 It's not a stroke. Mega Man 7 is stylistically a direct sequel to Mega Man 6 on the NES, so if you are more of a fan of the NES games rather than the kind of alternate universe Mega Man X provided, then this game was made with you in mind. Personally, I really like that they did this. It reminds me of the X-Men comics in the early to mid-90s, when they had Uncanny X-Men, The Age of Apocalypse, and X-Men 2099, three different universes and timelines all going at once. I'd like to see more game franchises take this approach in fact, like Final Fight, or Legend of the Mystical Ninja. I'm not saying give them soccer games or anything, just something different. Anyway, Mega Man 7 is the classic Mega Man experience, combined with some ideas from the Mega Man games on Game Boy, where you collect money, so to speak, to buy energy tanks and such in between levels. Rush's fusion ability is here from the later NES games as well. Also, just like Mega Man 4 and 5 in Game Boy, you start out with just four levels, beat those four and unlock four more. There's also two unpredictable characters, base and treble, which show up evidently for no other purpose than to just confuse Mega Man. They're nice additions to the traditional Mega Man story, however. I do have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in the level design. It's kinda sorta bland at times, but it does have some interesting gimmicks. I did really like Blast Man stage. But yeah, this is just classic Mega Man controls, jumping, shooting, sliding, with help from Rush. No wall climbing though, like the X-Series. My favorite thing about Mega Man 7 is that it just looks and sounds so nice. The music for each level is unique and memorable. Each track sounds bright and clear as a bell, and the level themes all stand out and look really fantastic. Visually, this really does come across as a more beefed up version of the NES Mega Man games. The backgrounds, the foregrounds, the enemies, Mega Man himself, all look razor sharp and alluringly colorful. This game really draws you in with its visual style. Seriously, it's like pixel art cocaine. The average price the original cartridge goes for on eBay is over $150, so yeah, you're not gonna wanna do that. Thankfully, this game is available on the Virtual Console and about a dozen Mega Man collections across several consoles. And not only that, the Super Famicom version goes for about $20-25. That's what I ended up getting, and it works great. I do miss what's said in the exchanges with Dr. Light and friends, but some of the humor still gets across, like when Mega Man puts on the wrong helmet. Whoops. Anyway, I don't have any real profound analysis here. No grand sweeping analogies. I mean, it's just Mega Man. You hear those two words you've already made up in your mind what they mean and stand for, and this game won't change that, just enhance it. Although, I will say that the comparison between Mega Man 7 and the X series is a little bit like the differences between Super Castlevania IV and Dracula X. Mega Man 7 is aesthetically brighter and bouncier for a lack of a better term, and Mega Man isn't as overpowered as X, just as Richter wasn't as strong as Simon. It's really about what you'd expect from a classic Mega Man game, although I wouldn't rank it quite as high as the early games in the NES series, and personally, I like X's abilities and upgrades to be more fun. But still, you can't beat that classic Mega Man action, and Mega Man 7 has that in spade.