This is my third time writing a real review. Hopefully it won't be... Well, sucky.
Mega Man: Powered Up was released by Capcom in 2006 for the Playstation Portable. The game is a remake of the original Mega Man, so the storyline is similar to the original game: In 200X, Dr. Wily has stolen and reprogrammed all of Dr. Light's robots, with the exception of Rock, who he considers a junk robot. Rock offers to be converted into a fighting robot, and Dr. Light complies, albeit reluctantly, thus creating the blue robot we all know and love today, Mega Man.
Gameplay: 9/10
Here's a basic summary. You select from 8 different stages, make your way through the stage, and fight the boss. Now for the in depth summary: Mega Man at first has the Mega Buster, which has unlimited ammo but isn't very effective against certain bosses. However, once he defeats one of the bosses, Mega Man gains a new weapon from the robot he has defeated, and that weapon will be incredibly powerful against one robot while being ineffective against another robot. Mega Man is, in short, a platformer version of Rock Paper Scissors. This is true for other games in the series as well.
Another interesting addition to the game is that almost everyone in the game is playable. Everyone, except for the doctors and Wily fortress bosses can be played in story mode, and each character has their own strengths and weaknesses (Cut Man, for instance, has the ability to walljump, Mario style, to another wall and back) which opens new secret paths.
As for the levels themselves, the levels have gotten major makeovers from their NES counterparts. The levels have been reworked and altered to avoid the feeling of stale gameplay while still keeping certain elements intact to invoke a sort of nostalgic feel. There are secret paths throughout the levels that can only be accessed by certain characters, which add to the game's replayability. Even if you're really good, it will be impossible to collect everything in the game at once. The remake also adds two new robot masters, bumping the number of robots to the now traditional 8, which is a good touch.
Now onto the side additions, 100 Challenges and Level Editor. The 100 Challenges require all of the robot masters to complete. These challenges can be incredibly difficult if you're not prepared. However, you do get to play as Proto Man (Blues) when all 100 of them are beaten. They are good timewasters for hardcores, but they can be tedious due to how often you can die ingame.
The second addition, Level Editor, is much more fun. Level editor is just that: An editor used to construct custom stages. You can decide everything, from the traps, to the enemies, to which platform goes where, and so on. This editor is pretty deep for a PSP platformer, and it's worth a try if you're feeling creative.
Graphics: 8/10
Anybody remember the graphics from the NES original? Yeah, not exactly cutting edge for the NES. However, this... Still isn't cutting edge, but at least it's improved from its older counterpart. The biggest change is the art style. Instead of the somewhat human appearance of the characters from past Mega Mans, MMPU has super deformed chibified characters which will likely make a cynic cry. Despite this change, the graphics are nice and crisp for 2.5D, and the animations are quite fluid.
Sound/Music: 6
This is the one thing i dislike about MMPU. The music. Anybody remember the original tunes from the NES version? If there's one thing i can say, it's this: The original tunes were minor key, and they were better that way. In MMPU, the tracks are all rearranged... As major key. This causes some issues, as the rearranged tracks remove certain elements from the originals in a way that doesn't really feel right. That doesn't mean the tracks are bad. They just lost a bit of magic.
The sound is good, otherwise. The game uses some cartoony sound effects, which fits the feel of the game, and the voice acting can be pretty humorous, as well.
DLC:
Yep, there is downloadable content in this game. The downloadable content is mainly custom stages from other users. However, there is also DLC in the form of a playable character: Mega Man's sister and robot helper, Roll. She has short ranged attacks, which can be a pain to utilize in a universe where everything is out to get you, but Roll gets some new lines from several bosses, including Oil Man's legendary "Refill" comment, and plenty of alternate costumes, which balances out the issue of melee.
Replay value: 9.5
The graphics are silly, yes, and the music is downplayed, but that doesn't matter when you have a gauntlet of challenges to beat, a massive level editor at your fingertips, and secrets oozing out the wazoo. This game is packed with content and fun, which will likely keep you entertained for a good long while.
Final reccomendation:
Buy it. Buy the game. Even if you're not a diehard Mega Man fan, i still recommend playing it at least once.
Mega Man: Powered Up was released by Capcom in 2006 for the Playstation Portable. The game is a remake of the original Mega Man, so the storyline is similar to the original game: In 200X, Dr. Wily has stolen and reprogrammed all of Dr. Light's robots, with the exception of Rock, who he considers a junk robot. Rock offers to be converted into a fighting robot, and Dr. Light complies, albeit reluctantly, thus creating the blue robot we all know and love today, Mega Man.
Gameplay: 9/10
Here's a basic summary. You select from 8 different stages, make your way through the stage, and fight the boss. Now for the in depth summary: Mega Man at first has the Mega Buster, which has unlimited ammo but isn't very effective against certain bosses. However, once he defeats one of the bosses, Mega Man gains a new weapon from the robot he has defeated, and that weapon will be incredibly powerful against one robot while being ineffective against another robot. Mega Man is, in short, a platformer version of Rock Paper Scissors. This is true for other games in the series as well.
Another interesting addition to the game is that almost everyone in the game is playable. Everyone, except for the doctors and Wily fortress bosses can be played in story mode, and each character has their own strengths and weaknesses (Cut Man, for instance, has the ability to walljump, Mario style, to another wall and back) which opens new secret paths.
As for the levels themselves, the levels have gotten major makeovers from their NES counterparts. The levels have been reworked and altered to avoid the feeling of stale gameplay while still keeping certain elements intact to invoke a sort of nostalgic feel. There are secret paths throughout the levels that can only be accessed by certain characters, which add to the game's replayability. Even if you're really good, it will be impossible to collect everything in the game at once. The remake also adds two new robot masters, bumping the number of robots to the now traditional 8, which is a good touch.
Now onto the side additions, 100 Challenges and Level Editor. The 100 Challenges require all of the robot masters to complete. These challenges can be incredibly difficult if you're not prepared. However, you do get to play as Proto Man (Blues) when all 100 of them are beaten. They are good timewasters for hardcores, but they can be tedious due to how often you can die ingame.
The second addition, Level Editor, is much more fun. Level editor is just that: An editor used to construct custom stages. You can decide everything, from the traps, to the enemies, to which platform goes where, and so on. This editor is pretty deep for a PSP platformer, and it's worth a try if you're feeling creative.
Graphics: 8/10
Anybody remember the graphics from the NES original? Yeah, not exactly cutting edge for the NES. However, this... Still isn't cutting edge, but at least it's improved from its older counterpart. The biggest change is the art style. Instead of the somewhat human appearance of the characters from past Mega Mans, MMPU has super deformed chibified characters which will likely make a cynic cry. Despite this change, the graphics are nice and crisp for 2.5D, and the animations are quite fluid.
Sound/Music: 6
This is the one thing i dislike about MMPU. The music. Anybody remember the original tunes from the NES version? If there's one thing i can say, it's this: The original tunes were minor key, and they were better that way. In MMPU, the tracks are all rearranged... As major key. This causes some issues, as the rearranged tracks remove certain elements from the originals in a way that doesn't really feel right. That doesn't mean the tracks are bad. They just lost a bit of magic.
The sound is good, otherwise. The game uses some cartoony sound effects, which fits the feel of the game, and the voice acting can be pretty humorous, as well.
DLC:
Yep, there is downloadable content in this game. The downloadable content is mainly custom stages from other users. However, there is also DLC in the form of a playable character: Mega Man's sister and robot helper, Roll. She has short ranged attacks, which can be a pain to utilize in a universe where everything is out to get you, but Roll gets some new lines from several bosses, including Oil Man's legendary "Refill" comment, and plenty of alternate costumes, which balances out the issue of melee.
Replay value: 9.5
The graphics are silly, yes, and the music is downplayed, but that doesn't matter when you have a gauntlet of challenges to beat, a massive level editor at your fingertips, and secrets oozing out the wazoo. This game is packed with content and fun, which will likely keep you entertained for a good long while.
Final reccomendation:
Buy it. Buy the game. Even if you're not a diehard Mega Man fan, i still recommend playing it at least once.
