Titian Warriors

When I saw a YouTube video of an NES game called Titan Warriors, I knew I had to have it. The game was a much improved sequel to the sucktacular arcade game, Vulgus. This game would have come out in 1988 but due to Nintendo's stupid rules about only releasing 6 games a year, it never came out at the time. Actually, it didn't get released until 2007 and even then, it wasn't by the game's developer, Capcom. The folks over at the LostLeves.org have made it possible for us to play what is one of the best NES shooters.

Titian Warriors has a pretty cool weapons system that you'll get to utilize when you're not dying. Pick up a few power-ups and your ship will get tricked out with some sweet side armor that can detach itself to shoot enemies that are spread out. The ricochet laser are also pretty cool.

The game gives you infinite continues and if you're anything like me, you'll need them. It took me multiple tries to get past the first stage (You CANNOT fly directly over buildings). And when you die, no matter how far into the level you are, you start at the beginning. Ouch.

Retro Smashing

The Super Smash Bros. games are some of the most fun I've had playing video games. Nintendo stars going at it in an all-out brawl is one of the best ideas since the invention of the digital pad (which Nintendo did invent). I'd always wondered what an 8-bit style Smash Bros. game would play like. Thanks to Rebirth Gaming, I was able to find out. Gentleman...... Super Smash Bros. NES.


The game is exactly what it sounds like. Smash Bros. streamed down to 8-bits. The same rules to the official Smash Bros. games apply here. KO your opponent by building up his/her percent meter. I experienced some slowdown during the Adventure mode and during a four player match against CPU opponents in Metal Man's stage. This could have had something to do with my computer but I'm running on pretty fast hardware. Still, the game is fun even if it isn't as blown up ans Melee and Brawl.

As you can tell by the screen shots, SSB NES corrects what I feel was on of the biggest mistakes in Brawl by including Mega Man as one of the third party characters. He's even packing Crash Bombers as one of his attacks! I'm sure many players would prefer the Metal Blades but think of how broken he'd be if he had that. Like the official Smash Bros. games, you can unlock hidden characters and stages. If you don't feel like being surprised, check out the SSB NES wiki page.

Overall, I think Rebirth Gaming did a good job. SSB NES is one of my favorite fan games and I hope a sequel is made.

Let's Talk About Emulation

Until recently, I've always preferred to do all of my old-school gaming on my TV screen. Even though I'm still building my collection, I've got well over 200 retro games. I love my NES but sadly, not every game works for the old girl, Castlevania III being one such game. I paid $9.99 for my copy seven years ago. To get one of the greatest NES games and to have it not work right, well that just sucks on many levels. I can only play a bit of the first stage before it crashes on me. The thought did occur to me to get a new copy but then I decided, why not just download an NES emulator and get a rom to play the game? So I did just that. I also got backups for nearly all of my NES, SNES and Genesis games.

The purists out there will frown on emulation and I can understand why. I do read the current chapters of Naruto and Bleach via websites that host them, but even so, there's nothing quite like having manga in your hands. Purists probably feel the same way about retro gaming. Still, I have to admit that having all of old games right here on my computer is pretty sweet.

My SNES is by far my favorite console and while it works most of the time, there are instances where I have to blow into the carts to get the games to work, a la the classic NES method. The SNES I own is a 1991 model. The top is faded so she's getting on in years. If memory serves, the SNES will be turning 17 this year. Nintendo built the SNES better than the NES but I've experienced more than my fair share of problems with it not working over the last few years. Should the battery on it ever give out, I'll still be able to keep living in the SNES days through ZSNES. I never thought I'd say it, but I love emulation.

Another Sweet Mega Man Pic

Revel in the awesomeness of this picture. Revel, I say!

8-bit Mega Man 8 is Coming.

Mega Man 8 8-bit. Oh yeah. I'm hyped.

Freeware Shooters That Rock

Reincarnation

Call 'em shmups, shooters, shoot 'em ups. I don't care what title you give them. As long as you think the genre is awesome that's all that matters. In case you haven't guessed, I LOVe shmups. On the NES, SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, PS2, GBA, GameCube, wherever, whatever. I'll take my shooters on any machine, PC included. Speaking of shooters on the PC, you simply must check out these the Best of Freeware 2007 shooters.


Arcanacra Black Label

Some of these games are demos and not all of these games will blow you away, but they are still worth looking into. Exception is probably a game I'd score a 7/10, but I can honestly say that I've never seen such a simplistic looking game that has ever looked more beautiful. The techno/trance soundtrack is very fitting and I couldn't help but be sucked in by this game. There's something almost hypnotic about it.

Exception

Some of the games look pretty flash and some look very primitive, but any shooter fan knows its all about the gameplay and a lot of these games deliver. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of talented people that there are in this world. Some of these guys could be in the business professionally, but they're giving us these games for free.

When you're done checking out the Best Freeware Shooters of '07, Check out the ones from '06. I also recommend scoping out the Best Freeware Shooter Remakes of 2006. Someone did a bang up job on the Nemesis remake. For those of you not in the know, Nemesis is what Gradius is called in Europe.

Happy shooting!

Dr. Wily Is One Bad...

Look at that awesome picture. You cannot look at that and not agree that Dr. Wily looks like one bad mother right there. All the robot masters behind the evil doctor are looking pretty sinister as well. Dig the crazy look on Heat Man's face in the lower right hand corner. Incredible picture. Simply incredible.

My New Toys

The little beauty to the right is my new best friend. I never thought I'd end up spending so much time playing games on my PC, but over the last week, that's what I've been doing. I love my keyboard but the thing was killing me. All of my deaths in the games I played were due to the fact that I'm just not used to playing games on something that is primarily used for typing. Logitech Dual Action makes me feel like I'm gaming on a console. Not only does the Dual Action look sexy, it feels good in one's hands to boot. I was looking to pay $10 for a PC game pad, but for $20, I think the Dual Action is a pretty good deal.

It really does pay to shop around. I didn't plan on picking of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass anytime soon. But when you see a game that is usually priced at $34.99 for $14.97, you don't need any further incentive to plunk down the cash. This is the first time I've ever bought a game a Radio Shack and if I seen any other good deals like this one, you can bet it won't be the last.

Ninja Gaiden Is Awesome

In March of 2004, Ninja Gaiden was released for the Xbox. The game was a new beginning of sorts for the series. If you thought the NES games were hard, you probably wouldn't stand a chance in the 3D ninja world. The Penny Arcade comic up top shows that Ninja Gaiden was so hard that even your friends that weren't playing the game would die. OK so stuff like that didn't really happen, but the author of the comic got the point across.

In case you'd forgotten how hard Ninja Giaden was, Awesome Gaiden is a hilarious reminder. Short, sweet and to the point.

Mega Man 9 Box Art Mock Job

PAHAHAHAHAHHAH HAHAHAHA HA!!!

Yes, that is some horrible box art. Ironically, it looks a lot better than the original box art for the US release of Mega Man 1. PA HA HA HA HA!!

But seriously, that thing is hideous, but purposely hideous. If you're at E3, you may be lucky enough to leave the show with one of these t-shirts. I applaud Capcom for having a sense of humor and amusing us while we wait for Mega Man 9 to be released.

Holy Jump Stars, Batman!

I never did get around to importing the Jump Superstar games on the DS. If you don't know, this game series takes many well-known characters from Shonen Jump manga and throws them into a four player brawl, a la Super Smash Bros. If you don't have a DS, or you do have one and you're just not into importing, Wounami has made the next best thing.

Jump Hyperstars is a supped up version of Jump Super Stars. The game also has a sequel of sorts in Jump Tamashii Stars X2. Frankly, I can't really tell the difference between these two games, save for JTSX2 having a larger character roster and just a tad more unlockables than JH.

JTSX2 does have my favorite version of Gohan (the one who went into beast mode on Cell) while both versions feature a fan made Vash the Stampede sprite. Most of the sprites in this game look pretty good but both games play in full screen mode at all times so you can't help but notice some jaggies. Both titles have great music taken from various anime series, but there is some skipping in a few of the songs that I noticed. Even during four player brawls there's no slowdown. If you've got a game pad, you'll probably want to use that since playing this on a keyboard is not ideal.

You could probably just download JTSX2 and get the best experience, but I figured I'd mention JH for those that are completists and want both games. Since cash is tight for me at the moment, I found these games to be a very sweet alternative to the DS titles.

Cameo!

Notice anyone familiar in the picture to the right? Don't look at Dr. Light and Mega Man. Look at the TV they're viewing. That's right folks, folks, Chun-Li makes a cameo appearance in Mega Man 9 in the form of a news caster. Ah, 8-bit news caster, Chun-Li. I love it. This isn't the first time she's made cameo appearances in other Capcom games. She can also be seen performing her Lightning Kick in Breath of Fire, and you can catch her eating at small eatery in the first level Final Fight 2. For not being the poster child of Street Fighter, this girl sure does get around a lot.

Brothers

This picture comes from BunnyHeadFullForce, a huge Mega Man fan and a pretty sweet artist. In this piece she recaptures a scene from Mega Man 3's ending. Mega Man 3 is my personal favorite Mega Man game and ending blew my mind as a child. It still puts a smile on my face when the game reveals that Proto Man is Mega Man's brother, and Mega Man looks to the sky and sees an image of Proto Man looking down on him, smiling.

Proto Man is robot #000. Mega Man is robot #001. By numbers, Proto Man is the older bother and Mega Man is the younger sibling. Like a good older brother, Proto Man looks out for Mega Man in Mega Man 3, testing his skill throughout the game and returning him to Dr. Light's lab so he can be repaired after the ceiling caves in.

I really liked this drawing and I hope BunnyHead pens some more Mega Man work.

Final Fantasy XIII Coming to Xbox 360... Wow

Heh, you gotta love photo shop. Without it, gamers the world over wouldn't be able to make images to the right possible.

Well, if you've been keeping up on th E3 news, Square-Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIII is coming to the Xbox 360. What has largely remained an exclusive on Sony's system over the last 10 years (as far as console releases go) is now hitting the PS3 AND the system's rival on the same release date. I think this is a wise move for Square-Enix and a huge benefit to Microsoft. Outside of a handful of games, I don't see much reason to own a PS3 and this announcement has probably made happy as many as it has ticked off.

I wouldn't be surprised if Metal Gear Solid 4 loses its exclusiveness on the PS3 somewhere down the road. If Konami is smart, they'll send that baby Microsoft's way.

Prepping For Mega Man 9

Seeing the confirmation of Mega Man 9, screen shots, the first footage, and the trailer has given me what seems to be the biggest Mega Man itch I've ever had. I've been playing Mega Man Anniversary Collection to gear up for the long awaited MM9, what could be the hardest game in the series. I don't know if all this prep work will be enough, but I'm having a lot of fun, regardless.

• Mega Man: I admit, I set it on Easy mode because I still don't have the skill to beat the Yellow Devil, though my dodging of him seems to have improved over what it once was. I've always been able to get to the Dr. Wily stages even without playing on easy, but the easy setting does not make Guts Man and Ice Man's stages any easier. Those platforms with the gaps in Guts Man's stage can still give me trouble from time-to-time, and I don't really even mess with the appearing/disappearing blocks in Ice Man's level. The Magnet Beam is my friend.
• Mega Man 2: I still use Flash Stopper to get through Quick Man's stage. Wood Man still has my favorite robot master music in this game. I found out a few weeks ago you can kill Wood Man with one max charged shot from Atomic Fire. Cool.
• Mega Man 3: Quick Man is still a pain in this game and I completely forgot you can use Search Snake to kill him, which is much better than the slow Gemini Laser. And the Dr. Wily stages have awesome music that don't get the credit they deserve. The ending is still one of my favorites. Sure, MM2's ending of the blue bomber walking through the various seasons is nice, but MM3's revelation ending that Proto Man is Mega Man's brother is a million times better.
• Mega Man 4: This is one very polished game and IMO, has better level designs than MM2. The music is topnotch and its a shame it hasn't been give the same amount of remix love that MM2 and MM3 have. Pharaoh Shot is made of win.

• Mega Man 5: Not even close to being the bad game video game magazines and websites make it out to be. Sure it may not have introduced anything new, but from what I'm hearing, it doesn't sound like MM9 will either and yet we're all singing the praise of that game. Beat was actually pretty useful and Gravity Man has my favorite stage in this game.

I haven't gotten around to the other MM games. I'm hesitant to play MM6 since the last time I did, I was reminded that it is the worst game in the classic series. I've thought about skipping it and moving on to MM7. More on MM9 prep later.

Mets Love

Hard Hats, also known as Mets in the Mega Man games have been a reoccurring enemy in the series since the original game. If Japan is any indication, the little guys are quite popular over there. Thankfully someone saw fit to make three games of Mega Man's most recognizable nuisance.

• Hard Hat: The Rebellion
• Hard Hat 2: The Ensemble
• Hard Hat 3

Just like the Mega Man games, you can select the order of the levels, you get the weapons of defeated robot masters, and there's the same simple, but challenging gameplay formula you've come to expect from Mega Man games. Hard Hat can also duck to deflect enemy fire, which comes in handy since you get shot at a lot in these games. The first Hard Hat game uses robot master from previous Mega Man games while Hard Hat 2 & 3 feature all new enemies.

All told, these are some fun games that carry the Mega Man feel. And playing as a Hard Hat is just so disgustingly cute.

Fan Made Mega Man Games

I was checking out Mega Man website affiliates when I cam across fangamez.net, a site, as the name suggests that hosts fan games. These games aren't sold so you can download them for free. Ain't life grand?

The screen shot to the right is from Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Return. It features all-new robot masters and music from the NES Mega Man games. I've only played two levels thus far and there's some lag at times, but I was very impressed with this game. The levels look great and the controls are very responsive. When I started playing, I'd forgotten about everything else I was doing.





Mega Man Evolution uses the sprites from Mega Man 8. Instead of classic or cartoony tunes to match the look, the maker of this game opted for a pounding rock soundtrack. It actually sounds pretty sweet. Rush follows you around the whole time and you'll need to him get through the levels. Mega Man can switch between the Mega Buster, rapid fire shots, or fight melee style with punches & kicks. I hope the author finishes this game because it looks very promising.

There are a few other good fan games I came across as well, some Mega Man & Mega Man related, and some that have nothing to do with the blue bomber at all. I'll be posting more about those in a few days when I've had some hands-on time with them.

Cool Mega Man Pics

A fellow forumite posted these pictures so I thought I'd post them here. These are new to me. I thought I'd seen every Mega Man picture there is to see, but sometimes its nice to be wrong. We've got a sweet picture of Metal Man, and a nice pic of Mega Man from Mega Man Legends. Enjoy.

Mega Man 9 Trailer

I was already foaming at the mouth over the Mega Man 9 footage Capcom released earlier this week. Now I've got a full blown trailer to drool over. My word, its so beautiful. Its enough to make grown men weep manly tears of joy. Mega Man 9 has sexy 8-bit visuals, from what I've heard in the footage and trailer, sweet classic style Mega Man tunes, and the familiar gameplay we all feel in love with as kids. I was already having a great day. This made it even better.

Good news is Mega Man 9 is no longer WiiWare exclusive. It will also hit PSN and Xbox Live Arcade. This was confirmed by Capcom. So everyone will be able to get in on Mega Man 9. Everybody wins.

As for the plot, well, we all know Dr. Light isn't behind this. And if the citizens of 20XX actually buy Dr. Wilie's lies then they are dumber than a box of rocks. How many times has that old man tried to take over the world? Whatever. I won't be playing MM9 for the story. Its all about shooting robots and getting weapons. I'm off to drool over that trailer again.

Mega Memories

Mega Man 2 was the first Mega Man game I ever played. I wasn't very good at it when I first played and it took some time, but after a few weeks, I was finally able to defeat all the robot masters and make it to the Dr. Wily stages. One of the most memorable bosses in MM2 is the Mecha Dragon. I can still remember my first encounter with this mechanical beast. There I was, just hoping along the single block platforms. All of a sudden, there's this huge dragon, roaring dragon behind me! Freaked. Me. Out. If I recall correctly, I was so nervous that I died before I could exchange shots with the thing. Then when I did get to the are where you fight the thing, I got knocked into the pit by one of his fire balls.

Today, I can kill the Mecha Dragon with no problems. Its weak against Quick Boomerangs, but I prefer to just whale on the thing with Mega Man's default arm cannon. Still one of the coolest bosses in Mega Man games, and I wouldn't mind seeing him make a comeback in Mega Man 9 or in some other Mega Man title. I mean, how many variations of the Yellow Devil/Rock Monster has there been?

Speaking of the Yellow Devil, I first came across this monstrosity in Mega Man 3, but I didn't know he was the first Wily boss in the original Mega Man. In MM3 he'd given me a hard time for a while but I'd eventually owned him. After fighting him in MM3, I thought he was a pretty cool boss. Playing the original MM later changed my view on him considerably.

I enter the chamber of the first Wily boss, but nobody's home. After a few seconds, orange pieces about the size of Mega Man's head start flying into the room from the left side of the screen. I knew what this meant, so I'm thinking "Cool, the Rock Monster!" Well the pieces of him just seem to be coming in so flipping fast and without the slide, said pieces are very hard for me to dodge. Some gamers say "He's not that hard." I think these people forget that not everyone is as adept as they are when it comes to certain bosses, levels and areas in gaming. If anything kept people from beating the original MM, it was the Yellow Devil. He's so hard, he should have been the final boss. Easy mode on Mega Man Anniversary Collection makes him far less difficult and the famous pause glitch in the original NES game makes this seemingly unstoppable goliath fall like a ton of bricks. Well, I never could get the glitch to work and I just don't have the quickness to dodge those blocks. For my money, he's still one of the toughest bosses in all of gaming and thanks to the original MM, my memories of him are bitter.

VGMix X

I love video game music. I really, really love video game music. I listen to game music more than anything else. When I get an mp3 player, guess what's going on that thing? Go on, guess. Unearthing VGMix.com a few nights ago caused me to stay up into the wee hours of the morning downloading tons of video game remixes and arrange tracks. There's a lot of good stuff on this site and I've taken the liberty of posting a few examples of the greatness that I found. So click these links and turn up the speakers on your PC.

• Super Mario Galaxy, Shooting Stars
• Xenogears, The Distorted Stage of Death Chips
• Chrono Trigger, Factory Ruins
• Donkey Kong Country 2, Forest Interlude
  
• Super Hang-On, Burn Baby Burn!
• Phoenix Wrighe: Ace Attorney, Sister's Theme
• Mega Man 2, Unnatural Selection
• Final Fantasy, Finally Home
• Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Falling Back
• Super Mario 64, Devastation's Doorway
• Mega Man 4, Diamond Tip
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Night on The Town
  

That isn't even close to all the songs I've downloaded from VGMix X. I've got a fold of over 140 songs from that site. Keep in mind, I only found the place a few days ago.

Rock on, Kirby

Kirby games. You gotta love 'em. I know I do. Along with all the cool, cute gameplay going on, there are some pretty lovable, catchy tunes playing in the background. I just wish the pink puff got more remixed music. What's Pink and Sucks? remedies the need for more Kirby remixes. The album covers every tune from Kirby's Adventure, one of the last games to be released on the NES and one of the best. The music is mostly rock based and it sounds excellent. Jason Cox really hit a home run with this one. Best part about this album? It doesn't cost you a dime. The entire album is available for free download. So stop reading this and go get yourself some Kirby tunes.

Sagat's SFIV Theme

Street Fighter IV has yet to hit the consoles or Japanese arcades but some of the music is already on the net. I've heard the stage select theme and Akuma's theme and both sounded great. But the king of SFIV music thus far is Sagat's theme. I love Sagat's original theme from SFII, but after hearing his SFIV music, I don't even miss it. You will not catch me (or many others for that matter) whining because Capcom didn't do an updated version of Sagat's Theme. Hey, its a new game, give the characters some new music.

The question isn't "How good is Sagat's SFIV theme?" The question is "How will other SFIV character theme's stack up?" Akuma's is sweet, but he it sure ain't no Sagat. Sagat's SFIV theme is easily one of the best tracks in gaming I've ever heard. Its that awesome. Just imagine kicking the crap out of someone while this amazing song plays in the background. Man, I get giddy just thinking about it. Just see for yourself how dope this song is.

EDIT: This is actually a fan made conceptual theme. Oops.

Mega Man 9 Footage!

This first footage from Mega Man 9 has hit the net! No doubt those of us that were already salivating at the mouth to play this game are lusting after it even more now. Though the footage is just shy of 30 seconds, the music is catchy, and the sound effects are lifted straight out of Mega Man 1-2. The music, however, sounds like it has a more vibrant feel to it, like Mega Man 3. You just gotta love all these bones Capcom has been tossing us. For a game that looks so archaic, MM9 is becoming one of the most talked about games.

Once you finish watching the footage a gazillion times, check out this Mega Man retrospective. Its sort of a play through of the first Mega Man game, but abridged. You may even pick up a few tricks from watching.

DoD Remixes for June 2008

If you're really into video game music, odds are pretty good you've got OverClocked ReMix bookmarked in your favorites section. Dwelling of Duels is another gaming remix website that was brought to my attention thanks to a fellow VGM (video game music) lover.

All you really need to know is, there's a lot of sweet remixes and arrangements on this site. They've just posted the Winners for June 2008. A lot of good stuff came from the participants. Phoenix Wright, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Contra, Dragon Warrior, Ninja Gaiden, nearly all of the well-known games have been covered this month. Just click the link, download and enjoy.

Mega Man 8 in 8-bit Please?

After experiencing first hand the bang up job Mend did on 8-bit Mega Man 7, I'd love to see Mega Man 8 get the NES-style treatment. Someone already put up a sweet intro of Mega Man 8 in 8-bit glory. I'm pretty sure the same could be done with the rest of the game.

A few words on Mega Man 8's intro. It has always been one of my all-time favorite gaming intros since the first day I saw it way back in 1997. What I didn't know at the time was that our American version had the song Electrical Communications removed and in its place was a nameless song that made sweet use of the electric guitar. I'm probably in the minority, but I don't think I missed out on anything special with Electrical Communications being absent in the American release of Mega Man 8. I don't think its a bad song by any means. It just doesn't impress me.

Now the 8-bit version of Electrical Communications, I can't get enough of that. I've played the YouTube video of the 8-bit intro over and over just so I could listen to it. I'd like to thank my good friend Tommy for hooking me up with an mp3 version of this gem. If you're reading this Tommy, thanks man. You rock!

So someone give us 8-bit Mega Man 8 and while you're at it, give us 8-bit Mega Man & Bass as well. The only Mega Man games I don't want to see go 8-bit are the X games. Although I suppose we already saw that with short-lived Mega Man Xtreme series. They weren't terrible games, but they weren't great either. The X games fit more in the 16-bit, 32-bit and beyond world of gaming.

Final Fantasy on the GameCube for Dirt Cheap

The only game to hit Nintendo's GameCube. I know I'm super late to the party but for the longest time I wasn't sure if I'd actually pick this game up. In fact, until today, I think I'd forgotten about it entirely.

I was looking around in Wal-Mart and they had a single copy of this game on clearance for $7. $7! I thought to myself "$7 is a steal for this game." It also came with a GBA link cable, which is pretty useless for me since I don't own a first model GBA or an SP model. I wish Nintendo hadn't forced connectivity play with this game. (That was another short-lived gimmick from the Big N, for those of you that may have forgotten.) If you wanted to play this game with another person, you had to have a GBA and a link cable and at this point, who actually still owns either one? Hopefully this game provides a fun solo experience, but then, I do most of my RPGs solo anyway. And it was $7!

NES in NES Cartridge

The stuff that some people come up with never ceases to amaze me. Take this guy for example. He put the NES inside an NES cart. It may look a bit clunky but the overall result to me just screams "brilliant". I just wonder how much work went into making it. Some may say this dude has too much free time on his hands and that he could put his time to better use. But we've already got enough productive people on this planet. Why should he waste his time and energy on actual productive things? I say let him and all the other gaming tinkerers out there keep hammering away, impressing us with little wonders like this one.

Mega Mania!

I'm telling you it as an awesome time to be a Mega Man fan! Mega Man 9 has been confirmed, we've seen the screen shots, we've read about the hands-on play. There's a fantastic fan-made, 8-bit version of Mega Man 7 on the net to keep us occupied. And just a few days ago, fans and Capcom gave us a ton of Mega Man wallpapers to use.

For me, personally all good things concerning Mega Man got even better. I picked up Mega Man ZX Advent. Its been months since I bought myself a game and the price on this had dropped to $20 some time ago. I was gonna get a new copy but I opted for a used one to save a few bucks. Saved a few bucks, didn't get the instructions. Ugh.

I haven't played much as of this writing, but I really dug the first level. It was a nice throw back to early, classic Mega Man games. I couldn't slide, stick to walls, or charge my shots. (Maybe I won't mind the lack of sliding or a Mega Buster in MM9 after all.) As much as I enjoyed the original ZX, I was annoyed that you only got to play as model X for a short time before the game quickly became all about model Z. I've been told I can stick with model X for the entire game in ZXA. Even tough its still early, I'm impressed with the music and dubbed voices.

Again, its a great time to be a Mega Man fan. I don't think I've ever been more excited about Mega Man than I am now. Here are some Mega Man goodies. I'm posting again in case anyone missed 'em.

• 8-Bit Mega Man 7. This is the full version. There's no bolts, no Auto, no intro stage or even a robot Museum stage but the game is still a lot of fun. And 8-bit MM7 tunes own.
• 150 Mega Man Wallpapers. Some are fan made with sprites, the rest is artwork from Capcom.
  
• Mega Man 8 Intro... In 8-bit. I've always loved MM8's intro. Even in 8-bit form it is no less awesome. I've always preferred the American versions electric guitar song over Electrical Communication. The song has never done anything for me. Strange as it sounds, I LOVE the 8-bit, chiptune version in this intro. I hope there's an mp3 of it on the net somewhere because I've already played this YouTube video more times than I can count. I cannot get enough of it.
• Forget how hard the first Mega Man game is? Here's a reminder.
• 8-bit Mega Man 7 in action. This video was what made me aware of the existence of an 8-bit MM7. It should be enough to sell anyone who is having doubts.
• The Last Days of Dr. Wily. Oh this is just too funny. Click and enjoy

Mega Man 9 "Much closer to Mega Man 2"

GamesRader has an interview with Mega Man, creator Keiji Inufune. Things of major interest in this interview:

GamesRadar: By the sixth installment, Mega Man had gained several moves (sliding, charge shots, Rush help). Will any of these make it into part 9 or are you aiming for a more Mega Man 2-style game?

Inafune: Mega Man 9 will be much closer to Mega Man 2. As mentioned earlier, in the process of going back to our roots, we came to conclude that those fancy moves were unnecessary. There are many gamers who claim that Mega Man 2 is their absolute favorite. I took it as an indication that Mega Man is not all about the moves. The beauty of Mega Man actually lies in its simplicity and a fine mixture of simple gameplay, puzzle-like thrill of maneuvering tricks at the last minute, and battles. Instead of new moves, we’ve tried to find an excellent balance in the game design and to achieve “simplicity and fun” in the very detailed-oriented age.

Now I love me some Mega Man 2. Really, I do. It is one of my all-time favorite games. That being said, no slide and no Mega Buster? I'm still stoked for this game, but that as of now, is a tough pill to swallow. Sure, MM can work without those two skills, but it isn't like they hurt the MM games either.They also got some hands-on time with the game. Lucky chumps.

"And by experiment, we mean "die a thousand deaths," as Mega Man 9 is easily on par or above the hardest games in the series. Hell, we played for two hours and only made it to three bosses, and even then only beat two. Not too surprising considering we don't yet know which boss is weak against the other, but damn, these guys are hard."

"A lot of music is right out of Mega Man 2. The select screen (which contains more than the game, but we can't talk about that just yet) and power-up screen contain the exact same tunes played in MM2, and we also spotted some enemies taken right out of the archives. The charging Mega Buster introduced in MM4 is missing (at least initially) but Rush is available from the start - as Rush Coil, naturally. Sliding was also MIA, though we did see small tunnels suspiciously similar to those accessed by the slide move."

"There's more going on than the regular game, as the menu we mentioned earlier does hold other options. We're currently unable to talk about them, so expect Capcom to reveal a bit more during E3 less than two weeks from now. Let's just say there'll be plenty for hardcore fans to obsess over when it hits WiiWare this fall. "

So it sounds like the game is gonna be pretty tough as well.

Mega Man Wallpaper Madness!!!

GamesRadar has 150 Mega Man wallpapers for you to pimp out on your desktop. Some of these are custom made and but a lot of them come straight from the company that brought us the blue bomber, Capcom. Most of the stuff from Capcom is artwork that has appeared in magazines over the past two decades, but some of it is brand new. There are images of Mega Man using weapons and pictures of robot masters that I've never seen before. Maybe the company decided to open up the vault and show us some artwork we've never seen before. More good stuff on Mega Man is only a good thing as far as myself and every other Mega Man freak is concerned.
I've been wanting to write up an article for Mega Man in honor of his 20th anniversary. Or perhaps I should say 21st anniversary. Come December, the little boy robot will have been making gamers swoon for 21 years.

While you're over at GamesRadar collect all those wallpapers be sure to check out the Mega Man retrospective article. Its sure to make you laugh and probably stir up a few bad memories. To this day, I still HATE those force beams in Quick Man's level.

From Fans of Mega Man

I've said it before and I'll say it again; there are a lot of talented people out. There are also a lot of Mega Man fans out there. Take the makers of RosenKreuz Stilette (Rose-Crossed Stilette). Getting more detailed info on the game has been tough, but from what I've seen, this game plays a lot like the classic Mega Man series.

The there are two protagonists to play as and both are girls. In fact, all the "robot masters" in this game are girls. The game looks fantastic but you shouldn't let the cutesy visuals throw you off. I watched some of the videos of the game on YouTube and it would seem the [erak:es] the game's developer, wanted to make the game even more difficult than the Mega Man games that it was inspired from.






The above level obviously pays homage to Quick Man's stage from Mega Man 2, but some sadist thought it would be a good idea to throw spikes in there just to make the player sweat even more. Yes, like Mega Man, spikes kill you in one hit.


Look familiar? They spice things up a bit by making you fight this guy on the ceiling as well as the floor.

I don't think I even need say anything about this screen. You get the idea. The makers love them some Mega Man games. I've read comments from folks that have played the game. Despite the difficulty it seems to be a lot of fun.

Below are some of those YouTube videos I mentioned earlier. Check 'em out.

• Wow this game is HARD

• This player makes the game look easy

Like Mega Man, this game also has some excellent music. You can get the tracks here.

Mega Man 9 WiiWare Only

Mega Man 9 seems to be flip flopping. Once thought to be a WiiWare only title, then coming to PSN and Xbox Live Arcade as well, Capcom has said that they goofed and the game is as of now, a WiiWare exclusive title. Let the groaning begin.