Worlds Unite Weekly Reviews, Part 8: Mega Man #51

by Mighty No. X

When we last left our heroes, they were debating the merits of resting versus immediately making an assault on Sigma, but by launching a massive Maverick wave, Sigma forces the heroes to fight straight away. Already exhausted, the heroes fare poorly. Axl, X, and Zero are haunted by the reappearance of their former foes and allies-turned-foes, but persevere regardless; thankfully for Zero, Sigma chose not to resurrect Colonel or iris.

Having drained the unified world of much of its energy, Sigma sends many of his Mavericks, each equipped with a Unity Engine, to various worlds by using Genesis Portals. Dr. Wily and Dr. Eggman try to bring their cannon back online, but it is promptly flattened by Tornado Tonion.

Sonic and Eggman escape together, and Mega Man carries Wily to safety, much to the latter’s amazement. Sigma dispatches the vast majority of his forces to look for other worlds but leaves several Mavericks to deal with the heroes, who are in no state to fight.  All is lost… and then Vanishing Gungaroo gets hit with a Hadouken.

The Street Fighter crew has finally arrived.

Bringing along with them a set of iconic moves, the Street Fighters promptly dispatch with the Mavericks left behind by Sigma, much to the heroes’ amazement. Inspired, Sally suggests that many more heroes could be recruited, with the goal of overwhelming Sigma through brute force.  Eggman wants a contingency plan; as fate would have it, he and the Freedom Fighters own all of the Chaos Emeralds between them.

Given the enormous scale on which Sigma is operating, the heroes are powerless in his eyes. Taking advantage of his negligence, some of the heroes stay behind to guard the Chaos Emeralds while others depart for other worlds in the hopes of recruiting more heroes.

Eggman and Wily are thrilled by this turn of events — with all eyes cast elsewhere, the two can begin an invasion of Lost Hex. Before they even begin to connive, however, Xander Payne warps them straight to the heart of Lost Hex with a Genesis Portal. The doctors set their sights on the Master Engine — and limitless power.

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At long last, the many worlds of Worlds Unite are being revealed. There’s nothing shocking or particularly clever about the Street Fighters effortlessly finishing Mavericks in droves — but it feels fun, a celebration of the characters. There’s no way we’ll be able to spend time much with any of the  characters who are coming in, but maybe it’s best that we don’t. By keeping the plot fairly streamlined while throwing in dozens of cameos, the final act could remain intelligible to less knowledgeable fans while being tremendously enjoyable for more hardcore readers. There were more ingenious solutions, to be sure, but certainly worse approaches as well.

In a more issue-specific sense, I wish more time had been spent on Payne and on the Chaos Emeralds in prior installments. Suddenly having all the Chaos Emeralds is expected if you’ve been reading the Sonic comics post-reboot, but must feel like a cheap deus ex machina for newcomers. Given that the Free Comic Book Day issue was spent on Payne, he seems extremely underused up to this point. He’s played a critical role at a few specific points in the plot, but we’ve seen very little of him — and what we’ve seen doesn’t seem quiet as insane and interesting at the Payne we left at the end of “Dawn of X.“

Check back later this week for Sonic: Worlds Unite Battles #1. And yes, the Sticks vs. Roll fight is just as insane as it looks from the previews. 

Easter Egg Watch:

• Zero’s line about not hesitating may be a reference to his final words aboard Ragnarok at the end of Mega Man Zero 4.
• The new form of Sigma is officially referred to as Sigma-2, but thanks to last week’s comments I will always think of him as “Bigma.”

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Mighty No. X is a member of The Mega Man Network’s User Content Submission System, and the views expressed here reflect the views of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mega Man Network.

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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