One of the last Super Nintendo games, and not a bad one... The new power-up system is better than the one from MM8. It's a pity that so many things from MM8 were reused though.

Mega Man & Bass, known in Japan as Rockman & Forte (Japanese: ロックマン&フォルテ?), is a video game developed by Capcom. It is a spin-off title in the original Mega Man series and was originally released exclusively in Japan on April 24, 1998 for the Super Famicom. Mega Man & Bass was ported to the Game Boy Advance (GBA) handheld in 2002 and was localized in North America and PAL regions the following year.

After defeating the evil Dr. Wily countless times, the robotic hero Mega Man is called into action once again when a powerful being known as King steals the blueprints to the creations of Dr. Wily and Dr. Light in order to create an army for robotic dominance over humans. Having learned of the threat, Mega Man's rival Bass decides to take matters into his own hands. The game is an action-platformer where the player advances by defeating bosses and acquiring their signature weapons. Mega Man & Bass lets the player choose between either of its titular characters, each of which plays differently than the other.

Mega Man & Bass debuted on the aging 16-bit Super Famicom despite the series having already transitioned to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn with Mega Man 8. Artist and designer Keiji Inafune claimed Mega Man & Bass was created with regard to younger players who did not yet own one of the more advanced gaming systems. The game has received positive remarks from critics for its use of a tried-and-true gameplay formula, though some found the difficulty to be too steep. Although Mega Man & Bass shares many traits with previous console games in the series, the ninth numbered title would not be released until several years later.

The story of Mega Man & Bass varies slightly depending on which player character is chosen. It begins when a robot villain named King breaks into Dr. Wily's laboratory and then the Robot Museum to collect the data blueprints for the creations of Dr. Light.[5] Dr. Light alerts the hero Mega Man that he must go at once to the Robot Museum to confront this new enemy. Meanwhile, Bass (Mega Man's rival and Wily's greatest creation) hears of the new criminal's appearance and decides to prove himself the stronger robot by defeating King. Proto Man is the first to arrive at the scene. King divulges his plan to him; he desires to create a utopia in which robots rule the world over humans. To accomplish this, King seeks to create an unstoppable army using the data and invites Proto Man to join him.[6] Proto Man refuses and attempts to attack, but King counters and slices his body in half. Proto Man then teleports back to the lab for repairs while King escapes with the data. With their own motivations, Mega Man and Bass set out to put a stop to King's plans.

After vanquishing eight powerful robots under allegiance to King, the duo infiltrates his castle and engages him in combat. Proto Man interrupts the fight and again attempts to defeat their new nemesis. Putting all of his remaining energy into a blast, Proto Man manages to destroy King's shield and loses consciousness, allowing Mega Man and Bass to best King in battle afterwards. King questions why they fight so hard for humans when robots are the superior species.[7] The pair explains that humans are the ones who created robots in the first place, which confuses King. The villain reveals that his creator is Dr. Wily, who then appears on a video monitor.[8] When King asks the evil inventor why robots fight each other for the sake of humans, Wily strengthens his "brainwashing level" and restores his power. Mega Man and Bass engage King in another battle and defeat him. The castle begins a self-destruct sequence and the protagonists escape without King.

Mega and Bass begin a final confrontation with Dr. Wily in his newly-regained laboratory. When Wily is beaten, Bass demands to know why he deceived him. Wily explains that he created King simply to test Bass' abilities.[9] Wily shows him written plans for making a newer version of King to join with Bass in this venture, promising that the two would be invincible together. Proto Man appears and immediately destroys these plans. Proto Man tells Bass that although he is a strong robot of free will, he can never defeat his rival because he has nothing for which to fight.[10] Mega Man returns home where his sister Roll presents him a letter from King, who has somehow escaped the destruction of his castle. King wishes to atone for his own crimes against humans and hopes for them to be friends if they were to meet in the future.

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