Mega Man 7

The Good
Here we are. After six NES outings, you'd think that Mega Man is due to just hang up his helmet and shut down for good. HA! Tell that one to Capcom. If anything, Mega Man 7 just proves that there's still plenty of steam left in our hero's robotic body. And at least it makes up for the rather "Meh..." sixth chapter.

So what's Mega Man 7 all about? Well, to begin, Dr. Wily was thrown in prison for good by Mega Man. But the evil scientist proves that he's not stupid at all. He had 4 new Wily Robots he hid away spring him from jail, with Mega Man in hot pursuit. And while Mega Man's trying to chase Wily down, a new robot named Bass comes in, attacks Mega Man briefly, and tells him that he and his own robot dog companion, the wolf-like Treble, are going to handle Wily, and Mega Man should just sit this out. (By the way, telling Mega Man to sit out of stopping Wily is like asking the world to stop revolving around the sun.) Mega Man wonders about Bass, and decides to chase Wily down anyway.

On to the gameplay: a new select method has been added in this game...you start with 4 selectable Wily Robots only! That's right...only four to start! But beat those four and you'll find that Wily had four more waiting for orders, bringing the total number of Wily Robots to the traditional eight. Also new is a Shop, run by Dr. Light's new "Ichiban" (Number 1) student, the bumbling but good-hearted Auto. Taking a cue from Mega Man IV and Mega Man V for the Game Boy, Mega Man can collect Bolts from fallen enemies, and in turn bring them to Auto to turn into useful items. And are there ever items! Grab a few E-Tanks and maybe a new Adaptor for Rush, and don't forget to get a Beat Whistle to allow the little blue bird to come and save Mega Man in a bind. Rush, Mega Man's robot dog, has a bunch of new adaptors to use! He has the new Rush Search, which will let him sniff out and dig up useful things from the ground, and there's also the new Super Adaptor, which looks like a big combination of the Jet and Power Adaptors from MM6, as well as a powerful and deadly weapon towards most enemies! Mega Man's got all of his old tricks back from the previous games, and he's got a few new ones (see them for yourself. ^_^).

Quick descriptions of the Wily Robots coming up...first is another ice robot; Freeze Man. His weapon, Freeze Cracker, fires a large shard of ice that splits if it hits a wall. It can also freeze lava and certain enemies. Then there's Burst Man, whose Danger Wrap can encase enemies in a large bubble with a bomb in it, causing them considerable damage when the bomb bursts. Then we have Cloud Man and his Thunder Bolt, which can fry any enemy and activate machinery. Junk Man and his Junk Shield provide protection for the user for a limited period of time. Then there's Slash Man, whose deadly Slash Claw, while short ranged, can slice anything apart. The whimsical Spring Man's Wild Coil launches two projectiles at its foes, and is hard to avoid. Next is the enigmatic and slightly screwy Shade Man, who loves the dark, isn't afraid of stoning his enemies, and can shatter eardrums with his Noise Crush. Finally, we have Turbo Man, who can burn rubber (and Mega Man, it seems), with the firey Scorch Wheel.

As for graphics, music and sounds: the graphics look rather good on the Super NES. Sprites are large and pretty nicely animated (although Mega Man looks pretty stupid when he runs, unfortunately), and the graphics make good usage of the SNES color palette. The music is great, and each piece fits very well with their respective areas. A couple of pieces of music deserve special mention, though: Slash Man's stage, Turbo Man's stage, and the first station of Dr. Wily's fortress all contain the best music in the entire game. Period!

The Bad
Mega Man 7 isn't without its shortcomings...

The sound effects, for one, are ridiculous. I don't mean just a bit...I mean they're REALLY cheesy and ridiculous! Mega Man's cannon sounds like a little spitball shooter, and the sound of the Super Adaptor's jet turbine sounds like someone farting through a straw! (No really, it does!)

Also, having big sprites also limits the play area quite a bit, plus it also makes avoiding some enemies a hassle.

Another thing: having only 4 bosses to start limits the way you can play the game severely. There was a reason why all 8 bosses were immediately selectable in past games: so you can try new combinations and orders of playing the game! 4 bosses makes the game way too straightforward, and while this method of play worked fine in the Game Boy Mega Man games, it doesn't work here.

And as a final mention: good luck beating Dr. Wily's second form in this game! I'm serious! He's nearly impossible! What the hell was Capcom thinking!?

The Bottom Line
Despite stupid shortcomings, Mega Man 7 still is a great Mega Man game. It's hard to find nowadays in cartridge form, but it's pretty worth it if you find it!