Rocman X
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Region: Unlicensed (Asia)
Media: Cartridge
Controller: NES Gamepad
Genre: Platformer 
Gametype: Unlicensed
Release Year: 1995
Developer: Thin Chen Enterprises
Publisher: Sachen
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This is one strange pirate/unlicensed/whatever the heck it is. Well, the cover and title is ripped off from what we know as Mega Man X, but the actual game itself is completely new, nothing stolen... good thing or bad thing... that's the question.

Storyline: I can only guess it's a rip-off of the Mega Man X story except you're this blue and white superhero dude who throws boomerangs, named Rocman X. In Gadem City, people are celebrating its 100th anniversary when the mayor's daughter, Miss Lucy is kidnapped! A guy by the name of Havel threatens the city by demanding 20 billion dollars (this Dr. Wily is a tad greedy) to support his gang: Paulung-Tang (cheap as well. No wonder his robots suck). A superhero by the name of Rocman X (who doesn't know how to spell rock) must rescue Miss Lucy and make Gadem City as peaceful as it was before and forever defeat the Paulung-Tang gang.

Graphics: The graphics are a tad cartoonish and the enemies are boring to look at and Rocman X doesn't look the greatest either. When you start off the game you are greeted with a stolen title screen from the Famicom version of Mega Man, Rockman... this is not to be associated with this crap! The enemies are all Mega Man-like; strange robots that have weird personas about them; bats that swoop at you, Scorpions that try to sting you, etc. At least the graphics are more detailed then they could've been. Credit for Sachen for that at least.

Sound: It's pretty bad. There's not one tune that sticks in my head. The sound effects are as horrible as possible and not worth talking about. I guess you got to give them credit for having their own custom "bling" noise when you push start to play the game instead of using the one from Rockman for Famicom.

Gameplay: Basically, it's a mixture of Mega Man/Mega Man X, as you get to choose a stage and it also has at least one element of Power Blade; a Mega Man-like game which competes. Just like in Power Blade, you throw boomerangs but in this game it's one at a time and more of a chore than anything related to fun. Upon killing an enemy you either get a coin which accounts for money (worthless?) or a pill which regains your health which you'll need. Despite the dude has 16 blocks of health, he drops like a rock. I think one hit takes 4 out of him from touching bad guys and 2 for getting hit by a fireball.

There's only three stages in the entire game and they all drag on. I think when you beat a stage (there's no boss) it sends you to an extra stage which is the same one but is has different stuff in it. Another Mega Man trademark is used when the words, "Ready !" flash on the screen every time you enter a stage.

Control: The controls are pretty decent; "B" fires boomerang, "A" jumps, "Start" is pause, and the control pad controls your dude. That's as good as it gets. You character seems to be out-run by all enemies and it takes a while for Rocman to even shoot a boomerang. By holding "B" you can flash like Mega Man X could, but you have to push a direction on the control pad to make this move work. The move? Not a huge "kamehameha-like" blast that kicks ass, but Rocman launches forth like Superman and gets hurt if he knocks into enemies. Nice move. Sad thing is, is that it was probably put into the game by Sachen so that the impossible jumps could be launched over instead. Very sad indeed.

Fun Factor: The storyline intro that plays when you don't push any buttons is pretty fun, but that sadly is where the fun stops... it only gets worse from there! I mentioned before that you die too easily but at least you are given one continue to come back at the exact spot you died at. After that however, your doomed to head right back to the start, then you either close out of FCE Ultra or turn the power off on the NES!

Frustration: In this game you die way too easily. The enemies are allowed all these cheap shots on you and Rocman is so slow he can't dodge anything. All Rocman has is his trusty good-for-nothing boomerang which cannot kill anyone in one hit. Borrowed from Power Blade or not, you can only fire one boomerang at a time which affects your time alive in the game dramatically. Also, the jumps you have to make in this game are impossible. Sometimes you fall through platforms and into spikes! You are forced to use the stupid power-up move that Rocman does and risk hitting an enemy just to get across a gap. Did I mention the guy loses more health than necessary? Yeah, it's harder than any real Mega Man game could ever be.

BOTTOM LINE: Rocman X is one of those games that's better off hard to find; trust me. Imagine buying this for 30 bucks thinking it's the NES version of Mega Man X! Overall, this game had the stuff to become a classic; good idea, good graphics, and good storyline but somehow managed to screw up. If only Sachen gave it a name and fixed up the code better it would've actually been a Mega Man clone and not a Mega Man rip-off!

http://www.nesplayer.com/reviews/rocmanxr.htm