The Misadventures of Tron Bonne

Teisel Bonne borrowed a million zenny from a shady man named Loath to complete his airship the Gesellschaft. However now Loath is coming back to reclaim the debt Teisel owes, and when Teisel can’t pay, Loath assaults and captures both Teisel and Bon Bonne. It’s up to Tron and the Servbots to get enough money to repay the debt and win their brothers back—and they’ll do it the only way they know how: pilfer, rob, and pillage! And maybe a little bit of stealing while they’re at it.

This game is basically a bunch of mini-games packaged under one title. It is amazingly consistent with the information given in Mega Man Legends. Some parts even have the same style of game play as Legends.

As a side note, Misadventures actually comes before Mega Man Legends in the plot line. In Misadventures the Bonnes have just completed their airship, and haven’t run into MegaMan yet at all.

Parental Warning: Although this is a very cutesy game, all of the missions do revolve around, erm, less than savory activities. It is all done in a cartoony manner and no one is killed or anything, but you will have to decide whether this type of material is appropriate for your children.

Play Control:

Most of the actual play control (during the action stages) is identical to Mega Man Legends, although it feels slightly different because the Gustaff moves more slowly than MegaMan.

Graphics:

This game somehow manages to blend pre-rendered backgrounds with on-the-fly rendered characters with hand-drawn anime-style character art. Amazingly, it all actually fits together without looking like three different games hashed together. The polygon art is still blocky, although it’s harder to notice.

Animation:

Decent. Since Tron’s robot can’t walk (it only runs) there’s no silly-looking walk animation to worry about.

Music:

A couple of the tunes I loved. Most of the rest were just so-so. A few of the Gesellschaft tunes were somewhat grating but luckily you could choose your music there.

Sound Effects:

Appropriate, although nothing stood out as far as the sounds go. Once again the voice acting is well done and overall enjoyable to listen to (they even matched the text display in the dialogue boxes to the English acting!). (Why couldn’t they do this good of a job on Mega Man 8?)

Plot:

Since I have no “continuity” category, I am pumping up the rating here instead. I was amazed at how consistent this game was with Mega Man Legends considering Legends was created first. Details such as the fact that there are 40 Servbots, which were meaningless in Legends where they were first introduced, suddenly make perfect sense in Misadventures. Something this consistent coming from a company that can’t even decide whether to use “Right” or “Light” is heartening.

Difficulty: (easy to normal)

A couple of the action missions are a little challenging, but overall, you shouldn’t really have any troubles beating this game.

Replay Value:

This game has a lot of fun and charm. Its only negative in the replay value department is the fact that once you complete all of the missions (which I did the first time I played through), there’s really little left to do, since you are not allowed to replay most of the missions (unless you start a whole new game of course).

Polish:

Misadventures is overflowing with cuteness and the Servbots are quite entertaining to work with. They have some hilarious reactions to certain things when you Beacon Bomb them (try Beacon Bombing one of your own Servbots). Also, little icons in the upper left hand corner show you an indication of your Servbot(s) conditions, and the faces and sound effects you get when you use the Servbot Borer are just classic. Squishing your Servbot with your Gustaff Tank is also somewhat amusing, if but a tad tragic.

Overall: 89%

A fun game—or rather, set of mini-games, really. Perhaps a little tedious if you try leveling up all of your Servbots, but certainly unique.

The following hints and tips apply generally to all sections of the game.

• Servbots are invincible. They can be stunned for a short time but cannot be destroyed. Therefore do not be worried about sending them into dangerous situations.
• Servbots can swim. So you can shoot Beacon Bombs across water at things you cannot physically get to, and they’ll get them for you.
• Servbots can distract or knock away enemies; even if they aren’t doing a lot of damage you can use them to buy yourself some breather space.
• Certain Servbots will throw bombs at enemies when their Attack rating is high enough. The Bazooka and Slingshot special skills also allow the Servbot to attack from a distance. The Grenade special skill causes the Servbot to run up, drop some bombs, then run away and plug his ears waiting for them to go off.
• Send Servbots out to scout right before you start a new mission. Servbots always return from scouting after you complete (or fail) a mission. It’s a good idea to wait until just before you start a mission to send out scouts; that way if you need the Servbots in the Gesellschaft, they’ll be there.
• Servbots gain points to their Brains by going on missions, so be sure to rotate them around (choose “Servbot” from the Pre-Mission Briefing to change Servbot assignments).

The airship Gesellschaft has several rooms, all holding one or more Servbots. You move about the rooms and perform actions by using the menus to the right. Some tips:

• Talk to Servbots more than once; often they change what they say further into the game.
• When you open a new room talk to all of the Servbots there; usually one will have a new item for you. Generally all items you receive this way are given to other Servbots.
• Sometimes you cannot give a certain item to a Servbot until it expresses need for it. In some cases some other event (such as developing a certain item in the lab) must take place first.
• Certain events will only occur once you’ve picked a favorite Servbot.
• When you choose to develop an item you will be given a list of all the items you have which can cut the development costs. Some of these types of items include tires, police lights, and shields. How much cost is cut from development depends on the part you are trying to build; certain items are more useful in the development of certain parts than others. Experiment before choosing which items to use to build what in order to maximize your savings.

Training Room 1

The object here is to throw bombs at the targets. Score higher than the required number three times in a row to raise the Attack rating of the Servbot who’s playing by 1. (Note: The number of targets you have to hit increases each time you win, so it becomes increasingly more difficult to max out a Servbot’s stats.)

• You can catch bombs thrown to you by pressing the throw button right before a bomb reaches you. This is generally faster than letting the bombs land and roll to a halt.
• Try to always hit two targets with one throw, which you can do if your bomb strikes in between them.
• Eating curry stops the clock for a brief time. You have to pick it up or catch it first before you can eat it.
• If you try to change directions too many times in rapid succession, your Servbot will get its feet tangled up and fall flat on its face. Try not to be indecisive.
• The Servbot putting up targets always moves in a clockwise circle. Knocking targets down in that same order slightly ahead of him will allow him to replace them more quickly.
• Jump then throw while in midair to hit targets in the back row.

Training Room 2

You need to serve meals to Servbots by pressing the buttons indicated by the help at the beginning of the level. Doing this three times in a row raises the Servbot’s Speed rating. There aren’t any real tricks to this one aside from remembering which buttons serve what. Meals A, B, C, and D go in order around the controller which helps. You can try pausing the game after each order as 8-Bit Star suggests, although that’s almost cheating, heh.

Torture Room

Lower Servbot Sloth ratings by choosing “Punish” from the torture room menu. The Servbot will run around the track and you must time your attacks to strike him just as he reaches them. If you’re too early he’ll stop in front of the obstacle and if you’re too late he’ll dive out of the way. You pretty much have to hit him with every single attack in order to diminish his Sloth meter in time.

There are several general styles of missions, ranging from action to puzzle to adventure. Most missions have three levels, and you can only play each level once. The exception to this is the Ruins mission, which is basically a Legends style dungeon-crawl and you can go in and out as often as you like.

Mission 1 - Rob the Bank (Action)

Your goal is to rob a bank. However the first time you play it you won’t even get to the bank. Run around the town using R2 to shoot Beacon Bombs at things to make the Servbots go there and perform some action.

• Shoot Beacon Bombs at doors to houses. You don’t have to actually open the door; the Bomb will blow it open for you.
• Once the Servbots have cleaned out a house, pick up nearby items (trees, lamp posts, whatever is available) and throw them at the building. Two hits will destroy the building leaving items on the ground that you can pick up by walking over them or by shooting a Beacon Bomb to command the Servbots to pick them up. (Sometimes buildings can be destroyed by just shooting them.)
• Shoot people with your cannons ( by default) to get them to stop nicking your paint job.
• Shoot Beacon Bombs at police officers and the Servbots will steal their shields. Shoot Beacons at squad cars and Servbots will steal their tires and lights. These can be used to cut down costs of item development.
• Shoot Beacon Bombs at trees and the Servbots will pick fruit.
• You generally do the most damage by throwing things at targets.

Mission 2 - Steal Containers (Puzzle)

The objective here is to load the green and pink containers into the boat. The pink container is a bonus and you don’t have to grab it to complete the level, but it’s always possible to take all five containers. The higher the Brains of the Servbot you bring, the better the hints he’ll give you.

• Try to stick steel and wooden containers into the sea if possible; they won’t get in your way there and may even be stepping stones.
• Wooden containers are essentially your joker cards. Make maximum use of them.
• The Gustaff can jump onto containers and walk around on top of them; either press jump while facing a container, or tap the control pad/stick repeatedly toward the container to hop on. Note that you can’t jump while carrying a box.
• You can pick up the same container more than once if need be. Don’t be afraid to do this, even with green containers.
• Shoot Beacon Bombs at doorways and your Servbot will go inside and grab items.

Mission 3 - Find the Aurora Stones (Adventure)

You remotely pilot a small flying craft called the Finkel in this one. The Finkel has a video camera installed into it, and you are essentially viewing things through this camera. Like the Gustaff, the Finkel can be damaged, and when it is destroyed the mission fails, so take good care of it. The basic goal of this mission is to navigate the caverns. You’ll have to talk to people and find items to complete the levels, and there are a few bosses scattered throughout.

• Most traps have switches on the opposite side of the trap. This isn’t a problem for you, however; just shoot the switches and let your Servbots stick their necks on the line for you. If your Servbots get hit they will run back to you, so repeatedly shoot the switch to remind them of where they are trying to go.
• Shoot the holes in the base of the final boss to damage it. You have to aim at holes that haven’t been already hit (damaged holes are flaming). Hit all the holes to defeat the boss. When the boss starts flying around, keep moving in a very wide circle around the outer edges of the room and watch your radar to see where it’s going so you can avoid it. I find that moving forward and strafing at the same time is faster than moving or strafing alone, and is just enough speed to keep yourself from getting toasted.

Mission 4 - Ruins of Nakai (Action)

Explore the ruins and find items and zenny. Very much like Mega Man Legends in game play, although the Gustaff is slower and has Servbots. Just as in Legends, there are lots of valuable development items available here that you can’t get any other way. Most rooms you enter will be guarded, so stay on your toes. You can choose which weapon you want to take with you during the Pre-Mission Briefing, under the “Robot” heading.

• If you bring the Bazooka weapon you can blow open some of the walls (look for cracks).
• Final Boss: Stand on one of the arms and shoot Beacon Bombs at the nose of the frog-like thing and your Servbots will climb up and cause it to open its mouth. Once the mouth is open give the frog a hefty case of heartburn. Note that the Servbots might be waylaid on the way there, so keep firing Beacons repeatedly at the nose to make sure at least one Servbot gets to the target.

Mission 5 - Farm Heist (Action)

The object is to steal animals. Basically shoot Beacon Bombs at any animal you see (even mechanical ones—hint hint).

• There are some tin-can shaped things which will only activate once a Servbot is carting an animal, and they are invulnerable until they activate. You’ll have to protect your cargo.
• Servbots have the easiest time mounting horses when they buck. The easiest way to get them to buck is to get close to them.
• Remember to shoot Beacon Bombs at doorways to houses.
• The final bosses will go after the truck, not you. Use this fact to get some free hits in; however don’t let the robot get too close to the truck. If you need to, you can distract it from its goal by physically insinuating yourself between it and the truck.

Mission 6 - Steal Containers 2 (Puzzle)

Essentially the same thing as Mission 2 except the puzzles are more difficult and there are new items to deal with. In these missions you will have forklifts and cranes which can move boxes for you. In levels with forklifts you should never carry any green or pink boxes yourself; the forklift can carry them indefinite distances as long as a path is clear between the container and the boat. You’ll need to save your Lifts for removing steel and wooden obstacles.

• Shoot the forklift to make your Servbot get on. You have to do this before he will move any containers for you. But before you do, go around and shoot all the doorways that you can reach to have your Servbot get items. Once the Servbot is on the forklift he’s “stuck” there and can’t get back off.
• Shoot the cranes to operate them. Unlike the forklift the Servbot will get back off the crane when he’s done.
• Cranes can pick up containers any number of times, but only in the four spots two tiles away in the four cardinal directions.
• A container cannot be moved again, even by cranes, once it is placed in the sea.
• You can shoot Beacon Bombs while holding a container. You can use this to hold containers out of the way of the forklift.
• You count as an obstacle, so make sure you’re out of the way before you shoot.

Bonus Mission - Casino (Gambling)

Activate this mission by going to Tron’s room and sleeping; you have to have a favorite Servbot for this to happen. There is no real trick to the Casino; I’ve found you’re generally likely to earn money—that is, the deck is stacked mostly in your favor so to speak, unlike most casinos. I guess the game creators didn’t want to make the game too frustrating for the youngins who might be playing. Anyway, if you enjoy this type of mini-game, you can enter the Casino as often as you like. But you’re probably better off using other missions for significant money gains.

Pay Back - You Can Be Your Own Sniper! (Action)

The “Pay Back” entry appears on your menu when you gather the final sum of zenny.

The easiest way to clear the final level is to sidetrack with a few more of the regular missions first and make some money to give your Gustaff some hefty upgrades (if you haven’t already). Also build lots of E.Bottles which are basically the same as Energy Tanks in the regular Mega Man series.

• Shoot the cell doors with your weapons then fire at them with Beacon Bombs and the Servbots will go inside to see who’s there.
• Most of the bosses you want to circle. In fact circle just about everything in the game.
• If you have trouble with some of the bosses try firing Servbots at them to distract them.
• There’s a sweet spot where you can fire Beacon Bombs at the rods on the Colossus’s head without being attacked. Just stand on the ramp leading from the lower level. Thanks to D-T for finding this one.
• Note that you can destroy rods without bothering to pull them out if you chuck one rod at another one.

These are the major items primarily given to other Servbots to unlock their Skills. I don’t list little things like apples and fish. Also note that you won’t necessarily get all of these right away. Sometimes you have to finish a certain number of missions before you are given certain items.

• Strategy Notes - Obtained from #1. Give to #37.
• Poetry Book - Obtained from #4. Give to #39.
• Red Head Parts - Obtained from #9.
• Comic - Obtained from scouting. Give to #9.
• Shell - Obtained from scouting. Give to #36.
• Paint Set - Obtained from #2. Give to #35. Unlocks #35’s Painting Skill. Use this to decorate your Gustaff:
  • Heroic - MegaMan blue
  • Hip-hop - Orange and yellow
  • Villainous - Red and black
  • Cute - Pink and...well, pink
  • Bon Bonne - Yellow and blue
  • Teisel Bonne - Green and blue-green
  • Dark - Dark blues
  • Stylish - Black and gold
• Contact Lenses - Obtained from #10. Give to #8.
• Fireworks - Obtained from Nakkai Ruins. Give to #32.
• Pipe - Obtained from Nakkai Ruins. Give to #31.
• Loader Parts - Obtained from completing mission 1-3. Give to #36.
• Handkerchief - Obtained from #16. Give to #35.
• Bon Parts - Obtained from #13. Give to #35.
• Bottle Notes - Obtained from #28. Give to #33.
• Design Magazine - Obtained from scouting. Give to #40.
• Rusted Tank - Obtained from Nakkai Ruins. Give to #30.
• Hi-Density Tank - Obtained from #23. Give to #30.
• Memento - Obtained from Nakkai Ruins. Give to #35.
• Old Instrument - Obtained from Nakkai Ruins. Give to #36.
• Litnium - Obtained from digout. Give to #30.
• Flier - Obtained from #24. Give to #35.

The Colossus is defeated, Loath is taken care of permanently (or at least as permanently as you get in these types of games), Denise gets her job saved by the very pirate who attacked her town...and the Bonnes live happily ever after. At least until they hit Kattelox. Although I suppose it might have helped matters some if the favorite Servbot hadn’t tossed the golden refractor out with the trash...