In 1991, Capcom decided to port the Mega Man series to Game Boy. Aside from bringing back Robot Masters from past games and introducing new plots, these games also threw in some new characters.
The series was released as Rockman World, and the first game was called Rockman World GB in Japan. Meanwhile, in America and Europe, these games were still numbered. The games were named by their Roman numerals instead of Arabic to tell them apart, at least in writing. Otherwise, you would have to say "on Game Boy" or "for Game Boy" if you were mentioning them orally. I just stick to calling them "Rockman World" much like the Japanese audience does.
Unlike the other Mega Man titles that had been released at the time, the game was outsourced to Minakuchi Engineering and simply published by Capcom.
When you begin the game, you have a choice between Cut Man, Fire Man, Ice Man and Elec Man.
Cut Man
Of course, it doesn't matter...because this game is as hard as the first entry in the NES series!
You'll see quite a few familiar enemies as well as some new ones, as well as some completely different level designs. The spinning turrets with the five-way shot from the first game? Yeah, they're back and they want you dead just like in the first NES game.
The spinning black spiked balls not only drop down and charge at you when you're close enough, but some of them are a lot faster and also instantly change direction when you jump over them.
There is a 1-Up at the beginning of the stage. To get it, you'll have to jump to the left from the very edge of the conveyor belt. Yeah, prepare to see conveyor belts in this game, too.
There are power-ups in this game just like in the rest of the series, but good luck trying to get them from enemies! You're more likely to find them out in the open than from destroying an enemy. Even worse, it's hard to find a large power-up when you really need it, as the small pickups are so meager it's not even funny. Seriously, just two notches for my life? Is that all I get?
The spiked robots that travel across the floor and can't be shot at with the Proto Buster predictably returns here. Don't even bother charging up, as you have the Proto Buster in this game and you can't charge the ol' arm cannon up at all like in the later NES titles. You also can't slide, either.
As you make your way through the level, you'll notice that the enemy placement is actually more haphazard than what you've seen. Blame it on the developers Capcom outsourced this to.
The Sniper Joes show up in this game, and the way they fight is actually based on Mega Man 2. At least they balanced out the difficulty in at least one way in this game.
The scissor blades actually move toward you when you move in close. When this happens, immediately retreat. When they move forward a little bit, they'll then start flying around in a circle. They're pretty easy to move past then.
The one-eyed stomping robot from the first game is here. At least they don't take short hops to troll you like their NES cousins. They're only vulnerable when they're in the air, though.
You'll eventually fight Cut Man. He follows you around, jumps like an idiot every once in a while and also throws the scissor blades on his head. He always jumps when you're near him, so be ready to run right under him and hit him when he lands. Also, the scissor blades go all the way to the wall before they return to him. Whatever you do, don't walk up to the wall or you're going to pay for it.
When you somehow manage to beat Cut Man, you'll get the Rolling Cutter.
The game has passwords. This is nice, as you'll really want to save your progress. At least you'll feel accomplished while playing this game, simply because it's easier to beat.
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