Developer hmsong has released version 1.1 of Mega Man V – Harder Bosses, a ROM hack aimed at making the Game Boy classic more challenging while keeping it fair.
Unlike the first four Game Boy titles, which adapted stages from the NES games, Mega Man V was entirely original, introducing the Mega Arm weapon, new bosses, and a fresh storyline. However, many players found its boss fights easier than in previous entries, particularly against returning characters like Enker, Quint, Punk, and Ballade.
This patch tweaks room layouts, increases boss and mid-boss attack power, and adjusts enemy behavior to make encounters more engaging. Certain bosses now require fully charged shots from the Mega Arm to deal damage, and weaknesses have been rebalanced so that each boss has only one major and one minor weakness. Sunstar, the game’s final boss, is now immune to all but fully charged Mega Arm attacks.
Two patch versions are available: one for the original Mega Man V US ROM and another compatible with marc_max’s Mega Man World 5 DX. Players must apply the DX patch first before using the “Harder Bosses DX” version.
More details and download links can be found here.
