When I look back at my childhood I
can only see my own deficiencies. I was a gangly uncoordinated youth with a massive
overbite. But I feel the most shame when I think of all of the video games that I never
beat. I always blamed my low scores on lack of coordination or low intelligence. Never
once did it occur to me that the game was just too darn hard. It was always something
wrong with meit was never the game. Just recently though I got a different
perspective on things. Maybe it wasnt me. Perhaps, just perhaps, some of those
original NES games were just a little too darn hard for their own good. If Mega Man Xtreme
for the Game Boy Color is any indication, maybe I really wasnt all that bad. After
all I did beat Donkey Kong Jr. on my own.Before we had gotten our copy of Mega
Man Xtreme I had read some of the reviews that complained about the games
difficulty. I was flabbergasted. How could being hard be a bad thing? I find that Im
almost always complaining about how easy games are on the system. If I cant get more
than a couple of hours out of a game I feel unsatisfied. And here were people talking
about it being too darn hard for its own good. Now that Ive played for a while I
have to admit that it is difficult, but I find myself celebrating its difficulty rather
than criticizing it. I simply have had too much fun playing this game to fault it for
being a bit of a pain.
The plot of
the game is just an excuse to revisit classic Mega Man bad guys. Thats not a bad
thing. Like all of the best games on the GBC (also playable on the original Game Boy) I
enjoy a certain feeling of nostalgia as I worked with the little guy once again. Fans of
the franchise wont be let down by Mega Man on this outing.
From the moment
that I turned the game on I knew that I was in for a treat. This is one great looking
title. On top of the nice graphics, it has some of the nicest controls that Ive used
as well. The levels themselves are fairly easy to progress through. Its the bosses
that cause all of the trouble. The health meters on the villains are so high that they
seem to border on invincible. As you defeat bosses you get power ups that help you later
on. The attacks are varied enough to keep you on your toes. You cannot let your guard down
in this game.
In all honesty I cant find any other fault with the game other than its
difficulty (and for some people even that isnt really a fault). The graphics are
really quite nice. Its one of the best looking games Ive played on the system.
When I first started playing I thought this would definitely be a 5 star game. But on the
15th try of the first major boss I was beginning to have doubts in my own
gaming abilities. If youre looking for a challenge and your ego can handle a
beating, then this game will not let you down.
P.S. If you by chance beat this game in a matter of minutes, please dont email
me. I dont think that I could suffer the trauma of knowing that it really was my
lack of skill that kept me from beating Kung Fu.