Mega Man 7

"Disappointing first effort for Capcom"

Mega Man 6 was the last Mega Man game on the NES, and with Mega Man X being released on the Super Nintendo, the obvious next step for Capcom was Mega Man 7 on the Super Nintendo. But they could not just make the same old game, right? Especially after Mega Man X, which basically changed the way people looked at Mega Man. So, Capcom needed to make an innovative opener for the Blue Bomber on the Super Nintendo, and they proceeded to do just that. Everything about this game just screams innovation, although the basic gameplay remains largely the same.

Storyline – I cannot really recall the storyline of the game right now, but I bet it involves Dr. Wily and having to defeat him and his evil Robot Masters. How can I bet on that? Because every other Mega Man game does that..

Graphics – Maybe it’s just me, but after playing Mega Man X, with its intense futuristic graphics, I could not really get used to the graphical style of this game. Everything is so colorful, especially the backgrounds. The backgrounds are of the kiddy nature, which means they are very colorful and eye opening. I got rather annoyed by these backgrounds quickly, but the enemy designs made up for them. The boss designs were disappointing, however, I definitely expected much more in the boss designs department then what I ended up getting.

Music and Sound Effects – The music in this game was pretty good, although not as good as I expected it to be. It could have used a more modern beat, as most of it was like the graphics: kiddy in nature. Mega Man 8 also suffered from this, so I guess Capcom forgot how to make a normal Mega Man game after Mega Man X rocked the world. Sound effects in the game are decent, yet unspectacular. Typical Mega Man, eh?

Gameplay and Control – The control in this game is great, as I am pleased to announce the fact that you can now switch weapons using the L and R buttons! Yep, no longer will you have to resort to the pause screen for switching weapons. Of course, you can always still do that if you are so used to it by now, but you don’t HAVE to. The game itself is great, major innovation here is the store, you can use bolts found in the stages to buy items from the store. Definitely a fun and innovative idea, almost makes this game seem like a role playing game, doesn’t it?

Replay Value – It has a decent amount of replay value.

Challenge – Capcom beefed up the challenge level for this sucker. Why couldn’t they do it earlier?

Overall – I did not enjoy this game as much as I expected to, but it’s still fun. It’s not worth more than 10 or 15 bucks, however.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/01, Updated 03/13/01