Mega Man

"Mega Hi!"

Introduction

In the year 1987 the lives of humankind were changed irrevocably when a video game called Mega Man debuted. Of course, most of us weren't aware of that fact until a year and a half later when Mega Man 2 was released. Until that time, a small but growing number of fans were clustered around the game and contributing to its popularity. Mega Man would eventually join Simon Belmont and Kid Icarus as Nintendo's representatives on the small screen in the Captain N: The Game Master animated series. Clearly Mega Man had impressed himself on the hearts and minds of the people strongly enough to be considered one of Nintendo's flagship titles (Mario and Link were not represented in the series as regulars because they were starring in their own respective series at the same time, although Link would eventually make an appearance on Captain N after his own series was cancelled). Mega Man received his own animated series after the cancellation of Captain N, showing the enduring legacy of the character. It's probably unthinkable to most people that Kid Icarus would have gotten similar treatment. Times had moved on and the popularity of some characters had changed, but not Mega Man's.

My love for this series began with Mega Man 2. Some neighbors owned the game and my brothers and I borrowed it and played it until we beat it. After that, I rented the original game but never played it often enough to beat it. With the rest of my youth, I beat Mega Man 3 and played Mega Man 4 but after that my interest waned but I always had the desire in my heart to defeat the original game. In recent years, I have wanted to teach my wife and daughter about video games so Mega Man is the latest in a line of titles that I have played to show them what video games are about as well as to satisfy my old urges to play this game.

I want to make it clear that I am a child of the 80's. I never owned a system more sophisticated than the SNES and as a result I am uniquely qualified to judge Mega Man by the standards of its day rather than comparing it to the later Mega Man games or today's modern 3D games. I think that it is important to place things in context. Now, let's get on to the review.

Story 5/10

I have to be fair and this is the one place where Mega Man really falls apart. The story is poor. In the story Mega Man is one of seven robots created by Dr Wright with the aid of his assistant Dr Wily in the futuristic year of 200X. Dr Wily reprogrammed the other six robots to create the realm of Monsteropolis from which they would launch their campaign to conquer the world. Mega Man was the only robot to resist reprogramming and now exists to defend the universe (humanity must expand its influence greatly in the next couple of years) and to defeat his mad “brothers”.

I know that this story has been expanded on in later games. Dr Wright is now known as Dr Light. Proto Man was revealed to be the first robot created by Dr Light; while Roll is known to be the second after Mega Man. This brings the original number of robots for the first game up to eight. Roll is seen in the end credits but there's nothing to indicate that she is a robot. She could have easily been Dr Wright's human daughter for all anyone knew. Later stories say that Mega Man was initially just an assistant and didn't have his arm canon/mega buster. He just mimicked tools that Dr Wright needed. Dr Wily didn't consider Mega Man worth the bother of reprogramming. It is only afterwards that Dr Wright converted Mega Man for combat. All these things add depth to the story but since they were added on after the fact we can't use them for this rating. The story for Mega Man is of standard depth for the 80's. There's just enough info to give you some context and explain why you're playing the game and what you're seeing but there's nothing beyond that.

I do need to mention one critical plot flaw in this game. Dr Wily is clearly able to clone robots. He clones the robot masters and puts them in his fortress. He clones Mega Man at one point in the game and has him fight himself. Why doesn't he clone the robot masters ad infinitum? Mega Man may be powerful but there's no way he could fight an army of Gutsmans. It's just one of those things that I'll never understand.

Game play 8/10

The game play for this game is excellent. The ability to choose which level that you start out on is genius. I remember how my young imagination used to be carried away by the Mega Man games, trying to figure out which order to defeat the robots in. The best part is that there is no right answer. Sure each robot is weak against one other robot's attack so there is a sequence in which to beat them if you desire maximum effect. However, you have to start the sequence somewhere and beat one robot master with your arm canon. Even now, after two decades there are still discussions about where to start the sequence. Other people prefer challenging themselves and do not go in the sequence, either using a lesser weapon on the robot masters or using the arm canon on all of them. Either way, this innovation makes for a fun time.

The controls are excellent. Mega Man fires when you want him to fire, moves when you want him to move, and jumps when you want him to jump. Many people have complained about the fact that when you stop there is a sliding effect. This effect is even exaggerated on Iceman's level. I kind of like the fact that they took physics and momentum into account and once you know that its there, its easy to use it to your advantage.

Each of the special attacks that Mega Man gains from the robot masters has its own feel to it and you have to play with them to learn how to use them properly. Most of these weapons are useful for more than just defeating robot masters. Several are useful for actually playing through a level such as the Thunder Beam, Super Arm, Rolling Cutter, and Ice Slasher. The Hyper Bomb and Fire Storm probably have less utility but they're still useful against certain enemies. Learning how to use these weapons effectively and also using the special utility “weapon”, the Magnet Beam is a fun part of the game that pays off immensely after you have mastered the use of each.

I'm not going to say that Mega Man doesn't have problems. It certainly does. They just don't compare to the game as a whole. Problem #1 is the random factor. Many people complain about the difficulty of the game. I don't dispute that the game is tough but there's a difference between challenges and random elements that are impossible to control. For instance, many people consider the “rock monster” at the end of Wily Stage 1 to be difficult. I agree with them but this is a challenge. The “rock monster” can be defeated once you have learned the timing on how he breaks apart and flies across the screen and you jump accordingly. Similarly, many people complain about the moving platforms on the Gutsman stage. This is a problem that is solved with practice and timing. I am fine with that. I think that it enhances game play when you have to work hard to beat something but once you've mastered it you don't have to worry about it again.

Contrast this with two “random” elements. The first and worst are the helicopter platforms in the Iceman stage and Wily stage 1. They start and move in random locations and move randomly. There is no guarantee that if you are on one of these that you'll be able to jump to the next one because the next one may be so high that you can't jump to it. If you wait long enough the one that you are on may raise or the one next to you may lower but sometimes they don't. All of the while you are being shot at. There's no way to play this perfectly since it is up to random elements that you can't control. I also feel this way about the Mega Man clone. Sometimes I fight him and he stays on his side. Sometimes I fight him and he runs up to me and just continues to jump up and down on my head. I cannot figure out what causes him to change behavior and it seems completely random. As a result, sometimes I beat him first time through. Other times I go through several lives before he's defeated. This one can be managed at least somewhat with skill so it isn't as bad as the helicopter platforms but it's still an annoying thing because it seems that the behavior is completely random.

The second problem with Mega Man is the continue feature. I can't stand any game that allows infinite continues because it means that anyone with enough time to kill can beat the game. It just means that you have to get lucky enough times. I know that some people feel that Mega Man should have had a password or save feature but that would have just made the game even easier. I felt no satisfaction the first few times that I beat this game because I had to use between 6 and 8 continues. I knew that by all rights I shouldn't be that far but the game made things so easy that I could. I'm not against continues completely but I think that they should have limited it to two.

Mega Man stands tall and proud as a game with great controls and a great concept. There are some problems but the bottom line is that the game is incredibly fun. You'll be addicted to it because it is a challenge and you do have to practice. That's why I believe that this game deserves every inch of its ‘8' rating.

One thing that I do wonder, though, why does Mega Man have a finite amount of power for every weapon that he uses other than his arm cannon? Certainly the game would be next to impossible if you had to refill the arm cannon as well but it just doesn't make sense to me. If Mega Man has some sort of infinite power source why can't he use it on the other weapons as well?

Graphics 9/10

I'm getting kind of sick of people giving Mega Man poor marks for graphics because they're not as good as one of the sequel games or other games made after Mega Man. Mega Man was released at the end of 1987. Look at any NES game made in 1985 to 1987 and compare the graphics. Maybe there's a game or two out there that was better but I don't know what those games are. All that I can tell you is that after beating Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, and Dragon Warriors 1 and 2, my wife and I were blown away by the graphics for Mega Man. There's such great detail. He has facial expressions and even blinks. I also love the trademark color change whenever he's using a new ability. This feature was such a prominent part of the game that when Nintendo of America were thinking of what to rename the Japanese Rockman to in the US, they considered the name Rainbow Man. Thankfully, better judgment prevailed and the name Mega Man became the standard. The color changes are neat because they give you a physical clue as to what weapon Mega Man is using so that if you accidentally selected the wrong thing, you'll know it before you accidentally fire a wrong shot.

I've read some reviews where they say that there are no backgrounds on this game. Is this from one of the other versions? All that I can say is that the original NES game has plenty of backgrounds on most of the levels so I'm not sure where that comes from. The foregrounds are obviously more detailed and the levels are all themed so that they coincide with the gimmick of the particular robot master. The robot masters themselves all look great, Dr Wily is well detailed and when he pleads for mercy at the end it looks very real. The ending is nice and well animated as well. All-in-all this game is absolutely gorgeous and a real step forward for video games at the time.

Sounds 9/10

Another thing that my wife and I took notice of was the sound in this game. The music is fantastic, especially the Elecman stage. Each of the robot masters have decent music for their stages and it never gets to annoying. The music for each of the end robots in Wily's level is superb and really gets the heart pumping. I also like the ending music that really sets the mood and gives you a feeling of accomplishment when you've completed the game. The only music that I find annoying is the robot master music. Thankfully you're never exposed to it for long but it seems crass in a way that the battle music in the Wily stage doesn't. The other major factor about the music is that there is unique music for each stage. This just blew me away after playing so many games with a half dozen or less sounds that play throughout the game. I love this and I think that modern gamers are missing how special this is.

The sound effects are also pretty good. Mega Man makes a sound when he lands. When his shots bounce off of something they make a “ping” sound. Mega Man also probably has the best death sound effect of any game character up to that point. Another great feature is the sound for most of the weapons, which mimic their behavior. The only failure there is the sound of the super arm which sounds wimpy and high pitched for what should be such a masculine power. Pretty much everything else is your standard sounds from the era. There's nothing else that's too spectacular or to annoying. Yet the fact that the music is so phenomenal and there are a few really special sound effects means that this game stands head and shoulders above its competition in the era and deserves every bit of its ‘9' rating.

Play Time/Replayability 8/10

Play time is hard to judge. I once read someone comment that if you play this game for 1 hour every day for two weeks you'll probably beat it within that period. I concur with that assessment. Obviously, the number of hours you take to beat the game depends on how many continues you take. I practiced to the point that I don't need to take continues and beat the game in 50 minutes. I've heard some people claim that they've beaten it in 36 or so minutes without losing a life. Either way, to play the game straight through should take less than an hour. Taking continues will increase that number.

For the record, after the victory described above I recommend playing the game 1 hour per day for an additional two weeks before you'll be able to beat it without using continues.

The replayability is high. This game is difficult and requires tons of practice. Beating the game with continues feels hollow so most people will probably want to play until they can beat it without continues. After that there are many ways to make the game more difficult such as by using the arm cannon only or by beating the robots in a strange order. You may want to play until you never lose a life. Either way, this game is addictive and fun and you'll want to continue playing for some time. Still, after you feel as if you've mastered the game, you're interest probably will wane for a time which is why I give this game an ‘8'. It will probably be played in cycles.

Final Recommendation

Mega Man is a superb game. It's addictive, innovative, and fun. The difficulty is a real challenge that gets the juices flowing and you feel a real sense of satisfaction once you've mastered some aspect of the game that you were having difficulty with. It's no wonder that this game spawned so many sequels and that it's such a hit.

I highly recommend getting this game if you still have a working NES. I dislike ports since even the best intentioned ones typically alter some aspect of the game, so I recommend not getting any of the copious remakes. However, if you don't have an NES and a port is the only way to get this game then by all means get the port. It's better than nothing and you will love this game if you love classic games or a challenge.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/09/08, Updated 10/12/09

Game Release: Mega Man (US, December 1987)