QCF: Street Fighter x Mega Man

ega Man has been all but a whimsical phantom during 2012. 2011’s cancellation of Mega Man Universe followed up by Capcom terminating the sequel to the Mascot’s cult-favorite franchise, Mega Man Legends 3, had many Capcom supporters and players scratching their heads as the 25th anniversary of the blue bomber was fast approaching. Reality for Mega Man only seemed grimmer since Keiji Inafune left Capcom, and the only significant appearance the beloved character made in 2012 was in a cross-over fighting game cameo that went a step further to depict him in a parody that caricatured a particularly unfavorable appearance from his past.

Just what kind of hope was left for the super fighting robot? Well it was fan -- a dedicated one -- who managed to open the minds of Capcom to consider releasing the title just in time for the 25th anniversary called Street Fighter X Mega Man. While Capcom is no stranger to colliding universes together and making a success out of it, Street Fighter X Mega Man is the first traditional Mega Man game release from Capcom since Inafune’s departure, following up Mega Man 10. After some time with it, Street Fighter X Mega Man has proven that Inafune’s absence is not the death of the Mega Man franchise and there’s more than enough life left in the series to expand even further.

SFxMM is a bit of a strange beast. Where other Capcom Crossovers have contended to a fighting entry mixed of several components from the publisher’s library, SFxMM goes about a formula that marries the quirks and features of its juxtaposed material into a singular experience and no much less as a platformer as well. For as strange and unique as the premise seems, for all intents and purposes, SFxMM is a Mega Man-ass Mega Man game. You’ll choose from eight different stages and follow up the end of them with a boss fight in order to advance. It's here where the Street Fighter element comes into play. All of the stages are directly inspired the respective stages of the characters of the Street Fighter roster themselves as they play the role of the Robot Master at the end of the stage; the result is both solid and palpable fan service explosion of sorts.

The real charm is how the crossover itself is handled. All of the familiar elements are subtle in execution, and do nothing to take away or imbalance the darling android’s traditional platforming recipe. Mega Man handles in the same manner that he did within MM4, with the decision to use the first implementation of his charged shot. While this may appear jarring at first, this choice of charged shot adds to the overall challenge of the title’s intended difficulty as it’s far weaker than any other incarnation of the shot, meaning the varying effects on certain enemies are also present and require calculation on your end. This design choice is first of a few that rounds out the venture reasonably to test the skill of anyone who plays quite nicely and competes with the likes of MM 2 and MM 9 in terms of design. The same can’t be said for platforming, through.

Not to be misunderstood, the designs and obstacles are unique enough to set it apart from previous titles. They’re excellently designed, but it's one-dimensionally focused towards combat. It’s a shame too, because there are a lot of standout obstacles, and the fact that there was more that could’ve been done in this area holds back SFxMM from delivering a complete Mega Man experience. The combat obstacles, however, are excellent and definitely help make certain stages more memorable than others. The new elements introduced to the traditional mechanics (climbable walls being one of them) help make up for the serious lack of platforming, and even go to the lengths of falling in line with the motif of the fighter involved. But the focus within the stage’s construct ultimately does not compliment the other dynamic that the franchise is famous for.

The powers themselves also serve certain utilities against the combat oriented obstacles, and do play a stronger role in being successful in your stage runs, featuring the elegant design of constant equipment swaps to just stay alive that reminiscent of the stand out entries within the franchise like MM 2 and MM 9. Apart from the Street Fighter inspired designs of the game, the original enemies are a bit bland and aren’t considerably varied. you’ll be encountering a lot of repeat conflicts with some bland baddies from the beginning to end but this shortcoming is only mildly disappointing in hindsight when you look at the rest of the game, Ah yes, the rest of Street Fighter X Mega Man. While stages are a slight miss, the real meat, that delicious sirloin that you crave in your helping of Mega Man, you know, the boss fights, well, they’re tender and incredibly fulfilling.

The Street Fighter characters themselves behave in a manner that emulates both how you would approach them in their respective fighting games and how you respond with a Robot master. Ryu, for example, will assault you with a pattern of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku kicks across the screen, which will make him invulnerable to projectiles, as the rule would apply in Street Fighter. These attacks are authentically translated, and anyone who’s familiar with both games will find themselves naturally applying muscle memory in practice from their experience with BOTH games, something that’s rare for a crossover game and more or less atypical that it’s done successfully. The act of scoring “perfect” rounds and defending against “Super” attacks adds new elements to the boss fights that will also alter how you play against the famous brawlers when you enter their rooms. Slowly building up your opponent’s Super Meter, which is visible alongside their health and will be launched immediately after it’s filled, giving you a sense of urgency to defend or evade the assault as soon as you can, and manages to be one of the most frenetic practices of boss fights in any Mega Man game ever.

Street Fighter X Mega Man is ultimately the shortest of Mega Man games with only four additional stages and an Easter egg stage, but it manages to be one of the most rewarding to play since Mega Man 9. While it may not have a save feature, the title is balanced in its difficulty and appeal in all the right ways, and definitely justifies the demand of its one-sitting completion. It’s pretty hard to critique a free game, (seriously, you can get it right here), but with the stakes set high for the Blue Bomber’s return to form, it’s safe to say that SFxMM defies most of your expectations and mostly delivers just for the fun combat, even if it hardly has any jumping in it.