Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Well, we're back. It's been almost 10 years since I played this game. After playing the NES Mega Man hexalogy, this game plays weird. It felt normal to me when I first played it, but that's only because I had no frame of reference for what a Mega Man game is supposed to play like. Mega Man feels almost right, but he's a bit slippery to control and somewhat unresponsive (input lag maybe?). It makes it hard to react to things in the game. The level design isn't so tight that this really matters (so far, I don't remember how the other levels go), but I still like when it feels like I can fully control what Mega Man does at all times. Speaking of the level design, ehh so far. Nothing is really sticking out to me besides the fact that it feels like some enemies take way to many hits to kill. There is also no Rush Coil (Rush Jet is not available either). WHY? Removing the Rush abilities have always detracted from the games this is done in because it means I always have to engage with the level design. That's not always bad when it's a lighter game like Mega Man 8, but Mega Man & Bass has no proper Rush abilities and that game is a slog with Mega Man. It's not like Rush is particularly overpowered, because he takes weapon energy. Abusing Rush means you can't use him later in the stage. Like I said previously, I'm not sure how bad the level design gets in this game, but considering I have never beaten this game before, I don't think that bodes well? The game has odd slow down as well. I thought this was because when I first played this game, it was on my crappy laptop, but I have a better computer now and it still chugs occasionally while I'm recording with OBS. All of that really pales to the odd (frustrating) boss design in this game. Unlike most Mega Man games, I can't really predict what the bosses are going to do because they have a ton of options they can pull out of no where. That makes these bosses mostly reactionary in approach. The problem with that is (using Blanka as an example) all of his attacks come out really fast, coupled with the poor controls means it's really hard to react to and properly dodge them. I'm not sure this is an issue with the rest of the bosses, but I guess we'll see when we get there. Something I KNOW all the bosses have is their super attack. It's a fine idea, other Mega Man games have bosses that can do this (MMPU & X8 for example). However, in this game, they feel more unfair. First, they can use them whenever their super meter is full, which I guess is "fine," but how it fills can be kind of inconsistent (I think bosses can forego attacking to charge meter, but idk), and adds another variable that I have to be on the look out for. Second, the game zooms in on the boss when they use their super. This is awful, because I lose sight of Mega Man and therefore his current positioning. That means that when the super comes out, I have to re-find where Mega Man is, then react to the actual super attack. What's really annoying about Blanka's super is that he electrocutes the ground, which means you have to jump, but he also drops melons from the sky that you have to avoid. BUT he also throws one of the melons at you. That's THREE things I have to react to, PLUS having to find Mega Man again after the screen crop AND the lacklustre unresponsive controls. I've replayed this boss multiple times to try to learn the patterns (if there even are any) and almost EVERY time I take damage from something out of his super attack. I'm really not looking forward to the rest this, to be honest. I really hope the special weapons mitigate some of the pain. I've been trying to incorporate them into my playstyle more, but I don't remember how good this weapon set is.
Well, we're back. It's been almost 10 years since I played this game. After playing the NES Mega Man hexalogy, this game plays weird. It felt normal to me when I first played it, but that's only because I had no frame of reference for what a Mega Man game is supposed to play like. Mega Man feels almost right, but he's a bit slippery to control and somewhat unresponsive (input lag maybe?). It makes it hard to react to things in the game. The level design isn't so tight that this really matters (so far, I don't remember how the other levels go), but I still like when it feels like I can fully control what Mega Man does at all times. Speaking of the level design, ehh so far. Nothing is really sticking out to me besides the fact that it feels like some enemies take way to many hits to kill. There is also no Rush Coil (Rush Jet is not available either). WHY? Removing the Rush abilities have always detracted from the games this is done in because it means I always have to engage with the level design. That's not always bad when it's a lighter game like Mega Man 8, but Mega Man & Bass has no proper Rush abilities and that game is a slog with Mega Man. It's not like Rush is particularly overpowered, because he takes weapon energy. Abusing Rush means you can't use him later in the stage. Like I said previously, I'm not sure how bad the level design gets in this game, but considering I have never beaten this game before, I don't think that bodes well? The game has odd slow down as well. I thought this was because when I first played this game, it was on my crappy laptop, but I have a better computer now and it still chugs occasionally while I'm recording with OBS. All of that really pales to the odd (frustrating) boss design in this game. Unlike most Mega Man games, I can't really predict what the bosses are going to do because they have a ton of options they can pull out of no where. That makes these bosses mostly reactionary in approach. The problem with that is (using Blanka as an example) all of his attacks come out really fast, coupled with the poor controls means it's really hard to react to and properly dodge them. I'm not sure this is an issue with the rest of the bosses, but I guess we'll see when we get there. Something I KNOW all the bosses have is their super attack. It's a fine idea, other Mega Man games have bosses that can do this (MMPU & X8 for example). However, in this game, they feel more unfair. First, they can use them whenever their super meter is full, which I guess is "fine," but how it fills can be kind of inconsistent (I think bosses can forego attacking to charge meter, but idk), and adds another variable that I have to be on the look out for. Second, the game zooms in on the boss when they use their super. This is awful, because I lose sight of Mega Man and therefore his current positioning. That means that when the super comes out, I have to re-find where Mega Man is, then react to the actual super attack. What's really annoying about Blanka's super is that he electrocutes the ground, which means you have to jump, but he also drops melons from the sky that you have to avoid. BUT he also throws one of the melons at you. That's THREE things I have to react to, PLUS having to find Mega Man again after the screen crop AND the lacklustre unresponsive controls. I've replayed this boss multiple times to try to learn the patterns (if there even are any) and almost EVERY time I take damage from something out of his super attack. I'm really not looking forward to the rest this, to be honest. I really hope the special weapons mitigate some of the pain. I've been trying to incorporate them into my playstyle more, but I don't remember how good this weapon set is.
