Remakes are always a hot topic, aren't they? The Wily Wars is no different-- even if not all that many people have played the damn thing. I've no need to discuss the actual games in this review; if you want to see those, they're all here: (MM1, MM2, MM3). Instead, I'll be focusing on the things that have changed in between the versions.
So, let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first: I disagree heavily with the common connotation that the Genesis versions of these games have worse presentation-- they simply don't. All of the games consistently look better than they did on the NES. The music is a lot more mixed, though... there's quite a handful I think are better or equal to their original counterparts but there's also tons of tracks that got ruined. It isn't unlistenable, but it is unfortunate.
No, my issues with the game arise with the various gameplay changes. For example, Mega Man walks like he has to contemplate the idea of going forward every time you want to move from a standstill, and it totally destroys the natural flow of all of these games. There were various times where I wanted to be quick on the draw with my platforming but I couldn't because I physically just can't move. This is totally eliminated by shooting as you walk, but like, why is it even a thing? There's also some other pretty big things, like a damage decrease for many bullets (that look like yours) down to 1 hit point, and a couple of sections where it feels like they didn't account for the game running differently. Flash Man is totally fucked in this game-- it has to be played to be believed.
This isn't to say all of the changes are bad: in fact, most of them are good. A lot of the shittier enemies and bosses in the first 3 games have been seriously toned down to be bearable. Fire Man, Elec Man, Quick Man? All gutted. There's also a few bosses who've been made harder which I appreciated too. Contrary to what I've seen others say there was no slowdown either-- this is apparently not true on console/emulator, but I played the Switch Online version of this game, so I'm reviewing that.
It's why I think the remakes are ultimately decent but not much more. They fix some of the larger issues and other minor bugs (especially in 3) in these games, but they really don't do much else and actively break other things. I can't fully recommend playing them because of the poor controls but most other things are better when you get down to it.
Oh yeah, and the Wily Tower is there too.
It's mid.
So, let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first: I disagree heavily with the common connotation that the Genesis versions of these games have worse presentation-- they simply don't. All of the games consistently look better than they did on the NES. The music is a lot more mixed, though... there's quite a handful I think are better or equal to their original counterparts but there's also tons of tracks that got ruined. It isn't unlistenable, but it is unfortunate.
No, my issues with the game arise with the various gameplay changes. For example, Mega Man walks like he has to contemplate the idea of going forward every time you want to move from a standstill, and it totally destroys the natural flow of all of these games. There were various times where I wanted to be quick on the draw with my platforming but I couldn't because I physically just can't move. This is totally eliminated by shooting as you walk, but like, why is it even a thing? There's also some other pretty big things, like a damage decrease for many bullets (that look like yours) down to 1 hit point, and a couple of sections where it feels like they didn't account for the game running differently. Flash Man is totally fucked in this game-- it has to be played to be believed.
This isn't to say all of the changes are bad: in fact, most of them are good. A lot of the shittier enemies and bosses in the first 3 games have been seriously toned down to be bearable. Fire Man, Elec Man, Quick Man? All gutted. There's also a few bosses who've been made harder which I appreciated too. Contrary to what I've seen others say there was no slowdown either-- this is apparently not true on console/emulator, but I played the Switch Online version of this game, so I'm reviewing that.
It's why I think the remakes are ultimately decent but not much more. They fix some of the larger issues and other minor bugs (especially in 3) in these games, but they really don't do much else and actively break other things. I can't fully recommend playing them because of the poor controls but most other things are better when you get down to it.
Oh yeah, and the Wily Tower is there too.
It's mid.
FunBus
7 months ago