Mega Man 6 (NES, 1993)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-7.5 Control-8.5 Challenge-7 Story-4
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-7
+
Some new ideas (upside down tidewater segment, oil patches that can be lit by enemies, jet pack mega man – limited flight but the charge meter regenerates if you wait for a couple of seconds – no ammo requirement, fan physics)
Bosses have somewhat more varied patterns
Great background detail and variation
Some alternate paths through levels
Shows important items that you’ve grabbed (or is it missed?) on the level selection screen
Can replay stages
+/-
Much fewer enemy drops (but sometimes more items placed in the levels; overall it forces more careful play and slows the pace down)
Still easy to rack up extra lives
Slightly longer cooldown on bosses?
10+ E-Tanks
Can’t skip over larger segments using a flight ability (usually a good thing but then again the pacing of the game is slower than before)
Enemies respawn off screen
-
No rewards from the large mini-bosses
Slower paced (many resilient enemies, fewer enemy drops, many blocks to destroy with the power suit (gets tedious to switch over and over))
Less memorable backgrounds and enemy designs overall
Limited flight control
Trial & error (some gimmicks, boss patterns, alternate path on Wily 1 (need Beat?))
Some unavoidable damage (sliding segments, centaur man freeze?)
Sometimes sloppy hit detection (dragon boss on Wily 1)
Difficulty dips (last two Mr. X fortress bosses)
Lame plot twist
Easy final boss (and the second form is just a variation of the MM5 one)
While there’s a nice animation for each of the suits it would’ve been better to just show it once
Rehashed weapons and themes
Some poor weapons (plant shield, wind storm)
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-7
+
Some new ideas (upside down tidewater segment, oil patches that can be lit by enemies, jet pack mega man – limited flight but the charge meter regenerates if you wait for a couple of seconds – no ammo requirement, fan physics)
Bosses have somewhat more varied patterns
Great background detail and variation
Some alternate paths through levels
Shows important items that you’ve grabbed (or is it missed?) on the level selection screen
Can replay stages
+/-
Much fewer enemy drops (but sometimes more items placed in the levels; overall it forces more careful play and slows the pace down)
Still easy to rack up extra lives
Slightly longer cooldown on bosses?
10+ E-Tanks
Can’t skip over larger segments using a flight ability (usually a good thing but then again the pacing of the game is slower than before)
Enemies respawn off screen
-
No rewards from the large mini-bosses
Slower paced (many resilient enemies, fewer enemy drops, many blocks to destroy with the power suit (gets tedious to switch over and over))
Less memorable backgrounds and enemy designs overall
Limited flight control
Trial & error (some gimmicks, boss patterns, alternate path on Wily 1 (need Beat?))
Some unavoidable damage (sliding segments, centaur man freeze?)
Sometimes sloppy hit detection (dragon boss on Wily 1)
Difficulty dips (last two Mr. X fortress bosses)
Lame plot twist
Easy final boss (and the second form is just a variation of the MM5 one)
While there’s a nice animation for each of the suits it would’ve been better to just show it once
Rehashed weapons and themes
Some poor weapons (plant shield, wind storm)