Mega Man jumped from the NES all the way to the Super Nintendo with Mega Man 7. There are some graphical differences obviously being more powerful than the last. For instance, you are introduced to new characters Auto, and Bass being the primary ones you meet up with. Bass is an interesting one as he was initially built by Dr. Wily to counter Mega Man but wants to prove that he is the superior one and fights for true power. All right, I'll go into it and then explain what is different about this game.
Besides the new characters, you have an intro stage, a common trait that would be utilized in the Mega Man X Series, bolts, and of course a new story. Dr. Wily is planning to escape and has set out once again a conquest to take over the world. You also have to collect letters for Rush, Beat, gain an adaptor, and of course you could the Proto Shield by defeating Proto Man in a hidden area. This is the first time you fight him since Mega Man 3. The battles are however just mainly for competition and nothing else. You don't gain Proto Man's weapon.
This game has four robot masters to start with, much like the Game Boy Mega Man games. You pick your robots and battle them. Graphic wise it is still pretty solid for the Super Nintendo and does show it in a different light. There is some story and character development with Bass as you learn of his true intentions as times go on. He was developed as a manipulator and a con artist if you will. While he is strong, however he has been beaten. In a sense, it is like early Vegeta from Dragonball Z when he fought Goku for the first time. Didn't see that coming now did you?
I want to talk more about the shop. To get inside, you have to press on the GameCube controller; the Z button and you are there. You get transported into a big shop that resembles Eddie or Flip Top. You are greeted by Auto and there is a side quest to get a better bolt and it's like a discount on your items. It's a shop and you can buy items like the E Tanks, S Tanks, W tanks, Beat, Mega Arm adaptor, extra lives, and so forth. That really can make it useful and helpful of course.
As far as the game itself, it's not a bad game at all. Some of the levels are challenging and fun. As generally is the case, you have to have it challenging. I would not put it as high as the NES ones but it is acceptable as it does generally keep the Mega Man formula alive plus an attempt at adding some new features to it.
There is a code however to do a special secret fighting battle involving both Mega Man and Bass. That mode is a two-player battle, which also adds as an Easter egg. For the Super Nintendo version of it, you put in the final code and hold the L and R buttons. As a bit of a spoiler, here is the code: 1415 5585 7823 6251. For the GameCube version, hold X and Y plus the start button.
Overall, this game I could see eventually getting on the Virtual Console. It is shocking that Mega Man in general hasn't seen itself in there. Mega Man 7 is a pretty solid game and would be worth playing if you really are into Mega Man. It has a simple story that works for it and adds some character development. I do think you will enjoy this and this is the only one that came to the United States that was released on the Super Nintendo in terms of adventure.
