Mega Man & Bass vs. Mega Man X6 | Two Types of Difficulty

Mega Man & Bass and Mega Man X6 are games that Mega Man fans supposedly despise for being too difficult, but there is more to them than meets the eye. Which one do I believe is superior?
Twitter: / iggyminious
Twitch: / iggyminious

[@aaa_silva1500]

That was probably the best example of the difference between "it's hard because it's difficult" rather than "it's hard because it's tedious".

[@aaa_silva1500]

@Cuca Beludo well said

[@razi_man]

Yep, I think X6 is fun, but even I can't excuse the fact that I have some beef with it.

[@asteroidrules]

Bass is hard on purpose, X6 is mostly hard because it's shovelware. Where X6 makes design decisions that are incompetent, Bass makes decisions that are sadistic. Though honestly I find X6 is relatively easy to pick up and run through a few stages because a few of its stages don't have too many cheap deaths and can be brute forced with extra lives and sub tanks, Bass on the other hand is easier to get into a proper groove with, because it requires that you play it hardcore, and once you do play it hardcore you can power through.

[@KirbyGotenksabsorbed]

More like the best example of bullshit game design being excused and masked as something good because its part of the classic series, whereas people are (rightfully) more critical of bad quality when it pops up in the X series.

[@friskycalibri2293]

@@KirbyGotenksabsorbed oh, I can tell you're in the "intentionally sadistic = bad" group.

[@therhythmdragon]

I didn't even know that Blaze Heatnix's miniboss was meant to be a snake. I just thought it was a bunch of scrap metal that looked like a doughnut.

[@asteroidrules]

There's quite a few people who were under that impression. There's one guy who used to do perfect runs whose notes for Blaze Heatnix were just a full page of "I hate doughnuts."

[@shaoronmd]

After playing a few times I just find ways to do a quick kill on it. the stage is just not fun.

[@TheBlackSeraph]

That's meant to be a snake???? I've played that stage several times and had no idea what it was intended to be. The closest answer was 'just some scrap metal' but that didn't make any in-universe sense.

[@shaoronmd]

@@TheBlackSeraph I think it's meant to be the Ouroboros, the snake eating itself. But then I couldn't even make out his head

[@Josuh]

this info changed my life

[@shyangate8172]

It's odd how KZbin has seemingly only now started to recommend this video but it's incredibly well made so I'm glad I got it

[@iggyminious]

Yeah, I'm not sure what caused that either.

[@tokyobassist]

@@iggyminious Mega Man X6 for whatever reason is a proc for their algorithm. I'm glad I came across this video though.

[@iggyminious]

@@tokyobassist Sure, but this video's been out for four months, so I'm not sure why it suddenly spiked now.

[@niclaswa5408]

Same

[@Aizorr258]

@@iggyminious how video reply to koyar

[@gulfcoastgaming6034]

The difficulty between these two games is best summarized by a Dunkey line. “This is where the game goes from ‘tough, but fair’ to ‘tough, but fuck you’”

[@Vegetohero]

I can summarize it in a megaman line "HEY BASS, WHY Y MUST FIGHT YOU? WE ARE NOT ENEMIES!!" "SHUT UP"

[@TitansTracks]

The 2 greatest things X6 gave us was the sick looking Black Ultimate Armour. And the Nightmare Zero scream: UUUUUUUHHHHHHH

[@PsycheTrance65]

I'd add the OST as the third great thing Out of all the X games, I put X6's soundtrack on the most. It just slaps that much for me

[@ElissonDSouza]

@@PsycheTrance65 Also the upgrade parts.

[@rp5310]

​@@PsycheTrance65except for ground scaravitch

[@PsycheTrance65]

@@rp5310 When I said the X6 OST slaps, i meant all of it. I wouldn't call it my favorite (That honor would go to Blaze Heatnix and Blizzard Wolfang), but I also think Ground Scaravitch's stage music isn't bad.

[@KingSpectre844]

Flipping between footage of both games really drives home how good the visual design of Mega Man and Bass is, and how visually cluttered and headache inducing X6 is.

[@iggyminious]

To be fair, that could be partially attributed to how my MM&B footage has near-flawless video quality and my X6 footage...doesn't. But yeah, X6 does look pretty cheap in some areas.

[@KingSpectre844]

@@iggyminious I'd put it down more to the overzealous parallax mapping attempts that X6 had, coupled with generally too many disparate elements cluttering the screen. I mean, at one point we have matrix parallaxing over a matte painting backdrop, with embossed textured foreground platforms and pixel art X and enemies. It just don't mix. It's not a matter of looking cheap, it's more a matter of looking like it wasn't designed with love and care.

[@blackpants7385]

@@KingSpectre844 I feel like what X6 really needed is some good parallaxing. Some backgrounds, such as the one in Yammark's stage, are clearly not meant to scroll

[@EmApex]

To be fair MM&B was released on GBA so having messy visuals wouldn't have worked on the small screen, though I don't doubt it would've been just as clean if released on the PS1 like X6. The classic series has always had clear visual design while the X series has been a lot more detailed (though X6 is noticeably cluttered)

[@KingSpectre844]

@@EmApex Slight correction. Rockman and Bass was originally on the Snes and got a GBA port. X6 the clutter is just visual noise. Someone during development should have done something. X5 looked fine, I don't know what happened here.

[@RodMateu]

A lot of the hate for Mega Man & Bass comes from people that have only played the GBA port, and the view range in that version is much more limited. It causes a lot of blind jumps as platforms and spikes that were visible in the SNES original are now off-screen.

[@bestaround3323]

Another problem is the lack of a dash button, which makes Bass a major pain to use to his fullest potential, and makes Super King Tank a massive pain.

[@professorpenne9962]

this makes sense. I actually really enjoy rockman & forte and didn't know so many people hated it but I play the super famicom version, not the gba one.

[@allergic_to_zucchini_noodles]

I only played the GBA version demo in a Target and I loved it... But also, I'm MMZ born and raised and can't stand MMX or Classic normally for some reason

[@Rodolphin]

Megaman and Bass was the only Classic Megaman game I played before the Classic Legacy Collection. Even if it was on GBA, my kid self was so determined to beat the game. Even with the screen crunch, I found most of the spot that you were able to see in the Snes version by pure accident. It was hard yeah but I enjoyed my time with it.

[@mariociampini4947]

The game design is still garbage though, watch nico evaluates for more info

[@thenightguy8328]

i literally thought you were a 200k-500k youtuber due to your level of editting and the script, you deserve much more

[@iggyminious]

My view and subscriber counts have spiked considerably in the last 6 hours, so who knows what the future holds?

[@amellyyyy]

@@iggyminious You deserve the subs, man. Your videos are awesome.

[@thenightguy8328]

@@iggyminious success, just keep rocking it out, you're really good at this and people need to definitely check out your content

[@Afirdrgis]

Yeah, this was definitely well made and paced smoothly as well. Good stuff.

[@Phoenix_Blader_93]

@@iggyminious I just realized you have less than 1k subs

[@bielles52]

Bass is a cool character we need a game just about him

[@iggyminious]

I'd certainly be interested if Capcom did that!

[@bielles52]

@@iggyminious it would be already worth it for learning a little more about baas origins.

[@TheKorenji]

@@bielles52 Megaman 7? or Megaman Power Fighters 2? idk, but Bass isn't that mysterious to begin with

[@odbp1112]

And Vile, it was fun playing as Vile in the X1 remake

[@NeoCoreSaturn]

Let's give Bass a gun and a motorcycle

[@FatesChosenHero]

Inafune's apology for X6 wasn't about the game's difficulty and more about its existance. He intended X5 to be the final game of the X series and for Zero to be revived in the Mega Man Zero series. But they decided to continue the X series instead and things were out of his control. That being said, excellent analysis of the two games! Great vid!

[@sergiomendoza5165]

Is more the Sonic fans then pushed so much the development team for making Sonic games so much.

[@WizzyWhipitWonderful]

I love Bass' design. He looks like he's meant for the X Series.

[@sparemobius7430]

I had a theory that Sigma is just Bass remade or something, always struck me as odd that in X1 he has Trebble. I don't know what happened to Bass that would have him end up that way, maybe he got destroyed and someone scraped his remains for Sigma or something, maybe he rebelled after MM&B and wanted upgrades so to not be as connected to Wily but it is a pretty loose theory honestly, no hard evidence. Could explain why the virus jumped from Zero to him and adapted so easily though given it was a Wily creation.

[@WizzyWhipitWonderful]

@@sparemobius7430 You're onto something; I don't know why I've never paid attention to Treble with Sigma. Maybe he "ended" Bass and took Treble as his own.

[@Freefork]

@@sparemobius7430 Great observations. Love to see fans point out interesting aspects of these games' stories.

[@xavierjuno4572]

Funny you should mention this because apparently the artist who made Bass I believe was the art director for the Megaman X series

[@maddogkilla1]

@@sparemobius7430 i think you just blew my mind that the dog with sugna in X is treble and ive been a lifelong megaman fan. Wtf? Is this the matrix

[@MikeThePsykat]

Mega Man has a few advantages over Bass. His slide makes his hitbox smaller, allowing him to slide under some enemies and helps to dodge boss attacks. He also gets a fast charge, which is a permeate upgrade, meaning he can also use the equip item that decreases the damage you take in conjunction with the fast charge, upping both his offence & defense. He also get's a equip item that lets him heal when standing still. This means he can tank his way through a level, then equip said item to get his health back when standing in the boss loading hall. He can also stand still under the tank boss in the 2nd King stage if you take out the mine thrower on it's top, since it's machine gun attack will always shoot over your head. Mega Man also gets a barrier ability via Beat which lets him also tank his way through things while taking no damage. He can also combine it with the C-Attack item to make his uncharged shots stronger then his normal charge shots. Get low on health, use the barrier, and then you can take out bosses rather easy. Lastly, he can get an Eddie item, where Eddie with his MM8 Shump sprite comes down and flings recovery items for Mega Man. Ok, most of these are things you have to buy, but still, Bass has weakness that can only be addressed either by special weapons, and shop items. Sorry for the run on sentence there.

[@heyitsyaboi8419]

This is a really good analysis, I’m surprised at its extremely low view count and especially your low subscriber count. I like that you act normally while talking about X6, so many reviewers out there can’t seem to talk about it without bringing out a very annoying tone.

[@iggyminious]

I try to be fair. Either that or I can't sound mad on cue.

[@chiedoziemuoma6419]

@@iggyminious JUST USE CHEAT CODES!I DO AND IT IS FUN!!!!

[@rimuruborges7785]

@@chiedoziemuoma6419 X6 Tweaks Mod is a good idea too

[@NaughtiusMaximmus]

@@chiedoziemuoma6419 if you have to use cheat codes to make a game fun, there is something wrong there. Also, cheats are kinda boring, even in singleplayer, it just makes playing a game feel less worthwhile

[@chiedoziemuoma6419]

@@NaughtiusMaximmus FYI,I Beat MM&B with Both Characters,And All 100 CDS!NO CHEATS!

[@theSuper1Player]

I thought you were being a little too generous to MM&B, but then you showed how to manage King Jet’s fist attack. Even if the game is too difficult, you just made my next attempt to beat it sooo much better.

[@Emberson-9000]

I actually died to the King Jet just as I destroyed it one time. I expected to have to redo the fight, but the game actually let me move on to the next section. Say what you will about Mega Man and Bass, but its nice that they thought of that.

[@WinterFox1000]

Honestly I think Mega man and Bass's problem can be easily fixed by one of two things, either the inclusion of E tanks, or the ability to swap freely between Bass and Megaman during a stage. Let Bass handle the levels and let Mega man handle certain boss's While Bass takes on the more annoying ones (like the flying tank or Dynamo man). Or ya know, just letting Megaman keep his Rush abilities, but really the lack of E tanks is the biggest problem.

[@bestaround3323]

The biggest problem is king stage 2. Why the hell did they cram 3 levels into 1?

[@hdofu]

There is a patch by the guy behind the Mega Man New Year hacks and Rockman 4 minus infinity for the on the fly switching of megaman and bass

[@bhavyabhardwaj6781]

@@bestaround3323 you know it's no big deal considering you have bought auto health refill ability from shop

[@RockEsper]

I honestly kind of like the lack of E-Tanks. The game’s challenge feels so finely tuned around your lifebar.

[@bezoticallyyours83]

@@bestaround3323 Seems like a good start. MM&B has some awful enemy placement too. Forgivable when its a first game, less so when you've got a ton of games under your belt.

[@RizingZero]

Ngl, I wasn't expecting an honest to heart review of both games in this approach since a lot of people hate these two games so much. You earned my sub and respect.

[@TIDbitRETRO]

I recently did my first play through of Mega Man & Bass. I went into it expecting a brutally difficult game because of it’s reputation, but actually found it to be pretty great. Sure, there are some really challenging bits, but overall I felt it was a genuinely good game. Whereas X6… Man, that game is straight up broken. Like, so much of it’s design feels like it has no rhyme or reason to it. It plays like a game that wasn’t properly tested.

[@ErenYeager-oi6hu]

Did you play the SNES one or the GBA one? The GBA one has a screen crunch and cuts parts of the screen off, which a lot of the time leads to unfair deaths.

[@TIDbitRETRO]

@@ErenYeager-oi6hu I went straight to the SNES version. I heard enough horror stories about the GBA’s screen crunch. Lol

[@ErenYeager-oi6hu]

@@TIDbitRETRO That’s why then. A lot of people experienced the GBA one and crapped on the game not realizing they missed out on the ideal experience.

[@saucymongoose7246]

@@ErenYeager-oi6hu I actually played the game originally on a gba and never found it as frustrating but yeah the SNES version is ideal.

[@RockEsper]

So glad to see the defense for MM&B. Though imperfect, it absolutely doesn’t deserve to be lumped together with X6.

[@ElissonDSouza]

Agree. Even because Mmx6 is a better game indeed.

[@MamutaPWIP]

@@ElissonDSouza Lies

[@ElissonDSouza]

@@MamutaPWIP Nah.

[@MamutaPWIP]

@@ElissonDSouza MM&B Better

[@thalezito-4990]

@@MamutaPWIP both are good lmao

[@TimmyB_TV]

I wish Megaman and Bass was a part of legacy collection 2. Nice video though, made me want to try out both games

[@jjjj8644]

You know the game is gonna be harder when the intro boss is one of the color Devils

[@pure1846]

17:39 There actually IS a way to get past this jump without an airdash. The Hyper Dash part will give you just enough distance to make the jump, but it's incredibly tight. Good game design to keep mandatory level progression tucked away behind optional parts that can just disappear as they're tied to a hostage that can die forever, yeah?

[@iggyminious]

I was aware of that method before I made the video, but I hadn't tested it at the time. I've since been able to clear the gap with the Hyper Dash and Jumper parts, though it was a bit tricky. To be fair, even if the hostages were previously killed, you could always leave the level and switch over to the Falcon or Blade armor to clear the gap. The problem is more so that it's just not fair for a stage to be literally unbeatable as soon as you enter it, especially if you only realize so halfway through.

[@ThatguycalledJoe]

Do note that Hyper Dash cannot be lost in this fashion. It's in the Inami Temple sub-stage, and there are no Nightmares there. Because it's through a loading screen, you can't even have a Nightmare that is prone to hassling Reploids chase you over to it. The same can be said for Jumper, except in the North Pole Area instead.

[@ragingrat7670]

@@iggyminious If memory serves you can also use a well placed giga attack and then jump the second you have control again to get over there.

[@bestaround3323]

You still can't beat the games with base form X. Which is stupid

[@ThatguycalledJoe]

@@bestaround3323 Unarmored X can lag cancel his drop with Magma Blade and Ground Dash to get under that jump.

[@superubergamer1]

Looking at MegaMan X6 and even trying to replay it makes me question how I even cleared it when I was younger. The nightmare effects were horrendous regardless of what it was.

[@UrgentForce]

Finally some good words about MMX6. I only found people ranting about it, but to me it's an enjoyable game. To this day I still make 100% Runs as either X or Zero just for fun

[@stslayer8595]

Ah yes finally, a good analysis in what MMX6 did poorly, and it's really sad, because, at least for me, it has the best OST and some of the Mavericks have very cool designs. Great video, amazing edition and good script.

[@hunterac45]

As somebody who’s played both, I’ll wager you like MM&B more

[@markmessi9020]

I get the hate for X6, I still liked it but MegaMan and Bass is genuinely a good game. It's actually one of my favorite MegaMan games, right up there with X4 and battle Network 3. It's my favorite classic MegaMan game now that I think about. Rickman X Bass rocks! Pun intended

[@sergiomendoza5165]

Rickman lol

[@aurorablaize]

This is pretty spot on. I've played both games and MM&B is just a tad bit harder than normal classic MM, while X6 had no rhyme or reason to it's difficulty. Of course it was super rushed to release after X5 so that makes sense. Also one note. Weapon Energy not refilling between final stages is a core MM mechanic. It's in almost all the classic games

[@hooksnfangs6006]

Whoa! I've finally found a video that doesn't hop on the Megaman & Bass hate bandwagon and overexaggerate the difficulty! M&B is challenging, but never annoying like X6 (which is why I never finished it).

[@nypad5]

Great video! Rockman and Forte is my favorite of the classic series and it's refreshing to see a youtuber give it a fresh, fair take.

[@iggyminious]

It's just as refreshing to see as many people call it their favorite.

[@thatgamerbitch24]

me too!

[@mr.commenter395]

Megaman & Bass was one of the first Megaman games I've played and I loved it despite the difficulty.

[@orangelimesky]

Loved megaman and bass actually. The animations really expressed their attitude and was really fluid for a snes game. Not to mention the music. Amazing music, great gameplay as Bass. It felt like playing a megaman x character in a megaman game with his dash.

[@ChaosJourney]

Dude your b-roll is phenomenal in this video. Many video game essays don't put b roll of the concept theyre talking about and instead just use some random gameplay. But your video always had footage of whatever you were explaining to make it much clearer what exactly youre talking about. Well done.

[@iggyminious]

Thanks! It's a bit of a hassle to edit, but I won't have it any other way.

[@ChaosJourney]

@@iggyminious I fully agree. Going the extra mile to make sure your video is at the highest quality it can be, even through very tedious processes, gives a result that will age way better and that you can be much prouder of in the end.

[@kingslayerkoshy]

It's nice to hear someone in defense of Megaman and Bass. I feel like the game just gets thrown into the frustratingly hard category, and while yes it is a game with a high ceiling to enter, I feel like this game has a lot of nuance in its design that makes it a fun challenge as opposed to X6 where it was a rushed mess with no real consistency in its design. Guess that's what you get when you try to push everything to 100% for a high level challenge. Megaman for Mega Players. But this video just got magically shown in the recommended section for me. Glad I checked it out, this video has solid polish.

[@chrusader5134]

Mega man & Bass is underrated imo.

[@fodv93]

As someone who's played both games and has the experience of both series, I can say I appreciate your points made in the video.

[@Gridscape]

Idk, I think Megaman & Bass has challenging bosses, but they are all manageable (just as their levels), and are satisfying to beat. They are nothing compared to MM7's end boss, or some of Hollow Knight's tougher bosses, but then, those are also not impossible. The pixelart and background music is also great in MM&B, I just love this game.

[@MamutaPWIP]

For the E-Tank thing, it is due to the fact of how similar it is to Mega Man 8. This game also has No E-Tanks

[@docbuni]

"Special weapons do make the bosses easier but do not eliminate the challenge" As every Mega Man game should have been, but sadly aren't. Mega Man games are far too easy if you don't limit yourself to buster only. "Mega Man is the one platformer series that gets bosses right". Yes, if you don't use boss weaknesses, otherwise bosses are trivial, posing no more of a challenge than regular enemies. Also, lots of modern platformers get boss fights right these days.

[@globalistgamer6418]

It's a shame that MMX6 ended up so mediocre when entries in other long-running series managed to uphold strict quality standards, like Mario 14.

[@dreamcastdazia4753]

@@SmellinDSyrup asking the same question brother. It might the sequel to 7 grandad but I really don't know

[@jimmywhite6863]

Calling it "mediocre" is too much praise.

[@cubit9345]

@@SmellinDSyrup It's a reference to the uploader's April Fools video

[@PlushRushInc]

@@SmellinDSyrup its a weird japenese game of another game lol

[@PlushRushInc]

@@dreamcastdazia4753 its a weird japenese game of another game

[@Clint_Westwud]

Just when I was thinking of MM&B and it's unfair "bad title" label (Even Capcom abandoned it), KZbin throws me this awesome video. As much of the fellas here, I thought this was an already established channel bc of the quality of this analysis, what a surprise, keep it up bro :D, I hope my dear friend algorithm does too and keeps recommending your work. Greetings from Peru🇵🇪

[@ladyashley6182]

I tried to beat MM&B as Mega Man buster only and I actually really enjoyed it, I wasn’t able to get past King Stage 2 though because there was just too enemies much for me to manage. I really loved playing it though, probably my favorite of the classic series.

[@douglasbrzeski668]

Megaman and Bass isn't objectively a top tier megaman game but it's one of my personal favorites. Love the music and style in that game. Bass is a blast to play as. It's an impossible slog as megaman though, they clearly designed the levels with Bass in mind.

[@beefsquatch5352]

Megaman and Bass needs to be ported to the legacy collection. Love that game.

[@horaciosi]

X6 is the game equivalent of that AVGN joke of the pit of lava on top of the spikes, with fire-sharks swimming in it, spikes coming from the sides, ready to close in and squash you while stabbing at the same time, some laser cannons and upside-down volcanoes and start the game falling down the pit.

[@ilikezpieify]

Videos like these always make me afraid to admit how X6 is my favorite entry in the franchise haha. But I do enjoy hearing the perspective of others on it. I mainly remember the MegaMan and Bass game from it's port on GBA where it gave me frustration trying to go through the Wily stages at the end. I don't believe I ever beat it either. Admittedly, I can't remember much else about the game except for the sand level because I always enjoyed it's design. X6 however probably has a huge amount of nostalgia and bias going towards it since it was the 3rd game I ever played. I probably blame the fact my 4 year old mind just kept putting pieces together and thought the backtracking was appropriate. Sort of like hidden items and armors require a deeper search into things, else they fail at being hidden. That and it beat the heck out of trying to do that missle puzzle in X5 (which was my first ever played game) for an armor piece. I would spend forever on that. As for how the reploids went, I didn't mind resetting to try again to get them, even if some basically causes you to force death yourself to reach a few. Though I guess that can be blamed on the second game I ever played which came before X6, Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light on the Famicom. That kinda had me used to soft resetting. Otherwise I didn't find much issue with the layout of stages besides that one roly poly part and the spikes you pointed out and the gating of Shadow Armor on Gate's stage. The red donuts are annoying due to quantity but tolerable and I really enjoy the different twists stages have from nightmares effects. To me it feeks like the game wants you to pace yourself. Great example being how in the trash compactor shark stage, if you took the time to shoot everything out first with X, you could then boost going forward. If they is another enemy on the way, you are still able to fire while dashing. I imagine it was just for visual representation, but the video did show more dashing while an enemy is in the path, this causing damage flinch and getting squished compared to safely taking the enemies out, maybe twice due to nightmare respawn if you can't get the soul, and then proceeding. Shadow Armor is also the cheesiest thing I've ever seen massacre Sigma in any of the X games outside of X1's hadouken since Shadow's giga just melts Sigma's health. I remember it killing Sigma in one go when he still had almost full health. But yeah, watching this comparison, X6 hands down loses it to the MegaMan and Bass entry. X6 definitely has its flaws, but I do enjoy going back to it and playing it. Maybe I can convince myself to go back and finish MegaMan and Bass now.

[@iggyminious]

X6 does seem like the kind of game people would enjoy if they had accustomed to the nonsense factor a long time ago. Honestly, I think by now I've played it more than any other X game besides X4.

[@TheUltimateRey]

I still see X6 as a guilty pleasure of mine lol

[@blackpants7385]

I believe that for how flawed it is, X6 does have the upper hand when it comes to replayability. It gives players a lot of freedom in how they can go about getting stuff, and even lets them skip straight to the secret lab stages of they feel like it

[@dmas7749]

@@iggyminious i've played X3 the most, and X6 is also fun in a masochistic sense. especially Xtreme mode how much bullshit? Xtreme mode: yes

[@zhaoyun255]

@@dmas7749 For me, after playing the latest Zero Project, going back to Vanilla X3 is unplayable for me. So many flawed design with abysmal weapon selection . Nothing worth using unless it's for the bosses weakness. At least, X6 got the Laser Shield with all of the Melee shenanigan (Having trouble with those nightmare? Use Zero or Blade Armor with the shield and see you magical damage whoop their asses in the one go.)

[@minishlink8132]

Yay. MMB is my favorite megaman game and I'm always happy when anybody talks about. Wasn't aware people found it difficult.

[@robertlupa8273]

There's one aspect of King Stage 2 that I really like - the music. The song sounds slightly melancholic, but with a glimmer of hope. It's almost like the game itself is encouraging you to not give up. It doesn't get grating after long hours of gameplay either, at least in my opinion. The boss theme however is a whole another story. To contrast the level theme, it sounds almost hopeless, especially the GBA version, which perfectly fits the seemingly never-ending struggle against the brutal bosses. To top it all off, it isn't used for the somewhat goofy boss of the first stage, showing you that these guys really mean business. Now, the X6 Gate Lab theme is a fast-paced rockin' perfection and I absolutely love it, but I'm not sure if it fits the parts like Zero's compactor section or the totem poles, or the magma rise from the first stage. Not to mention that all the boss themes (except Gate's, but even that one was used in some cutscenes (which I'd argue shouldn't be the case, but I digress)) are recycled form earlier in the game. Not that they're bad, just kinda lazy. Sorry for this rant, I just had to get this out of myself. The music plays a big role in any game's experience, so I thought this was worth a mention. Mind you, this is all from someone who has never played either &B or X6, but watched a lot of videos of them.

[@iggyminious]

I think the music for the Gate Stages (and a few other tracks in X6 for that matter) wouldn't work nearly as well if the underlying gameplay wasn't so terrible. It's so hardcore that it perfectly embodies the rage you might be experiencing. Meanwhile Mega Man & Bass, sometimes considered the hardest Classic MM game, has probably the most chill soundtrack in the series. It reminds me of the DKC games in some ways.

[@robertlupa8273]

I think Blaze Heatnix's theme fits the "pure rage of the player" the best. Funny how it's also one of the worst stages.

[@jamesjackson9681]

The king's stage song is my favorite megaman song. Could listen it for hours!

[@blackpants7385]

Are you saying that the song doesn't fit the bullet hell section?

[@blackpants7385]

@@iggyminious That's kind of a weird take on it. While I understand what you mean, I can't say I agree, in part because I think the song already mostly fits the intensity of the situations the stages put you in. Sure, there are outliers, but I think it really fits the all out war vibe the middle of the first stage and High Max's section have

[@RickNick04]

Very good video! I don't even play megaman but your editing and great scripting kept me hooked, keep up the great work!

[@iggyminious]

Thanks a lot!

[@RayzeCruxis]

Maybe cuz I'm weird, but X6 didn't feel that hard. I still think difficulty wise, X3 was the hardest.

[@benjaminberkey2920]

I totally agree. It really wasn't that hard. I do agree that it has a higher difficulty than most mm games though. X3 is really easy until fucking sigma. I tried a no armor, blue mmx run on x3. Was fine until Sigma, couldn't beat him whatsoever.

[@rabbitbeargaming2441]

@@benjaminberkey2920 x3 sigma was a nightmare

[@TurboGhast.]

@@rabbitbeargaming2441 Agreed. His lack of a special weapon weakness feels unfair, as it breaks a rule that not just the rest of X3, but every previous X series boss fight, including the final bosses of X1 and X2, adheres to.

[@rabbitbeargaming2441]

@@TurboGhast. true

[@PONCHEEZED]

I personally love Mega Man and Bass. I always thought the level design is a proper “hard mode” to classic mega man level design. Rather than having enemies that take more hits and you lose more health, the levels choose to take ideas used in the series before and slightly change the mechanic to demand a little more from the player or put more mild but manageable amounts of stress in the design. It truly is a “hardcore” Mega Man game just as Inafune has said. Regardless of the fact that classic Mega Man is already difficult. Mega Man X6 is made to frustrate and make players contemplate playing in traffic.

[@shindrac]

As someone who also somehow enjoys X6 after knowing the game in and out, I don't even think it was supposed to be this frustrating. I believe the project was just rushed into oblivion and we got "better than nothing".

[@sitamo2995]

I really liked the double analysis/review you made, hope you make more in the future can imagine they're very difficult to make.

[@zeXma20XD6]

You know, I don’t mean to brag but, I never really found Mega Man and Bass difficult. I enjoyed the game very much and it’s one of my favorite games of the series. For it to be considered one of the worst games of the franchise Is news to me.

[@bigdoggo5827]

Same here. I blazed trought the stages and I loved the music. Some parts are kinda hard but that is expected from the classic series, I enjoyed the higher boss difficulty of King tho. X6 on the other hand has design problems but it is not as bad as X7

[@purpleomlet]

MegaMan and Bass is one of the only MegaMan classic games I beat as a kid. Yeah, it took me a while, but I'd consider it easier than most of the NES games. I couldn't beat any of the NES games to save my life when I was a kid.

[@user-ee4cj5ns7g]

Dude, u deserve much more subs than u have. This vid is amazing and it covers some of my personal favorite games in the franchise. Keep up the great work! 👍

[@killerb255]

We need a Megaman X6 and Bass…with both games’ problems put together!

[@dbzeh6837]

I think that one agravating factor that makes MM&B superior is the fact that it should have been just a downgraded version of 8 but the game stands on its own, while X6 runs on the same platform that made X4 take a HUGE lead and that makes nothing for the game, it's ugly and feels claustrophobic.

[@sonicboy678]

There's also the incredibly short development cycle that X6 got stuck with.

[@morrowlterraslove]

@@sonicboy678even then the game was never supposed to exist and pretty much X6 is pretty much a cash grab since Kenji have nothing to do with this game cuz he was working on Zero 1

[@prometheusmodelow8322]

I honestly think people give Mega Man & Bass a bad reputation only because most have only played the GBA version and not the original, which isn't even on English, the GBA version is much worse and does feel like cheap design due to the screen crunch among other issues, but if it wasn't for that, MM&B wouldn't have that reputation and it would just be another challenging Classic Mega Man game much like Mega Man 9 (i find both equally challenging).

[@mr.commenter395]

I used too own the Gba version of Rockman & Forte. I fell in love with it, I think a lot of the bad reputation is biased.

[@vjspectron]

MM&B is criminally underrated! As much cool stuff as MM7 did for the series, it's awkward as hell to play.

[@marcusbullock630]

Megaman and bass is literally a reskinned mm7.

[@SolidSnakeHz]

@@marcusbullock630 8, no?

[@sergiomendoza5165]

MM&B use the graphics of Megaman 8.

[@ArcadeGamer1929]

7's engine, 8's graphics

[@SlamminWolfgang]

the intro stage of Mega Man & Bass does feel like it's attempting to warn me about the impending difficulty--there's gimmicks from several previous MM stages, a Devil boss, and Proto Man getting wrecked all right away, which speaks to me in much the same way Aztec Falcon does

[@Kurumisama]

Guess the fact X6 was the first megaman I ever finished, really makes me love it despite all its flaws

[@EpsilonKnight2]

I also love X6 for tons of reasons. I'll admit there's plenty of problems with the game, but all the content and the satisfaction I get from tightly destroying some of the hard sections keeps me from hating it.

[@Sparragow]

YT just recommended this. And I'm glad. All of this video it's been in my head for so many years... I'm really happy that someone had the same thoughts as me and explained it in a proper way. Thank you so much :)

[@oliviertakemitsu9583]

Kidding? Megaman and bass is one of my favourites megaman games. Is the one who introduced me to the series in fact. Music and sprite design is amazing too

[@co81385]

Something else that I wanted to add: oddly enough, the first time that I played through X6, I actually completed Gate Stage 2 with the Shadow Armor (before completing it with Blade or Falcon later on). I used the Shadow Armor, because I didn't know how to beat High Max without it. I think that already put on Jumper and either Hyper Dash or Speedster preemptively, because the Shadow Armor's movement was already limited, so I was able to get past "the jump" on my first try.

[@ultramanzx1]

This video is so well done, and it brings up great points! Subbed

[@idklol4197]

my little brother had megaman and bass as a kid and never beat it. that game would kick your ass up and down the street both ways. funnily enough I think its my favorite one after megaman x and megaman zero 3; its visual style and the soundtrack is so appealing.

[@zakuguriin4521]

I don't think X6 or MM&B are bad games or ridiculously hard. It's like any challenging game, you just have to practice the stage and learn the enemy placements and patterns, and how to do the platforming segments with precision. Like for MM&B there are a ton of tricks you can do with both Bass and Megaman that turn the bosses and levels into complete jokes. It all revolves around their specific upgrades and using those with the boss moves on the right enemies/bosses and their "attacks". I actually saw you use one of my strats on the 3rd form of King. Shooting the sticky bomb on the crystal when its charging up to do the laser to stop the attack. Also you can use the fire burner weapon to destroy the fists that break those platforms.

[@PanthalassaRo]

Great video! Your voice is so relaxing and you make your points clear and your criticisms valid with examples and reason. Hope your channel keeps growing, your work is so profesional.

[@iggyminious]

Thanks! Any time someone compliments my voice work, it brings a smile to my face.

[@bigdoggo5827]

@@iggyminious Well. You rock man

[@certainperson]

Excellent vid! KZbin's recommendation sorcery is getting really good.

[@alexdentondxiw]

My 11 year old nephew and I were rating the Classic Mega Man games with the 1-10 rating. He gave Rockman & Forte a 12 lol. He said while the game is fun, there are parts that are just too hard. But he loves the fact that you can play as Bass. Personally it is my favorite Mega Man game. The music, design and the overall feel is great

[@d7603]

Congrazt man, it seems KZbin algorithm has blessed you. This is a good and rare Megaman video.

[@r.9158]

Wow, not even 1000 subs yet. Great quality content. Glad I came!

[@iggyminious]

Thanks! Can't be long before 1000 now...

[@thomasffrench3639]

The divisiveness of the boss rush is something I find interesting. I find that the worst boss rush of the series to be Mega Man 1, as it is a gauntlet and has the bosses lazily placed around the stages. And sure having it throughout the stage like MM&B and MMX are fine every once in a while, but I don't want it to become the standard as I find that lazily putting them in the final castle to be kind of pointless as you aren't really doing any weapon management, and it feels way more generic. I mean they literally had to make those types of boss rushes rare so they would stand out. For the standard Mega Man boss rush you also get to chose what boss to go up against next, so you can formulate a strategy to determine which robot masters to face at any time. Not to mention in a game like Mega Man 2, you also have to multiple weaknesses so you have to manage which ones you want to use. I don't really understand people who prefer them randomly placed in the final stages as choice is a huge part of Mega Man games.

[@ChiefTakinawa]

Please keep making content like this. I really enjoyed this video!

[@iggyminious]

I will try!

[@Spanishdog17]

Megaman and Bass has some douchebag "Kaizo Rom Hack" moments in it's level design, but X6 doesn't even have level design. It's just a much of random shit thrown together in a blender placed in random locations on the screen. Megaman and Bass was designed to be difficult but X6 had no thought put into it at all!

[@hastat7322]

Honestly I can sit through hundreds of videos bashing X6 and go "yeah that's right" because honestly you guys are absolutely correct, but I still enjoy it a lot despite knowing it's objectively bad. Mega Man & Bass was also my favorite SNES Mega Man game, coming home from school trying to overcome the latest stage I unlocked was dope. I like to think it's because I only had arcade games and NES games to play while growing up and these were overflowing with actual bs moments - even when compared with X6... or maybe I just enjoy bad games who knows lol.

[@zanmolecules4105]

This was a great video. When I was in 7th grade, I typed a 6000+ word google doc on every single problem and thing I hated about Megaman X6. I’m glad to know someone agrees with me. I might turn the Megaman X6 rant into a video of my own, but this video really does the job

[@SwagimirPutin]

I found Megaman & Bass as a slightly more challenging Megaman game (As Bass in any case), But X6 had all of the aforementioned issues where you mostly need to take a leap of faith, but my major gripe with it - aside from the story, is if you want to save all of the Reploids and they are put into such ridiculous situations next to the Nightmare Virus. I found myself just charging in to save them even if there was a bottomless pit below since you can just keep continuing from a checkpoint anyway. Very tedious.

[@Rutawind]

X6 will forever be a crowning example of fake difficulty and how not to do level design

[@Urbanokami]

Very well made video! Directly conveying your points about Megaman and Bass being justified in it’s difficulty was perfect! Also props for the music stamps at the bottom ✌🏾

[@iggyminious]

Thanks! You have no idea how many comments I've seen on other people's videos asking what the music was at some timestamp.

[@Urbanokami]

@@iggyminious yeah man you did your homework on your vids and want people want to see. I can’t wait until you drop more content soon ✌🏾 Was wondering if you will cover any other capcom classics?

[@dukey03]

Really well done video and I whole-heartedly agree! You deserve more subscribers!

[@sarasaland4709]

Too bad Mega Man and Bass’ challenge comes almost solely from terrible enemy placements and spikes just offscreen that you can’t see. Have fun doing King Stage 2 all over again if you get a game over.

[@n40ky85]

megaman and bass is the kind of game that after playing it like 30 times for 4 years of not being able to beat it, you finally get the hang of it and it's very enjoyable. practically after unlock the ultra instinct lol

[@raidou7010]

Amazing video!! And I share with you 100%! I already subscribed to you! Great video editing and narrative 💪

[@PowerPandaMods]

One thing to keep in mind for Megaman & Bass is that we in the west originally got it as a GBA game. The screen crunch of the GBA caused a ton more unfair deaths. I replayed the game on a translated SNES rom years later, and was surprised at how much that one small thing affected the game. I wish we would have gotten an official SNES version on Megaman Legacy Collection 2.

[@Zmeeed01]

Mega Man & Bass was the first MM game I've beaten without save-scumming in my childhood because the emulator I used wouldn't allow it. But despite the brutal difficulty I very much enjoyed the uniqueness of the game

[@edhc44]

That's an excellent angle you took fo your video besides being fair to both games. I beat Rockman & Forte as we it was called back in the day over two decades ago on an emulator, and in my mind it still is the hardest game in the classic series, but it is well designed. I also beat Megaman X6 on the hard difficult setting when it came out and even though it is a flawed game, I enjoyed it a lot more than I had enjoyed MMX5 the previous year, a game so linear and easy that to me is the one game that truly deserves to be right below MMX7 as the worst in the series.

[@Ryuzekia]

Randomly popped up in my recommendations, as someone who's played both(and honestly likes X6 a little more than he should). It was an interesting watch, and pretty well made, neat to see the points you made.

[@andresjmb2038]

This video was amazing, keep it up dude!!

[@supermarilink]

Having recently replayed every MM Classic game in the past month, I still absolutely love MM&B. Its difficulty is a feature, not a bug, and it’s a heck of a lot more interesting than some of the other more rote entries in the franchise like 6 or 10. It’s like “What is Mega Man 8 was good?”

[@shyguy1932]

I agree, Megaman & Bass can be a bit rough around the edges but it's still a more entertaining game than "fine but kinda stagnating" titles like 6 or 10.

[@Skallva]

Okay, I agree with you on MM&B but 6 and 10 are some of the strongest classic games smh

[@jaretco6423]

I think it wouldn't be that rough if they brought back E Tanks.

[@danamation6480]

*Megaman x 7 staring in the corner*

[@jdw159]

Great video! I now have a sneak cart for Rickman and base and only played the intro stage so far. Man I was so surprised it was as as hard as it is.

[@fiestaskull1540]

wow, this was super interesting to watch! Thanks for the great video dude

[@ThatguycalledJoe]

Correction - Nightmare effects appear from entering a stage period. Finishing it doesn't matter, and a stage that has ever been red has a Nightmare effect on it. Each stage has two effects to its name. Also, Recycle Lab's blocks completely break the alt route. "I've beaten this boss half a dozen times as X and could hardly leave a dent in it as Zero." Well the B-roll clearly shows that Zero is quite lacking in Heart Tanks and I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you probably didn't have the Shock Buffer on. Base defense in X5 and X6 is always terrible, X just has an easy out because in both games he always has access to armor from the intro stage (unless you're weird and start X5 with Zero then primarily use X), whereas Zero can't keep up defensively without the Shock Buffer tying up a part slot, Black Zero notwithstanding. Also, the Life Recover Limited Part is an E-Tank that refreshes after you leave the stage. Very nifty. Regarding "certain upgrades", you could at least specify that it's Hyper Dash. Just Hyper Dash. Hyper Dash is impossible to lose out on because it's in Inami Temple's substage, where no Nightmares exist, let alone ones that go after Reploids. Blade and Shadow X can clip just through High Max's barrier with their charged slash, then follow up with a special that clips through them such as Ground Dash or Ray Arrow. Falcon and Unarmored, ehh, good luck with that. I see you have Zero's cheeky infinite in the B-Roll (As soon as Zero gets a hit in on him, just thumping him with Ensuizan as soon as he pulls the shields since he'll be floating high enough for you to get under him will do the trick), though you got too far under him the first one. Trying to use Zero as your front-man in X7 is a bad idea (though yes the short X7 B-roll was the intro stage where you can't not use him). The limited amount of things he excels at, he *really* excels at, but everything else he's mediocre at best, and just can't stand up to hammering away with the G-Launcher or charged shots. I'd take Axl/Zero or X/Zero over Axl/X, but he's too situational for his own good.

[@ZacharyDietze]

The original MM&B is a genuinely good game, and I'm honestly sad that it wasn't included in Legacy Collection 2. (Just make sure you don't play the GBA version) Yes it's challenging, but you can get through it if you know what you're doing. Worst case scenario is that the difficulty is comparable to MM1. X6 and X7 though can straight up go to hell for their own separate reasons. The X series wasn't even supposed to continue after X5 anyways which was already pretty flawed in of itself, so… (At least X8 is alright)

[@niemand7811]

Mega Man & Bass is not included because it is not officially canon. And it is also a condenced rehash of Mega Man 8. That lead to the game feeling cramped when compared to Mega Man 8. With Mega Man 7 they had the best SNES Mega Man out and could have created another game in that style for the SNES instead.

[@panke1590]

Really good video! Im glad i discovered this channel

[@nicolasmoreno9143]

I'm so glad Megaman X6 Tweaks exists

[@corporalkills]

When I played X6 growing up, I loved it. I thought it was cool and seemed to have infinite patience for it. Replaying it recently though, I found it the most infuriating mega man game in existence. So many rooms were me going “I JUST wanna get through the room, get the fuck out of the way!”

[@InfernalBanana]

Not to mention that in the Gate battle, his sole weakness, the nightmare orbs that you have to get within spitting distance to destroy, damage you also because three orbs shoot both forward toward Gate and backwards toward you, because screw you. Hope you stocked up on sub tanks!

[@SHADOMEGA7569]

as someone whos first owned mega man game being mega man and bass, the game was indeed hard even knowing to do cold mans stage first and always getting stuck on him when he sharted out a cloud of which playing bass made some of the stuff trivial mega man did offer a more skillful way of playing. also treble just breaks king stage 1, and the bosses themselves are pretty memorable and ill admit it took me some time to actually beat them and yet the weaknesses were a bit tough to figure out when not having it and i'd say pirate man being weak to the wave burner really threw me off as i didnt think it would actually damage anything and i think i lucked out as mega man when i remembered the waveburner pushed the floating spike balls, the weird weapon trial stage felt pretty rewarding as by time you cleared all other stages to unlock it the shop gained more items and the trial stage was just free bolts. also thank god going into the shop didnt reset the king stages as that was the only saving grace of having everything bought and having a ton of bolts to buy spare bodies all while king tank ate away at them then only for the king machine to just ruin all expectations with the flash bombs or worse yet the time i beat the boss as it punched the platform i was about to land on... king himself was fairly easy and willy was fairly easy too then again i started to believe and ultra instinct my way through the stage. god i miss playing this. should replay it via Rock Man and Forte since the screen crunch on gba was a bit much

[@WardenKaz]

Dude you deserve way more views, this is great content!

[@iggyminious]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@forcrit2562]

Have you ever considered trying out collabs? You will definitely pair well with J's or Retropolis with your quality reviews

[@iggyminious]

@@forcrit2562 Those channels are actually a pretty big inspiration of mine, but I want to do my own thing going forward.

[@forcrit2562]

@@iggyminious True, these videos are not only in depth and informative, also a new take on game reviews that I haven't been seeing yet. May I suggest you trying out a comparison between the best of the classic and the X titles next?

[@user-ee4cj5ns7g]

AGREED! This video is great!