Rockman New Year Hacks
In addition to Rock Man 4 Minus Infinity, Puresabe also created a bunch of Mega Man side hacks as well. These hacks showcase characters based on the Eastern Zodiac. The 2014 hack features Centaur Man[1]. The 2015 Hack features Sheep Man[2]. The 2016 Hack features Spark Mandrill[3]. The 2017 hack features Storm Eagle[4]. The 2018 hack features Rush[5]. The 2019 hack features Hyper Storm H[6]. The 2020 hack features Ratton[7]. The 2021 hack features Blizzard Buffalo[8]. The 2022 Hack features Neon Tiger [9]. The 2023 Hack features Ray Bit [10]. The 2024 Hack features the Mecha Dragon [11]
The hacks can be found here.
Tropes used in Rockman New Year Hacks include:
- A Mech by Any Other Name: In the 2023 hack, Ray Bit uses a Ride Armor in the second phase to kill Mega Man X
- Auto-Scrolling Level:
- In the second phase of Rush's fight, Mega Man is forced to chase after Rush in Rush Marine form.
- In the second phase of Blizzard Buffalo's fight, X is forced to run away from Blizzard Buffalo as he launches salvo after salvo of ice attacks.
- Blow You Away: Hyper Storm H and Storm Eagle's special ability.
- Boss Only Level: These hacks cut out the fat and focus primarily on the bosses.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Rush gets brainwashed by Dr. Wily and forced him to attack Mega Man in the 2018 hack.
- Butt Monkey: Mega Man and X can't seem to catch a break in these hacks.
- Down the Drain: Ratton's arena seems to take place in a sewer. Ratton can adjust the water level by running on a background gear.
- Dual Boss: Storm Eagle teams up with Chill Penguin during the 2017 hack.
- Gameplay Grading: Starting with the 2017 New Year's Hack, the game grades the player for their performance in their hacks.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: When the player beats the boss character and their victory animation plays out, the boss character will somehow destroy the player.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Blizzard Buffalo can hurt himself with his own attacks during the second phase of the battle, making it much easier to beat him.
- An Ice Person:
- Blizzard Buffalo makes better use of his ice powers in the 2021 Rockman X3 rom hack. In fact, he has much better screen coverage than the original game.
- During the first phase of the 2023 boss fight, Ray Bit can manipulate the snow to create deadly snowballs.
- I Fell for Hours
- Storm Eagle's second phase in the 2017 hack. X can move around to avoid Storm Eagle's projectiles.
- Rush's Rush jet form in the 2018 hack. Rush can summon enemies on his back to fire projectiles at Mega Man. Luckily, Mega Man can move in free-fall.
- Hyper Storm H's second phase in the 2019 phase. Mega Man has to ride on tornadoes while avoiding Hyper Storm H's projectiles.
- Light em' Up: Neon Tiger specializes in this. Somehow, he upgraded his arsenal to include powerful light spells ,even casting Luminaire after X defeats him.
- Moon Rabbit: The second and final phases of the boss fight against the Maverick General-level Ray Bit takes place on the moon. The third phase even has Ray Bit try to pound X into the mochi.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Ratton fight in the 2020 romhack is based on the Hedgeshock the Erinaceroid fight from Mega Man ZX Advent. Ratton even uses similar attacks.
- Blizzard Buffalo in the 2021 romhack uses attack patterns reminiscent of Mino Magnus from Mega Man Zero 4.
- Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat: In an inversion of the usual trope, Ray Bit uses a Metool as a magic hat and summons foes during the first phase.
- Sequential Boss
- When Sheep Man loses half of his health, he and Mega Man plummet into another section of Gravity Man's stage.
- In the 2017 hack, X fights Storm Eagle for two phases, Chill Penguin during the third phase, and both at the same time in the final phase.
- In the 2018 hack, Mega Man has to fight Rush in his Rush Coil form, his Rush Marine form, and his Rush Jet form. Wily shows up again and changes Rush into a Friender recolor.
- In the 2020 hack, Mega Man has to fight a Ratton in a sewer. The first phase is straight-forward. In this phase, Ratton can summon Mousubeils for assistance, electrocute Mega Man, and use himself as a wrecking-ball. The second phase is easy. The third phase is where things get serious. Ratton splits itself into multiple copies as Mega Man damages the rat robot.
- The 2022 hack has Ray Bit drag Mega Man X off to the moon for the second and last phases of the fight. The second phase takes place on the outskirts of a mochi factory. The last phase has Ray Bit try to crush Mega Man X with industrial-grade Mochi crushers.
- Shock and Awe: Both Ratton and Spark Mandrill specialize in electric attacks. Ratton can use its electricity to shock the sewer water.
- Shout-Out
- In the 2022 Hack, Neon Tiger uses attacks from Chrono Trigger.
- The transition to the second phase in the Ray Bit fight is based off the transition to the Nightmare Wizard phase of the final fight in Kirby's Adventure. The final phase of the Ray Bit fight has Ray Bit take cues from Dr. Robotnik's final boss fight in Sonic the Hedgehog 1.
- Took a Level in Badass: The bosses in Puresabe's New Year hacks use new tactics to defeat Mega Man and X. In the 2018 hack, Rush goes from a mere support unit to a fierce destructive robot under Dr. Wily's brainwashing. In the 2020 hack, a Ratton mook becomes extremely deadly in a three-phase fight. In the 2021 and 2022 Hacks, Blizzard Buffalo and Neon Tiger become much more difficult in comparison to their original battles, which had exploits X could use to beat them in a flash. Ray Bit, an ordinary mook, becomes the boss in the 2023 rom hack. The Mecha Dragon in the 2024 becomes a menace
- Wolfpack Boss: The Mecha Dragon gangs up on Mega Man with his fellow Palette Swaps that specialize in different elements.