GAME REVIEW: Sonic Chaos (Game Gear/Master System)

"I see it comin' down all over town, it's chaos!"

Ah, my first (completed) Let's Play subject ever. I've played both versions of it repeatedly, but never thought to review it at the end of the LP (I guess it took Rockapalooza to make me consider reviews of my own).

Sonic Chaos is definitely among of the better-regarded pre-Dreamcast Sonic outings that wasn't on the Genesis. It was on Game Gear and the Sega Master System. While most people in North America didn't own a SMS (unlike Europe and Brazil), they would have been much more likely to have played this game on Game Gear. It was a pretty gimmicky handheld that was done in by a bulky design and bad battery-life brought about through giving the platform a color screen. Playtime was eventually extended through the release of power adaptors... defeating the purpose of its status as a portable system. I know this because I owned a Game Gear as a kid long before I owned a Game Boy Color.

I always found myself coming back to this one and Sonic Triple Trouble more than the ludicrously difficult 8-bit Sonic 2 (both of which I hope to review in the future). Personally, I like to consider S-Chaos the immediate sequel to 8-bit S-2.

Sadly, these are just some entries that people easily overlook in favor of the newer ones coming out. I want to rectify it and turn a little limelight on these games, starting with this one.

STORY

Dr. Eggman has gotten his hands on the Red Chaos Emerald and wants to use it to make nuclear weapons. This, somehow causes the other five (there aren't seven Chaos Emeralds in 8-bit Sonic games, just six) to be sent into pocket dimensions (read: Special Stages). The disappearance of the gems has made South Island unstable and the country is slowly sinking into the sea. It's up to Sonic and Tails to bring the Chaos Emeralds back and stop Eggman's schemes.

GAMEPLAY/CONTROL

Controls follow the classic 2D Sonic formula, which I think we're all familiar with: turning into balls when you jump, running through stages as quickly as you can manage, collecting rings for extra lives and hit-protection etc.

When starting the game up, you have the option of playing either Sonic or Tails. While Tails can fly (yeah, thought S3&K was the first game to give you that ability? WRONG!), Sonic gets his somewhat useless Super Spin Dash (or Figure-8 Peel-Out, as some call it).

Control aside, another difference between the two is gameplay styles. As Sonic you have the task of finding the Chaos Emeralds. To do so, you must collect one hundred rings in the first and second Acts of each Zone (Which is kind of a drawback in terms of pacing... but you can find groups of 10-Ring monitors pretty often). Getting one hundred will send you to a Special Stage where you have to find the Emerald before time runs out. The first three are absolutely nothing to write home about, five is kind of annoying, but four is HUGE and you have JUST enough time to reach the end.

Tails is pretty much the Easy Mode. You don't have to do the Emerald hunt.

The typical Monitor power-ups are here: 10-Rings, Speed Boosts, 1-Ups, Invincibility, and (exclusive to Sonic's story) Rocket Boots. Rocket Boots allow you to take to the air for about five seconds to reach rows of rings and platforms; these are replaced with 10-Ring monitors.

There are also spring shoes

Also, Dr. Eggman doesn't fight you at the end of every Zone -- he sends out bigger robots for you to smash up. This isn't unique to this game; 8-bit S-2 did it before and Triple Trouble would do it next. Personally, I kind of like this idea because some of the robots in these games look pretty funky!

At the end of Acts 1 and 2, you get the bonus panel from the previous games:

• Flicky (replacing Eggman) gives no bonus.
• A ring adds ten extra rings to your counter (providing your rings are a multiple of ten)
• Sonic gives a 1-Up if you play as Sonic and an extra continue for Tails.
• Tails does the reverse of the Sonic.
• A blank panel lets you spin again.

In terms of difficulty things get a bit spotty. Most of the levels are pretty easy, but it was really hard for me to hold onto my rings when fighting boss #2 and beyond. But the difficulty REAAALLY spikes when you get to Dr. Eggman.

Eggy shows up in this bipedal mecha that shoots fireballs and REALLY CHEAP ricochet lasers. Plus, it takes forever to beat him in this part of the fight, but when the top part detaches...

...it converts into a high-speed mode that kills you in one hit, rings or no rings, unless you can hit it square on the head. After that, you chase him away. If you have all five Emeralds as Sonic, he drops the red one. The end. Roll credits.

GRAPHICS

Maybe it's not as spiffy as the Genesis games, but S-Chaos looks good. The sprites look pretty cool (especially some of the bosses), but the levels blow them away. For some reason, just looking at these stages makes me think of stuff from other Sonic outings: 

• Turquoise Hill is like the offspring of Green Hill and Emerald Hill (the comparison to the latter is helped by a pathetically easy boss). 
• Gigapolis reminds me of Chemical Plant without all the inclines. 
• Sleeping Egg makes me think of a drained Aquatic Ruin. 
• Mecha Green Hill is a fusion of regular Green Hill and Oil Ocean. 
• Aqua Planet is basically a straightforward version of Aqua Lake from 8-bit S-2.
• Electric Egg makes me think of S3&K's Death Egg (despite coming out after this game).  

While I like the foreground graphics, sometimes the backgrounds get criticized for being somewhat minimalistic. Well, it's an 8-bit handheld game from the first half of the 90's. It was no big deal for me, plus I believe we had a little animation in the skies of Gigapolis and Aqua Planet and in Electric Egg's background!

Minor variations occurred when the game shifted from console to handheld: Mecha Green Hill's background went from green to orange (giving it a Scrap Brain Act 1/Oil Ocean feel).

SOUND/MUSIC

The graphics are fine for my buck, but the music is solid as a rock -- especially on the Game Gear's version. I'm guessing it might have had another sound channel or something. It's because of the Game Gear soundtrack that I keep thinking of Chemical Plant when playing Gigapolis:

It's most likely the beginning part that does it.

Another musical variation occurs in the Special Stages: the first, second, and fourth on the Game Gear were given this somewhat fast-paced, adventurous feel while three and five retained the Master System version.

We also have a variation on the always-epic "You Can Do Anything":

If you put in the code for the sound test, you'd be able to hear an unused track (that was rumored to be for the credits):

Why this wasn't used, I don't know. But it would eventually! For you see in Japan, S-Chaos is called Sonic & Tails and Triple Trouble is called Sonic & Tails 2.

VERDICT

Would you also believe that S-Chaos, in addition to being the predecessor to Triple Trouble, is also its testbed? Yep. You're playing a prototype! TVTropes mentioned stuff like clunky physics, but I never noticed. They also claimed that the stages were short and had lacked enemies. I'll concede to the first point, but regarding the enemies, maybe they were SLIGHTLY less frequent than in its predecessor but there were still a few hazards in the levels. All things considered, it might be one of the better marketed Betas!

The heaviest criticism that I actually have for this game is the difficulty. For the most part, it's a pushover for seasoned gamers, especially as Tails. But that last boss is a doozy!

The music and graphics can serve as a buffer for some of its deficiencies. Ultimately, though, this game should mostly serve as a tutorial for those starting to get into classic Sonic or just have an hour or two to waste. The choice is yours to play or skip.

I'm DLAbaoaqu. Full-on!

Sonic Chaos is owned by SEGA and Aspect

CARTOON REVIEW: Captain Planet, "Numbers Game"

Whew! Sorry I was gone for so long, I had nothing to talk about. Now we're going to take our first baby steps into new territory: animation.

...

You thought this was a games-only blog? Nope!

There's room for cartoons, anime, and movies as well!

Let's begin, shall we?

Why am I getting Kermit the Frog vibes from that mustache?

Once upon a time, there was a rich douche named Ted Turner. He founded TBS, Cartoon Network, and CNN. As the 1980's passed from the world and a new decade took root, ol' Teddy got upset about cartoons being stupid, twenty-minute toy commercials so he hatched a brilliant idea: a cartoon that was just a stupid, twenty-minute Green PSA!

Thus, 1990's Captain Planet and the Planeteers was born!

FORWARD

For the five people living under a rock on the Kamchatka Peninsula, here's the story: Earth keeps getting polluted and the goddess Gaia, originally played by Whoopi (Cushion) Goldberg and later Superman's Margot Kidder, is sick of it so she gives magic rings to five overbearing and overemotional humans teenagers, each ring representing one of the classical elements:

The leader of the team, Kwame, with the ring of earth. Played by LeVar Burton, of Star Trek: TNG fame.

The intro says he's from Africa, but fails to specify which country.

From Russia, Linka, with ring of wind. Played by veteran voice actress Kath Soucie (who would later go on to play Phil and Lil on Rugrats, Sally Acorn and Nicole on Sonic SatAM, and countless more).

Gi, from an undisclosed Far Eastern country, wielding the ring of water. Voiced by Janice Kawane.

Wheeler (played by Joey Dedio), wielder of the ring of fire... and the idiot ball. Why that latter? Because white Americans are SOOOOO 'toopid! Hur hur hur... -_-

OH NO! WE RAN OUT OF ELEMENTS! WE NEED SOMETHING ELSE FOR THE FIFTH MEMBER! TIME TO MAKE SOMETHING UP!

From South America (no country revealed), Ma-Ti and the ring of heart... making him the least useful of the team...

...except for this piece of insanity. OOOH! He was also played by Scott Menville (later Robin on Teen Titans).

So we have our team: the Planeteers (or as I'll call them, "the Burger King Teens Club"). Who do they fight? Samples include...

Hoggish Greedly the human pig, played by Ed "Lou Grant and Cosgrove"Asner and his redneck sidekick Rigger.

Duke Nukem, a guy who got "accepted" from Bizarro World because not only did he not do stuff backwards, he didn't have a counterpart on Earth... unless you count this guy.

Dr. Blight (Meg Ryan), a close relative of the Phantom.

Blight's cohort MAL (played by Tim Curry), former host of I'd Buy That For a Dollar!

A human rat called Verminous Skumm (played by Jeff Goldblum).

L to R: Mercenary Argos Bleak (whose nationality is as clear as Kwame, Ma-Ti, and Gi's), corrupt businessman Looten Plunder (sounds like a villain from an anime that got dubbed in the 1960's), and safari-clothes enthusiast Sly Sludge.

The goal of these dudes is to pollute until the planet is nigh-liveable. Why?

...

........

The show never tells you. Turner and his staff gave these guys no motivation whatsoever for wanting to dump garbage trucks into the ocean or throw newborn cougars into woodchippers. They just do that kind of stuff because... ketchup!

Well, sometimes it's just for money and power, but that's as complex as it ever gets.

How does the BKTC handle these one-dimensional baddies? They use their magic rings to summon...

...the mixture of Clark Kent and Bobby Drake's DNA.

Seriously, though, Captain Planet proceeds to bust up the villains' operations as long as he doesn't get covered in the trash he's trying to clean up. Spouting puns that would make 4Kids blush all the way.

Its main goal was to tell the world to adopt the Green lifestyle, while making episodes that one must question what the staff was smoking...

Remember the AIDS episode? They had an episode where a boy was diagnosed with HIV and everyone panicked and tried to kill him! Fortunately one little speech from Cap and his coach turned the pliable plebs into cheering throngs!

Stupid? Coming from a show where people actually build beach houses ON the literal beach? Why not?

How about the Nazi episode? Where Hitler got tired of his Charlie Chaplin mustache and could weaken his enemies with a stare of pure hatred.

...

You read that right. He looks at Cap at one point and weakened him with psychic evil.

Tooncrap has locked horns with Cap's stupider episodes several times in the past (and if you aren't watching his blog, do it!) and this time, I want to make his job slightly easier by taking on an episode. One of the more ridiculous ones (and with a lame moral, to boot!): Numbers Game!

So if petroleum is a no-no, what's this thing run on? Discount soda?

The story opens with the BKTC celebrating the birthday of our Token White Guy aboard their super jet, with a burger instead of a cake! It's funny that the BKTC does this; I read about an episode where the discussion was about not getting ivory jewelry... but I guess the consumption of meat is A-OK!

The team is on their way to Coney Island as a bonus. Soon, Gaia fades in and warns everyone of an eco-emergency that has the plane make a one-eighty and try to stop a mudslide in South America.

Getting there, they combine powers and bring Cap in to stop the mud while they pluck people out of the rain and collapsing hovels. Ultimately, Cap busts up the clouds and rain and everything is hunky-dory! He wishes Wheeler a happy birthday and then leaves.

The BKTC stay in the ruins of the village to help the locals rebuild. Wheeler doesn't understand why they live stacked on top of each other, but his friends tell him that they're living in a major city and people come there to find jobs and raise families... and as a result MUST live in squalor. Yeah, no name given so I can do my own research and call  BS on it, just that it's a "major city" with little wooden huts scattered around. Eh, I guess it's someplace in Venezuela (the fact that Cap conversed with a native in Spanish adds to this).

With this scene we hit a common element: Wheeler's always wrong. Even if he does make a good argument, the show spins it around to make him look ignorant. Why? Because he's the American of the group and "Amewicans is 'toopid"!  

Due to the mudslide, the team can't get to New York in time. Fortunately, there's an amusement park nearby that just so happens to be environmentally-friendly. Yay.

And would you believe this whole place is powered by potatoes?

When we see them at the park, they go to a virtual reality roller-coaster eco-coaster complete with holograms of animals and densely-populated African villages and urban slums (with real smog!) which induce ecological discussions. Hm, I wonder what the Aesop is going to be for this episode? I can't figure it out.

Remember what I said earlier about Wheeler always being in the wrong even if he raises a point? As the eco-coaster rides through the alleys, Wheeler contemplates why people would have too many children if they have no ability to provide for them. Gi immediately asks if he means that only the rich can reproduce. I don't know, Gi, talk to Mr. Turner, he had five kids.

So right after that bit of preaching, Ma-Ti feels the audience hasn't had the message hammered into their skulls enough and wants to go to this presentation on overpopulation. Of course, Wheeler declines, thinking it would be boring and wants to go on the Tunnel of Love with Linka. Linka sides with Ma-Ti and the audience gets lectured anyway. Yawn.

We're treated to a holographic sermon about how First World children consume thirty times more than those in underdeveloped ones despite the greater numb--wait, wait, wait, thirty!?

First World kids consuming more than those in the third? I'll buy that, but how do you get thirty!? I'm guessing it was pulled out some random hippie's butt. While I don't deny that children in developed countries consume more than those in the poorer parts of the world, there's factors like industry that weigh into--

...oh, right. This is Captain Planet. Industry and white people are naturally evil.

After receiving a reading from the gospel of population control, the BKTC gushes about how amazing the one-hologram presentation was and how unfair things are in the world... but Wheeler shares the opinion of the bulk of the people subjected to the episode's content.

Yeah, getting preached to about how you're killing the world really drains the ol' batteries, doesn't it?

Of course, since he was nice enough to allow the audience to suffer through more population anvils, Linka goes on the Tunnel of Love with him. After a little while, the boat reaches a vignette of a wedding when Linka suddenly vanishes.

Surprise! The vignette suddenly becomes Wheeler's own wedding... to Linka! With Kwame as the Best Man and Gaia as the minister! The suddenness of the whole thing forces Token White Guy to faint (kind of weird seeing how much Linka turns him on).

Then we get to meat of the episode...

"Welcome to the crypt! I've got a bone to pick with you!"

We suddenly jump ahead a couple of decades and Wheeler's forty, Linka is settling into the stereotypical babushka role, and they have eight children (and by "eight", I mean "six") with another in the making. 

Something tells me that Token White Guy loves the Horizontal Mambo...

Most of the trees are gone, too.

Reminds me of CNN's viewership. On a good day.

The kids reveal that Wheeler himself cut them down to enlarge the house five-fold.

The blades are green. Sorry, cartoon, I have to deduct twenty points.

So Linka shoves Wheeler off to get groceries (at the mall?) and his kids tag along.

Wheeler pushes the buggy as the Gang of Six keeps putting stuff like toilet paper and diapers in it. Wheeler tells them that the baby isn't born yet, but gets told that they're for three of the children present with him.

...huh?

Green Pants: "Daddy, I got the toilet paper!"

Blond Boy: "We got disposable diapers, Pap!" (Yes, they NEEDED to clarify that these were disposable.)

Wheeler: "The baby isn't born yet!"

Blond Boy: "No, for Joy, David, and Kath!"

...

Okay, I can find three options for an explanation:

1. Wheeler and Linka put off potty training half of their eight six kids.
2. Wheeler and Linka have gone crazy in regard to water conservation.
3. The diaper community really came a long way in terms of civil rights.

On that same subject, Green Pants (I guess she was identified as "Kath", but I'm sticking with "Green Pants") keeps trying to tell her father she needs to use the bathroom, but he keeps overruling her. The eventual outcome is what you'd expect (despite the implied diaper usage).

During this time, the one-dimensional villains have scaled back on their evilness and have become scammers and junk hawkers! For instance, Dr. Blight is selling beauty products that slowly kills you (which is funny, seeing as by this point Mary Kay Bergman is voicing her! Doe-ho-ho!) and Duke Nukem is selling nuclear-powered electronics that cause power surges (and come back on via back-up generators).

By the way, Wheeler's family owns a ten-foot TV... but Kwame's is four times that size. Compensating?

Meanwhile, one of the Gang of Six knocks a table over--one of Blight's displays!

It's funny. One of the most stock bad guy phrases is "You're going to pay for this!" Here's Wheeler, literally paying!

Hounded by his kids and driven to near insanity, Wheeler dashes out of the building.

Wheeler and the Gang of Six go home and find old versions of Ma-Ti, Gi, and Kwame there ready to confront him about his inability to stop having children. (I can sympathize, half of them have some really puffy lips that make them look like fish). Wheeler brings up the forty-foot TV, but it gets brushed off because Leader Man only had two kids.

Yeah, we're getting into the episode's infamous moral: if you have more than two children, you're hurting the ecosystem. 

Nice message, Ted, I wonder how many households with three or more kids saw this episode and felt guilty about being born. Personally, I say that you can have as many children as you want, but keep reproduction under control -- know when to quit. It is possible to care for three or more children if you have the means to do so, but don't have so many that you can't raise them all properly. There's another option if you have to many and care for them all: adoption. Let someone else give a little love and care to your biological offspring; it's a noble move and it won't hurt the wallet (especially in this day and age).

Then Gaia shows up and, in spite of being billions of years old already, aged in only a couple of decades (I'm going to assume she used Dr. Blight's products). She has a senior moment where she yammers about "too many people" to clean up after... we've been hit with that sledge a million times in the past eighteen minutes, so what's one more? -_-

See that factory that's making the sea green in the picture above? Yeah, it's going to blow up. That means it's time to call up Cap! The Burger King Old Farts Club assemble and unite their powers (one minor note, the ring of heart farts when it's used... it's like the staff knew its power sucked!).

Oh, Future Cap doesn't have a pot belly? I am disappoint. =(

Naturally, Cap has become a grouch. Things have become so crappy that Token White Guy's the only one cheering him on. Needless to say, the plant explodes, Cap gets covered in ooze, everyone blames the failure on Wheeler and Linka having too many kids (What, did they play with the equipment in the factory?), and Cap demands someone to wash him off. Linka hurls water at him and splashes Wheeler in the process.

...and it was AAAALLL a dream!

Yeah, this was the Season Five finale. For me, it would have been more appealing to see the over-the-hill BKTC's bickering and apathy devolve into fisticuffs... but this is a blase, twenty-minute Green PSA aimed at six-year-olds. One more season would follow due to Turner's obsession with the cartoon.

Anyway, now Wheeler's not hitting on Linka any longer but has come around to Turner's the rest of the BKTC's stance: he doesn't want more than two kids. Well, if they have more lip collagen than the male lead in Titanic: The Legend Goes On, I won't blame him.

This episode was made of stupid. Now for my final--

GO PLANET!

Aw man, I forgot about these! At the end of every episode, Turner and company throw in not one, but two PSAs. The intent is good and all: don't consume so much, recycle, blah, blah, blah. Which is fine and dandy... if every other episode wasn't already dedicated to that kind of stuff! Say what you will about the "Sailor Says" segments from the old dubs of Sailor Moon Classic and Sailor Moon R, but at least the episodes that preceded them weren't half-hour sermons that rendered them pointless.

...did I just say a positive about "Sailor Says"!? o_O

GAME REVIEW: Mega Man 6 (NES)

They're fighting at a mini-golf castle!

We're here! The end of Rockapalooza is here and I'm playing the first Mega Man game I ever owned.

I'd like to note that Capcom didn't publish this game because they were moving on to the 16-bit era... yet the copyright still displays their logo and fanfare!

Let us begin.

STORY

(SPOILERS!)

Robots from around the world are gathered together for the First Annual Robot Masters Tournament, sponsored by the strange billionaire Mr. X. Eventually, the number of participants in the tournament is reduced to eight finalists:

Blizzard Man, a Canadian-built robot originally built to monitor the weather conditions at the South Pole.

From China, the agricultural robot Wind Man.

 The British gladiatorial unit Knight Man.

Plant Man, a botanical robot from Brazil.

Greece's Centaur Man, a robot archaeologist.

Flame Man, a thermal-powered robot from Saudi Arabia.

The United States' warrior robot Tomahawk Man.

Japan's samurai robot Yamato Man.

Then, Mr. X reveals takes control of these eight finalists and reprograms them to use in his bid for world domination! Rock confronts Mr. X about it and is told that the billionaire was the mastermind behind all of Dr. Wily's schemes and that ol' Al was no longer needed.

Rock goes off to put a stop to the eight robots' rampage and then goes after Mr. X's fortress. Once he's stopped, Mr. X that he is really...

Whoever didn't see this coming, raise your hand.

So Rock goes after Wily and manages to arrest him and everything is gumdrops and peppermints until Mega Man 7.

(END SPOLIERS)

GAMEPLAY/CONTROL

Controls are the same, I'd be beating a dead horse by now talking about them.

Some people consider the gameplay to be inferior to the previous couple of entries, but I honestly don't see that much. The stage layout is pretty much on par with MM4 and MM5, if you ask me. Mr. X Stage 2 is really of linear, sure, but the latter two sections make up for it. Not only that, but the last third of Plant Man's level REALLY gave me a hard time as a kid.

Also, we are introduced to the Rush Adaptors in this game. 

Power Mode allows you to bust blocks that may or may not have items like a 1-Up or E-Tank behind them; it also can be used to attack enemies... but its range is really short. One cool thing about it is that it knocks away come smaller enemies, like the robot hockey pucks in Blizzard Man's stage, and even takes out shielded enemies when their defenses are up.

Jet Mode allows you to fly for a moment. It REALLY helps out with some of the platforming sections, allowing you to take shortcuts and can even allow access to alternate routes.

Jet Mode is the shizz-nit!

The downside to all of this is having to switch back and forth between modules. It may not sound bad, but imagine you're in Jet Mode flying over this huge gap. You reach the other side, but there's a block in your way, so you switch to Power Mode and bust it. On the other side, there's another big gap that you have to fly over. Kinda slows things down!

Also, the bosses (especially the ones for Mr. X's stages) are pretty underwhelming. The Mr. X Stage 1 boss was a pretty interesting concept and one for Wily Stage 1 looked cool... but the Mr. X Stage 2 boss is one of the most irritating in the Classic series:

You're supposed to hit it with Silver Tomahawk, but it always moves up and down the wall shooting at you. All the while you try to get out of the way for its shots and hit it, exploding boulders are dropped from above.

Also, I'd like to note that the inclusion of mini-bosses returns after its nadir in MM5: we've got two Gorilla Tanks in Plant Man's stage, two Metall Pottons (those things that dispense Mets) in Tomahawk Man's stage and one in Wily Stage 4, and (my favorite) Gamarn-and-Gamadayu in Yamato Man's stage.

Beat also comes back! You have to defeat Tomahawk Man, Knight Man, Centaur Man, and Yamato Man in an alternate room in their stages to get the B, E, A, and T panels. People complain that he sucks in this game because he can't attack bosses... but screw them! That's a small price to pay when you have something that stupidly powerful to attack normal enemies and often one-shot the stronger ones!

All in all: bosses aside, gameplay pretty much stays the same course as MM5. Kinda wish they kept the M-Tank, though...

SOUND/MUSIC

This game probably boasts my favorite soundtrack in the entire 8-bit Classic games.

The western theme of Tomahawk Man's level pretty much defines this game, along with the epicness that is Yamato Man's theme. Also, when I play against a boss, the riffs in the battle music makes me think I'm watching a bullfight.

The Mr. X theme sounds really futuristic and the **** theme is moody, yet smooth as well and I think I like it a little better than the "Wily Castle 1" theme in MM2 (Someone also said that it sounds a little like Michael Jackson's  "Earth Song", but I don't hear it).

GRAPHICS

The excellent soundtrack is matched with really good graphics. The sprites are solid, as usual, and for some reason being in Yamato Man's stage and looking at Wily's castle really makes me think of Samurai Pizza Cats and the ill-fated 1995 edited dub of Dragon Ball.

Well, so much for trying to avoid spoilers...

Was his contractor Emperor Pilaf or Big Cheese?

Speaking of anime, Keiji Inafune's otakuism strikes again with the boss for Mr. X stage 3:

What's more, the boss of Wily Stage 1 (yeah, the cat's out of the bag now, so I won't bother censoring his name any longer) is clearly inspired by the Mechasaurii from another Go Nagai work: Getter Robo.

Then there's the Wily Stage 2 boss:

For some reason, I keep seeing it as a descendant of the Czar Tank!

One last note in terms of graphics: if you revisit certain stages AFTER unlocking Beat, the background and foreground graphics will change. For instance: Tomahawk Man's stage will take place in the early morning rather than the afternoon, the sky in the first room of Knight Man's stage will be grey instead of orange, and Yamato Man's stage will take place at sunset.

VERDICT

Some people tend to dismiss this game as complete garbage. For my money, it's pretty good. It may have some rough edges and stupid-looking bosses, but I think it's a better introduction to the series for newcomers than MMII... it's not as easy as that one, but not as hard as Mega Man and Bass. The story may be laughable (seriously, Rock falls for "Mr. X's" ridiculously obvious disguise, who throws it off nonchalantly?), but nobody really gives a darn about storyline unless it's an RPG or a Phoenix Wright game.

I say lay aside the naysayers, give this game a chance, and draw your own conclusions. With all the varying routes in the levels, you've got a little replay value as well.

Give it a shot!

AND WE'RE DONE WITH ROCKAPALOOZA!

In hindsight, it's kind of a bittersweet thing, considering how the franchise has pretty much died due to Capcom's neglect and stupidity. It was fun to revisit some of the games I grew up on (and tried out three I had never played until this marathon). Now I can safely say that I was able to take down the Yellow Devil in MM1 without using the pause trick.

Good times, good times...

But now I must move on to new stuff. Considering dipping into some movies, anime, and cartoons on occasion.

I'm DLAbaoaqu. Full-on!

• Mega Man 6 is owned by Capcom and Keiji Inafune
• Mazinger Z and Getter Robo are owned by Go Nagai and Toei

GAME REVIEW: Mega Man V (Game Boy)

How toyetic can you get?

("Toyetic" is a word created by marketing people. It means an object or device,

featured in a cartoon, that could easily become a mass-produced toy.)*

YES!! This is the last of the Game Boy Mega Man games! So let's delve into Dr. Wily's revival of Gravity Man and Star Man and... wait what? No more recycled Robot Masters!?

STORY

(SPOILERS!)

One day, Rock and Roll were taking a walk, when a new robot, the Stardroid Terra, shows up. It turns out that he is immune to the Mega Buster and thus takes down Rock with ease. While Dr. Light repairs our hero, four other Stardroids (Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Neptune) begin attacking Earth. Once Rock is fixed, he takes them down using his new "Mega Arm" weapon. Terra, in response, releases a Yellow Devil-like boss called Dark Moon to destroy Rock, but it fails.

With Terra's goons driven off Earth, the battlefield shifts to space. With Rush adapted for space travel, Rock goes head to head with four more Stardroids -- Uranus, Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter -- before beating Terra once and for all. As soon as Terra is reduced to scrap, we find out that Dr. Wily was behind the whole Stardroid invasion!

C'mon, Al! Your track record for being upfront about

world conquest was as clean as a whistle up until 

now... on the Game Boy at least!

Rock and Rush fight their way into the Wily Star (yes, he plagiarized the Death Star like Dr. Eggman did) and fight the rebuilt Mega Man Killers and Quint one more time. After refighting the Stardroids and beating Wily's latest machine, the doctor reveals his trump card: the ancient robot Sunstar.

Rock defeats him, but Sunstar is damaged beyond repair and is about to self-destruct. Rock escapes the ancient robot's explosion, which took the Wily Star with it.

(END SPOILERS!)

GAMEPLAY/CONTROL

Once more, the fluidity of MMIV is preserved for its follow-up. Nothing much to say about the controls, so I won't bother since everyone knows the basic controls by now. The shops are back and I've already explained how they work in the last review.

This game, like its predecessor, brings a few new things to the table. You don't use the Mega Buster this time, but the Mega Arm. Once more, Inafune's old-school otaku status plays into this: it's based on the Rocket Punch from the Mazinger metaseries:

Also, we're introduced to a robot cat, Tango. He rolls into enemies, Sonic-style, and damages them. However, the big draw back is that it's not very useful during the latter parts of the game. I only used it TWICE when playing myself.

There's even a part of the game where it becomes a shoot-'em-up... though the homing enemies are probably among my least favorite in the series.

MUSIC/SOUND

What else can I say about the music? It's classic Capcom. Venus, Mercury, and Wily's themes were the big standouts for me. Didn't hear any uncanny resemblances to famous songs this tie around.

Also, they gave Tango a little meow sound effect. Not a very big point, but pretty cute.

GRAPHICS

Once more, they stayed the course with the graphics. Now, the prominence of cutscenes, started in MMIV continues here. I really don't have much to say, good as usual.

VERDICT

I'm sorry if this review sounds like a cop-out in comparison to the last one, but so much was grandfathered over from MMIV. It does break the trend of recycled Robot Masters, giving us the debut (and likely only game) of the Stardroids and it's nice to see the Game Boy-exclusive bosses one more time (before becoming downloadable content for MM10). Many consider this the best of the Game Boy titles, but I put it on the same level as MMIV. I WILL give it this: it IS the most original of the five. Check it out if you never played it.

I'm DLAbaoaqu. Full on!

• Mega Man V is owned by Capcom and Keiji Inafune
• Mazinger Z is owned by Go Nagai