I went to great lengths to finally get this game.

User Rating: 9.7 | RockMan: Mega World GEN
I first played Mega Man: The Wily Wars when it was exclusive on the Sega Channel. It was a bittersweet moment for me. On one hand, there finally was a Mega Man on the Genesis, but on the other hand, it wasn’t going to be released in the US. Flash forward to modern times, I have been able to play the Wily Wars through a technological marvel known in the gaming community as emulation. As great as emulation is, I am a purist and longed to actually play the Wily Wars on my Genesis in its purist form. This would be no easy task requiring scouring EBay for months, getting into a couple bidding wars that drove up the price astronomically, needing a Game Genie that proved to be just as rare on EBay, finding a code on the internet for the Game Genie to bypass the regional lockout, then finally putting all the pieces together and hoping they would fit. It was a long shot, but I managed to procure a copy and the other necessary items. I am happy to say that frustrating chapter had a happy ending.

Though the Wily Wars is a remake of the first three Mega Man on the NES, which I do own as well, I wanted to see how those games would look with a 16-bit update. The graphics do not disappoint with larger characters and more vibrant worlds. Music has always be a staple in the Mega Man games and the updated remixes do the original justice. A part of me still prefers the original music, but that is just me. The game play is almost identical to the original with a few differences. The controls didn’t seem to be as responsive as the NES versions and felt a bit sluggish. It wasn’t enough for me to have to relearn the games, just enough for me to adapt to it. Fans on the original games will find that the levels have retained their original design, so don’t expect any radical changes there. Almost all the updates are graphical and sound.

It took me almost eleven years for me to be able to play the Wily Wars on my Genesis. I don’t know why they never released this game in the U.S. It would have gone well with Castlevania and Contra being on the Genesis. I am glad though that I do have my own copy and it is on of my most prized, and most expensive, games I own.