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Review: Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge⊟
[Guest writer Mohammed Taher, president of Brave Wave Productions, super Mega Man fan, and Club Tiny contributor, offered us this review of the first Game Boy Mega Man game, now available on 3DS Virtual Console. Naturally, his review gives special attention to the music!]
Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge came out in 1991 and is the first entry in the portable series, out roughly four years after the original Mega Man on the NES. I favor the Japanese title Rockman World, as it draws a clear line between the console and handheld entries, so I’ll be using it throughout this compact review.
For the uninitiated, the gimmick in Rockman World games is to mix up two classic games’ bosses, a theme that reoccurs up until Rockman World 5, which introduces totally new bosses and stage themes (but that’s a story for another time). So, Rockman World 1 brings four bosses from Mega Man 1 (Cut Man, Elec Man, Fire Man, Ice Man) and four others from Mega Man 2 (Quick, Flash, Bubble, Heat). It’s an interesting formula, which Capcom revisited with the Mega Drive game in a different form.
I count myself as a die-hard Classic Mega Man fan, but always focused on the NES entries and somehow forgot that the series has a number of good games on Game Boy. I played Rockman World 1 for the first time when it came out on 3DS eShop a few years ago, and it almost put me off from playing the rest of the portable games.
It’s really not good.
I seem to enjoy the level design and music the most in Mega Man games, and both of those took a hit in this game. The first four stages reuse enemies and bosses from Mega Man 1, yet they’re not exactly replicas — designed from scratch with a few new enemies. Seeing as Capcom outsourced the development of the game to a new team, this might be why the level design is a few notches below its cousins on the NES.
I also find the game punishingly hard and not fun most of the time, even after a few years of occasionally revisiting it. Hell, it’s not fun even with the 3DS save state function.
See, the internet idolizes Mega Man as a masochistic series and people like to think that the NES games are impossible… but they’re really not. The Classic Mega Man games are cleverly designed with meticulous attention to detail. Every enemy is there for a reason, every corridor plays a role in building the tension and atmosphere. Rockman World 1 lacks the care and polish found in the NES games, and often resorts to cheap tricks in its design — even by the original’s standards. Cut Man’s stage isn’t a pleasant trip in this game, but a serious of poorly designed obstacles and annoying enemies. Elec Man’s stage loses its grace and the design isn’t as impactful as the original, as seemingly simple as that was. There are good moments here and there, but they don’t make up for the bad level design.
The game borrows most of its music from Mega Man 1 and 2, which were composed by Manami Matsumae and Takashi Tateishi, respectively. Makoto Tomozawa’s arrangements are a tad disappointing, and while I usually love Tomozawa’s music (he composed the Mega Man Legends games, Storm Eagle in Mega Man X, and Strike Man in Mega Man 10) I find his arrangements in Rockman World 1 lacking the flavor and punch of Matsumae and Tateishi’s compositions. However, his few additions are nice, with Wily Stage 1 being my favorite and worthy of the praise it usually gets. (Later on, Capcom wonderfully remade the tune for Mega Man 10.)
If you’re a Mega Man fan, I won’t stop you from playing it…just don’t judge the portable series based on this game alone. Capcom is bringing the rest of the games to 3DS eShop this month, and everything that followed Rockman World 1 deserves a playthrough — with 4 and 5 being must-plays for anyone. 3 is quite fun too. Really, the only bad game in the portable series is the first one. I’d tell you to start with the second game and work your way up there, and only visit Rockman World 1 if you’re really curious.
Extra: If you love Manami Matsumae’s music for the original Mega Man (and who doesn’t?) I’d urge you to take a look at RushJet’s “remade” soundtrack on Bandcamp. He took Matsumae’s compositions and added his own bells and whistles, essentially turning it into a VRC6-loaded soundtrack. His version of Wily Stage 2 just might be my favorite Mega Man 1 remix.
