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Mega Man 1 - The New Lands

Levels: Good

Graphics: Good (Occasionally Okay)

Music: Good

Enemies: Good

Bosses: Good

Weapons: Excellent

Castle: Good

Difficulty: EASY-MEDIUM

Comments: Not since Claw has a Mega Man 1 hack felt so refreshing to play! The New Lands is a very impressive overhaul of MM1, adjusting everything from the visuals to the enemies to the weapons to the music—even the physics have been edited! Its stages are fun and occasionally exhibit some really cool design, like the flame pillars of Fire Man's stage and the racing platforms in Guts Man's stage. Where New Lands seems to consistently struggle is in its garish visuals: Ice Man's level has a clever mechanic but his area looks like spilled paint, and Guts Man's level is a brown foreground on brown background with brown enemies. This is thankfully offset by the hack's energetic bosses and new, varied weapons (Guts Man's weapon is much-appreciated!) The New Lands may not be as flawless as its Remastered version, but it's absolutely still worth a play on its own. Check it out!

Comparing each version, I was surprised at how much effort the author put into this project. I noticed this when it was still untitled.

I once suggested the name "Megaman (Rockman) New Islands" and he praised the interesting abilities that the author created.

I was distracted from the review. In short, if we compare versions 1.0 (1.1) and 1.2, it is noticeable how they play differently with complexity.

In 1.0 (1.1), as in 1.2 - amazing graphics in the game. I didn't think that it would be possible to do this in MM1. Honestly, I have nothing to add... everything looks new!

Abilities are diverse in their own way. One of them was even made in the form of "health replenishment". The perfect solution, because in the original it was not enough at the right time.

The bosses - in graphic terms - are drawn very well. I really believe that these are new creations of dr.Wily. If you look at the main 8 robomasters, because the bosses of Wily castle - graphically, they did not receive any changes. BUT EACH BOSS GOT ITS OWN UNIQUE AI. To some other extent.

In addition to the graphics of the enemies, they touched the Megaman. Now it is fully detailed. It is very noticeable how they tried to make it "even more different" than from their original. (1.2 alas, I took a step back. There was less detail, but for some reason the Megaman took off his helmet. Honestly, as much as I don't like the Design of Rock, but I don't like its look like from MM9)

The levels - with each step - become more interesting and more difficult. And somewhere they managed to overdo it, that the spikes often got in the way, and also, they created an UNFAIR Zone of Wily Castle 4. There are too many chances to die from a mistake. THE GAME DOES NOT FORGIVE THEM, BECAUSE HERE it remains like in MM1 SPIKE BUG DEADLY.

1.2 - The levels turned out to be somewhat easy, but I would not say that too much. On the contrary, the complexity came little by little, but, honestly, it was easier for me to pass at times, after version 1.0 (1.1)

The correct solution in this hack is the BALANCE of enemy armor, because in the original - no matter how much you hit, you will suffer with it for a long time. For this in all versions of PLUS.

Reassembling AI from enemies, too, turned out to be the right decision. Because JOE infuriated me with his sharp jump to almost the entire screen. How angry he was. However, it did not work out without problems. The crawling robot (which you could see in the Elec Man stage in the original) there are no problems due to the fact that it only moves when you are standing on the ground. This solution is extremely doubtfully implemented. (version 1.2 has returned its original behavior to crawling bots. Respect)

The music is perfectly matched. Each track is made with high quality. I even manage to call them perfect. (A LIE, why was the Victory Jingle introduced from Sonic Advance??? it sounds terrible. My poor EARS! 1.2 - it sounds much better. It doesn't hurt my ears, but, as I said earlier, it's OUT of place! It would be better to create Another Victory Jingle or create your own.)

Let's summarize the results. In version 1.0 (1.1) in the pros: Music, Graphics, Bosses, Character Abilities, AI of enemies and bosses, Detailing the environment and the main character... But the Level Design - we put 50/50. Somewhere they overdid it with Hardcore. General Verdict: 1.0 (1.1) I RECOMMEND it, because this is the most interesting hack that I have seen. But I warn you right away: "It will not be as simple as it seems". The overall difficulty of the hack: Medium-difficult.

In Version 1.2, I highlight the advantages: Music, Graphics, Level Design, Bosses, character abilities, AI for enemies and bosses, Detailed environment. Under my minus I got - the detail of the main character himself. Because it lost "its uniqueness" when it was redrawn. The general verdict: I recommend it for its honest complexity, for interesting graphics solutions, and, of course, for its "easy passage". I RECOMMEND it to those who want to try something simpler. The complexity of this hack in this version is estimated at: Easy-Medium.

Were you able to surprise all the versions? YES. Recommend all versions? Not really... 1.0 turned out to be more buggy, so 1.0 is at your own risk. The other versions - YES!

I enjoyed it quite a bit, none of the robot master levels were too crazy hard and had good enemy placement, where you can see what an enemy does first from a safe distance and then react to them. The music is a nice change too with it being remixed of other game themes and the bosses aren't too difficult to battle against and the damage you take and they take is balanced.

The biggest problem I face was in the wily stages, there were some tough jumps to do where it feels like you have very little room for error, and that you can potentially die in every room before the boss fights but those shouldn't be a problem if you're careful.

The most annoying and in my opinion worst part of the game was a certain part of one of the wily stages, where you gotta keep moving forward and jump on small platform where it feels like it goes on forever, and before that it has some extremely tight jumps, the only thing that makes it bare able us that you basically get retries since you spawn in a room with an extra life but that doesn't make it as fun to play over and over again

But over all besides that it really fun and a nice change with the new bosses, music, levels and weapons

Though the bosses are pretty much just reskins of the previous MM1 ones, they are unique enough to still provide a decent challenge. The level design and weapons are very well done, with several being useful throughout the playthrough. Honestly, aside from some pretty tricky jumps here and there, the difficulty is easier than the base game, just since the bosses have been toned down to be beatable with the buster (you also get a weapon that restores health, which gives you a lot more leniency for taking hits). Some of the quality of life changes are used in the hack which is welcome, although it still stops you in your tracks when you land on a health or weapon refill

Would recommend to any classic MM fans, but don't expect it to feel too different from the original.

It's refreshing to see a hack of a Mega Man game other than 2 or 4, especially one as ambitious as this. The variety in this hack is admirable and always keeps you light on your feet, ready to face anything at any time. I love the new designs of the robot masters and their modified patterns, gifting the player with modified weapons that are much more useful than the original set. The music remixes were also top-notch, handpicked from various games and converted perfectly to the Mega Man 1 soundfont. My only gripes with this game are a few of the color palettes used in the Wily Castle levels and the difficulty itself. Mega Man games are supposed to be hard, but this hack takes it to the next level. There are so many tight hallways filled with spikes that it's hard to go two screens without an unintended death. That's par for the course though, and despite a bland and linear Wily Stage 3, the hack was overall very enjoyable. I would recommend this hack to any experienced fan of Mega Man, especially if the level design was slightly improved to provide a well-rounded overall experience.

I will keep this short. If you're looking for something on the same difficulty or easier than the original Megaman game, then this is DEFINITELY NOT the hack for you. If you're someone looking for an extreme challenge, then this is right up your alley.

Played through this in about 90 minutes. Everything is changed on some level or other, mostly for the better.

Pros:

• MegaMan's moveset and weapons are interesting, fun to use, and useful throughout the game.
• The robot masters are pretty challenging, which I appreciated.
• Colorful backgrounds & levels and a more detailed MegaMan sprite made for a pretty environment and player avatar.

Cons:

• The level design is excellent, but not perfect: there were still a few jumps where head would hit ceiling causing a cheap death (e.g. in Tund Man's stage).
• I also found myself wanting to use the slide in some spots.
• Robot Master design could use a bit more imagination. I'm not sure what Tund Man is supposed to be, (likewise for Tint Man's power).

Overall, an excellent model for future MegaMan hackers, especially for MegaMan 1.