Videogame, Gameboy Advance

reviewed by Kevin

I don’t think I’m ever going to become tired of the Blue Bomber no matter how many games Capcom creates about him.

For anyone who has played a Mega Man game before, not a lot has changed as far as the gameplay style – level, boss fight, absorb the boss’s special weapon, and move on to the next. Take advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses by using a special weapon that is more effective against him. Despite how many times I have played through this pattern, (and no matter what they try to tell you, you know Dr. Wiley’s still behind everything) I never grow weary of it. Mega Man and Bass brings some exciting new concepts to the formula and makes the game one of the better Mega Man titles I have played, and that’s saying a lot.

The most obvious thing that’s different about this game appears right at the beginning – when you are asked to choose who you will play as; Mega Man or Bass? That’s right, Mega Man’s arch-rival is a playable character in this game. Not only that, both characters have their own special moves. Mega Man has his trusty charge up gun and slide technique while Bass has a rapid fire weapon that can shoot in any direction, a dash move, and the most useful technique of all, the double jump. The game seems a little stacked against Mega Man, but that’s who I went through my first time with anyway.

There are very few things to complain about in this game. Mega Man and Bass are both extremely different to play as. The new bosses are all very formidable and the special weapons are innovative and fun. Mega Man and Bass also requires you to think a lot more than past games have to get by obstacles. It’s not just shoot, jump, slide, shoot jump, slide. There are a couple of times you have to get very creative to get past some obstacles.

From the stage select screen you can access a body shop where you can purchase items that enhance your character’s abilities, such as increased defense, a self repair unit, or even an item that allows you to survive hitting a deadly spike once. This adds to the game because it enables you to choose how to upgrade your character in addition to the special weapons you pick up.

As a kind of "second quest" there are 100 CDs hidden throughout the stages of the game with data on all the robot masters from past games. It is not necessary to collect them, but it’s still something that is kind of fun to do. We’ll see if I actually go through with collection all of them.

For the most part, the music and sound effects are excellent. Mega Man games are well known for having excellent video game soundtracks with catchy tunes and Mega Man and Bass is no exception. The play control is very responsive and easy to learn. The graphics are colorful and look great. It was originally a Super Famicom game so it can’t compete with X-box or Gamecube graphics, but it still is very nice to look at.

As far as drawbacks go, there aren’t too many. One thing that could possibly be seen as a drawback is how outrageously hard the game is. I don’t see that as a drawback, although some people may find it frustrating dying again and again while trying to figure out something that works. The only problem I have with this game is that Bass’s dash technique is a bit difficult to pull off and sometimes when I try to dash I end up not really doing anything at all, but it’s really just nit-picking since that move isn’t all that useful or necessary anyway.

Overall, this game is great. If you’re a long time fan of the series you won’t be disappointed and even if you aren’t, it’s still a great game to play. Unless you hated the other Mega Man games, this is definitely a must play. It’s not quite as good as Mega Man 2, but honestly, that’s an unrealistic standard for any game to match up to.

I guess it’s Mega Man’s 15th anniversary now, too. Cool. Hopefully Capcom will continue to release more Mega Man games as good as this one.