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Editorials 
Mega Man: 15th Anniversary Spectacular - The 8-bit Handheld Era
- By Francis
Bonnet
Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge
System: Gameboy
Released: 1991
Wow! That was my initial reaction when I played the first Mega Man game on Gameboy for the first time. It was amazing how Capcom was able to faithfully translate Mega Man’s graphics and gameplay to the small screen. This game was released when Gameboy was but two years old, but it was still able to take complete control of Gameboy’s technology. Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge featured four bosses originally found in the first NES Mega Man game, but with all new stages (although you did get to fight another four robots from MM2 in Dr. Wily’s castle). Chances were that if you were a fan of the Mega Man series on the NES, you would definitely be interested in the Gameboy adventure. Grade: B+
Mega Man II
System: Gameboy
Released: 1992
Mega Man II came out only a few months after the first game was released. The game’s graphics didn’t seem up to par with the first Gameboy title, however, gameplay still remained in tact. One odd feature was the inclusion of all new music even though the bosses were the same as those in the NES Mega Man 2 & 3. Obviously the music in Mega Man II for the NES was much better than the new selection of tunes, but they were still fairly good. Instead of just four boss stages you got eight, but you only were able to select them four at a time, and the last four you could only select in Wily’s Castle. Good, but not great. Grade: C
>Mega Man III
System: Gameboy
Released: 1992
They were really pumping out those GB Mega Man games, weren’t they?! Less than a year after II we get III, and luckily for us it’s much better. This time Capcom selected eight robot masters from the NES’ Mega Man 3 & 4, and again gave us all new stages – this time with the same music. Mega Man III improved dramatically when compared to II in everything – graphics, music, sound and play control. This was definitely one of the finest Gameboy Mega Man titles to date. Grade: A
Mega Man IV
System: Gameboy
Released: 1993
All right, we all know the drill. This time we were given eight bosses from the NES’ Mega Man 4 & 5 with all new stages, yadda yadda yadda. This game featured the same quality that we had in III, with a few subtle additions. This time when you charged your Mega Buster Mega Man would be forced backwards slightly from the blast. This was a cool visual, but it didn’t help much when you were shooting an enemy while standing in front of a pit or spikes. All too often you would find yourself blasting your way backwards and into your doom. Good thing, though, is that this was the first and last Mega Man game to date to feature that little “subtle touch”. Grade: B+
Mega Man V
System: Gameboy
Released: 1994
Hold the phone, this time instead of recycled bosses we get an all-new cast of characters, an all-new story, and all-new music! Mega Man V marked the first time Gameboy users were given a brand new Mega Man game, and what a game it was. MMV featured some of the best visuals ever seen on the small screen; each stage had complicated backgrounds and the bosses were quite cool. Unfortunately, the new Mega Buster wasn’t actually a buster at all, it was your fist that shot out and then came back to you. This was actually quite annoying because you had to wait for your fist to come back to you before you could charge it up again. Damn that Dr. Light, always trying to come up with new ideas. Well this time your idea sucked! At least that’s all that sucked. Grade: B+
Mega Man Xtreme
System: Gameboy Color
Released: 2000
Mega Man Xtreme was the first time that Mega Man X made it to a handheld system. And while the game was a nice attempt at remaking the original Mega Man X & X2 (it featured bosses and stages from both), it fell a little short of being truly great. The backgrounds were plain, the colors were dull and didn’t take full advantage of the GBA color pallet and you could see that Capcom struggled in trying to fit everything that made the original MMX great into a small 8-bit GBC cartridge. I’m one who tends to get less than excited over game remakes (on Gameboy platforms especially) mainly because I feel that developers should be focusing their energies on making new, fresh games instead of rehashes and re-releases. However, despite this fact, Xtreme was still fairly solid in the gameplay department, and that’s what matters most. Grade: B-
Mega Man Xtreme 2
System: Gameboy Color
Released: 2001
Xtreme 2 came out less than a year after the first one, but managed to be an improvement. This time Zero was a playable character and the backgrounds and colors seemed stronger. Again, Xtreme 2 featured bosses and stages from the original MMX2 and X3 and made the transition to GBC a little smoother than the first Xtreme. A nice addition to your Mega Man collection, but owners of previous games still won’t find much of anything new. Grade: B
Continue to the 32/64-Bit Era...
Agree with what I'm saying? Disagree? Let us know your thoughts on this issue in our mail bag. The views of Francis Bonnet are not necessarily the views of NGenres.com or its affiliates.
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| "The Gameboy showed that the fun and gameplay of the series was capable of being carried over to the small screen." |
Mega Man II
Mega Man V
Mega Man Xtreme
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