I will admit it. I am not a fan of the original Mega Man game. I owned it for my NES and played it on and off over many years but was never very good at it. Sure, I can complete several levels, sometimes without getting hit at all, but always managed to get stuck on one of the handful of the levels and die over and over again. Knowing that Mega Man Powered Up is a remixed version of the original game, I went in with a certain about of trepidation.

The game starts with an introduction level, a tradition started in later games, that helps get the player used to handling the character and how to take out common enemies. The game then opens up, along with canonization of the original story, to allow the player to take on one of eight Robot Masters, two new to this remixed version, that each have a unique power and level designed around it. On the completion of each level, and defeat of the Robot Master at the end, Mega Man gains the ability to use a limited amount of their power to be used in later levels.

Once a Robot Master has been defeated by Mega Man, the game can be then played using that character. With a total of 14 characters to play through the game with the amount of time spent playing the small set of levels can be extended. Added to the large number of levels are a Challenge Mode, Level Editor and Online Mode.

To those who enjoy harder levels, the Challenge Mode fills that need. Many are timed portions of levels or boss battles. Others include fights between certain characters and select enemies. The completion of all of these Challenges unlock a secret character that can be used to replay the game or previous challenges.

One of the best parts of the game is the combination of the Level Editor and Online Mode. Via a menu system players can download extra costumes and levels designed both by the development team and other players. The Level Editor can allow players to construct their dream level and then upload it via the Online Mode for others to enjoy. These options increase the replay value tremendously with the ability to create or download levels that makes the game as easy or hard as the player wants.

To those who are fans of the Mega Man series of the games, then this is a must buy. To others, maybe those who have played Mega Man games in the past with occasional enjoyment, consider buying it for the fact that many of the unlockable characters and costumes can be added directly from the Online Mode without the pain and toil of playing through all of levels or Challenges.