Ch1NaTown
1989
(Dropped at Wily 3)
The real first mega man, a definite improvement over the 1987 one and, with the exception of the final stretch of the game, a very solid one. It still suffers from a LOT of outdated design decisions, and iffy enemy placements at points, but boss design for the most part is a blast, and stages tend to be on the fun side more often than not.
Replaying this game I have found a new amount of respect for its design and honestly, I might come back to it sometime in the future.
Still wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but honestly, THIS is a solid start to a series.
...the Wily Fortress stages can go SUCK MY ASS tho.
The real first mega man, a definite improvement over the 1987 one and, with the exception of the final stretch of the game, a very solid one. It still suffers from a LOT of outdated design decisions, and iffy enemy placements at points, but boss design for the most part is a blast, and stages tend to be on the fun side more often than not.
Replaying this game I have found a new amount of respect for its design and honestly, I might come back to it sometime in the future.
Still wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but honestly, THIS is a solid start to a series.
...the Wily Fortress stages can go SUCK MY ASS tho.
Seriously one of my top 5 Zeldas and Gameboy games in general.
This is a great Zelda game with great gameplay, amazing dungeons and only hindered by some very annoying quality of life issues.
This is a great Zelda game with great gameplay, amazing dungeons and only hindered by some very annoying quality of life issues.
1991
Even though this is by far my favorite of the classic series, it's very clear that this game still have that air of mediocrity that permeates MM5 and MM6 at parts.
Half of this game is fantastic, the best the NES has to offer in action platformers, the other half is stuff like ToadMan, you can barely qualify it as a boss.
I'll still defend MM4 for all its flaws though, because albeit not consistent in its quality, its lows are less low than 5 and 6's lows, and a lot of the level design set pieces of the game show genuine effort put into them.
MM4 more than any other classic Mega Man exemplifies the heights that the development team could reach if not for the strict deadlines imposed by Capcom at the time.
Half of this game is fantastic, the best the NES has to offer in action platformers, the other half is stuff like ToadMan, you can barely qualify it as a boss.
I'll still defend MM4 for all its flaws though, because albeit not consistent in its quality, its lows are less low than 5 and 6's lows, and a lot of the level design set pieces of the game show genuine effort put into them.
MM4 more than any other classic Mega Man exemplifies the heights that the development team could reach if not for the strict deadlines imposed by Capcom at the time.
Amazing controls and stunning presentation.
Despite what others may say, this game has a very forgiving checkpoint system up until the last stage, and most if not all stages of the game are greatly designed (with the exception of the game's 3rd stage).
The only issue I found with it was that the game's bosses are absolutely frustrating in design, and are both too fast and aggressive for how heavy Batman controls and too spongey for how repetitive the battles get.
Despite what others may say, this game has a very forgiving checkpoint system up until the last stage, and most if not all stages of the game are greatly designed (with the exception of the game's 3rd stage).
The only issue I found with it was that the game's bosses are absolutely frustrating in design, and are both too fast and aggressive for how heavy Batman controls and too spongey for how repetitive the battles get.
1987
(Dropped at Wily 2)
I'm not entirely sure anybody on the dev team playtested this tbh. And if they did, they probably weren't that much into video games to begin with. This feels like a emulation of what the devs thought "kids these days" would like, rather than what they themselves thought would be fun.
This game feels hollow, and whatever "fun" you can have with it feels more accidental from the developer's part than anything else.
I'm not entirely sure anybody on the dev team playtested this tbh. And if they did, they probably weren't that much into video games to begin with. This feels like a emulation of what the devs thought "kids these days" would like, rather than what they themselves thought would be fun.
This game feels hollow, and whatever "fun" you can have with it feels more accidental from the developer's part than anything else.
1991
Ignoring the blatant disregard the composer had for the project when configuring the music (comfirmed btw, dude apologized publicly about it).
This game isn't much worse than base Mega Man 2, i know it isn't even close to being the same game, but weirdly enough, much of the same issues still apply.
It's a very fun game with some nonsensical enemy placement at times, and bonus point to MMII over MM2 for not having absolute garbage for final stages.
Would definitely recommend as a time waster if you don't mind playing on mute.
This game isn't much worse than base Mega Man 2, i know it isn't even close to being the same game, but weirdly enough, much of the same issues still apply.
It's a very fun game with some nonsensical enemy placement at times, and bonus point to MMII over MM2 for not having absolute garbage for final stages.
Would definitely recommend as a time waster if you don't mind playing on mute.
The quality of this game varies wildly between playable characters.
With Maria, Rondo of Blood is an absolute blast, a 9/10, but that is mostly because she, differently from Richter, is equipped to properly react to the speed of the game's challenges.
Richter is just as stiff as the Belmonts that came before him, and while that control-style worked just fine for the games that came before, Rondo is often designed with reaction time in mind. Certain enemy-types are no longer predictable as they were in the NES games, and overall the speed of the game often feels like too much for that old control style, leaving quite a sour taste in the player's mouth the more challenging the game gets.
The early and mid game with Richter are mostly fine and quite fun, but as soon as you reach late game it certainly feels like it takes a nose dive in quality so harsh I almost dropped it there. None of that applies to Maria, this is just a great action platformer with her.
I love this game and I'll absolutely replay it... with Maria, someday. But since Richter is the starting character, and if you go into this game blind you might never unlock Maria and just play the game as him, I'll be judging the game as that.
With Maria, Rondo of Blood is an absolute blast, a 9/10, but that is mostly because she, differently from Richter, is equipped to properly react to the speed of the game's challenges.
Richter is just as stiff as the Belmonts that came before him, and while that control-style worked just fine for the games that came before, Rondo is often designed with reaction time in mind. Certain enemy-types are no longer predictable as they were in the NES games, and overall the speed of the game often feels like too much for that old control style, leaving quite a sour taste in the player's mouth the more challenging the game gets.
The early and mid game with Richter are mostly fine and quite fun, but as soon as you reach late game it certainly feels like it takes a nose dive in quality so harsh I almost dropped it there. None of that applies to Maria, this is just a great action platformer with her.
I love this game and I'll absolutely replay it... with Maria, someday. But since Richter is the starting character, and if you go into this game blind you might never unlock Maria and just play the game as him, I'll be judging the game as that.
A great game marred by the trademark issues of its series.
I absolutely love how BiS implements its map design, it has fewers areas than previous games yes, but they're so expansive and so full of optional areas to expore. At times (specially during the mid game portion of the game), BiS feels more like a metroidvania or a classic zelda game than just your straight forward RPG.
Sadly, BiS is hurt by the same issues other games in the M&L series also suffer from, constant nagging partner characters who feel the need to tutorial you on every single new thing that shows up for minutes on end. It gets real annoying real fast.
Its overall a great game with great level design, great battle design, beautiful artstyle, funny and charming writting, only hurt by the need to mash through dialogue every so often when the game feels the need to treat you like this is the first game you've ever played.
I absolutely love how BiS implements its map design, it has fewers areas than previous games yes, but they're so expansive and so full of optional areas to expore. At times (specially during the mid game portion of the game), BiS feels more like a metroidvania or a classic zelda game than just your straight forward RPG.
Sadly, BiS is hurt by the same issues other games in the M&L series also suffer from, constant nagging partner characters who feel the need to tutorial you on every single new thing that shows up for minutes on end. It gets real annoying real fast.
Its overall a great game with great level design, great battle design, beautiful artstyle, funny and charming writting, only hurt by the need to mash through dialogue every so often when the game feels the need to treat you like this is the first game you've ever played.
1990
SMW is a weird case to me, maybe its because we have already come such a long way from vanilla in terms of Mario level design that the original Super Mario World just feels empty in comparison.
This is not a bad game by any means, obviously the controls are the highlight of the game and allow for a LOT of skill expression, and I always will love the more exploratory direction for Super Mario design than the more linear stage to stage progression from SMB3. The level design is also decent all throughout if only in the forgettable side for like, 1/3rd of the game's stages.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it solely on the grounds that the SMW hacking community has just outdone it in every single way already, if you want to experience what vanilla has to offer, you can literally just play anything else at this point.
This is not a bad game by any means, obviously the controls are the highlight of the game and allow for a LOT of skill expression, and I always will love the more exploratory direction for Super Mario design than the more linear stage to stage progression from SMB3. The level design is also decent all throughout if only in the forgettable side for like, 1/3rd of the game's stages.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it solely on the grounds that the SMW hacking community has just outdone it in every single way already, if you want to experience what vanilla has to offer, you can literally just play anything else at this point.
1992
How did they manage to make a second Mega Man 3 who's also laggy as all hell. This game is borderline unplayable at times due to the constant slowdown.
People who were complaining about Moonlit Farewell not being a worthy successor to, and I quote, "one of the best metroidvanias out there", I ask sincerely: What the shit?
A pretty mediocre Castlevania game made even worse by how slow it runs. Basically unplayable.
2021
Amazingly fun fast paced combat, with very open-ended progression and a greatly designed explorable world.
A few combat scenarios can be awkward however, and the storytelling leaves a lot to be desired.
A few combat scenarios can be awkward however, and the storytelling leaves a lot to be desired.
A gorgeous metroidvania and an overall pleasant journey.
It didn't fully grab me, but I struggle to find a reason why, since I can't really fault the game for any of its design decisions. Everything is perfectly safe and sound, the level design is open ended and involved, and the mechanics that are there all join together to make a very satisfying combat system.
If I had to guess, it just doesn't do enough outside of just being a decently designed metroidvania to actually fully grab my interest.
It didn't fully grab me, but I struggle to find a reason why, since I can't really fault the game for any of its design decisions. Everything is perfectly safe and sound, the level design is open ended and involved, and the mechanics that are there all join together to make a very satisfying combat system.
If I had to guess, it just doesn't do enough outside of just being a decently designed metroidvania to actually fully grab my interest.
(100% Achieved on the main game, DLC stages still not completed)
A fantastic game and one of the best 3D platformers I've ever played. Level design is fantastic, your movement options amazing and the physics extremely exploitable.
I love this game, but it REALLY seems to lose its edge towards the end with the last few stages being somewhat awkwardly designed and/or conceptualized.
The storytelling is still fanfic level of badness, so I suggest skipping it all.
A fantastic game and one of the best 3D platformers I've ever played. Level design is fantastic, your movement options amazing and the physics extremely exploitable.
I love this game, but it REALLY seems to lose its edge towards the end with the last few stages being somewhat awkwardly designed and/or conceptualized.
The storytelling is still fanfic level of badness, so I suggest skipping it all.