Super Fighting Robot Rockman

Here's that Top 5 I promised. I didn't want that First Post to last very long, anyway. So what better way to get rid of it than a Game Top 5! It's about my favorite series, Rockman, too! Won't be too long, I promise. Speaking of Rockman, I'm almost done ZX. I may give my impressions on it later. Anywho...



Iku ze!

#5. Rockman 9

Oh, the good ol' days of an ugly middle aged Blue Bomber...
Hilarious parody of the old N.A Box Art right there. Rockman 9 was released not too long ago, and through a dastardly marketing scheme, is still getting things released for it up for download. This game was made by Inticreates, of Rockman Zero fame. There would be no crackpot new designs to Rockman, however. The aim with this game was to revive the retro style of the classic series. It accomplished this near perfectly, and even surpassed many of the previous games in terms of quality. The gameplay is old-style Rockman. Quite old, actually, as there is no slide or charge shot. Coupled with those missing abilities was an already high difficulty level. For the average gamer it was death. For the Rockman fans it was bliss.


Dude, back off!

The music was awesome. The soundtrack was downloaded instantly. A nice touch by the designers that was implemented was old-style audio. When there would be sound effects on screen, parts of the music wouldn't play, adding heaps more to the retro feel. After all these years, they didn't flunk on the Robot Masters either, which was nice. They were all noteworthy Robot Masters (save for maybe Concrete Man aka Stone Man MKII). With Rockman 9, you get the classic feel and play of the earliest Rockman, minus pesky glitches. The only fault with Rockman 9 is that you don't get everything with first download. You have to purchase extra modes and difficulties. Lame!

#4. Battle Network Rockman EXE/Megaman Battle Network

Netto, out of the way, you're blocking Rockman.

Ah yes, the dreaded Battle Network series, which has helped tarnish Rockman's good name. Even though this is not completely false, the first game of the series cannot be faulted as it was a very good game. You star as Netto (Lan) Hikari, an elementary student in a world where the internet is accessed through NetNavis. I won't get into the whole deal about what the world is like, but Netto's netnavi is Rockman. An organization called the WWW show up and start stirring shit up in the internet under the leadership of Dr. Wily. The gameplay of the game is immensely fun. It's a real-time action RPG, where battle are played on a grid. Rockman is free to move around the grid, to avoid attacks and to line up attacks against enemies. What adds another level of gameplay are the chips you use to attack. Every turn you're given a random selection of five chips from your folder, which you use to attack. You collect all sorts of types of chips throughout the game. The addition of the battle chips adds more stategy similar to a card game.

"This isn't nearly as painful as what they're going to do to my name in the anime!"

All the enemy NetNavis in the game are re-creations of past Robot Masters. Each one has gotten a great makeover (especially Blues/Protoman). As for the music, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure what the general consensus is for the music, but it delivers. Rockman rarely fails in that area, anyway. Rockman EXE was a succesful shift for Rockman, while still retaining some classic aspects (like Wily). It's just too bad that this series got more sequels than it needed (typical).

#3. Rockman X

Why is it so hard to find the original Japanese covers on the internet?

Rockman X, the one that started the Loved and Hated X series. Rockman X was Rockman's first venture onto the SNES. The designers needed a way to revive Rockman's popularity. The answer: Make him hardcore. Rockman X is a beefed up version of the original Rockman, with the ability to dash, and wall climb. All new characters and areas were introduced, marking this as a completely different series. The game was definitely no flop. It was a very fun game. Gameplay was fast and smooth, and the levels were great. Riding on down a mine, fighting on top of a ship, and beating things down with a Ride Armor all helped make Rockman X a new and fun experience. A cute touch was how winning in one level affected another. Beating Icy Penguigo froze over the factory. Launcher Octopuld's defeat meant water in jungle, etc. The game was rather easy, but it's forgiveable considering how awesome it is.

A bee? Really?

At this point, we can expect that the music was good. Rockman X had great music. One of the best in the series, actually. Each track was catchy and memorable. The character designs were very cool. They managed to recreate Rockman to seem more mature and edgy. Zero was a pretty rad character before he turned ridiculous. Sigma was a strong alternative to Dr. Wily, and Vava/Vile is one of the most awesome characters I've ever seen. How good were the days of early Rockman X. Before X5 began the lame train.

#2. Rockman DASH/Megaman Legends

Yeah, I owned the 64 version.

Rockman DASH. Aah, yes. One of my all-time favorite games. It's a spin-off title of Rockman, meaning it's not part of the main storyline/universe. It's a totally different kind of Rockman. It's an Adventure Game, sort of like say, Legend of Zelda. However, instead of Hearts you have a Health Bar, instead of a sword you have a Buster, and instead of being Link you're Rockman. You and your girlfriend Roll (how wrong that would be in the Classic series) are diggers, as in they collect these crystals to power machines. After seizing yet another crystal, you crash land on an island. The island takes you in, and things are friendly enough until Pirates show up and ruin everything. So essentially, your role is to fight off the pirates, get your ship repaired, and search the ruins and dungeons of the island for more bigass crystals. It all plays very well, and is quite enjoyable. Fighting as Rockman in a 3D was proven to work, and I enjoyed exploring the island and going to new places. The boss fights especially are a blast.

See ya later, bitch!

The music was again pretty good. Some catchy tunes, and the style of it was an interesting change (more...trumpets and ambience). Main Gate, especially, had a very good "it's time to rock" feel to it. Characters design and execution were nice. Each of them are either interesting or funny in their own way (to varying degrees of course), especially the Bonnes and their adorable ServBots. Some of the voice acting is funny-bad, but for the most part it's not too bad, even if sometimes it sounds like they're using a low quality recording device. I shall stop it here, otherwise I'd ramble on about my favorite parts from this. Just know that Rockman DASH is a very fun and underrated game.

#1. Rockman 2

There's some original art!

Not a very big surprise. Rockman 2 is everything classic Rockman is about: Good, light-hearted, super awesome fun. It was perfect. Nice levels, good bosses, solid difficulty, everything worked out amazing.

You're not so Quick.

The music was splendid. Dr. Wily Stage is one of the most recognizable and popular video game songs ever. I really don't have much to say about Rockman 2. It's a simple game. It's also just really really fun.


There we go, that's it. Expect more polished lists and posts once I get used to some of the silliness. Now I'm off to play ZX. You shall perish, Model W!


This post brought to you by...Sony.