Mega Man

_______________________________[Release Date: 12/17/1987--System: NES--Review Score: 75%]_______________________________

The Mega Man Story

Brilliant scientist Dr. Wright (Light) and his assistant, Dr. Wily, build a near-human robot, capable of doing just about anything. They name this robot "Rock". Six other robots are developed by the two scientists. With the exception of Rock, however, Dr. Wily steals Dr. Lights six robots and re-programs them to take over the world. Dr. Light decides to remodel Rock, giving him armor, an Arm Cannon and the ability to take other weapons. After remodling, Dr. Light decides to call Rock "Mega Man". It is now up to Mega Man to defeat all six Robot Masters and Dr. Wily.

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Features

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This is the Mega Man game that started it all. Capcom's first shot at the Mega Man series had superb graphics and controls, and the game became a success. The first Mega Man has a few unique features not found in the other games:

This is the only Mega Man game with a score.

This game allows you to pause without menus. Press Select.

Instead of 8 robot masters, this one has 6.

This one doesn't tell you the names of the weapons you aquire, unlike MMI, MM: The Wily Wars, MM: The Power Battle and MM: The Power Fighters.

When Mega Man is in water, he doesn't jump any higher than when he not in water.

When in water, Mega Man moves slower than future Mega Man games.

This game has no Passwords.

You can pick up Energy that is lying on the ground (Not from enemies) unlimited times. Just grab the energy, scroll the area where it was off, then go back, and then it'll be back.

In this game, robot masters will always come back when you revisit a stage. In other games, robot master rooms are empty when they're destroyed.

Mega Man is invincible when he runs into an enemy or is hit by an enemies shots. However, this invincibility will not work on spikes.

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Review

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Play Control: ***

For 1987, near perfect. Now, not the best you're going to get. Superb for the time, though.

Graphics: ***

Not all that impressive and all that good if you look at them now, but at the time, the graphics were some of the best seen in a game.

Animation: ****

Very smooth animation for a game in 1987 and for the NES. Unlike several NES games at the time, Mega Man had many animations which were smooth, and he even blinked, which was not seen in most games at the time. Other characters and enemies also had lots of animations which were smooth. Probably one of the more impressive things about this Mega Man game was the use of color. Mega Man manages to have 5 colors, on a system that is limited to 3 colors per sprite (Character/enemy).

Music: ****

The quality of the music isn't all that great now, but many of the tunes in this game are very memorible. Pretty good for it's time.

Sound Effects: ****

Not bad. I don't have a favorite, as all the sound effects are decent.

Plot: ***

The game had to set everything up, and it did very well. But, the game has no story in the beginning. The story is only in the manual. If you don't have the manual, the only story you get is the ending.

Difficulty: ***** (Hard!)

The game is hard. You have the ability to jump to avoid enemy shots, and an Arm Cannon to blast them. You will have a tough time, since there is no Passwords, Energy Tanks, no invincibility to spikes, and slighty unresponsive Controls.

Replay Value: ***

Again, there are no Passwords or Energy Tanks. Which means you have to start the game from the beginning every time you play it. Still, it's a classic, and is worth playing again once in a while.

Polish: ***

Mega Man allowed you to many new things. It introduced the Robot Master weapons and a stage select, that had never before been seen.

Overall: 75% (7.5/10)

A decent game that had superb controls, graphics and sound at the time. Without Passwords, however, the game just feels less fun.

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Suggested Order of completion

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You have the freedom to choose any stage you like. However, here is a suggested order for defeating the robot masters:

Bombman (Weapon : [B] Bombs-Weapon to use: Use Arm Cannon or Fire Storm)

Gutsman (Weapon: [G] Super Arm--Weapon to use: Bombs)

Cutman (Weapon: [C] Rolling Cutter--Weapon to use: Super Arm)

Elecman (Weapon: [E] Thunder Beam--Weapon to use: Rolling Cutter)

Iceman (Weapon: [I] Ice Slasher--Weapon to use: Thunder Beam)

Fireman (Weapon: [F] Fire Storm--Weapon to use: Ice Slasher)

Once the Robot Masters have been destroyed, you are able to enter Dr. Wily's fortress.

Note: To find out if a robot master has been defeated, the picture of the robot master should have a black background. If the background is yellow, this robot master has not been defeated.

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Teleport Hatches

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Two of the stages in Dr. Wily's fortress have clones of the six robot masters (2nd stage and 4th stage). You will find and destroy each Robot Master in the same order everytime:

Dr. Wily stage 2:

Cutman

Elecman

Dr Wily. stage 4:

Bombman

Fireman

Iceman

Gutsman

Note: There are hatches, but you cannot choose you're order. This feature was introduced in Mega Man 2.

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Bosses

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Yellow Devil: He is found in the first level of Dr. Wily's fortress. Use the Thunder Beam on him. He's pretty challenging, but for an easy fight, fire the Thunder Beam and just as it hits, Press Select repeatedly until the Yellow Devil is destroyed. His weak point is his eye.

Clone of Mega Man: During this battle, Mega Man is cloned. The clone will fire all attacks you use, meaning all robot master weapons are available to him. When you select a weapon, he'll use that weapon as well. The Select trick works well here.

Bubble Machines: These are huge bubbles. Each one has different speeds. Use the Arm Cannon on the first one. For the last four, use the Super Arm to pick up the four blocks in the middle, and throw them at the Bubbles. If you kill yourself, each block you use won't be in the room with the bubbles until you continue.

Dr. Wily 1st time: After defeating Gutsman in the fourth stage of Dr. Wily's fortress, you will fight Wily. Shoot at the shield with the Fire Storm.

Dr. Wily 2nd time: Once the shield has been destroyed, use the Thunder Beam and the Select trick to defeat Wily easily.

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Passwords

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No Passwords in this game, sorry. You can't save either. However, if you have the Anniversary Collection, you can save and won't have to start at the beginning every time. :)

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Items

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Magnet Beam: At about the halfway point of Elecman's stage, you will notice a blue object. That's the Magnet Beam, and there are three blocks in front of it to prevent you from getting it. Use the Super Arm to pick up the blocks and throw them. You can also use the Thunder Beam, but you will need to revisit this stage.

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Tips, tricks and secrets

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The Magnet Beam's energy will descrease only after pressing the B button. By pressing and holding the B button, the platform that the Magnet Beam creates gets longer. You can also jump while activating the Magnet Beam. Release the B button when you have the platform at the height you want. You can create multiple platforms, but they'll dissapear after a preset time limit.

By pressing select, you can pause the game without having to open a menu. Fire any weapon and just as the shot hits an enemy, press select rapidly. With each press of the select button, the enemy will take damage. Although you can any weapon you want to do this trick, this trick works best with the Thunder Beam. This trick works well when battling: Iceman, the Yellow Devil, the clone of Mega Man and Dr. Wily.

Last updated April 29, 2005

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