Mega Man has not had a standalone game of his own in quite some time. Luckily the Blue Bomber has been featured in other titles. Zero appeared in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and the main man himself makes a guest appearance in the new Super Smash Bros. for 3DS. We spent some time with Mega Man in the 3DS demo, and while more time is needed to properly break down the character, he looks solid at this early stage. We don’t want to say he’s one of the best in the game, but he has all the tools he needs to hold his own.
If you read our Pikachu demo impressions, you know that Pikachu can escape or interrupt combos with the Thunder special move. Mega Man has a similar combo breaker ability with the Rush Coil (Up Special) recovery move. Rush appears in roughly one frame, similar to Pikachu’s Thunder special. This means that any time there’s even the slightest gap in a combo, Mega Man can Rush Coil to relative safety. In previous games this was not possible and the combo would be virtually guaranteed. While you don’t want to continually mash to perform a Rush Coil when getting comboed, it can get you out of sticky situations.
Mega Man plays quite a bit differently than most traditional Smash Brothers characters. His Neutral A attack is the Mega Buster. You should always fire it. It works like a jab combo in that Mega Man can fire three shots in a row. After the first shot, Mega Man can move in any direction and continue firing. This makes it a great option for closing in on an opponent and nullifying other projectiles.
Speaking of other projectiles, Mega Man’s Metal Blade (Neutral Special) counts as an item after its initial use. What this means is that if you throw a Metal Blade, it can stick to a surface or an opposing player can grab it out of the air like an item. When used as an item it inflicts more damage, which means you should always shoot it down into the ground, then pick it up.
Mega Man’s Leaf Shield (Down Special) will require some work to use correctly. While the Leaf Shield is active, Mega Man can’t perform many actions. He can’t use other special moves, but he can throw items, roll, jump, throw or put up his normal shield. As previously mentioned, the Metal Blade is considered an item once it’s thrown, so if you have one in-hand, you can put up the Leaf Shield and still have a viable attack option. However, if you get knocked off the stage while the Leaf Shield is active, you’re virtually dead because you can’t use Rush Coil to recover.
It’s possible to use the Leaf Shield on an opponent in close proximity to guard against their attacks and possibly score a throw, but there’s a decent amount of risk involved. If you time your throw incorrectly or the opponent simply has good spacing, it can be difficult to grab them and you may end up leaving yourself open to attack. However, on the bright side the Leaf Shield does have good defensive abilities, as every leaf has its own hitbox and can deter an enemy from recklessly attacking Mega Man.
As you can see, Mega Man has a lot of options, but you really need to know how to use those options against your opponents. A mistimed Leaf Shield could get you killed, and using the Metal Blade as a normal attack limits the damage. You really have to be aware of your surroundings and use Mega Man’s attacks to the best of their abilities. However, in the right hands, Mega Man appears to be a powerhouse.
Stay tuned to Prima Games, as we’ll have a detailed breakdown of Mega Man and the rest of the Super Smash Bros. 3DS roster in the coming weeks as we build up to the retail release of the game.
