Mega Man 1: Dr. Wily's Revenge Game by CAPCOM Reviewed by Philip Wesley Save: PASSWORDS/Visual Released: 1991 Works with: All Game Boy units excluding the Game Boy Micro ESRB Rated: K-A Quick Opinion: Own.. **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: There are some characters that define a company and their philosophy to a tee. Nintendo has Mario, Sega has Sonic the Hedgehog, Microsoft has The Master Chief, Konami has Solid Snake, Sony has Sackboy, SquareEnix has Chocobos and Slimes, and Capcom has Mega Man. Here is the down low on what is happening in the world of Mega Man (Rock Man in Japan) and his friends. It appears that sometime between Mega Man 1 on the NES and Mega Man 2 on the NES, Mega Man was called into action to stop a sinister plot from Dr. Wily and his brand new "Mega Man Killer" Enker. So, Mega Man suits up and rolls out on this new adventure and you get to read a review of it! **************************************************************************** Gameplay Description: Part of the reason that Mega Man is a popular franchise stems from two combined aspects: Appealing characters and often brutal difficulty. This game takes the boss characters from the first two NES games and places them in a new adventure. The gameplay is pretty simple, Mega Man chooses one of four boss stages to fight through first and then makes his way through that chosen level to defeat a boss. When you beat that boss, you acquire their weapon and can choose the next level you want to beat. Some weapons can hurt some bosses more than other weapons. This means that you can plan out your attack strategy to more effectively dispose of harder bosses. After you beat the first four bosses, you go to a Dr. Wily stage where you fight four more bosses, then the Mega Man Killer Enker, and finally Dr. Wily himself. The boss roster in this Mega Man game borrows four of the most popular bosses (Robot Masters) from the first NES game and four Robot Masters from the second NES game. Here is the roster. Cut Man Ice Man Fire Man Elec Man Quick Man Bubble Man Flash Man Heat Man Mega Man Killer Enker Dr. Wily Mega Man can not slide in this title, and the first four bosses have all new stages. The stages are full of horrible traps, awkward to hit enemies, and vanishing platforms over huge pits and spikes. Spikes are an instant kill unless you are taking damage. Mega Man falls backwards a bit when he is hit and the game is just brutally difficult at times. The way the game is set up, you keep trying until you finally make it past an area. It forces you to get better at playing it. Thankfully, the game is polished enough to make that difficult learning curve fairly agreeable. The difficulty may be a bit off putting for younger fans, but Mega Man veterans will find it to be quite a fun game. The levels are fairly straightforward and do not contain any branching paths to take. Just travel from point A to point B in a trap laden and enemy infested level to meet a boss that is faster than you but still maintains an exploitable pattern. I need to clear the air here and state that -while the game has bosses from Mega Man 1 & 2- the stages are all new and this is in no way a port of the NES title. The new stages are slightly shorter, but they are just as frustratingly evil as the NES game levels. Elec Man's stage starts you right off the bat with platforms that disappear over a pit of spikes. The game is designed to make you DIE repeatedly until you get the timing and patterns correct. Liked: This is a challenging, brutal game with good level design. It has infinite continues for you to use. Hated: The inability to slide and the often nasty level of frustration that some levels have at first. **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: This game is easy to see on the Game Boy screen and the backgrounds are reasonably detailed. Mega Man looks like a black and white version of his NES self and the cutscenes look really nice. This is a great looking title for the original Game Boy. The Robot Masters look like they should and the enemies are appropriately animated. The only real problem would be that sometimes the game is plagued with flickering and slowdown if a lot of shots are on the screen. There are some enemies where it can be tough to discern their shots on the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, and Game Boy Lite models. No such problem exists if you play it on any of the other Game Boy models. Liked: Looks like Mega Man! Hated: Minor clipping, some enemy shots difficult to discern on the older Game Boy units. That is more a defect of those than anything else. However, a clearly discernable enemy projectile would be nice. **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: Bust out the headphones and crank up the volume on your Game Boy. This game has some new music and some excellent remixes of older NES music. The Mega Man games have some amazing music and this game is no exception to the rule. The music is fairly epic, rock opera fare. The password screen music alone is worth throwing up the horns to for the addictive beats it lays down. The music in some stages might get on your nerves after the hour you spent trying to get through the stage. That is not the fault of the awesome music. It is entirely your fault for being terrible at the game. The sounds that Mega Man's weapons make are appropriate and effectively convey his actions. Liked: The game has some quality Rocking music. Hated: That music may give you a headache as the difficulty claims your last life on a pair of spikes that you got knocked into. **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: The level design is cheap at times, but a good player will eventually overcome that obstacle. The game design is pretty basic, but good play control, challenge, and charm add spice to the mix. The basic control is easy to understand: B fires your weapon, A jumps, and you move with the D-Pad. The boss weaknesses make sense and the game rewards you for getting better. Liked: Good challenge, level design, and presentation is combined with responsive play control. A difficult and enjoyable time for more advanced players. Hated: Younger or less skilled players will find this game to be brutal, unforgiving, and cheap. **************************************************************************** Improve: A little bit of visual spice and a few more moves for Mega Man and his Plasma Cannon powered attacks. RIYL: Mega Man, challenging games. **************************************************************************** Final Words: While the game is brutal, cheap, unforgiving, and unfair; the feeling you get when you beat a level makes up for that ordeal entirely. The password system is based on dots in a grid, so have a pen and paper handy if you decide to trek through this title. While this is not the Mega Man game I would hand a person just starting the series, it would definitely be one I suggest they play sometime down the road. **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: **** Graphics: *** Sound/Music: ***** Play Control/Game Design: **** Value: **** Star Total: 60 Personal Opinion Merit: 15% Final Score: 75% Letter Grade: B ****************************************************************************