Welcome to another edition of Horror Gaming and we check out our first Mega Man Creepypasta about the Yellow Devil. If you are unfamiliar with the Yellow Devil, the thing is a blob-like robot that appears in the classic series in Dr. Wily's Castle. Out of all the mascot platformers, Mega Man isn’t used often to tell these campfire tales—most of the time Mario, Pokemon, Zelda or Metroid receives the biggest attention to these writers. When I do come across one it is usually once in a while as seen by the Ladder of Hell CP based on a glitch in Mega Man 2. It is the first time I came across a creepypasta based on the first game as MM2 (in terms of usage) is considered the Lavender Town of Mega Man CPs. The story is about a guy who recalls playing most of the Mega Man games during the 90's. However, a year after Mega Man 8 was released; the man finds the original Mega Man on NES he never played at his local video game store. Just to clarify something, I am reviewing a revised version of the same story the author took the time to do a rewrite. There is no point in going over the rough version when an improved rewrite of the same CP addresses some issues. Will this be a new experience of a classic he never played through? Or something he should have stayed away from? Let's begin... It’s surprising to come across a CP based on Mega Man especially with the first game being the premises of the story. However, the plot itself wasn't good as the author sounded like they were taking cues from those early Mario CPs such as MaRIo. Two years ago, I reviewed those Mario CPs and claimed they were the worst ones written. When I see a Creepypasta taking MaRIo’s horrid example then you are in for a reading not even fit for trash. Let's begin with the good, and it was interesting to use the first Mega Man for the plot. Usually, Mega Man 2 or the X series is used most of the time even though a few of them are in Spanish. I also like how the author utilized the Yellow Devil as opposed to a demonic version of the same mascot as we saw from Sonic.EXE. At least the writer didn't take notes from that terrible CP and attempted originality. The writer doesn’t even use an X character who wanted to relive their childhood trope. Instead, he/she has the character purchase the game since the man never played the original Mega Man on NES. Unfortunately, that is where the decent stuff ends because even this revised version is riddled with issues. Now, guess what happens and we come to strike number one right out of the gate. In the beginning he was shopping at a local game store to buy Super Mario World as a gift for his brother. That is when the guy comes across a used copy of the first Mega Man. The cover is torn up all over with some pieces remaining and the title was written in a sharpie. You just got to love the torn label cliché used so often in these CPs to make it come off eerie. As I have said many times, there is nothing scary about this in the slightest. So far, I have reviewed several stories that used this already, and we are on the fifth one. At least it wasn’t written in a ridiculous manner like we saw in Zelda II: The Lost Level. In the original version, the store clerk acted strange and just gave the cartridge to him while mumbling Yellow Devil. Now, the rewritten story was changed to something better with the store clerk revealing that an eight year old kid sold the game. The backstory was better here as he explained the same kid who sold him this copy went insane afterwards due to always hearing and seeing the Yellow Devil. I found him learning of this from a newspaper, believable since any local news will report these small stories. That means the character is no longer the phantom seller who disappears later but rather gives the reader an idea of what is to come. IAMTheLegendofMario — the author who wrote the plot — does get props for taking the time to fix this part considering most don’t do the same. However, I hate bringing some bad news as just as he/she went one step forward, they then proceed to take several backwards. We come to our second strike and it’s when the man encounters the Yellow Devil for the first time. The guy enters the Cut Man stage first and once he gets to the boss the author inserts gore for no reason. The Yellow Devil during the battle starts killing Cut Man by ripping him to pieces as he screams in pain. First off, never mind the fact blood was used despite him being a machine, but there was no reason for the writer to rely on this. Another problem is with explaining a game character was actually screaming when the scene used 8-bit technology. I mean, was the world of creepypastas’ 80s technology ahead of its time? Did somehow a magical piece of hardware was able to produce CD quality sound? It is true the plot implies the Yellow Devil was a systelian specter causing people to go crazy if they played this copy. However, the implication of Cut Man screaming in pain through the speakers from the Yellow Devil tearing him apart was present. I guess 80s technology was so magical it grants the system real sound effects. The only thing that was written well here was Cut Man Stage’s music slowing down as he progresses through the level. That leads us to the third strike as IAMTheLegendofMario decided to leave this part as it was. He chooses the Wily Castle stage seeing as the other Robot Masters weren’t on the stage selection screen. The man explains Wily’s castle was on fire as a red sky and blood were all over the place. Mega Man enters the castle to find Wily, Dr. Light, Roll and the other bosses dead on the floor with blood everywhere. Holy Ultra Realistic Celestia! Why do these CPs continue using blood to make things creepy? I don't understand how you can describe gore from a machine being torn apart. It's even more stupid when there is a lot of blood around the character so how can they bleed if the robots are machines. If it were Dr. Light and Wily, then that would make perfect sense but for Mega Man and the Robot Masters to have any is ridiculous. He explains that after going farther into the castle the Yellow Devil suddenly appears as those same blobs latch on to Mega Man. After killing the Blue Bomber, the giant blob told the guy they were all dead, and he was next. Remember me saying a systelian specter works when it's written vaguely? Well, once again the author got this right as he/she didn’t resort to horror clichés like a Native American burial ground. If anything, it fuels the mystery of why this boss acts like a systelian specter in his copy. Another improvement from the original is the guy never returns to the store where he brought the haunted game. In that part the character finds out the store now laid abandoned as if the clerk took all the games and disappeared. It was ridiculous because there is no way this owner could’ve taken all the merchandise and left the store in a few hours. Instead, the guy never returns there due to the plot explaining earlier a kid sold the game after going crazy. At least this gets rid of the typical phantom seller who would later disappear as if they never existed. Of course, the climax was left unchanged as the protagonist explains to his brother what happened after coming over. The older brother then invites the sibling over to his home to help ease any thoughts from the terrible experience. The nightmare scene was a solid part to his encounter with the Yellow Devil as there was never anything wrong with it. Fortunately, no gore or blood was used to make the typical nightmare scenario creepy—If you think about it, I am sure there are some who have experienced these night terrors randomly. The infamous boss appears by the protagonist vomiting out its blobs only for the same slime to latch on to him. When I read the last part of this scene in the old version, thoughts of there being more should’ve been written. You never want your story to end the same way Super Mario 64: Damned did. There are more creative ways to end a CP in a mystery because passing out makes this a cop out. Unlike the previous ending where he says you can’t escape from the infamous boss; it actually continues the plot. Basically, the protagonist wakes up from his nightmare about being killed only for the static sounds and it’s one red eye to constantly appear. The character explains how he had to get mental help for the guy to eventually get better. The ending was written better this time instead of pulling the same crap from Mario 64: Damned. In that story Moron #22 simply passes out for literally no reason but this character had a nightmare leading to his mental breakdown. At least the writer went further with the last part without ending on the protagonist supposedly getting killed. That is simply not good writing to end a story with a character telling his tale, despite his death, was moments away. It’s worse when they write an arc with a person being dead the entire time as if nothing happened. The only way this works is if the character was a spirit recalling previous events like in a Ghost Story by L.W. Sulton. Some creepypasta authors will have a problem with this criticism but a CP ending in a logical reason is just 101 in writing. It’s the reason why L.W. Sulton and Michael Winehouse are regarded as quality authors because they produce works that end in a logical way. That is the revised edition of the Yellow Devil and despite IAMTheLegendofMario tried to fix the original’s problems, it wasn’t enough. The plot simply wasn’t good because most of the issues weren’t addressed. It still felt like the writer was rushing through the plot and arrived at the climax with no build. Yes, he/she removed the phantom seller by giving some additional backstory. Even that ridiculous scene of the character returning to the store to find it abandoned was taking out as well. However, more hints as to why the Yellow Devil became a systelian specter was needed to engage my imagination. A good mix of vagueness and hints as to how this being started haunting players would’ve added to the mystery. Unfortunately, the buildup was still mediocre as everything went wrong right away between Wily’s Castle and the Nightmare scenes. It doesn’t help in the Wily Castle stage for gore and blood to get used in a typical trope fashion. At least the ending was adjusted with the protagonist having a mental breakdown and getting better by seeking treatment. Truly a shame the story didn’t pan out well because the concept of Wily’s slime behemoth sounded like the perfect CP monster. I got a bad feeling these Mega Man CPs are going to end up just like Mario and Sonic. That isn't a good start as the same thing happened to Sonic with Sonic.EXE and it went downhill from there. Rating: 5.5/10 Mediocre Sources Story: crst.wikia.com. The Yellow Devil. IAmTheLegendofMario. https://crst.fandom.com/wiki/The_Yellow_Devil
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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