As we discussed when reviewing Mega Man: Rock Force (and the officially unofficial Street Fighter X Mega Man as well), fan games are notorious for being difficult. This is punishing at times, especially when you consider how dangerous many of these stages can be. Most stages feel like they're up to twice the length of a standard Mega Man stage, meaning a death could put you back the entire length of a stage in a normal game (which, bear in mind, usually had two to three checkpoints in a stage before you even got to the boss). Often times it felt like there were only two checkpoints in many of the stages - a halfway point and right before the final boss door - meaning that a death could prove to be quite costly on time and resources. That said, the stage can be quite lengthy and sometimes that's a detriment to the game. These lengthy stages provide challenges, sure, but also creative uses of the basic structure of the series. Then there's Nail man, who's stage combines the vertical aspects of Elec Man's stage with the awful platforms from Guts Man. Take for instance Trinitro Man's stage, with its dangerous platforming made worse by the tiny, exploding blocks you have to traverse. The levels in the game, for example, have a lot of creativity in their design. There are a number of points in this game, traditional as it may be, that point the creativity possible within the series' basic structure. Even playing within the formula of the series developers can still find ways to push what that formula can do (as Yoku Man here proves). So it's otherwise a basic Mega Man game at it's core. This isn't a necessary stage (unless you feel like getting 100% in the game), but it's a nice inclusion and adds a little spice to the play through. Of course, some of the latter games have changed this mechanic, but this game does something very different indeed: collect all four of the "YOKU" letters and you unlock a bonus ninth boss, Yoku Man, and his stage "Deathtrap Dungeon" (which has one of my favorite tracks from the soundtrack). Traditionally when you collect the letters you gain Beat who will come to your aid in battle. Well, okay, with one exception: this game has collectible letters in it, much like most of the series since Mega Man 5. And then once you're done with the main eight stages it's on to Wily without any mid-point castle, Doc Robots, or any other silliness to pad the game. When you defeat a boss you gain their power, like always, but there's no other gimmick here - no gaining special characters to play as (like in Mega Man: Rock Force) or unlocking paths through the menu screen (like in Mega Man and Bass). You start with eight Robot Masters to fight, all up front (like a classic game and not the Game Boy adventures or Mega Man 7 or Mega Man 8). So, as I said, this is a very traditional game. What happened to Protoman, and why he's gone down this dark path, is a mystery Mega Man will have to solve (although if you know this series you probably already know the answer). It's up to our trusty Blue Bomber to blast through these eight stages before taking on Protoman in his "Occupied Dr. Coincidentally, of course, eight new Robot Masters show up on the scene to terrorize the world and only Mega Man has the power to face off against these new foes. Set sometime later in the series, Unlimited tells the story of Protoman who, one day, seemingly goes evil and takes Dr. It's an interesting take, and while obviously not canon (not only because it appears the franchise is continuing on post- Mega Man 11, and also because it's a fan game), it's still cool to see the creator try to fill in gaps in the franchise's mythos. Released in 2013, this game tells a tale that, seemingly, gears up the franchise to move beyond the classic series and into the Mega Man X franchise (since, admittedly, it came out at a time when the series looked to officially end with Mega Man 10). Today we're going to look at a more traditional, but no less interesting, Blue Bomber title: Mega Man Unlimited. The series went on to release over 50 games in 30 years and become one of the most famous gaming franchises in the world. Last time, we visited a game that tried very hard to push the boundaries of the Mega Man In 1987, Capcom released Mega Man on the NES, a game featuring a blue robot that fought other robots and took their powers (so that he could then fight other robots with those powers, and on, and on). Not Endless, Just Unlimited Mega Man: Unlimited
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