Where is Mega Man 11?

2008 saw the release of Mega Man 9, possibly the greatest installment in the entire classic Mega Man saga. Shortly after, Capcom followed up with Mega Man 10, which smoothed the formula even more.

Endless Attack modes in each provided an awesome new mode of platforming that has significant potential. You can already find about a dozen "endless attack" romhacks online. Proto Man and Bass provided the variety and challenge necessary for keeping the interest of the hardcore players. I still rank beating Mega Man 9 and 10 on hard with Protoman as some of my greatest gaming achievements.

Years later, however, I'm left wondering: where is Mega Man 11? Maybe the Wii is just coming to a close, or maybe Capcom is hesitant to continue the classic series without Inafune. Maybe that's it for Mega Man.

I recently purchased Mega Man X7 on a whim, but I've never really considered the MMX series all that great when compared with the classic NES and Wii 8-Bit adventures. 

I'm sure Starship Mega Man 55 or whatever else Capcom is putting out is equally good, but I just can't get motivated to play the other games in the series. The platforming always felt sloppy and the game always felt like it was marketed to younger kids or people seriously into techno and mohawks. Only with classic Mega Man does one need to be badass mother fucker to achieve victory, without the artificial dark and gritty "edge."

The edge comes from the game itself, and if you don't have serious nuts you might as well go cry at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Retro City Rampage Still Forthcoming

The long-awaited 8-Bit GTA parody is "almost at the finish line" according to its development blog. I can't wait to get my classic controller on this game. I've actually been watching development since the project was titled "GrandTheftendo" and was a Famicom homebrew project. Thankfully the developer scrapped that idea in favor of the possibilities available in a modern format.

If you wanna see some screenshots, click here.

You can also read the post I made right after E3 about Retro City Rampage.

Hopefully Nintendo won't drag asses with this project, but knowing them, they will. You'll be able to download the game on either the 360 or Wii, and its nice to see cross-platform publishing that includes the Wii.

Mr. Driller W Review

If you haven't played Mr. Driller you really owe it to yourself to give the series a try. This wiiware edition functions as an acceptable point of entry into the series while simultaneously satisfying fans.

Basically you dig down destroying blocks in an attempt to reach the bottom of the stage. If a block crushes you, you die. If you run out of air (time) you die. Along the way you pick up air capsules. Blocks also disappear if 4 or more of the same color fall or touch each each other while at least one is falling... the combos are hard to explain but you'll get the idea almost immediately.

Mr. Driller W has several levels, each with 3 difficulty settings. Each difficulty is like an entirely new level because the playing fields are radically wider on expert, and very narrow on easy. The expert levels are truly huge, bigger than anything else in the Mr. Driller series.

There are 7 characters to play as, each with their own voice and special abilities. Some characters are faster, but consume air quicker. Some can jump up 2 blocks instead of 1, and one can be hit twice before dying. The characters add even more variety to an already great game.

What IS missing, however, is other modes. You only have the stages to play through, though each stage does feel very different from the others. One stages has a lot of disappearing blocks, another has a lot of "white" blocks which wont attach or combo (these can be extremely dangerous).

The highlight of the game are probably the 2 endless levels (technically 6 when you count difficulties) which allow you to drill to your heart's content. One of these stages is easier than the other, and that's one of the best features in the game: the learning curve has been greatly reduced providing new players with easier access to the series. New players can play the easiest stage on the easiest difficulty with the easiest character (the robot) and learn the mechanics before moving on to something more challenging.

However, if you are a hardcore fan don't be deterred, because the expert difficulty is by far harder than the previous games.

Other features include: local leader board, 5 save files, unlockable stages and an unlockable character who plays quite differently than the others (I won't spoil it in this review). The game doesn't track stats like Mr. Driller 2 for the GBA, but it does track time.

Finally, all 4 control schemes are supported (wiimote, classic controller, GCN controller, and wiimote+nunchuck) which is an important feature lacking on many games.

For 8 dollars it's the best bargain in the series, I highly recommend it to everyone. Anyone else enjoy the series? Which version do you prefer?

Super Meat Boy Wii Not Canceled!

UPDATE: Super Meat Boy for the Wii was totally cancelled.

Super Meat Boy is a great DLC game for the XBOX360 and Steam, and the plan was to release if for the Wii as well. However, recently the game was canceled because of file size requirements on Nintendo's WiiWare Service. Developers must make their games 40 megs or smaller because the Wii has the storage capacity of a 10 year-old digital camera.

But Team Meat (the devteam) recently tweeted this:

"the news we hope to have by GDC effects the wii version and pc version of the game"

http://twitter.com/SuperMeatBoy/status/27997359031984129

This probably means that Super Meat Boy will be available as a disc for the Wii, but will Wii gamers be willing to shell out even $30 for a game that costs $10 via XBOX Live and $3.75, recently as a promotion, over Steam? Not me. $15 would be a nice price-point, as long as the manual is sweet as hell.

Now, check out this rad cutout.

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth

I just remembered that this game launched last year but I forgot about it. I'm finishing up my semester and I think it's time to download this game.

[Goes to download]

It's supposed to be a remake of the Gameboy game, but with updated graphics. I'd actually prefer older graphics, but Castlevania did find a nice look with 32-Bit level sprites, so I'll keep an open mind. Initial Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth thoughts in a few hours.

[Next morning]

The game appears solid enough, I only managed to beat 3 levels last night before I fell asleep. It's full-on Castlevania nostalgia trip, and the game even has an option to play with Castlevania 1-style jumping. I prefer the ability to slightly move in the air. I don't really enjoy the artificial challenge of poor controls, but Castlevania has always been an exception. The monsters don't move too fast anyway, only Medusa Heads and crap like that really present a problem.

The graphics and sound are both nice, but a little bland. It's almost like playing a watered-down Rondo of Blood. Just as I'm typing that, I realize that Rondo of Blood was, in fact, released for the VC and it's 100 points cheaper. Go buy that if you want a Castlevania game, but The Adventure ReBirth still offers a fun experience.

[A few hours later...]

I came home determined to play more Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, but I decided that 9 dollars for Rondo of Blood was too good an offer to pass up. So, you can get 2 really good Castlevania games for 19 bucks. That's still cheaper than some sort of collection disc they might release. You can certainly emulate Dracula X: Rondo of Blood using Magic Engine, but I've found the sound to periodically get really fuzzy. I don't own a PSP either, so that was out of the question. But having Rondo of Blood on my Wii is only a click away from Mega Man 9 and 10, and that's pretty cool.

I had to move Adventure Island: The New Beginning to the SD card to make room to download the Rondo of Blood CD Rom from the Wii Store. I hope the sound quality is nice, judging by the large file size (273 blocks!) it should be on par with The Dynastic Hero.



[and, finally]

The sound quality is fantastic, I'm also pleased to see they didn't translate the game. I prefer not knowing exactly what the characters say, but I do understand a bit of German and a little Japanese, plus I'm sure the pictures explain exactly what's happening anyway.

Rondo of Blood is hard, I remember it being easy. I must have been using save states, but the game is as fresh as ever. Super Castlevania 4 comes close, but doesn't quite measure up. Plus, despite the kawaii factor, Maria is really fun to play as. She moves like Alucard in Symphony, and is much stronger than Richter. You can unlock her in Stage 2, just get the key from the second candle after the first pit while being chased by half of the behemoth. The graphics and level design are top notch, and even though it's basically a linear platformer, you'll feel like you're exploring a large castle because of the multiple paths, secret levels, and optional secrets.