Mega Man Soccer (SNES)

Yes, believe it or not, there are some Mega Man games out there I haven't played, and Mega Man Soccer is one of them. I love Mega Man and I like soccer, but I wasn't really sure how well the two would mesh together. Generally, I'm not into sports games either, but hey, it's Mega Man. That fact alone makes it cooler, and I figured it'd be similar to a Mario sports game.

Upon starting, the game lets you select what formation you want your team to be in. Following that, you can choose from a selection of Robot Masters and other characters for teammates. Each character has different stats, so it's actually a pretty well-balanced game, and it adds an element of strategy. After setting up your team, you are then taken to a field select, where you can choose from home fields for all the characters. While this is really cool, it's a shame that certain elements aren't incorporated into actual play on the field (like fire on Fire Man's, ice on Ice Man's, and so forth). I'd love to see a sequel with sheer mayhem like Mario Strikers.

Once I started playing, I found the action hectic and difficult to keep up with at first. Since I don't play sports games much, it took me a few minutes to get used to the fact that I controlled multiple characters at once, although the controls themselves were pretty simple and intuitive. Aside from dribbling the ball and kicking, you can slide tackle, jump up to headbutt, and you can also take a power shot on goal. Unfortunately, like many Capcom games, the difficulty can be fairly steep, even when you don't consider the fact that I don't play sports games much. It's practically impossible to score.

Aside from that, the game is absolutely gorgeous. Capcom obviously poured a lot of effort into making it look great, and it shows. It's absolutely adorable watching Mega Man and friends scurry around with soccer balls, and the fields themselves look sharp too. The music has a distinct Mega Man flavor, yet also manages to be jazzy and fitting for sports at the same time. I expected something bizarre from this game, but I was seriously impressed and I'm sad there are no other Mega Man sports games. I think this is one cart I'll definitely have to track down and add to my collection.

Awesome promo art.
Woodman vs. Mega Man.
Mega Man vs. Mega Man.