Mega Man 5

The Good
Before I begin, I'd like to make one note: since I am reviewing the PlayStation Rockman Complete Works version, and since it's only (for now) available in Japanese, I'm going to use the Japanese names of Mega Man and Protoman (Rockman and Blues) in this review.

Anyway, let's get going. Rockman 5 wasn't my first Rockman game (that honor goes to...natch...Rockman 1), but it was the first one I completed entirely alone, without any help. But that alone isn't what makes it my favorite. Read on to find out why...it was the story of this one that really drew me into it.

It isn't often that Capcom gave the Rockman series (or even the X or Dash/Legends series, for that matter) much of a story, but in Rockman 5, they really went for an interesting premise. A group of robots is rampaging throughout the world, and their figure is only seen as a mysterious shadow. When Dr. Light begins to investigate where or who sent these robots out, their leader kidnaps him. Rockman tries to save Dr. Light and fails, only finding a yellow scarf where Dr. Light once stood. The only problem is, Rockman only knows one robot with a yellow scarf, and he could not have possibly done this...or could he? And if you're gonna ask, that robot is his brother...yep, Rockman thinks Blues kidnapped Dr. Light, and now has to find out if it really WAS him, and why he did it.

Rockman 5 introduces a few new gameplay changes. First up is an improved Rock Buster. Now you can charge up nearly instantly, and you do not have to have fired a shot before you can charge. Plus, the charged shots are also more powerful now and are also larger, so they have better range than before. Also new is Beat, a cute blue robot bird that can home in on enemies and kill them in one blow, which is extremely useful for keeping Rockman safe from danger. But you have to earn Beat (you don't automatically start with him) by gathering 8 different plates to spell ROCKMAN5 (or MEGAMANV in the U.S.), and these are scattered across the 8 Wily Robot stages, 1 per stage. Also, besides the standard "E" Tanks to refill Rockman's life meter, he can also gather the new "M" Tanks to refill all of his weapons. All he needs now is his Energy Balancer and he'll be really set!

As in the other Rockman Complete Works volumes, you can play the game in Original Mode (exactly like the NES/Famicom version), or in "Navi Mode", which gives you hints and tips for the stages (press Select when a "!" flashes in the corner of the screen), and arranged music and some graphical facelifts (more on that later).

Now, a few things before I move onto graphics, sound and music: all of the Rockman Complete Works games are basically the original NES/Famicom games ported to the PlayStation, with no major graphical sound or music changes. That being said, I'll review the graphics and sounds as how they originally were on the NES. That being said, the graphics for the time were great, with a lot of parallax scrolling and other cool tricks not normally seen in your average NES/Fami game. The sounds were pretty much the same as the other Rockman games, however they gave a few enemies some extra sounds which adds a bit to the environment. Now, as for music...

In Original Mode, you can hear the music as it sounded on the NES/Fami. Play the game in Navi Mode, however, and you get some WICKED remixes of every song! I already loved the music in the NES version, especially some pieces like Wave Man's stage, Gravity Man's stage, and Blues' castle, but to hear their remixes...absolutely awesome!!! Blues' castle theme remix especially sounds awesome, and Wave Man's theme sounds really different and much, much better...you simply have to hear it for yourself! Also in Navi Mode, you do get some graphical touches, such as a new life meter graphic, with an icon under it representing your lives remaining, and the weapon subscreen has been redone and looks better.

The Bad
I wish Capcom weren't so lazy with the Rockman Complete Works. While it's nice to play the games on my PlayStation, it would've been nice to actually have the games take advantage of the PlayStation's power and maybe have all redone graphics and sounds, and not just music. Come on! We only get Original and Navi Mode, and all Navi Mode has is just remixed music and some minor graphic overhauls? Why not just give us a full-blown Arrange Mode?

The Bottom Line
Even though it's a bit of a bummer to only have a partially enhanced Rockman 5, I'm still glad Capcom made the Rockman Complete Works series. It's great for those of us who loved Rockman in the days of the NES/Fami and want to play the games again. If you know where to shop for Japanese imports, ask for any of the Rockman Complete Works series. It may not be what we wanted (i.e. a real Rockman remix), but hey! It's better than nothing!