I've been playing through this lately (the GBA version--I played the SF version a few times over the past few decades) and I disagree with this review quite a bit.
The introduction stage does a great job highlighting the differences between the two characters. I think it's one of the most varied intro stages in the series and is second only to MMX1 in having interesting set pieces.
I think the difficulty of this game is blown way out of proportion, both in this review and the Internet in general. I don't think this game is any harder than anything else in the classic or X series. I don't think there are any parts that feel cheap or unfair. I really liked the way bosses were handled as a tree. It forces the player to enter the two hardest bosses (Burner and Dynamo) with the enemy's respective weaknesses, but still lets the player tackle hard bosses early.
I really like the weapons in this game--In fact, I think it's my favorite set. They all have such interesting properties and secondary effects. I often switch to weapons in this game because they are actually fun to use. Unlike other entries in the series, having the boss's weakness doesn't let you just stun-lock them into a boring victory. Beating Burner Man with his weakness is still hard, and I think it's a better game as a result.
I don't agree that "Mega Man should just avoid portable consoles". The GB games range from interesting to really good and Initi Creates MM Zero series is fantastic. R&F does suffer on GBA compared to the original though. The characters weren't scaled enough for the smaller viewport and the camera doesn't pan up/down or lead ahead of the player enough to anticipate hazards to the extent that you can on the SNES version. The spikes at the beginning of Tengu Man's stage, for example, are barely visible. This makes a handful of areas more difficult than they needs to be.
Anyway, now that I've finished complaining about how wrong your review is, good review anyway. It flows wells and does a good job laying out its (incorrect) points :)
The introduction stage does a great job highlighting the differences between the two characters. I think it's one of the most varied intro stages in the series and is second only to MMX1 in having interesting set pieces.
I think the difficulty of this game is blown way out of proportion, both in this review and the Internet in general. I don't think this game is any harder than anything else in the classic or X series. I don't think there are any parts that feel cheap or unfair. I really liked the way bosses were handled as a tree. It forces the player to enter the two hardest bosses (Burner and Dynamo) with the enemy's respective weaknesses, but still lets the player tackle hard bosses early.
I really like the weapons in this game--In fact, I think it's my favorite set. They all have such interesting properties and secondary effects. I often switch to weapons in this game because they are actually fun to use. Unlike other entries in the series, having the boss's weakness doesn't let you just stun-lock them into a boring victory. Beating Burner Man with his weakness is still hard, and I think it's a better game as a result.
I don't agree that "Mega Man should just avoid portable consoles". The GB games range from interesting to really good and Initi Creates MM Zero series is fantastic. R&F does suffer on GBA compared to the original though. The characters weren't scaled enough for the smaller viewport and the camera doesn't pan up/down or lead ahead of the player enough to anticipate hazards to the extent that you can on the SNES version. The spikes at the beginning of Tengu Man's stage, for example, are barely visible. This makes a handful of areas more difficult than they needs to be.
Anyway, now that I've finished complaining about how wrong your review is, good review anyway. It flows wells and does a good job laying out its (incorrect) points :)
