Mega Man V

"The Stardroids are coming! The Stardroids are coming!"

Mega Man V comes a bit out of the blue if you've played the previous Game Boy instalments. Instead of giving us half of the NES version like the previous titles did, Capcom treated us to a brand new and strong game. Mega Man kisses goodbye to his Mega Buster to make room for the "Mega Arm" - a quite useful weapon in the form of Mega Man's fist, which he can use to attack enemies. With upgrades, it can grab items or even enemies. You can only choose from four bosses to begin with - but then, that's standard for the series on this machine. Indeed, Mega Man V carries on some features but changes others.

Released in 1994, one year after Mega Man X for the SNES, Mega Man V carries on the flair for dramatics introduced there. The game starts with a strong cut-scene where Mega Man faces off against an alien robot called Terra. To his dismay, Mega Man's weapons have no effect on his attacker. Shortly afterwards, more alien robots - called Stardroids - attack the Earth. What to do? Dr Light gives Mega Man the aforementioned Mega Arm and our blue protagonist goes off to stop the troublemakers.

Certain features are carried on from the previous Game Boy Mega Man games. The first and most prominent is the P-chip system. You are guaranteed a pick-up when you destroy an enemy in this game, whether in the form of power-ups or P-chips. You can find more of the latter scattered across the levels as well, sometimes in tricky locations. Collect enough P-chips and take them to Dr Light's lab to exchange them for power-ups. I would recommend that you first save them up to buy the two upgrades for your Mega Arm, which allow you to pick up items from a distance and to grab enemies, thereby inflicting more damage. Other power-ups are available, to varying usefulness, such as one that automatically fills the weapon with the lowest energy when you pick up a weapon capsule. Rush is fortunately still present in this game, useful and adorable as ever. Dr Light has also invented Tango the cat, but you'll probably never use him as his attack is very unlikely to hit enemies and has quite little damage percentage to boot.

One thing you'll notice playing the game is that the Stardroids don't adhere to the same name rules as the Robot Masters. They instead bear the names of the planets in our solar system. I will get to the good stuff in a minute. Fact is, the game doesn't really get going until after you've defeated the first four bosses, and move on to the remaining four. The first four stages and bosses - Mercury, Neptune, Venus and Mars - just lack in imagination and character compared to the latter four. Fact is, those first four stages are very lacking because of similar they are in look. They take place inside some kinds of bases, more or less - with the exception of Neptune, whose stage starts outside on a hull moving up and down. Nintendo really should have scrapped this 'four bosses only' principle right from Dr Wily's Revenge, because not only has it made the other instalments feel like two halves of the NES games splashed into one, it rather brings this game down as well. In my brutal opinion, I would have scrapped the first four bosses and stages of Mega Man V completely (which take place on Earth). Don't get me wrong, the first half of the game can be fun, if frustrating; Neptune's stage has leaky pipes which you can blast open, usually releasing waves of water or - worse - toxins. Venus's stage is laden with bubbles and occasionally waterfalls which cause a lot of damage if they hit you. Still, the Earth chapter just doesn't hold a candle to what's to come. This even includes the music, good as it is. Because yes; things will get a lot better.

After a confrontation with 'Dark Moon' - in actuality the infamous Rock Monster, only thankfully much easier than either in Mega Man 1 or 3 for the NES - is when the game starts to get rewarding, inspiring, memorable and plain fun. Travelling out into the solar system to stop four new Stardroids, Mega Man finds Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto (yes, Pluto is a planet, you by-the-book dweebs). It's as if a new game has taken over on the small cartridge. The Stardroids become really inspiring - my favourite is Uranus, and his stage is my fave as well. Let me run you through to give you an idea:

URANUS's stage: Music which I can best describe as an Egyptian space tune is playing in the background, one of the many wonderful songs in this game. You descend deeper into this rock-clad base past seal robots. Eventually you land on a platform in front of a giant robotic statue of a dog-headed Egyptian deity. Uranus himself is a bull. Oddly contrasting the Egyptian atmosphere of the level, he has a helmet more fit for a medieval knight. Jumping around, he causes the ceiling to cascade on top of you if you're not careful.

I would say that Mega Man X - released one year before this title as I have already stated - inspired this game a bit. Both Uranus and Pluto are based on animals (Pluto a panther-like fellow). Saturn's stage unfortunately is another factory-like stage, but it still stands out. Jupiter's stage, a mostly iced-over station which takes you outside for a change, gives you the choice of paths which determine whether you can collect certain pick-ups. Because yes, you get an optional side mission at this point as well; find the four distinct crystals - one in each level - and you can use your special weapons twice as much as before. These crystals are hidden well and usually require backtracking after you've defeated a certain boss - Pluto and Uranus's abilities will open endless passages for you.

Not only the bosses and stages but also the music becomes consistently wonderful at this point (well, with the personal exception of Saturn's theme). It may be brisk and inspiring (Jupiter), dramatic (Pluto) or the aforementioned Egyptian space tune (Uranus), which is one of my faves. The quality doesn't slip when you progress - far from it. The ending tune gives me goosebumps to this day. I really wish I knew who the game's composer was, whether its Bunbun reworking the old magic or someone else. In any case, it's astounding.

We all know that Mega Man games have an unmissable element to them, and this game is no exception. After you defeat Terra (whose immensely useful special weapon you acquire), you blast off in spaceship-Rush after Terra's 'master'. A wonderful segment kicks in as you must dodge asteroids and blast certain alien bots circling you. The tune playing during this level is terrific. Catching up with the spaceship and, ahem, forcing your way in, the final level kicks in. Despite being brightly lit, the tune helps it be he game's most creepy and foreboding level. Before you catch up with the mastermind, you must not only defeat the 8 Stardroids again but also the four Mega Man Killers of the previous GB titles; Enker, Quint, Punk and Ballade (I think).

The game doesn't descend into any sort of rushed blandness, as is often a danger with the final stages in long games. No, you are treated to three whole boss battles (two of them two-fold), all of them extremely tough. The final boss clinches the deal, as does the whole ending. It has nothing to do with Dr Wily being defeated then escaping and Mega Man having fight another day etcetera. It's a pleasant breath of fresh air.

I would have preferred if the game had been consistently great from start to finish, but Mega Man V is still a top-notch GB instalment, inspiring and very rewarding. It is arguably the strongest of the blue bomber's titles for the machine. Should it all appear a little overwhelming in one sitting, don't worry, there is a password system, which is even fun to input and has a fun tune. Mega Man V was a brave move of Capcom. Instead of being a shadow of the NES counterpart, it stands apart as something of its own, and holds its head up high. Bravo.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/09

Game Release: Mega Man V (US, September 1994)