Thursday, September 10, 2020

Fan-Game "Mega Man Perfect Blue" Demo Now Available + New Info


During the recent SAGE 2020 expo, RRThiel and his team released a playable demo for the upcoming fan-game Mega Man Perfect Blue. We got to check it out and you can find out more info, as well as the download link for the playable demo, after the break!


It feels so long ago since we watched the original trailer for the game back in March (we covered it here). And now, we have a playable demo which made it's debut at SAGE 2020. (i.e Sonic Amateur Games Expo) For those not in the know, SAGE is a yearly online Sonic The Hedgehog fan-game event, which first started back in 2000 where developers can chat and show their new and complete projects. While this event is mostly Sonic The Hedgehog focused, a few Mega Man fan-games have shown up. 

  


The demo itself features 2 playable stages -- one for each character -- since Roll is also playable in the demo! While both playable stages are considered "intro stages", the difficulty balance felt just right. There were some audio mixing issues at first, however, these have now been patched. Graphically the game is described as "8-Bit+". Personally, speaking as a Classic Series fan, I love the aesthetic and it's good to see people experimenting with the graphical style beyond the typical 8-bit games.

   


The demo also features a cut-scene at the end! While I won't spoil the plot details here, other than a lone screenshot, it was really well done and left me wanting to play more to find out what Wily was up to.


 
Gameplay-wise, I'm happy to report that this does have that Mega Man feel to it. Mega Man himself plays as he always does; fans will be happy to know that he does have his slide and charge shot ability in this game. Charging the buster sound effect also fades after a while too which other fan-games have done in the past and it's a welcome inclusion here as well! 
 
Roll plays differently than Mega Man, too. She needs to get closer to enemies in order to whack them with her broom, which can actually take out some normally armored enemies like the Spines. She felt like a mix between Bass from Mega Man & Bass (since she uses the dash move) and Zero from Mega Man X4 in that you need to be close range. 
 
My only small gripe with Roll in this early stage is that, although she does have a dedicated dash button, "old school" players like me are used to double tapping forwards in order to dash. I wasn't able to do this. Not sure if this was an error on my part or not. Either way, it's not a major issue and something that could be fixed before the final release.


The music is also something to note. RRThiel did an amazing job on the tracks for this game from what we've heard so far. I actually had a couple tracks stuck in my head for a while too. That's always a good sign! He has a playlist over on YouTube with some of the tracks to be included in the game if you want to check them out you can do so here

One thing that actually took me by surprise was how the game handled checkpoints. Mega Man Perfect Blue brings back the SaveBot from the cancelled Mega Man Universe game! 






Roll also gets her own version of the SaveBot complete with a matching color scheme and sporting a green bow, same as Roll. 



All-in-all, I was left impressed by the demo and can't wait to try the finished product! The team behind this game have done a fantastic job so far and their passion for the project shines through while playing it! 



There have also been a number of updates on the game shared online from the team, starting with this!:


No Classic style Mega Man game would be complete without "realistic" looking cover artwork! This piece was illustrated by Karakato, who is the promotional artist for the project and has done a few artwork pieces for the game so far, you can check out more of their work over on Deviantart here
 
Karakato recently whipped up an Ishikawa-esque illustration of Roll's new look for Mega Man Perfect Blue, too:




We've also had an early look at the Robot Masters, different stages and some enemies planned to be included in the final release. All of the shots below are work in progress and as such, may be subject to change.

The Robot Master names are being kept secret for now, but here is the motley bunch you'll be facing off against in the game! The following illustration was drawn by Pegg who is also listed as doing additional artwork for the project. 


This 2nd piece was done by MaxOKE featuring the Robot Masters.




Stages

The Derelict Vessel

A kinda spooky looking stage. Not much else is known about it so far.

 



The Airborne Shrine

This stage has an Eastern flair to it. The boss and some enemies look to use wind elements to attack you. This stage also sees the return of Samurai Joes who made their first appearance in the Street Fighter x Mega Man fan-game in Chun-Li's stage! Though it looks like they may have learned a few new tricks since our last encounter.. 





This Boss' weapon was also shown off in the announcement trailer. All special weapons in Perfect Blue can be charged similar to Mega Man X, difference being that, in this game Mega Man can actually still use special weapons even if he has no special weapon energy! The weapon will be weaker as a result though.

The Boss of the Airborne Shrine looks to give Mega Man a wind projectile, when fired normally it fires 3 of these projectiles, which looks as though they home in on the enemy 


When this weapon is charged it fires a huge cyclone across the screen.


If you have no weapon energy Mega Man will only fire one wind projectile 



The Occupied Garden

As the name suggests this stage is plant themed and is also home to this game's female Robot Master who is rather Dandy! 




Also here is Karakato's illustration of her 


The Electric Dancefloor

This is probably my favorite so far and the stage we have the most information on. This stage looks glorious in motion with the robots in the background bopping to the music. The floor lighting up under your feet like you're Tom Hanks on that walk-on piano in the movie "Big" is a great touch, too!

  



RRThiel also showed off the sub-boss for this stage "The Bodyguard"  - 




The weapon obtained from the boss of The Electric Dancefloor was also shown off in the announcement trailer. It seems as though the boss of this stage is our shield user for the game. When fired normally, you are surrounded by electric orbs. 


When charged it fires electricity outwards from each orb.


If you have no weapon energy it only uses 2 orbs that rotate around you.



There is another boss in the game who we only know as "The Phantasm Menace". He seems to be pretty integral to the plot and is involved with Wily somehow. What role he plays is currently a mystery! Looking forward to learning more about this mysterious robot. 



That's pretty much all the updates we have on the game so far! So what are you waiting for? Click the link below to download the demo for yourself and give it a try! Let us know what you think, too! I think this is certainly one to keep an eye on! There is currently no release date for the finished game but a tentative 2021 release. 


 
(Right-click "Save link as")


Major thanks to all involved with this project, looking forward to seeing more! 


Credits - RRThielKarakatoPeggMaxOKE

18 comments:

  1. EPIC
    I love EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS! My one gripe is that Roll should be a bit less thicc :)

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  2. Am I seeing things or is that artwork reminiscent of Gundam? I swear I've seen that silhouette before.
    Or not. Whatever.

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    Replies
    1. Now that you mention it, Mega Man does look like Amuro wearing the normal suit as seen in Char's Counterattack.

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  3. DON'T SLEEP ON MEGA MAN Y+1. It's another classic series fan game that was also featured on this year's SAGE and it's really solid all around and features three stages.

    https://sonicfangameshq.com/forums/showcase/mega-man-y-1-sage2020-demo.552/

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    1. Don't worry we aren't doing, we plan on covering it shortly too! ;)

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  4. This demo was awesome, and I am excited for the full release!

    Playing as Roll was tremendously fun; she definitely made quick work of that demo stage, and handled basically everything effortlessly. They really nailed the character movement, as they are both characters are genuinely fun to control, but are unique in their own ways.

    I didn't have any problems with the dash not being double-tap as an "old school" player myself, but -- with this being on PC and all -- it won't be hard to set up a macro like that even if the game doesn't include it. (If anything: down+jump would have felt more authentic to me.) I personally always love having a dedicated dash/slide button, and think it's a huge improvement over multi-input commands.

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  5. It's a crime that Y+1 is getting snubbed. That thing is like, 5 times the quality, despite looking simple

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    1. Don't worry we will be covering Y+1 on here as well very soon! ;)

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  6. tbh, although Perfect Blue has a novel graphical style, I prefer Y+1 with a more solid quality

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  7. Ah, yes. Nothing like yet another NES-style fan game to add to the pile.
    Oh, and this one's even "inspired by" concepts and designs from other fan games and projects.

    What a treat.

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    1. This "yet another" NES-style fan game does a bit more than just take the 8-bit style and play it straight. It full Shovel Knight and revises everything. It's probably the closest the MM community has gotten to the likes of the best of the Sonic fangame dev.

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    2. Oh you're so right! You deserve more than a free fan game made for free by an amateur team learning the ropes and making a free game for free!

      At least this one has its own style instead of the standard NES graphics. You don't like it? Fine. But it's not like Capcom is crapping out some piece of crap game. This is a fan-project made by people who are doing it in their spare time as a labor of love. Maybe check your entitlement at the door and give it a fair shot.

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    3. lolwut? This looks nothing like your typical Mega Man fangame. At least this fangame's graphical style is much more refreshing than the hundred or so other Mega Man fangames that stick strictly to the classic 8-bit Mega Man games graphic styles.

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    4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    5. Josephine, you and I both know that I wouldn't allow a game I'm working on to be "just another NES-style fangame." I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it's fun, fresh, and exciting; you can quote me on that.

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  8. Every time I hear Perfect Blue, all I can think of is Satoshi Kon's work that goes by the same name.

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  9. My note is 7 out of 10.
    - This game brings elements from Mega Man 7 (Super Nintendo), perhaps the creator is a fan of that title.
    - Too much pink tiles, almost monochromatic in a few areas, and dithering doesn't look good - perhaps OK in a CRT television.
    - Roll's broom could be charged in order to improve its attack range. It's too short to me.
    - Roll misses double tap to dash. Well, her intro stage has a place that REQUIRES an air dash to pass, and you must press DASH buttom, release it, then JUMP. It took me a few minutes to figure out. I really hate such thing - a default model shouldn't bring an imperfect task. I though... "does she jump like the Mega Man X system"?
    - Sound effects are pretty BAD. It's clearly taken from GameBoy games, but heavily overlapped by similar effects. The final result wasn't good.
    - Excessive Sniper Joe and some bad placements. The Hard Hat enemy is ANNOYING.
    - The "super hidden" villain with the "ability" of simulating a program hanging/hard failure is another ANNOYING point.

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  10. It's a crime that protoman wasn't in the game.

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