Review: Mega Man

Mega Man is as well known a character as Mario or Master Chief. The first game in the series was about as hard to find as it was to beat back in the heyday of the NES. So does ol' Mega Man stand the test of nearly a quarter of a century? Let's find out.

Gameplay
The basic idea of Mega Man is that there's a good scientist and a bad one. The good one creates a bunch of robots to help society and the bad one taints them and makes them do naughty things. The only one that isn't sullied is Mega Man. His goal is to stop all the evil robots from taking over the world, and finally to stop the bad scientist from being a jerk in the future. 

Guess which one is the bad guy?

Mega Man was a unique game when it was first released. It was one of the only games at the time that allowed you to complete levels non-sequentially, meaning you could pick your path through the game. The levels are all based around the robotic bosses at the end of each level. For instance, Fire Man's stage is filled with molten lava and rogue flames. Elec Man's level is buzzing with electricity and energy.

Level Select Screen

After besting each baddie, you gain the ability to use their special weapon. Bombman allows you to throw bombs, Cutman, scissors and so on. Each ability also helps you through the rest of the game and certain bosses are weak against others' abilities, so there is indeed a recommended order in which to tackle the levels that makes the trek easier.

The actual gameplay itself is tough as nails and the very meaning of unforgiving. Disappearing platforms, indestructible enemies, overpowered bosses - as tough as the game is, the designers showed real creativity for a game released two and a half decades ago. No one had ever seen anything like it, and that's what made it so dang successful and what spawned an empire of the gaming world.

Presentation
There is possibly no other 8-bit character that is riffed on more than Mega Man. Countless message board avatars, internet memes, T-Shirts, and other various paraphernalia all play on the original, blocky Mega Man design. 

Behold the Iconic Blue Bomber

The design of the characters, enemies, stages and bosses is top notch. It's how an 8-bit game would be designed today - just dripping with style and personality. Even people who have barely scraped the surface of the Mega Man universe can recognize a Mega Man boss on first glance - a true testament to fantastic 8-bit art design.

The music...well...

This is gonna generate a lot of hate, but the music really bugged me. Mega Man's music is regarded as some of the finest in the 8-bit era, but it's so high pitched and tinny that it was just unenjoyable. It was almost the feeling I got when playing an old Tiger Electronics handheld. Don't get me wrong, the melodies were very well written and masterfully constructed, but simply too high pitched to listen to. It's the type of game music that anyone else in the room would be immediately annoyed by.

Stuff I Loved: 

• Challenging and rewarding gameplay
• Wonderfully thought out character design
• Unique-for-its-time design

Stuff I Hated: 

• The freaking cyclops boss. I was forced to cheat.
• The music...sorry 

Overall, this is a beacon of fantastic 80's game design. Still fully enjoyable today by anyone who's got a taste for pain.