My pick for Game Club was this instalment in the Classic Mega Man series. It feels oddly split in its design and is of course quite difficult, but has redeeming qualities that made it the most appealing of any Classic series game, and this was borne out in my experience.
The name (later localised as Mega Man & Bass for the far inferior GBA port) refers to the fact that for the first time you could play one of these games as someone other than Rock. Rock has a bit of bland protagonist syndrome. Forte has the edgy, try-hard “cool rival” factor of your Vegetas or Shadows the Hedgehog. But more importantly, he can dash, double-jump, and rapid-fire in any direction, all abilities I greatly appreciated. It comes at the cost of Rock’s slide and charge, but that’s a small price to pay for how much Forte’s utility smooths out the experience.
It’s been remarked that this game seems to be built from separate parts; Forte excels in stage traversal, platforming with ease and responding more ably to threats at any angle, while Rock handles bosses much easier (at least before winning a few special weapons). I agree, which is why I used Puresabe’s excellent hack to allow on-the-fly character switching (normally you pick one character for a whole game playthrough).
This hack also makes it much easier to complete your CD collection: yes, this game uniquely has hidden collectibles, making for a fun secret-hunting mechanic. Finding them fills out a character database spanning the whole series up to that point, mainly focusing on bosses but acknowledging even the fifth Game Boy game and the Mega Drive compilation. Getting every single one can be tedious though, even with a guide, as many require Rock to call on Rush to dig them up.
I admit I don’t have a broad experience of the series in order to compare the particulars, but I thought the level design was varied and challenging, as were the boss patterns. Both demanded memorisation and quick reflexes of me, not to mention a finger on the savestate button! It’s a fun cast of baddies, designed by prominent creators of Rockman manga, although oddly two are reused from this game’s direct predecessor, Mega Man 8.
It’s no secret that the main reason I care about this franchise as a whole is because of Inti Creates’ Zero games. And this Classic game probably comes closest to what I like about them between Forte’s capable playstyle, the shop to improve your abilities as you progress, the collectibles, and the ever-so-slightly more complex than usual plot (and yes, I realise I just described the X series). So, I enjoyed it! Its quality and novelty make it all the more baffling that it was excluded from Anniversary Collection and Legacy Collection 2. More like this, please (except there aren’t any more like this, apart from the more constrained Wonderswan sequel “Challenger from the Future”). Oh well, thanks for making this one anyway!
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