Not content with releasing a remake of Mega Man X on the PSP in the form of Maverick Hunter X, Capcom went and released a second remake in the space of a month. Mega Man: Powered Up is an overhauled and infinitely deeper remake of the very first Mega Man game ever, which appeared on the NES way back in 1987.

Mega Man offered an intense 2D platforming and shoot-em-up action adventure that was unbelievably well received across the globe; Capcom subsequently - and understandably - milking the series for all it was worth, spawning - at the time of writing - seven sequels, eight Mega Man X games, five Battle Network games, four Mega Man Zero games, Mega Man: Network Transmission, an RPG in the form of Mega Man X: Command Mission, along with countless other spin-offs, compilations and remakes, which I can't remember off the top of my head and - if only for the sake of limiting this review's word count - simply refuse to take the time to research. Believe it or not though, the original game that kick started the boy in blue's superstar status still holds up exceptionally well after all this time; nearly twenty years after its original release. Admittedly, here it's been tweaked and has also had truckloads of additional extra bits and pieces chucked into the mix, but the simple core gameplay that made the series such a winner in the first place remains untouched for the most part.

The story is as follows: the year is 20XX (ha!) and robots and human beings live together peacefully. The world's top scientist, Dr. Thomas Light, creates a helper boy robot that he names Mega. With Mega's help, Dr. Light creates a number of more advanced robots, each tailored to carry out specific tasks. Suddenly, the evil scientist Dr. Wily whisks them away, but not before getting into a stereotypically evil super-villain monologue about how he's going to use them to rule the entire planet(™). Upon seeing that Dr. Light appears to be more than a tad miffed over what has just happened, Mega urges that Light upgrade him so that he can pursue the demented Dr. Wily and fight for the other robots' freedom. Light obliges and Mega Man is born.

First things first, I really cannot state enough that the mundane story and cute-to-the-max presentation that this game rubs in your face right from the outset hides what is easily one of the most robust and nigh-on infinite PSP packages to date. From the title screen, it's likely that you'll be almost completely overwhelmed by the multitude of options on offer. Main mode is where you'll find the… main mode; however, you're not simply presented with one game. Oh, no! Not only can you play a remake of the original Mega Man - right down to level design, object placement and the like, albeit with the enhanced and cute visuals and sound that Capcom have lavished upon the entire package - but there's also a "new style" option, which pits you against the odds in all-new stages, battling two new boss robots and experiencing a ton of extra goodies, which I'll get into a little later. Old style is as fun and challenging as it ever was, even if it is a little bare when compared to what's on offer in the new style mode. Also, the screen in old style mode gets compressed into a 4:3 ratio, more akin to the televisions Mega Man players back in 1987 would have spent countless hours on, so even the perspective and tiny character models - regardless of the fact they've been updated - remain akin to what they were nineteen years ago; a factor which just might bring a tear to the eyes of the more nostalgic Mega Man fans out there.

New mode, however, is where you'll likely spend the bulk of your time; boasting all-new level design and two new boss robots to fight, it'll give Mega Man veterans something to sink their teeth into after undoubtedly waltzing through the old style mode on their first go. New mode also gives gamers the opportunity to play through the game in three different difficulty settings. Having played through the game on easy, I recommend that even new players play through the game on at least the medium difficulty, as the easiest setting offers little to no challenge whatsoever, although admittedly it does serve well in regards to letting the less experienced and younger gamers out there see the majority of what the game has to offer fairly soon. The hardest difficulty lives up to its namesake, as it makes Powered Up one hell of a tough game to get through… which incidentally, actually brings me back to the unrelenting cuteness of this game.

Seriously, this game cute. It's so deceptively cute that you just wouldn't expect a game featuring large-headed, baby-eyed characters to challenge you in the way this game manages to. From the level designs and the character models to the voice acting and sound effects, Mega Man: Powered Up oozes cute. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with this, as the game is still a vastly challenging and engrossing affair and nobody in their right mind should be shallow enough to be put off by the cutesy presentation. Let's face it, if a bandana-wearing, cigarette-smoking, cider-swilling, former Mohawk-toting Trivium fan such as myself finds himself pining after a life-sized Guts Man soft toy to cuddle up to in bed at night, then the game must be doing something right at least. Speaking of the boss robots, defeating each one not only grants you a new weapon with which to use on your quest for justice, but new style also lets you play as any one of the eight boss robots - Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, Elec Man and the two new additions, Time Man and Oil Man - provided you defeat the respective robots using only Mega Man's default Mega Buster weapon, which allows you to only disable the robots you defeat and take them back to Dr. Light for repairs and a serious reprimanding over the errors of their ways… maybe in the form of a spanking, but the game never goes into that much detail. Each playable boss robot has access to their own unique weapons and skills, which can be used to open up new areas in the new style levels, in turn granting you access to extra power-ups and other items.

Defeating and repairing each boss robot also unlocks additional content in the form of further stages in Powered Up's challenge mode. Once you've unlocked every boss character, there are a total of one hundred challenges to sink your teeth into. Each challenge basically amounts to a very short stage with one seemingly simple objective, be it to just reach the end of the stage or destroy a set amount of enemies. A few of the earlier ones are not all that much of a problem, but the majority of them are hair-tearingly difficult to overcome. They're the kind of thing that you'll instantly figure out how to overcome but then putting your plan into practice will prove to be a nightmare, proving them to be infinitely infuriating and worthy of hours worth of the gamers' patented 'one more go' syndrome.

And what does Powered Up offer on top of the - effectively - ten main games and the whopping one hundred challenge stages? Construction mode. Oh yes, that's right. Powered Up allows you to create and play your own new style stages and, furthermore, to share them online with other PSP owners all over the world via the PSP's infrastructure mode. Pleasingly, the construction editing tool is an absolute doddle to use, even if the game does insist on holding your hand as it takes you through a somewhat patronising tutorial beforehand. And if you properly put the time and effort into the construction of your custom designs, you can create some truly nefariously challenging and nigh-on impossible stages with which to challenge both friends and total strangers alike. Admittedly, you are limited to certain tile and enemy sets for each level you create - new sets become unlockable as you find them in the new style adventures in main mode - but that shouldn't stop you from creating the most diabolical stages that your mind is capable of conjuring up. Believe me; having ventured online and downloaded a few for myself, I can assure you that there are some truly nasty Powered Up owners lurking on this planet somewhere. You know who you are, you twisted little sods!

There's not an awful lot more I can say about the game, to be honest. It's a truckload of fun, controls tightly, never lets the player down with framerate issues, offers an obscene amount of things to see and do, all the while oozing charm, personality and unbridled quality from every one of its robotic nooks and crannies (now there's a nice image to take with you). As I stated earlier, its deceptively cute exterior houses what is quite possibly the most comprehensive package for the PSP to date and the majesty of Mega Man: Powered Up is something that every PSP owner simply cannot be without. It's 2D shoot-em-up platforming at its absolute best. Roll on Mega Man: Powered Up 2, I say. Please, Capcom… you know you want to.

In regards to which game - Maverick Hunter X or Powered Up - players should splash out for, I simply couldn't say. To be honest, I see each as a perfect companion to the other, as opposed to two games that should be compared to one another. As, while at their core the games remain fairly similar, they do offer substantially different experiences to each other, which make it hard for me to recommend either game above the other one. The ideal solution - get them both! Go on, you know you want to…

Reviewed by Mark Reece for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).