Gaming Target - Game Boy: Mega Man & Bass

Written by Tim McGrew on March 18, 2003

Review: Bang, jump, bang bang, jump jump, die, bang bang, jump jump, bang you win!

Affectionately referred to as the blue bomber, Megaman has become one of Capcom's icon characters that have appeared on just about every console under the sun. He's a fighter, a racer, a shooter, a platformer, and occasionally a pseudo RPG. His releases have reached well over twenty different games over the past fifteen years. To put it simply, people just don't seem to be tired of Megaman and his classic enemies and friends.

In this particular title, Megaman teams up with one of his more mysterious enemies known as Bass, which would of course explain the game's rather interesting title. With Bass and Megaman, it is the player's job to select between either of them, with their own unique set of traits and abilities, and wipe out the forces of evil once again. Although ported from the Super Nintendo in Japan, the game retains its entire array of graphical luster it presented during its first run release. Seeing as how this is the game's first domestic release, fans of the series should find plenty to appreciate here.

Following the more traditional shooters presented by the first 8 sequels of the series, Megaman and Bass is essentially a basic installment with your run of the mill boss characters, platform jumping sequences and enemies. As per the usual Megaman fare, each boss has a weakness that can be obtained from another boss earlier in the game and defeating each boss opens up new levels that can be explored on the main area select screen. From here, players can use their bolts, which are randomly acquired in the levels in large and small form, to buy, or build as it is referred to in the game, new items that can increase Megaman's or Bass' abilities. Although the system was first seen in the US in Megaman 8 on the Playstation, the bolts were in set places and had to be found rather than randomly collected so it adds little to the formula in the end since now more bolts can be found, but more are required to construct items.

The basic objective of the game is to go through eight different bosses and obtain their attack abilities and use them against other bosses. Then, to defeat them quickly before moving on through the last couple of levels, fighting them all over again and defeating the last boss. This formula has not changed in years and although it is repetitive to fans burnt out on the mix, it's definitely interesting in that each level is vastly different from the last. One of the worst aspects of these enemies and bosses is that they were essentially rehashed or just cut and paste from Megaman 8, which is a very poor design decision given that each Megaman game to date has had its own unique charm or flair. This Megaman title loses that charm aside from the inclusion of the spunky Bass.

One of the staples in the Megaman games is the title's relative difficulty. Although the game is short, you'll still expend plenty of lives trying to avoid falling down bottomless pits, jumping into sharp spikes and just trying to avoid every enemy on screen. The difficulty level is also raised when you include Bass into the mix who is rather unique with his attack patterns. Pressing down with the jump button makes Megaman dash, but Bass' dash is performed by pressing forward twice on the control pad. Bass also doesn't have a charged shot, but he can fire in all directions continuously making him weak yet versatile at the same time. It's a neat balance the developers implemented between the two characters and is definitely welcome, although akin to the team up of Megaman and Zero in Megaman X3.

Aside from the repetitive enemies and relatively predictable levels, Megaman and Bass leaves little to complain about. As was said, the graphical effects basically mimic those found on the Super Nintendo and are both colorful and detailed in more ways than one. There's no slowdown present and each enemy animates fluidly and explodes beautifully. Even the weapons themselves have their own unique graphical effects that are impressive as well as fun to use. There's literally nothing to complain about in that regard.

The sound does present a problem since the Gameboy Advance and its speaker can hardly duplicate the sound quality of the Super Nintendo. With that said, the music isn't impressive in the slightest. However, it does do exactly what background music should do and that is fade into the background. It's really not noticeable given what's happening on screen and what's being thrown at you constantly, but for all intents and purposes, it does its job -- no more, no less. Megaman yells when he is hit by an enemy weapon or by an individual enemy, but other than that, there's no voice work to be heard here.