Megaman Tournament

Game Title: Megaman Tournament
Engine: RPG Tsukuru 2003
Status at review: Completed

I wouldn't necessarily call myself a fan of the Megaman franchise, but, I've certainly played a number of games in that series, and the Megaman X series (sub-series?). I can't say I was closely following this game, but, I saw it on the review request thread, and thought I should give it a charged buster cannon shot.


As for this game, it opens with a bit of background as to what's going on, which I appreciate. As I understand it, there is a fighting tournament set up by an unknown entity to celebrate the invention of Net Navi. Which, given how I'm reading things, sounds like some manner of networked battle play, possibly similar to a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena). Megaman is being used as the avatar for the game's protagonist, Lin. Make no mistake, Lin, or the fact that you're playing as a MOBA-like-avatar, barely matters to this game. The game isn't about that. It's more about taking the concept of Megaman (ie: beating Robot Masters, and absorbing their abilities) and taking that to the fighting genre.

The game provides two modes with which players can choose from, with one mode unlocked with progress in the main mode. The first mode I tried was Practice Mode, figuring that would give me an idea of what the game would throw at me. This was not true. The three-on-one Fire Navi fight took me out before I could even input an action on Normal. Even on Very Easy difficulty, I was out-matched.

As frustrating as that was, I went ahead with Arcade Mode. This is the main mode of the game with one-on-one fights against various Robot Masters. Defeating said Robot Masters grants an equipment that holds their special ability. Wait, what? Aren't you supposed to permanently get their ability? Isn't that how Megaman is supposed to work? Fear not, absorbing abilities permanently is still a mechanic, but, players must achieve a high rank in the battle for the game to award players the permanent ability. Perhaps a bit unexpected, but, it gives players an incentive to perform well. For my own part, I managed 12 out of the 21 available abilities from the first three tournaments.

Challenge Mode is like a combination of Practice Mode and Arcade Mode in that it's a sequence of three-on-one fights. Of course, there are various conditions players have to play around. For my own part, I have not managed to get past the third round (out of six) of the first challenge-course. Of course, I absolutely refuse to purchase consumables, which might limit how far I can get to begin with, but, oh well. What I find most interesting about this mode is that only Weapon Energy is recharged. There is no opportunity to swap equipment, nor is health recharged, between rounds like there was with Arcade Mode. This might be considered part of the challenge, but, personally speaking, I think it would be fairer to at least recharge Health.

I did notice a bug while playing this game. I was on WAIT mode (of course), and if my character was frozen, or otherwise stunned, the game appeared to stand still. I noticed that I could use whatever ability my Restoration Chip gave me, but all other abilities were unusable. However, if I went back to the main combat menu, and selected AUTO, Megaman would act in some way. Sometimes the Buster Cannon, sometimes a permanent ability from one of the Robot Masters that I learned. What I found most interesting is if Megaman used the Buster Cannon, no Weapon Energy was consumed (as opposed to the 2 units it would normally take), but the chances to hit were non-existent. I do not know if this is conducive to Tsuk3 itself, or if the bug rises from how this game was programmed with the lack of "regular attack" or "guard" commands.


Summary:
I can absolutely understand the desire for side-view battles for this game, but, TsuK3's ATB does not feel welcome for a game like this. Also, some indication as to who/what you would fight next in respect to the tournaments would be a welcome addition. Otherwise, I think it's a mostly serviceable game that's more or less exactly what it says on the tin.


BOTTOM LINE: 3/5


Side note on ratings (since there is/was/will be somewhat of a spate on what rating means what between each user):
1/5 -> Terrible. Forget about hitting an audience. The game is so bug-ridden, or otherwise unplayable, that what entertainment can be found in the game has a hard time coming to the surface.

2/5 -> Bad but playable. I had a poor experience with the game. When played by a player the game actually caters to, it would serve it's purpose.

3/5 -> Average. A solid experience, but snags somewhere along the line cause it to be held back from being "good".

4/5 -> Good. I enjoyed the experience, and have no qualms supporting it if was considered for a featured game (if it wasn't featured already).

5/5 -> Excellent. Among the paragons of gaming experiences, and instant feature material in my humble opinion (if it wasn't featured already).