Enker's back!

If you're a massive Mega Man fan you're no doubt aware that Mega Man 10 got its first two pieces of extra downloadable content this past week. As we took a look at Mega Man 9's DLC, we figured, why not do it for 10 as well? Here's our thoughts on the DLC available now:

Bass Mode - 200 Wii Points

Previously only playable in Mega Man & Bass (Out of the main Mega Man games, anyway), it's about time Bass got another chance at showing off his skills again. Like Proto Man before him, he offers another alternate playstyle. You can hold down the fire button to automatically fire four shots in a row, but it comes at the cost of them being half as strong as Mega Man's shots (except against bosses, strangely enough). On top of that, you can't move while firing like the other two characters can, unless you're in the air, so you'll either have to remain stationary or jump around a lot.

The best thing, however, is that these shots can be fired in seven different directions - everywhere but straight down. Trouble beating the goalie mini-boss in Strike Man's stage? Just stand right under him and fire up! This also comes at a small cost, though, because Bass's shots cannot go through walls, meaning you can't sneakily destroy a handful of enemies in the game from a safe location.

Bass does not have Coil and Jet items of his own like Mega and Proto Man do. Instead he has Treble Boost, which pretty much covers both of these at the same time. Using it will summon Treble, Bass's faithful wolf robot, and allow you to wear him as armour. After this, you can fly around freely while Treble Boost's energy gradually goes down, all the while being able to fire spread shots that go in three directions (straight forward and diagonally up and down). You're also immune to knockback with this, so feel fry to fly over a pit with enemies nearby, because you can't get knocked down into it!

Finally, Bass can dash across the ground by holding down and trying to jump. It's not really useful for much, but it's a nice feature to have. He also gets his own shop to buy items from with its own new music (and a cameo from a rather obscure Mega Man character), and, after purchasing the DLC, Bass's face gets added to Mega Man 10's title screen, right next to Mega and Proto Man. The game's ending also changes very, very slightly, but the changes there are so minimal they're almost non-existant.

Overall, Bass mode is a nice addition to Mega Man 10, but at times it feels a bit too easy - unlike Proto Man, who takes double damage, Bass doesn't have any massive glaring weaknesses. Sure, his shots do less damage to enemies, but that really doesn't matter when you're pumping shot after shot into them with your rapid fire! We imagine that using Bass in Easy Mode would be true overkill! Still, if you're interested in a rare opportunity to play as Bass, then for 200 Wii Points this is a decent buy. Don't expect anything particularly interesting, though! Our score: 7/10

Special Stage 1 - 100 Wii Points

If you liked the Special Stage in Mega Man 9, you're in for a treat with Mega Man 10. It won't have one, but three of them! After many years, Capcom has finally decided to pay some attention to the original Game Boy releases in the Mega Man series, because the special stages this time around are based on the first, third and fourth Game Boy games. They bear a striking resemblance to some of their Dr. Wily stages, and also feature the Game Boy exclusive "Mega Man Killers" as their bosses.

This first special stage is based on the first Wily stage from Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, and is fairly odd compared to the rest of Mega Man 10, in that it is largely vertical, making you drop down several screens and featuring very little running to the right and/or left.

Although it's not exactly the same as the stage it's based on, it's quite accurate; special obstacles have been replaced with logical replacements that appear in other Mega Man 10 stages (including a short section with everybody's favourite Mega Man obstacles, the disappearing blocks), and Enker, the first Mega Man Killer, awaits you at the end just like he did originally. His attack pattern is largely the same, and for beating him you'll even get his weapon, the Mirror Buster, for use in the rest of the game.

We can't help but feel a little disappointed by the stage though - there's a nice remix of the first Wily stage theme from Dr. Wily's Revenge that plays throughout the level, but other than that there's surprisingly little good in it. Most of its challenge comes from the fact that there are a ton of spikes, meaning one small mistake could kill you and force you to do the whole stage over, because as it can only be played in Time Attack, there's no continue point!

The Mirror Buster is also not that great - It lets you reflect or destroy specific projectiles but does absolutely nothing else, meaning you'll have to keep switching between it and other weapons in order to get anything done. Let's hope the stages based on the Game Boy versions of Mega Man 3 and 4, and their rewards, are better! Our score: 5/10