Geekscape Games Reviews Mega Man: Dr Wily’s Revenge

Mega Man may be all but dead at the moment, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten. Knowing that, it seems like a great idea to cash in on the nostalgia of the days when the Blue Bomber wasn’t apparently hated by the company that releases his games, which is good for Capcom, because download services like the Virtual Console were pretty much made for cashing in on nostalgia. Enter Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge, the first game in the franchise for the Game Boy. Taking a look back in the past can remind you why your childhood was so awesome, but it can also make you scratch your head and wonder how you ever liked such crap. In case you were wondering, Mega Man falls under the former.

Using a similar structure to the console games, this portable version features four robot masters to choose from, all of which are from the first game in the series. While the bosses might be the same, the levels are brand new, and while they feature some of the same obstacles and traps as the console counterpart, the majority of the content is original to this game. After the first four stages are cleared, Wily appears with his gauntlet of final stages, which put you up against 4 Mega Man 2 bosses, a brand new boss dubbed the “Mega Man Killer,” and finally Wily himself.

Keep in mind that this is before Mega was upgraded with what would become his trademark buster, so at the start, all he has to shoot with is his measly little pea shooter. As bosses are defeated, their abilities are gained and can be used to make later bosses and stages easier, with the familiar rock, paper, Cutman format the series is known for. And trust me when I say you’ll need all of the extra weaponry, because the game throws anything and everything it can at you to make sure you run out of your three measly lives. Each of the well-designed levels uses every trick in the book, including bottomless pits, instant kill spikes, slippery floors, disappearing platforms, powerful enemies… It wouldn’t be a Mega Man title if controllers didn’t get thrown (or in this case, your 3DS). Thankfully, the game uses a password system so the stages you’ve beaten stay beaten.

As tricky as the game can be sometimes, if you’ve played a Mega Man game before, you pretty much know how to get around most of the traps. Following enemy patterns becomes second nature quickly and it’ll take about three to four hours to finish an unfamiliar first run. People who are new to Mega Man will probably take longer, but while it can be difficult at times, it’s nowhere near unbeatable.

So if I were to sum up my feelings on Dr. Wily’s Revenge, I would say that it serves as a greatest hits collection for the early days of the series. The game pits you against challenging stages, challenging enemies and challenging bosses that are oh so rewarding to finally finish. It’s a bit on the short side and it’s missing some of the abilities that would later become trademarks of the series, but hey, the game is 20 years old. I would say it aged pretty damn well. Plus, at $4, it’s not like it’s breaking the bank. So if you want an old school challenge while showing your support for a dying icon, give this Game Boy classic a download. Revenge has never been so sweet.