3.5/5 ★ – Spongyoshi's review of Mega Man.

2 years after the success of Super Mario Bros, the platforming genre what thriving! This is probably what led to the creation of a new franchise by Capcom, Mega Man! A long-lasting franchise of platformers that still goes on to this day with Mega Man 11. But what did make the original game so special to warrant so many sequels? The beggining might a good clue on why as it's a pretty unusual start for a platformer. The game asks you to pick which of the 6 stages you want to take on. A really welcome choice as each of the stages are pretty tough with a powerful boss at the end but are also thankfully pretty short. It's up to you to try each one and decide which one you'd like to take on first. You might be thinking "Why does the order matter, I need to do all of them anyway" well, it all comes down to the boss of each stage. Each time you defeat a boss, you obtain his power! So for example, Bomb Man lets you throw bombs while Fire Man lets you shoot fire. Using the right power on the right stage can make your life significantly easier as for example, Elec Man's stage is filled with enemies that can only be killed by Cut Man's power. This extends to the bosses as well as they're all weak to another boss' power which can make them a cakewalk if you know the right order to do them in! Yet, all of them are also perfectly doable with your base weapon as well! Speaking of your character, Mega Man is a pretty basic platformer character but plays very well! With pretty high jumps but very responsive movement, they really nailed the character movement which is the key on why those platforming stages work so well in this game as I don't think it would work with a more momentum-based character like Mario for example. His normal weapon is also pretty nice, it's quick although it requires you to mash at times or aim it right to use it effectively, yet it's also what makes it pretty satisfying to use. The level design is usually pretty fun too although a bit on the spammy side with the obstacles. Thankfully, Mega Man can take a lot of hits before going down which helps a lot and can even make it so the player can strategize whenever they should "tank a hit" or stand their ground as their health can also be put in this ressource-management system. However, Mega Man shines brightest with the different powers he can use as all of them used at the right time can make all the difference! I do wish the game would encourage you to switch weapons more, however. Weapon ammo isn't that common and you never know if it would be smarter to keep your ammo for an upcoming tough boss. The fact that enemies drop meaningless "points" way more often than ammo or health doesn't help although they do drop lives at times which is appreciated! Each stage has at least one checkpoint (usually two, one in the middle of the stage and one right before the boss). If you loose all your lives before beating the stage, you have the choice on picking another or retrying the current one from the beggining. It can be frustrating but it usually isn't that bad since it incentivizes you to pick another one although it does get a bit annoying by the endgame... When you beat the 6 robot masters, you unlock the last four Dr. Wily stages, the creator of said robot masters. Those stages are made to be the hardest of the game with not as much checkpoints and encourages you more to use all the weapons you've collected during the game. The first stage is probably the most infamous as it's pretty long, difficult with a tough boss at the end and requires heavy use of your different weapons, especially one that has to be found in a specific stage which can throw-off a lot of players playing blind which is a huge shame... Thankfully, the rest of the game lets the player use whatever powers they may choose which is really appreciated as I think the game works better this way! As a whole, I do think it's a fantastic premise! The player character plays really well and the different stages, while sometimes a bit annoying on some sections, are usually a ton of fun! The gameplay loop is pretty great and although I do think the final stretch isn't as fun as the beggining, it's still a pretty satisfying conclusion with cool bosses and stages even if the final stage is maybe a bit much but doesn't overstay it's welcome TOO much. It has some design flaws and I do wish some weapon had more use (Elec Man is way too overpowered while some others like the bomb or the fire feel way too situational to be often used) and more ammo drops but as a first take, I do think it's fantastic and it's still a game I can see being enjoyed to this day! Oh, and of course, the music and art direction are fantastic!!