Review: Mega Man
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:The original game didn't offer a way to save your progress - you were expected to play it through in one sitting. However, new re-releases like the Mega Man Legacy Collection offer the ability to save at any time using a save state. To pause the game, open your weapon select menu with START or the actual pause button, SELECT. Time needed per session:Most of the stages can be cleared in under ten minutes. The catch is whether or not the method you're using permits saves: if not, you'll need up to an hour and a half to beat this game.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians While some characters are humanoid, only robots are harmed in this game. |
Screenshots
Screenshots are from the Mega Man Legacy Collection
Game Overview
The Mega Man series was a staple of the NES era, and for good reason! While they are a bit formulaic, they're known for offering players the ability to choose what order they play the levels in, a variety of ways to overcome obstacles, and a fun way to spend the afternoons after school. But every great series has to begin somewhere, and that's what this page is all about.
Put simply, the first Mega Man game is weird compared to the rest of the series. It's not hard to see what went wrong - when this game was made, Capcom was still operating under the same mindset that had served them well in the arcades. Like many developers, they had to adjust to the new home console audience - and judging by the popularity of Mega Man 2, they figured it out a year later.
For those of you who are new to this franchise, I'll summarize the background story really quickly. In the year 20XX, two scientists, a Dr. Thomas Light and a Dr. Albert Wily, created a new type of humanoid robot that could be specialized for various jobs. In addition to the "Robot Masters" which were designed for industrial work, Dr. Light also produced two robots, named Rock and Roll, to assist him in his laboratory.
But one day, things went terribly wrong as Dr. Wily stole six of the Robot Masters and reprogrammed them in an attempt to take over the world. Dr. Light couldn't stand by while this was happening, so he took Rock, who had proven to have a strong sense of justice, and turned him into a powerful fighting robot, now known as Mega Man!
Now it's up to the player to guide Mega Man through the six different lairs of the evil Robot Masters, destroy the corrupted robots, and stop Dr. Wily's rampage!
To make things more interesting, Mega Man has the ability to copy the abilities of any Robot Master he defeats. This not only does this give you new ways to deal with obstacles in the levels themselves, but it also gives you an important advantage: every Robot Master is especially vulnerable to at least one of these equippable weapons. This has led to players preferring to play the levels in a specific order so that they start with an easier Robot Master and then continue on according to their weaknesses.
Once all six of the Robot Masters have been defeated at least once, the player gains access to Dr. Wily's lair, which is a series of harder stages that will have you battle much more difficult bosses and re-battle the original six Robot Masters in grueling back to back battles. Eventually, Mega Man will confront Dr. Wily himself and bring him to justice.
The rest of the franchise has kept to this formula (though with eight Robot Masters per game rather than six) and it's been fun every time, so I'd say it works.
Unfortunately, there is a small problem with this game that needs addressing: it's not as well balanced as the rest of the franchise. Mega Man takes an incredible amount of damage from the Robot Master's attacks and there's no way to heal during a fight, so it feels like you aren't given a choice in how to deal with the enemies in this game. You either use the weapon they are vulnerable to, or you lose. That defeats the purpose of choosing which level to play next.
As much as I love this franchise, I'm a bit hard pressed to recommend the first game because of this. The other games, while occasionally difficult, were more fair.
Put simply, the first Mega Man game is weird compared to the rest of the series. It's not hard to see what went wrong - when this game was made, Capcom was still operating under the same mindset that had served them well in the arcades. Like many developers, they had to adjust to the new home console audience - and judging by the popularity of Mega Man 2, they figured it out a year later.
For those of you who are new to this franchise, I'll summarize the background story really quickly. In the year 20XX, two scientists, a Dr. Thomas Light and a Dr. Albert Wily, created a new type of humanoid robot that could be specialized for various jobs. In addition to the "Robot Masters" which were designed for industrial work, Dr. Light also produced two robots, named Rock and Roll, to assist him in his laboratory.
But one day, things went terribly wrong as Dr. Wily stole six of the Robot Masters and reprogrammed them in an attempt to take over the world. Dr. Light couldn't stand by while this was happening, so he took Rock, who had proven to have a strong sense of justice, and turned him into a powerful fighting robot, now known as Mega Man!
Now it's up to the player to guide Mega Man through the six different lairs of the evil Robot Masters, destroy the corrupted robots, and stop Dr. Wily's rampage!
To make things more interesting, Mega Man has the ability to copy the abilities of any Robot Master he defeats. This not only does this give you new ways to deal with obstacles in the levels themselves, but it also gives you an important advantage: every Robot Master is especially vulnerable to at least one of these equippable weapons. This has led to players preferring to play the levels in a specific order so that they start with an easier Robot Master and then continue on according to their weaknesses.
Once all six of the Robot Masters have been defeated at least once, the player gains access to Dr. Wily's lair, which is a series of harder stages that will have you battle much more difficult bosses and re-battle the original six Robot Masters in grueling back to back battles. Eventually, Mega Man will confront Dr. Wily himself and bring him to justice.
The rest of the franchise has kept to this formula (though with eight Robot Masters per game rather than six) and it's been fun every time, so I'd say it works.
Unfortunately, there is a small problem with this game that needs addressing: it's not as well balanced as the rest of the franchise. Mega Man takes an incredible amount of damage from the Robot Master's attacks and there's no way to heal during a fight, so it feels like you aren't given a choice in how to deal with the enemies in this game. You either use the weapon they are vulnerable to, or you lose. That defeats the purpose of choosing which level to play next.
As much as I love this franchise, I'm a bit hard pressed to recommend the first game because of this. The other games, while occasionally difficult, were more fair.
Points of Interest
The Most Famous Characters in the Franchise
They say that first impressions mean everything, and in this franchise, that's definitely true. Any time there's an adaptation of the games, the cast is invariably drawn from this entry. The (in)famous Ruby-Spears cartoon, for example, made Gutsman and Cutman Dr. Wily's primary henchmen.
A Clunky Beginning
Compared to the later games in the series, this first game feels incredibly rough. Several of its quirks feel like bugs or incomplete features, and its focus on scoring looks plain silly in hindsight.
In fact, this is the only NES Mega Man game to have a pause button. Since the weapon selection menu pauses the action anyway, having a dedicated pause button is redundant. Of course, it gets worse when you consider the game-breaking bug that came with the pause button: while the action stop, time continues to pass, so if you pause long enough a boss' invincibility frames will run out, allowing you to score a more hits if the projectile is still in their hitbox after unpausing.
In fact, this is the only NES Mega Man game to have a pause button. Since the weapon selection menu pauses the action anyway, having a dedicated pause button is redundant. Of course, it gets worse when you consider the game-breaking bug that came with the pause button: while the action stop, time continues to pass, so if you pause long enough a boss' invincibility frames will run out, allowing you to score a more hits if the projectile is still in their hitbox after unpausing.
High Difficulty Curve
As mentioned above, the bosses in this game do a frightening amount of damage whenever they connect with their weapons or body, and since there's no way to heal during a boss fight, your only real hope is to hit them harder and faster. Starting with Mega Man 2, things would be much more balanced.
Concerns and Issues
Robots Fighting Each Other
The only human the players will encounter in this game is Dr. Wily, and the fighting stops the second his vehicle is destroyed. Therefore, since everything else is a robot of some sort, there's no real reason to care about the carnage, if you could even call it that.
You see, whenever a robot is destroyed, it just blows up and disappears without much fanfare. There's nothing family-unfriendly to see anyway.
You see, whenever a robot is destroyed, it just blows up and disappears without much fanfare. There's nothing family-unfriendly to see anyway.