Mega Man: The Power Battle

"It has been my first MegaMan game... lot of fun, and a great title!"

You got in the review of a great title for the CPS1 (Capcom Play System 1, I guess...). Imagine in your mind all the previous Megaman games, just enhanced with MM7 graphics (a little more enhanced as well), where you only have to defeat bosses, without spending your entire life on understanding how to finish levels (and be honest, levels are way more difficult than bosses, at least in the regular series). So, we breath more in this game. Some bosses are very weak, while others can kill you with many powerful attacks (but this counts mainly for the final bosses). Graphics, as I was saying, resemble the engine used in MM7, except for the fact they're better animated and we get more colours (at least it's my impression, since I've played both games). Bosses (and especially the ones from the previous NES games) are very well made, with toony graphics and great attack effects. Levels' backgrounds are something beautiful (and animated), so we couldn't expect anything better, if we think it's a CPS1 game.

And now for music and sound effects. Well, I'm sure you've at least played one MM title, well, you've surely thought the musics, like in Sonic games, are something great, with memorable melodies and great enphasis. All the tunes are enhanced here as well (I'll always love Slashman's theme!), and we get a smooth sound without any distortion. Voices, at least in Japanese version, are very well made. In my opinion, Bass' voice is the best one. Effects are great too, even if some are kinda similar.

Now, what concerns gameplay: we're given the chance to use 3 characters which obviously appeared in some previous games. We can use the immortal Megaman, the misterious Protoman, and the evil not-so-evil Bass (Forte in Japa, while Blues is Protoman and Rockman is Megaman). Every character can shoot with his Buster using a button, or can charge a more powerful blow if you hold the same button (no, as for Bass, it isn't ilke Megaman & Bass where he shoots continuosly. He charges here). You can obviously jump (with another button) and move around like any level in Megaman games. Moving down the stick and pressing the jump button will resulte in an unique move for every character. For example, Megaman slides, while Protoman dashes and Bass does a flying dash. All you've to do is to select a level (which has only a boss, not all those roads to walk) and defeat the boss, which can often be helped by some minions as well. At the beginning, bosses haven't much life, but as you progress with the game, they get more life (e.g.: the life bar rises). There are final bosses as well, and we get 3 difficulty options. The hard mode has an unique pre-final boss, which we were able to see, if I'm not wrong, in Shademan's stage, in MM7... guess who? Anyway, it's like an unlimited battle against every MM boss.

Difficulty is well balanced, since we get 3 modes: Easy, Normal and Hard. Personally, I find every mode not to have so many differences with another, but, hey, it's your choice: know only that every mode has unique bosses for every level. Some attacks are indeed more powerful and tricky in more difficult modes.

If you still can find this game in bars or similar places... well, my suggestion is that you try it as soon as you find it, since it's one of the most fun and greatest MM games every created!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/09/04