I was always a little torn on Mega Man 7; on one hand, it had really nice graphics, and the return to the more lighthearted classic series was nice after the dark angst of Mega Man X. On the other hand, it never quite felt right. The way it played, I mean. Also, the weird robo-pectorals on Mega Man’s box art depiction really gross me out. He’s a little robot boy who fights for justice! He doesn’t need to be, you know, ripped. Eugh.
Might want to fix the post title…
Even though the game never felt quite right and the final boss was a huge exercise in cheapness, I always kinda sorta liked Mega Man 7. The Rush Search, splitting the Robot Masters into two sets of four, and the overly chatty intro stage dialogue were pretty dumb, but with stuff like the two-player fighter and Proto Man’s shield and the hidden Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins track for Shade Man’s stage and Mega Man fighting Bass while fused with their dogs I can’t stay mad at it.
With the ridiculously short deadline, it could’ve been much worse. It’s still worlds better than X6 or X7 were.
I love this one to bits, and it’s nice to see something kind written about it. It’s my favorite Classic game after 2 and 5 (maybe – I flip my preference between 5 and 7 a lot), and Shademan’s stage is the best in the whole series (one of the best tunes as well).
Most under-appreciated Mega Man soundtrack ever.
Beyond the robot museum that I mentioned in the article, this is my pick for best of the bunch – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z5oi3vWXlw
Yeah, this soundtrack is awesome. I love the opening stage theme.
Wow, even the password theme is great. Jeez.
Whenever I suggest that Mega Man 7’s Wily Stage 1 rivals Mega Man 2’s Wily Stage 1, people try to hit me. Anyway, Shade Man’s music for President: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsgbnG7ZJ4g&feature=related
I’m the first to mention the fan game that redid Rockman 7 in Famicom style? I quite enjoyed that version.
I’d provide a link, but I vaguely recall the download being hosted on a Japanese site with a bunch of porn banners. Search for “Rockman 7 Famicom” and be forewarned that it may be on a Japanese site with a bunch of porn banners.
(I think they did the same with RM8 but I never got around to checking it out.)
You can get it here. No porn banners involved.
http://www7.atwiki.jp/wakuwakusuru/pub/final2.zip
And yes, this version is better than the SNES version. The spacing of the NES games really helps the playability.
American box artists struggled for YEARS with the fact that Mega Man is not actually a “man.”
Imagine if they had kept his Japanese name. We’d have a legacy of boxes depicting Marvel’s Thing shooting robots with his arm cannon.
In fairness, Capcom USA presented him as a man– or at least, an older boy– for years. Remember the cartoon?
It wasn’t really until Mega Man 8 and their decision to go with a girl voice that the truth began to take shape. And even then, it was still weird, since a robot based on a 10-year old boy was the same height as several adult men…
Mega Man 7 felt like the typical “Super”-fication of NES titles to me, not unlike Super Metroid or Super Castlevania IV. Similar, but different… and bigger.
But it never felt “wrong” to me, and remains a favorite to this day.