SNES

Mega Man 7

Mega Man 7 is a very joyful sequal to the series. A very colorful, graphical Mega Man not seen from the NES. With new characters, features, weapons, this is a great game for Mega Man fans and Platform fans alike!

On a whole, Mega Man 7 seems to be a step down from the likes of Mega Man X. Why couldn't there be a power-up that lets you charge all weapons instead of just the Mega Buster? Why do the graphics pale in comparison to a game that's older? In spite of this, Mega Man 7 does have enough neat extras to make it an enjoyable Mega Man title. All of the secrets are quite good and well hidden, plus at least SOME of the bosses are cool (I happen to like Shade Man, who's somewhat like a vampire.) If you've grown tired of the NES Mega Mans, stay away, but you'll enjoy it quite a bit if you're a fan.

All in all, Mega Man 7 is almost more of a damn-good retrospective tribute to the Mega Mans of old than a game in its own right (the museum level gives it away). It's not original, but who goes into Mega Man looking for originality? It's the same shit as before, and it's still pretty good. I hereby crown this game KING!!!!!!! of the Mega Mans! Let's hear it for Mega Man 7!

Mega Man 7 continues the Mega Man tradition by chucking more secrets and weapons at us than ever before. The graphics are only okay (i prefer those of X instead) and the levels seem uninspired. Where Mega Man 7 excels is with all of the little things to find. You'll go nuts looking for all of the RUSH letters. The game play is as sound as ever, nothing really different. This cart is definitely harder than the others. It is as tough as the first in the series. Good, but not great.

Mega Man 7 is indeed one of the weaker entries in the original series. The come down from the first three games -- which still feel fresh and exciting -- is palpable, even though Mega Man 7 tries to inject the game with a handful of new features. Some work, like the addition of Auto's shop and the new items. Some don't, like the decision to limit the number of robot masters at the beginning of the game. It's still worth a play to see the 16-bit jump, but expectations should be appropriately curtailed.

Those dying for the next Mega Man X installment will find VII a nice holdover until the next 16-bit entry down the road arrives.

Fans of the series might as well fork over the cash for the 17th helping of Mega Man, just to say they've played 'em all. However, if you are strictly a Mega Man X fan, then you're doing to be slightly disappointed with the graphics and gameplay. This man be the same game that was on the NES a couple years ago, but it's still a ton of fun and appreciably better than most of the other Super NES games coming out. Now if they would just get to Mega Man XXX!

It's not all bad, though. It's still a platform game, it's still playable, there are quite a few fascinating new characters, such as the city's new robot hero Bass and his dog Treble. It just lacks the ooomph! that so many of us are used to. True Mega Man fans might want to ask Capcom, "Where's the beef?!"