Another update has graced the world of Rockman Xover. This update adds a new world, which is themed after the game Mega Man X8. Optic Sunflower, Avalanche Yeti, Burn Rooster and Bamboo Pandamonium appear as bosses, with X8 Sigma as the final challenge.

Additionally, there is the new OVER-8 armor (as seen above). This armor is a dual wood/wind type, although a don’t believe wind is an actual attribute in the game. But as you can see above, they outfitted the armor with propeller-like cuffs. This armor is strong against electric type bosses.

Last, Xover also brings the “Irregular Burst” system. Normally, Battle Memory cards have a limit to how much you can level them up and improve their stats. However, by combining identical cards, you can surpass the normal leveling limits and make them even stronger. In honor of this addition, players currently have a chance to receive “Golden Wily” and “Silver Wily” Battle Memory cards when they log in. Hit the jump for some additional screens.

News Credit: Rockman Unity, 4Gamer.net

Or rather, one Mega Buster and one Proto Buster, if you want to get technical about it. BigBadToyStore has these up for pre-order, and you can get the pair for $54.99 when they arrive in November 2013 (estimated).

Other items they have up for pre-order, all from “System Service,” include a pair of red and blue Mega Man prize figures for $49.99, slated to arrive in October 2013, and a set of six Mega Man keychains in different colors for $29.99, also expected in November.

Thanks for the tip, ProtomanX!

As it turns out, though a lot of people didn’t really care for it– as a Mega Man game, at least– there are still quite a few who did. Perhaps even you, the person reading this right now. If you count yourself among the latter, then you should know that you’re not alone.

One fan of what he has seen, Godfried Weihs, has started up a new Facebook page, complete with its own petition which hopes to garner enough support to get the game put back into production. “I realize it’s a long shot,” he admits, “but I figured it’s worth trying. I thought that if maybe this game got enough attention, hopefully Capcom would notice both this and Mega Man Legends 3, hopefully putting them back into development.”

He adds, “If these people could turn Metroid into an amazing FPS, I’m certain they could do the same for this game.”

At this point, we think Capcom is still trying to determine how best to proceed with the Blue Bomber, so anything may be possible yet. Only time will tell for sure.

Hey there, it’s been a little while, so how about a chance to win something cool? We’ve got three of Capcom’s 25th anniversary Mega Buster styled USB thumb drives to give away! Each has a capacity of 8GB, and comes equipped the latest version of Street Fighter X Mega Man, the game’s soundtrack and promotional wallpaper, and digital copies of UDON’s Mega Man Tribute, Mega Man X Official Complete Works, and Archie’s Mega Man comic issues #1-4. Woah!

Now I’m guessing you probably want to know how to win. It’s simple! Just reply to this post with the following: what Mega Man game would you want to see remade, and how would you want to see it remade? Let us know in as much detail as you can muster! Three winners will be chosen randomly after the deadline from these comments. Please be sure to comment with your legitimate e-mail so we can reach you!

The deadline to enter this giveaway is Sunday, May 26th, at midnight PST. Please only one entry/comment per person! Thank you, and good luck!

Rembakun is our only enemy for the first section. It flies forward while dropping three bombs, and aims in front of Mega Man. They die in one hit, but are reasonably fast and the bombs deal six damage, so they can be dangerous if we’re distracted by platforming or other enemies. This isn’t such a case.

Metall K-1000 fires the usual projectiles, then dashes forward. This is a neat variation on the Metall, as its extra height gives us the option of sliding under the horizontal shot. These and a few Lyrics aren’t enough to carry a section on their own though.

The large chicken we meet inside the train is Cocco, and the walking eggs are Corocoro. Cocco can only be harmed in the head, and they act like a smaller version of the Penpen Maker from Mega Man 3. The eggs will jump when they reach a wall, which could provide some interesting situations depending on the terrain. Unfortunately only one of them makes use of this. The staggered terrain works well for Mousubeil, but it isn’t the best partner for Cocco as they’re very similar and unlikely to get a chance to attack together. There’s really no need to jump over Cocco, but it’s a rare chance to use Rush Coil in combat and show off something the old version couldn’t have done, so I’ll take it.

This continues for longer than it needed to. Taban shows up at the end, but he would have fit better with the Coccos a few screens ago. The low ceilings at least give Mousubeil an advantage in a couple spots. An “A” item is also hidden in one of the windows.

Back on the roof, we run into more train Mets and Bomb Thrown, who’s only difference from Rock Thrown is that the projectiles explode. These tend to aim high, and work better when placed below Mega Man like the second Rock Thrown in Stone Man’s stage. At least they come as a pair.

Nothing new to see here.

Yudon here is pretty great. He only takes five hits, but constantly fires homing missiles and deflects incoming attacks with his arms, including charge shots. It’s nice to see another big defensive enemy that isn’t a stomper.

I had to run through the stage again after looking over the screenshots I’d collected, as I was certain I’d missed something. This is really all there is though. Half the stage is just Metall K-1000 with a handful of minor enemies thrown in, and most of the rest is Cocco and Mousubeil, with a complete lack of pits or platforming challenges. It almost makes me feel bad for being so harsh on Crystal Man’s stage.

The visual design takes us on a journey through a train and on top of it, which looks nice enough (the background even scrolls while we’re on the roof) and explains the uniform terrain. This seems to be a case of the designers coming up with the theme first and pushing gameplay to a distant second.

The costume now sits on eBay, pre-owned (of course) but “in excellent shape,” and is waiting for a new home with a $130 Buy-It-Now.

You can find more pictured and information here, including the measurements, materials involved, what sort of durability it has, and shipping details.

Thanks to Nick P. for the tip!

Hint: It’s not Mega Man, but someone else from the franchise. Find out by watching the video above or clicking here to view. Just remember that the video isn’t really safe for work.

Edit: And we just noticed that the thumbnail sort of gives it away. Whoops.

Just in time (well, minus two weeks) for you to begin playing along to A Critical Look at Mega Man 5 Stages, the penultimate game in the Blue Bomber’s NES legacy has been released to the Nintendo 3DS eShop in North America and Europe (thanks, Rockman) alike. $4.99 is all it takes to go take the fight to Proto Man(?!) on the go, complete with the added convenience of save states.

And because we know some of you are wondering, yes the “?!” was sarcastic. Very much so. Go play now.

We’re just over a month away from the release of Project X Zone for the Nintendo 3DS, featuring a crossover of characters from Namco Bandai, SEGA, and Capcom, including Mega Man X, Zero, Vile, Iris, Tron Bonne, and of course, the Servbots who follow her to and fro. If you’re the artistic type, then you can have a shot (or two) at winning the Limited Edition of the game, thanks to Capcom Unity.

“What would Dante look like wearing Jin Kazama’s outfit? Or Jill dressed as Ulala from Space Channel 5? Well, if you can answer that question for us, then we’ve got a super cool prize pack with your name on it!”

The idea is to dress Capcom characters as those hailing from the other two companies as part of the crossover, and submitting up to two different pieces of fan art to contest@capcom.com before 9pm PST on Friday, May 31st, 2013. Three winners will be chosen to win the Limited Edition of the game, which features limited edition packaging, a soundtrack, a mini-poster, and a mini-artbook (as per the image above).

The contest is only open to residents of North America, with the full list of rules available here. And, they note, you can probably expect to see the winning work plastered all across the X Zone trinity’s network of social media sites such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as Capcom Unity itself.

Source: Capcom Unity

“Bad art is more tragically beautiful than good art, because it documents human failure.” –Henry Letham, Stay

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Having arrived in the Skull Egg Zone, the bizarre conjoining of Mobian and Wily-esque design, the strike force of Sonic (and pal) and Mega Man (and his brother and his dog) find themselves wondering who’s responsible for the landscaping kludge. Tails quickly changes the subject and explains to Mega Man about the wonders of alternate dimensions through a highly technical visual reference known as a Venn Diagram.

Of course, who has time for science these days? Not our heroes, because someone suddenly starts shooting at them.

This is when I personally started blinking at the switch in art styles… more on that later. Copy Robot has arrived to cause all sorts of trouble, and he brought friends: The Genesis Unit. Buster Rod G, Hyper Storm H, and Mega Water S from the Genesis Wily Wars game. The mention of the name also brings a bit of a “wait a minute” moment from Sonic, but he doesn’t have time to think through it completely. They have four evil robot villains to take down, and the Genesis Unit comes out swinging.

Meanwhile, in outer space…

Hey, it’s that guy! That big Duo guy! And no, I don’t mean that Big Duo, I mean the Duo who takes down Evil Energy for a pre-breakfast exercise routine and likes to bounce around a room as a big blue comet.

The writers take into account that transmissions from Earth to Jupiter (yes, he’s still sitting around Jupiter, where he had his climactic duel with that Evil Energy-powered purple alien robot thing in Mega Man 8) take a significant amount of time: 42 to 50 minutes for a transmission to get there from Earth. Duo’s naturally irritated; less at Dr. Light, more at the situation. His arrival may take some time, but when he shows up, expect fireworks.

The battle between the Genesis Unit and our heroes continues, with Mega Man squaring off against his evil duplicate and the others tussling with the three Robot Masters who bear more than a coincidental resemblance to the Journey of The West heroes. Wily and Robotnik are once more watching the fight being broadcast by more of their minions, but they can’t enjoy the show for very long; two more of their Roboticized Masters arrive with the final piece of the puzzle.

Robotnik loves to geek out about his bling. With all seven Chaos Emeralds, he can once more wreak untold havoc upon not only Mobius, but now the multiverse at large. The only problem he has is that once he has them, he’s not very good at keeping them, and that will likely (definitely, based on the previews) be the case again here.

Still, for the moment, Robotnik is as gleeful as a child at Christmas, so much so that he unintentionally insults Wily, and the two have a telltale moment of bickering. I’ve mentioned how their internal dissent will be their downfall in prior reviews, and the Cosmic Joke rears its head again for a moment. They cool their heels and get back to watching the show, putting off the inevitable falling out for a little while longer.

The Genesis Unit is giving the good guys all sorts of trouble. Proto Man is staving off a thorough drenching and harpooning by hiding behind his Proto Shield, Sonic’s caught up in a web of mirror image Buster Rod Gs, and poor Tails is discovering Hyper Storm H really does suck… hard.

Mega Man would love to help them, but he has his own problems: Copy Robot is being particularly irritating, and matching Mega Man shot for shot, jump for jump, and insult for insult. Mega Man can only stomach so much sassing, and so he pulls out a new trick of his that I wasn’t even sure he had. Remember back when he de-roboticized Tails by Weapons Copying Tails Man?

Looks like he got a little present out of it after all! And this is a good sign, because there are still eight more Roboticized Masters, seen and unseen, to be dealt with… which will give Mega Man another eight weapons to rely on, when the time comes. For the moment, Tail Wind is a potent, Storm Tornado based dose of pain which shreds Copy Robot to pieces. I half-expected Mega Man to utter the phrase, “Looks like you really got blown away!” in the final moments of that fight, but it was over too quick for the James Bond groaner.

He then turns around and uses it to distract Hyper Storm H, giving Tails the opportunity to go on the offensive, and then pulls the same stunt on Buster Rod G to help out Sonic. Two down, and only Mega Water S to go? Well, showing his true colors, Mega Water S decides fleeing is a good decision. Too bad Proto Man doesn’t plan on letting him come back again, and a shot from his arm cannon puts the soggy seditionist down. The defeat of the Genesis boys gives the hero gang a little time to discuss the ramifications of it all.

Even more disturbing than Robot Masters being suddenly revived when there’s no feasible way of having it happen is what Sonic mentions while he’s stretching out his hammies. Robotnik’s tried time/space manipulation before during the “Genesis” story arc in Sonic The Hedgehog, which was about twenty-some issues ago. They deduce that the situation’s even more serious than they thought, and so they make haste onwards through the Skull Egg Zone.

Along the way, Rush gets to use his Search module, they deal with those disappearing/reappearing blocks, escape flame traps, and use even more bounce springs. And at the end of this parade of game-specific shout-outs, as they stand atop a bluff, floats the Wily Egg positioned between a Robotnik-faced sun and a Wily-bearded moon.

Oh, and then of course, there’s the rest of the Roboticized Masters. Team Chaotix (Vector, Charmy, and Espio), Silver, Blaze, Knuckles, Shadow, and Amy Rose, all showing up at once.

Duo, we really could use you about now…

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The good thing about a crossover like this is that it can solve a lot of what-ifs. It can, but crossovers don’t always answer that question. A crossover like this also has its downsides: You may end up with a lot of rabid fans leaping down your throat and flaming your e-mail with lines such as, “there’s no way so-and-so would ever say something like that!”, or “you’ve totally misrepresented ______’s moral compass!”

People give off a lot of flak for the little things, and certainly, I have my moments as well. But that’s the nice thing about being a critic: You’re expected to be a lightning rod. Artists, on the other hand… they put their heart and souls into what they do, and most days, I think they would just, to paraphrase Colonel Jessep from A Few Good Men, want us to say thank you and then be on our way.

I imagine my style of critiquing grates on some people’s nerves. I enjoy giving a brief recap, highlighting the important moments, and then finding some nugget buried in the Issue which I can espouse on at length. I enjoy the Aesop model: Every story has a theme or a moral in it. Great Aunt Elma wanted me to be a preacher, but that didn’t happen, so instead I apply that talent, meager as it is, to a field I treasure.

And it is such a dangerous time to be a Mega Man fan, what with no real new video games to speak of coming out of the mother company and the franchise figurehead in exile. So if I come off preachy, view it through the lens I operate under: Someone who has made the Blue Bomber a part of his life for more than a decade, and believes the simple stories and tight controls that went along with Mega Man games weren’t a broken thing. And as they say, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

The focus of the crossover to this point, to the beginning of Issue 5 has been recap and momentary confusion among the ranks. Issue 5 is the beginning of the end for the Badniks, because the good guys go on the offensive, and they’re good at it. The introduction of the Tail Wind special weapon was (pardon the expression) a breath of fresh air. I wagered that it would be Mega Man’s unique talents that gave Team Hero the upper hand, and that was definitely the case in this first skirmish against the Genesis Unit.

Until Mega Man got his Orange Fox colors on, they were at a stalemate… perhaps even losing. Now they’re staring down eight more Roboticized Masters along with the Laurel and Hardy impersonators that are Wily and Robotnik, and you can bet that Mega Man’s Weapon Copy is the vital ingredient in turning the tables.

Action-wise, this was a terrific issue. Story-wise and gag-wise, awesome as well. The writing is really taking an uptick for the better here. The only problem is… well, let’s face it. Scroll up and look at Mega Man in the first scan from the comic. His face is all angled and squished out, his edges are more jagged. This isn’t quite the way I expect my Mega Man to look, and it was jarring for me. The style of artwork for Mega Man, Proto Man, and Copy Robot is so far off on a tangent in this issue that it detracted from the overall presentation.

Sure, I know what some of you might say: “Hey, that’s just different artists doing their own thing, get over it!” And certainly, there’s precedent for it. I think of Halo Legends, or The Animatrix, or even Batman: Gotham Knight, and all those were collaborations where varying styles of drawing and animation were used quite nicely. There’s only one problem with drawing a line between this crossover and those examples: All those movies were individual short stories, compiled into collections for viewing.

The “Worlds Collide” crossover isn’t a series of stories, it’s one continuous tale. And if you’re going to be continuous, then have some continuity. Now, I’m not insulting the artists here. I continue to have mad respect for artists. What they do is to be appreciated, as it is a talent I lack, but am grateful that others have. To even put something this big together, among different production teams, and have it come out as connected as it is? Well, that’s a labor of love right there. I would have just hoped that the style of our heroes would have held up between issues. Sonic was drawn perfectly well and perfectly normal by Team Mega Man in Issue 4; why does Mega Man look so damn squidgy around the edges here in Issue 5?

But all negative aspects about the artwork aside, the story here in Issue 5 definitely turns up the pressure. If memory serves, Issue 6 will be under the Sonic the Hedgehog label, and it should be a humdinger of an issue. I’m going to go ahead and make an educated wager against myself here for one cup of tea in my E-Mug: When Mega Man’s “Weapon Get!” is used on Shadow, he’ll get a teleporting power or a time dilation power out of it. Chaos Control, anyone?

For The Blue Ink.

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When he isn’t writing “The Blue Ink” reviews for The Mega Man Network, Erico (The Super Bard) spends his days keeping track of the “Legacy of Metal” fanon, dabbling in cooking and tea-brewing, and exploring the human condition from his Iowa stomping grounds.

The views expressed here reflect the views of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mega Man Network.