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Added an addendum by friendly request.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Interesting assessment.

Mega Man 1 was my first experience of the franchise, and turned me off it for over 15 years. Mega Man 2 and 3 were already out but I decided to start this legendary, highly praised series at the beginning. I played for a couple of hours, thought "this is the hardest game in the world, I can't even beat one boss" and gave up Mega Man as an overrated waste of time until about six months ago.

'There would be tears and there would be strange laughter. Fierce births and deaths beneath umbrageous ceilings. And dreams, and violence, and disenchantment.'

I managed to beat Mega Man back in the day, but I was fortunate in that I started with Mega Man 2, which is better in every way and remains one of my favorite games of all time. It was followed up by a number of other great games, and of course the Mega Man X series, so Mega Man will always hold a place in my heart.

I only found out just recently that Mega Man 2 almost didn't happen. Capcom wasn't overwhelmed with the first game or its reception, but Inafune and crew worked on Mega Man 2 in secret, in their spare time, and presented it to Capcom for approval when it was done. The game was a labor of love and it really shows.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

Ah, I doubt you'll like my upcoming review of Mega Man 2, then, Jason! It's probably my least favorite in the series and one which I think pales in comparison to later titles, especially Mega Man 3. I have always had trouble with the way the stages were designed in number 2: cheap deaths and an expectation that you have to beat the Wily Castle in one perfect run while collecting all the energy tanks along the way*. It's also the Mega Man which introduced grinding for power ups to the series and did the most damage with it, because it hadn't figured out how to incorporate that, yet.

I do think Mega Man 2 was notable for amazing controls, wonderfully vibrant graphics, and some of the best music in the series.

All of that discussion, and more, is coming in my next review, which I plan to finish tonight. And yeah, isn't that story behind its making interesting?

* I should note that several of my friends disagree with my assessment of the Wily Castle difficulty, but they all played the game on the easy mode that was included with the American release, which significantly dumbed down the enemies and bosses and, therefore, countered a lot of what was wrong with the design.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

It does indeed sound like I won't like your review, mostly because I feel that the bulk of your criticisms apply more readily to Mega Man 3 than they do Mega Man 2!

I beat Mega Man 2 the first time--when I was a little kid--after 10 days of fairly casual play (because my parents didn't like me playing games for more than a few hours here and there). It was one of the first games I ever beat, since the difficulty curve was so natural and the game so addictive. It's definitely one of the most tightly designed games in 8-bit gaming, particularly in terms of the difficulty.

What I like best is that there aren't a lot of cheap deaths, aside from the one hidden pitfall over the spike pit in Dr. Wily's Castle. The game otherwise plays fair every inch of the way (plus even the toughest segments are unlikely to trip you up for long), and yet it provides an exhilarating ride just the same. If there's a spot in a level that feels cheap, at least the levels are so short that you quickly learn a way around any obstacles and can keep going. The levels can also be tackled in any order and you genuinely stand a chance. I've managed to beat every single one of the initial eight levels with just the arm cannon and no energy tanks, but of course the game is much easier still if you play it using special weapons, as was intended.

Dr. Wily's Castle is indeed difficult, but mostly in a few key places. And yes, I prefer the "Easy" difficulty setting to the "Difficult" one, just because it's more relaxed, but I've played the game both ways. I'm not sure what value there is in docking the game for the "Difficult" setting when "Easy" mode is available (and fantastic) in the version most people will have played (or might play in the future).

Mega Man 3 is a good game, but I don't like it nearly as much as Mega Man 2 (or even as much as I like Mega Man 4 and 5), mostly because Mega Man 3 tried to make things better by providing a bunch more content. But it has a lot of cheap areas and the challenge gets obscene in Dr. Wily's Castle, plus the Doc Robot stages are pure filler and there are a number of recycled bosses. Fortunately, Mega Man 4-6 resolved that and finished the series run on the NES in mostly good shape (though 5 and 6 have plenty of their own brand new issues, admittedly).

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

I'll save my exact thoughts about Mega Man 2 for the review (I'm adding HTML right now) but you can bet Wily Stage 4 and the good doctor himself feature heavily in my complaints. For Mega Man 3, I can't comment too much yet, because it's been about 8 years since I last played it. I recall the game being harder than 2, but the challenge feeling much more legitimate and fun. Wily's Castle I also remember being hard, but I think much kinder about the final bosses. Didn't they put a checkpoint after the Robot Masters? And the final boss had a pattern that you could figure out and use against it, unlike some of the bosses of Mega Man 2 (Quick Man comes to mind, but the biggest culprit was Wily form 2... the one prior to the alien).

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Both games had checkpoints before you took on the final forms, actually. When you defeat the eight robot masters in MM2 (which isn't difficult at all if you're using the right equipment and tackle them in a reasonable order), you have to take out Wily's spaceship and then a final stage appears where you just fall down a shaft and fight him. So it's not really all that different from MM3, and in fact the boss of MM3 tends to be the tougher encounter because the arms do so much damage if they catch you off-guard. The trick there is that you can stand below Dr. Wily and just toss shadow blades up at him for part of the conflict, which makes the fight considerably easier than it otherwise would be.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

This is one of the best reviews I've read of Mega Man 1! I thoroughly enjoyed the way you went through and deconstructed each of the bosses. It was a pleasure to read.

I've played MM1-6 so many times that I could probably draw a pixel-perfect image of each level in Microsoft Paint. It's not often that I read something that feels new about it. Good job!

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Jason: yeah, those darn arms! I do remember that. I'm not sure I beat Mega Man 3 as a kid but I remember dying a lot at those arms. Fun when you finally get underneath them, though, and start wailing on his underbelly with the shadow star.

Dagoss: That's great to hear! I'm glad I was able to take you back. You should film yourself speed drawing all of the levels from memory and become an internet phenomenon.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Note: changed the photos. The old ones were too tiny and really bugged me.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."