Genesis - Megaman the Wily Wars Review

Overview

Well, most people know about Megaman since he is one of the most famous Nintendo characters next to Mario and Link. In this version of the game you play (as usual) Megaman who has to defeat Dr. Wily 3 times.

For those of you who were expecting something new, I'm sad to say this game is simply the combination of Megaman 1 2 and 3 into one game with better graphics and sound since it is on Sega Megadrive.

Gameplay 7.5/10
For those of you unfamiliar with Megaman's somewhat unique game play, you play as Megaman a person in a robot suit who although initially weak gets a level bosses powers when he manages to kill one.

What really gets to me is the fact that when you start off you have only a wimpy gun with a really, really short leap and in Megaman 3 a slide. The jump really gets to me especially when you have played Sonic who has an extremely high jump. You can also choose which boss to fight but this I feel this actually let's the game down because you usually find out you choose a too powerful boss which you cannot hope to defeat unless you actually have defeated another boss and taken his power.

Fortunately, it gets better later on as you kill more bosses and gain more of their powers making it easier to fight. Take note that later on you may have to kill Dr. Wily with a specific power so try and make sure you have maximum bubble power in Megaman 2 and Top power in Megaman 3.

As for the storyline, there is practically none whatsoever in the game save for the introduction and the ending sequences. Thank goodness this is not an RPG game.

Graphics 4/5
The graphics in Megaman Wily wars are much improved from the original Megaman games they were taken from (well, they should be). Although nothing is really different it actually makes the game slightly less irritating when you are playing it.

Level design 3.5/5
Most of the levels in Megaman Wily wars are actually quite short except for the last boss levels. You usually find yourself finishing them in about 10 minutes once you have gotten use to the levels. The only draw back I think was the last boss level which is actually a combination of several levels added together. It is actually more annoying then fun to have to play through all those levels with Dr. Wily evading you at the assumed last level only to reveal to you that you have to fight him again at the real
last level.

Music & Sound 4/5
This is one of the cooler games with interesting, futuristic sounding music which makes you want to hum it long after you have finished the game. The only downside I could find was that much of the
music sounded suspiciously alike and surprisingly similar even across games. Still it sounds good...

Longevity or replayibility: 3.5
Megaman Wily wars will last you quite long since it is a compilation of the first 3 Megaman games and so you will be playing this a week after you start, but trust me when I say you will not like to play the game over and over again just for "fun." You will find yourself slowly going mad, I know I tried and almost did.

For: Interesting, unique gameplay and cool weapons
Good graphics and music

Against: Difficult when starting and tedious at the last levels
Character is not manoeuvrable enough.