Yesterday I spent a little time discussing the merits of Mega Man IV, and its overall importance to the series. And while MMIV is indeed a spectacular game, my personal “Pick o’ the Bunch” for the MM GB titles is definitely Mega Man V. If MMIV is notable for what it added to the series, MMV is notable for how much it mixed things up from the other Game Boy games…

Many of you likely know why this is such a cool game (this is Capcom Unity after all), but in case you were living on Mars for the last decade, with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears, I can elaborate a tad :3

Robot Masters? Outta here. Mega Buster? Replaced with the Mega Arm, a sort of supercharged Hard Knuckle from Mega Man 3. Dr Wily? Present, but not the final boss and barely a part of the overall experience. Rush? He’s here, but so is Tango the cat, a new partner who slides around the screen for some extra damage.

So what replaces the Robot Masters? Why, the Stardroids, spacefaring beings who are (of course) at odds with Mega Man. They’re led by Terra, who menaces Mega Man in an opening cutscene; Mega Man is unable to hurt – much less defeat – Terra in his current state, which prompts Light to create the Mega Arm.

While this is already a break from the formula, MMV deviates even from the prior GB games in that it doesn’t pull from its NES counterparts. For example, Mega Man IV is a blend of new content plus elements of the NES Mega Man 4-5. MMV on the other hand, is all-new, making it a must-play entry in the series – and it’s finally coming to 3DS in May!

Speaking of which, “Mega May” kicks off tomorrow with the winner of our community poll. Which game will launch first? Which one did you WANT to launch first? We’ll know soon!