Collection essentials #220: Mega Man 7 (SNES)

Mega Man X could have been seen as the evolution to the Mega Man series, starting on a different console and all. But no, Capcom insisted that the standard Mega Man series was still active, and so they later released Mega Man 7, the first one to be developed initially for a console other than the NES. 

The main Mega Man series featured incremental changes, and these were few enough that the games wound up feeling very similar. 7 does at least change things a little more than usual. Since it’s on a new console, they took an opportunity to redo the artstyle, and you’ll notice that Mega Man’s sprite is quite a bit bigger than it was for the NES games, which has gameplay implications.

Mega Man games on the NES sometimes added light story elements to the experience, but 7 makes it a little more of a focus. This game has an intro stage like Mega Man X did, and this sets up the story, with spoken dialogue between characters. In addition to series staple Dr. Wily, there’s a new antagonist introduced, Bass, along with his dog Treble. And like old Mega Man, there’s eight main levels you have to beat, but this time progression is divided up so that only four levels are available from the start, followed by a special midgame stage that advances the story, and then the last four levels are selectable. You could argue this is a downgrade since it gives the player less freedom over progression, but I don’t mind too much.

The biggest addition to Mega Man 7 in the gameplay department is the shop. You can collect bolts during the game which serve as currency, which you can spend at the shop in between levels on power-ups and items to help you out. There’s also more secrets to find in levels than in previous Mega Man titles, something they probably were inspired to add  more of after Mega Man X.

This game’s English localization wasn’t very good as they changed things to an extent that was seemingly unnecessary, such as one instance where Mega Man seems intent on killing Dr. Wily in a way that’s out of character. Fans later made English patches for the Japanese version so players can experience the original story more accurately.

I got a great deal on this cartridge which I got from Gadget Depot along with Mega Man X3, which I imagine had been traded in by the same person.

What’s remarkable about Mega Man 7 is that it was only developed in about three months, which is insane. Capcom imposed a strict schedule, and the developers managed to pump out quite a good game in an unreasonable time. I don’t think it’s as good as Mega Man X, but not a whole lot of games are. It’s still another Blue Bomber essential classic.