Mega Man 6 1993

Log Status

Completed

Playing

Backlog

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Rating

Time Played

--

Days in Journal

1 day

Last played

May 7, 2023

Platforms Played

NES

DISPLAY


Played as part of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the nintendendo blah blah blah

On the last episode of Mega Man, Mega finally defeated the evil Dr. Wily. However, Wily's wicked offspring, Dr. X, has entered the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai...

Wait, no, that's not right. Fuck, I'm sorry. I've been on a NOS energy drink bender and I think it's doing something to my brain chemistry. Uhh, anyway this is the sixth Mega Man game released for the NES, which originally launched in 1993 for the Japanese market. Wow! Why? Capcom decided to forgo publishing Mega Man 6 outside of Japan, which actually caused it to release a bit later in the United States as Nintendo didn't release it stateside until early 1994. Not only is that fairly deep into the SNES' lifespan, it came out alongside (and I believe a few months after) Mega Man X, which is kind of surreal.

Much like the preceding game, Mega Man 6 has little to offer in terms of innovation. The biggest change is that Rush can now transform into pieces of armor that Mega Man can wear, allowing him the ability to fly for extremely short periods of time or break apart barriers with his bare fists. In terms of purpose, this isn't all that different from how Rush has traditionally operated, allowing you to gain access to new and hidden areas, but in terms of function it feels very distinct. The way Mega Man 6 incorporates these powers into its level design is good and it encourages exploration, although I think Inafune's seemingly hitting his limits with Rush's design is also funny. To quote him: "If you think about it, they shouldn't be able to combine like this. It would be awkward if parts of Rush like his neck were left over after they combined, so what was I supposed to do?"

Tons of respect for Inafune's process, which I assume involves a lot of shrugging and looking around the room for affirmation.

Mega Man 6 might be the byproduct of a team that's still stretched thin, but by designing 6 to be a send-off to the original series on the NES, there's character and passion here that was missing from the last game. Levels are very thought out with multiple routes and boss gates, and weapon powers once again feel good to use. It's been a bit since I was low on ALL my weapon energy before the last boss, but in the case of Mega Man 6, you have so many clear (sometimes necessary) counters to even basic enemies that you'll find yourself swapping powers frequently. Boss designs are overall good and are once again the result of a design contest where fans were able to make their own submissions, and man, imagine a time where you could mail in your own Robot Master and have it be entered into the Mega Man canon. I feel like now days popular Twitter artists would be able to leverage their large follower counts and cut the little guys out, but back in the 90s you could be some nobody kid and get your goofy looking robot centaur in a real Mega Man game.

That's it for the NES Mega Mans, which means I have to play Mega Man 7 for the SNES next (gross gross gross.) But, hey, alls well that ends well. Dr. X is finally defeated and the world now knows true peace... Wait hold on... This mask comes right off!

Oh GOD DAMNIT, it's Dr. Wily AGAIN!? what The FUCK

i am going to buy a gun