Mega Man

Mega Man Mega Man does whatever a Mega Man

Shockingly rudimentary in presentation compared to even later NES Mega Man games, but the bones of a great control scheme and idea are very much here.

I want the game I was promised on the box. If you mash the pause button the game beats itself.

This was the third or fourth Mega Man I played, so the boss battles were underwhelming (except Yellow Devil, eff Yellow Devil). Level design is where this one stands out. The challenges were brutal, but usually fair, and once your brain figures out how to intuit Mega Man jump puzzles without memorization, it gets really satisfying. The vertical sections weren't great, but they've been done worse in better MM games.

A very well known side scrolling game. I am giving it this score because it's not the best in the series I have played but is a great game. I never liked any of these games when I was a kid. I only started liking these games about 8 years ago when my friend just asked me to try it. Basically you match your weapon to beat bosses easier and there is a pattern to select which levels to do first to the next etc. Very good game but not the best.

Played the Legacy Collection version. The rewind function clearly makes it more forgiving/less frustrating. Short but decent fun.

A bit of a rough start to a legendary series but still a good game despite some design flaws. The controls can be rather finicky at times which leads to some lame deaths and certain aspects of the level design can be obnoxious in how enemies can pop up out of nowhere off-screen to ruin your day. Still, the key elements of Megaman are there such as the cool powerups and fun boss fights. It's a formula that would be improved substantially in future titles.

It's games like this that remind me how horrible I am at video games.

Don't get me wrong, the series would go on to be a lot better, but I was not impressed by the first title. It felt clunkier, less clear, and just not as fun to play. The concept of defeating a robot to use their powers against another became fun- but better done- later.

The later ones were better, but this was a strong start that established a solid framework and premise.