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This hack is way too hard to enjoy. It's clearly well-made in the sense that it is glitch-free and well-designed, but I bet hardly anyone will beat any levels whatsoever. I can completely smash Mega Man 1-6 with zero issues and I spent 1.5 hours trying to beat a single level, and while I did get further on certain levels after multiple attempts, it's not rewarding enough to continue. I would recommend that the author create a hack with less difficult enemy placement and less risky jumps (mixed with difficult enemy placement). This is only for the top 0.5% of Mega Man players. Cannot recommend to even the big fans of the series. You will only like this if you actually want brutally difficult hacks.

I have been pushing this review back for about two years, but now it is time I express my final thoughts on Rockman Claw. Before I give my criticism, I will cover the pros. All of the music and weapons are phenomonal, and the weapons often do quick work of the numerous irritating enemies. I also had a lot of fun with the Double Jump ability, as it added a little zest in the gameplay, and there are hundreds of goodies laying around like in Rockman 3 Claw. Also, Fire Man's theme got me interested in 'Journey to Silius', which was pretty cool to say the least! With that being said, time to tackle the various instances of articifial difficulty. Speaking as a casual player, most of the Robot Masters are tolerable, but a select few, especially Ice Man and Fire Man, are absolutely miserable to fight, even more so without using their weaknesses. To describe the 6 Robot Masters as a whole, I would say they would best fit a Burst Chaser hack rather than a hack where Mega Man is slower than everyone, and like Kallisto said in their review, some of them need some serious tweaks to their AI. As for the stages, well, to paraphrase a YouTuber named JupiHornet, it is best to start with Elec Man's stage because every other stage is chaotic to play without weapons. Pretty much the majority of the enemies are out for blood and too fast for the player's speed, except the Blaster, whose only change is its attack damage. I mean, the idea of having fast enemies or projectiles isn't bad, but those elements should be tested to make sure the player doesn't have a hard time. In Timaeus' latest hack, 'Mega Man 1 Speed Bound', many enemies and bosses in that game were very fast too, but it worked because Mega Man was changed to match their speed. Here, the enemies are not balanced for Mega Man's speed, which is left untouched. Enemy spam is also a prevalent issue that is observed throughout the game. Some areas, like the final room before Bomb Man's fight, are overcrowded with 3 enemy types. The fortress stages are hit or miss, but all of the fortress bosses are a total nightmare, and the Wily Machine 1 is fine until the second phase, where it combines two projectiles. I'm sorry, but like with Deus ex Machina, the bad points are so glaring that it makes the game hard to enjoy. Rockman Claw reminds me a lot of 'The Breakfast Club' (1985), because there is high praise for both media, but the uncomfortable moments don't live up to the hype. If you are looking for a fairly challenging Rockman hack suitable for all skill types, this is far from it. I have seen better and more polished hacks, including other ones from Tsukikuro.

The first of three hacks in the "series". And I should have started with him, not from the end. BUT not the point. So what are the differences between the hack and the original?

• First: here they removed the Spike Bug – which worked in the original. Now this is already similar to the later games of this series
• Second: Good Level Design. He is honest here, does not cause anger. Enemies and traps are made correctly.
• Third: They changed the enemies. Now most enemies have a new behavior, or accelerated, but it does not cause problems
• Fourth: The music is taken from various games (and one - by the sound, it seemed like a song of some kind). A good addition, but in some levels or places - it does not fit at all
• Fifth: Completely redesigned EACH BOSS. Robomasters have new AI that are more complex and interesting than in the Original. In the castle - Each boss is changed qualitatively and interestingly. The Yellow Devil and the "Wily Machine" in phase 2 stand out especially.
• Sixth: Each ability (and especially the secret one) is completely reworked, creating a second wind for them. In particular, I highlight the ability of Guts Man: brick blocks appear out of thin air (as a reference to Megaman Power Up playing for Guts man) And I highlight a secret ability. Now, instead of a magnetic beam – you can use an Additional jump.
• Seventh: A controversial statement, but "The variability of the passage".

I'm telling you the truth, I thought it would be a bad hack. Surprisingly, I was wrong. The hack is good and gives a kind of "test". I hope for the second Claw, because this one is a good one. I recommend it to everyone for a new experience and a pleasant passage of the game

Rockman Claw

Levels: Excellent

Graphics: Okay

Music: Good

Enemies: Excellent

Bosses: Excellent

Weapons: Excellent

Castle: Excellent

Difficulty: MEDIUM (Wily Bosses are HARD)

Comments: I don't think too highly of the first Mega Man, but Tsukikiro's alterations are superb, transforming it into an experience that's smart, modern, and tough. The level design is tight and frequently tricky, with enemies placed to give you maximum grief on a couple of screens. But nothing in the hack feels frustrating or unfair however, barring the bosses in the Wily castle, which will demand that you figure out their safe pattern or perish (you'll be aching for MM2 E-tanks). Your weapon repertoire is stronger than the base game, and the Magnet Beam replacement is clever, albeit a little awkward to get a handle on. The graphics are also a little underwhelming and occasionally garish at times, using dull backgrounds and clashing palettes. Still, Claw nevertheless delivers an excellent experience that's a master class of level design, easily making it one of the best MM1 hacks out there.

This hack seems to be that kind of "love it" or "hate it" kind, but I'm definitely in the former camp. Out of all the other MM1 hacks I've played, this one really stands out by changing things enough to make the whole experience seem fresh. In other hacks, there are usually sections that remain largely the same (e.g. boss AI, level mechanics, the Wily bosses), but literally everything here feels like it has been overhauled to be faster and more engaging. Every weapon has an overhauled design to it, introducing new utility and situations in which they can shine (even Gutsman's weapon, which can be used without blocks). The music, graphics, and challenge are all amped up from the original game, and the whole things feels much smoother and fast-paced.

I was also glad to see that this hack implements pretty much all of the quality of life that exist for MM1. This includes things like climbing ladders faster, health/weapon pickups not stopping the game/your movement, and faster menuing. All of this keeps you in the action even when you have to replay sections after death. You will die a good amount, especially on the bosses, but every boss can be beaten with just the buster if you spend enough time figuring out their patterns. Finally, this game completely replaces the magnetic beam utility item with a new "double jump" utility, which is incredibly helpful and fun to use.

Towards the end of the game, things really pick up in a great way. You are fully encouraged and rewarded to use all your weapons to get around the different obstacles, and get to use the double jump ability in a lot of clever ways. Each Wily boss has massive overhauls that will push your reflexes and force you to experiment with different weapons and strategies to come out on top. The final level includes the typical boss gauntlet and easily the hardest version of MM1 Wily I've played. That being said, it is entirely possible to learn his pattern, and since there are several extra lives in the stage and your weapon energy is topped out when you respawn, there is plenty of opportunity to experiment until you figure it out.

The difficulty can be a little brutal, but the design and coding work done here is amazing. At the very least, I'd encourage giving the game a shot, and if you are looking for a challenge, this hack is a real treat.

This hack overhauls the entire game to that point that if it weren't for the familiar enemies (despite their new behavior), you might think you were playing a hack of a different Mega Man game altogether. For one thing, post-hit invincibility now protects you from spikes, like in the other Mega Man games. From there, you have new boss palettes, new level tilesets, new music, and new weapons! The actual levels aren't as crazy colorful as some of the hacks I've seen, but they have some neat ideas. There are a few unnecessarily frustrating moments, though, like the flying scissor generators in Cut Man's stage. Most of the others are due to the quirky nature of the replacement for the Magnet Beam, which is now a double jump. It's not as great as it sounds; the second jump's height seems to be pretty inconsistent, unless I just didn't figure it out. Other than that, the new levels are definitely harder, but some players will be able to beat this without states. The other new weapons are a nice mix, too; some are better than the originals, whereas others are not, but the Super Arm will generate a block, if you don't already have one, so it's never useless. The arsenal is more well-rounded overall, too, so you'll be thinking about which weapons to use in which situations. The music is great, too; I can't tell how many of them are original compositions, because I tend to know songs more by their instrumentation than the actual notes, but I did recognize Journey to Silius, Rudra no Hihou, and, believe it or not, there's a song from Rokko-Chan, a Mega Man fangame; how meta. At present, this is my favorite hack of the original Mega Man.

Now this modification has some good points, but issues after you defeat the 8 bosses. At first I was at a loss how the hell you beat the Blue Devil Wall, but I ended up finding a few tricks to get around his attacks, but after I got to the very end to face Wily he basically just tore me apart over, and over, and over again. I came to realize there was no real way to avoid his attacks, and I gave up...and I HATE giving up, but I had no choice due to the complete nonsense Wily was dishing out.

Now with the bad out of the way, I want to say the first 8 stages of the game are well put together, and I definitely like some of the enemy placement, but not others, it is a bit of hit or miss situation. The bosses could use some tweaking as a few of them cannot really be dodged unless you are very lucky (few of those cases is Ice Man, Fire Man, etc), but the rest of the bosses I had no real issue with. Another issue I had was the Double Jump ability that was added in this game, sometimes it can be unresponsive, and other times it works, and this led me to saving like a cuck with the savestate..unfortunately this cannot be avoided.

I came close to recommending this romhack, but the last half of the game has a lot of issues with it's stages, and bosses that made me kind of pissed off.

Right off the bat, I just want to point out, this hack advertises the following;

"Modified stages, graphics and palettes, custom music, and AI programming. This is a completely new gaming experience for those that played the original Mega Man"

Well... yes, it does give you a completely new gaming experience... a really fucking bad one!

When you make such claims, you also have to do something with it and make a quality experience, but what I get is atrocious enemy placement, and everything starts kicking my ass uncontrollably.

A lot of people think that ASM hacking is a quality level supplement, and to me, that's a disgusting fact. I feel like I've said this a million times in other reviews, and I feel like a broken record. If you want me to play your hack and accept the changes you've made to the game, you have to prove to me that you know how to use them!

To be honest, though, I don't usually care that much for ASM hacking where enemies have different sprites, different AI, and different music. It just doesn't feel like the same game anymore. Unless it's in moderation, or unless you're actually trying to make a completely different game on its own like Rockman 4 Minus Infinity. If THAT'S what you were going for, well, my friend, you have a loooooooooong way to go.

We can start with the basics; learn how to design a playable level. THEN we'll talk Rockman 4 Minus Infinity.

For those who want to see a ROM hack which I think is not only a fantastic ROM hack, but what a ROM hack is to me, check out Mega Man 3: The Rise and Fall of Wily. I also made a review for that one, and there I explain what it is that makes it so great, and I also compare it to this one.

Anyways, work on your level design! I have to ask, though, were you expecting people to use save states? That's a horrible way of thinking. People say that save states are recommended because their hack is very challenging, but to me, it's not because they're challenging, but because they're downright unfair and poorly designed.

I am completely against using save states, which is why I find so many ROM hacks to be very inconsiderately designed. It means I'm missing out. I want to see the rest of the hack, but I can't because I have a rule of never using save states. I only broke that rule one time, and I have no plans to break it again.

Everything described about this hack it´s true . Its provides a new and interesting gameplay .

It´s changes everything in the game and also fix a bunch of glitches in the game , like invincibility frames in spikes and the foot holders .

The levels are pretty challenging and fun . The enemies and bosses are harder now , making new strategies to defeat then . Some sections are quite hard to get through , like the magnet beam section in wily 2 and Guts stage with picket mans and flying shells , but you can make then easier using different weapons and with some practice .

The weapons are modified too , and one that i have to say it´s Super Arm , which can be used without blocks , making it more usefull .

Every MM fan will like this one , give it a try !