What do we do when we miss NES games that we used to love? Do we sit back and just remenisce about the good old days and replay the same levels over and over again, or do we do something about it and make new ROM hacks of old games to give fans the adventures they deserve? Ok, full disclosure - I just write about games, so I'll be mostly doing the playing instead of the coding and creating, but the point still stands - ROM hackers are keeping the retro gaming scene turning, and I salute them for their hard work.
Today's new adventure comes from CousinCatnip, a ROM hacker who has created a brand new Mega Man adventure based on Mega Man 5. The story of New Age takes place after Mega Man 8, and the threat of the New Age is looming. It's one of those ROM hacks for the OG fans, the ones who grew up with Mega Man on the NES and want more of the same rather than new titles, just like I am with Pokémon ROM hacks - give me a revamped version of Red and Blue any day of the week!
Mega Man: New Age has all-new levels for players to battle through, with updated graphics, new music, new weapons and a new buster, and new boss fights. I've said it a hundred times, but ROM hacks need to have a new narrative for me to be excited about them, and having the New Age as the enemy in the game and giving Mega Man a whole new purpose as opposed to just rehashing Mega Man 5 with a couple of new features.
New Age brings a more challenging difficulty level to the table than the original - CousinCatnip says that it's not quite Kaizo level, but it should provide a challenge to seasoned Mega Man fans.
You'll need a legally acquired copy of Mega Man 5 to get this hack up and running, and you can find out more about CousinCatnip and the New Age ROM hack by visiting the official project page!
