A long time ago, in an article far away, we reviewed a couple of great Megaman II ROM hacks. This article will expand on that one to look at some sweet hacks from the series, some that will seriously have you rethinking what the NES is capable of. We’re going to look at three of the most original ones that turn the original games on their head and up the difficulty level for some of the greatest 8-bit challenges you’ve ever faced.
Any of these games can be found with a quick Google search. Just follow our IPS patching tutorial to learn how to modify your legally-obtained backup copy of the original ROM.
Rockman 4 Minus Infinity
Original Rom: Rockman 4
What Its Like: A massive version of Megaman 4 with more secrets, new weapon and item powers and tons of cameo appearances from past games.
Rockman 4 Minus Infinity is possibly one of the most complex Megaman hacks ever created. It has innovations in almost every aspect of the game. Bosses from Megaman 1 thru 3 make appearances where you least expect them. Innovative things like levels with rising and falling lava take the place of the normal mostly-static stage design. The huge, non-linear levels are chock full of insane challenges and secrets. You will use your items more than you have in any other Megaman game. You’ll encounter some of the most nuts boss battles ever. The final level actually has you fight tiny versions of the eight level bosses again…AT THE SAME TIME! There are also crazy high-speed battletoads jet-bike like levels and side scrolling shooter sections. Its definitely worth playing through.
Megaman Odessey
Original Rom: Megaman III
What Its Like: A beautiful and innovative version of Megaman III
While its technically just a demo still, it’s exciting enough to play through for the avid Megaman fan, especially those fans of the third game. All new bosses and levels make for a really creative and new experience. The backgrounds are so gorgeous in this game, I find myself just staring at them instead of playing. There are cool ‘space-shooter’ sections and lots of new level functionality to keep things interesting.
Cutman : Bad Scissors Day
Oriignal Rom : Megaman II
What Its Like: Some sort of lolcats meme-filled, high-speed trip through Megaman II
VideoGameDJ’s own Cutman took his name from what he has called “the silliest megaman villain.” Cutman now has his own game that is like no other Rom Hack. From the opening dialogue (“Da world was stupid. Ultra man guy cutsman da man waz chilling like y.”), you’ll know this is something strange and new. Cutman’s “giant cutter” has been stolen from his head and used to summon “Gr8 evals” to the world. You have to go get it back. The stages are turned into psychedelic acid-washed seizure-inducing insanity that not only makes them harder to play but just hard to look at. There’s little jokes everywhere and the game constantly insults you. The level bosses include random things like Pikachu, Quaker Oats guy, Carrot Top and “sissy aquaman.” It only gets weirder the more you play. The levels have unique challenges and Cutman is about twice as fast moving as Megaman which makes this an interesting play regardless of the humor content.
For minus infinity, I wouldn’t just say past games. The square machine is a Mega Man Killer boss from X2, and Shadow Man borrows many moves from the Zero series’ Hidden Phantom. It’s almost impossible to find all of the easter eggs in this game!
Oops, I mean X hunter for the first part. But every Mega Man killer still makes an appearance in the game.
Good point. I admit I did not notice that Shadow Man reference!