Mega Man V

Mega Man is as cool as ever in his newest installment for the GB J series. This being the fifth installment you might think it is getting a little repetitive, but that's where you would be wrong. Mega Man V has a whole new cast of robots to put your blaster to the test. In fact, they are so strong that Dr. Light has to build you another blaster just so you can do damage to them. This sequel even has money, or PC points, which allow you to buy new power-ups from Dr. Light. If you have a Super Game Boy, the game switches color every stage, giving an effect of almost 8-Bit quality.

The Mega Man series hasn't hit a snag yet. But after 15 MM titles, Capcom was due to trip sooner or later. There's nothing terribly wrong with this game, but there's little to recommend unless you're a dedicated fan of the Man.

You the Man

Once again you star as the Mega hombre in the kind of side-scrolling action that's been done to death. This time there's an alien armada headed toward Earth, and it's up to you to track them down in their fortresses, defeat the standard lineup of motorized, mechanized Mega enemies, and kick their bug-eyed butts back to the Milky Way.

Some changes have come to the MM world. While you still have your Mega Buster cannon, which you can power up for a more forceful blast, you also get a new weapon if you find enough P-Chips. Called the Mega Arm, it reels bosses in so you can whack them into submission. Also, instead of Rush, you have Tango, a ferocious furball feline who turns into a buzzsaw and attacks everything on-screen. It's helpful in some situations, but this new addition to the Mega menagerie doesn't really spice things up. Tango purrs more than he roars.

Scene It Before

Unfortunately, everything you whack looks like it's been whacked before. All the enemies and backgrounds are disappointingly familiar, and the bosses don't break any ground in the Mega series either.

The music is also the same. Every tinny note of the Mega theme is played over and over again. There's nothing here that you haven't heard, so don't work yourself up for an orchestra when all you're gonna get is an organ grinder.

Like everything else, the controls will be familiar to MM fans. However, you might experience some difficulty using the Super Game Boy. It's tricky to get a SNES joystick to execute the moves that are so simple on a normal Game Boy.

Let's Mega Deal

Mega Man has enjoyed success with its tried-and-true game play, but MM V is only for the hardcore Mega Man fan. Anyone else looking for some good side-scrolling action may find this title too tame. If this cart's the last Mega Man for the Game Boy, it's a sad tribute to the classic series.