A robot by the name of King has taken control of Dr. Albert W. Wiley’s base of operations. King has declared that robots, being far superior to humans in every aspect, are the true rulers of the planet Earth. To back up his threats of world domination, King has downloaded all of the data from the robot museum, allowing him to command and create a robot that no one could hope to stop. Bitter rivals Megaman, created by Dr. Light, and Bass, created by Dr. Wiley, are sent to stop this maniacal machine from fulfilling his dreams of robot supremacy.

Megaman and Bass plays pretty much the same as every other 2-D, side scrolling, Megaman title to date. However, this time you get to choose between two characters at the beginning of the game. Both of the characters, Megaman and Bass, have distinct, different abilities. The Blue Bomber can charge his blaster for a mega-shot and do a sliding dash, while Bass can double jump, do a running dash, and has a machine gun like blaster, which he can fire in multiple directions. Of course both Megaman and Bass are upgradeable, and once the boss of each level is defeated Megaman and Bass can assimilate the boss’s special power to help them throughout their mission.

The levels in Megaman and Bass are designs for both Megaman and Bass’s special abilities; meaning that on some levels you won’t be able to find secret items until you play through it with Bass, or you play through it with Megaman. However certain areas in Megaman and Bass are exclusive to each character. For example, if you play Bass on Ground Man’s level, you will find a jumping puzzle that you won’t find if you play Megaman; because of Bass’s ability to double jump.

One of the items that you will find scattered throughout the levels are CDs, on these CDs are bios of different robots, whose information was stolen from the robot museum. These CDs don’t particular help you along your adventures, but it is nice to know that Knight Man enjoys long walks on the beach and watching colorful sunsets. (Ok, it’s not that sappy, but you get the point.)

Graphically Megaman and Bass just as good as any Megaman game to date; the animations are crisp and move fluidly. The backgrounds interact with the characters as they move through the stages. For example, on Ground Man’s there are a number of cascading sand falls, like a waterfall but with sand, and when Bass or Megaman moves through the sand-falls you can see the sand bouncing off of them in little dust clouds.

Megaman and Bass, has some of the greatest music I have ever heard in a GBA game, up to this point and time. The music itself really enhances the whole overall gaming experience. Also I have to mention that hearing the old Capcom theme chimes when Megaman and Bass boots up, brings back some truly golden memories.

If you cherish 2-D, side scrolling action then Megaman and Bass is just the game for you. With loads of action and old adventure, Megaman and Bass is also a game with plenty of depth and replay value to it. So fans of the mighty Blue Bomber rejoice and grab this game with no hesitation, you can thank me later, like when it’s time to recharge your GBA SP’s battery.