Collection essentials #126: Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Genesis)

The copy of the game you see in the photo is unusual compared to the games you’ve seen up to this point. Mega Man: The Wily Wars was indeed a game developed and released during the Genesis’ lifespan in the early ‘90s. However, it only saw a physical release in Japan, Europe and Australia, in very limited quantities. In America, the only way to play it was an online subscription service (yes, that was a thing even back then) called the “Sega Channel”. But just a couple years ago, a company called Retro-Bit acquired the rights to give the game a legitimate legal physical release in America, and that’s what you see here!

About the game itself, Mega Man: The Wily Wars is a compilation of the first three Mega Man games, only they have updated graphics and a new remixed soundtrack. Perhaps the coolest new feature is the ability to straight-up save your game, which before you couldn’t do at all in Mega Man 1, and in the other two you had to jot down a password. The games aren’t strictly better than the originals though, because there are a lot of little gameplay tweaks that may or may not be to one’s liking. The new music, in my opinion, is a bit hit or miss. Sometimes I think it’s better than the original songs, and sometimes worse. But a really cool bonus to Wily Wars is that, after you beat the three games, you get to choose eight weapons from the selection in the first three games and take on some brand new stages and bosses!

I actually haven’t properly played through Wily Wars in my life yet, I’ve merely goofed around in it every now and then. But I definitely intend to at some point. And this modern rerelease is so cool, I definitely consider it an essential.