Mega Man

"Bomb Man, Guts Man, Cut Man, Elec Man, Ice Man, and last but not least, Fire Man."

Emotion and luck are something that can be very important when it comes to video games. A really great game can leave you with the best feeling inside. I still remember when I first played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That game still leaves me with a warm and fuzzy feeling each time that I play it. Mega Man is also a game that will always have a special place in my heart. It was one of those great NES games that I played when I was a kid, and I always loved it. Emotion is something that can be both good and cruel. Mega Man was a game series that I didn't even know about until I traded another lousy game for it. Talk about lucky! My NES however, doesn't quite work as well as it used to, so I didn't play Mega Man as much anymore. Luckily I was able to finally own it with the Mega Man Anniversary Collection that was released for the Gamecube last year. Still, emotion is good thing in the fact that I fell in love with Mega Man thanks in part to the original game. Yes, Mega Man 2 & 3 were much than the original, but the original game is where the Mega Man legend started. The Mega Man series my favorite 2D game series right next to Super Mario Bros.

Mega Man is one of the most common characters in video game history. His games that were made for the original NES are some of the best ever created, with Mega Man 2 & 3 leading the pack. Of course we have the Mega Man X series, the Mega Man Zero series, and the Mega Man Battle Network series as well. All of these separate series all star a different Mega Man. There were also three 3D Mega Man games made for the Playstation. Still, I believe that Mega Man was where the legend began. Yes, the later games in the series were better, but the original feel to the series can never be recaptured.

The gameplay in Mega Man games is pretty simple. After the title screen, you will come to the stage select screen. It is hear that you can pick any of the 6 robot masters from Mega Man that you wish to start with. After you make your selection, you will have to battle your way threw a stage until you get to the robot master. If you defeat him you clear the stage, and also take that robots weapon as well. This weapon is very affective against another specific robot master. If you use this weapon, it is sometimes easy to defeat another robot master in as little as three or four hits. That is something that Capcom pushed when it came to Mega Man, a sort of rock, paper, scissors type of gameplay.

One thing that was tough about Mega Man was the game's level of difficulty. Mega Man games nowadays are pretty tough, but the NES games weren't. Well, except for Mega Man. While the robot masters aren't that tough to deal with, some of the later bosses are (Rock Monster, Mega Man clone I'm looking at you). Plus most of the stages are very difficult (Ice Man stage…..most annoying Mega Man stage ever. Not that Guts Man and Elec Man stages are any easier. Oh yeah, Dr. Wily's stages are quite rough as well. Case in point, Mega Man is a very hard game.

The story is pretty basic, but it starts the Mega Man series in the right direction. Dr. Light and Dr. Wily are partners. They both create robots in order to help humans. Eight robots are made (well, 9 if you count Proto Man). Cut Man is a lumberjack, Fire Man is a waste disposal robot and can melt and mold metal, Ice Man is a sub-zero temperature investigation robot, Elec Man makes electric power (duh!), Bomb Man is a demolition robot, and Guts Man is strong enough to move anything. Dr. Light and Dr. Wily also created Rock and Roll. Roll is a housekeeping robot, but Rock was converted into Mega Man once Dr. Wily reprogrammed every other robot except for Roll. Basically Mega Man has to battle and destroy his own brothers in Mega Man. Why Dr. Wily did steal the robots is anyone's guess, (maybe he felt like he was playing second fiddle to Dr. Light perhaps?) What is interesting is that Dr. Wily did a nice job stealing all of the robots, and yet he should have stolen Mega Man instead. It's clear that Mega Man was the best robot created, but maybe that's why Dr. Wily couldn't reprogram him.

Mega Man also has some small differences not seen in other Mega Man games. This was the only game to keep score. Also when you revisit a robot master's stage, you will fight that robot master again. You don't fight the robot master in future Mega Man games. Also, Mega Man is invincible when he is touched by an enemy. In future games Mega Man is also invincible to spikes. Not in Mega Man. If you touch a spike, invincible or not, you will die.

The graphics in the Mega Man games are always very nice. Mega Man 1-6 use the same graphical animations, something to keep in mind. The original game had decent graphics at the time, but future games in the series clearly improved on them. The backgrounds are nice, but there is no interaction with the stage. Basically they are there for looks and nothing else. Future games fixed this small problem. Mega Man himself looks great. He is simply a cute character that was designed correctly. An interesting note is that Mega Man wasn't supposed to be blue, but a different color. I'm glad that the NES had a limited color palette, or we would never know the Blue Bomber. Imagine, Mega Man could be known as the Orange Bomber. Doesn't have the same ring to it does it?

As for the music, well it's excellent. Mega Man is well known for the music in his games. Mega Man had decent music, but the songs in the game are pretty basic. It's like comparing Super Mario Bros. to Super Mario Bros. 3. The first Mario Bros. had good music, but later games in the series blow it out of the water. The same applies to Mega Man.

Replay value is of course threw the roof. Of course you can still blow threw Mega Man pretty quickly, sometimes in less than an hour. Well, while the game is short, you get the urge once you finish it to play threw it again. Not much else to say, Mega Man is a game that will never lose its replay value. It's a game that can be completed quickly and sometimes that adds replay value.

In conclusion, I believe that Mega Man is one of the greatest games ever created. A true pinnacle of the NES, and a staple of how a great game should be made. Of course nowadays, it would be very difficult to find a copy of Mega Man for the NES. Plus it would cost a pretty penny. My advice would be to simply buy a copy of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection. It's available for the Gamecube, PS2, and the Xbox. You can also save your progress in these versions. Either way, Mega Man is the type of game that should be played by every gamer. It's the type of game that brings out certain types of emotions out of each person that has played it. Most of the time, those emotions are fantastic, and when your emotions are thrown out of whack in real, there's nothing better than to get lost in a game of Mega Man. The game will always feel fresh and brand new to me, and gamers everywhere. I'm lucky that I stumbled upon it by chance.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/05