Mega Man & Bass, known in Japan as Rockman & Forte (ロックマン&フォルテ Rokkuman ando Forute), is a video game in the classic Mega Man series. It is classified as a "second version" of Mega Man 8, utilizing many of that game's assets, highly similar gameplay, and even three bosses: Green Devil, Tengu Man and Astro Man. It takes place about a year after the events of Mega Man 8 and before Mega Man 9, being considered a "Mega Man 8.5" both due to its nature and due to a mention in the game's code.[1] It was originally released for the Super Famicom (SNES) exclusively in Japan in 1998, and was later ported to the Game Boy Advance and released worldwide in 2002 and 2003.
The game was followed by a metaphorical sequel, Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha, for the WonderSwan. While considered a sequel by the fan base, it is only related to Mega Man & Bass in name.
The player can choose to play as Mega Man or Bass. While Mega Man can charge his shots and slide like he can in the previous installments, Bass can fire in seven directions (straight up, straight forward, or any diagonal) with a rapid-fire arm cannon, dash (additionally, dash jump), and double jump. The original Super Famicom version of Rockman & Forte was marketed exclusively in Japan. However, before the Game Boy Advance version was released in the United States, the Super Famicom version was translated into English and Italian by fans through console emulation.
Mega Man & Bass doesn't use the standard four or eight stages select system present in most Mega Man games. After finishing the Opening Stage, only four stages are selectable initially, including the Opening Stage itself. The first three selectable Bosses are (from top to bottom) Cold Man, Astro Man and Ground Man. Defeating the first will unlock Pirate Man and Burner Man, defeating the second unlocks Dynamo Man, and defeating the third unlocks Tengu Man and Magic Man. Defeating Astro Man will also unlock Pirate Man and Tengu Man if they have not yet been unlocked by defeating either Cold Man or Ground Man. Lastly, defeating any of the five unlockable Robot Masters will open the Crystal Gate area, which acts like the lock to King's fortress. Mega Man/Bass needs to use the Robot Masters' Special Weapons to open each of the eight locks, enabling entry to the final stages.
The game is well known by fans for having a very high difficulty spike, especially when playing as Mega Man since, unlike Bass, he cannot double jump, dash, and has no access to several of Rush's functions present in previous games (with the exception of the Rush Search function). Like Mega Man 8, Energy Tanks are absent from this game for unknown reasons, along with removing things which made situations easier to handle that Mega Man 8 had, like weapon energy not refilling after losing a life and having to travel through the entire stage all over again when the player gets a Game Over.
After Mega Man 8, Dr. Wily's whereabouts were still unknown, and he built a new castle to prepare his comeback. But a robot calling himself King appeared planning to conquer the Earth, believed that robots were not meant to simply serve humans, but rather that they were superior and therefore should rule the Earth. King ousted Dr. Wily from his own new castle, and he stole the data of robots created by Dr. Wily and Dr. Light to form his own robot army. To stop King, Dr. Wily and Light made a truce and sent Mega Man and Bass to put a stop to King's rebellion. When King attacked a robot museum to gather its data for his army, Proto Man attempted to stop him, but King cut him in half with his axe and he is sent to Dr. Light's Laboratory for repairs. Mega Man/Bass confronted King, but he withdrew, claiming not to have time for them, and left the Green Devil to take care of them.
Once his army of Robot Masters was defeated and the Crystal Gate that protects King's fortress is unlocked, the two made their way through his fortress, defeating two war machines along the way, and confronted him. None of their attacks appeared to phase him, so the newly repaired Proto Man came again, charged up his "Big Bang Strike" (even though it would severely damage his internal systems), and destroyed King's shield. Mega Man and Bass managed to defeat King and, upon his defeat, Dr. Wily appeared on the screen and asked King what was wrong with his "brain washing". He remotely repaired King and then King fled to another room and combined two previous war machines into a giant battle machine, but was defeated again and begged the two to stop Wily's ambitions. Mega Man and Bass then went to Wily's floor of the castle and put a stop to the madness. In the end, Mega Man was sad that an innocent robot was destroyed, but then he received a letter from King and found out that everything was all right. Bass, however, was mad that Dr. Wily had plotted against him, but Wily claimed he wanted to find out if King was stronger than he was. Proto Man teleported in, saw plans for a "King II" on Wily's computer, and then destroyed them, leaving the two to quarrel amongst themselves.
A declaration of crime...from the criminal!
A surprise declaration has been received...from the man who took over Wiley's base! The message reveals that the illegal trespasser is...KING!
King states that any robot who proves himself superior to human beings should rule the Earth!
King goes on to include a threat to steal the robot data from the museum.
Officials are taking the statements...and threats...with the most extreme seriousness.
Mega Man and Bass are sent out on the double to investigate...
Note: Dr. Wily's name is spelled "Wiley" in the 2002 Game Boy Advance instruction manual. Additionally, Dr. Wily is said to be 57-years-old in the Japanese manual of Rockman & Forte (1998).
...Read More.
