It’s been years since a new Mega Man title has been released, but it wasn’t always this way. Fortunately, Nintendo’s handy Virtual Console service is on hand to ensure that Mega Man isn’t forgotten with the release of SNES title Mega Man 7 on the Nintendo 3DS handheld’s Virtual Console service.
As per usual, Dr Willy and his gang of robots is up to no good and it’s up to Mega Man to save the day. In this Mega Man adventure, players are given the choice to tackle one of four bosses at first. Defeating these initial bosses will result in having to defeat another boss and then the next wave of bosses.
Unsurprisingly, the title contains a delightful collection of bosses to defeat with their own quirks and unique powers. Capcom somehow even manages to make a boss fight against a boss that is basically made out of rubbish feel compelling.
Not is it interesting ti fight the bosses, but it’s also fascinating to experiment with powers and see which ones are more effective against certain bosses. Mega Man starts off with his standard weapon, but will also gain new weapons by defeating the bosses.
Although the other suits that Mega Man gains have some interesting weapons to experiment with, it’s somewhat easy to end up mostly relying on the standard weapon that he starts with. Still, the usage of some of the other weapons comes in handy in certain sections of some levels and when fighting specific bosses.
This being a Mega Man title means that it can feel overwhelmingly difficult to even complete one or two levels. There is no lack of danger for the robot guy to worry about with the likes of instant death if he falls on certain hazards like spikes. Then there is the fact that dying in a level either results in going back to the start or just before the boss battle. Losing all lives will also result in having to restart the level or just attempting another one instead.
Against all odds, it is still worth the pain of replaying some levels a few times to complete them. This is mostly down to the excellent level design that relies on players making use of such environment props as enemy weapons to safely cross over dangerous hazard. It’s definitely a good sign when the level design makes players want to experiment with what is available around the levels and not just the tools that the character is equipped with.
Not only that, but the levels are made unique by including clever ideas, such as a level that starts with an enemy truck chasing Mega Man. Each level also makes use of a different location to make it distinct, but still feels like a part of a world thanks to its overall mechanical theme. In fact, the colourful environments make this one of the best looking SNES Virtual Console ports on the Nintendo handheld.
Those worried about constantly dying and having to start a level all over again will certainly want to make use of the Virtual Console’s restore feature. It makes it much easier to attempt a boss or even a tough section in a level, when there is the option to simply save and then load that save if the character dies.
Perhaps the inclusion of cheery music is Capom’s way of sneakily trying to make it less likely for players to curse at the title, when getting poor Mega Man killed in one of many possible ways. Regardless, it’s an excellent soundtrack and one that certainly makes accidentally getting Mega Man killed less frustrating.
Port wise there were no issues that popped up whilst playing making it one of the better Virtual Console ports.
Mega Man 7 is not just one of the best offerings on the handheld’s Virtual Console catalog, but also a little side scrolling adventure that is still just as entertaining as it was back when it was originally released on the SNES.
