Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (ARC)

Another Mega Man game that I haven't played, I first stumbled across Power Fighters when I was browsing for some arcade ROMs. My first thought was, Why does Japan get all the cool stuff? And then I saw that there was actually a US version. Much like the Sailor Moon game, it's a tragedy I missed this while it was in arcades, but at least it's a bonus feature on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection.

Anyway, this game labels itself as a fighter, but it isn't really -- not in the traditional sense, at least. It's essentially just a long string of Robot Master battles that are slightly different from the ones in the original Mega Man games. Characters do have special moves (charging + up), but aside from that, it's the same basic mechanics: jump, shoot, and slide. The cool thing is that each of the playable characters (Mega Man, Bass, Proto Man, and Duo) have summoning/assist moves too, like Rush for Mega Man and Treble for Bass.

After you choose a character, you then select which mission you'd like to undertake: recovering stolen parts, finding Dr. Wily, or rescuing Roll, Mega Man's sister. Each mission has six Robot Masters that can be fought in any order, although their standard weaknesses apply (after you beat a Robot Master, you gain their weapon). Once you clear a mission and also the standard Wily robot, you can then fight Dr. Wily himself. One little caveat is that your energy doesn't refill after beating a boss: you have to collect energy capsules that fall out of Robot Masters when you damage them to keep your strength up.

Not all Robot Masters make an appearance in this game, but an incredibly random selection of them does. In one mission, for example, you have to take on Centaur Man, Shadow Man, Bubble Man, Heat Man, Gyro Man, and Plant Man. While it was odd seeing these Robot Masters from different games grouped together, it was awesome to see them in the game's gorgeous graphics (which were strongly influenced by Mega Man 7). I also give them props for including Robot Masters from Mega Man 6, which is bashed by many fans. I don't care what anyone says though, Centaur Man is a bad ass.

For a total Mega Man nerd like me, this game was awesome. Non-Mega fans probably wouldn't get as much out of it, especially since it isn't a true fighting game. But I still think it's a lot of fun regardless, and I'll be spending a lot more time with it in the future, if only to see those classic NES baddies in awesome arcade graphics.

Shadow Man is a bad ass too, and he has a fire-breathing frog to prove it.
Plant Man is kind of lame, but I have a soft spot for him anyway. Go Mega Man 6!
Dive Man getting his butt kicked.