zeehond
2010
Another great classic Mega Man game. I love these clean, polished and (mostly) well-designed Mega Man games.
I just wish there were more Mega Man games like 9 and 10.
The stages were of similar quality as in the ones in 9, although I didn't really like Solar Man stage. Other stages were pretty good though. Still some bullshit as is par for the course in these games.
Also, the Robot Masters in this game might be the weirdest yet. One's a sheep, another is a fucking pump and yet another is a baseball player (okay I have to admit, that one is kinda cool). Even though some of these bosses were a bit silly, the boss fights were good. I liked their powers as well.
I somehow had more trouble with this game than with 9, even though I heard people say that 9 is the harder game. The Chill Man and Commando Man stages took me quite a few tries to get through.
Overall, I liked this one a lot. Maybe just a tad below Mega Man 9.
I just wish there were more Mega Man games like 9 and 10.
The stages were of similar quality as in the ones in 9, although I didn't really like Solar Man stage. Other stages were pretty good though. Still some bullshit as is par for the course in these games.
Also, the Robot Masters in this game might be the weirdest yet. One's a sheep, another is a fucking pump and yet another is a baseball player (okay I have to admit, that one is kinda cool). Even though some of these bosses were a bit silly, the boss fights were good. I liked their powers as well.
I somehow had more trouble with this game than with 9, even though I heard people say that 9 is the harder game. The Chill Man and Commando Man stages took me quite a few tries to get through.
Overall, I liked this one a lot. Maybe just a tad below Mega Man 9.
2008
This is how a NES Mega Man was meant to be experienced.
The game looks great, there's no lag, no flickering, there are save files and it is complete with all the dumb bullshit that a NES Mega Man should have.
The levels are short and sweet and the stages are well-designed.
I had a good time fighting most of the bosses and their powers are pretty useful and distinct from each other.
However, as I mentioned, there is some bullshit in this game. Most of them are platforming sections with pits, spikes or both. Which can get pretty frustrating, but I can forgive that since the game is so polished and fun to play.
The game looks great, there's no lag, no flickering, there are save files and it is complete with all the dumb bullshit that a NES Mega Man should have.
The levels are short and sweet and the stages are well-designed.
I had a good time fighting most of the bosses and their powers are pretty useful and distinct from each other.
However, as I mentioned, there is some bullshit in this game. Most of them are platforming sections with pits, spikes or both. Which can get pretty frustrating, but I can forgive that since the game is so polished and fun to play.
1998
Playing as Bass was great. His speed with dashes feels very good since Mega Man has been nothing but extremely slow in all of his games. Double jumps are pretty good too.
I did miss Mega Man's slide and charge shot but I get that each character should have their own special traits of course.
I didn't really like the stages that much though. Lots of annoying enemy placement kind of ruined most stages for me. I did like discovering the many secret areas however.
And I don't know why exactly but this game kinda feels like a fan-made game instead of an official game. It just feels... off.
Most bosses were alright. But there were a few extremely annoying ones like Dynamo Man and Burner Man. And of course the Plane boss.
When I encountered the Teleporter room, I was so glad that for once I didn't have to do a boss rush. The usual boss rush Teleporter room is something else entirely in this game. However, the devs just couldn't resist putting in a boss rush anyway. I did not appreciate that fakeout.
I did miss Mega Man's slide and charge shot but I get that each character should have their own special traits of course.
I didn't really like the stages that much though. Lots of annoying enemy placement kind of ruined most stages for me. I did like discovering the many secret areas however.
And I don't know why exactly but this game kinda feels like a fan-made game instead of an official game. It just feels... off.
Most bosses were alright. But there were a few extremely annoying ones like Dynamo Man and Burner Man. And of course the Plane boss.
When I encountered the Teleporter room, I was so glad that for once I didn't have to do a boss rush. The usual boss rush Teleporter room is something else entirely in this game. However, the devs just couldn't resist putting in a boss rush anyway. I did not appreciate that fakeout.
1994
Wily has a Death Star in this game.
Sadly, the Death Star stage isn't actually that great. Seemed to be a lot of copy and paste. The bosses in the Death Star were great though.
Other than that, the game itself can get a bit laggy at times which sometimes ate my inputs.
The stages were great. It might even be the best set of stages quality-wise of all the classic Mega Man games.
The space setting was superb in my opinion and the planet-themed bosses were pretty good as well. Their powers were good and sufficiently distinct from each other, although I barely used any of them, except against the bosses.
And finally a yellow devil that isn't nigh on impossible to dodge!
My favorite classic Mega Man that I have played thus far.
Sadly, the Death Star stage isn't actually that great. Seemed to be a lot of copy and paste. The bosses in the Death Star were great though.
Other than that, the game itself can get a bit laggy at times which sometimes ate my inputs.
The stages were great. It might even be the best set of stages quality-wise of all the classic Mega Man games.
The space setting was superb in my opinion and the planet-themed bosses were pretty good as well. Their powers were good and sufficiently distinct from each other, although I barely used any of them, except against the bosses.
And finally a yellow devil that isn't nigh on impossible to dodge!
My favorite classic Mega Man that I have played thus far.
1996
I did not like this game very much.
Most of the stages were frustrating. Especially Frost Man's and Astro Man's stages. The Frost Man stage was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in any videogame and Astro Man's stage is a giant pain in the ass.
Another problem I have with this game is that Mega Man moves so damn slow.
And let's not forget the voice acting. It is laughably bad.
I did like the animations (for the most part) and the graphics. And the music was decent as well. The weapons were pretty alright too.
Still, that isn't nearly enough to save this trainwreck of a game.
Most of the stages were frustrating. Especially Frost Man's and Astro Man's stages. The Frost Man stage was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in any videogame and Astro Man's stage is a giant pain in the ass.
Another problem I have with this game is that Mega Man moves so damn slow.
And let's not forget the voice acting. It is laughably bad.
I did like the animations (for the most part) and the graphics. And the music was decent as well. The weapons were pretty alright too.
Still, that isn't nearly enough to save this trainwreck of a game.
1995
The way Mega Man walks and jumps in this game I don't know man it's kinda weird. He also feels really slow. Not a big fan of the sound effects either and the music feels off?
On the other hand, I do like that they added a little story and fleshed out the characters some more. Makes the world feel more alive. Furthermore, the boss fights were pretty enjoyable and unique for the most part. But damn that final Wily fight was hard.
I always feel like with these games that I am using the special boss powers far too little. I only used the boss powers for the actual bosses and for the stages I basically only used the Mega Buster and later the Rush Adapter.
Overall, an alright Mega Man game.
On the other hand, I do like that they added a little story and fleshed out the characters some more. Makes the world feel more alive. Furthermore, the boss fights were pretty enjoyable and unique for the most part. But damn that final Wily fight was hard.
I always feel like with these games that I am using the special boss powers far too little. I only used the boss powers for the actual bosses and for the stages I basically only used the Mega Buster and later the Rush Adapter.
Overall, an alright Mega Man game.
1993
Maybe the Mega Man fatigue has set in a little bit because this is the 6th Mega Man game I finished in like three days, but I liked this one a bit less than the previous one even though it feels like I 'should' like this one better. This game is clearly the most polished one yet and most of the powers were pretty strong and fun to use. Rush Jet is pretty cool too, but the fact that you could just fly over most rooms made it a little too good in my opinion. Rush Power is whatever. Very strong though. It annoyed me that you lose the ability to slide in these Rush forms.
Most bosses were extremely easy. Others very annoying, like the Dino. Energy Balancer should really just have been already been a thing since Mega Man 1 and unlocked by default.
Most bosses were extremely easy. Others very annoying, like the Dino. Energy Balancer should really just have been already been a thing since Mega Man 1 and unlocked by default.
1992
Seemed a bit easier than the previous games but that might also be because the charged shot is very strong in this game. Anyway, I barely had any trouble at all beating this game while some sections in the earlier games were pretty difficult/annoying.
I liked this game about the same as Mega Man 4 maybe just a tad less but still pretty enjoyable. The powers were cool and so were most of the bosses. The stages weren't bad either.
And I absolutely loved the little bird Beat.
I liked this game about the same as Mega Man 4 maybe just a tad less but still pretty enjoyable. The powers were cool and so were most of the bosses. The stages weren't bad either.
And I absolutely loved the little bird Beat.
1991
The best of the NES Mega Man games I have played so far. First time we get somewhat of a story which was a welcome change in my opinion. The one-screen sub screen was a very welcome addition as well. What a huge improvement compared to the previous three games that was.
I enjoyed most of the stages and most of the bosses. The bosses were a more difficult than they were in the previous games but they were fair. No replaying stages either. And yes we still get the boss rush room which I am not a big fan of but other than that most bosses were unique and had interesting patterns.
The weapon variety was a lot better than the previous games too.
I enjoyed most of the stages and most of the bosses. The bosses were a more difficult than they were in the previous games but they were fair. No replaying stages either. And yes we still get the boss rush room which I am not a big fan of but other than that most bosses were unique and had interesting patterns.
The weapon variety was a lot better than the previous games too.
1990
A step down from Mega Man 2 in my opinion. The improved controls and the addition of sliding weren't enough to make up for the flaws of this game. The stages were frustating, some of them were actually Mega Man 1-tier annoying.
Furthermore, the new powers are a lot worse than the Mega Man 2 powers. Both in terms of effectiveness and in terms of how good they felt to use.
The Proto Man fights were pretty lame as well and holy shit the amount of lag in this game. Hard Man's and Gemini Man's stages might also be two of the worst stages I have encountered in a Mega Man game. I also did not enjoy the Doc Robot section which basically boiled down to replaying four stages just to defeat a recycled Mega Man 2 boss. After that point with Doc Robot we get the Wily stages and these stages were a lot better than the ones before in my opinion. Some decent bosses too, except for that motherfucker Yellow Devil. Not sure why they've brought the worst Mega Man 1 boss back for a sequel. Well now that I think about it they do recycle a lot of content in these games...
Even though I didn't enjoy the fights with Proto Man, I did enjoy seeing his first appearance in the series. His tune is pretty good too. The whole soundtrack is pretty good actually. Also, I loved Rush. Such a good boy. Rush Jet is sooo good in this game that they (sadly) nerfed it later.
Furthermore, the new powers are a lot worse than the Mega Man 2 powers. Both in terms of effectiveness and in terms of how good they felt to use.
The Proto Man fights were pretty lame as well and holy shit the amount of lag in this game. Hard Man's and Gemini Man's stages might also be two of the worst stages I have encountered in a Mega Man game. I also did not enjoy the Doc Robot section which basically boiled down to replaying four stages just to defeat a recycled Mega Man 2 boss. After that point with Doc Robot we get the Wily stages and these stages were a lot better than the ones before in my opinion. Some decent bosses too, except for that motherfucker Yellow Devil. Not sure why they've brought the worst Mega Man 1 boss back for a sequel. Well now that I think about it they do recycle a lot of content in these games...
Even though I didn't enjoy the fights with Proto Man, I did enjoy seeing his first appearance in the series. His tune is pretty good too. The whole soundtrack is pretty good actually. Also, I loved Rush. Such a good boy. Rush Jet is sooo good in this game that they (sadly) nerfed it later.
1989
Way better than the first. Mega Man's movement is still a bit clunky but since the enemies are less bullshit than in the previous game it is far more manageable. The bosses are a complete joke though since you can just spam their weakness and they die in 2 seconds.
The E-Tanks were a welcome addition. On the other hand, I did not enjoy the instant-kill stuff like beams in the Quick Man stage and the jellyfish in the Bubble Man stage.
Another small issue I had with the game was that you get so many different powers but there's just not enough game to really try them all out for more than a few seconds. But at least you actually get to use them in the actual stages since most of them don't drain a full bar of energy in 5 seconds as was the case in the first game.
I don't plan to revisit this game anytime soon (if ever) but I did have a good time with it.
The E-Tanks were a welcome addition. On the other hand, I did not enjoy the instant-kill stuff like beams in the Quick Man stage and the jellyfish in the Bubble Man stage.
Another small issue I had with the game was that you get so many different powers but there's just not enough game to really try them all out for more than a few seconds. But at least you actually get to use them in the actual stages since most of them don't drain a full bar of energy in 5 seconds as was the case in the first game.
I don't plan to revisit this game anytime soon (if ever) but I did have a good time with it.
1987
Copying the powers of the bosses you beat is cool but that means that a boss is either trivial (if you have their respective weakness) or a giant pain in the ass to fight. Furthemore, I would have liked to be able to use the different powers a bit more in the actual stages but that wasn't really feasible since all the powers drain your energy extremely fast and you will want to reserve this energy for the boss fight.
Mega Man controls pretty terribly too. His jumps are pitiful and so is his movement speed. That makes the platforming in this game extremely frustrating and just not enjoyable at all. The only reason why this game was somewhat palatable for me was because I used save-states and even then I found it pretty frustrating.
Also the guy who designed the Yellow Devil boss fight should be shot.
Mega Man controls pretty terribly too. His jumps are pitiful and so is his movement speed. That makes the platforming in this game extremely frustrating and just not enjoyable at all. The only reason why this game was somewhat palatable for me was because I used save-states and even then I found it pretty frustrating.
Also the guy who designed the Yellow Devil boss fight should be shot.
2000
First of all, this game is almost impossible to get to run properly on modern hardware. It took me hours to tweak and fix all the problems before I was finally able to play the game properly without any lag or graphical issues. I will not hold that against the game though obviously but it did frustrate me quite a bit.
JC is a great dude. Loved his interactions and there were some absolutely great lines in this game.
I liked the skill system too although some skills didn't feel worth it to invest in, like swimming and environmental training. Demolitions too if I think about it since I believe explosives are a one-shot kill against anyone anyway even at the Untrained level. I also wasn't impressed by Pistols even though it was the first skill I achieved the "Trained" level in. Rifles seemed far better.
Other than that, the gameplay was great. Having all kinds of different ways to approach the missions is superb. At the beginning of the game I had this compulsion to search every nook and cranny to find every secret and/or different path but I started enjoying the game way more when I stopped doing that and just focused on finding my own way in and sticking to that approach and just experiencing what I would find organically.
Combat was alright but could get kinda annoying. Especially some enemies. All bots were annoying to deal with and those little spiderfuckers were the worst of them all. I also found it pretty ridiculous how many shots enemies could take in their body compared to their heads. And fuck those enemies with Energy weapons. I couldn't see shit when they were shooting.
Augmentations were a cool system as well but I didn't like how you had to activate them and how quickly they drained energy. Some of the augmentations were a blast though, like Speed Enhancement. Regeneration was very strong too. Regeneration combined with Ballistic Protection basically meant that I was invincible as long as I had energy left. Usually, Regeneration on its own was already enough to allow me to easily tank shots without having to worry about my health.
The story was fine although I couldn't really get into it. I also didn't bother reading most mails nor newspapers.
Finding some plot stuff took me way too long too at times, for example, finding Dowd in Hell's Kitchen. And I got lost in Hong Kong more times than I'd like to admit.
Overall, an enjoyable game with some great moments. The combat wasn't the best but the infiltrating was a lot of fun.
JC is a great dude. Loved his interactions and there were some absolutely great lines in this game.
I liked the skill system too although some skills didn't feel worth it to invest in, like swimming and environmental training. Demolitions too if I think about it since I believe explosives are a one-shot kill against anyone anyway even at the Untrained level. I also wasn't impressed by Pistols even though it was the first skill I achieved the "Trained" level in. Rifles seemed far better.
Other than that, the gameplay was great. Having all kinds of different ways to approach the missions is superb. At the beginning of the game I had this compulsion to search every nook and cranny to find every secret and/or different path but I started enjoying the game way more when I stopped doing that and just focused on finding my own way in and sticking to that approach and just experiencing what I would find organically.
Combat was alright but could get kinda annoying. Especially some enemies. All bots were annoying to deal with and those little spiderfuckers were the worst of them all. I also found it pretty ridiculous how many shots enemies could take in their body compared to their heads. And fuck those enemies with Energy weapons. I couldn't see shit when they were shooting.
Augmentations were a cool system as well but I didn't like how you had to activate them and how quickly they drained energy. Some of the augmentations were a blast though, like Speed Enhancement. Regeneration was very strong too. Regeneration combined with Ballistic Protection basically meant that I was invincible as long as I had energy left. Usually, Regeneration on its own was already enough to allow me to easily tank shots without having to worry about my health.
The story was fine although I couldn't really get into it. I also didn't bother reading most mails nor newspapers.
Finding some plot stuff took me way too long too at times, for example, finding Dowd in Hell's Kitchen. And I got lost in Hong Kong more times than I'd like to admit.
Overall, an enjoyable game with some great moments. The combat wasn't the best but the infiltrating was a lot of fun.
1999
This review contains spoilers
I liked the Cybernetic Module upgrade system. Although I don't think it was properly balanced. Some examples, Repair is basically useless if you maintain your weapons with the Maintenance skill. Modify is probably useless too since you can find quite a few of those one time use upgrade items which will take care of most, if not all, of your weapons.
Some resources were also a pain the ass to find. I never really had enough bullets for the standard gun and assault rifle. Why was it even possible to upgrade the assault's rifle clip size if it's never even going to make a difference since you're lucky if you have more than 10 bullets of a type.
This lack of ammo issue especially became a problem if you weren't able to instantly know where to go and had to search around for a bit. Enemies barely drop any ammo and that is even more so for the respawns. At the beginning I had to rely on my wrench a lot and let me tell you that wasn't great since melee combat in this game sucks.
The game could also have done with a bit more weapon variety. You are probably not going to spec into every weapon type so you simply aren't able to use quite a few weapons.
I believe there's only three different weapons per type and some of them become obsolete by the time you get the level 6 weapons. Don't get me wrong, the weapons (that I tried) were great. The grenade launcher and the assault rifle were fun to use. I also enjoyed that you were able to select different modes for the weapons. Selecting Death mode on the Fusion Cannon was a blast.
I did not use the Psionic powers at all so I can't say anything about that.
The gameplay and interfacing have been much improved compared to System Shock 1 but the prequel had a better ambiance and a better villain.
Xerxes was ass, the Many was whatever and SHODAN was alright in this game but just not nearly as menacing as the System Shock 1 SHODAN. Moments like finding out that Polito was SHODAN and entering the Medical area from the first game were cool. The boss fights were pretty bad unfortunately. The SHODAN fight was one of the worst boss fight I have seen in a videogame. Having to hack when there is a damaging floor under you and mobs that spawn endlessly. I had a terrible time.
I also did not like the backtracking. Especially when you miss something then good luck trying to find it. Some examples that stick in my mind are finding the codes in the art, the egg hunt (since I missed one, I had to go all the way back to find it), going back to grab the necessary chemicals for a research etc.
The cameras were a dumb system too because it basically meant that if you were spotted that you would have to wait it out somewhere for a full 2 minutes before you could continue. I would have fought them off if it weren't for the serious lack of ammo problem.
And yes, you can hack them but for some reason, oftentimes you would encounter the camera before you even encountered the security systems where you can hack them. So that didn't really make sense.
On the topic of hacking, what a dumb RNG-based mini-"game" that was. And also why do hacking, repairing and modifying all have the exact same RNG get three in a row minigame. Even with a high level in these stats there was still a likely possibility that it would get screwed up. That and the cameras really incentivized save-scumming.
Some resources were also a pain the ass to find. I never really had enough bullets for the standard gun and assault rifle. Why was it even possible to upgrade the assault's rifle clip size if it's never even going to make a difference since you're lucky if you have more than 10 bullets of a type.
This lack of ammo issue especially became a problem if you weren't able to instantly know where to go and had to search around for a bit. Enemies barely drop any ammo and that is even more so for the respawns. At the beginning I had to rely on my wrench a lot and let me tell you that wasn't great since melee combat in this game sucks.
The game could also have done with a bit more weapon variety. You are probably not going to spec into every weapon type so you simply aren't able to use quite a few weapons.
I believe there's only three different weapons per type and some of them become obsolete by the time you get the level 6 weapons. Don't get me wrong, the weapons (that I tried) were great. The grenade launcher and the assault rifle were fun to use. I also enjoyed that you were able to select different modes for the weapons. Selecting Death mode on the Fusion Cannon was a blast.
I did not use the Psionic powers at all so I can't say anything about that.
The gameplay and interfacing have been much improved compared to System Shock 1 but the prequel had a better ambiance and a better villain.
Xerxes was ass, the Many was whatever and SHODAN was alright in this game but just not nearly as menacing as the System Shock 1 SHODAN. Moments like finding out that Polito was SHODAN and entering the Medical area from the first game were cool. The boss fights were pretty bad unfortunately. The SHODAN fight was one of the worst boss fight I have seen in a videogame. Having to hack when there is a damaging floor under you and mobs that spawn endlessly. I had a terrible time.
I also did not like the backtracking. Especially when you miss something then good luck trying to find it. Some examples that stick in my mind are finding the codes in the art, the egg hunt (since I missed one, I had to go all the way back to find it), going back to grab the necessary chemicals for a research etc.
The cameras were a dumb system too because it basically meant that if you were spotted that you would have to wait it out somewhere for a full 2 minutes before you could continue. I would have fought them off if it weren't for the serious lack of ammo problem.
And yes, you can hack them but for some reason, oftentimes you would encounter the camera before you even encountered the security systems where you can hack them. So that didn't really make sense.
On the topic of hacking, what a dumb RNG-based mini-"game" that was. And also why do hacking, repairing and modifying all have the exact same RNG get three in a row minigame. Even with a high level in these stats there was still a likely possibility that it would get screwed up. That and the cameras really incentivized save-scumming.
The controls take some getting used to and you really should set a designated reload button in the controls yourself, as there isn't one by default. And definitely turn the giant distracting HUD off as soon as possible.
Some parts of the game were better than others. I thought the later levels were way better than the first 3 or so. Level 3, especially, I hated that floor. And maybe I didn't really enjoy the first two levels that much because I was still figuring out the game back then. I didn't care much for the R floor either.
Cyberspace sections did nothing for me.
I thought the plot was interesting and SHODAN was a good villain. I expected a little more of SHODAN right at the end though but it all ends pretty abruptly.
The soundtrack was pretty hit or miss for me. Some tracks straight up hurt my ears but others were pretty catchy. It also didn't help that the first track you hear in the game, that of Level 1, is one of the worst tracks I have ever listened to in a game.
As for the gameplay, well, the game is almost 30 years old, so the gameplay is going to feel dated. But I was pretty surprised at how 'modern' the game design was. The shooting was alright although fights usually boiled down to either killing enemies so fast with a very strong weapon so that they don't have time to react or positioning yourself in such a way that you can just barely shoot an enemy from around a corner or shooting enemies at maximum distance. If you don't do any of those things then you're going to get hit and you're going to get hit hard.
Another thing is that resources placement wasn't properly balanced. Oftentimes I had to survive for like two full floors without barely receiving any health and battery resources but then for the last two levels, 8 and 9, you get so many full heal items that it's ridiculous.
Overall, a pretty fun game.
Some parts of the game were better than others. I thought the later levels were way better than the first 3 or so. Level 3, especially, I hated that floor. And maybe I didn't really enjoy the first two levels that much because I was still figuring out the game back then. I didn't care much for the R floor either.
Cyberspace sections did nothing for me.
I thought the plot was interesting and SHODAN was a good villain. I expected a little more of SHODAN right at the end though but it all ends pretty abruptly.
The soundtrack was pretty hit or miss for me. Some tracks straight up hurt my ears but others were pretty catchy. It also didn't help that the first track you hear in the game, that of Level 1, is one of the worst tracks I have ever listened to in a game.
As for the gameplay, well, the game is almost 30 years old, so the gameplay is going to feel dated. But I was pretty surprised at how 'modern' the game design was. The shooting was alright although fights usually boiled down to either killing enemies so fast with a very strong weapon so that they don't have time to react or positioning yourself in such a way that you can just barely shoot an enemy from around a corner or shooting enemies at maximum distance. If you don't do any of those things then you're going to get hit and you're going to get hit hard.
Another thing is that resources placement wasn't properly balanced. Oftentimes I had to survive for like two full floors without barely receiving any health and battery resources but then for the last two levels, 8 and 9, you get so many full heal items that it's ridiculous.
Overall, a pretty fun game.