Game: Mega Man Battle & Fighters
Genre: Action, Arcade
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Neo Geo Pocket Color)
Developer|Publisher: Capcom | SNK
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US E
Price: US $7.99 | UK £7.19 | EU € 7,99
Release Date: August 4th, 2022
Review code provided with many thanks to Renaissance PR & Press Engine.
Neo Geo Pocket Color
I never had any hands-on experience with the Neo Geo Pocket Color despite being quite the retro gaming fan. A beloved portable retro console that had a tiny lifecycle in terms of gaming history of around two years. It was actually thanks to a good buddy of mine from America who drew my attention to the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol 1 which was released early in 2021 on Nintendo Switch. I was really impressed by the quality of the games featured and the warm fuzzy feelings I felt which I used to get from the old gaming days.
It’s fantastic that consoles like the Neo Geo Color are getting a second lease of life on modern systems and the Switch feels like a great fit for this. Recently we had a stealth drop of another Neo Geo Pocket game on the eShop and it’s quite a doozy. Mega Man Battle & Fighters was released in Japan only near the end of the console’s life. Never getting its chance to shine in the west. But that time to shine comes years later. The easy way to sum up this review before we go further is if you love retro games, the Neo Geo Pocket Color or Mega Man then this is for you.
The Blue Fella
Mega Man (or Rock Man in Japan) probably doesn’t need much introduction for most gamers. He’s that blue little robot chap that’s always on an endless mission to take out that dastardly Dr Willey, who has an ongoing habit of creating several robot masters to take over the world. Mega Man Battle & Fighters is actually a portable iteration of two Mega Man arcade games. An impressive feat indeed since they could have just created one singular game exclusive to the portable device. Unlike the traditional Mega Man formula where you run through platforming levels before taking on a boss at the end. I
n this game, it’s simply a boss rush. You take on each of the robot masters one by one. Once defeated you gain their power in order to use it in other boss fights. The main draw of the game is trying to figure out each of the bosses’ weaknesses. It’s a lot of trial and error but it did inspire me to pull out the old notepad again. I guess you could just cheat and look online though. Jump and shoot your way through the bosses in an order you choose before squaring off against Dr Wiley all in time for supper.
Mega Man 1-7
Over the two games, you have over forty bosses to tackle all from Mega Man 1-7. If you die it’s not a big deal as you get unlimited continues, so you can just keep pushing away at the boss even if you aren’t very good at the game. It’s not long but the replay value comes in the form of tackling the bosses in a different order and playing through with a different character including Proto Man, Bass and a robot duo (only available in the Fighters game). The latter plays the most different from the rest. Attacking with a big robotic fist over projectiles.
Both games Battle and Fighters play pretty similar. I guess I slightly preferred Fighters since in this game the bosses drop power-ups, like health as you battle them, giving you more of a fighting chance. On the continue screen in Fighters, you can also choose a different fighter which you can’t do in Battle. All of these are impressive portable ports of arcade games.
Controls are simple, pretty much jump and shoot. To change special weapons you need to head into the options which kinda slows the action down but is necessary considering the limitations of the Neo Geo Pocket Color. By pressing down and jump you can perform a handy dash move, which helps when the boss lunges for you.
Graphics are a product of the console, simple pixel sprites and it just works. The emulation of these games is top-notch. Recreating the game to pixel perfection with precise controls. You are able to Zoom in the action if you want a better view of the game and you can even select a colour for your console which seems pointless but kinda cool. Strangely there aren’t any saves states but you probably don’t need it for this game. But you can make use of a rewind feature if you need to correct those little oopsies.
Learn Japanese
There is one pretty big niggle to the entire experience. The game is only presented in Japanese meaning all the menus and text is in Japanese. This is pretty jarring at first making navigating the options a total nightmare if you lack any familiarity with the language. Your assistance with this comes in the form of a fully translated digital manual which is all in English. But it’s a shame the developers didn’t just add some subtitles over the game for quick reference.
Using the digital manual is kind of a hassle and feels like trying to translate hieroglyphics from a textbook when you most likely just want to jump into this game for some fun bite-sized Mega Man action. The good news is this niggle had no effect on the gameplay. I just might have accidentally put the game on hard mode rather than easy.
Conclusion – A Satisfying Retro Fix
Mega Man Battle & Fighters on Switch is a great way to enjoy a retro classic without paying a horrific amount of money to obtain an original copy. The emulation is solid but don’t expect any modern improvements to the actual game. This is unapologetically retro in design just the way it used to be. With that in mind, this will not suit everyone. Retro gamers and Mega Man fans though it’s probably your sworn duty to go on the eShop and purchase this so we can get more Neo Geo Color games to the system in future.
Final Verdict: I Like it
