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  • What's in my MP3 Player: LetThereBeLight, a Mega Man 4 OC Remix

    Line up to revoke any good feelings you have about me, because I think that Mega Man 4's soundtrack is better than Mega Man 2's.

    ”Oh my God Nadia how can you embarrass yourself like this?”

    Though I thoroughly believe Mega Man 2 deserves its pedestal in the hearts of the people, I actually don't have the same nostalgic attachment to the title as other Mega Man fans. My first game was Mega Man 3, which I followed up with Mega Man 4. Mega Man 4's gameplay isn't exceptionally good, but the graphics and soundtrack are among the NES' best.

    ”So you say, but you still sound like you were dropped on your head as a baby and dragged away by a dog, poor wee child.”

    Maybe so, but if you give the soundtrack a good listen, you can hear an attempt to go somewhere different. Dustman's stage is far beyond Mega Man's usual rock n roll du jour; it's a subdued tune, quite melancholy, that brings you back to those rainy days you spent indoors with your NES.

    It also gave rise to the greatest OC Remix of all time.

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  • Mega Man 2.5D?

    I'm automatically skeptical about fan-made games. I will nod at the demos and videos and say, “That's very nice,” but I won't get excited until there's a final product for me to play through.

    What can I say. I've seen innumerable projects that began with energy and enthusiasm that surged like Niagara Falls. All but maybe 3% have been dammed up by extended work schedules, “family issues,” or exam season.

    For all my adult cynicism, I am hoping that the “Mega Man 2.5D” project survives. It aims to add half a dimension to the classic Mega Man 2, not unlike Super Paper Mario or even (twitch) Bug! for the Sega Saturn.

    The demo video looks like the final product would be a lot of fun to blaze through, while at the same time it's a loving tribute to the pinnacle of retro platforming titles. Seems like there's no escape from the disappearing/reappearing blocks.

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  • Mega Man Rap Video: Creative Work, a Lot of Filth, or Both?

    I have with me a video that people either seem to hate, or enjoy immensely. Simply titled “Mega Man 2,” it's a rap/metal conglomerate remix that, in my opinion, is catchy and pretty well put-together.

    There's also forkfuls of swearing, which is what seems to turn people off. I don't think Mega Man would belt out lyrics like “From the windows/To the walls/'Til the sweat drips from my ballz”, no matter what any Robot Master might throw at him. But I guess worse has happened for the sake of a rhyme.

    If you want to start complaining about continuity errors, you may as well ask why this video has Rush despite the Mega Man 2 theme. Rush and Protoman.

    Video after the jump. What do you think?

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  • Know Your Mega Man Boss Weaknesses. It Will Save Your Life.

    Quick. Name Snake Man's weakness in Mega Man III.

    Your two seconds are up. Do you know it? That's what I thought.

    According to the word on the wind, I'll be getting a BB Gun for Christmas. I plan to arm myself and quiz citizens of the world on their Mega Man trivia. You would do well to study up, and to stock up on Red Bull (I'm thinking about being lenient on ignorant gamers who provide a suitable offering to slake my wrath. They might not be wholly spared, but a shot to the bum is preferable to a shot through the eye).

    It just so happens Cybermoon Studios has visual references for Mega Man boss weaknesses. The games covered include Mega Man, Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3 and Mega Man 9.

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  • Mega Man Dies and Goes To Robot Hell For His Sins

    Wise people are known to furrow their brows, stroke their beards and wonder why Doctor Wily just doesn't throw his entire stable of robot jerks at Mega Man. There are two answers to that question. First, there is certainly something psychological with Wily's slow trickle of Robot Masters; the even distribution gives Mega Man a challenge, but doesn't overpower him. This, in turn, leads to some rambling theory about every human's need to chase a Questing Beast.

    The second answer is probably the right one: if Mega Man had to fight every Robot Master at once, his games wouldn't be much fun, stupid.

    Gee, the guy who put together this video makes it look so easy. In fact, there's something primal and just a little sexual about this nine-man confrontation.



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  • Seven Minutes With Mega Man 9's Music

    What are you thankful for this year? If your answer isn't "Mega Man 9" and "Bitchin' guitars," I don't want to talk to you anymore.

    At this point in your life, you've no doubt heard Mega Man 2's "Doctor Wily Stage One" remixed on every instrument from the jew's harp to some dog's armpit. It's high time we start running Mega Man 9's fantastic soundtrack into the ground. Let this Freddie fellow lead the revolution with this lovely seven minute compilation/remix of every tune in the game.

    Be wary of last boss spoilers if you're like me and haven't bested Wily yet. Ugh, the shame.



    Related Links:

    The Mega Man Robot Club
    Mega Man 9 Bosses Look Like Mega Man Bosses
    For Love of the Game: Rockman 7 FC


  • WTFriday: Mario Versus Air Man

    Note to readers: WTFriday is a weekly feature where I find something stupid about video games and get you to laugh until it goes away. Please try to forget this is what I normally do every day of the week.

    Today's WTFriday is more strange than stupid, but it's worth looking at nonetheless. Listen, I'm only human and sometimes I reach my capacity for hate.  That being said, ROM hacks usually are stupid; they either make your playable character naked/demonic/into feces, or they're "remixes" which are unplayably hard for everyone except the hacker himself.  The ROM hack I'm about to show you is unplayably hard, but it's also undeniably cool; and you also have the benefit of watching a YouTube video of said hack instead of having to suffer through it yourself.  Believe it or not, this is an extremely modified hack of the original Super Mario Brothers:



    Going to the page for this video will give you a ROM download link, but I urge you to not take advantage of this kind offer, lest you rob this hack of its magic.  Plus, I'm pretty sure it was made with voodoo, or one of the dark arts.  You don't want that stuff in your computer.

    Related Links:

    WTFriday: Atlus Takes on Third Wave Feminism

    WTFriday: The Star Fox 64 Promo Video
    WTFriday: Mega Man A Cappella

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  • My Last Mega Man 9 Post, I Swear

    Mega Man 9 is currently kicking my ass and making me rethink my status as a gamer; after a little over an hour of play, I've only seen a few robot bosses and nearly beat Splash Woman.  Needless to say, this is a time of crisis, and I need my friends more than ever.  So before you lose all respect for me and never read any of my posts again, I have a few substantive things to say about the game.  Thanks for your support.

    I'd like to begin by saying that, thanks to a self-imposed media blackout, I knew practically nothing about Mega Man 9 before I sat down to play it. Only later, after I had my fill of cursing at spikes, I sat down to read 1UP scribe and Mega Man fanatic Jeremy Parish's excellent review; it was the first source to inform me that Mega Man's slide and charge shot--established from the third and fourth entries in the series, respectively--were both missing from 9. This came as a bit of a shock, since I'd played the game for a while and hadn't even noticed.  Could this have been some very boring episode of The Twilight Zone?

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  • Mega Man 2 Vs. Mega Man 3: The Eternal Battle for Everlasting Peace

    Monday's release of Mega Man 2 on the Virtual Console was a long-awaited addition to the service, as well as what many consider the pinnacle of the franchise. BUT NOT ME. I didn't buy the game this week, not because I hate it, but because I already own it on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection--and that five bucks can buy 99% of a vegetarian burrito at the Chipotle up the street. I'm not about to sacrifice a burrito simply for the conventience of not having to turn on my PS2.

    Tex-Mex delights aside, the recent revival of old-school Mega Man made me think of the classic schoolyard/adult blogger argument of "What's better, Mega Man 2 or 3?"  Really, we should all just shut up and be happy that both games exist and can be played on a variety of systems to this very day; but still, I tend to prefer Mega Man 3 for reasons that may not be quite rational.

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  • Where I Draw the Line With Retro

    Today's Virtual Console release of Mega Man 2 reminded me of the time I naively planned to play through all of the Mega Man games in order through the then-new Anniversary Collection.  I miraculously made it through most of the first game--which is pretty damn tough--only to be stopped in my tracks by that asshole on the right.  Yes, thanks to the Yellow Devil, I will never know the sweet, sweet joy that comes with finishing our blue hero's inaugural adventure.  Please do not describe the endorphin rush, for it would only make me sad.

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  • Worlds of Power: Books That Worried Your Parents and Pissed Off Your Teachers

    My weekend sojourn with Bionic Commando Rearmed's Mr Rad Spencer reminded me of all things good, pure and 8-bit. I even remembered that my husband owns most of the Worlds of Power books, novel "adaptations" of popular Nintendo games from Back in the Day™. He transferred them over to our new basement apartment home after we were married; it's a dowry my parents are proud of, I'm sure.

    Alas, I cannot find the Bionic Commando adaptation, but if I were to guess, I'd say Rad Spencer wasn't allowed to shoot anyone with his awesome guns. I did find Ninja Gaiden, which is dedicated to "the Ninja in everyone's dad." Holy shit, I thought my dad just sold alarm systems. This is awesome news.

    I don't know if you kids today have book fairs, but they were a staple of my school days. My generation was not in love with the printed word and teachers did their best to make sure we didn't fall into any affairs. They policed our book fair purchases, declaring comic books to be verboten "trash," especially comic books about the Ninja Turtles or that rude Bart Simpson. The cutting-edge Nintendo Entertainment System was the worst enemy of my grade school marms, so F.X. Nine's Worlds of Power was bookfair contraband, too.

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  • The Ten Greatest Fire Levels in Gaming History, Part 2

    Resident Evil 2 — Raccoon City Streets



    Hideki Kamiya followed the logical zombie progression after Shinji Mikami's original Resident Evil, going from the '50s schlock of a haunted mansion/mad-scientist's lab combo and straight onto the '60s of Romero-urban-zombie-apocalypse. Kamiya's sequel also had a novel twist on the dual protagonists of the first by making two slightly different quests for the heroes Claire and Leon. You know how zombie apocalypses work, right? When survivors need to stick together to survive, you separate them immediately. Resident Evil 2 opens with a tanker truck of gasoline exploding in downtown Raccoon City, with Claire and Leon stuck on either side of the ensuing blaze. When you finally start guiding your poorly equipped, clean-cut cop or street-smart biker chick through the undead, you do it in flames. And, yes. The zombies are totally on fire too. — JC

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  • Raised on the Stuff



    As I listened to this past Friday’s 1up Yours podcast, lazily typing away and sipping coffee, I perked up when the crew got on the topic of how they planned to introduce their children to videogames. While What They Play’s John Davison is already raising two very young gamers of his own, the other three gents still aren’t fathers but they all mentioned that they definitely want to see their kids weaned on classics from a young age. This is interesting to me because I’ve given the subject quite a lot of thought. My plan? Bed time stories.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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