[played on original SNES hardware as Mega Man]
I think it’s fair to say that Mega Man & Bass is probably the most disliked Classic MM game by a wide margin. It’s gained quite the reputation for being an incredibly tricky and punishing experience, and in a series that’s known for being difficult, that’s saying a lot. When I was going through the series last year, I wasn’t initially planning on playing through MM&B, but eventually did give it a go as Bass and stopped right at the penultimate stage out of frustration. But something funny happened recently. I got the urge to play the first few stages as Mega Man just to see how he felt, and it ended up really clicking! A few days later, I made my way through the whole thing in just a few sessions, and had a pretty good time! And now I’m gonna talk about why this incredibly challenging game was a whole lot of fun for me.
Mega Man as a franchise was already solidified by 1998, but MM&B makes a few changes and additions to help it stand out. The first of which being that you get to play as someone besides the Blue Bomber: his rival, Bass! Instead of having a slide and charge shot, Bass gets a MMX-like dash, double jump and a rapid-fire arm cannon that can be aimed in any direction, although it can’t initially shoot through walls and does pitiful damage against bosses. The other big feature of MM&B is that, like I said at the start, it’s really difficult. But honestly, I thought it was still fairly manageable! I’ll get more into specifics when I talk about the levels, but there’s quite a few elements that can help you tip the scales, the first of which being Auto’s shop. It’s an interesting fusion of how it was in 7 and 8; bolts have returned to being enemy drops, but a lot of the items you can buy are equipable, and they include enhancements like taking less damage, saving more energy when using Robot Master weapons and dealing double damage when you’re near-death. These can really come in handy, and given that you’re able to swap between them at any time, switching things up when the situation calls for it can help a bunch.
Another useful asset comes in the form of the various Robot Master weapons, which are a really solid bunch! Ice Wall’s a great mobility tool, Wave Burner’s an excellent close-ranged option for weaker enemies, Spread Drill and Remote Mine do plenty of damage, Copy Vision can help reduce button-mashing and Magic Card’s useful for snatching goodies from hard-to-reach places. Overall, it’s an excellent selection of weapons, and due to how the stages are laid out (in a grid system where beating one unlocks the path to another), you get more of an opportunity to use them since you’ll be guaranteed to have them for certain levels.
Now we get onto the stages, which I thought were really good! They’re certainly challenging, but they never feel impossible as either character; so long as you use a bit of patience, memorization and utilize everything in your arsenal, you should be able to get through most of them without much issue. It also helps that they’re not too long, so getting a Game Over doesn’t feel like a massive setback (and for me, it helps me become even better at remembering the layouts and obstacles so I can smoothly get through next time). And in traditional Mega Man fashion, there’s a ton of variety which makes every level feel distinct and unique, which is an element of the series I really enjoy!
Unfortunately, there’s quite a dip in quality when you get to the Fortress stages. I don’t think they’re as bad as people say, but they feel a lot sloppier and way more frustrating than the regular levels. It feels a lot closer to the type of game I hear MM&B be described as, which is a shame.
Now it’s time for the presentation, and I’m probably gonna gush a lot because I adore how this game looks and sounds! You can tell Capcom really had a grasp of the hardware by 1998, and they absolutely knocked it out of the park. The graphical style definitely takes cues from Mega Man 8, but it doesn’t even look like that much of a downgrade; everything’s still colourful and immensely detailed. In fact, I’d say it’s on-par with a lot of the Sega Saturn’s 2D games in terms of fidelity, which is really impressive for a console that was first released in 1990! The soundtrack’s also great like usual, with a ton of catchy and melodic tunes. My personal favourites are probably the Robot Museum, Cold Man, Magic Man, Tengu Man and Pirate Man themes.
Despite the general reception, I really liked MM&B! I guess it’s not too surprising given my love of intense difficulty, but I’m so glad I found this much to love, and as such, I think this is a new favourite in the series for me! I’ll have to do a proper playthrough as Bass someday (and find all those data CDs), but that probably won’t be for a while. Overall, if you’re fine with really hard games and are patient enough, I think you might find something to appreciate in this one!
I think it’s fair to say that Mega Man & Bass is probably the most disliked Classic MM game by a wide margin. It’s gained quite the reputation for being an incredibly tricky and punishing experience, and in a series that’s known for being difficult, that’s saying a lot. When I was going through the series last year, I wasn’t initially planning on playing through MM&B, but eventually did give it a go as Bass and stopped right at the penultimate stage out of frustration. But something funny happened recently. I got the urge to play the first few stages as Mega Man just to see how he felt, and it ended up really clicking! A few days later, I made my way through the whole thing in just a few sessions, and had a pretty good time! And now I’m gonna talk about why this incredibly challenging game was a whole lot of fun for me.
Mega Man as a franchise was already solidified by 1998, but MM&B makes a few changes and additions to help it stand out. The first of which being that you get to play as someone besides the Blue Bomber: his rival, Bass! Instead of having a slide and charge shot, Bass gets a MMX-like dash, double jump and a rapid-fire arm cannon that can be aimed in any direction, although it can’t initially shoot through walls and does pitiful damage against bosses. The other big feature of MM&B is that, like I said at the start, it’s really difficult. But honestly, I thought it was still fairly manageable! I’ll get more into specifics when I talk about the levels, but there’s quite a few elements that can help you tip the scales, the first of which being Auto’s shop. It’s an interesting fusion of how it was in 7 and 8; bolts have returned to being enemy drops, but a lot of the items you can buy are equipable, and they include enhancements like taking less damage, saving more energy when using Robot Master weapons and dealing double damage when you’re near-death. These can really come in handy, and given that you’re able to swap between them at any time, switching things up when the situation calls for it can help a bunch.
Another useful asset comes in the form of the various Robot Master weapons, which are a really solid bunch! Ice Wall’s a great mobility tool, Wave Burner’s an excellent close-ranged option for weaker enemies, Spread Drill and Remote Mine do plenty of damage, Copy Vision can help reduce button-mashing and Magic Card’s useful for snatching goodies from hard-to-reach places. Overall, it’s an excellent selection of weapons, and due to how the stages are laid out (in a grid system where beating one unlocks the path to another), you get more of an opportunity to use them since you’ll be guaranteed to have them for certain levels.
Now we get onto the stages, which I thought were really good! They’re certainly challenging, but they never feel impossible as either character; so long as you use a bit of patience, memorization and utilize everything in your arsenal, you should be able to get through most of them without much issue. It also helps that they’re not too long, so getting a Game Over doesn’t feel like a massive setback (and for me, it helps me become even better at remembering the layouts and obstacles so I can smoothly get through next time). And in traditional Mega Man fashion, there’s a ton of variety which makes every level feel distinct and unique, which is an element of the series I really enjoy!
Unfortunately, there’s quite a dip in quality when you get to the Fortress stages. I don’t think they’re as bad as people say, but they feel a lot sloppier and way more frustrating than the regular levels. It feels a lot closer to the type of game I hear MM&B be described as, which is a shame.
Now it’s time for the presentation, and I’m probably gonna gush a lot because I adore how this game looks and sounds! You can tell Capcom really had a grasp of the hardware by 1998, and they absolutely knocked it out of the park. The graphical style definitely takes cues from Mega Man 8, but it doesn’t even look like that much of a downgrade; everything’s still colourful and immensely detailed. In fact, I’d say it’s on-par with a lot of the Sega Saturn’s 2D games in terms of fidelity, which is really impressive for a console that was first released in 1990! The soundtrack’s also great like usual, with a ton of catchy and melodic tunes. My personal favourites are probably the Robot Museum, Cold Man, Magic Man, Tengu Man and Pirate Man themes.
Despite the general reception, I really liked MM&B! I guess it’s not too surprising given my love of intense difficulty, but I’m so glad I found this much to love, and as such, I think this is a new favourite in the series for me! I’ll have to do a proper playthrough as Bass someday (and find all those data CDs), but that probably won’t be for a while. Overall, if you’re fine with really hard games and are patient enough, I think you might find something to appreciate in this one!