The Biggest Game Project on this Planet

Rockman 7

I'd thought this would be more fun, but it isn't.
And this is actually one of the better ones, it's just that I think there's a good reason they stopped making games in the regular Megaman Series, and started concentrating on Megaman X and the other series.

Having finished the entire regular series at this moment, I can say this is the last game that was actually good, and you don't really need to bother any further.

Rockman 7 starts exactly where Rockman 6 left off. Dr. Wily is imprisoned by Megaman and the world seems to have returned to peace and quiet. Little does everyone realise that hidden in some secret laboratory somewhere, 4 of Wily's Robots lie dormant, waiting for their Master's distress signal in order to activate and start rampaging around the city.
And this is of course exactly what happens. Within hours the City is in total ruin, and Wily manages to escape from prison and start wreaking havoc once again, as if NOTHING ever happened in the previous 6 games.
You'd think a Scientist would learn a little bit faster, wouldn't you?

This was the first step to a new Console. After 6 games on NES, this was the first in the regular series to go to 16 bits, and it shows. A little bit.
Graphics are cute and colorful, which is a shrill contrast to the darker pallette of the old Nintendo Entertainment System. Although presumably the NES games were aimed at young gamers as well, the colors of the NES were too dark to give anything a real "kiddy" feel, but suffice to say, there IS a generous amount of pink in this game. WHICH IS NOT GOOD.
Also, the music, although great in composition and definitely one of the better melodic Megaman Soundtracks, uses synth that's VERY sugary and actually gave me multiple cavities IN MY EARS. Deliberate or not, the old dark atmosphere of the NES games was much MUCH better.

Bigger storage space, though, not only means better graphics and "better" synth; it also means Bigger Stages and more to do. Although there aren't MORE stages, in pure terms of absolute numbers, than in, say, Megaman 3 - 6, they ARE definitely longer.

Gameplay-wise, Rush Jet is back, this time accompanied by Rush Searh, which will allow you to find hidden objects, buried in the ground. Rush Power also makes it's return to form Super Rockman, which is basically a combination of the two forms present in Rockman 6, only a bit more balanced this time.
This game also introduces the Bolt System, where enemies will drop bolts which can later be used at a shop to buy upgrades and items.
All upgrades can be found hidden in the stages as well though, if you know where to look, so you don't actually need this system, but it's nice anyway, if you need some extra lives or Energy Tanks or whatnot.

Also making his first appearance is Forte, known as Bass in the West, and his trusty sidekick Gospel, aka Treble (gotta love all those Music references). Although initially someone who seems to be on your side, he becomes increasingly self-centered throughout the series until he even became one of the most evil characters in the Rockman universe (in the Battle Network series), so I don't quite know what happened there.
He's nothing but a persistent mid-boss in this game though, not much more than a simple gimmick.

Megaman 7 is also the first in the series to start with 4 Bosses, rather than the usual 8, right at the beginning. I don't know why they chose to change the regular series into something more like the Gameboy series, which were always rather simple in that respect, but logic has never been Capcom's Forte (dur hur hur).
This means only 4 bosses are available at the start, which also means it's much easier to figure out their weakspots, and also that you just don't get a lot of choice at the beginning.
I have to admit though, that for Megaman (and maybe even Capcom in general) fans, this is one of the better games, because there are numerous references to other Megaman games. There are cameo's of old bosses, some familiar music and even some bits of old stages were included in full color for nostalgia.

There's also some nice secrets, including a short battle mode, a hidden piece of "armor", a great homage to the Ghouls and Ghosts series and there's a fucking annoying final boss. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT!?
Diazepam, perhaps, but you're not getting any in this game.
What you ARE getting is an 8+, which isn't bad at all actually.
Get this as a final goodbye for the series, and just ignore the 2 sequels, which unfortunately, I can't. D'oh!

posted by Ingen! @ 6:22 PM