Nukezilla Review: Street Fighter X Mega Man (PC)

I hold Mega Man very close to my heart. Seriously.

That’s a picture of my left bosom, adorned with a Mega Man tattoo. Ever since Mega Man X became a part of my life at an early age, I’ve loved the Blue Bomber and seek out everything related to him that I can. So you can understand why someone like me would be so excited with news that hit about a week before Mega’s 25th anniversary celebration: someone had made a fan game that pitted Mega against a team of world warriors from the Street Fighter franchise.

And there is a lot to be excited for in this game. Street Fighter X Mega Man was developed in secret over two years by a fan named Seonw Zong Hui a.k.a. Sonic (check out his full story here). Being fan-made might turn some people off of the idea, but you can tell from the moment you see the boss select screen that a lot of love and work went into this title. Even simple things like Mega’s feet-shuffle dance and the second-to-last level boss battle extravaganza are all here.

Speaking of the bosses, the eight “robot masters” this time around are a motley crew of well-known SF combatants, and a few others that frankly I had to look up to understand (Uriel’s 8-bit musculature and underwear confused me at first). Each boss has a pitch-perfect ability that Mega can acquire, from Chun-Li’s Lightning Kick and Rolento’s Mine Sweeper to, of course, Ryu’s Hadoken. Then there’s the few bosses at the end of the game (who shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s played Street Fighter 2) that lead to some of the most fun experiences and levels in the game.

And the levels, my god, the levels. Each level is a near-prefect 8-bit recreation of the boss’ respective SF level. Ryu’s level is overlooked by a beautiful moon, while C. Viper’s looks and feels like an office building. Each obstacle, each enemy feels like it could’ve been in any main series MM title before this. There’s even some innovation, like Dhalsim’s level making you go left to start (very unusual), and riffs on old Mega Man staple enemies like the Mets and Sniper Joe. Then there’s the boss fights, which introduce a mechanic unknown in the MM world, but well-used in SF; Super gauges. Hit your opponent with enough blasts, and you’ll be on the end of well-choreographed combo that are exact copies of their respective SF Supers.

Above all else, the soundtrack really captured my interest. Each character has had their theme song Mega-fied into something special thanks to the work of A_Rival. This game actually contains one of my favorite pieces of MM music; “Claw Stage”, the music of a certain acrobatic combatant.

Looking back, I’ve realized I wasted your time with this review. Yes, it’s nice to go on and on and shout my love of this game to anyone who’d listen, but I should’ve began this review by saying this game is free and open to the public here. That way, anyone who has even the slightest interest in either Street Fighter or Mega Man can play it. Hell, I’d spend good money on this game if I had the chance. But the fact that you can download this with no costs incurred should make you download this game immediately. And you should, if only to celebrate a little blue robot who has brightened our TV screens for the past 25 years.

This review is day twenty-eight of the December 2012 Nukestravaganza.