Fangames are like a septic tank filled with treasure; There might be some really great stuff in there, but there's also a good amount of shit. Like this Metal Man fangame I played about a month ago; This was a piece of work that had so much potential, because I really liked Metal Man, (Freezeman is still my favorite Robot Master. Metal Man's up there though.) but it was just a bad game. It didn't even have one leg to stand on. But keep in mind that this represents just one side of the spectrum. (I love that word.)


Pictured: The best part of Metal Man.

I thoroughly enjoy most fangames because they might bring something to a franchise that an actual developer would have their head put on a pike for. Like Splatterhouse RPG; It's Splatterhouse, but an RPG. A fan of either would take one look at it an say 'Bad.' But if you actually play it, you realize that it is a glorious, shining example of what a fangame can be. It can be a game in its own right and stand as an entertaining RPG experience with good sound, fitting music, and plenty to do. But it also pays homage to SH with it's expert ripping of sprites, backgrounds, and music. As well some fanfiction thrown in as pages from Dr. West's journal for good measure. (I'll write more about this game later. Not in this post, I'll give some dedicated space.) So even if someone who knew nothing about the SH series picked up the game, they would have fun with it. That's how good a fangame can be.


Who's Rick? Why is he so big? Is that a damn ghost? Why am I asking you all these questions? Odds are you haven't played the game...

But that's when fans really go outside the box. Sometimes, they just want more of a good thing. That brings me the next game I'm going to make an example of: Megaman 7 Famicom. You all remember this game, right? Well I'm trying not to. It was like a 'classic' Mega Man in that it had stupid difficulty. And that is why I refuse to play 'classic' Mega Man games a physical system; I die too much and I hate going through the same level four times because of fucking insta-deaths and pixel-pinching jumps. Not that I don't respect that people might not enjoy the 16-bit MM games and may enjoy the 8-bit ones more. That's perfectly understandable. I however, thought that MM7FC turned the difficulty a tad too high for my taste. Do I still play it? No. I play Freezeman 7. But I still respect that someone might prefer MM7FC over the original.


You see that platform above me? The one in the middle? Fuck him. But I respect that someone else may or may not want to jump on him.

Sometimes fangames can be good, sometimes they can be bad, and sometimes they can be the most incoherent blob of amorphous fun you ever had. The fangame that pulls this off is ROMCHECKFAIL. One second Pac-Man could be chowin' down on Goombas, the next Link could be slashing Asteroids! I would like to see some Ghosts 'n Goblins in the mix, but I can't really complain.


Gimme a second and I'll be shootin' the shit with ghosts.

And while I love fangames so much, I find that sometimes the company who owns the franchise, more often than not, take the opportunity to be douches about it. Take Chrono Resurrection for example, Square wasn't doing anything with the franchise, and yet they had to make a claim on their intellectual property and send a cease-and-desist letter to those no-good indie SOBs.


Big fucking deal.

How dare they try to endorse their defunct-franchise while not demanding monetary payment for doing so! Here's an idea for the guys behind Chrono Resurrection, change some face lines, do some recolors, and put a sign in the finished game that says 'Fuck The Squares!' Then we can all have a laugh.


HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IT WAS MEEEEE!!!!

Whose fault is it when a fangame gets shut down? The fans, for being so attached to a game that they can't wait for a sequel and do it themselves, or the company for being so touchy about a trademark? Example: If the guy who invented lemonade was alive today, and did nothing but walk around kicking over little kids' lemonade stands you would say 'Wow, what a dick.' right before you watched a midget, who turns out to be the father, uppercut him in the nuts.


The symbolism is that the inventor guy is Activision, the midget dad is EA, the kids are Double Fine, and the lemonade they're selling is Brutal Legend. At least that's what I was thinking of when I thought of the analogy. I know, Brutal Legend isn't technically a fangame, but it's a fangame in the sense that it's a tribute to heavy metal. I'm putting the text here so you don't see it.

I know, I'm being a little jokey about this, but I cannot stress how angry I am when something like this happens. I just want to shout to the heavens 'HOW MUCH MONEY WAS IT TAKING OUT OF YOUR FUCKING POCKET?!! IT WAS A DROP IN THE DAMN BUCKET! FOR GODSAKES I'M SO PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW! GAHHHH!!!' *POW* And then my head explodes. That is how angry I get, and why don't give a damn when a big game gets pirated. It doesn't feel so good having someone just make your work\labor of time, money, and love essentially worthless, does it?


$70 million? The price tag says 'Cost of Internet access'.

I guess I can't really complain when sometimes such great fangames get to meet the public eye. But if I ever meet a Square Enix executive (Or Bobby Kotick.), I hope I'm wearing steeltoe boots.


I'm showing you the first frame of this scene because after Coop's done, there's nothing left.

Download Links: (Hope you enjoy them. Happy Easter, Dtoid.)

Metal Man (Check the bottom.)
Splatterhouse RPG
Megaman 7 Famicom
ROMCHECKFAIL
It would appear that Freezeman 7 is very finicky in when it can be downloaded. If it doesn't work the first time, try again later. Are you listening?
And if you fancy a controller over a keyboard, here's Joy2Key.