Retro-Bit's Mega Man Wily Wars Collector Set Unboxing & Review

In this episode, we unbox and review the Retro-bit Collector's Edition of Mega Man: The Wily Wars for the Sega Genesis & Mega Drive.

Check out the Gaming Historian's look at the history of the Wily Wars at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUG9wYDTVsU

Watch Stephanie Lyman try to guess the name of Mega Man bosses at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XASMQdP2Kuc

The team at Retro-bit is at it again, bringing a rare or limited release game to the masses with one of the coolest collector's sets we've seen them do to date. Previously only available in Japan and PAL Territories, in 1994 Capcom actually took the first 3 Mega Man games from the NES and re-released them for the Sega Mega Drive or Genesis in a collection called the Wily Wars. They also added a 4th, unlockable game if you completed all 3 main titles, in a game called Wily Tower. While physical releases were available outside the USA, the NTSC US version of Wily Wars was actually canceled. The only way someone could play this prior to now was via the Sega Channel, Sega's online service that virtually no one had, play a ROM on the Genesis Mini or Mega Drive Mini, import a copy, or use a bootleg. That is, until now.

Contents:
Mega Man: The Wily Wars Blue Bomber Cartridge for SEGA GenesisⓇ/Mega Drive
Reversible Cartridge Sleeve featuring Japanese and Original Artwork
Full-Color Instruction Manual featuring tips, tricks, and facts about your favorite Robot Masters
Certificate of Authenticity that marks your limited edition Collector’s Edition
Lenticular Cards of your chosen top Robot Masters
Custom Art Sticker Book
Double-Sided Poster to display Original or Japanese Artwork
Original Collectors Cards with stats of featured Robot Masters
Interchangeable Outer Sleeve to display your choice of Lenticular Card

MSRP: $69.99 (NA); €69,99 (EU)

Unlike other releases from Retro-bit where there has been both a Collector's Edition with all the goods and a cartridge-only variant, this will only be available as the full Collector's Edition. Inside the box, you're going to get some really cool stuff, from interchangeable box inserts, stickers, a full-color manual, and a ton more. To help protect and maintain the collector's market, Retro-bit has made the shell of this release a different color to easily identify it as different. That's something that is commendable to help avoid any confusion. They've also made sure to use high-quality boards and components, ensuring that, unlike some bootleg and off-brand reproductions, cough Etsy cough, these won't damage your system. Finally, there will be versions for both NTSC & PAL territories. I was a bit surprised that the character cards were not inside the larger box, as Retro-bit has done with other collector's editions. Especially with the fact that this is the only version of this release, it's an odd choice.

Popping the cartridge into my 32x in my JVC X'EYE, the looks and sounds of the game are terrific. It seems like the audio is slightly different to my ear, compared to the version of this game that was on the Genesis Mini. Playing any of the three titles looks and play great. The game was designed around the 3-button controller, which means one of the face buttons opens your weapons window by default. I would like if you could map the controls to a 6-button controller layout, as on the NES the select button is what opens your weapons menu instead. I found myself hitting the window button more often than I thought with the default layout.

Why it Rox:
- Multiple Cover Art Options
- Great Looking Box Art
- Full-Color Manual
- Sticker Book
- Numbered Certificate of Authenticity
- Officially licensed by Capcom
- Brings 3 of the Best Games To Your Genesis

What Could Be Improved:
- Card Pack Isn't In the Main Box
- No Figpin
- No Cart-Only Option

Should You Buy One?
If you are a fan of Mega Man and the Sega Genesis, this is definitely a set you need to add to your collection. I was a bit shocked to see the cards not included inside the main box, as that's not something typical of Retro-bit's collector's sets. I was also surprised to see there are 20,000 total copies that Retro-bit produced, that's easily the most number of any of the collector's sets they've ever released. While you can play this game on the Genesis Mini, if you want to play on original hardware this is the way to go. It looks great, sounds great, and plays great. If you are thinking about picking one of these up, don't sleep on it because once they are gone, they're gone!

#MegaMan #WileyWars #RetroBit #CollectorsEdition #Capcom