Mega Man – the sequel Wars [Genesis] Review and Longplay [2022]

Episode Red: This Fan-Made Mega Man Remake Shines on the Genesis

Within the pantheon of classic platforming franchises, Capcom’s Mega Man series stands as a paragon of 8-bit gaming. While Mega Man saw many stellar sequels on the NES, the Blue Bomber arguably reached his 16-bit peak with Mega Man 7 on the SNES. But what if the Genesis got its own exclusive Mega Man entry? Enter the fan project Episode Red, which reimagines Mega Man 4 with a suite of enhancements befitting Sega’s 16-bit beast.

Using assembly code wizardry and the Sega Genesis Development Kit, they built Episode Red from the circuitry up to recreate Mega Man 4 with Genesis-worthy flair. The result does phenomenal justice to the source material while leveraging the Genesis hardware’s capabilities.

Visually, Episode Red pops with color, utilizing large and expressively animated sprites. Environments burst with parallax layers, particles and other enhanced effects like glows. The classic stages have been elaborately reimagined while retaining their essence. Brightman’s neon city dazzles while Pharaoh Man’s pyramid exudes mystique.

On the audio front, Episode Red offers two soundtracks: a “Classic” take mirroring the FM synthesis of the Genesis port Mega Man: The Wily Wars, and a “Modern” option with new compositions. Both capture the spirit of Mega Man music with driving melodies. The modern tunes by Bratkat Productions add diversity.

Gameplay-wise, controlling Mega Man feels right thanks to the perfectly tuned physics and shot mechanics. The responsive controls avoid issues some players had with The Wily Wars. All of Mega Man 4’s core content returns along with extra playable characters Proto Man and Roll, new stage routes, and cross-game weapon usage for added variety.

As a long-time Blue Bomber aficionado, I found Episode Red to be a masterclass in retro revival. The attention to detail in adapting Mega Man 4 shows reverence for the source material. Yet the enhancements provide surprises for returning fans. Episode Red makes a strong case for what a theoretical Genesis-exclusive Mega Man sequel could have offered in an alternate timeline.

With the full recreation of Mega Man 4 complete in Episode Red, they are now expanding the vision to include MM5 and MM6 content in upcoming “Episode Blue” and other releases. For any 16-bit platformer enthusiasts seeking a well-crafted fan tribute, Episode Red offers a new way to experience a classic. Mega Man on the Genesis still has plenty of retro robot goodness in store.

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from the development team:

Overview
​
Mega Man: The Sequel Wars is a fan-made homebrew remake of Mega Man 4, 5 and 6 for the Sega Mega Drive, following in the footsteps of the officially released Mega Man: The Wily Wars. It aims to carefully recreate the NES classics while giving them a fresh 16-bit coat of paint and a rearranged soundtrack. More than that however, it also aims to bring a slew of new content, both through complete re-imaginings of the classics in EX Mode and a new gauntlet of levels in Wily Tower 2. And it all runs on the original Mega Drive hardware!
Debuting in SAGE 2022 is a demo of the game featuring various remade and new levels.
NOTE: this is not a rom hack of Wily Wars! It is fully coded from scratch in C using the SGDK library. As such, the game will be distributed as full ROM releases as there is no original game to patch to.

FEATURES​
-Faithful recreations of the original games, with extensive research done to make everything accounted for.
-Loads of new content including a full-blown reimagining of the originals with new enemies, mechanics and bosses in EX Mode, a completely new set of levels in Wily Tower 2, and even a 4-player competition mode in Metall Party!
-Smooth controls that avoid all of the shortcomings of the original Wily Wars and its control issues.
-Refined 16-bit graphics that use the Mega Drive’s superior visual capabilities to their fullest, with detailed environments and elaborate parallax backgrounds.
-Original soundtrack featuring both remakes of the original tunes and all-new compositions. Comes in both Classic (original Wily Wars style) and Modern (Regular) flavours.

SAGE 2022 DEMO​
The SAGE 2022 demo features the following content:
-Remake Mode versions of Pharaoh Man Stage (Mega Man 4), Cossack Stage 1 (Mega Man 4), Charge Man Stage (Mega Man 5) and Centaur Man Stage (Mega Man 6)
-EX Mode version of Dust Man Stage (Mega Man 4)
-A preview of the 4-player multiplayer mode: Metall Party

IF THE LINK IN THE CORNER DOESN’T WORK, GET IT HERE: https://www.mediafire.com/file/hsz4a0s7mssisg0/SEQUEL+WARS+DEMO+EX+UPDATE.zip/

INSTRUCTIONS: Extract the downloaded .zip file and look for the two .bin or .gen files. These are the game ROMs and they are identical aside from the soundtrack provided. Once you choose one, you can put it onto a flash cart to run on a real console, or open it with a Sega Genesis emulator to play it on PC and a variety of other systems.
NOTE: We recommend playing the game with an accurate emulator like BlastEm. Some older emulators might run into issues with sound!

Read the attached readme for more information.

We hope you enjoy the game – have fun!

For more news, follow the project on:
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MMSequelWars
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh6puDO3hd_Tz_zCiDoD2lQ/
Updates
7.9. EX UPDATE – Enabled the Dust Man EX Stage.