Comic Review: Worlds Unite #5

In the next issue we join our heroes in the Sky Patrol where they observe the devastation taking place below as their worlds combine. With no leads to go on and no clue where Sigma is hiding, things are looking grim for the combined universes.

Meanwhile on the Lost Hex, Wily and Eggman flee for their lives from the Deadly Six. Out of options and hiding places, the Doctor's are saved in the nick of time by Xander Payne who materializes from a Genesis portal out of nowhere. He offers no explanation for helping them, other than it is "his destiny" to do so.

Back on the sky patrol the heroes continue to grasp and some semblance of a plan when Wily, Eggman, and Xander step out of a Genesis portal right onto their conference table. Soon after (literally the next panel) the trio is thrown into the brig. Wily and Eggman attempt to negotiate their way out of captivity by offering to reveal Sigma's location and plans to the heroes. With no other option available, X and Sonic agree to free the Doctors in exchange for information and their help despite Mega Man's protest.

With Sigma's location and master plan revealed, the Sky Patrol alters course for the Lost Hex. While they catch Sigma somewhat off guard, we discover that he has been using the Genesis portals to resurrect Mavericks from the past. The Mavericks are dispatched to deal with the heroes and buy Sigma enough time to achieve his transition to God hood.

Most of this issue is entertaining banter between the heroes of Sega and Capcom with very little action until the very end. Sticks has become one of my favorite characters in this crossover, spouting her usual nonsensical conspiracy theories at everyone. Some of my favorite moments are when she encounters the "main universe" versions of Sonic and Knuckles. She asks Sonic "how can you fight evil without your sports tape" while also convincing Knuckles to train harder because he could potentially be much bigger and stronger. She fails to mention the dumb as a brick part though.

The art quality is jarringly different from the previous issues, opting for more simplified line work and a brighter more pastel color palette with far fewer levels of shading. Not that it's bad per se, I just felt like it was inconsistent with the previous issues. I personally prefer the look of the previous issues myself and for consistencies sake.


Click here to go back to issue 4

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Comic Review: Worlds Unite #4

This episode of the Worlds Unite crossover saga picks up in the milestone 50th issue of the Mega Man comic series. Unfortunately there's no time for the Mega Man cast to celebrate, but then again that wouldn't make for much of a comic would it? Once again if you haven't had a chance to read this issue I would urge you to return here later to avoid spoilers.

In the opening act we're treated to a 2-page spread that makes it abundantly clear that Sigma's plan to unite Sonic and Mega Man's worlds has succeeded. Once the worlds are united, Sonic Man and M'egga Man catch sight of one another and a secondary directive, unbeknownst to Sigma, forces them to do battle with one another. Fortunately for the characters caught in the cross fire, the battle between the corrupted heroes affords them some time to regroup and begin to form an understanding of the situation.

During the fight they cut briefly to show Sticks, Mega Man X and friends arive (I guess Orbot and Cubot weren't trying to betray them after all). Princess Sally quickly steps up to introduce herself and catch them up on the situation.

Meanwhile across Mega City (or whatever it may be called now that the worlds are combined) we catch up with Xander Payne, an anti-robot terrorist, in Federal prison where we see Sonic themed platforms and mega mack sprouting throughout the prison. He finds amidst the chaos that his cybernetic eye is able to somehow produce Genesis portals thanks to his exposure to some tachyon particles in issue 37 of the Mega Man comic. This scene felt a little too random and out of place in my opinion, then again I'm sure they have an idea behind reintroducing Payne to the story.

We return to the Sonic Man vs. M'egga Man to see they've just about exhausted their weapon arsenals on each other. As luck would have it, the Doctor's left a weakness to a specific weapon per robot master tradition. The use of "Egg Laser" and "Spin Dasher" end up freeing them from their roboticized master forms as Eggman and Wily had intended. The heroes return and Sigma knows he has been betrayed. The fate of Wily and Eggman is anyone's guess as they are chased into the darkness by members of the Deadly Six.

Sonic learns that, like Wily, he too had his memory restored to the events prior to the original Worlds Collide event. A flash back starts, showing us the final moments of the Worlds Collide event as Sonic catches Mega Man up (as well as any readers that haven't read Worlds Collide).

In the aftermath, the forces of both worlds rally behind Mega Man and identify Sigma as the enemy behind this whole mess. Sigma, who has surveillance on the heroes, only seems amused by their rally and reveals his own army. If you've played any of the Mega Man X games you'll have to agree Sigma's army is quite formidable judging from the castle bosses revealed.

Once again the action and artwork are consistently awesome and I'm still digging the story. This issue did a great job of assembling the heroes and setting the stage for what will likely be a war of worlds.

Since this was the 50th issue of the Mega Man comic it's not without some extras. We get a 2 page spread showing all 50 of the main variant A covers of the comic as well as an extra story. In it Mega Man and Mega Man X meet in a sort of training room reminiscent of the shoot the target stages from Super Smash Bros. The two "brothers" use this training room time to reveal their original stories to one another, which I thought was an excellent way to wrap up the 50th issue.

Click here to go back to Issue 3

Click here for issue 5

Thanks for reading!

Comic Review: Worlds Unite #3

This issue drops us right into the action as Sonic Man and M'egga Man begin their assault on their alternate worlds. As such we get to see how the reformed robot masters and the Freedom Fighters fair against the corrupted heroes.

We learn that their main objective is to install and activate the Unity Engines which are designed to combine both worlds. How exactly and the damage it will cause is yet to be seen, but regardless of the aftermath Sigma seeks to harvest the extreme amount of energy output by an event of this magnitude.

This issue illustrates what comic book crossovers like this are all about; action packed fight scenes that pit your favorite heroes and villains from alternate realities against each other. In the case of this issue they're very well done. Yardley is on his A game again and each panel flows together so well you could use it as the story board for an animation. It takes me back to reading the Udon Street Fighter comics for the first time many years back. I love the creative new attacks given to Sonic Man and M'egga Man, such as the egg wrecker (think the wrecking ball from the first boss of Sonic 1, only attached to M'egga Man's buster) and pinball bumper fists.

As for who is featured in these battles and their outcomes, you'll have to pick up this issue for yourself to find out. With the fate of two worlds on the brink, can the remaining heroes stop the Unity Drives in time?

Stay tuned tomorrow for my review of the next issue, but be sure you read the comics first to avoid spoilers.


Click here to go back to Issue 2

Click here for issue 4 

Thanks for reading!

Comic Review: Worlds Unite #2

The next episode of the World's Unite crossover picks up in Sonic Boom #8. Fair warning, it's going to get increasingly difficult to avoid spoiler information as I move forward from here. I would advise you to stop reading here if you haven't already read this issue.

The chapter begins with the Sonic Boom crew in the middle of a battle with Dr. Eggman per the norm. Or rather, the end of the battle as we see Sticks get knocked off panel, followed on the next page by a single shot of the group celebrating their victory, where Amy asks "Did anyone see where Sticks landed?"

This is the setup to separate Sticks from the rest of the Sonic Boom cast. If you haven't noticed from the promotional images released by Archie, Sticks is the representative of the Boom universe for this crossover. In my personal opinion, I feel like they could have found a better way to pull her from Boom and introduce her to the crossover.

Since Sticks has the time to conveniently meet Mega Man X and crew, get an explanation of their predicament, recruite Fastidious Beaver and Comedy Chimp, infiltrate Eggman's volcano base, and force Orbot and Cubot to create a new Genesis portal for them, I can only surmise that she was knocked half way around the world back on the first page. Otherwise, wouldn't Sonic had been able to find her in seconds? That or none of her so called friends bothered to look.

Never the less, we now have Sticks teamed up with the Maverick Hunter team and on their way to the next part of the story. Did anyone else think that Orbot and Cubot looked particularly sinister while opening the portal for them? I wonder where exactly they'll end up.

We cut back to the Hex zone to see more of Sigma's ultimate plan unfolding, but not before Eggman refreshes Wily's memory on the events of the Worlds Collide crossover, conveniently told from his point of view. This scene actually acts as a handy catch up for anyone that may be just as in the dark as Wily (his memory was restored and the events of the Worlds Collide forgotten once they returned to the Mega Man universe). Even though Eggman's account of the events are twisted a bit in his favor.

Soon after, we learn that the final two robot masters (or roboticized masters if you will) are none other than Sonic and Mega Man, twisted in favor of the designs of their opposing world's mad scientist. Sonic looks much like Mecha Sonic, with the addition of a Wily "W" on his forehead and arm cannon, while Mega Man dons a darker paint job with helmet trim that resembles the Eggman mustache.

In the final pages we see the corrupted heroes venturing to their opposite worlds to lay waste and set Sigma's plans in motion much to the dismay and terror of the inhabitants. Just what are his plans and will the remaining heroes of either universe be able to stop the corrupted Sonic and Mega Man? We'll have to wait until the next issue to find out.

The story is moving along at a nice pace, though I felt the uniting of Sticks with the Maverick Hunters seemed a bit rushed thanks to the details I mentioned above. As for the art, most of it is great, though you can tell that the Sega universe is definitely Yardley's comfort zone. The Capcom characters just seem a little more off than usual. The color work is excellent though.

Hiccups in this issue aside, I'm still hooked and can't wait for the next issue!

Click here for my review of Issue 1

Click here for Issue 3

Thanks for reading!

Comic Review: Worlds Unite #1

This week saw the beginning of the Archie Action series super event, Worlds Unite #1 (aka Sonic Universe #76), which begins a year long multi-universe spanning adventure starring your favorite heroes from Sega and Capcom. From the looks of their preview images this thing is set to include pretty much any IP from both companies though I suspect the majority will be in the form of single panel cameos in some kind of massive heroes vs villains climax.

Never the less, I want to focus on the here and now by sharing my thoughts on the most current issue of this new saga. I promise not to discuss any spoilers, other than the blatantly obvious, such as Sigma being a major player (c'mon he's on the freakin cover).

The story opens in Mega Man X's timeline where we quickly learn that Sigma has discovered the existence of the Genesis portal anomalies left over from the toying of reality done by Dr. Wily and Dr. Eggman in the Worlds Collide story arc. As such he's been using them to scout out other realities looking for baddies he can recruit in his grand scheme of conquering all realities. X arrives just in time to see Sigma blip out of their reality without a trace.

We cut to Mega Man and Sonic's current comic book timelines where Mega Man is enjoying a more peaceful time and has actually taken up more of his original helper robot duties. Sonic on the other hand is still dealing with the shattered world (think Sonic Unleashed) also caused by the Worlds Collide arc.

After catching up with the main heroes, we see that Sigma has forcefully employed both Wily and Eggman as little more than laborers in constructing his army of conquest. As expected, they begin their own scheming though it's more along the lines of trying to escape Sigma's clutches.

I can't reveal much more other than by the end of the issue you'll find out who the new "eight masters" will be. The story continues in Sonic Boom #8 though the cover will clearly read Worlds Unite #2, so be on the lookout for that.

The artwork is top notch and though the material is based upon flagship mascot video game characters, the writing has more depth than I would expect. They've actually been carefully setting the stage for these events to take place in the past two years of the main Mega Man and Sonic comics, though don't let that intimidate you as they give you the information you need to catch up. It's enough so that you can jump right into this story arc without being lost on anything. I do however recommend picking up the trade paper backs of the first Worlds Collide arc (Archie actually has deals on them now on their website) especially if the idea of a huge climactic battle between all the Sonic characters and every robot master there ever was excites you.

Fair warning, whether you're a Mega Man or a Sonic fan or even Capcom and Sega in general, if you pick up this story you'll likely be hooked. If you grew up with the 8 to 16 bit console generations this story is ready to grab your nostalgia by the heart and never let go.

Click here to check out Issue 2!

Thanks for reading!

Nerdy News Digest Week of 3/9

Here we are half way through the month of March already. I've been doing some major slacking here even though there's been plenty of cool entertainment news to talk about. To be honest it's not been the best week for me by a long shot. I've decided the best way to get through this depressing time is to focus on my kids, hobbies, and my writing.

But before I get started I wanted to quickly offer my condolences to the families, friends, and anyone else that was deeply effected by the loss of Leonard Nimoy and Terry Pratchett. The world has lost some truly brilliant people this year. I hope that their legacies continue to inspire generations to come, for that is the best way to eternally honor them.

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Nerdy News Digest - Week of 3/9/2015

Disney Announces new Ducktales series - Okay so this was actually announced at the end of February but I'm a huge Ducktales fan so I wanted to at least mention it.

Disney has announced they are planning a new Ducktales series to premier some time in 2017 on Disney XD. There's not a whole lot to know about this yet other than the announcement itself. I hope the original cast is still up for returning to reprise their roles since they did so well in the Ducktales Remastered game release.

Click here for the official announcement.

Street Fighter Assassin's Fist now available on Netflix and Hulu - If you live in the UK then you can check out Assassin's Fist on Netflix now. If you're in the United States though look for it on Hulu Plus.

Assassin's Fist is a much watch for any fan of Street Fighter or martial arts films in general. Check out my review of it here.

Archie Comics has revealed the solicitation blurbs for the first upcoming issues in the worlds unite series - Check this link to read a synopsis of each of the premier issues of their new worlds unite crossover series.

It looks like Sigma is going to be a major player this time around. He's always seemed more sinister than Wily and Eggman to me, so it'll be interesting to see what he tries to do. Check it out! The tree felling robot from Sting Chameleons stage in X1 made the cover of the issue to the left.

Be sure to join the Retro After Dark forum and check out this thread to discuss the Worlds Unite event with us.

Don't forget, tomorrow is Pi day. Math enthusiasts typically celebrate Marth 14th as pi day because the western calendar date matches pi, or 3.14. However, tomorrow is unique because we get a more complete set of digits (3.1415). You can take it a step forward if you decide to celebrate precisely at 9:53 which gives you 3.1415953. This is a once in a lifetime moment as it will not occur again until the year 2115.

So how do you celebrate pi day? If you're a math nut you could calculate digits endlessly as pi never falls into a repeating pattern. Or if you're a simpleton like me you could use it as an excuse to have a slice of your favorite pie for breakfast, which for me would be a pizza pie of course. Breakfast of champions!

Thanks for reading!

Archie Comics Worlds Unite - More Characters Revealed!

*Update!*

Today the Worlds Unite teaser image has been completely filled! I think Ryu was the last person I was expecting to see on there due to Udon Comics having the Street Fighter license. I'm no lawyer though, I'm sure Capcom and Sega can license out their properties to however many they please.

It's been a long time since I've been this excited about a new comic series. I can't wait to see what we do with this!

---original post---

It looks like they've revealed more characters in the teaser image and I was actually right about everyone I guessed at.

Other than those I mentioned, we now see NiGHTS, Billy Hatcher, Amaterasu, and Tyris Flare!

I'm having trouble identifying anyone else. Maybe that's Dante above Mega Man? That's a shot in the dark though, literally.

Do you have any theories on the teaser image or perhaps your own wish list of characters?  Discuss it with us in our thread here.

Thanks for reading!

Archie Comics Worlds Unite - My Thoughts

Archie Comics announced yesterday that they'll be doing another crossover series with Capcom and Sega characters. Characters from my two favorite video game companies together in one comic? This is awesome! The Sonic and Mega Man crossover they did a year or so back was really entertaining and had excellent artwork so of course I'm excited to see what they come up with here.

So far all they've released is the teaser image to the left which at least tells us that the Sonic Boom universe as well as Mega Man X will be joining. There are a few others I can recognize from their silhouettes and it looks like they're digging deep into both companies' franchises.

So far I see...

Alex Kidd to the right of X
Viewtiful Joe to the left of Sticks
Nina from Breath of Fire above X
Maybe Red Arremer a few characters above Sticks
At the very top that could either be one of the beasts from Monster Hunter or perhaps Hauzer from Red Earth.

I'm very excited about this cast so far. Both companies have a huge library of characters to draw from and I'm happy to see they aren't leaning on the Sonic and Mega Man casts too much. This is "worlds" unite after all. I never thought I'd say it but it looks like I may be picking up Archie Comics again come May.

Thanks for reading!

Science of Mega Man. What Happens When Mega Man Dies?

I saw a great question on Twitter today from @Joystiq that reads "Impossible Question of the Day: What happens to all those balls when Mega Man explodes?"

I love when this question comes up when people are talking Mega Man because I have, in my opinion, a pretty good theory that I came up with as a kid playing the games. So as you read this bear in mind that this is purely my speculation though I still like to at least pretend it's true even to this day.

Right, so when you're playing Mega Man your energy bar actually represents your shield (think Star Trek if you will) that is designed to block as much damage from the enemies as possible. 

My theory is that when the bar is depleted Mega Man isn't destroyed but is instead rapidly evacuated from the area instantaneously to prevent his actual death, hence the scattering orbs of light.  These orbs then gather either at Dr. Light's lab or somewhere above the stage to reassemble Mega Man with a fresh shield for another go.

So how did I come to that conclusion and why isn't Mega Man simply exploding? I decided since the robot masters (having been created by Wily, who was educated in robotics by Dr. Light) died in the same manner they must follow the same rule and were trying to make an escape as well but end up being absorbed by Mega Man. Hence the reason you gain their weapon after defeating them. This theory is further supported as Mega Man is actually shown absorbing their orbs of light after the boss fights from Mega Man 3 onward. I like to imagine some of the orbs actually did escape which is what allows Wily to recreate the robot masters for their second confrontations with you in his fortresses.

This is what I like to believe is going on anyway. I'm not sure if any Mega Man lore has been published in Japan that states what is actually going on. If so, please by all means let me know.

Thanks for reading!

Street Fighter x Mega Man Review

This year to celebrate the 25th anniversaries of two of Capcom's biggest franchises, Capcom has made available a brand new entry to the Mega Man series:  Street Fighter x Mega Man.  Or rather, they put their name and branding support behind a fan made Mega Man game in a last minute effort to give the fans something in recognition of Mega Man's 25th anniversary.

It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but after Keiji Inafune left Capcom, their work on Mega Man has virtually stopped.  With two huge titles, Mega Man Universe and Mega Man Legends 3, being cancelled, some have even argued that the company has become anti-Mega Man.

So I can't help but feel that this was a "crap I forgot our anniversary!  Better grab some roses at the gas station on the way home" kind of gift.

Now don't take that as me saying Street Fighter x Mega Man was a cheap gift.  Actually it's a pretty solid one.  I just feel like Capcom dropped the ball with Mega Man's anniversary, especially in comparison to the things that were done for the Street Fighter 25th anniversary.

But regardless of Capcom's current lack of direction with Mega Man, let's talk about the game itself and see if it's a worthy enough product to wear the 25th Anniversary label.

Visit Capcom-Unity today to download Street Fighter x Mega Man for FREE!

From its obvious appearance you'll discover that the game is more Mega Man than it is Street Fighter.  It once again sports the charming 8-bit look of the classic Mega Man series on the NES, in both appearance and gameplay, or at least it tries its best to.  Instead of 8 robot masters to hunt down, this time the bosses are made up of various Street Fighter characters representing each series of its own 25 year history.

If you've played any Mega Man game in the past then you know the drill from here.  Choose one of the robot masters, or in this case one of the World Warriors, to play their stage and face them at the end.  If you're successful then you'll be rewarded with their special weapon.  In the case of the Street Fighters you'll be rewarded with on of their signature moves, such as Ryu's Hadouken, or Chun li's lightning legs.

Of course each weapon you obtain is traditionally another opponents weakness, but I found the Street Fighters to be some of the easiest Mega Man bosses I've ever faced.  The reason is because they don't really follow a patterned AI like a traditional robot master; they actually behave like computer controller opponents in a Street Fighter game.  For example, Ryu will jump back and throw some Hadoukens, attempt some random hurricane kicks and unwarranted Shoryukens with no rhyme or reason, just like playing the computer on easy.

The stages of course are themed after each Street Fighter, including 8 bit remixes of their iconic themes.  Each song is cleverly blended with past Mega Man stage themes making for some great Street Fighter tunes with that unforgettable Mega Man flavor to them.

Unlike the fairly recent Mega Man 9 and 10, which played closer to Mega Man 2, Street Fighter x Mega Man takes after Mega Man 4, giving you back your slide and chargable Mega Buster shot.  Other than that, I can't really decide which game the physics feel like.  Not that this is a bad thing, because it plays as closely as possible to the original games, there's just some things that are a little off.  For example, when you take damage you aren't knocked away as far as in the originals.  This is the sort of nit-picking that only die hard purists would concern themselves with.  I've put countless hours in on the NES Mega Man series and I didn't find these small differences to be deterring from the experience at all.

What is a concern however is some inconsistent glitching with the handling in some of the stages.  I'll cite Rolento's stage for example.  In this stage on occasion Mega Man would keep walking for a few steps after I had let go of the d-pad.  I tested this on different controllers with similar results.  Unfortunately I only have one PC to test the game on, but the game runs perfectly with no hiccups so I can't be certain if this is something only I have experienced.

It's hard to complain about quality games with the cheap as free price tag, but one thing that really bugged me was the lack of a password or save system.  This is the first 8 bit style Mega Man game that requires you to play through the entire game in one sitting, that is unless you don't mind to minimize the game and come back to it later. Mega Man games typically don't take that long to finish, but sometimes outside circumstances require you to leave in the middle of a game.

The game isn't as long as your typical Mega Man adventure either.  There are only 2 additional stages to be played before you face the Street Fighters again for the second time.  The first is with Balrog (boxer) which is an interesting new type of moving stage where he is trying to run you down while you dodge and blast enemies in your path.  If he catches up to you it only takes one of his giga-ton punches to end you.  After that is a more traditional stage that tests all the skills you've learned on the way which ends with a confrontation with Vega (claw).  I was hoping there would be a Sagat stage after that but he seems to be missing from the game all together.  Maybe this takes place after he wised up and left Shadowloo.  After defeating these two grand masters you'll have to defeat all the Street Fighters again before facing the final boss.

So then the final confrontation is a one on one battle with M. Bison (dictator) himself.  For being the last boss he was extraordinarily easy since he, like the other Street Fighters, seems to behave like a computer controlled opponent in a Street Fighter game.

For a more challenging end boss, try defeating at least 4 of the Street Fighters with a Perfect.  I think it's pretty obvious who to expect...

At the end of the adventure what you have is a brand new Mega Man game that takes some risks in being a little bit different from the classic titles.  I think the only way you can keep yourself from enjoying this title is if you're too much of a Mega Man purist to let yourself enjoy a fun and creative IP crossover.

Pros:

-The game is FREE.
-8-bit style Mega Man graphics we all know and love.
-Awesome Street Fighter music remixes with a Mega Man flare.  Download the soundtrack from the artist for free here.
-The game offers lots of custom control options and window sizes to optimize your experience.

Cons:

-No password or save file system.  (Though if you're a veteran Mega Man player you'll be able to breeze through this game almost as fast as playing through a Street Fighter arcade mode session)
-Possible control glitches in some stages (I'm not sure if this is actually confirmed, or just on my machine).


In the end what you have is a worthy new entry to the Mega Man series, even if there's some polish needed here and there.  The great love the creators of this game show for Mega Man is clear in the final product, now let's just hope Capcom themselves can follow suite one day again.

Have fun and happy anniversary Street Fighter and Mega Man fans!

Animation by Junkpuyo

Random thoughts: Final Fantasy Mystic quest and Sonic CD's wherabouts

Here are just some random thoughts that crossed my mind today. I may continue to write these if they spark conversation.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was created as a sort of beginners Final Fantasy to introduce new players to the series and for those who may find the other Final Fantasy titles at the time to be too difficult. It shows too, the game is really easy and with only 2 members to the party at any given time it severely lacks in depth in comparison to a traditional Final Fantasy. But again this is what they were going for. So why should you ever play this? The music in this game is awesome! Especially the battle and boss themes (give a listen to the Youtube links below). Even if you never play it, give the soundtrack a listen sometime, you wont be disappointed. The story isn't all that bad either...

Protip: Heal the last boss. Seriously, his class is Zombie, so use your best cures on him to watch him crumble from massive 99999999 hits. Stupid easy.






Where the hell is Sonic CD? Seriously why haven't there been any plans to port this great game to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN? All of the 16-bit era Sonic games are available on multiple platforms but this game but the last time this title was available was on the Sonic Gems collection for Gamecube. I'd love for this game to be available to the masses.

I shouldn't have to explain why this game is so great if you like the 16 bit Sonic games. It's more of that great stuff but even faster.

I wouldn't care if they do upscaled HD graphics or not, I just really hope that they would consider an option to play with either the NA or Japanese soundtrack (the Japanese soundtrack sounds a bit more like traditional Sonic music and seems to fit the stages better in my opinion).

Come on Sega!



The Sonic Generations Demo is available now but only for 18 more days. The demo shows you the "classic Sonic" side of the gameplay by letting you play through the first act of Green Hill (assuming they will do acts again). The physics are a lot closer to the classic games than Sonic 4 was. The jump physics actually feel pretty close to Sonic CD's. Maybe that's why they used the Sonic CD jumping sound effect. I also love how you can press the x/square button at any time during a run to make Sonic rev up the spin dash rather than having to stop completely and duck, though you can still do that if you want to. It keeps the action at a more consistent pace.

Anyway, it's not fair to go into a full on review game as this is still a work in progress. I can say that the stage that's available is really fun though and I'm pretty sold on the game now just from this. But don't take my word for it, go get the demo today, it's free but for a limited time only!

Megaman Universe was unfortunately canceled earlier this year. Some people aren't giving up though. I just read this morning that some people are not ready for Capcom to let it go. Check out this story here: http://www.themmnetwork.com/2011/06/25/megafying-your-wear-to-support-mega-man-universe/ Here's hoping it'll make a difference, but it'll probably take many many people to convince Capcom. My hope is that The Mega Man Network will get something going for Western fans to participate in.

Megaman 2, greatest game of all time?

This entry is a little bit of a letter of appreciation, review, and guide all wrapped into one.

Megaman 2, released in July of 1989 by Capcom, is one of the games I've played the most in my life and is probably responsible for solidifying video games as my main hobby.

Megaman 2 is obviously the sequel to Megaman, though I didn't play the original game until many years later. For the uninformed, the story follows a young boy robot named Rock, created by Dr. Thomas Light, who volunteers to be modified into the fighting robot, Megaman, who must do battle with the evil Dr. Wily's robot creations. Things go a little deeper than that, but that's it in a nutshell.

The fact that Megaman 2 and all the franchise in general exists is a bit of a small miracle. Sales for Megaman (called Rockman in japan) were pretty lack luster. So much so that Capcom wasn't interested in doing a sequel. Megaman creator, Keiji Inafune, and other developers at the Capcom office decided to make Megaman 2 on the side while working on other projects. Kind of like a simple project of passion. Perhaps this is why the game is so good. It was developed without any influence of the company or investors and fueled purely by the drive to make a great game. The rest is history. After the heads of the company played the game they decided to release it, and this time saw great success.

The game itself is a 2D side scrolling platform, one of the bests there is in my opinion. The controls are precise, the level designs are clever, and the music is amazing by 8 bit standards. Check the links below for examples, when I first heard this stuff as a kid I was amazed that they were able to create such tracks on the Nintendo.

The game is made up 8 stages (the first part anyway), each having a boss, or robot master, at the end that the player has to face. For beating the boss you are awarded their power. For me this was the coolest thing ever. I'm not aware of any other games that did this so well. The next greatest thing is that these powers aren't just different variations of projectiles for attacking, but tools to assist you in progressing the stages. Unlike later Megaman games where you can play through the stages easily using the default weapon, Megaman 2's boss weapons actually fit with the stage designs to help you traverse easier.

For example, in Woodman's stage where you have to descend a stair case like terrain with one of the hopping rabbits approaching, you can dispel the enemy in a cinch using Metalman's weapon. Or in Metalman's stage where you have to move across the conveyor belts while drills shoot from the floor and down from the ceiling, Woodman's weapon is perfect for clearing a path. I shouldn't have to mention how much easier getting through the lasers in Quickman's stage is by using Flashman's weapon.

After the 8 robot masters have been defeated, you don't get to celebrate long because Dr. Wily appears, beckoning you to his castle for a final battle. But first you have to get to him. The game becomes linear at this point, showing you that you'll have to get through 4 more stages to get to Wily himself.

The Wily's castle stages are a bit more difficult than the beginning first stages. With good reason though, as you are going in with all 8 special weapons available to you. I'd like to take this opportunity to mention that Wily's 1st stage music is one of the greatest "get pumped to save the world" tunes in video game history, link to it below.

Even after you get through the 4 castle stages and their bosses, you're still not ready for Wily as the 8 Robot masters are back again for one more round. Yep, you have to prove yourself one more time against the 8 bosses before you can move on to Wily.

I have to mention the final encounter with Wily as one of the biggest wtf moments in gaming. At least until you defeat him and uncover the mystery behind that battle. No spoilers here though. If you've not finished this game you should go get to work on it.

The little twists kept the game fresh but could also be a bit testing on your skills as the castle stages came with a bit of inventory management. Unlike with the first 8 stages, your weapon energy does not refill after each stage. Collecting weapon energy drops becomes crucial at this point. You can't be lax on dodging attacks either, because you can only stock 4 energy tanks for the entire castle, save for 1 or 2 sitting in enticing yet hard to reach locations.

The reason I feel Megaman 2 is one of the greatest games of all time might come from a bit of nostalgia fever, but even if you're not a hardcore Megaman fan the game still holds it's ground. The characters are unforgettable, the stages are platforming heaven in their simple yet challenging designs, and the music is still ipod worthy to this day. I even think the graphics are charming enough to keep you hooked (they blew me away as a kid).

So if you're a long time fan of the game, I hope reading this was enough to get you to fire it up one more time for old times sake. And if you haven't played it, shame on you, haha.

There are plenty of ways to get it now. If you have a wii, Megaman 2 on the virtual console is practically the most perfect port of the nes version you can get, outside of straight up emulating the game. I'd skip any handheld versions or phone ports. The version on the Megaman collection disk for Playstation 2 is passable, but there are a lot of changes from the original. It plays as kind of a mesh of easy and difficult modes, it's pretty much the same game though. One plus for that version is the ability to play with the remixed Power Battles version of the music tracks.

By now you know I'm all about the game. So let's take a look back at those unforgettable bosses that took great pleasure in exploding us as kids.

I've listed everyone in the order that I usually take through the game. The "proper order" of Megaman 2 is very debatable, mainly because it's probably the easiest title to beat with the default weapon only, even on the difficult setting.

Air Man

Weapon: Air Shooter
Weakness: Leaf Shield
Stage Theme
Arrange theme

This is definitely the easiest Robot Master to defeat. I usually begin with him. If you're just starting out on Megaman his stage might be a tad difficult, but it's manageable if you have some platformer experience. When you get to him just blast the hell out of him and try your best to jump his little tornadoes as they approach. I just try to stay as point blank as I can and lay waste to him. I actually think it's harder to hit him with Leaf Shield than the default weapon, so I usually just forget it.

Metal Man

Weapon: Metal Blade
Weakness: Metal Blade, Quick Boomerang
Stage Theme

This is like the only Megaman boss in history who has a weakness to his own weapon. Maybe it's because his weapon is arguably the best Megaman weapon of all time? Who knows, but when you encounter him again in Wily's castle lay waste to him in literally no more than 2 hits from his own weapon. The first time around, Quick Boomerang works on him, but I find it way easier to just take him down with the default weapon. Just stay at the far end of the level and neutral jump the blades as they come your way, while at the same time releasing shots his way.

Bubble Man

Weapon: Bubble Lead
Weakness: Metal Blade
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme

Ah, Bubble man. His was the first stage that I played as a kid, my first Megaman stage ever. His theme made me fall in love with 8 bit music. Anyway, Metal Blade works on him, but his pattern is pretty simple so he's another guy you can dispatch pretty easily with the default weapon. Just be patient and watch how his projectiles move, step slowly under the bubbles to pass under them.

Heat Man

Weapon: Atomic Fire
Weakness: Bubble Lead
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme

Kinda looks like a zippo lighter huh? Probably on purpose. I think he's actually pretty hard with the default weapon. Hit him with a Bubble Lead and then he'll try his flaming psycho crusher on you. Hop over his head slightly and get him with another Bubble lead, repeat. It'll look like you're jumping back and forth over him. A few turns and he's dead.

Wood Man

Weapon: Leaf Shield
Weakness: Metal Blade
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme (actually his Megaman 8 theme)

My wife's favorite Robot Master. "He's a stump, he's cute" she says. He's pretty easy to take care of. Jump over the Leaf Shield he shoots at you obviously, then unload on him. I find for some reason it's easier not to get hit by the descending leaves if you jump straight up between them.

Flash Man

Weapon: Flash Stopper
Weakness: Metal Blade
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme

This guy doesn't stand a chance really. As soon as the fight starts just let him have everything you have. He walks extremely slow and doesn't jump very far. The most damaging thing he can do is run into you, and honestly he'll probably be dead before he gets that far if you have Metal Blade.

Crash Man

Weapon: Crash Bomb
Weakness: Air Shooter
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme

His weakness does almost as silly damage as Metal Man's. As soon as the fight begins, shoot an air shooter. If he didn't die from jumping through that shot, fire another when he lands on the other side of you and that's it for him.

Quick Man

Weapon: Quick Boomerang
Weakness: Flash Stopper
Stage Theme"

For some reason as a kid I pictured this guy as the Robot Master ring leader, or like Wily's right hand man. I dunno, he just seemed like he was meaner than the other robots. Which isn't far from the truth. He's definitely the fastest, which can make dodging him in his patten pretty difficult. As soon as the fight begins, use Flash Stopper which will drain his life down half way. After that I switch back to default to take him out. Try to stay in the center of the stage. He definitely wants you in the corners. It's much harder to dodge him and his boomerangs if you play from the corner.

Mecha Dragon

Weapon: Flames
Weakness: Quick Boomerang
Wily's castle stage 1
Wily's castle stage 1 arrange version

His huge and cartoony sprite was the coolest thing I had ever seen when I first got to him. He'll chase you over a cliff, giving you a nice jumping challenge. At the end, you'll be given 3 blocks to work with. One screw up and you're gone. Immediately jump onto the highest block and unload Quick Boomerangs into his face as fast as you can. If you're playing on an nes, or the virtual console version his flames will probably cause slow down and possibly make the sprites flash. To get past this, I usually stay at the front of the block, as much as I can without falling and take the first wave of flame spam. I find that if you try to jump it or correct yourself after taking the hit you're more likely to fall into the hole. Just take the first hit and keep pumping him full of Quick Boomerang, he wont last long.

Wily's computer/Cameras

Weapon: Itself?
Weakness: Metal Blade
Wily's castle stage 2
Wily's castle stage 2 arrange version

When we were kids we called this boss "Wily's computer." I'm honestly not sure where that came from. They sort of look like cameras too. I don't really know what to call this boss. Regardless, it's pretty easy. Stay in the center of the room and dispatch them as soon as they appear using Metal Blade. If you touch them, it hurts, a lot. Just be patient and be careful and it wont last long.

Guts Man Tank

Weapon: Can create hard hats, fist pound, random bullets.
Weaknes: Quick Boomerang
Wily's castle stage 3

Another awesomely huge boss for the time. To defeat him jump up onto the tank treads and hop just in front of his face, shooting as many Quick Boomerangs as you can. Watch his hands because he'll try to drop them onto you. There's no reason to really run around, just stay right on top of him and he wont last long.

Wily Turrets

Weapon: A really fast projectile, always shoots towards Megaman where ever he is in the boss lair.
Weakness: Crash Bomb
Wily's castle stage 4

It is imperative that you have a full bar of Crash Bombs waiting to go into this fight. This fight is sort of like a puzzle, as it takes the exact amount of crash bombs you can hold to defeat this boss without dying. There are gun turrets stationed around the room that will fire off a shot at Megaman every few seconds. There is a turret for every Crash Bomb you can hold. If you miss a Crash Bomb, you'll have to die and then back track to refill Crash Bomber, but don't worry, the turrets you defeated before dying will stay dead when you return to the boss lair, as long as you don't get a game over. The key to doing this wihout dying is to not blow up any of the destructible walls, that's just a waste of a crash bomb. Utilize items 1 and 3 carefully to navigate the mini maze and get direct shots on the turrets.

Robot Masters round 2


Use your same strategies as before. Some of these fights will be easier now that you have all of the weapons at your disposal. It's a good chance to experiment with different weapons against the Robot Masters, as some of them actually have a few weaknesses.

Wily's Machine/UFO

Weapon: Energy balls
Weakness: Metal Blade

The weak point on this boss is the black windshield where Wily would be sitting. I find that using Metal Blade is easiest because you can keep a constant barrage of fire on him during the entire fight. He has another life bar that fills after the front of the ship shatters. After that the energy balls move faster and do more damage. It sure would be helpful to have the slide from later games here, but oh well. Be careful advancing and just keep your flow of Metal Blade constant.

Alien Wily

Weapon: Random Bullets, himself
Weakness: Bubble Lead

Dr. Wily's an alien?? WTF? You'll have to defeat him to find out. Stay in the center of the stage and jump the random bullets that head your way. As Wily get's close, spam as much Bubble Lead as you can on him as he passes.


That's it for Megaman 2. If you've been there, done that, I hope you enjoyed the music and the walk down memory lane. If you're going to take on this game for the first time, sorry for such a brief guide. I didn't mean to write as much as I did, it's just a pleasure taking on these guys and I wanted to put down a little bit of my thought process for doing so.

Thanks for reading!