RockMan & Forte

"A delectable tech demo"

The Super Nintendo, that veritable bastion of twenty-dollar gaming, was capable of some amazing feats. Super Mario World had enough length and replay value to hold gamers off for several months. Pilotwings was an interesting showcase of technical abilities. Of course, both of these games had problems with bugs, small memory leaks and a macrocosm of little niggles that came from the developer's relative inexperience with the dynamic SNES hardware. Soon more games came, delivering a bevy of both strong first-party titles and brilliant third-party titles. Capcom was quick to jump on the gray-and-purple bandwagon, bringing its Megaman series to the latter Nintendo after the spectacular trainwreck known as Megaman: The Wily Wars. And thus, the Megaman SNES games.

The graphics never cease to amaze me. Playstation sprites were used for Megaman and his various foes, making for brilliant color and smooth animation that's quite pleasing to watch. The backgrounds are quite nicely rendered. Transparency effects were well-used in many levels, creating smooth blends of water. I must go back to the sprites for a bit-the weapon effects are very nice. Forte's weapon's incandescent blast is nicely done, and the explosions (although odd) are very nicely done. The shading on the sprites is amazing. These sprites are fluid, round, lush. Lush is the finest term to describe it.

The gameplay, on the other hand, is a mixed bag. The classic Megaman gameplay is augmented by his compatriot Forte, who plays slightly different. The main problem lies in the game's difficulty. The game is unfair at times. Masterful manuvering and tactics will work as Forte, but Megaman relies too much on luck. There are areas of this game that are concievably impossible for Megaman to cross. It's rather frustrating. The lack of an ability to heal yourself in battle is a major flaw- if the bosses's AI has been improved (which it has) it's impossible to appreciate with their unfair tactics. Damage dealt is heavy, with little agility granted to the unfortunate Megaman player. It can be described as this- there are two difficulties in Rockman & Forte: hard & unfair. Forte is hard, Rockman (Megaman) is unfair.

In the end, you have a game worthy of a Gameboy Advance release(it never appeared in the USA), but its not without its flaws. The kids will love the graphics, but the gameplay may turn them off. It's hard labor, but the scenery is nice.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/12/02, Updated 04/12/02