$20 Game of the Week: Special Mega Man Edition

Out of all of Capcom’s intellectual properties, Mega Man stands as one of their best. The Blue Bomber has been around for more than 2 decades, and the franchise has branched out in several directions, including cartoons, action figures, comic books, and other merchandise. The series started off simple enough. As the title character, you fight a series of robots in whichever order you choose. When you defeat an enemy, you gained his weapon. The trick of course, was the find out which weapon worked best on which enemy. When you defeated all 8 robots, you went on to face Dr. Wily at his castle. As time went on, the series eventually spawned several spin-offs. While games such as Mega Man X placed a different face on the classic game play, other spin-offs such as Mega Man Legends have slowly moved away from what made the series great. Thankfully Capcom has recognized this, and as part of their retro-revival have created a new Mega Man game…for the NES! Of course seeing as how very few people these days have a working NES, Capcom did the next best thing: release it as a downloadable title via WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, and Playstation Network. The new game, Mega Man 9, will be released this month. In celebration of the new title, this week’s $20 GOTW and Lost Classics will be dedicated to the blue bomber himself. Coincidentally, this also marks the three-year anniversary of Powet’s $20 GOTW, so head right on in and check out this small tribute.

$20 GOTW – Mega Man ZX Advent (Nintendo DS)
If you ask me, Mega Man’s retro-revival could not have come at a better time. The card battling of the Battle Network games have left the series on the brink of mediocrity, and have moved the series far away from its roots. However, it’s the Mega Man Zero/ ZX games that have kept the series from completely jumping the shark. They contain traces of the classic 2-d action the Mega Man series is known for while adding unique features to keep it fresh enough for today’s gamers. In Mega Man ZX, you don’t simply gain a robot master’s weapon when you defeat then, you gain a new set of armor, complete with its own abilities and form. Advent, the sequel to 2006’s Mega Man ZX, expands on the formula even more. When you defeat a boss, you can take their form completely. You ever played Mega Man X and wanted to see what it would be like to take control of one of the mavericks? Did you enjoy playing as the bosses in Mega Man Powered Up? Here you go. Each form has its own powers and abilities, and you’ll utilize them to gain access to the game’s levels.

You have your choice of one of two heroes, each having their own storyline. Just like the previous Mega Man ZX, the game is laid out similar to Metroid, where the whole world is open to you, but you need a certain item or ability to access certain areas. The boss forms serve as the ‘access keys’ which help you advance. The navigation and mission systems are not as confusing as they were in the first game, but it is still somewhat tricky to figure out which place to go next. The animated sequences are present, and there is even a large amount of voice acting. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s still a nice touch, especially considering that this is a portable game. Also like in the previous game, this game doesn’t attempt to shoehorn stylus/touchpad functionality where it isn’t necessary. Instead the game plays it safe, using the bottom screen for things such as maps and menus. The game is still very challenging, but it rewards players who work at it.

Mega Man ZX Advent does a terrific job of staying true to the heart of the Mega Man series and creating a solid DS gaming experience. If Capcom can iron out the kinks when they work on the next entry, the ZX series can craft out its own identity among the numerous other Mega Man spin-offs.

Lost Classics: The Mega Man Xtreme Series (Game Boy Color)
For the life of me, I can’t figure out while people hate the Mega Man X series so much. Out of all the spin-offs, X sticks the closest to the franchise’s classic gameplay while at the same time, introducing some of the biggest changes to the game’s atmosphere. It bought the series into the 16-bit era, and it gave the atmosphere a more serious face lift. It even added its own innovations to the formula by having players seek out upgrades for the main character’s body. The series spawned several entries of its own, including some spin-offs. One such spin-off is the Game Boy Color’s Mega Man Xtreme series. Instead of simply being a port-down of the SNES Mega Man X games, the two MMX games add something new to the formula, featuring new plotlines and game mechanics. In terms of the Mega Man X canon, the games are set between X2 and X3. In the first game, X is out to stop an evil Hacker named Techno. He’s trapped within cyberspace, and must battle Mavericks that he faced in the past. There are three difficulty levels, but the cool thing about it is that each difficulty level determines what enemies players will face. Easy and Medium feature four different enemies each, while the third and final difficulty level features all 8. You’ll have to play through all three of them throughout the course of the game. Mega Man Xtreme 2 gives players the option to play as Zero, as the two head to an island to investigate why so many robots are suddenly dropping dead and why several reploids that have been defeated in the past have been reanimated. As in typical Mega Man play, you’ll fight the different mavericks and gain their weapons. You’ll also gather ‘DNA Soul’ items in order to purchase upgrades.

Similar to the Game Boy Mega Man titles, the Game Boy Color Mega Man X games take four bosses from Mega Man X and four from Mega Man X2. They even take their original stages and music, so the layouts will seem familiar. In terms of graphics and sound, it’s safe to say that if Capcom had made the first two Mega Man X games for the NES instead of the Super Nintendo, they would look a lot like these. It almost even feels like the old school NES Mega Man games, except with the new story sequences, different characters, and the gameplay mechanics from the Mega Man X series. Some of the familiar Mega Man X moves, such as the dash, are a bit trickier to do since the Game Boy Color only has 2 action buttons. Even so, fans of Mega Man X will be right at home with these two little-known GBC titles. It’s always nice to see a portable installment of a console series handled with he same attention and care as its console counterpart. Unfortunately it goes without saying that since this is a GBC game, we probably won’t be seeing it again anytime soon. So until Nintendo decides to add Game Boy titles to the Wii Virtual Console service, you’ll have to do some hunting to find these lost adventures of X and Zero.

That does it for our special. Keep watching this spot for more cheap games, and check out our previous features on Mega Man Powered Up, Mega Man ZX, and the Mega Man Anniversary Collection.