PixlBit

 

Lesson 2

RetroSummer is a summer blog series I do when it gets too hot to play games upstairs on GameRig One, Ver. 2.0. During that time I find myself retiring down to “My Dungeon” where my retro systems are located, connected to Game Rig’s 2 and 3 respectively. This blog series only happens on certain days when the temperature is hot enough for me to feel nostalgic for some old skool gaming goodness.

I found myself in “My Dungeon” early this afternoon right after DLing some more PS3 demos onto my revamped PS3 (GameRig 1Update soon to come). As I looked over my retro titles, I felt the urge to play a game series I had yet to play for a while. A game series I usually reserved over the summer given that was the best time for me to play it. It was during the summer months, during school break, when I had the time and chance to commit myself to enjoying these choice titles. When it was just too hot to even go outside and have water fights with super soakers or when we couldn’t go swimming that day. A time when I could just camp out in my super cold air conditioned room with all the shades drawn, leaving me to the warm glow of my 12” color TV with NES controller in hand.

The game series I refer to is that of Mega Man. During my NES days I never had the chance to own any copies of this game series. So instead I had to resort in renting these titles as they become available to me. Though I did begin to fall behind in the series when it jumped to the SNES and later the Saturn/Playstation, I still played the classic NES titles if only to be able to beat them one by one. I reserved whole summers to do this when I knew one game of the series was available for rent every year. One year it was Mega Man 2, the next summer Mega Man 3 and 4, ending with Mega Man 5. I was never able to find a copy of the Original Mega Man and I didn’t realize Mega Man 6 came into being until I saw Mega Man 7 in an EGM Magazine write up. But those summers were special summers, thinking myself a hardcore gamer as I beat Mega Man 2 and 3 (with help from a Nintendo Power & 2nd controller cheat), being punished over and over with Mega Man 4 and nearly crying uncle with 5.

So how do I relive those summer moments when I’ve yet to acquire myself a NES for Game Rig 2 or 3, let alone cart copies of the game. Well I do with the next best thing with Mega Man Anniversary for the PS2! I originally wanted to get the Gamecube but decided against it when I learned the Gamecube version switched the jump and shoot buttons. The Xbox version is said to be the superior version but I decided on the PS2 version so I could play this game also on my PS3 and be able to play it along with my downloaded copy of Mega Man 9 saved on my PS3 HDD. Though I have to admit I feel a slight imput delay whenever I play on the PS3 controller. It could just be me but I prefer to play this game on my wired PS2 controller on my PS2 slim.

Aside from that Mega Man Anniversary Collection plays just like its NES predecessors but with some added features. Besides having the chance to choose in playing Mega Man’s  1-8 right off, you can also save/load game so you don’t have to worry about using the passcode feature to continue where you left off in game. Plus the old passcodes in the original games still work in this collection! So if you have them lying around you can still use them. Also if the game is a little too “NESHard” for you, the collection gives you a chance to set the difficulty to an easy setting along with a mode that’ll give you helpful tips in game when you see a flashing yellow exclamation point on the lower left hand side of the screen. The only downside to this, depending how purist you are with your Mega Man classics, is that you’ll get remixed music for some levels of the game, along with the boss select and boss battle screens. It’s a nice touch to help differentiate between the “Normal” and “Easy” modes of gameplay, besides the less punishing gameplay mechanics.  I’d recommend it to try it just once if only to hear some classics tunes rework to sounds like the other offerings of music that was given with Mega Man 7 and 8. Even though the music for the original soundtrack of each game is identical, it is set to a loop given the game is on a disc. So far I’ve yet to unlock a music box feature but I’m hopeful it’s there somewhere.

If you’re lucky enough to actually beat a game, you’ll get to unlock even more special features in the bonus section of the game consisting of artwork and new music based on certain levels. Though I’ve only been lucky enough to beat Mega Man 2 thus far, there is a lot of an incentive to sally forth to fully unlock all the goodies the game has to offer.

Oh but that’s not the best part. This collection also gives us two extra games that can be unlocked when certain conditions are met in-game. Though the games couldn’t be considered anything retro per say, they do warrant a mention given their arcade gameplay in nature.

Long ago in certain arcades in Japan they were lucky enough to be able to play a Mega Man boss battle game called Mega Man The Power Battle and Mega Man 2 The Power Fighters. Though not exactly like the fighting games offered by Capcom at the time, they were more of an over glorified “boss mode” of gameplay where you face off with Dr. Wily’s robots, take their specific weapon upon defeat and continue onward as the robot bosses get harder and harder along the way. The second game builds on that feature and adds three different story modes consisting of finding Dr. Wily, recusing Roll or hunting down pieces of a weapon. Their cute, their colorful, they consist of the newer additions to the mega man universe in characters and bosses and they make for a nice addition to anyone that’s into some arcade gaming.

And indeed they are in this anniversary collection!

Give me this over achievements/trophies any day

In the end, after I had my fill of classic Mega Man (so far only beating Mega Man 2 thus far), I was able to relax by playing some other forms of Mega Man that had yet to see the light in the US. Now I only wonder why we have yet to see these two games on XBLA/PSN.

Even now as I take a rest from gaming, by watching some MST3K, I’m still reminded of those hot summer days where I did my best to beat every single Mega Man game on the NES. Back then I thought I would totally be awesome if I had done such a feat. Though even now thinking back on it I have to admit the idea of doing such was a silly endeavor. Instead I could’ve used that time to have played a wider assortment of different titles on the NES. But even now as I look back I have to admit I have no regrets. So far I’ve only beaten Mega Man 2, but unlike in the past I at least have the ability to save my work.  One game down, 7 more games to go!

Ta-ta

“N”