Mega Man & Bass

"Fun game, but not without flaws"

The half-return of the original Mega Man series comes in the form of a port of a 5-year old game that used to be only available in Japan. Not only that, but its more or less a straight port, without much thought about the GBA's screen or controller. Thanks Capcom.

Graphics
The graphics in this game are pretty good. They are either directly from or based off of Mega Man 8 on the Playstation. All the animation of the sprites is done pretty well, nothing bad sticks out. Except for the fact the graphics double as a monument to Capcom's laziness. Then again, there were 11 Mega Man games all using the same sprites on the NES and GB, so I shouldn't be surprised.

Music/Sound
I thought the music was pretty good. Capcom did a good job porting the music but making sure it doesn't sound like total crap. Sure, some of the tunes sound bad from time to time, but most of the music was done pretty well, and its pretty memorable. The sound is another matter. Its only okay, and Mega Man's shots sound cheesy beyond belief. All the other sound is just okay, nothing special.

Control
The control is spot-on and easy to figure out and execute. Except for Bass' dash. Pressing forward twice on the GBA is unnatural to me and I'm sure others, and I know on the Super Famicom version you could push A or press forward twice, and it was all okay. Its another matter on the GBA, where pressing forward feels unnatural and stupid. You might dash when you don't want to, and vice versa. Its not a huge problem, but its stupid. Then again this is from the same company that brought us such...classic bosses such as Tomahawk Man and Flash Man, so I should be used to it. Just as I should be used to Capcom's laziness.

Fun Factor
The game gets pretty hard sometimes, so look out. I'm not sure if its because of questionable level design or the lack of anything truly useful to help you beat the game (such as, say, E-tanks or a real Rush item). The game designers must have originally made the stages as a game for Bass only, because playing with Mega Man in some of these stages is absolutely ridiculous. I must have used the Ice Wall a thousand times just to give more height to Mega Man's jump. On the flip side, the bosses all seemed to fall faster to Mega Man than to Bass, so its more or less a trade-off. Also, Mega Man gets better items (such as the one truly useful item, the auto-refill, which makes the remainder of the game pretty simple), so I really ought to stop complaining. The game altogether is very fun, and it brings a flush of memories playing the other billion Mega Man games. Playing as Bass was as refreshing as Diet Dr. Pepper. I just wish the stages were designed for both characters. Then again, I also want Tango in every future Mega Man game, so my opinion is more or less invalid.

Overall
This game only gets an 8 because its a fun game to play, and for the most part the controls are spot-on and the graphics don't suck. I'm still having a better time playing Mega Man IV on Game Boy but who cares-its all Mega Man. Just buy this game before you have to buy it in 5 years at Funcoland or Gamestop. You'll be happy you did.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/23/03, Updated 04/23/03