| System: PSP | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Capcom | Sound: |
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| Year: 2006 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Action-platformer | Rating: |
8/10 |
Did you think Mega Man had been spared the “laundry detergent packet” remake wave? Generic 3D, childish style, a deluge of flashy light effects, not to mention the unbearable continuous voice-overs…
“Ready? Yeah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ow! Ha! Yeah! Shut up! Shut up already!”
So, here we have the “modernised” PSP adaptation of the first game, originally released in 1987 on the NES. Two new bosses—Oil Man and Time Man—have been added, bringing the roster up to eight. (Oil Man cracks me up!)
In the name of modernity, numerous additional game modes are offered (mini time-limited challenges or with a single life) and a simplified level editor, which, in my opinion, justifies buying this game all on its own. The perfect time-killer for a portable console!
On top of that, the idea of replaying the entire game as any robot master (plus Roll and Proto Man as optional downloads), seeing their dialogues adapted, and having Mega Man take their place as a stage boss is nothing short of brilliant! To do this, you simply need to defeat them using only the buster (the starting weapon).
The main criticisms I would formulate would point to a glaring lack of character balancing and the “hard” mode, which takes sadism a step too far. Not content with adding spikes and enemies everywhere, it also tweaks their behaviour and speed. A laudable principle but poorly implemented. For example, I started the game with Bomb Man’s level on hard and tore my hair out facing the shielded enemy (Sniper Joe). I wasted a solid 15 minutes trying to get past him unscathed. I then moved on to Time Man’s level … and woke up in Guatemala, stark naked. Ask Edward Norton!
Suggested order: No importance. You’ll want to take out the bosses with the buster to recruit them as playable characters. If anything, tackle Ice Man before Fire Man and Fire Man before Oil Man.
