Mega Man: The Wily Wars
Sega Genesis
Nostalgia Factor:
I've always been a casual fan of the Mega Man series. When I was a kid, I never had a Mega Man game, but whenever I would visit a friend who had one, I would always want to play it. Since I didn't own any of the games, my Mega Man experience never evolved past the first two games in the series. But as an adult, I did go out and buy the Anniversary Collection for the GameCube, which has a ton of games on it.
Even though I bought this collection disc like 20 years ago, I STILL haven't dived too deep into it. My experience always stalls out after the first three Mega Man games, and I haven't gone any farther than that. It's always been on the back of my mind that I need to fire up Mega Man 4 and keep going, but for some reason I never have.
Unrelated, I recently became aware of Mega Man: The Wily Wars for the Sega Genesis. I had a Genesis as a kid, but I had never heard about this game. Apparently it is a remake of the first three NES Mega Man games, with some original content tacked on at the end. The first three Mega Man games, eh? The three I am familiar with. I decided that before I would move onto Mega Man 4, I'd tackle this one first. Then I could finally put those first three Mega Man games completely behind me and be able to move into uncharted territory.
So here we go: Wily Wars. This is my first time through it. How would I feel about the game? Let's dive in!
*pssst, for a look at what I thought about these games originally, follow the links below
Story:
If you are looking for a deep story, you've come to the wrong place. The premise of all three Mega Man games is pretty much the same: defeat Dr. Wily and his army of robots.
Wily Wars tacks on some original stages to the end of the original Mega Man trilogy. But guess what you do in these extra stages? Defeat Wily and his army of robots. At the end of the game, his castle crumbles to dust.
The end. I can finally move onto Mega Man 4. I wonder what will happen in that one?
Gameplay:
I want to keep this short, because I've already reviewed the original three Mega Man games. Aside from the graphical overhaul, the games found here are pretty much the same (gameplaywise) as the NES versions. Nothing has changed. I'm sure there are some diehard Mega Man fans out there, chomping at the bit to tell me how wrong I am. But as a more casual fan of the series, I didn't notice much of a difference from the NES classics.
If anything, I found Wily Wars to be a bit easier. I didn't struggle nearly as much as I thought I would, particularly on Mega Man 3. In my initial review of the game, I said it was the hardest Mega Man game I've played. But this time around, I found it to be the easiest. Was it because I'd just gotten through playing I and II in rapid succession? Maybe.
The more I played, the easier the game became. I thought to myself multiple times - has Mega Man always been this easy, or am I just getting good at it? Or is this version easier than the NES version? Regardless, I made my way through this whole trilogy (and the additional content) pretty quickly.
Graphics:
I am a fan of the graphical upgrades made here. The game retains the same look and feel of the original, but with expanded detail and a more robust color scheme. The background design of the stages look great. Some of the bonus levels are very beautiful and really make you long for an original Genesis Mega Man game. I bet it would have looked really good.
Sound:
The music here is good, but not as good as the original Mega Man games. Those games have a rawness to their soundtracks. Each song sound like it is really going for it hard. This game lacks that edge. It sounds more like a typical Genesis game, heavily influenced by Sonic the Hedgehog. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If the original Mega Man games didn't exist, I'd probably be praising this game's soundtrack. It's good, but not the masterpiece it was on the NES.
Overall:
Ya know, I had a pretty good time with this game. I came into it expecting it to be a half-assed remake of the original trilogy, but it is just as good as those other games. There's additional content to be found at the end, too. What's not to love?
The only negative from my side is more of a "me" problem than a problem with the game: I'm finding as the years pass that I am becoming less and less of a Mega Man fan. I loved these games as a kid. And even as an adult, I enjoyed revisiting Mega Man 1 and 2 for my blog. I gave those games an A and an A+ respectively. But I am quickly discovering that everything after Mega Man 2 is just "more of the same." They can give you new enemies to fight, new powers to gain, new items to use, but it is still the same old Mega Man at heart.
That's my struggle, here. I liked the game, and I have given it a favorable review so far. But without question - Wily Wars is 100% more of the same. Not gonna lie, things started to get a bit stale for me by the end of my time with the game. Overall, I liked it - and it is going to get a pretty good grade from me. But this doesn't bode well for Mega Man 4, or any other Mega Man games I will play in the future. I've never touched a Mega Man X game, so maybe those will be the change of pace I'm looking for. Anyway, Wily Wars is good. Play it if you have the means.
THE GRADE:
B+
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