Mega Man 7 now available on Wii U Virtual Console

Screenshots courtesy of The Video Game Museum - vgmuseum.com

In a surprise announcement today, Nintendo revealed that the SNES version of Mega Man 7 is now available to download for the North American Wii U Virtual Console. The game can be found on the eShop with a price point of $7.99.

As you can guess, this is the seventh installment in the classic series, excluding the Game Boy titles. It is also one of the few 16-bit games that feature the original Blue Bomber. Like all of the entries in the classic series, it has the usual run-and-gun gameplay with perilous platforming.

There are eight new robot masters for our hero to take on, and players will earn each boss's weapon after defeating them. As usual, players will need to discover each boss's weakness through trial and error, a process which extends the lifespan of the game. Strangely, players can only choose four robot masters to challenge when they first begin, and the second group of four can only be challenged after the first four have been defeated. Even so, the game is still pretty nonlinear, allowing you to take on some of the levels in the order you choose.

When Mega Man 7 was first released, it received solid scores, but it was also seen as a step back from Mega Man X, which had been released the previous year on the same console. Nevertheless, MM7 is still seen as a classic by many gamers, even if it's not among the best in the series.

Nintendo has released a trailer for the Wii U edition. You can watch it after the break.