| System: PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Capcom | Sound: |
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| Year: 2008 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Action-platformer | Rating: |
6/10 |
The dastardly Dr. Light has unleashed an army of robots in a nefarious bid to take over the world. His eternal rival, Dr. Wily, needs your help to foil the scheme. Make a donation! And don’t forget to click the bell—no, not the blonde one.
Released digitally in 2008 for consoles of the era and re-released a decade later as part of the Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, this instalment is unapologetically aimed at fans, especially those nostalgic for Mega Man 2 (no sliding, no charge shot). It’s as standardised as it gets, tough as nails, and, honestly, right up my alley…
But aging’s no picnic! This game handed me such a spanking. I’ve rarely encountered level design this sadistic (the “Super Hero” mode elevates the term’s meaning to nearly Mega Man X6 levels of brutality). Expect every type of insta-death trap imaginable: lava, spikes, enemies lying in wait to nudge you into pits, platforms galore—some over bottomless chasms, some moving, some vanishing, and even holographic ones that drop you right through them. The jewel in the crown of torment: enemies disguised as extra lives!
If the difficulty feels daunting at first, know that it’s relative. As always in the series, losing all your lives only sends you back to the beginning of the stage, and the stages are so short that persistence pays off quickly. In fact, it’s perfectly normal to quit and return later—that’s the beauty of Mega Man. Why else would all eight stages be unlocked from the start? Plus, you get to keep all the “screws” (weren’t they bolts before?) you collect on failed attempts. These serve as currency to buy gadgets that grant you extra leeway, like surviving a fall into a pit or onto spikes.
There’s even a save feature—slightly out of place for a Mega Man game. Personally, I’d have preferred the old-school password system. Sure, saving softens the suffering, but the satisfaction of finishing is directly proportional to the frustration along the way!
Visually, I get that they were going for an NES homage, but they could’ve dressed up the backgrounds a bit. Reviewing my screenshots, I noticed an awful lot of black voids.
Speaking of which, these images are from the PC version (Mega Man Legacy Collection 2). You might spot a distortion in the health bar if you look closely—like the resolution doesn’t quite fit. I decided not to edit the screenshots, partly out of laziness and partly because that’s how the game was released. Such slip-ups really get on my nerves. Another sign of getting older, I guess! For those interested, players eventually found a workaround using a third-party tool.
Apart from the save feature, the game proudly resists modern trends, and that’s a good thing. No pretentious attempt at a story no one asked for, secondary characters you can count on one hand and barely see, no interruptions for dialogue or tutorials during gameplay, and no 3D effects.
Naturally, the selection of robot masters is as uninspired as ever (probably on purpose). All are clones of tried-and-true archetypes, and the same goes for the secondary weapons: a shield, a piercer, a wall-hugging shot, a tri-directional attack, the obligatory screen-clearing blast, and, of course, the close-range gimmick weapon that’s useful exactly once or twice. A timeless classic!
For once, though, the final boss (you’ll never guess who!) isn’t just for show. I hadn’t cried like that since prom night! And then I realised, after the battle, that I’d forgotten to activate an item I’d purchased that halves incoming damage. See? Relative difficulty.
Finishing the game unlocks two new difficulty modes (“Hero” and “Super Hero”), a “Proto Man” mode (self-explanatory?), and a list of hair-pulling challenges, like beating the game without taking damage, using only the default weapon, jumping fewer than 50 times, or defeating the minimum number of enemies. There’s also a time-attack mode featuring select stages or boss fights where you get only one life. The final challenge pits you against Wily’s ultimate enforcer: Fake Man.
In conclusion, while I enjoyed revisiting Mega Man, I’ll forget this one soon. It’s a standardised product with zero risk-taking, and the PC port in particular suffers from glaring lack of polish.
Suggested order:
Galaxy Man > Jewel Man > Plug Man > Tornado Man > Magma Man > Hornet Man > Splash Woman > Concrete Man
I realised very late that the game included an intro cutscene (pathetic). To see it, you had to wait 30 seconds at the title screen. The modern gamer has lost the habit!
Oh, even more embarrassing, I realised, after finishing the game three times, while watching a video on YouTube, that Magma Man’s weapon could charge!
