MEGA MAN 6
MEGA MAN 6Developer: Capcom
Mega Man 6 was a result of Nintendo pushing Capcom to release the game because at the time, Mega Man was so popular they wanted to cash in with it one more time during the NES’ death bed. As a result, controls are quirky, the introduced Adapters are overused and the X & Wily stages are repetitious lacking the true Mega Man feel. Soundtrack is top notch, though.
The biggest issue is the “jump mechanics”. You are unable to jump from a slide which makes the game very infuriating. Adapters are a big part of the core gameplay, and while they are fun to use, you should not be required to pop them on every five seconds. This renders most weapons useless as you’d rather stay on the adapter than keep switching items. Game is not very memorable and easily falls flat on its face. However, it does many things right and the Mega Man feel is there periodically. Acceptable.
Mega Man 6 is a solid game, and is a modest, respectable experience. The story of Mega Man 6 is relatively decent and interesting to watch, as you set off as the Blue Bomber to tackle 8 robot masters with their own cultural theme from around the world. Sounds great on paper, but the execution is a little bland.
Starting off with the robot master stages. I enjoyed playing through the stages, but unfortunately, some of the charm and themes of the levels are a bit too bland to be memorable. Some stages I found great was Blizzard Man’s stage, where the theme is strongly shown with ice physics, time bombs and exploring an underwater submarine, which really helps the world building. I also enjoyed Plant Man’s colorful stage, and Flame Man’s stage with the burning oil pools. However, most stages lack a general theme, and if it does, it introduces it once but doesn’t incorporate it more thoroughly, or completely replaces it, such as in Knight Man’s stage. Wind Man and Yamato Man’s stage I find are a bit too bland (Although the Mid-Boss in Yamato’s stage is good, but unfortunately it doesn’t lie on the main path), while Centaur Man’s stage is a bit too easy, and Tomahawk Man’s stage a bit too empty in places.
The weapons are a mixed bag. Some weapons that I found decent was the Knight Crush which arcs in a certain way that it hits plenty of enemies, and also the Blizzard Attack which destroys the spines and launches projectiles up and down. Centaur Flash is a screen nuke, and Yamato Spear hits hard and fast, but isn’t particularly creative. The plant barrier also had some usage, but it’s weapon drain is too fast. Tomahawk Man’s weapon isn’t too bad either. Flame Blast is very short ranged however, and I never used Wind Man’s tornadoes, except for the boss weakness. Generally, you’ll be strongly reliant on the adapters instead which the game forces you to use to get secrets and make it through rooms, especially in Dr. X stage 1 and Wily Stage 1. It disrupts the weapon balance as a result.
Just like Mega Man 4 and 5, you get a nice bag of stages in the form of the two castles. Most of the castle bosses are lacking creativity, such as a useless Robot-Tripod dog thing in Wily Stage 2, or a soulless rock stomping machine in X Stage 2. Final Wily Fight, though not bad is lacking to it’s counterparts, and each form is weak to the same weapon. The stages aren’t too bad, and I enjoy looking for the shortcuts they give in the stage, and it adds to the replay-ability value. But, adapter usage pulls some of the fun factor away when the game forces is onto you. Although, neat to see a small “proper length” stage in Wily 3 (They should have done this for Wily 3 in Megaman 11).
It’s a solid package overall. While the stages and weapons are a mixed bag, the overall gameplay and replayability is there. A modest addition to the series, but not groundbreaking either.