It's been a while since I've done a 10 Round Fight, but this time I'm going to do something a little different. And it's not that these two games aren't RPGs, or that they are part of the same franchise.
You see, the first two times I've done this, I've used them to compare either: a) two great games - or - b) two very good, influential new games. But that's not the case here. For the first time, we are going to throw two games in the ring not as a result of their quality, but lack thereof. In plain English, that means we are going to compare two games that suck. Okay, I guess in the scheme of things, neither of these games are actually that bad. I've said this before when I reviewed titles from the series, but a bad Mega Man game is still better than some franchises at their best. But still, these two are among the most maligned titles in the franchise. Mega Man and Bass is widely considered the worst game in the classic series, while Mega Man X6 usually comes in one spot above X7...and I unironically love X7, so it's at the bottom of the barrel for me. Much of the reason for this can be traced back to difficulty. Of course, the Mega Man games are known for being hard, though I don't think they are as difficult as they are made out to be. But most of them are difficult in a fun way. X6 and MMaB are sadistic, often difficult for either intentionally cruel or shockingly incompetent design decisions. But which is better? Or worse? It's time to get these two clunkers in the ring and find out. Hey, not every fight is a main event, right? We also need to change the rounds this time around, because we are dealing with 2D side scrollers rather than RPGs. We are also comparing two games from the same series (well, sort of, I guess classic and X series are different, but they are both Mega Man games), so we are going to have some super specific categories this time around. The rounds this time will be:
1. Graphics
2. Sound
3. Overall Presentation
4. Control
5. Robot Master/Maverick Design - Aesthetic
6. Robot Master/Maverick Design - Technical
7. Powers
8. Level Layouts and Enemy Placements
9. Stage Gimmicks and Mini-Bosses
10. Balance and Fairness
Now, we introduce the principals. In the red corner:
Game: Mega Man and Bass
Origin: Chuo-Ku, Osaka, Japan
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: April 24, 1998, March 11, 2003 in North America
Platform: Super Famicom, GameBoy Advance
and fighting out of the blue corner:
Game: Mega Man X6
Origin: Chuo-Ku, Osaka, Japan
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: December 11, 2001
Platform: PS1
Remember, the winner of a round gets 10 points, the loser receives 9 or less. Let's ring that bell and get started.
Round 1 - Graphics
Both games have technically proficient graphics for their era, so there will be no easy wins here. MMaB uses the same assets as Mega Man 8, so it's bright, filled with pastel colors and has a more "family friendly" look. X6 uses what I like to call the "5th-Gen X" style that was established in X4, though I don't think it quite looks as good as its predecessor. MMaB's levels are really hit aesthetically, some of them look great and detailed while others are a little too generic. X6 is a little more diverse in its locales and I think it does a better job with enemies. MMaB just doesn't have as many unique and diverse enemies and most of them are ripped straight from MM8. X6's are actually unique and original, although their design isn't always great. I think Mega Man's sprite is a bit more expressive in MMaB, as are the much bigger and more detailed robot masters. Really, this round is going to come down to preference. Do you like the pastel colors and light-hearted feel of MMaB? Or the grittier, more intense universe of X6. Honestly it's close for me, but the difficulty of these games is actually going to be the tiebreaker here. Yes, difficulty will be the tiebreaker in a graphics category. Because the difficult nature of MMaB just doesn't jive with the kiddie, cartoony graphics. The bleaker motif of X6 fits its oppressive difficulty much better, so it's going to take the win here.
Score after 1: X6 10 - MMaB 9
Round 2 - Sound
The last round was close, a tossup that I had to put some thought into before making a decision. There will be no such difficulty here. X6 has a lot of problems, like, a lot of problems. But the soundtrack isn't one of them. This soundtrack is outstanding and surprisingly varied. Blaze Heatnix's stage theme absolutely shreds, while Rainy Turtloids has a muted, earthy feeling that perfectly matches its temple setting. Infinity Mijinion's theme has a kind of pop-y but also intense feel while Shield Sheldon's is very space-y. Metal Shark Player's is also great and it feels very different from your typical Mega Man stage theme. It has this, big, booming, grandiose nature that almost feels like it should be in a propaganda movie or something like that. I don't know how it fits a garbage compactor, it feels like it belongs more with a military themed maverick, but it's awesome. The outstanding soundtrack went a long, long way in pulling me through this game and it's probably its strongest point. MMaB sounds okay I guess, a few of the stage themes are solid and most of them are some level of fitting. But they all sound muted, especially on the GBA, and they don't really capture that whimsical feel of the graphics like MM8's song did. Dynamo Man has a solid stage theme and I really, really like the boss battle theme, but most of what is here is pretty forgettable. This one's easy, so easy it's a 10-8 for X6
After 2: X6 20 - MMaB 17
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Round 3 - Overall Presentation
Well, X6 won the last two categories, both of which were presentation based, so it has to win here...right? Not so fast. Yes, X6 has better graphics. It has much, much better sound. But those aren't the only parts of the overall presentation package. Because even though story isn't typically important for side scrolling action games, but both of these games have them. MMaB sees both protagonists chasing a villain named King, a mysterious robot trying to create a world where humans are subservient to their mechanical overlords. He steals plans from both Dr. Wily and Dr. Light, creating a series of new robot masters to help him reach his goal. Both Mega Man, a goodie two-shoes who wants to stop him for altruistic reasons, and Bass, who simply wants to prove he's stronger, set out to defeat these new robots before battling King himself. Again, story isn't super important here, but it covers some surprisingly profound territory and its twists hit a little bit harder than most Mega Man games' do. Its robot masters look cool, as we will get to soon, and its menus and stage select screen are solid. Its graphics aren't as strong overall as X6, but they are still pretty good. It's sound is just meh, but it still isn't bad.
X6 also has a story, something that has to do with a "Zero Nightmare" and nightmare hunters and some guy named Gate. Maybe it's a good story, maybe it's not. But I don't know because the translation is so horrific I have no idea what's going on. Throughout the game, including after each level, you will receive hints and recaps from your companion Aila. Unfortunately, none of this helps because she talks absolute gibberish, again because of the translation. Hell, even the Maverick names are butchered. Metal Shark Player? Seriously? What is a Scaravich? A Mijnion? A Heatnix? For the record, it's a scarab, a flea and a nonsense word that someone just copy/pasted from Google Translate without double checking. The graphics overall may look better, but a lot of the menus and other small touches look way worse. There's also a lot more stuff here that feel like laziness or programing mistakes that make the presentation as a whole kind of odd. MMaB doesn't have as much of that, so it wins here.
After 3: After 2: X6 29 - MMaB 27
Round 4 - Control
X6 always felt a little bit off when compared to the other PS1 X titles. It's the same scheme, but it feels floatier and less tight. It's still not bad overall though and the game is so punishingly difficult that it almost doesn't really matter anyway. I pretty much use the default control scheme, though I do tend to switch my slide to one of the shoulder buttons. There really isn't much to complain about here, you press a button and X largely does what you tell him. I occasionally fell off a wall or dashed off a ledge, but not nearly enough to knock it. MMaB was definitely less responsive, I have always found the three games that are done in this style (7,8 and MMaB) to feel a little bit weird. Maybe it's because of the animation, or because all the characters are so large relative to the screen, but even beyond that Mega Man seems like he carries extra momentum in these games. There really isn't much to say here for either game, Capcom usually gets this kind of stuff right. But X6 definitely feels better to control and I got myself killed far less frequency because of the controls there than I did in MMaB. X6 wins another close one.
After 4: After 2: X6 39 - MMaB 36
Round 5 - Robot Master/Maverick Design - Aesthetic
Spoiler alert, MMaB is about to get its 10-8 back. They may not be the best in action, but the robot masters in MMaB all at least look pretty cool. The worst one here is Astro Man and he isn't even originally from this game. Ground Man has become one of my favorite robot master designs of all time and Pirate Man isn't far behind him. Burner Man isn't too bad either, he's suitably intimidating and on-theme for a Hank Hill-designed bot. Magic Man and Cold Man aren't the greatest, the former looks like a knockoff Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon and the latter is a generic ice robot, but they at least look like they fit a theme. Dynamo Man is pretty plain, but he's not really bad and there's a pretty cool effect where his helmet breaks when you finally beat him.
As for X6...I'm not sure what's going on here. Commander Yanmark is probably the best design here, he's a military-inspired dragonfly Maverick and is designed appropriately, with what looks like fighter pilot gear. Blizzard Wolfang is yet another generic ice boss, but he has some cool animations and vacillates between walking on two legs and running around like a wolf. Metal Shark Player is okay, but he's still a bit disappointing. A metallic shark that dives around in a sea of scrap metal should be way cooler than he is. The rest of them are pretty bad though. Rainy Turtloid's only unique feature is his size, he takes up about half the screen, but other than that he looks like a crossbreed of Bowser and King DeDeDe from Kirby. Shield Sheldon is a pink clam that looks like my daughter drew a character from her My Little Pony coloring book from memory. Infinity Mijinion is goofy looking and it's impossible to definite exactly what he is, I had to look up what he is supposed to be. Blaze Heatnix was a massive, massive missed opportunity, I don't understand how they messed up a Phoenix so badly. And Ground Scaravich...a Dung Beetle, really? Yeah, MMaB wins this one big.
After 5: After 2: X6 47 - MMaB 46
Round 6 - Robot Master/Maverick Design - Technical
The Mega Man and Bass robot masters look cool, but in actual execution? Yeah, not so great. Burner Man is such an abysmal fight that I dedicated a whole paragraph to him in my review last week. Dynamo Man isn't much better because of his cheap healing machine, which is almost impossible to break as Mega Man. Magic Man and Astro Man have pretty solid patterns, but their attacks come out so fast that it's still a pain to react to them. They aren't bad, but I wouldn't call them good either. Pirate, Tengu and Cold are all solid fights, I don't hate them, but they aren't particularly memorable. Ground Man is the standout here, he has a variety of attacks that are challenging but not impossible to dodge and he keeps you on your toes without presenting what feels like an insurmountable challenge. His is probably the strongest fight across the two games.
If Burner Man is the worst robot master in the classic series, Infinity Mijinion has got to be the worst Maverick from the X series (Flame Hyenard from X7 may be more annoying, but Mr. BURNTOTHEGROUND! is a way better fight). This miniature menace will spawn clones of himself all over the room, like all over the room, to the point where you have to be a hardcore expert just to avoid his primary attacks. At least he has a strong weakness weapon that makes the fight more manageable. Oh wait, no he doesn't, hitting him with his weakness requires reflecting his bullets with Shield Sheldon's weapon and really doesn't do much more damage than a buster shot. And you have to hit the right clone, with a shot that's coming at you straight on, which is so easy when you also have shots coming from literally every other conceivable angle. This fight is much easier as Zero, but it still sucks. Rainy Turtloid and Shield Sheldon are probably the best fights here. The former requires some level of strategy and actually does a good job of using the enemy's size against you, while the latter has a tough but fair pattern that feels rewarding to crack. On the flip side, you also have Mavericks that are too easy, Commander Yanmark is clearly the enemy you were intended to start with but he's a joke even for that. We've spent a lot of time talking about enemies that suck because they are too hard, but Ground Scaravich has the opposite problem. All he does is gather his "leavings" and walk at you. If you don't kill him before the dung ball gets too big, it will become impossible to jump over. That's it, that's the fight. Blizzard Wolfang, Metal Shark Player and Blaze Heatinx are okay, but largely uninspired. This one was a tossup, for all the wrong reasons, but I am going to have to go with MMaB here. As bad as its worst two fights are, its highs are better and its mid-tier is less mid. Even the bosses that weren't great at least tried to experiment with some new things as opposed to just repeating the same gimmicks done worse. So that's going to give it the edge.
After 6: X6 56 - MMaB 56
Round 7 - Powers
Yet again, we have a category that's not particularly strong in either game. X6 has a different set of abilities for X and Zero, but I will be using X's here. I will say that Zero's kit is a little stronger, though that isn't saying much. Metal Shark Player and Ground Scaravich's powers are essentially the same, projectiles that fire in and arc, with the Metal Anchors flying higher and bouncing while the Ground Dash just kind of falls straight down. Neither are particularly useful. Magma Blade is literally the same as Sword Man's weapon from Mega Man 8, Ray Arrow is bland and uninspired and Ice Burst is more useful for platforming than actually attacking. The low point here is the Guard Shell, which deflects bullets...but only a certain kind of bullets, and only if they hit head on and pixel perfect. Basically, it's a shield weapon that doesn't shield. The one standout here is the Yanmar Option, which surrounds X with dragonflies that fire continuously. It's a better shield than the shield weapon and a better attacking option than most of the attacking weapons. Of course, X6 has the advantage of also having charged versions of its powers. Or at least it would if most of them weren't functionally the same. Charged versions of Magma Blade, Metal Anchor and Meteor Rain (oh, I forgot about that one, it's useless, moving on) are all slightly different versions of screen clears. At least the charged Metal Anchor summons a barrage of clone Storm Eagles, which is cool. The only other one of interest is the charged Ice Burst, which allows X to shoot Icicles as he slides. It's not useful, but at least it looks cool.
MMaB might have the blandest set of weapons in the entire series. Wave Burner is a short-range flamethrower, Tengu Blade is a slashing attack, Magic Card is a slightly stronger projectile that can fire in multiple directions, Remote Mine is a slow-moving bomb that detonates for splash damage, you get the idea. It's all recycled ideas, the same stuff we have seen in Mega Man games before. Copy Shot is probably the most unique power, it creates a clone of Mega Man that continuously fires at enemies, not super useful but at least interesting. Ice Wall is probably the best idea in theory, though it's not super functional for actually attacking, and Spread Drill is the standout here as it's fun to use despite being unoriginal. Here's the thing though; these powers are actually relatively useful. Magic Card might not be exciting, but it's strong, can be fired in multiple directions and retrieves items. Remote Mine is nothing original, but it deals big damage and can take out groups of enemies. Even when considering charged versions, the MMaB suite of powers is much more useful. Yanmar option is great, but outside of that none of the X6 powers are practical and many are difficult to use even against the Mavericks they are intended to be use on. MMaB has that to a degree, but it's not nearly as bad, it wins here.
After 7: MMaB 66 - X6 65
Round 8 - Level Layouts and Enemy Placement
If I could describe MMaB in one word it would be "disjointed." Every single level here feels like it was cobbled together from smaller levels that were designed separately. Some of them still have pretty straightforward layouts, like Dynamo Man and Cold Man's stages, but even there they can feel like they were designed by completely different people from screen to screen. Burner Man's stage has a weird flow to it, but the whole idea of going all the way up to come all the way back down thing works okay. Pirate Man's stage is probably the most poorly laid out, it looks nice but it feels like it's just a huge, open area filled with random water hazards. Tengu Man seems like a wasted opportunity to have so more sky-centric sections while Astro Man has improved greatly on his MM8 stage...though that's not saying much. Ground Man might have the most frustrating stage and its layout is all over the place, it feels like it was designed with little rhyme or reason. At least there's a nice secret to help you skip the worst of it. The final stages are fairly straightforward though and enemy placement is usually okay. Outside the final section of Burner Man's stage, the part with the cannons and fire telleys, most of the placements are okay and there are only a few portions where you have to make blind leaps. I touched on it earlier, but if you are playing as Mega Man some of the levels can't be completed at all without Cold Man's Ice Wall. While this is absolutely terrible design, the structure of the game prevents you from visiting any of these levels without that power, so it's not nearly as big a flaw as it could be.
X6 is absolutely all over the place, with levels ranging from well-done to bland to absolutely terrible to "over so quickly you barely noticed." I'm not sure which is worse, Infinity Mijinion's level where you are surrounded by poorly placed enemies and you are forced to make leaps of faith while all manner of crap flies in at you from the background, or Shield Sheldon's where you solve an easy puzzle and are at the boss door withing four screens. I'm going to have to go with the latter, as that level at least has a hidden path that makes the stage feel more like a normal length and allows you to find some secrets. Again, X6 has something of an advantage in that there are more secrets to find than the classic series, as every level here has something hidden behind one of these special areas. It could be a heart tank, sub tank, armor piece or a battle against Gate that will open the final levels early. In fact, you have to find one of these and defeat Zero to use him as a playable character as well. That would be a plus if any of these hidden areas were well designed or fun, but they aren't. Most of them also set you back in the stage as opposed to skipping you ahead or, at the very least, putting you back where you were. Access to some of them are random, like the one in Ground Scaravich's stage. He and Blaze Heatnix have terrible stages, but that is more down to their gimmicks than layouts. Enemy placement is atrocious throughout, you will constantly find yourself making blind jumps or climbs into enemies you can't see, while the nightmare monsters or whatever they are harass you from the most inconvenient angles possible. And don't even get me started on the Gate levels, each of these things is a monstrosity that just takes things way, way too far with death traps, lousy checkpoints and unfair difficulty. You even have a section that straight up can't be beaten without one of the armors, which is ridiculous. You shouldn't need a hidden item to beat a game. At least in MMaB, you are certain to have access to Ice Wall when you need it and it's a robot master power that can't be skipped.
The tricky thing here is that the two best levels across the two games come from X6. Rainy Turtloid's stage is a well-designed, fun Mega Man level with a good gimmick and fair challenge. It's easily the best stage in the game, but I have a soft spot for Metal Shark Player's stage. I know a lot of people hate it, but it gives me anxiety in that good "I need to beat this really hard video game and I have no room for error" way. Of course, that's more down to its gimmick than its layout. X6 does mitigate its unfair challenge somewhat by allowing you to continue indefinitely from the last checkpoint. That's great, but I would rather they just design good levels. MMaB's levels may be messy, but X6's are downright painful. MMaB wins here.
After 8: MMaB 76 - X6 74
Round 9 - Stage Gimmicks and Mini Bosses
Let's not beat around the bush here: Blaze Heatnix's stage can go straight to hell. With all that fire, maybe it actually is hell? I can tell you this, playing this abomination certainly feels like it. You have a mini boss, it's basically a giant robotic doughnut, that you fight five, yes FIVE times in succession. That's it, that's the level. You have to hit this thing in its weak spots, which are not easy for an un-upgraded, or even armored, X to target. Especially not when it's chasing you up a shaft while instant death lava is rising from below. Oh, also, if you don't kill it fast enough, you will be put in a position where you can't damage it's bottom weak spots or escape hits from it. Perhaps the climb is supposed to represent an ascent from the 9th circle to the 8th? The rest of the gimmicks aren't as bad...but they are still bad. Ground Scaravich sees you walk through generic hallways and fight totem poles, after which you are transported to one of, I think it's five random rooms filled with enemies. Yeah, it sucks. Infinity Mijinion's stage has a giant robot in the background that attacks you relentlessly, if you stand still for even a second you are going to get hit, with a handful of mini boss walls to stop your progress. These things are randomly weak to Meteor Rain, which makes this easier, but it's still awful. I didn't mention Commander Yanmark or Blizzard Wolfang's stages last time, but they are both below average, fairly straightforward combat stages that don't really have strong gimmicks. Shield Sheldon has a bunch of stupid laser puzzles, they aren't the worst but I always felt like they slowed down the pace of the game. Rainy Turtloid's stage is great more for its flow than its gimmick, but the acid rain element is pretty cool and helps differentiate it. Metal Shark Player sees you contend with a giant trash compactor, I know a lot of people hate it but I think it's a classic video game trope done well with a lot of difficult but doable challenges. It also does a great job of slowly introducing challenge, starting with just the compactor before adding spikes, conveyors, enemies and then all of the above. Those two are great, but they aren't enough to carry the others, especially when the nightmare effects become a factor. Ah yes, I almost forgot about those. Depending on the order you complete levels and other factors, certain stages will randomly have "nightmare effects" when you enter them. Nightmare is an absolutely appropriate term. All these things add is a sense of frustration, with hazards that make no sense showing up seemingly arbitrarily. Ever wanted to play an ice level where it randomly starts raining lava? Well, here's your chance.
MMaB doesn't have as many defined stage gimmicks as X6, largely because all of its levels try something once and then seem to abandon it. Even when they do, it's usually not executed well. The spears in Burner Man's stage have seemingly arbitrary timing, while the instant death fire Tellys are a cheap, unfair deathtrap. But each of those things only lasts for two or three screens. I'm not going to lie, I don't remember with robot master got the obligatory Yoku block section, but for a game as brutal and challenging as this it was surprisingly simple. Dynamo Man has a few screens of a random darkness gimmick, I've always hated those and felt they slowed down the pace of play. Pirate Man makes okay use of the standard water physics, which would have worked better if his stage was actually well laid out. Ground Man has a puzzle section that's absolutely abysmal if you don't know exactly what to do, but it can at least be skipped. There are a handful of interesting gimmicks here and there, Magic Man's trains and rotating blocks, or Astro Man's rising floors, but there's nothing that really jumps out in terms of gimmicks regard. All of the mini bosses are really bad, the worm thing in Ground Man's stage is a massive pace killer with an annoying pattern, while the poker chip in Magic Man's stage is absolutely going to hit you if you don't know it's coming. It's not all that interesting, but I would still rather play any of it than any of the X6 levels. MMaB definitely has its share of cheapness, but it's not nearly on par with its competition today.
After 9: MMaB 86 - X6 83
Round 10 - Balance and Fairness
I chose to add this category because I think these are the best way to encapsulate the issues that make these two titles problematic. Both are filled with cheap enemies, unfair jumps, beginners' traps and nonsensical gimmicks, all common aspects of bad side scrollers. That's not to say these games are without merit, because that's not the case. It's just that even the classic Mega Man gameplay can't make for some of the frustrating, ridiculous and downright sadistic design choices we have here. However, looking at the two side by side leads me to believe that MMaB is just a bit more fair and balanced. It has a high difficulty level throughout as opposed to vacillating from level to level. It's many mistakes seem more like honest oversights than like rushed, sloppy work. Many of it's frustrating aspects come from more experimental things, like the bosses in the King stages. They aren't good, but at least they failed at trying something new. A lot of the things that don't work in X6 are things the series has done better before. It certainly doesn't help that the game was clearly rushed, as evidenced by the fact they didn't even bother to translate the Maverick names. MMaB is frustrating, but X6 is sadistic, it feels cheap and unfair from the moment you press start to the moment you shut the game off in frustation. This fight was over already, but MMaB is going to take this formality of a round.
Final Score: MMaB 96 - X6 92
So, there you have it, MMaB comes out on top in this battle of the best of the worst. Honestly, I'm a little surprised. But as I was going through this, replaying little bits of X6 to jog my memory, it really did kind of make me stop and say "hey, maybe Mega Man and Bass isn't that bad." Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't play either of these games if you aren't a fan of the series. But if you have to choose one, go for MMaB.
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