Merry Christmas Time Wasters!
A couple weeks ago Capcom announced a new game to celebrate the 25th anniversary of both Megaman and Street Fighter; this got me excited. I enjoy playing the Street Fighter games with their hyper combos, vast array of characters and all the competitive fuel to cause full out brawls on the living room floor. More than Street Fighter though is my absolute love for Megaman. I first discovered the Megaman series when I was around six years old. Walking through a local flee market, I spied a cartridge of Megaman 3. From that point on I was hooked. Playing every game I could and making the leap to the X series on the Super Nintendo, Megaman continued to be my favorite game series as a child. Needless to say, this leaves me with a fond spot in the nostalgia center of my heart. But enough of my remembering, let’s move onto the meat of this review.
The game born from this 25th anniversary crossover is titled Street Fighter X Megaman. The basic idea is that while Megaman is sitting back getting ready to enjoy his anniversary, the cast of the Street Fighter series decide they want one last brawl before their anniversary ends. Of course they choose to duke it out with Megaman and thus the battles begin.
Street Fighter X Megaman plays like a classic Megaman game; run, jump and shoot your way to victory. The controls are spot on and it’s easy to see that a lot of work went into making this title. Fighting the eight robot masters (or street fighters in this case) brings back the nostalgia that was recently felt when Capcom released Megaman 9 and 10. One small note though is that Street Fighter X Megaman doesn’t feel near as challenging as either of the previously mentioned titles. Granted, this might have something to do with the fact that Street Fighter X Megaman isn’t actually a Megaman game developed by Capcom.
That’s right, Street Fighter X Megaman is a fan made game. It’s cool to see that Capcom took an interest in a fan made game enough to put their backing behind it, but it doesn’t change the fact that the game is still what it is, fan service. I want to like Capcom for making this game as wide spread as they have, but at the same time I can’t help but feel that they’re using it as a way to skip out on a real 25th anniversary for Megaman.
Enough of my paranoia, let’s talk about the graphics. Street Fighter X Megaman really shines with its graphics. Seeing some fan favorite Street Fighter characters rendered in 8-bit is great, and the best part is just how natural they look next to the rest of the Megaman backdrop. Complimenting this is just how spot on the Street Fighter characters 8-bit animations are in comparison to their less blocky counterparts.
When it comes to audio Street Fighter X Megaman does it right: Classic Street Fighter and Megaman sounds blended in with a new music score featuring tracks based off of older Street Fighter and Megaman games.
Something that is disappointing about Street Fighter X Megaman though is the complete lack of a save system. I’m not saying that I want to have a true save system, but honestly I think we all could have done with a password system. Sure Street Fighter X Megaman isn’t a long game by any means but not having the ability to pick up from where one left off leaves playing the game more like a chore to do as fast as possible instead of the fun trip back in time that the game is suppose to be.
Street Fighter X Megaman is an okay start to Capcom’s apology to all the Megaman fans out there. It combines two of Capcom’s greatest games in history into one nostalgic mash up that is sure to take fans on a trip down memory lane while still feeling fresh. Unfortunately though, the lack of challenge or the ability to continue progress after shutting down the game only hinders Street Fighter X Megaman from being the perfect jewel it could have been.
Street Fighter X Megaman blast its way to 3.5 GiN Gems out of 5!