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Mega Man: Micro World! - Proof of Concept

After trying this game, I can say it's not quite bad, I do like this interpretation of the Game Boy Mega Man, even if I didn't play that particular version yet, this feels pretty refreshing, I like the new gimmicks and even if it feels similar at first, you went to do your own thing afterwards, which is not a bad thing.
Also, Cut Man is very difficult in this version, which is something I didn't expect, lmao.
It's not wholly perfect of course, like the music doesn't loop properly(starts all over again instead of looping on the part where it should loop), not having joypad support, nor a pause button and some of the design feels incomplete, but overall, it's a good product.
Quite a fine demo on display with how short of a development time the game's been in, the art style's very very pretty and the controls are decently solid. I do have a few issues I would like to point out though.

1. Tiptoeing feels like it lasts a tad too long:
I'm very particular when it comes to replicating a game's controls, and have tried my hand at replicating Mega Man physics before, in which I found tiptoeing to be out for 6 frames before full motion kicks in. In this demo however, tiptoeing feels almost twice as long, and it tripped me up a little. The rest of the physics are spot-on.

2. Input delay:
There is a noticable input delay, and it did lead to one death by pressing jump too late. I'm unsure if this is a problem with the engine the game's being programmed on, an issue with how you programmed input, or if it's just something on my end, so some investigating is in order.

3. The boss feels a bit too hard:
Cut Man's new pattern is very hard to dodge, his rolling cutter is very fast and the telegraph is also very hard to react to, the only way I was able to beat him was by somehow preventing the cutter from returning to him. I personally tend to like my games on the easier side though, so take my words with a grain of salt.

Another note: The file size seems a little large for a demo of this size, and I'd assume the culprit is the audio. Maybe look into compressing at least the music? Just a thought.
While I am a huge Mega Man fan I do want to be critical for the benefit of this review. The Demo is solid and everything I am about to say is keeping the fact that this is a Demo in mind.

Starting off with what I have always believed is the strongest point of any Mega Man game is how it controls and how the gameplay itself feels. This is probably the part of the demo that the development team nailed the most. The game feels tight, responsive, and genuinely feels like a solid Mega Man game in terms of gameplay design. It was very responsive and felt very polished in terms of controlling micro Mega Man and I can't give enough kudos to the quality of the engine.

However when it came to the graphics of this demo I have to admit I am a bit torn for a few reasons. To start off with micro design works REALLY well for the game and I think solves one of the biggest issues with the Mega Man Gameboy Games in terms of just how much space on the screen there is. Where as in the official Gameboy Games there was very little screen space and Mega Man was absolutely massive this fan game on the other hand feels far more in line with other Mega Man games. The decision to go "micro" here has really been to the strength of the game in terms of navigating the world and providing space for interesting layouts and designs.

Where the graphics fall short is readability at times. Because everything is micro as well as being monochrome it makes enemies hard to distinguish from the rest of the world at times. Take the Bunby Heli's (Bladers) at the start of the level. They are so small and compressed AND share the exact same palette as both the foreground and background that it is at times hard to see them. This is where the exceptionally limited palette becomes a negative point for me. While it works in the official Gameboy games those games also used massive sprites to make sure everything was clear. This is the drawback of going Micro AND using such a limited palette.

With that said, to tack on another positive and looping back somewhat to a combination of the gameplay and graphics style, the hit boxes felt fantastic! I was worried about how handling such small enemies was going to feel and I think that they nailed it in terms of playability even with the very small size.

In terms of sounds I can't really say much as they sound pretty much like the official sfx.

Music though is another aspect I am torn on. The quality is SUPERB, it's very VERY well done and I have nothing but praise to the renditions of these songs that were used! ... With that said, they do not feel fitting. Cut Man's stage theme especially did not fit for me because on one hand you have this game that is portraying itself as a Gameboy Era game in terms of palette, screen size, sprite design, etc. but the stage music does NOT sound like something from the Gameboy in terms of limitation and instruments. Again, don't get me wrong here, it's really good but it just does not hold the same limitations the rest of the game is imposing upon itself.

I am not going to comment on the boss itself because Cutman himself is clearly unfinished with his only actions being to move left and right and occasionally jump straight up. As mentioned from others you can literally enter the room, not move at all, and destroy him effortlessly. Given that this is a Demo and not a final product and how clearly unfinished he is I do not think it's fair to hold that against the team.

Overall, I think this is a really fantastic demo and would absolutely LOVE to see more from this team and sincerely hope the project continues on. Everything here shows a very competent handling of the material and in a lot of ways improves upon what the original Gameboy games were trying to achieve.

I strongly urge anyone who enjoys Mega Man games to give this one a try as you will not be disappointed! ... Er, well, maybe disappointed that there isn't more game to play as the demo is short but aside from that.

Again, great demo and I personally hope to see more in the future!
This was a fun demo.

Firstly I want to bring up the art style, everything looks great it has a real Mario Land feel with the smaller sprites yet everything also has a great amount of detail, Mega Man looks good, and I'm real impressed by how good the Big Eye looks in this art style.

Next the gameplay, Mega Man controls well, it's always a bit hard to try and match the physics of Mega Man especially with a different art style, but things feel smooth in the game, I wouldn't call it one to one, but the controls feel good, and more importantly are supported by the level design bringing me to.

Next the level design, it feels like a Mega Man level through and through. granted a bit of an easy level, but a Mega Man level all the same, I really like the saw cutters gimmick and it's introduced in a good way as well with plenty of time to experiment with them. The only flaw I can really point out with them is that they don't feel like they're used to their full potential, most of the time they show up their used in a fairly basic way. for example they're one a few screens after their introduction in which they're used to guard a health pickup. the sawcutter didn't feel like it did a ton as it's slow speed made it insanely easy to pickup even though I didn't even notice it at first. In addition I feel like we didn't see enough enemy interaction with the saw cutters enough, although the room where you fall from the saw cutters while you're shot at by a Screw Driver was a really good interaction with the gimmick and super memorable. Another was the last room, where there is a giant pit under the saw cutter and you have to make it past all the enemies including a Big Eye at the very end, it was a good interaction, but did feel a bit easy as the saw cutter was no where close to me when I got to the end of the section. Overall the level is good, but I wished I saw more from the gimmick and the difficulty.

Finally the boss, besides the damage Cut Man couldn't really do anything to you, and at that if you stand on top of the blocks you can shoot him with no danger to yourself, I think his pattern would need a full revamp to actually be threatening in any way, even if you don't use the blocks jumping over him is zero problem.

All in all this shows a lot of promise, and could shape up to be a great looking Mega Man fangame thanks for the good time.
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SoggyDoggy
This totally has the Megaman style down pat! The music is phenomenal and the controls feel great! I also absolutely love the level design, enemies, and boss! I feel like the difficulty was tough, but fair, which is not an easy balance to get right. I will say, however, that I felt like my right hand was wrecked after beating Cutman, trying to be so nimble on those arrow keys. Highly recommend controller support. Great job!
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SoggyDoggy
Whoops, sorry meant to post this on the overall game, not a response to this comment.