Mega Man 6
Admittedly, this game just feels like a direct phone-in attempt by Capcom, replacing MM5 with new characters. There is a really cool “suit/armor” mechanic, which gives Mega Man a “big suit” that can break boulders, etc.
Overall, the music and everything really is MM5 with a new coat of polish. This was the final MM NES game and you can tell they were pushing the console to it’s limits. A small change in the storyline as usual keeps it a bit fresh, and if you’re like me and played through the others, you have to complete this one too.
In order of my favorites on the NES: MM3, MM2, MM4-6, MM1… MM1 is really awful by comparison and incredibly difficult. You also can’t fully enjoy MM3 without playing MM2, but that’s the reason why MM3 is much more fulfilling (storywise). That’s why it’s my favorite.
Onward to more games, including (gasp) the Game Boy versions of Mega Man!
Contra: Hard Corps
Holy %$&^! Is this game freaking amazing!
While I really liked the original NES Contra and Super C and while Contra 3 for SNES upped the ante for the series, Contra: Hard Corps showed what an accelerated, mature-themed, arcade upgraded style of Contra could really be.
I’m surprised more of the games in the series didn’t take a cue from this one. It had a rocking soundtrack, catchy visuals and finger-blistering action. Bosses take up large portions of the screen and the entire game feels like you’re in a non-stop Hollywood action film.
Some of the gameplay is a bit different than the traditional Contra titles, but that doesn’t take away from the fun. Rather than upgrading guns or even switching between two, there are four main weapons which you can switch between once you’ve acquired them. Bombs are also included and while this is a side story without the main characters, it actually adds to the Contra lore.
Honestly, this may be my favorite Contra game played to date. I feel like it was a forgotten title and doesn’t get the love it deserves. I even considered changing my rating system for two thumbs up, that’s how good this is. Try it sometime!
Mega Man IV
The least innovative and least creative of the Mega Man games I’ve played on NES and/or Game Boy thus far. The collectible items were new, but also a tacked on, and mostly useless feature. You purchase those add-on items from Dr. Light’s lab, by using “P Chips” as the currency… those are found by defeating enemies throughout the different levels, but the lab itself is an annoying side attraction, with far too many dialog windows to you can easily be trapped into by hitting B instead of A or vice versa.
The enemies are lifted straight out of MM4/5 (NES) again, but I suppose the rematches are “new” to the GB versions. Capcom usually has a way of making each of these games worthwhile, but this one nearly had me quit the series. Chief among them a new feature requiring capturing the letters “W-I-L-Y” to open the final stage!
It was far too repetitive and boring… good thing I didn’t stop though! (More on that in the near future.)
Mega Man V
I really panned MM4 for Game Boy as being unoriginal and a bastard child mashup of two of the NES versions. It was so plain and just run of the mill that I nearly didn’t play MM5… but I’m glad I did.
Talk about a complete turnaround! MM5 for Game Boy is the same MM formula but with some fresh ideas. The robot bosses are (mostly) original and there’s an addition of a robot cat assistant just like MM’s dog Rush.
This still carried over some of the annoying “P Chip” system from the previous Game Boy game, but I could live with it as it wasn’t mandatory to get any of the items to complete the game, nor was it a prerequisite to collect the “WILY” letters either.
To top it off, this was the only version to support the Super Game Boy SNES add-on, and as such, had color support. That tremendously helped in laboring through the last of this console’s editions.
Mega Man III
Once again adds to the Game Boy iterations by borrowing heavily from the NES installments. The game is more like Mega Man 4.5 on the NES than anything else. In fact, if you go and take a look at my post for Mega Man 4 for NES, these pictures should seem familiar!
The game is a literal copy, down to small screen frustration, of those NES titles with very little innovation. It’s still something to play, but it started to make me rethink playing the Game Boy iterations of the Mega Man series…
Mortal Kombat Gold
I’m aware that this game caught a lot of flack upon its release. For starters, it was on the Dreamcast and looked like an “older game” graphically compared with some of the eye-popping titles like Soul Calibur on that console.
The game also originally released with bugs that didn’t even allow for proper saving to the Dreamcast’s VMU memory cards!
This aside, when benchmarked against its sibling MK4, this is again a definitive version (provided you have the hot/new re-release which corrected the aforementioned bugs). MK Gold added six characters to the MK4 lineup.
Again, MK4/Gold were not my cup of tea. Moving from the 2D plane to the 3D realm to compete with the likes of Soul Calibur, Tekken, DOA, Virtua Fighter and others diminished my interest in this series. The initial appeal was to see how the conversion of motion capture actors to 3D models and how well fatalities would translate in a more “realistic” environment. Instead we got wonky controls that were more akin to the 2D era which didn’t carry over well into the next-generation of console gaming.
Add tacky weapons as an additional in-game gimmick and you can see where the MK series started to derail. It was a nice attempt, but fallout of MK3 and not being able to adapt to the 3D era ultimately hurt the series.
Mega Man 5
As far as NES games go, this one was gorgeous and continued to push the limits of the hardware. The music was slightly tweaked with this version, the first major revision to the familiar tunes since MM2.
The Wikipedia entry for this game sums up the rest: “Mega Man 5 was met with a positive critical reception for its graphics and music, while receiving criticism for its lack of innovation in its plot or gameplay.”
It wasn’t particularly groundbreaking and was more or less, the same ol’ same ol’.
Mega Man II
As mentioned in in a previous update, I’m plowing through the handheld versions of this series… and most of the iterations are underwhelming additions that transpose ideas from their NES siblings. This one, in particular, is a mashup of MM2 and MM3 from the NES, featuring bosses from both. (Plus the addition of Mega Man’s dog, Rush.)
Apparently, this edition was developed by a different company than the others, and there are differences as such. Those are both good and bad since Dr. Wily’s Revenge (the first Game Boy title) was incredibly difficult and unforgiving. This one at least got the on-screen size of Mega Man proportional to the levels and enemies.
IMO this one is more worth checking out than MM1 on Game Boy, and especially more if you’re a fan of MM2 and MM3 on NES (which are, IMO, the two best on that system).
Mortal Kombat 4
MK4 was not my cup of tea.
Moving from the 2D plane to the 3D realm to compete with the likes of Soul Calibur, Tekken, DOA, Virtua Fighter and others diminished my interest in this series. The initial appeal was to see how the conversion of motion capture actors to 3D models and how well fatalities would translate in a more “realistic” environment.
Instead we got wonky controls that were more akin to the 2D era which didn’t carry over well into the next-generation of console gaming.
Now, add to that the N64 controller: I love it, but for fighting games, it made playing MK4 a burden at times. Never had I wanted to throw a controller across the room so badly!
As for the graphics, they were state-of-the-art at the time, but you could clearly tell they were blocky and rudimentary. Reading up on this, apparently Midway had difficulty making this game as it was their first time using 3D graphics. (That explains it!)
I actually dug the new characters and inclusion of series staples as opposed to the departure of using them in MK3. Tacky weapons were also added as an in-game gimmick: simply stated they weren’t good and oftentimes entirely useless in the grand scheme of winning rounds within fights.
Therefore, you can see where the MK series started to derail. It was a nice attempt, but fallout of MK3 and not being able to adapt to the 3D era ultimately hurt the series.
Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge
I really want to call all of the Game Boy Mega Man games steaming piles of monkey poo, but it’s simply not true. Each has its strengths as well as its faults.
Each iteration is essentially the same game. Yes, the NES Mega Man games were the same basic premise as the foundation (fight 6-8 robots, gain their powers and others) with small subtle changes and new challenges in each new edition.
The Game Boy versions are just like that too, yet, where they fall short is that you typically face only four robots (half of the NES version) before entering the Dr. Wily boards. That has more to do with the Game Boy’s limitations than the developers.
The part that really doesn’t sit well is that the games are more or less watered down versions of the NES games, mimicking Mega Man 2 and on. Many of the concepts, the bosses and level themes, are lifted directly from their big brother. However, the games at least have altered level designs that present new challenges from similar ideas.
The strengths are that the Dr. Wily stages are (almost) entirely unique and offer different storylines and challenges. For that reason alone, these are worth playing through and checking off of the list.
Now, the first Game Boy version is a frustrating trek down memory lane, because MM is so big on the screen, he gets hit by EVERYTHING and its way too easy to die in this game! It adds the difficulty of a MM2 on NES and amps it up a notch trying to avoid a constant barrage of enemies!