Games | Nintendo Entertainment System | Game Boy | Mega Man Series | Guts Man
Article by wumpwoast | November 8, 2007
If Guts Man were a basketball player, he'd be Karl Malone. He's sort of a robot redneck, working on his construction site and riding his John Deere tractor, funded by his amazing rebounding ability and truck-driving in the offseason.
Although his special weapon isn't really that useful (the Thunder Beam can break those big bricks just as well as the Guts power can pick up and throw them), the "manly strength is my weapon" concept is fundamentally sound. Wouldn't it be super for Mega Man to go tearing around levels ripping pipe out of walls and swinging it at foes...or how about the ability to pull a wicked suplex on those massive Big Eye robots?
Unfortunately, all these big blocks and fat robots are in no way beneficial for the Game Boy screen resolution -- but at least we know Guts Man wasn't left out of the Game Boy Mega Man because he sucked. Eventually, Capcom put two and two together and made a Robot Master, Uranus?, that carried slightly more portable blocks.
All said, it wasn't a huge loss not having Guts Man in the first Game Boy game. The hard hat/construction theme is solid with its huge girders and concrete look, but the stage feels rather bland and straightforward. And as a boss, Guts Man is a stand-in for all the other short-jumping bosses in the original NES Mega Man.
Besides, he needs to get busy fixing those cable platforms leading to the construction site. Bottomless pits are a safety hazards -- somebody could get hurt!
Continue: The Cutting Room Floor