In this review, I'm not going to be talking about a game. I'm going to be talking about TWO games! Hell yes! I just finished two games made by Capcom, both of them on the NES.
The first one that I finished was Mega Man 2. If you remember from my other post (if you bothered to read it at all), that Mega Man 2 was on my top 10 list of games to finish up. So I got around to doing it and, yeah, I feel really proud of myself. It was damn hard. Most people who have played this game will tell you that it is better than the first one. I am one of those people. Although Mega Man 1 was a good game, Mega Man 2 was Mega Man 1 to the 6th power. Why 6? Because there are 6 Mega Man games on the NES. Yeah, I'm just screwing around. Anyways...what else can I say? There are 8 Robot Masters that you have to fight this time, not 6 like in the first one. Each one comes with a unique level and a unique powerup, if you beat them. I have a little time, so I guess I'll run you through each master. IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, BITCH.
Air Man: This level changes you into a beast with timing. You're gonna need a whole lot of timing down for this stage. There are appearing platforms with spikes that rise up, Zeus-like robots that throw lightning at you from moving clouds, and flying...things that come at you while you take your jumps. As frustrating as the level might be, the boss battle is pretty easy, if you know what you're doing. Air Man throws a set of tornados out and they slowly move toward you. Jump through them and hit him with your pew pew laser.
Bubble Man: This stage is like the SAT: easy in the beginning, and then you feel like it's torturing you at the end. Kinda. During the middle, you'll find these huge fish that spit out shrimp or something. To this day I have not figured out how to jump over these fish without dying or getting damage. Not that you need the health to beat Bubble Man, cuz he's also pretty easy. All he does is swim around in the water and fires things at you at a slow rate.
Crash Man: I think his level is in space. Which makes no sense to me. All the other RM's have an appropriate environment for their level. What does crash have to do with space? Anyways, you work your way UP this time facing some challenging obstacles. With a little practice, you can probably make it up to the top in about 5 minutes. Crash Man is also one of the most annoying bosses to fight. He throws a bomb AT you, which gives you damage. Then the bomb EXPLODES which gives you more damage. So dodge the first throw and you should be ok.
Flash Man: His stage is made of ice, which I don't get. But the ice FLASHES, so I guess that's ok. The only complaint I have about this level is that stupid huge robot with long legs that take away 1/4 of your energy if you get hit. There are about 5 in the whole level. And they're not just in Flash Man's stage, but his has the most. Flash Man himself is a ridiculously easy enemy to fight, if you have the proper weapons. All he does is walk slowly up to you and freeze time. So if you're not retarded, you'll shoot at him when he's walking to you.
Heat Man: He scores points for looking the coolest, in my opinion. In this stage you're introduced to the disappearing blocks, that were from Mega Man 1. Fortunately, his stage is the only stage that has them, I think. Maybe Dr. Wily's castle has them. Unfortunately, it takes a few tries to memorize the pattern, and you may lose a few lives doing so. You need to have full health when you go fight him, because he is moderately difficult. He throws 3 fireballs that turn into fire columns and then rushes you. Just use Bubble Man's power.
Metal Man: If you are going to play Mega Man 2, I recommend you hit this guy's stage first. It's not the easiest stage, but Metal Man is an average boss, and his power is awesome. You can shoot metal blades in any direction and it takes up very little energy. Most of Metal Man's stage is conveyor belts, so pay attention to the direction that they are going in. Also, when you get to the part where sticks come out of the ceiling and floor, I find this a useful spot to stock up on energy and health. Just stick around there and shoot them until you get your powerups. Metal Man, like I said, is medium difficulty. He only attacks if you attack. I don't know if that makes a difference in the strategy. I find that jumping and shooting randomly kind of helps, but you need to put a little bit more skill in if you don't want to die.
Quick Man: If the Robot Masters designed each of their stages, then Quick Man gets the grand prize for the biggest bastard ever. This is the most difficult out of the 8, in my opinion, for a few reasons. There are times that the stage goes pitch black and you don't know where you're going, and that's all right, I guess, because you can just randomly jump around. But also, there are parts in the stage where you have to quickly rush through the screen because there are yellow beams that cut off sections of the screen. And if you get hit with one, you're fucked, because it doesn't just take away some damage. You could be at full health and get hit and you'll die. 1HitKO. It also doesn't help that Quick Man is a tough guy to fight. His name implies speed, and he really does keep the meaning in his name. He jumps around everywhere very quickly and throws boomerangs at you. Good luck with him...he's always the last on my list. I hate this stage.
Wood Man: If you just thought of what I think that you thought, you're a perv. I like to do this right after Metal Man's stage, because his metal blade does well against Wood Man. The level is moderately difficult, however, and takes a bit of memorizing to get through it all in one go. Some of the enemies are annoying. Like, there are 3 huge dogs that spit fire. Yeah...3. Wood Man is a pain in the butt to kill, but not if you have the metal blade. First he will shield himself with a ring of leaves and fire that same ring at you. During all this, leaves will fall down and damage you if you touch them. So there's about a 3 sec frame where you can give him damage each loop.
I'm not gonna talk about Wily's Castle, because you should WORK to see it. I will say that it is very frustrating, so be prepared and get your gamer on. By the way, if you want to play this, but don't have an NES, go to virtualnes.com. The overall gameplay is just great. Going around shooting shit up is my favorite. The music is spectacular. Probably the best in the whole series, so I've heard. Mega Man 2 is a game that can be played for years without getting old.
Gameplay: 9/10
Controls: 9/10
Difficulty: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Music/Sound: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
The second Capcom game I played was finished in one hour. Ducktales for the NES.
This was a pretty fun game to play. I enjoyed the simple gameplay and the concept of going around getting money. If you haven't watched the show, this game is based off of a show called Ducktales, where you're Scrooge McDuck, a greedy, miserly, and rich old fuck of a duck. The point of the game, besides trying to beat it, is to try and get as much money as you can. You have a level select screen, much like in Mega Man, shown above. The available areas are the Amazon, Transylvania, African Mines, the Himalayas, and the Moon. Each one is a completely different level with different surroundings and unique enemies. Each one also has a boss at the end, like Mega Man, or actually, like any other game. None of the levels follow a linear pattern, like Contra or Super Mario Bros. You really have to bust your balls to find certain places and areas. Some places are deliberately hidden, which makes it even harder. I personally like the Moon level because of its simple layout and awesome music. The music on this level is recognized by many gamers as one of the classic sounds of the NES era. Some of the other levels may be a bit frustrating though. Like Transylvania. Transylvania is a bitch. It also doesn't help that you have to go through it twice, once regularly, and one other time to find the final boss.
Your main weapon is your cane and you have 2 attacks: one is bouncing on it and the other is hitting rocks with it to launch at enemies, much like a golf club. The golf move is very delayed and you probably only use it once per level. The bouncing attack doesn't just serve as an attack either. It can be used to jump to higher places, travel across spikes, and jump wide gaps. So you'll find yourself using this move quite often. Your nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, are found in some parts of some of the levels and give you hints. There is this other lady duck that gives you ice cream, and a pilot duck that warps you back to HQ. I didn't watch the show so I don't know their names.
There are some problems that I have with the game. One minor problem is that you can't attack when you're on a rope or a vine. Going back to Mega Man, you can easily shoot off both sides while going up a ladder. You'd think that Capcom would keep some other elements the same in these games. Also, I wish that you had some other attack than bouncing on people. Sometimes I'm in a narrow hallway where I can't jump and an enemy is closing in on me. He has a damn cane - why can't he just simply whack the shit out of them?
Overall, though, I had a fun time getting through this game. It was a challenge, so pick this up if you like some difficulty. I don't really remember the show, but I bet if I had watched it, I would have liked this game more.
Gameplay: 7/10
Controls: 6/10
Difficulty: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Music/Sound: 9/10
Overall: 7/10
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