Welcome to a new edition of Retro Corner and after nearly a year of waiting we finally have Mega Man 11. The last time we saw an official Mega Man game get released was back in 2010 with the 10th entry for Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. Yes, I am aware that Capcom released Street Fighter x Mega Man on PC a few years ago. However, it shouldn’t count as Capcom made that freeware game for promotional purposes. The 10th title just like MM9 also used NES style graphics as a throw back game to the old days. In fact, MM9 actually jumpstarted the retro Indy craze in 2008 that we have today. For this round of the Blue Bomber, Capcom went a different route instead of going retro. After the fallout of Mighty Number 9 and the failure it absolutely was, the company finally steps into correct this mess. Now, for MMVII, it wasn’t the first title to go 16-bit as MMX for Super NES and The Wily Wars on Genesis were already out. The theme this time takes place six months after Wily was finally arrested for his terrorist ways by Mega Man. Like always Wily had a backup plan and his planned escape from prison was for his eight hidden robot masters that got created prior to his arrest. Now, these new Wily machines are released from their timed capsules looking for their master as they cause destruction. With Capcom's experience in 16-bit technology, how will the Blue Bomber fare this time? Gameplay To explain the Mega Man Classic Series comes down to something I always stated about them. If you played one then you experience them all, however, the classic formula doesn’t fail at all in this entry. I’ll admit that after MMX and playing through its challenges, MMVII does feel simplistic. Of course, there is a reason it’s called the Classic series and that's not to play these for complex gameplay. The same style of blasting enemies and facing many hazards through the stages is all here once again. The enemies had a perfect balance between fair, and challenging as there wasn’t one that come across annoying. Perhaps it has something to do with the Super NES’s speed (the slowest of three main fourth gen consoles) that might have impacted the difficulty. The level design felt as good as on NES and has secret items and hidden areas to find. At times, the player would have to use Rush to find hidden big items or use the special powers to seek out the hidden areas. Being able to use the Proto Shield and Super Adapter was an awesome thing about Mega Man's arsenal. Of course, the other abilities like Beat that saves Rock from a pit and the energy tanks (from MMX) are all here. After playing MMVII, I wish Capcom put this much effort into the other abilities for the previous Mega Man games on the NES. This is one of the hidden areas where you need to use a boss power sometimes to uncover them. Above in the forest area of Slash Man's stage I had to use the Scorch Wheel to burn down the trees to uncover the ladder leading to a hidden area. The problem with most entries in both the Classic and X series is how Capcom always produces weak boss powers. The Danger Wrap, Slash Claw, Wild Coil and Noise Crush are among the worst powers I have seen from the Classic titles. The only capable power is the Scorch Wheel from Turbo Man which is also used to clear a forest path in Slash Man's stage. Even the Junk Shield and Freeze Cracker are not that effective against most enemies or the Wily bosses. The Wily Capsule boss is the hardest and cheapest I had played against out of them all. Just like in previous games, Wily's second part always had him shoot four balls of plasma at Mega Man. It always got on my nerves how much damage the fire energy balls he shoots out randomly at me would cause. The fire attacks will slowly do the most damage and engulfing Rock for two seconds. Now, some of you are thinking why just carefully dodge them like usual? The problem is they lock on to you and will follow Mega Man forcing the player to take damage from the other energy balls. What's the best solution from Capcom, use either the Charge Shot or Wild Coil. Unlike the other final battles where the weak power is always Wily's weakness. The Wild Coil doesn't do the same trick and does about the same damage as a Charge Shot. Rating: 8.5/10 Graphics/Presentation By 1995, we already saw what the Super NES could do, and each 16-bit follow-up has added broadness like never before. It happened with Super Mario World, A Link to the Past and Super Metroid and now Capcom has brought MMVII to the same degree. It’s the best broad detail I've seen and its up there with some of the key titles that transition into 16-bit. The quality backgrounds and foregrounds from that era are present and this graphic update truly made them lively. The best levels came from Cloud Man, Spring Man, Slash Man and the Wily Stages. However, the one that’s literally my favorite is Shade Man’s Stage. It's basically a Ghosts N Goblins themed level in a Mega Man game equipped with even zombie robots. Capcom didn’t stop there and when a player inputs a button command before the stage loads you get two GNG songs remade using MMVII’s sound style. The original song for this level (without the button command) also sounded good on its own. I’ll even say it would still fit in the GNG titles in more ways than one. I’m actually glad they waited until the Super NES because the 16-bit graphics really raised it from the dead. I would also like to add the addition of Bass and Tremble which acted as Mega Man's new rival. He might not be a Zero but I still enjoyed how Bass was Wily's answer to Mega Man. Sure, Protoman technically is somewhat of a rival too but Bass performed this characteristic better. I just love how Capcom put a Ghosts N Goblins stage with the traditional graveyard and castle areas equipped with zombie robots and even headless ones are shown on the foreground. These sprites truly have broad detail thanks to the technology Capcom used to create each character. I couldn’t find one bad-looking sprite from the common enemies and NPCs to the Robot Masters and the larger bosses. That same wonkiness we come to expect is brought to life and these designs in 16-bit really captures the imagination. The best enemies came from Cloud Man and Shade Man stages because of the various types. Nothing beats wacky enemies then the Astro Zombeig, Bomb Sleigh, Buofooh, a robotic polar bear, Mad Grinder and the VAN Pookin. I also love the throwback character they used for Guts Man from the original Mega Man, and he’s a lot bigger then I thought. It's really amazing what 16-bit graphics can do even for NES sprites as seen with Guts Man. The soundtrack is the best one in the series as most of the songs matched perfectly with the levels. The soundtrack is so good I always listen to it on most days and even hum the tunes in my head. The greatest one is obviously the Ghosts N Goblins' theme from Shade Man Stage as mentioned. Also, the way Freeze Man, Spring Man and Cloud Man stages had charming music captured that feeling in most cases. While Slash Man, Burst Man, the Wily stages and the boss themes really engaged me many times. Rating: 9.5/10 Features/Content At this point no one expects a Classic title to have extra modes or cheats of some kind. The game is very straightforward in its content as you face off against eight robot masters before coming to Wily’s fortress. Unfortunately, the branching paths don’t return from the last, and the levels are as linear as pre-MMVI. However, there are many hidden areas to find still with hints while others hold special items. A new feature added is Auto’s shop and by collecting screws allows you to buy items that will help in many ways. Capcom finally addresses this and gives us a reason to want to collect these screws. If some of you don’t know there is a two-player fighting mode hidden within the password system. Basically, there is a choice between picking Mega Man or Bass and you blast each other until their energy tank runs out. Even though it’s surprising for Capcom to add this, however, the idea still felt tacked on to develop a battle mode. I find this worse than the NES port of Double Dragon’s Mode B for many reasons. There are no characters like Proto Man or the Robot Masters to choose from and both only have one special. That’s pathetic especially coming from the studio that brought us Street Fighter II and the Alpha games. They should either take their own notes or follow Sega's example with Streets of Rage considering it had this much better. Rating: 8.3/10 Final Rating Even though this took Capcom four years to have a Classic title on the Super NES, the wait was worth it. The gameplay despite never-changing unlike MMX, MMVII sticks to its roots. Just because it uses the same style from the NES entries doesn’t necessarily make this a terrible idea. The gameplay and level design were still fun to play through as each stage offers a different theme. The graphics were another reason the Super NES is the powerhouse of that generation. As mentioned, the broad detail from the stages to the colorful sprites came off as a massive update from the NES graphics. Everything looks stunning, and the large sprites truly benefitted from the 16-bit power of the console. The soundtrack was another amazing trait of MMVII and probably was the best one since MMII at the time. I’m still amazed by the Ghosts N Goblins theme being in MMVII and this rendering really capture the mood for the Blue Bomber. That leads to the content as Capcom fixes this by putting in secret areas and hidden items. Auto’s shop also provided extra incentive to collect screws, so you can buy new equipment. With the 16-bit era coming to a close, Capcom would soon have to move to 3D with Mega Man Legend/64. Gameplay: 8.5/10 Graphics/Presentation: 9.5/10 Features/Content: 8.3/10 Final Rating: 8.8/10 Great
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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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