Hi, i'm new here but i have been a gamer for a long time and i have thought getting into rom hacking and pixel editing, but i don't know much about programming or editing hex, so well, i'll post this so if anyone is interested drop me a line, the thing is this:

Last night while playing the Endless Attack mode on Mega Man 9 it occurred to me that Mega man could make a great metroidvania game (no, not a hack of metroid with mega man in it), with original levels and power ups that let you get to new places, etc. i don't know much about hacking but throughout the Nes games are tons of power ups that could all be used for this game, and so the bosses (well not all of them just the best ones). The thing is i don't know how you can make a giant map like metroid but with mega man graphics and physics, it's doable? could you make a menu screen with all the power ups and stuff?

i have thought that it'll cool for mega man to start with just the buster and jump, and then get the slide, charge, rush, rush armor, new weapons that break walls and items like beat that could help you get high up, etc.... . The energy would have to be much larger and we'll have to get rid of the instant deaths to make it more explorable, and add save points, etc.....i have ton of ideas but i know if it is doable and if anyone is interested in, i think we could make a kickass game! hope to read from you, later.

http://www.sprites-inc.co.uk/files/Contest/ i think this is what you're talking about, pretty cool.... i'd like to make one with nes graphics though.

Or the first game in the Zero series, but neither of them pulled it off very well, the stages still felt "forced" on you thanks to the missions. ZX's map system was also awful, I spent more time trying to figure out how to get where I was going than doing the stages themselves.The doors certainly didn't help that, that's where Metroid and Castlevania get it right, you only move in two dimensions rather than the faux third dimension the doors introduce which only serves to complicate things.

Valkyrie Profile does this really well.

Mega Man ZX could have at least helped its map system some by not hiding the map at the beginning and just showing you the whole thing from the start.

The fact that you'd be told to go to Sector X or Y and you had NO IDEA (unless you've been taking down notes somewhere) which sectors connected to those meant there was a lot of wasted exploration, or needless consultation of maps online.

A MetroidVania-style nonlinear-ability-driven-gameplay twist on MegaMan would be great, as long as you can make decent AI for the robot masters, and to be frank I think it will be too much to handle if you're new to romhacking.  I'm sure there are tools to help you redesign the map.  As for graphics, MegaMan is wider than 16px, so you'll have to amputate his feet (Maybe that can be worked into the story).