Rockman Battle & Fighters

Rockman Battle & Fighters is a handheld compilation of two arcade games from the world of the blue robot, both built on the principle of a continuous string of boss battles. There are no classic stages here; the player picks from a roster of opponents, each fight takes place in a single arena, and victory is rewarded with a new weapon that can then be used against further enemies. This creates a good old game of rock-paper-scissors, where success depends on the order in which the player takes on the fights and on learning each boss's movement patterns. The core moveset stays unchanged: sliding, a charged shot, and precise jumping.

Porting the games to the Neo Geo Pocket Color required some compromises. The characters are smaller and the arenas narrower than in the arcade originals, leaving less room to dodge, and some attacks have to be avoided differently than in the original. Even so, the game stays smooth and the controls precise, which is the most important thing for platforming action built on pixel-perfect jumps. The visuals benefit from a bright color palette and clean outlines, which keep projectiles clearly visible even on the small screen. The soundtrack reuses familiar melodies from the series and, in chiptune form, keeps their energetic, rhythmic character.

The game was released only in Japan, so Western players could only get it through imports, and among collectors it's one of the more sought-after items in the library. At the time it was seen as a decent port that nonetheless couldn't replace the original arcade versions. Today it's interesting mainly as one of the few titles on the platform that doesn't come from its manufacturer's own stable, and as proof that the concept of continuous boss fights suits short handheld sessions well. Anyone who likes the classic entries in the series will find here their concentrated, considerably tougher essence. The Japanese text barely gets in the way of playing, since the whole substance takes place in the arenas and the menus are clear even without knowledge of the language.