[EVENT] The Sonic Stadium 52 Game Challenge 2024! - Play, Finish, and Complete Games to earn prizes, and check in every week for bonus rewards - This Week's Prize: Sonic Adventure 2 Profile Gift (2024)

WEEK 7:

A little bit of Mega Man in my life, a little bit of Mario on the side, a little bit of Sonic's all I need, with a lot of Game Boy slowdown in between.

GAME 30: MEGA MAN 4 (NES): 100% COMPLETE

Playing so much Mega Man at once is really causing all of these games to start blending together, but I'm doing my best to compile my thoughts. Just prepare for a lot of overlap. But it seems the further down the Classic series I go, I like the next entry more than the last. And this applies to 4, which I find better than 3.

With much more comfortable level design, a more varied endgame, the addition of Eddie, and a cool stack of unique weapons, Mega Man 4 continues to bolster the strengths that make the series so beloved. One thing I did notice that is drastically different from the original 3 games though are the Robot Masters themselves.

While until now, Robot Masters go down relatively quickly with the boss weaknesses, it is from this point onwards where they start getting some hair on their chest. Able to withstand a lot more damage, it's almost like a tradeoff in difficulty. Easier levels, but harder Robot Masters.

Overall, another fun Mega Man romp... onto the next.

GAME 31: MEGA MAN 5 (NES): 100% COMPLETE

What? Two photos? What is this image spam? Well, we have now reached the point in Mega Man where it isn't enough to just beat whatever Dr. Wily mecha hodgepodge he made this year to qualify for 100% completion. Now there is a side task to fulfill as well. In Mega Man 5's case, it's to get the Blue Bomber's new little birb, Beat. Thank God for rewind, or else I'd be facing a lot more trial and error than I'd like to admit getting the letters to unlock this winged orb with a beak.

As I said before, Mega Man 5 continues the streak of classic games I like more and more as the subsequent titles pile on. If things are easier and more comfortable to play, I'm gonna end up liking said game more. And Mega Man 5 continues this upward trend of less taxing level design, making for a relatively comfy playthrough.

What I really like is the addition of both Beat and the Weapon Tank, all great inclusions to ease out the stress further in a playthrough. Especially when you get to the weapon draining gauntlet that is a Wily Castle.

But can I say though, Mega Man 4 and 5, let's talk. Each game has TWO castles you're expected to run through with limited weapon ammo. Is it too much to ask to just refill my supply between castles? Not even stages within the castle, just between the two.

Surely Cossack and Proto Man could spare ol' Rock the juice?

Other than that continual annoyance, I still enjoyed myself with this entry.

GAME 32: MEGA MAN: WILY TOWER (GENESIS): 100% COMPLETE

Excuse the photo orientation. Phone was uncooperative when I beat the game.

Yeah, kind of a dumb decision of me to play the NES versions of 1-3 when this counted as an extra game if you played all of Wily Wars, huh? Luckily, I got permission from Ryan to get a save that has Wily Tower unlocked off the bat. I'm thankful for that chance cause this is definitely one of the most unique Mega Man experiences I have ever played.

It's short, but the gimmick is fantastic. I can use ANY item or weapon from the first three games to create my very own loadout that best suits my playstyle! The number of possible combinations can theoretically make this one of the most replayable entries in the series, and I need this gimmick back ASAP.

Even the level design embraces this concept, feeling like a mixture of all three games within themselves. It truly does feel like a victory lap for someone who played all three games in succession, like moi.

The Robot Masters are incredibly tough as a result, almost to a dumb degree that I find a bit unfair at points. But the fun I had experimenting and bringing my favorite items to tear the level design a new one still made up for the anger inducing moments.

But you know what's better than any of that?

The Wily Castle stages replenish your weapon supply between stages, dreams DO come true.

GAME 33: MEGA MAN: DR. WILY'S REVENGE (GAME BOY): 100% COMPLETE

But hey, who needs good games when you can play sh*t?

Time for an odd detour as I play the strange anomaly that is Mega Man... on Game Boy. It's awful. It'sterrible.

If the slowdown didn't ruin your experience, how about screen crunch? Screen crunch does NOT work for Mega Man. Half the time playing a Mega Man stage is knowing what's ahead of you, getting enough distance, anticipating an enemy patter, and shooting when the time is right.

That's kind of hard to do when you're boxed in by the screen, and the enemy is balls deep at your face.

While it is cool to see what is essentially a mish-mash of Mega Man 1 and 2 Robot Masters, the novelty isn't as cool when fighting against them is a slow, colorless mess.

Sure am glad I don't have to do that aga-

GAME 34: MEGA MAN 2 (GAME BOY): 100% COMPLETE

Credits look similar, but its a different game, I swear officer.

It's more of the same garbage, just this time, we can ruin Rush too. There's not really much to say I haven't said already, except for more imaginative ideas by the endgame with the addition of Quint. So I guess with that, we can say its slightly better?

Yeah, I got nothing. Next.

GAME BOY 35: SUPER MARIO LAND (GAME BOY): 100% COMPLETE

Probably the weirdest entry in the classic series. Very different, very horizontal level design. No Robot Masters to speak of. I only got one weapon, and there isn't even a Wily Castle.

...Wait, what do you mean wrong series?

Mario Land to me feels more bizarre than even Mario Land 2. Sure on the surface level, how can that be? Mario Land 2 has very wacky aesthetics, a very unique villain in Wario, new power ups, and a whole world where you're tiny. What about Mario Land makes it weirder?

Well, it's not an aesthetic thing, its just... how the game feels to play. It plays like Mario, it technically feels like Mario. But there's this odd feeling to me whenever I play it. Like the jump just doesn't feel right, or the aesthetics are just the tiniest bit off... It's not BAD per se, it's still bogstandard Mario through and through. But it definitely feels like a "lesser", "rougher" Mario. Make sense, its the first Mario platformer on handhelds.

But that doesn't make the game any more memorable to play. It's fine, I guess.

GAME 36: SONIC SUPERSTARS (MOBILE): 100% COMPLETE

No, your eyes don't deceive you. Sonic Superstars has... kinda, a mobile game. Presumably up for a limited time, this is a puzzle game made for the McDonalds Happy Meal tie-in that uses the levels, aesthetics, music and characters from Superstars.

The aim of the game is to swipe the touch screen to collect all the rings in the maze. But you only have a limited number of swipes to do collect them all. So the aim is to figure out how to get all the rings with as little swipes as possible. It's short, sweet, certainly a more fun Superstars experience than Trip's campaign, I'll say that much.

Like Sonic Heroes, completing the game ironically results in playing four routes, one with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy. Hence the four extra pictures, it's me showing you that I got all of them to the final stage of the game.

If you wanna play something obscure before it becomes lost media, give this short little diversion a try. Preferably with a medium fries and some apple slices.

GAME 37: WARIOWARE: SMOOTH MOVES (WII): 100% COMPLETE

My introduction to the WarioWare series, this was always a childhood favorite of mine. And I gotta say, all these years later...

...How is this game a lot harder now, than it was then? I swear, this game was pissing me off with the number of times the game wasn't responding to my movements. How could it be? Was I dazed by nostalgia tinted glasses?

Well, there's no saying for sure why the game acts as oddly as it does at points. Of course, the Wii isn't the most accurate motion control detector in town, that was why the Wii MotionPlus came into existence, but still. I swear I never had these problems before.

In the middle of my playthrough, I removed my Wii Remote jacket and moved my sensor bar from the bottom of the TV back to the top, and I think it helped out? Maybe it's placebo. But regardless, the only thing I can truly fathom is that one of the reasons is due to TVs these days are much bigger than they were back in 2007.

Still, when it does work. Smooth Moves is as charming as it was back in the day. And I still don't regret replaying it. The microgames are (mostly) simple to understand, and so much of it just can't be done today with how much motion controls, even on the Switch is much less accurate than even the Wii. This game is truly one of a kind.