Mega Man Powered Up

"MegaMan? Where have you been?"

Ever since of the GameBoy's "RockMan World" (released in Japan), MegaMan has been my favorite Capcom franchise.

Beginning with "Classic MegaMan", the series has spawned several follow-up series such as the sidescrollers: MegaMan X and

MegaMan Zero, a 3D Adventure: MegaMan Legends, as well as an Action RPG: MegaMan Battle Network.
(Also known as RockMan X, RockMan Zero, RockMan Dash!, and RockMan.EXE in Japan)

<Gameplay 9/10>
MegaMan Powered Up comes with several add-ins, such as three difficulties: Easy, Normal, and Hard. "Easy" is the perfect definition of the first mode, being possible to beat each of the Robot Masters' stages having to lose one to a maximum of three lives. It's got extra platforms added in to ease your way through levels, blocking off spike pits and the like. It really is that easy. "Normal", on the other hand might require a just a bit more than that.
"Hard"... is hard, by all definitions of the word. You might want to take an aspirin or two after attempting Hard mode. That same spike pit or disappearing platform you've been working on for the past hour or two might make you want to smash the closest thing nearby.

But really, it's a MegaMan game. There are disappearing platforms, jumps that require perfect timing, and easy to kill enemies put in the most irritating of places.

An interesting factor of the game is that you are able to play as not only MegaMan, but all of the Robot Masters, as well as Roll and ProtoMan.

"Challenge Mode" basically forces you to utilize each and every one of their (the 8 Robot Masters and MegaMan) abilities.

The controls are fine, neither particularly sensitive, nor particularly unresponsive.

<Story 7/10>
Dr. Wily is up to his usual antics... for the first time? Something like that.
The mean old Einstein look-alike has stolen Dr. Light's first set of robots, and it's up to you, a former helper robot, to stop him!

While there really isn't anything SPECTACULAR about Dr. Light's plight, it's how the series began, so it has to get at least some credit for that.

<Graphics/Sound 8/10>
In MegaMan Powered Up, MegaMan appears as "cute", with a head as large as the rest of the body. Personally, I think it suits the characters fairly well.

The 3D graphics are nice, and are able to pull off the blue bomber's traditional sidescrolling style.

The voices and sound are on par, if not slightly above par, with remixes of the classic MegaMan's Robot Master stages background music, and a voice for each character. Most of the voices work for the characters, and the only beef I have with the voices are Dr. Wily's and FireMan's.

Dr. Wily has always been a villain, but a better, more sinister voice could have been used. The shrieky voice they picked for him is just... agitating. FireMan, while cool in appearance, has a strange southern-ish accent. It doesn't really suit him.

<Play Time/Replayability 10/10>
You'll be playing for a while. Three modes of difficulty, an old and new style, twelve playable characters, a level creator, as well as content available for download.

For the most part, you're rewarded for each task you accomplish, so it's definitely worth playing several times over.

This game is a keeper, most definitely worth picking up and adding to your PSP library.
If you love MegaMan, go out and pick it up as soon as possible. It's definitely worth the thirty or so bucks.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/06