Catnip, I remember playing your first hack, ‘AV’, and I did not enjoy it very much. Cramped spike placement and unfair level geometry were the main problems. One of the Wily Stages in particular was like going through a funhouse in a huge sumo costume. I’ve seen worse, my friend, but it was not the best hack I’ve played. I do appreciate the effort put into the weapons, sprites, the game’s playful nature, and Robot Masters, however.

With that said, ‘Man II’, the latest hack from your catalog, was incredibly fun to play and a huge improvement over the predecessor. Even with the occasional tough level design, the possible Metal Man softlock, and Heat Man’s stage, I still had fun.

In regard to enemy placement, I played through Air Man’s stage for his weapon and Item 2, then began the weakness order with Heat Man. This proved to be incredibly useful considering the mass amount of Fly Boys and Tellies in Heat Man’s stage, as well as a Batton blocking a passageway near a pit in Wood Man’s stage. I must also note that Heat Man’s stage mostly consists of Yoku Blocks over pits, so this stage will keep you on your toes, and to avoid the Metal Man softlock, make sure that the bottom-most conveyor belt pushes you towards the left wall when Metal Man is defeated. If you do end up getting softlocked, but you don’t want a game over or reset, head on down to Quick Man’s stage; the first screen has a downward vertical transition.

In regard to music, all of the music choices were nothing short of lovely. Hearing the main theme of ‘Super Mario Odyssey’ on the title screen and the main theme of ‘Thomas & Friends’ in Metal Man’s stage melted my heart and made my day. Along with Barney the Dinosaur, I loved Thomas the Tank Engine as a toddler, and even had Thomas shoes and a few Thomas playsets at some point. The ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’ tune in Bubble Man’s stage felt like dream pop in 8-bit form, and I savored every second of it!

In regard to level design, it feels deliberate in a fun way that pertains to the story, rather than as a way to keep the player from enjoying the experience. All the levels were very bizarre, wacky, and beautiful recreations of the original stages, designed in the style of Mega Man’s dreams, and I thought that was a mesmerizing, creative concept. I’ve always wondered what dreams Mega Man had. In addition, if there were spikes placed in tricky spots, like in Bubble Man’s stage, I would just use an Item or damage boost using enemies.

Not to mention, Mega Man’s sunglasses, the vibrant color palettes, and the silly boss rooms were the cherries on top. All of the new sprites were also splendid nods to other beloved video game characters and objects, and really added to how random dreams tend to be.

Keep up the good work, Catnip, and thank you very much for providing a hack that’s much more playable than some of the recent ones!

Weaknesses: Entirely unchanged.