zippdementia's Mega Man 6 review

I still think this one is my least favorite of the original franchise, and Plant Man is still my least favorite robot master. Yeah, I even liked MM10's Sheep Man better.

Tomahawk Man and Flame Man are both pretty badass, though.

This was the first Mega Man game I actually beat (renting it as our parents couldn't afford more than the 3 or 4 games we owned at the time). I've always thought it was pretty fun and would have been a fitting end to a legendary series. I mean, Dr Wily was in Jail---this would have been a nice placed to end the series and MM6 probably would have been remembered more fondly.

MMX changed the series and was it's natural evolution. As far as I'm concerned, the series ended with Wily ruling over a prison cell. MMX is so different, I think they should have called it something else.

In my opinion, a series should only be allowed 3 games until it must end itself. I hate seeing sequel after sequel and the establishment of IPs. 3 games is long enough to experiment and get a formula right. After that, they need to go back to the drawing board and come up with something new. Spiritual successors are one thing, but holy crap, I would rather play something new.

Well, Joe, I did say he was a bad ambassador. As a boss, I find him actually quite fun to fight.

I totally understand what you're saying, Dagoss, though I'd have to give it more thought before I decide whether I agree or not. It's funny: sometimes people complain that a game has changed upon a new release. Other times, they criticize something for being more of the same. Mega Man has been on both sides of this argument, with people loving the return to sameness with the new Mega Mans.

I don't think it's a balance issue. I think what happens is that we find something we enjoy and we want to experience that same enjoyment again, with a new set of characters. This certainly holds true for many films, comic books, and video games. After all, I would have loved it to have had a couple more Secret of Manas (not the off-shoot Manas that came afterwards). And I was disappointed when the new Final Fantasy Tactics went a totally different route with feel and style. And fans have pretty much said they'll riot if they ever make major changes to the Street Fighter Series. And after Zelda II, Nintendo never really experimented with the series again until moving to 3D forced them to. And then both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess received criticism: the former for being too far a change from Ocarina and the latter for being too much like Ocarina. Hilarious.

I don't know where I fall. I was tired of the formula in Mega Man 5 but then I loved it in Mega Man 6. I think that this is because the Mega Man series does change for each game, even if it doesn't seem like it. That's why reviewing each game in depth was important to me, because we're not looking at a series featuring the same eight bosses and stages over and over again. We're really looking at a collection of over 50 very different stages and bosses, some good, some bad, and all which I think deserve to be reviewed on their own merits.

The big question now:
Are you going to review 7-10?

What about the side games like Mega Man Soccer and Mega Man and Bass?

Mega Man soccer for the win! I don't own a copy of it, unfortunately (and I've yet to find very good emulators for the Mac... to be fair I haven't looked very hard). What I remember is that it was addictive and piss-hard.

My original plan was to review 1-6 and then maybe do 7 and 8 (since they conclude the Mega Man Collection) and possibly move on to 9 and 10. I was even tempted to pick up the Mega Man X Collection again (I sold my last copy) and do a run through and review of those... I think it goes up to X5.

Now, I'm not so sure. I'm almost more enamored with the idea of just doing 9 and 10, since they are in the "classic" style. Mega Man 7 is a game I've played a lot (and I did just play it again) and I enjoy it a lot, too. But it really feels like a completely different game and I'm not sure what angle I would take. A lot of the things I tended to talk about, like immersion in the Robot themes, almost seem redundant with the high powered graphics of the SNES. And the design sensibility is totally different. Everything is bigger, Mega Man controls with a very different feel, and there seems to be a lot of emphasis on difficult close-call jumps and enemy gauntlets. And Mega Man 8 is totally different from even Mega Man 7, from what I remember about it.

Regardless, I think the real reason I've suddenly turned against the idea of doing more reviews is that, during playing 6, I realized how much of an end it really was (see the review and also Dagoss' spot-on comments). When 7 came out, Mega Man X2 wasn't far behind, and then neither was battle network, and legends, and all the other stuff that now defines that very expanded universe (and heck, I didn't even touch on all the gameboy games that were coming out each year). Mega Man really did transition after six into something a little, if not a lot, different. It feels like a natural stopping point.

Still, I haven't decided yet.

Have you[seen this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM)? One of the best takes I've seen on how the series really changed when it jumped from MM6 to MMX.

I think MMX1-3 are very different from the rest of the X series. They can be played very fast once you get used to the controls (and remap dash to a shoulder button the way god intended). If you play the game long enough, you find yourself dashing and bouncing off walls like a gymnast on speed. MMX4 on has big, bulky sprites and plays a lot more slowly. If they weren't called "Mega Man X[x]" I'd probably judge them differently---instead, I find myself wondering why I can't dash around any more and _why the stupid blonde chick doesn't shut the duck up_.

I think you're right about MM7 & 8 feeling very different. They have the same characteristics as some of the later X games---big, bulky sprites and _why is the intro to MM7 so bloody long_?

I actually liked Mega Man Legends and thought it was a blast to play. The huge bosses and large areas to explore remind me of Ocarina of Time, but was different enough to not come off as a rip-off. It really didn't have to have Mega Man in it---it was a good enough game that I think it would have done just fine without the lazy branding.

Similarly, I've gotten interested in playing some of the battle network games, but I don't even know where to begin. And they seem to REALLY suffer from similarities, according to reviews.

I've heard they get incredibly frustrating after the third one. That and they suffer from "version syndrome," which really kills them for me. I liked the first two Battle Networks, though. If anything, I recommend playing those two and just forgetting about the rest.

Thanks for the quick review, Joe; I just might pick them up.

The thing I read about the Battle Network games is that they're almost meant to be played in quick succession because you're supposed to essentially take your skill from each game and apply it to the next. Where if you can't consistently ace battles in the first game, you'll struggle with the second and if you can't ace the second, you'll struggle with the third and so on.

Which explains why I angrily quit the second about a third of the way into it. I'd gone over a year since I played the first one, so my skills had gone back to novice level with the battle system, so I got mauled by Snake Man or some boss like that in the second.

So each one gets harder then? Is that the idea?

Just beat Mega Man 7 (for the umpteenth time, though I'd forgotten how piss hard that final boss is) and started Mega Man 8 (which I hadn't forgotten how weird it is). Still undecided on whether I'll tackle them on paper.