleash a storm of energy that will obliterate everything on screen. At least the scant opportunity to charge the weapon requires skill to execute, unlike the one-touch Gravity Hold from Mega Man 5. Other special weapons at their maximum force trigger results that will not result in devastation, but aid X with alternate methods such as the Chameleon Sting granting him brief invulnerability, and Armored Armadillo’s weapon shrouding him in a durable shield that proves to be far more effective than any similar apparatus meant to shelter him from the barrage of stray bullets. With Chill Penguin’s ice powers, X can sculpt a sled in the shape of the power’s original owner and ride giddily on it until it is sanded down by the friction and bursts into icy shards. Incorporating stronger versions of the special weapons with the charge mechanic was a no-brainer that I can’t believe didn’t occur to the developers to implement this feature in either Mega Man 5 or 6. On top of increasing the might of each special weapon, offering other uses for these weapons besides pure destructive potential makes Mega Man’s original gimmick interesting again. The charge shot needn’t be watered down after all: the special weapons just needed to match its firepower.

Honestly, I happily endured the slightly irritating grind sessions I had to undergo to refill the reusable energy tanks, for replaying Mega Man X’s levels to do so never wore on my patience. Mega Man’s stages on the SNES aren’t constructed at all differently from those on the previous Nintendo console. X will still move right through a narrow trajectory on the X-axis with the occasional vertical deviations while blowing the enemies to pieces with his arm cannon. I can’t pinpoint exactly what makes the levels of Mega Man X more electrifying than those on the 8-bit console, but there is a constant thrill at every screen that composes them. It could be due to the heightened graphical fidelity making the explosions look more voluminous or X’s stark physicality, or because the SNES grants these areas that aura of exhilaration with its performance prowess. The answer can be concluded by considering a bit of all of the possibilities. Watching every enemy burst into a mushroom cloud is a more satisfying indication that it's been defeated rather than simply disappearing, and X’s impressive abilities are obviously a delight to execute. Still, what impressed me the most was the developers using the SNES hardware to accomplish feats unfeasible on the previous system. Armored Armadillo’s level prominently features a minecart that careens calamitously through the mineshaft, flattening all that it comes across at a blistering speed. Imagine how awkward the loading screen transitions on the NES would’ve made this section, like stomping on the brakes going one hundred miles an hour? Spark Mandrill’s faulty electrical wiring makes for a natural depiction of turning the lights off on Mega Man as an obstacle rather than completely darkening the screen, and any instance where Mega Man can climb into a mech feels as free as his own fixtures and bolts (the robotic equivalent to flesh and blood) instead of being tethered to the pull of a scrolling screen like the jet ski from Mega Man 5. The intermediate mini-bosses are arguably even as engaging as the mavericks, and I’m almost embarrassed at the number of times I died to sticky Thunder Slimer or whenever the Anglerge submarine sucked me into the spikes below. The gimmicks of these Mega Man levels are unabashedly bombastic, but that’s why they’re so fun.

One would think all the ample accompaniments to Mega Man’s arsenal would make Mega Man X considerably easier than the comparatively minimalist NES games. Somehow, the developers have managed to balance Mega Man’s tough but fair approach to difficulty in the new era. Well, until X finishes off all eight mavericks and unlocks the final level to face the game’s final challenge. The ascent up Wily’s castle that always served as the penultimate goal of every Mega Man game needed to be remodeled for Mega Man X, for setting a Mega Man game over a century into the future forces the developers to comply with Dr. Wily’s logical, organic expiration date as a human being. The design of the trek up to the final boss doesn’t diverge all too far from any of the mad doctor’s castles, but the newfound frustration stems from how the full expedition is divided. When X defeats Vile after accumulating enough experience, it’s only the halfway point of finishing the first section. One would think the narrative context of vanquishing Vile to allow the player to print a checkpoint, but the level actually ends when X squashes a giant, robotic spider whose vulnerable eye is exposed as ephemerally as the blink of the heinous, PTSD-inducing Yellow Devil. An unimpervious Vile is still no slouch, and the tapering climb between him and the spider boss is excruciating. Practice sticking to the walls until X can match the skill of Spiderman. The remaining sections are shorter, but the first one has the player proverbially gasping for air with desperation, unlike any other Mega Man game before it.

So if Vile is but a trivial henchman and Dr. Wily is guaranteed not to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes once again with his presence, who is the villainous figure leading the fight against all organic life? At the top of the series of climaxes above a narrow tube that X must, of course, bounce between is Sigma, the commander of the mavericks spurring this violent revolution. At first, Sigma sics his robotic bloodhound on X as a sampler stage before brandishing his energy sword and then piloting a screen-obscuring mech as the ultimate test of the player’s aptitude as Wily would have done. I managed to find an exploit in both the dog and Sigma’s first form in that climbing the walls around the arena would always oblige them to bounce around as well and lock them into predictability, so Sigma proved to be more manageable than a number of Dr. Wily duels. Still, Sigma dwarfs Dr. Wily as an overall antagonist, and I’m not saying this because I’ve become sick to death of the mad doctor. Look at Sigma’s menacing grin and imposing demeanor as he shadows X before his fight and tell me with a straight face that he doesn’t make you the least bit nervous. On top of his sinister design, we know from the narrative that Sigma’s motivations are fueled by hatred, vengeance, and smug superiority: a collective fusion of negativity that is known to inspire the campaigns of the most ruthless of historical dictators. Sigma is bad to the circuit breaker bone: a political force libel to crush any of his opponents into pixie dust at the first sign of transgressions toward him, a dominating presence that the goofy, one-dimensional Dr. Wily could never exude.

The future is here and the future is now, or at least the future came to fruition in late 1993/early 1994 when Mega Man X succeeded the iconic 2D platformer series of games that made Capcom a household name in the industry. After six games bled the series dry with repeated facets of its formula, Mega Man X is the upgraded model that renders the old one obsolete. It was the game that the series needed to save itself from digging the dearth of a hole it was in on the NES that used to be filled to the brim with refreshing water. Now, with the mechanical advancements of the SNES system, the Mega Man tap could begin anew and strike precious oil. With the riches given to Capcom with this golden opportunity, Mega Man’s facelift has made the series as exciting as it once was, an explosive romp that still bears all the hallmarks of what makes Mega Man exceptional. A gold star for robot boy!

Mega Man 6 Review

 (Originally published to Glitchwave on 12/17/2023)

[Image from glitchwave.com]

Mega Man 6

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Genre(s): 2D Platformer

Platforms: NES

Release Date: November 5, 1993

Now this is just getting ridiculous. Doubling the the number of Mega Man games on the NES after overstepping the amount fitting for a nicely succinct trilogy almost makes Mega Mans 4-6 its own trilogy separate from the first three games. What defining name shall we refer to Mega Man 4-6 to codify this selection of the series' latter half on its debut system? “The charge shot trilogy?” “The Dr. Wily bait-and-switch trilogy?” “The semi-useless Eddie trilogy?” There are so many different possibilities. All jokes aside, I’m actually glad that Capcom rounded out their flagship franchise with their blue robot boy with six games. Mega Man 5 would've been a rather tepid note to end Mega Man’s tenure on the NES, for its contributions to the long-running series amounted to nothing of substantial growth to the Mega Man formula. I never expected Mega Man 6 to reinvent the wheel, especially after Mega Man 5 inadvertently proved that Mega Man’s full potential peaked with the fourth entry. My optimism regarding Mega Man 6 stemmed from the fact that Capom now had the opportunity to rectify the mistakes they made in Mega Man 5 in their attempts to give it some fresh discernibility. Mega Man 6 could now cement Mega Man’s legacy on the console that started it with something comparable to the apex point that was Mega Man 4. Alas, Mega Man 6 is yet another entry marked by unnecessary changes, but at least the changes it makes are far more interesting and involved than those from the previous games.

The entourage of robot masters this time around is an especially inspired bunch. Instead of leaving the creative process to a few lucky Japanese kids via a contest, the cohesive theme for these eight robot masters is that they all vaguely represent a different nation in the real world based on both their physical designs and levels. One might hear this idea and facepalm considering that the developers callously drew parallels between a sensitive world event where several innocent people died with Napalm Man’s Vietnam War-theme level in the previous game. However, the pack of international mechanical marvels is constructed with far more tact and respect. Tomahawk Man represents the deep cultural heritage of the native people in America, Blizzard Man is a comment on how absurdly frigid the northern land of Canada can be, and Yamato Man is the robotic samurai that Capcom felt would be emblematic of their own culture. The others are up to speculation because their origins are not detailed in the game’s manual for some reason. If I had to guess, Plant Man is Latin American because of his tropical level and the rose’s affiliation with their dances, Knight Man is a chivalrous artifact of Middle Ages England, Centaur Man is a Greek mythology reference, Wind Man correlates with China’s reputation for wind energy, and Flame Man’s Indian identity can be assumed from his turban and by the fact that food from that country is scorchingly spicy. The nationalities of this array of robots is also relevant because they are the worldly representatives in the newly founded “Global Robot Alliance,” a UN of sorts established after Dr. Wily has attempted to upset the balance between the machines and their human creators numerous times. Speaking of Mega Man’s perennial antagonist, his new ploy to disrupt the order of this organization is to construct a tournament of champions between the eight robot masters for the prize of sole representation as the world’s robotic protector. Yes, the game introduces a villain named “Mr. X” as its diabolical schemer, but I absolutely refuse to humor the notion of another Mega Man antagonist for a THIRD fucking time. Besides, Mr. X’s resemblance to Dr. Wily is uncanny, so even the developers knew that they couldn’t maintain their own charade. While I’ve given up on taking the Mega Man conflict scenarios seriously, at least the themes of the robot masters behind the plot are intriguing. Capcom crafted a slew of cool robot masters with a cultural theme one tasteful degree above Nintendo’s Punch-Out!

Squeezing six games onto one console has an implication that a lot of time has passed since Mega Man’s birth in 1987. By late 1993 when Mega Man 6 was released, the SNES successor to the NES was well into its course as Nintendo’s primary soldier in the console wars. In fact, the SNES had been available on store shelves for so long at this point that those interested in playing Mega Man 6 most likely had to dig through their closets and blow off the dust that their old NES system had freshly collected. Some may ponder why anyone would be interested in regressing to the outdated guard briefly when the future was in full swing and why Capcom didn’t bother to simply develop Mega Man 6 for the current console. From another perspective, Mega Man 6 had the advantageous position of being a practically posthumous period release on the NES because it could comfortably relax in the house that all of the preceding NES titles (including previous Mega Man games) had painstakingly crafted with their blood, sweat, and tears. It’s a smaller house than the SNES that was under construction at the time, but a fully erected living space is far cozier. Due to the lack of mechanical strain, Mega Man 6 looks fantastic from a graphical standpoint. Every 8-bit texture that renders the eight robot master stages and the interior of Dr. Wily’s castle is refined to near-perfect, pixelated perfection. The foliage of the hanging rainforest trees is remarkably green and textured to the point of seeing every individual leaf. The pistons holding together the man-made foundation of Tomahawk Man’s stage are as finely detailed as the natural crags of the rock formations outside. Every star over the background city seen from the entrance point of Wily’s castle shines brighter from that view than the scene of space in Star Man’s stage from the last game. Mega Man 6 proves that 8-bit graphics are a legitimate aesthetic.

What interests me more pertaining to the levels in Mega Man 6 has less to do with how they are graphically rendered and more with their design. Mega Man 6 unfortunately may only offer a couple of alternate routes to change the trajectory of the destination to a robot master as it is this game’s means of unlocking Beat. Still, at least the game puts a calculated effort into diversifying the straightaway trek for every other level. If one can recall back to the first Mega Man game, they’ll remember that the weapons did more than act as alternatives to the blaster and counter the element for the contrasting robot master. Mega Man 6 continues what was abandoned in Mega Man’s debut by blocking extra lives and energy/weapon tanks behind large, compact cubes of junk. To unearth these impediments to obtain these items, Mega Man needs a gadget that is not granted to him until he defeats a certain number of robot masters. The catch is that there are instances where vital pickups are obscured behind these crude formations across every level, so the player is persuaded to replay the levels to gather all of the goodies. Also, confining a hefty quantity of these types of items to these out-of-reach nooks and crannies means they are in less abundance, so the player cannot suck down a twelve-pack of energy tanks when they are slightly wounded anymore.

Which item allows Mega Man to manipulate the mounds of mechanical dirt? I guess how Mega Man 6 defines its strides of innovation is with the alternate suits that replace Rush. When selecting either the Jet Suit or Power Suit in the menu upon unlocking them, Rush appears as he converges with Mega Man, turning Mega Man’s armor to the crimson sheen of his canine companion. The Power Suit is bulky and is the method of disposing of what stands between Mega Man and his rightful energy tanks. Holding the attack button will launch a deadly blast of energy, but it is constricted to a short range. The Jet Suit, on the other hand, allows Mega Man to soar gracefully like a rocket blasting off into space, but more akin to one of the hobby models that craps out after a few seconds. The only caveat is that the charge shot will be unavailable, but we’ve already ventured through three Mega Man games before the charge shot was even conceived and managed to survive. The primary perk of the suits is that they refill their fuel automatically upon depletion instead of needing to walk over an energy replenisher and invite all players to keep this apparatus on at all times as I did. The alternate suits are the new implementation of the Mega Man formula that sticks out in my mind for their usefulness, but it still raises a few questions. Does Rush meld into Mega Man with the mechanical malleability of a Transformer, or does he shed his modular armor for Mega Man to use as a token of assistance? Is he just a simple dog underneath the suit, running off to Dr. Light’s house to chase squirrels and drag his ass across the carpet whenever Mega Man is borrowing the outer layer of his body?

The alternate suits are also a welcome addition to Mega Man 6 because they compensate for the charge shot’s comparatively limp power capacity. Upon charging the standard blaster, searing energy still flows throughout Mega Man’s being, but the range and impact of the fully charged release feel far less impactful when dealing with enemies. The convenient crutch that I’ve been using for the past two games has been nerfed, probably an intentional effort from the developers to coax me into shuffling through the robot master’s weapons outside of their battles. Overall, the robot master weapons in Mega Man 6 do nothing to impress because a lot of them are recycled from previous games. Plant Man has a shield that performs exactly what one would expect, Flame Man has another fire weapon, Knight Man’s projectile morning star top and the Yamato Spear both have a straightforward trajectory, and Centaur Man’s flash weapon should inspire strong memories of a certain robot master from Mega Man 2. The “blizzard” attack barely amounts to a fucking flurry. While I’m completely underwhelmed by what’s in Mega Man’s arsenal, at least there are no impractical weapons such as Stone Man’s or any effortless screen obliterators like Gravity Man’s, both from Mega Man 5. Because the developers knew that the player would be exhausting more of the ancillary fuel from the weapons, Mega Man 6 introduces an energy balancer that supplies the most depleted weapon with energy from another to fully refill it. Thanks, Capcom. I wish they thought of this when the Metal Blade was still in Mega Man’s grasp.

I’m also underwhelmed by Dr. Wily in Mega Man 6, and it isn’t because Mr. X reveals himself to be Wily with more facial hair because I’m not a brain-dead simpleton. The two castles that lead up to Dr. Wily are perfectly challenging, with some spiky blindspots during some drops that vanquished me more than I’m willing to admit that reminded me fondly of Quick Man. I’m referring to the final duel between Mega Man and the mad doctor that takes place in three stages, as par for the course. Again, the first two stages see Dr. Wily attempt to crush Mega Man under the weight and force of stomping him, and then the third stage involves Dr. Wily disappearing periodically to give Mega Man a fleeting chance to aim a shot while dodging a series of cyclones. Fortunately, the upward angle of the Silver Tomahawk allows Mega Man to end the all-too-familiar fight in seconds. After experiencing deja vu from Wily’s final fight from the previous game, Mega Man mixes up the result considerably and finally puts the scourge of the robotic world under arrest, tying him up with rope as if he’s planning on placing him on the train tracks. I’m almost proud of Mega Man for placing Dr. Wily in custody, but it's taken him too goddamn long to do what is necessary for me to seriously commend him.

I guess Mega Man 6 triumphs over the previous Mega Man game in its commitment to reverse some aspects back to the earlier entries. Mega Man 5 was a facile experience with too heavy of a reliance on the booming charge shot and an inexhaustible amount of energy tanks at the player’s disposal. Hiding the items behind walls and channeling less firepower into the charge shot so as not to eclipse the series staple of robot master weapons started to remind me of the challenge I had come to associate with Mega Man. Still, the lack of inspiration with the weapons despite the solid theming of their users along with Dr. Wily phoning in his final challenge against Mega Man is further indication that Mega Man had run its course on the console it was born onto. While Mega Man 6 is still a more respectable experience than the last entry, the series is still long overdue to wrap things up like the series hero eventually did with his mortal nemesis.