zippdementia's Mega Man 3 review

Oh, and yeah, if you like those guys I would definitely check out the perfect runs by Rohaim... something or other. Here's one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqURZelsYSU

I should also point out that I'm not trying to get into a big argument over whether Mega Man is or isn't cheap. Roto said there's no part in any Mega Man where you need to know what's coming next or else you will die and then specifically asked me to post a video showing him one example. There are, in fact, plenty of examples of this, and that spike trap is just the first one that came to my mind. Heck, Mega Man 8 has an entire segment of board racing that's based around memorizing the pattern of what's coming next.

But I don't want this to turn into a tit-for-tat posting of a dozen videos. So I'll stop here and sorry if it seemed like I was pushing the issue. That wasn't my intention. I was responding to Roto's request. I mean, it's Mega Man, for god's sake. Fun to see the game still elicits strong reactions years after the fact!

Alright, so let's say that my particular experience is uncommon and yours is the norm. Perhaps that's the case. If we proceed with that as our premise, the hypothetical Mega Man 5 player is set back by no more than a few seconds if he falls unceremoniously onto a bed of spikes. Surviving the shaft shouldn't take more than 3 or 4 tries--even if the player isn't particularly adept--and that sequence also lends the stage a welcome sense of intensity and danger befitting a boss castle.

Removing the spikes along the sides of the shaft would actually make the game worse by depriving the game of that atmosphere, rather than improving it. I believe you when you say that the shaft feels cheap to you, but to me it feels like good design. That's especially true when I consider the cheap techniques I've seen in numerous older games and--less understandably and more distressingly--newer and more "polished" games, as well.

In Mega Man 5, you fall down a shaft and if you step off a ledge in the wrong direction, you lose a few seconds. Not only that, but moments like the shaft are uncommon within the game as a whole.

In a lot of newer games, even those with frequent checkpoint placement that has become the norm, you'll spend 2 or 3 minutes (maybe much more) advancing toward the next checkpoint and then die because an enemy shot you from some brush or a distant tower and you had no way to know that he was there. Or you'll be fighting a boss and you'll just barely drain his life meter and he'll produce a second or third life meter and a nigh-unblockable desperation move or a surprise quick time event. So you get to spend 5 minutes fighting him again before you get to decide what else you might do to survive the move. And maybe a half-hour later, you're still at it.

Quite a few years ago, I had played enough games that losing a few seconds in a castle in Mega Man 5--to a hazard that otherwise produced a positive net effect--stopped feeling cheap enough to me to even warrant a mention, especially when nearly every action game you might care to mention is guilty of much worse infractions. That's why singling the franchise out as persistently cheap (as opposed to 'difficult' or 'frustrating' or 'demanding' or whatever else) feels so bizarre to me, and I'd wager others will tell you the same thing.

I can't agree with Rhody when he says that there are never any cheap moments in any Mega Man game. However, I also don't agree that any cheapness found in such moments in the Mega Man games has enough impact on the experience to matter.

I liked those videos. The Dive Man one was fun to watch because I've attempted perfect runs on that stage and I always run into trouble in the same spots he did. I believe I got through to Dive Man once without taking a hit, but as far as I can recall I never managed a perfect run on the whole stage (including boss). Now I doubt that I ever will. I don't have time to play the games as seriously anymore. There's too much stuff I haven't played even once for me to spend my time perfecting runs on a game I've already beaten so many times...

I can only think of a handful of cheap moments in Mega Man games*. It is very seldom that something happens in a Mega Man game that you weren't already introduced to in a safe environment. There are decidedly unfair parts, yes, but I think those parts are unfair by accident, not by design. While Mega Man titles are meticulously crafted, not everything is going to be perfect.

* When I say "Mega Man" I mean Mega Man 1-6, X1-3, and GB 1-5.

You can very easily take the right path and just hold left and miss the spikes. Try it yourself when you get that far for your next review.

I already beat Mega Man 5, Roto, and I did try it. I'm not going to argue that you're wrong, though; I'm not interested in bringing up the whole argument again. We know we disagree on this matter and we also know that we've been arguing over Mega Man. I haven't done that since fifth grade. I thank you for the opportunity at the same time as I feel incredibly embarrassed by the fact.

One thing we do seem to agree on is that the series is classic, awesome, and totally worth all these playthroughs I've been doing.

Jason, why am I not surprised you attempted the perfect run? Actually, I'm more surprised you didn't make it! Not because it's easy (oh god, it's not) but because I can totally see you putting your mind to that task and just doing it.

This run through, I managed a perfect run in Ice Man's stage (purely unintentional). In the past I've done it on both Toad Man and Pharoah Man's stages, but I didn't go for it this time.

You know which game I thought was hard back in the day? Kabuki Quantum Fighter. I should try it again sometime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3RMKE8JeqU

I'll be disappointed if you can beat Kabuki but not Mega Man!