Metal Slug X: Super Vehicle - 001

The Short

Pros
- Basically Metal Slug 2 without any of the problems
- New enemies, weapons, and slight tweaks to the levels make this the definitive version of Metal Slug 2
- No slowdown, even on the PS1 version
- PS1 version has a level select
- One of the funnest run-n-gun games to date
- Finds a perfect balance between skill and arcade challenge

Cons
- Renders Metal Slug 2 redundant

Metal Slug: Where you kill land-boats one gun at a time

The Long

I loved Metal Slug 2, but the problems with the slowdown really killed the game's flow for me. Luckily, it seems SNK realized they screwed up, because shortly after the release of Metal Slug 2 they cleaned up the game, made a few adjustments, and released Metal Slug X. Metal Slug X was also the first Metal Slug game released in the US on the PS1, so for most people (myself included) this was the first Metal Slug game they ever played in the comfort of their own home.

And hoo, boy, is it a good one!

Suck it, Nazi Laser Death Sub!

As I stated in my Metal Slug 2 review, I consider the second installment in this series to be the absolute best one. While many can argue that Metal Slug 3 is the craziest (and the longest), it also is absurdly difficult to the point that the game can be very frustrating (not to mention the final level is way too long). While that discussion will be reserved for the Metal Slug 3 review, I will say this: Metal Slug X is the perfect balance of skill and cheap deaths, making it for a fantastic Metal Slug game and the absolute funnest. 

Power-ups are frequent and feel great. Vehicles (aka "Slugs") are also all over the place, and a skilled player will be able to keep them for long durations of time. Enemies are plentiful but never overly difficult, and even the final batch of enemies (the aliens) are a new challenge but can be mastered if you are good enough at jumping and shooting their space-blob-bullets. This is one of the few Metal Slug games were I could actually one-coin the whole game (yeah. Really. The only one) while I was in my prime on the PS1. This makes you feel like you are always in control, and the game never throws anything particularly unfair at you.

Bats with potions. I hate those guys. 

Now, in argument that means this is a "bad" arcade game, as it won't suck your quarters as much as Metal Slug 3 does. But since X is clearly intended to be the "home" version of Metal Slug 2, I think it's perfect. You don't have to continue like crazy (though if you do you have unlimited lives) and you can get a good run going and actually save prisoners at the end of the levels. 

Let's go over the brief changes between X and 2, since the majority of the game is exactly the same. There's a new weapon, the Iron Lizard (though I swear the guy says "Iron Eagle" when you pick it up) that is like an explosive remote-control car that zooms away from you on the ground when shot. There's new enemies like mummy-dogs, and the first-level boss has been moved to a mid-level boss and replaced with the standing-tank-thing from Metal Slug, which is kind of neat. They also changed a few levels in very small ways (the starting level is at night instead of during the day now for some reason), but overall this is pretty much the exact same game, just refined to an excellent shine. 

I really love this game's bosses. 

Aside from that, there really isn't much to say that hasn't been, except this is my absolute favorite Metal Slug game. It's well balanced, has fantastic setpieces, is never unfair or unjustly cruel, has a fun story with a goofy "plot twist" at the end, and is an absolute riot co-op. While it might be the easiest Metal Slug game (at least out of the early ones), that isn't to say it's a pushover. It strikes a good balance between visceral satisfaction and edge-of-your-seat stress, which is exactly what the series needed.

Metal Slug X is also a fantastic PS1 port, with all the slowdown gone and even with a stage select. This is where I spent most of my days, but it's also on the PSP, PS2, and Wii as part of the Metal Slug Anthology. I personally think that whole collection is worth it for X alone (and all other six games are a bonus), but hey...to each his own.

Regardless, you should play this game. If you have a friend who likes blasting stuff as much as you, grab him or her, sit in front of your TV, and get shootin' at those nazies, mummies, aliens, bats, and tank-boats. Metal Slug don't get better than this.

Five out of five stars. 

And yes, the mummy level song will still get stuck in your head. 

Metal Slug 2: Super Vehicle - 001/II

The Short

Pros
- Takes the original Metal Slug formula and cranks it up to 11
- More weapons, slugs (vehicles), and enemies
- Fight aliens and mummies, oh my!
- Adds two new playable characters (girls!) and lets you actually pick your character
- Can get "Fat" for more damage and more fatness.
- Some of the best bosses and locations in the series
- Strong balance of skill reward vs coin-pushing

Cons 
- Arcade version and all ports have absolutely crippling slowdown
- Overall mechanics not to different from the original Metal Slug
- Some of the levels (with the exploding Gollum-lookalikes) are a bit cheap
- Enemies don't bleed in the US versions; they "sweat." What.

Uncharted 2 train level, eat your heart out. 

The Long

Considering how successful Metal Slug was, it made sense that SNK would punch out another game. Two years later, with rocket lawnchair and heavy machine gun in hand, Metal Slug 2 hit arcades. Of all the Metal Slug games, this one has always felt to me like the one where the series really took off. It blends just the right about of nazi-slaughter along with killing weird other things (mummies, aliens, and...bats?), as well as allowed you to traverse the entire globe rather than just sort of rustic European-looking townscapes. Combined with new vehicles, characters, and weapons, this was going to be the best Metal Slug yet.

Is it? Well, almost, except for one rather massive flaw. 

This first boss is bigger than any in the original Metal Slug.

Metal Slug 2 takes everything that made the first game great and amps it up. The graphics are prettier, the enemies and bosses larger, and the locations and situations zanier. One minute you'll be fighting your way through an Egyptian village, riding a "Camel Slug" (basically just a camel with a machine gun mounted on the side), the next you'll be raiding tombs with the best of them and fighting mummies (and turning into a mummy if they manage to hit you with their toxic breath). Then you'll be fighting a land-ship-tank-thing, as well as a boss that literally throws tanks at you. After a startling plot twist that aliens are, in fact, behind all of this (spoilers?), you'll have to send E.T. home via flame shots and shotgun blasts before destroying the mothership and rescuing not-Hitler from anal probing. Oh, and did I mention one of the levels requires you to shoot a runaway train so many times it explodes? Four times?!

Metal Slug 2 is everything I love about the Metal Slug series. Tight controls, tons of great power-ups, fantastic boss battles that are just massive, and great graphics and tons of silliness. It was all set to be the best Metal Slug game yet.

But then you start paying it, and you realize something bad: this game has horrible slowdown.

Also, in the US versions of these games they "bleed" sweat. How lame is that?

And I don't just mean the home ports, which at the time were much less powerful systems than dedicated arcade cabinets. I mean, the game itself was slow in the arcades. When stuff really got crazy, which is a Metal Slug staple, things could drag to a downright crawl. While you could argue it isn't gamebreaking, it is extremely frustrating, not to mention lame. One of the staples of the first game was that tons of crazy stuff happened but the game still ran smooth. The slowdown is annoying.

Not just annoying, but it can get you killed! I can't count the number of times I couldn't react with good enough timing to dodge boss attacks or bullets because the game was just chugging along at about half-speed. It takes the wind out of the sales of many of the fantastic-looking (and designed) bosses to have the whole game barely moving half the time. Quite obnoxious.

I blame the mummies. Who live in a "Mummy" house, it seems.

All that aside, this game is gorgeous. The aforementioned huge bosses are all pixelated, glorious pillars of art and animation in a style that people, frankly, think takes too much time these days. The explosions look even better, and the new effects (like how a variety of enemies die differently when being either burned by a flame shot or literally disintegrated by the overpowered shotgun) are delightful to look at. This is really a fun looking game, slowdown be damned.

The music is, as always, catchy and great, but with certain tracks like the mummy level getting stuck in your head something fierce. The sound effects are also fantastic, with the alien and mummy death sounds being personal favorites of mine. 

It also has a great ending that directly references Independence Day, so that's hilarious as well.

I see what you did there, Metal Slug 2.

All in all, Metal Slug 2 does everything that a sequel should do. It ups the ante, jacks everything up to a new level, and looks phenomenal doing it. If it weren't for the awful slowdown, I'd argue that this is the best Metal Slug game ever made. But, to be honest, Metal Slug X (which is basically this game but better and with all the mistakes fixed) makes this game completely obsolete  But that's the topic for the next review.

Point being: Metal Slug 2 is great, and it's unfortunate the slowdown causes so many glaring problems. If you find it in an arcade, you should play it, but if you have it in a collection, play X instead.

Three out of five stars. 

Die, aliens!

Metal Slug: Super Vehicle - 001

The Short

Pros
- Crazy run 'n gun action with lots of powerups and abilities
- Drive vehicles (aka "Slugs") for more awesome carnage
- Some of the best pixel art in the business, bar none
- Six levels of not-nazi blasting carnage
- Strikes a good arcade balance between skill-based and unfair quarter-stealing
- Quite silly
- Two players
- "RAWKET LAWNCHAIR"

Cons
- Not as silly as later installments, though that might be ok
- Only two characters
- Early ports (Playstation and Saturn) were kind of garbage

Metal Slug: Actually a spiritual sequel to Prometheus? 

The Long

The "run n' gun" genre has been around for a while, but people will argue it really took off with Contra. Combining macho-men with tight control, the "one hit and you're dead" idea, and absurd powerups and tons of action, Contra was pretty kickass. Many games would attempt to emulate Contra's success, some doing great (Alien Hominid), some ok (Cybernater) and some doing not ok (Doom Troopers). But really, when you think of a game series that not only matched but completely outdid Contra, you're thinking about Metal Slug.

SNK and Neo Geo were the kings of the arcade back in the 90s. Even today, they've made games across tons of genres that are memorable, play fantastic, and are just straight awesome. But for me, my absolute favorite SNK arcade game franchise is Metal Slug. There's just something about these games that is so incredibly gratifying it's hard to not just want to sit down and play them for hours.

So...what makes the first one so good? And why should you consider it nearly twenty years later? Grab your Heavy Machine Gun and read on.

Burnin' bridges. 

There isn't much to the story, so we'll just leave it at "Nazi look-alikes." The army of green-clad, lazy soldier jerks is out to take over the world, lead by a Hilter wannabe, and it's your job to take 'em out. Take 'em all out. Be it tanks, helicopters, planes, dudes, boats, military bases, walls; whatever. Enough bullets, and it'll explode in glorious, hand-drawn shrapnel goodness. Thank you, SNK, for completely going over the top.

The gameplay of Metal Slug will be familiar to anyone who has (as stated previously) played Contra. Your character starts with a standard pistol and can shoot in four directions (unlike Contra's starting eight) and can fire as fast as you can mash the arcade button. Of course, power-ups are everywhere, most of them given to you by captured prisoners who all look exactly the same. Save them and then stand next to them for a brief second, and they'll pull out their pants and give you something good. Sometimes it's something awesome ("Shotgun!"), and sometimes it's just stupid (a bone that's worth 50 points? Gee, thanks). 

What makes this game a riot is the previously mentioned carnage. Your dude is a non-stop destruction machine, and with power-ups it only get more ludicrous. The amount of stuff on the screen at once is just staggering (not to mention gorgeous), and as you get more and more insane upgrades, the carnage just increases. And don't let me forget to talk about the tanks (or "Slugs," as they call them) which you can man and can take about 4-5 hits before exploding. These tanks are awesome and can jump, duck, and shoot tons of bullets and shells all over the place. They help give you a sense of empowerment few games can emulate. 

This is paired with incredibly tight controls for jumping, shooting, and tossing grenades. And since enemies are about as quick on the trigger as the cowboys in Sunset Riders, if you play careful you can usually get pretty far without having to put in another quarter. 

Total destruction. Also, those pixelated explosions? Gorgeous. 

That, in truth, is one of the better parts of the Metal Slug games. While it's still an arcade suck (especially on the last final levels and bosses), it's designed in such a way that if you get really good at timing jumps and shots you can last a pretty long time before seeing a Continue screen. The game pushes for your continue quarter by offering a free Heavy Machine Gun power-up on death, and every death also restocks your grenades (a cheap tactic in Free Play to get through some bosses quickly). But even though one little hit will kill you (and cause you to lose whatever powerup you have), you come right back where you left off ready to go.

That isn't to say there aren't cheap deaths. The vertical stage (stage 4 I think?) in the snow is cheap, as bad platforming jumps can cause unnecessary deaths. The later bosses fire so many bullets everywhere it seems impossible to dodge. And if you ever see a mounted gun: ignore it. It's a trap. Standing still where the computer wants you to be is a sure-fire way to get murdered, unless you have a great co-op buddy to cover your butt.

Speaking of co-op, that's by far the funnest way to play these games. While single player is nice because you can hog all the power-ups, the game drops so many that you can tell it's been designed for a co-op experience. Playing with two people can also decrease frustration with bosses and other enemies that take a lot of hits, as having a second hand makes you feel all the more powerful. Absolutely a game to be played with friends.

This has some of the best pixel art and animations in the business. 

The game looks incredible, too. Everything is hand-drawn pixel art, from the backgrounds to the bits that explode off enemies to the blood and effects; everything. The animations are amazingly smooth, the art is jaw-dropping at times, and some of the bosses (while not as totally bananas as the later games) really look impressive. This is combined with a serviceable soundtrack that just exists to get you pumped to shoot a trillion not-nazies, though the little "end level" ditty that they recycle throughout the series will be stuck in my head forever.

So what is bad about Metal Slug? Well...only a few minor nitpicks. As mentioned before, despite the game being quite silly in the amount of damage you can do, it still is pretty straight-laced this early on. While later games introduce zombies, giant hermit-crab tanks, and aliens, this one is just you shooting guys for most of it. Hardly bad, and the six stages offer plenty of scenery variety, but just not quite as memorable as others. 

The only other real issue I have is the general arcade thing of it being designed to eat quarters, especially with the later levels. While skill can take you a certain distance, after a while you're going to have to be tossing quarters in pretty frequently if you want to see the end of the game. This, of course, doesn't matter if you're playing one of the home ports with unlimited continues, though some might argue that takes away the nail-biting stress arcade games are designed to give you. I personally think the game is fun both ways, but I prefer to not have to pay every time I make a bad jump.

You're going down, not-Hitler.

Overall, however, Metal Slug is a classic for a reason. The home ports to the PS1 and Saturn were both pretty bad (the Saturn was better, though you'll need the 1 MB Ram cart), though the PS1 was where I first played this game and I survived. If you want to play it today, the Wii's Virtual Console is a pretty safe bet, though the best way is through the Metal Slug Anthology on either the PSP or PS2. Or just find it in an Arcade; it's still around.

Metal Slug is just straight up fun. Tons of blasting, explosions, bad pronunciation of powerups, and general macho badassness makes it memorable and just a straight up joy to play. I usually get frustrated at most arcade games for being unfair, but I never did with Metal Slug. If you like destruction, then grab a buddy and start blowing up everything. You can't let the not-nazies take over, can you?

Four out of five stars. 

"I eat prisoners for breakfast! Yes, literally!"

Internal Conflict: Does Persona 3 Hate Itself

(Warning: I wrote this at like 1 in the morning and wasn't really thinking clearly. It's just me barfing a bunch about my thoughts on Persona 3. It might not be very coherent or even correct, it's just mind vomit. There's probably some interesting stuff in here, but I apologize if you have to dig for it)

So I've been playing the everloving crap out of Persona 3 Portable on my new PSP system, getting sucked into its "one more day" addiction and perpetual obsession with increasing stats that will in turn increase that other stat which will allow for better stats to be made and raised in this chain cycle of addiction. It's a known fact I really love both this game and Persona 4, which is essentially the same game except Scooby Do and with better voice acting. It's weird replaying a 100 hour game again, knowing full well what I'm getting into, but luckily the female protag in P3P adds enough freshness (and it's been about a year and a half since I first beat P3FES) that the story still seems very new.

However, I noticed a few things replaying the game. Things that are...strange. Really strange. And as I thought further on the gameplay mechanics and systems in play inside Persona 3, I realized something. Like it's suicidal prone, head-shooting teen protagonists, Persona 3 might actually hate itself.

Let's go over quick basics of how the two most recent Persona games work just as a refresher. The game is a pretty standard turn-based JRPG at it's core, with an emphasis on elemental weaknesses. You get XP the normal way, which levels your Personas (a batch of spell-casting pokemon you can make). You have a bunch of Personas to level (meaning XP management is a thing you have to do), while your team is simpler and they just straight up level (you also level in addition to your Persona, which is weird considering your teammates are all-in-one, but I'm digressing).

The point of the game in a basic mechanical sense is to get the biggest and baddest Personas, level them up so they learn moves that can apply to enemy weaknesses (as you cannot beat this game without exploiting enemy weaknesses) and then mix them to make bigger and better ones, take them and level them, etc. In a traditional JRPG sense, the numbers go up but the spells don't really change. You have a single use fire and a multi-enemy fire, and then you get a higher damaging one that takes more SP (but your SP pool has grown, so the percentages are still all the same). That's the combat portion of the game.

Taken at its core, the battle RPG mechanics are, frankly, drivel. Yeah, it's all the rising numbers game nicely dressed up in some awesome art direction and head-shooting goodness, but it's still the rising numbers game at its absolute core. While I appreciate the elemental requirement that makes it so you have to have a balanced "team" of personas (much like Pokemon), that doesn't stop battles from quickly becoming repetitive and tedious. Replaying the game only solidified this fact: the level grinding is painful.

I will make note that the game is designed so that you shouldn't have to level. With the right elements, you should be able to get pretty far without having to grind (though grinding makes things easier). However, there are things obviously gated by lack of leveling. SP levels stay low (and are required to fully use the elemental weaknesses system) if you don't level a bit. Party members (which you thankfully can control in P3P) also need to level to learn moves to be able to deal with new threats. I only bring this up because I know people will get on my case for what I'm about to say because "Persona isn't a game about grinding," but let's be honest here: the system is in place to encourage it. Moreso in 4 and P3P then FES (as FES very clearly said "YOU ARE TIRED NOW STOP LEVEL GRINDING AND DO SOMETHING ELSE," which was clever, but P3P and 4 don't do that and just let you grind forever until you run out of SP or money to buy SP), but still...they wouldn't give all those billions of Persona's XP bars if you weren't going to fill them.

Then we get to the other part of the game: the dating sim. OR social sim. Or time management sim. Or whatever.

In both 4 and 3 you have a boatload of "stats" traits you have to raise (Strength, Charm, Academics in 3) that are basically just gatekeepers to Social Links, so I don't think I need to talk about them. They're annoying (basically they exist to fill time and require you to pace your social links, which the Social Links do normally with their "points" requirement to level, but this is just another buffer I guess?) but they fill time and give another bar to raise and actually do change bits of the game a little, which is cool.

What I want to talk about is Social Links, and why I think they both compliment and are at odds with the battle system, depending on your point of view. Raising Social Links has nice little visual novel stories attached (which is, honestly, my favorite part of the game), but from the battle side they provide a benefit as well. For each Arcana they let you fuse better pokemon monsters (allowing for a higher damage fire spell to use with your new SP max) but also do something important: give you free XP. The higher your level in an Arcana social link, the more "bonus XP" you get when fusing a Persona. This amount is usually monsterously huge (I believe you gain the # of levels on the Persona equal to the # of levels in your social link, but I might be wrong. Point being: fuse a Lv 88 persona, get a free jump to like 95, which would be roughtly twenty quadzillion XP normally).

...which is weird, because I thought this game was about the battles. Basically, Persona 3 has this system that's like "Hey! Spend time social linking, then we'll toss ya some XP so you don't have to go level grind these guys anymore!" But isn't the point of JRPGs like this the battle crawl to slowly gain XP to get better numbers? Why is this system bypassing it?

At first I thought it was because the game hated itself and was putting its two systems at odds. The social link is basically straight up saying that leveling sucks, so if you do some visual novel bits we'll throw free levels your way so you won't hav eto worry about it (though you still do, as you yourself and your party won't level). It isn't like a JRPG to admit its grinding is the worst thing ever.

But the more I thought about it the more I realized that maybe it's actually genius. Maybe it knows grinding sucks. Maybe it knows all the battles are (frankly) tedious and not particularly interesting, and it knows you'll have higher social links near the end of the game (hence more XP) when you are getting super bored of all that crap. So it's basically saying "congrats! You read a lot of text and were good at managing time. Here's some super-powerful guys, now just cruse through this dungeon." Which is very nice of it, because I got bored of leveling in Tarterus after the second block.

But then again, does that really make sense. I mean, it's basically giving you an "ignore this portion of the game" card (or at least it's telling us that's what it wants us to do. On the harder difficulties, you are going to have to grind regardless), but then doesn't that kind of kill the point of the rest of it? The mandatory stats raising and social links are just a different sort of level grinding. I'm pushing up social links so I don't ahve to grind battles in tarterous (and on that level, grinding my character stats so I can unlock more social links to do so I can do those social links to to get better monsters so I can avoid the level grind in the battles). So this whole thing still seems structured around keeping you out of battles as much as possible and just spreading the grinding out over two systems.

I don't know where I'm going with this, I'm just overthinking it. Grinding in these game is so tedious. Boss battles are the funnest part because they are actually challenging (normal battles can be too, but after discovering an enemy weakness it turns more into "spam the weakness" for every battle, so the focus changes again to figuring out how to get everybody down while winning the war on attrition against my SP bar) and you can give them your all without the attrition thing for the dungeons, but you spend the bulnk of your time in these games wandering the dungons slapping up shadows. Why is the game designed around trying to get rid of that? Because it knows it's super tedious?

If they knew, why didn't they make it better then? The rest of the game seems clever in how everything is integrated, from the fusing system to the social link leveling and all that, it's just the battles that come off as the super lame duck of this whole equation. I honestly enjoy doing social links and screwing around fusing personas the most out of everything in this whole game. The time management is stressful but in an entertaining way, and the regular battles bore me. Again, it really feels like they built this whole awesome system to get you great personas, and then actually using them is a drag (and the game knows it, so it makes them fat an dpowerful).

Anyway, this is just me thought barfing. I could see why people could quickly hate this game for that one half of it (the battles) while still loving it for the other half (the social links). I personally don't know what side I'm siding on, but after playing through FES, then 4, and now replaying P3P, I can say for certain that Persona 5 better do something to make that battle system more dynamic. Kudos to them for making a turn-based system that's actually relatively fun to execute for the first few times, but enough is enough. Spice the game up. The systems in place all focus down onto these battles. Make them better, not a war of SP attrition as I spam stuff hoping to find a weakness and do an All Out Attack. I spent ten hours in the fusing room, make my reward feel more significant.

That's all I can think of because I'm tired and my brain hurts. I was going to put graphics in this so it isn't a huge wall of text, but it's going to have to be after the fact as I literally can't think at the moment. Hopefully you enjoyed this little rant (and I still love these games, fyi. I just think they could do a few things better) and I promise I'll actually put a review up sometime.

God of War II

The Short

Pros
- Improves on the original God of War formula in nearly every way
- Better combos, more enemies, and tons of bosses
- Easily the best looking game on the PS2 with some incredible texture and scale work
- Lengthy quest with a host of replay options
- A whole second disc of extras
- Setpieces are even more incredible and jaw-dropping than the first game
- An excellent Swan Song for the system

Cons
- Story and character are considerably worse than they were in the first game
- While everything is marginally improved, there are no new tricks in the combat
- Extra weapons are extra useless
- Magic is also pretty much recycled exactly from the first game
- Very dependent on its quick-time events to finish bosses, stages, and to get through the most awesome setpieces
- Still is over the top with it's gore, violence, and nudity

That's using your head.

The Long

God of War was a game that sort of came out of nowhere and blew people away. Little did the creators know, but their game was going to spawn a whole slew of similar games over the next few years. I like to think God of War and Resident Evil 4 played the two biggest roles in shaping this generation of games (that and Call of Duty 4): one introduced quick time events and the linear (but accessible  action game, the other popularized third person shooting (and CoD the military shooter). 

Be that as it may, before the imitators came swarming in on the next-gen systems, we got God of War II on the PS2. Essentially the final real game on the system (though sports and music games would continue to persist for a while after), God of War II had a lot to live up to. Considering how incredible and mind blowing the first game had been, does its sequel stack up?

In most ways yes, In some others, not so. 

That's using your...arms...

Kratos is angry. After being made the titular God of War at the end of the first game, everybody in Olympus is quickly realizing he was a much bigger jerk than Ares ever was. Athena tries to warn him that if he keeps acting like a spoiled jerk eventually the gods will retaliate, but he ignores them and continues. Of course, they act, and Zeus kills Kratos and absorbs his god-powers, sending him to the underworld (again). About to die, Gaia, the titan of the earth, reveals herself to be the narrator from the first game and asks Kratos for help to overthrow the gods. Reviving him, he runs off to the Island of Fate to talk to the Sisters of Fate to change his fate (I'm seriously getting some "Island of Time" vibes from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within here). He changes his fate, rallies the titans, and the game leaves off on an horrid cliffhanger. 

Without going into too much detail (though I am considering doing a video series on this at some point), God of War II was what ruined Kratos' character. In the original God of War he was three dimensional. He had flaws. He made mistakes that he regret. He once had people he cared about who were taken from him unfairly by the gods. His brutality was horrific but it also made sense, the stage set for his bloodlust and greed (should he continue to do it) to be his undoing. Greek tragedy, as it were. 

In this game, however, the Kratos they so carefully developed in the first game has been removed for a bloodthirsty maniac. He doesn't garner any sort of sympathy from the player in any respect, acting at first like a spoiled child and then like a deranged psychopath. While you could argue that these games are just power fantasies and not meant to have any depth, I would argue that the first game presented this series as something different (as did the PSP sequels, but more on that later). Regardless, the story to God of War II is weak, full of plot holes, and despite it's epicness in scale falls completely apart if you take a closer look. 

Orlando Bloom, eat your heart out. 

Luckily, despite its rather massive failings in the story department, God of War II exceeds expectations when it comes to gameplay and visual spectacle. In nearly every regard aside from story, God of War II is a perfect sequel. It's bigger, badder, and more badass. And interwoven amongst this fantastic gameplay is an adventure set to a scale previously unheard of. It's really something to behold.

You'll be traversing the cave of titans, falling off the very earth itself to converse with Atlas, summoning and riding a phoenix, and battling bosses hundreds of times your size. The first scene of the game is you fighting the Colossus of Rhodes. Yeah, the huge statue, while you are a tiny little guy. That's the tutorial level. God of War II holds back no punches when it comes to presenting itself as the most over-the-top, epic adventure to date.

Walk it off, Kratos. 

Gameplay is almost identical to the original God of War. All the same combos are there (with a few minor exceptions), though they still dont' know what to do with the L1+Square button combo (something not fixed until God of War III), so if you played the first game you'll be able to jump right in. The changes they did make were all for the better, editing reaction times and basically smoothing the combo system out to resemble a flowing stream. As always, you can always block or roll out of any combo at any time (with a few exceptions being obviously telegraphed as you do them so you'll learn), meaning your skill is based heavily on your reaction times. There's also still a hefty helping of quick time events to pull of to murder monsters, though the best of these give you multiple button choices for how you want to brutally off the baddies. 

The only real complaint is that it's a bit too samey. The magic spells are almost cookie-cutter identical from the first game. Zeus' lightning is replaced with a bow, Poseidon's lightning with lightning balls, and even another medusa is decapitated and its head used to stone enemies. The only real new addition is the variety of subweapons (a hammer and a spear) that replace your chain-blades should you so desire. These weapons are neat in theory and do have a lot of combos, but none are as well refined as your blades, so you'll never, ever use them. 

Some like it hot. 

It's hard to describe, but this game just feels good to play. The original God of War already did this exceptionally well, but God of War II's refinements make this one of the smoothest action games I've ever played. It isn't complex by any means, and if anything the game's pretty easy (even on the harder difficulties), but the effects are just flashy enough, the moves just quick enough, and everything flows together so flawlessly it's a difficult game to put down. Again, hard to describe without playing it, but God of War II's combat is immensely response and, thus, satisfying.

This is placed in setpieces that dazzle and amaze. Enemies are just as huge as they were in the first game, only there's more of them now. You'll be ripping the heads off cerberuses, slicing the limbs off undead, ripping out cyclops eyeballs, and more. There's loads more bosses, too. While there were only really two to speak of in the first game, in God of War II you can't cross the street without some figure from Greek mythology showing up and wanting you dead. The game is perfectly paced because of this, with the platforming almost completely gone (thank goodness), the puzzles more streamlined, leaving just tons of enemies to kill and bosses to fight. And, again, since it's set against some amazing locations, you'll always want to see what's around the next corner and what upgrade you can get next from your red XP orbs. 

That minotaur is...well, he's dead. 

Perhaps the only real flaw with the awesome action sequences (which include some fun chain-swinging that puts Castlevania to shame) is the fact that most are very dependent on the quick-time events. Though I will admit the God of War series does them right: they always seem to pop up at the right time and give just the right window to get them off. That being said, they are a bit frequent. Almost every boss requires you to punch in some buttons for an over-the-top execution, and while many of the bosses are a blast with multiple stages, the whole "look to see if it's a circle or a square" bit gets old. 

But still, I can't praise the action in God of War II enough. If you can look past the fact that Kratos is the biggest, most immature jerk in the history of the world, there's plenty of brutal fun to be had here over the lengthy adventure. Plus, when you beat it you can go back and continue with your buffed-up Kratos, which is always a plus. A New Game Plus if you know what I'm sayin!

I'll take that. 

God of War II is a graphical marvel. It's hard to believe that the PS2 is considered the weakest system in terms of graphical prowess from it's generation; this is easily one of the best looking SD games I've ever played. Textures are gorgeous, with effects just exploding off the screen. Everything from dust poofs to rain falling to fire all looks downright incredible. You can't spot the polygons in Kratos' arms anymore; in fact you can hardly spot the polygons in anything. And I don't want to know what wizardry they used to make these absolutely massive setpieces with fantastic art design and detail; it's unbelievable. If you have a PS2 with component out cables, this game looks on par with games from the following gen, no joke. 

Sound and music are also outstanding, with the voice work being excellent around the board (despite the lines they have to say being pretty bad). Music continues the epic tradition from the first game, with the themes being memorable and the instruments swelling at just the right times. It's a feast int he presentation department, we'll just leave it at that. 

It always goes bad if you aren't Kratos. 

God of War II is a weird game for me. Part of me loves it for it's fantastic action, incredible locations, gorgeous graphics and killer music. It also has perfect pacing, tons of secrets, and a whole bonus disc of interviews, design documents, and more. But the other half of me (maybe the writer side) is a bit...distressed. God of War was a self-contained story, and a pretty good one at that. Expanding on that was going to take a great deal of care and thought, none of which went into this game. Kratos as a character is still somewhat sympathetic in this game, but it was stretching it pretty thin. As such it made it hard for me to justify his brutality, as he was becoming less of a three-dimensional character and more of a generic awful person. I couldn't relate with him, at all, and it made it hard to enjoy the game. 

Still, despite the squandered potential, God of War II is still absolutely worth playing for the action alone. It doesn't tie itself in well with its story at all, but the refined action (probably the best in the series save Ghost of Sparta) means you should still absolutely give it a shot.

For all it's flaws, you can't fault the game for doing well in so many areas. Four out of five stars. 

Yo, Atlas. What's up. Besides the earth, I mean. 

God of War

The Short

Pros
- Bloody, fast-paced third person action game
- Absolutely gorgeous PS2 graphics, if a little dated
- Incredible setpieces and locations
- Cut through a slew of mythological Greek creatures
- Fantastic soundtrack
- Kratos' story of revenge is both horrific and heartwrenching
- Never a dull moment; the game keeps spurning you to keep playing

Cons
- Smaller enemies and Kratos have a bit of a low polygon count
- Balance with XP seems a bit off (especially with the Medusa head power)
- Hades is one of the worst levels in any game, ever
- Violence, sex, and nudity can be a bit much and feel tactless
- Not a whole lot of depth to the combat or systems involved
- A distinct lack of boss fights (only two in the entire game)
- This birthed the quick-time event craze that is ruining game design

Meet Kratos. He's not a nice person.

The Long

I have a long-running affinity for Greek mythology. As a child I poured through book after book of these myths, reading The Iliad and The Odyssey long before I probably should have been able to. I always felt it was a fantastic setting to mine for movies or video games: you have the pettyness of the gods, the variety of monsters and myths, and a fantastic roster of heroes and villains.

Then God of War happened, and man did it floor me. 

God of War is an action adventure game set in the world of Greek myths. The gods are very much real, minotaurs, cyclopses, and all sorts of other nasties are out there to mess stuff up, and heroes are made and broken on a regular basis. And in this setting we toss a new myth, one of bloody violence and revenge. 

I'll not pretend this game isn't well known: after it's release it became a staple in Sony's coveted first-party franchises, earning loads of awards and spawning a whole host of sequels. So, years later, how well does this game hold up when compared to other third-person action games, including it's own sequels? Read on.

This game is rated "M," by the way. In case you missed that. 

Kratos is not a happy man. Slave to the gods of Olympus for an unknown reason, the game starts with him throwing himself off a cliff to commit suicide. Flash back three weeks, where he has been tasked by Athena to do one final favor. That favor? Kill a god. Ares, in particular, the titular god of war, who is ransacking Athens and it's pissing Athena and the other gods offs. Sworn to not intervene (something that is quickly forgotten in the sequels, but we'll address that when we come to it), they require a mortal to stop Ares' reign of terror. And thus Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, is tasked to find Pandora's Box, the only weapon that can kill a god, and use it to defeat Ares.

Let's get one thing straight: Kratos is an awful person. People use the word "antihero," but usually that implies some subtlety. There is very little to like about Kratos as a person, at least on first glance. He is brutal, cruel, and only thinks about himself. When he kills enemies, its in the most painful, bloody way possible. He roars and yells and revels in the slaughter. He's a grade-a douchebag.

Pictured: Grade-a douchebag

And, weirdly enough, I kind of grew to be sympathetic for the guy. Firstly because he's competent (and has two swords chained to his wrists that he uses to slice-n-dice anything that gets in his way), and second because you realize throughout the story the awful mistake he's made. I felt that all his brutality was trying to cover up the one big mistake he made, the one that will be spoiled in later reviews because it becomes pretty much his only character backstory. 

Regardless, I liked the Kratos of God of War. I felt bad for him, both because of what he did and because he was trapped in a cycle of violence I felt he couldn't break free from. One thing I will point out is that this game ends very neatly, with everything tying up. They then completely ruin that because they made a God of War 2, so looking back this ending is really...it doesn't make sense. I guess they figured they weren't going to make sequels.

That doesn't stop this game from being any less epic, though. 

Kratos' quest to recover Pandora's Box and use it to kill Ares is one wrapped in the trappings of a third-person action game. The game gives you the false illusion of exploration when really it is a very linear experience: the game funnels you through the right places in Pandora's Castle until you reach the end, with very little room for deviation. However, it does it so well you are tricked in thinking that you are actually exploring of your own free will, so I'll say it works.

I'll say this: the pacing is God of War is probably one of the biggest things that makes it so appealing. With the exception of two stages (the Desert of Lost Souls [which is thankfully short] and Hades [which is not]), the game keeps sending you forward, tossing new things at you frequently. Just when you get tired of combat, the game throws a new enemy or weapon at you. Just when you get tired of that, you have a puzzle room. Just when you are bored with puzzles, a new batch of enemies shows up to test your mettle. All this wrapped in some gorgeous setpieces, incredible graphics, and dripping with a Greek Mythos flare. It's a very complete package.

This is a very good looking PS2 game. 

Of course, the main part of an "action-adventure" game is the "action" part, and here God of War delivers in spades. Kratos is armed with two blades which, as previously mentioned, are seared to his arms with chains. This means he has a very long range as he can toss the swords and swing them about, and this makes you feel very empowered when fighting hordes of enemies. Combos are quick, easy to learn, and snappy, but probably the best feature is the ability to break them. During any combo you can roll or block out of it at a moment's notice, meaning if you are quick you can land hits fast will still dodging. Removing any delay from that was a brilliant move, because I never felt frustrated with the controls. When I got hit, it was my own fault (most of the time), and I'd own up to it.

The simplicity of the combat is also a bit of its downfall: God of War never even gets close to the technical level of difficulty as such contemporaries as Devil May Cry 3. It's meant to be played fast and loose, which makes for a very accessible and rewarding game, but also one that isn't particularly challenging. Even on the hardest difficulty the game feels more cheap than skill-based, with the mechanics breaking down a bit as the difficulty ramps up. It's ideally played on Normal or Hard, with the ultimate difficulty left forgotten. 

I should also point out that this is the game that (between it and Resident Evil 4) introduced the concept of "quick-time events" to the gaming industry. I've already gone off about them in my Ninja Blade review, but let's just say that, while they are overused now, at the time they were a unique idea. Using a combo of button presses to do awesome finishers isn't a bad idea, and it adds flare to some boss fights as well as a risk/reward for doing finishers. I've actually never minded it in this series (perhaps because it started it), but it must be noted that this game was the start of that awful trend. 

You've got red on you. 

When you are murdering an extremely wide variety of enemies (and some of these enemies are huge, let me tell you!), you are participating in some basic puzzle solving, exploration, and platforming. Puzzles are hardly brainteasers, with most being just as linear to the solution as the game is in general, but they still feel rewarding and do well to not outstay their welcome. The same can't be said for the platforming however, especially during a rather radical shift at the end of the game. The platforming is reasonably fine up until the final stage, Hades, where it shifts from a combat-heavy puzzler to a game where you jump on spinning, bladed logs over instant-death pits. Then you have to climb a super tall bladed tower with poor climbing controls and one hit knocking you all the way back down.

This Hades sequence is one of the worst things I've ever played, and it isn't any less frustrating today. After enjoying the platforming, puzzle solving, and exploration, they try to use systems clearly not intended for precision to do some very difficult jumps. It's punishing, aggravating, and left quite a sour taste in my mouth. The same goes for the final boss, who is a literal war of attrition and doesn't use any of the combos or abilities you learned throughout the game. Bad form here, guys. Oh, and the desert where you wander about trying to find a specific enemy you can only find based on sound, so I really hope you have a stereo TV. The first time I played this game I didn't, so you can imagine how well that went. 

I guess it's hell for a reason. 

There's one thing I'd also like to point out before I talk about the visuals and sound: God of War revels in its M rating, probably more so than any other game I can think of. As stated, Kratos is absolutely brutal. He doesn't just behead stuff, he kicks Medusas to the ground and (as you twist on the analog stick), twists their heads from their shoulders. He rips people in half, tearing off arms and limbs in brutal finishers. He murders innocents for health or to just solve puzzles, all while everything spouts tons of blood everywhere. It's...gratuitous, to say the very least. Honestly, it doesn't bother me that much (even if that makes me sound like a psychopath), but it needs to be mentioned.

The same goes for the gratuitous nudity. I don't mind monster topelessness (it's Medusas and Sirens, I kind of expected it), but I swear every female character in this game needs to buy a shirt (or get one that isn't see-through). This game also was the start of the infamous "sex minigame," a comical and (frankly) stupid series of button presses that is all off camera and mostly just serves to earn you free xp. That, unfortunately, became a series staple, and the nudity only became more prevalent in later games. It's very clear who the audience for this game is, so if you are one easily offended you should look away. 

Let's just say there's no black bars in the actual game. 

Graphically, God of War looks absolutely fantastic, even today. Replaying it I am still amazed at the amount of detail put into every texture, environment, and effects. The lighting is also exceptional, but the highlight has to be the effects and animations. Each brutal dismemberment animates fantastically, and monsters move with tons of tiny little details. It really shines.

That being said, the smaller sprite models do look a little dated, especially when compared with the rest of the series. Kratos' arms are a little polygonal, as are the smaller enemies. Big enemies, however, look downright fantastic, filling the screen with one or two at a time, lumbering about and just looking straight up great. Again, even today this game looks next-gen. 

Sound is also incredible, with fantastic voice work from the entire cast and a decent script to back it up. The music, however, is really something else. Booming orchestral numbers are memorable, powerful, and downright epic. It's one of the few games that isn't made by Square-Enix that I got the soundtrack to, and it's tunes are catchy and pound themselves into your brain.

Quite booming.

So what made God of War such a rousing success? I'd say because it did a lot of the little things right. The game is a graphical wonder, made better by sticking to a theme and embracing its on version of greek myths and monsters. The soundtrack and voice acting are of exceptional quality, really driving home a "Hollywood" experience. The combat is visceral and extremely satisfying while still being accessible enough for anybody to jump in and feel like a badass. While it still has some very glaring flaws (mostly in the level design side), the game's parts are just so well polished the sum is really something you can't ignore. It was released the same year as Resident Evil 4, another game that I felt did all the little things right, and both it and that game were fantastic end-games for their console's lifespans. 

It might not be the deepest game in terms of combat or story, and it might be gratuitous and pandering in the violence and sex department, and Kratos might be the worst human being alive, but there's no denying that God of War is an incredibly satisfying and addicting experience. For all it's flaws (most of which were refined in the sequels), it is still a must play game to this day. 

Just remember, it was Euripides who said, "Whom the gods would destroy, they must first make mad." I'd say Kratos has that, and in spades. 

Four out of five stars. 

This is the first boss. You fight him about two minutes into the game. 

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters

The Short

Pros
- Fight through another batch of robot masters in a boss rush mode
- Wider arrange of masters mixed up better across multiple games
- Improved HUD and UI
- Masters actually get unique stages this time around, which is appreciated
- Enemies also get more advanced movesets when you knock down their heath, increasing the challenge
- New playable character Duo.
- Lets you actually pick the order rather than some pseudo-random thing from the first game
- Still playable co-op

Cons
- While a bit harder than the first game, it's still too easy
- Duo is stupid. Just...in general.
- Again, music doesn't match the stages
- Also again, I find Capcom's taste in robot masters questionable, as is some of their 32-bit redesigns
- Can beat the whole game in under 45 minutes

Bubble Man, your redesign is awful. 

The Long

I liked Mega Man: The Power Battles, despite giving it a low score. I mean, sure, it was a really easy game and didn't properly execute on it's awesome premise, but it's still a fun co-op romp. When I heard they made a second one (which, if I remember correctly, never made it to American arcades), I was excited to see what they'd changed between games. Maybe it would have X in it? Maybe it would actually be hard? Maybe they'd pick less stupid robot masters?

Well...Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (great title, BTW. That was sarcasm.) is certainly a sequel, and it's certainly at least a little better than the original, but to be honest it still makes all the same mistakes. 

Those are totally the SNES sprites. 

First off let's go over the differences between this and the first Power Battles. Most everything is actually the same with a few minor nuances. Duo, that space...police...guy whose name doesn't have anything to do with music is now playable. He's bigger and slower and does more damage but has less range. Basically he sucks because he's a stupid character and besides...whenever you pick Protoman it plays his little whistle theme at the start of every battle. Why would you pick anybody else?!

Another key difference is the three scenarios. Rather than segregating the games into their own clusters, they just mix 'em all together across three unique campaigns. You can search for Wily, rescue Roll (seriously? Does she do anything useful?), or...search for parts. Um...yeah. Parts, Dr. Light? When all this other stuff is going on? Ok...

I'm just saying, the first two should probably take priority. 

Anyway, it's still just Mega Man 1-7 (no 8 here) across these missions, but at least they are all mixed up. You have a lot of recycled robot masters from the first game, but they also mixed in a few new ones this time around...and most are stupid ones. Centaur Man? Gyro Man? Bubble Man? At least we finally get Air Man up in here (aka the best robot master), but still, I find their taste in robot masters lacking. At least we didn't have Hard Man, and Pharaoh Man is finally in here. 

Heat Man...where you always that short?

There are a few other minor changes. The game lets you pick the order manually this time, while in the first one it just sort of randomly shuffled them. This actually makes the game easier if you know the boss order (or can guess, based on previous Mega Man experiences) because whenever you hit somebody with their weakness in this game it does an overblown attack animation letting you know that, yep, you got the right powerup. Game's about to get easy. 

Luckily they (sort of) compensate for this by having the difficulty continue as it moves on at a more dramatic climb than the first game. Robot Masters also have "desperation" attacks, meaning when their health drops below half they get a more powerful, more obnoxious batch of attacks that you have to work with. While not accurate to the original games, it certainly is a much appreciated increase in challenge.

More like Cen-tard man. 

The game looks decent, though some of the arcade redesigns look a bit dumb. Again, they recycled a lot of content from the first game but it looked fine to begin with so I'm not complaining. The new HUD is a bit better with an actual health bar and a cleaner interface, which is appreciated, and the backgrounds tend to be more exciting, colorful, and fit the characters you are fighting better. 

The music is also recycled with a few new remixes. They still couldn't bother to actually match the robot master with his song, but whatever...I'm past that at this point. 

Heat Man still looks like a tiny Zippo. 

I'll give Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters this: it's a bit more challenging, a slight improvement over the original, and still boasts fun two-player co-op. Aside from that, it's a very minor upgrade from the first game, so much so that I have a hard time discerning screenshots. The game is still way too easy, feels a bit unbalanced (in your favor), and only has a limited roster. As a sequel that should have offered substantial improvements over the original, this one just feels like a few minor upgrades.

I guess this is where I should insert a "Capcom Fighting Games Charging $60 For Next To No Upgrades" joke, but I'm tired and since I just explained it I guess that covers it...

As it stands, Power Fighters is technically better than Power Battles, but only by a small margin. However, the improved backgrounds, a better mix of robot masters, and overall minor improvements make it the arcade Mega Man fighting game to play, if you were in the market for one to begin with.

Three out of five. The game is also available on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection along with its predecessor, which is currently the only way to play this game in the US.

Duo is still stupid, though. 

Mega Man: The Power Battles

The Short

Pros
- Fun, arcade "boss rush" across robot masters and minibosses
- Covers bosses from Mega Man to Mega Man 7
- Three different batches of masters give you three different paths
- Can be played co-op as Mega Man, Protoman, or Bass
- Uses sprites from Mega Man 7 and looks pretty good

Cons
- Extremely easy...though for an arcade game this might be a plus
- Robot masters between different scenarios don't really change much
- Remixed music is nice but doesn't match the master you are fighting
- Mega Buster can wipe nearly everybody out. No weakness required.
- What should have been a hard challenge is more of a cakewalk
- They seriously picked some of the stupidest robot masters for this.

Ice Man...robot, or dude in a parka? The world may never know...

The Long

It's no surprise that I love the Mega Man games. The NES games provide a fantastic mix of difficult platforming, challenging bosses that each require unique strategy, and great graphics and music. But easily one of the most memorable parts of the game are the robot masters. Since a staple of Mega Man is killing people and taking their powers, knowing what weapon to use against who can help make near-impossible boss fights manageable, and you get a good deal of satisfaction by taking a guy down with his weakness.

So imagine, if you will, if you made a whole game just just forgoes the actual stages and skips you straight to the boss battles, a sort of "Mega Man Boss Rush" if you will. Sounds awesome, right? Yeah, I'd think so too. That, in a nutshell, is the idea behind Mega Man: The Power Battles, an arcade game that you can unlock as a bonus on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection on Gamecube and PS2. If you see this game in an arcade, is it worth punching a few quarters into and taking it for a spin?

Well, yes, but not for the reasons you might think. Read on! 

Wood Man has never looked dorkier. 

Again, the idea of a "boss rush" Mega Man experience sounds fantastic on paper. Take all the extreme challenge of boss fights from across Mega Man 1-7 and mix and match them in a "best of" experience...sounds awesome!

The setup is also pretty cool too. From the beginning you have have three options to start with, each associated with a certain collection of games' bossses. You can pick from a Mega Man 1-2 set, a Mega Man 3-6 set, or one that's just from Mega Man 7 (no Spring Man, though, so it's ok). This adds a bit of replayability so you'll see a fresh set of faces everytime you play...at least three times. 

Add to that the ability to pick three somewhat unique characters (Mega Man, Protoman, and Bass) and you have a lot of variability here. Everything seems set up to be an awesome, challenging boss rush experience.

The problem with Mega Man: The Power Battles appears after you actually start playing.

"Wax on, wax off."

This game is really, really easy. As in shamefully so. I think there's a reason the machines didn't take off in the states: they probably didn't make any money off of them. Anyone who has played any of the NES Mega Man games will easily cakewalk through this whole game, even without knowing the robot masters' weaknesses. The Mega Buster is absurdly overpowered when fully charged, both doing massive amounts of damage and knocking enemies out of their attack cycles. And while the masters get more life and deal more damage the further along you get, anybody with a remote understanding of the "slide" ability can easily get through most without taking any hits.

It isn't all bad. Each robot master faithfully follows their moveset from their respective games, and it's kind of cool to see them all in their arcade graphics glory using their signature abilities. I do have issue with some of the robots they picked. I'm guessing either I have awful taste in robot masters or Japan (or Capcom) likes different ones. Masters like Guts Man and Wood Man are fine, but why is Plant Man or freaking DUST MAN in this game? You seriously picked Dust Man over Pharaoh Man? Come on!

Even the infamous Yellow Devil isn't very hard. 

Another issue is there really isn't that much difference between the three different sets of masters (or characters, for that matter). Wood Man gives essentially the same power as Plant Man, who gives the same power as Junk Man. Luckily they fight you in a unique fashion, but the weapons gathered are all generally the same, which makes replays done in quick succession a bit repetitive.

The entire game can be played co-op, which is absolutely the best way to play it. While it makes an already easy game laughably simple, when were you last able to play with a friend as Mega Man and Protoman, side by side? Never, that's when! It's a lot of fun, if only they'd bothered making the game an actual challenge.

Cuttin' stuff with your head. 

Graphically the game looks good. the HUD is a bit stupid...why is the health bar this unreadable circle rather than...the usual line of life? Well, at least it's easy to read the robot masters' life. Most of the sprites look really similar to Mega Man 7, though I'll say they are a bit more colorful. The backgrounds are vibrant and fantastic, though there is one small problem which I'll address as I move on to music.

The songs are remixes of the most famous songs from the series, which is fantastic. However, I have one big annoyance: the songs (and their backgrounds) don't match the robot masters. Maybe this makes me a wonder nerd to know they are playing Flash Man's song when I'm fighting Wood Man, but it really irked me, especially since they recycle backgrounds and songs between the different sets you can fight through. 

Wily's Castle only has two stops. Way to underachieve. 

As it stands, Mega Man: The Power Battles is still a fun game...in small doses. A single run will usually last you only around 30-45 minutes at most, and odds are it'll only cost you two or three quarters. Play co-op and you might not ever die. A one-time run is a fun trip down memory lane, but burn through all three scenarios back to back and you start to feel the tedium. 

But what irks me the most is the lack of challenge. I mean, if you went through all the trouble to accurately represent each robot masters' attacks, and you have a freaking arcade game (which are designed to scarf quarters), then why would you make this game a total cakewalk? Make it really hard or at least challenging rather than absurdly easy!

All that aside, I still recommend checking it out if you are a Mega Man fan. It's a cheap investment for a playthrough if you manage to find an arcade machine at your local pizza place or something, or if you own a copy of Mega Man Anniversary Collection you can play it on that (and for free). Still, I can't help but think they could have done better here.

If only they made a sequel...(stay tuned!)

Two out of five for single player, but I'd say playing with a friend greatly increase the experience, so tack a star on if you play co-op. 

You made like eighty robot masters and none of them could kill Mega Man, dude. Why do you suck so bad?