Quick Hits: Mega Man Extravaganza

Written by James Dauer  on January 09, 2006

Quick Hits Preview: Kitchen-Sink Man not included

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Mega Man has saved the world a countless number of times for more than 20 years across several gaming consoles. Though we haven't seen him on the PSP in the states yet, Mega Man has graced Japanese PSPs for the past year with handheld ports of the Mega Man Legends series. It's unclear whether or not those will come stateside, but one thing's for sure, American PSPs won't suffer from lack of Mega Man goodness for much longer. Two remakes of classic Mega Man titles, Mega Man and Mega Man X, are being released in 2006 that will make sure players get their daily dose of running, jumping, and M. Bustering.

Don't let the word Сremake' fool you, however. These aren't simply straight ports of classic 2D games. The most noticeable thing about both of these remakes is that they are now in full 3D. This is to say, the graphics are in 3D, but not the gameplay. Mega Man will still only be able to travel left, right, up, and down, but his environment will now be rendered using hi-rez 3D graphics. The additions don't end there, though. Both Mega Man 1 and Mega Man X have been given their own separate additions to make each one worth a valid purchase.

Mega Man 1, being released under the name Mega Man Powered Up, will introduce a new style for the series. Known as Уsuper deformФ in Japan, all of the characters will be short with big cute heads. Not necessarily the most popular style choice for a game, but it definitely grows on you after a while, and it allows the developers to show a wider array of emotions via Mega Man's facial expressions. On the audio front, the game will also feature a brand new soundtrack, new sound effects, and fully voiced dialogue for the newly added cutscenes.

The actual levels in Powered Up will be different than the original Nintendo version of Mega Man. Items will be dispersed and stages will be set up differently. Players can choose to play the altered version of the game or if they prefer, can stick to the original level design layout. Also, Capcom has announced that there will be two new boss robots, and players will be able to play as the boss robots (though it is unclear just how this will work).

If all that wasn't enough, Powered Up also has a level editor, allowing players to create their own levels, choose item layouts, and pick the background music. Once the player creates a stage, he or she can then send it to another PSP via the wireless networking capabilities of the PSP. Of course, players can also download levels made by other players.

Mega Man X will also be re-released later this month under the title Mega Man Maverick Hunter X. Unfortunately, while Mega Man 1 gets much love on the PSP, Mega Man X doesn't seem to fare so well, as all it will be getting is a handful of cutscenes with spoken dialogue. There will also be an extra playable character that is unlocked once the game is beaten.

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X is due January 31 and Mega Man Powered Up is due March 14.