Mega Man Series Tier List
I feel like I've done a list like this before but I couldn't find it sooooooo here's a re-do
Actual rankings in my older reviews of these games may not accurately reflect my thoughts here. Feelings change.
Actual rankings in my older reviews of these games may not accurately reflect my thoughts here. Feelings change.
49 Games
PEAK FICTION
1
Best of the trilogy and a motherfucking beast that hits that same TWEWY itch of making grinding BADASS. Damn you got 400% noise on this boss battle, here's a Giga Card that's not even included in the fucking card library. Visceral in that same way that makes BN3 so addicting.
2
Has that BN1 simplicity with just enough really solid improvements to make it one of my lowkey favorites. Love how faux-serious it is with its terrorism plotline, and the challenges are really satisfying to overcome.
3
Underrated. The beautiful sprite art and oodles of story bits and easter eggs really do give off the vibe of experiencing a playable anime. Gameplay is 'chunkier' than the NES games but still feels good for what it's trying to do.
4
First video game story my homeschooled ass cared about and could relate to. Star Force fandom hates this game's gameplay for being an overly-basic first try, but I never had that gripe with it. Perfectly fine 'down-to-the-core' RPG, and probably the easiest BN/SF game to recommend to someone outside the fandom.
5
My favorite Zero game. It reaches that perfect apex between the desolation that defines 1 and the action that defines 3/4. You could argue it's a filler arc story-wise, but I think that's part of what makes it so striking relative to the rest of the series' plots. Bad guy is just one of your comrades going through an emotional power crisis, driven mad by circumstances. There's a really powerful juxtaposition of having to handle these internal affairs while still dealing with Neo Arcadia chasing after you. It hits hard.
Rank system is still a piece of SHIT tho.
Rank system is still a piece of SHIT tho.
6
On a purely gameplay standpoint, it's the best classic Mega Man. But the music is mid and the Wily Castle isn't finished
7
Just enough cool QOL changes to make a great game better, and the map helps make 5's often frustrating backtracking a lot more manageable.
8
Battle Network at its most polished, but kind of weak as a finale in some spots. A lot of what it tries to do with the plot feels weakly implemented, with the exception of the ending.
9
The peak of Zero as far as well-roundedness goes.
10
A sleeper hit. A lot of 4's bad shit is still here but enough has been improved to feel like a fully-realized version of that game. And the SRPG missions fucking rock if you know how to build decks optimally around it.
11
Cute little comfort game with fun characterization. The game basically being one big dungeon is a really good idea that I'm surprised was ditched in favor of more 'video-gamey' theme dungeons in the sequel.
12
Maybe too easy, but it's a good finale for the NES games and has some really good art and music. Jet adapter is a ton of fun to use.
13
A couple really sucky missions and inconsistent dungeon quality make this a harder recommendation than Legends 1, even if it has more finesse and staying power.
14
A fan-favorite of mine that I feel like I'd hate a lot more if I replayed it
15
Over-hated. Lots of things with its new systems and tonal direction I don't like, but it's a really fun game regardless.
16
Higher highs and lower lows than X1; something closer overall to my tastes and vibes.
17
It's perfectly well-rounded and solid, but also something so over-analyzed by the internet that I just don't get much gratification from playing it.
18
Blatantly unfinished but still might be one of my favorite classic MM games. It has a really strong rawness to its main stages, I love the deserted and desolate feel of the Wily Castle, the bossfights are all fun, and the weapons are cool even if not all of them are 'practical'. Doc Robots are the make-or-break of the game - I really love the idea of revisiting stages in a more damaged state with a higher difficulty, but the challenge speaks for itself. Sometimes I breeze through them and it's a great time, other times I make a bad move and get completely demotivated.
19
The review I did of this a while back boldly claimed it to be the best 8-bit mega man and I DEFINITELY don't agree on that anymore. But, it's still really good!
20
Putting a card game system in a platformer is, by nature, a terrible idea. It isn't done even somewhat well here. Difficulty is obscenely cheap at the start and then becomes oddly pathetic by the end. But damn, the music and Dreamcast-esque vibes make this a really fun play, and there's enough 'good' MM platforming and fights here to justify the agony.
21
Same ballpark as X1 - solid, but not something that really 'sticks' emotionally because of just how overdone it is. Jet Stingray's stage is a dreadful bore and there's something about the feeling of movement that got completely fucked over in this game.
22
Franchise fatigue kinda mars the fact this isn't that bad.
23
The thing about kart racers is that unless you make them 'bad', it's hard to have a terrible time with them. I recall this one being 'fine', but it's been too long to remember if had something worse going on.
24
Biggest mixed bag of the entire franchise. By far the biggest hangups of any game in the Mega Man universe, but it also has that first-entry sincerity and originality that makes its storytelling really powerful. Fuck this game and its dumbass rank system. Fuck the bomb deactivation mission. Fuck the SCREEN CRUNCH.
25
The 'I'm stressed af and really need dopamine for 15 minutes' game
26
Even if it's a 'better' game than the first one, there's a certain aptness to Power Battle that's missing here, and it's still too easy and barebones.
27
The most 'safe' MM game.
28
Plays a little better than the CPS versions, looks just as fine in its own way, but definitely sounds and feels worse. The anime magic that carried the arcade versions isn't as well-replicated as I wish it could've been.
29
Could easily be the franchise's best if every level didn't have at least one 'I Wanna Be The Guy'-tier bullshit moment. And why the fuck did they kill off the slide and charge shot
30
As a Mega Man game, it's a bare-bones imitation of better games. But it's not bad as its own thing - the level choices are solid and it's never hard enough to frustrate.
31
It's been too long since I last played it to say one way or another how good it is. I think some people prefer this over V? I'm just not too keen on GB MM in the first place.
32
Just mid all-around; a re-hash of the first game's plot with a B-tier rival and not enough genuinely good improvements to the gameplay to justify its increase in difficulty.
33
The Funniest Man Alive
34
The sub-team of Capcom of X3 made this and you can really tell from the kinda 'stank' the art and gamefeel has - not to mention the COPIUS amounts of slowdown the game has. But this game also eliminates some of the 'slipperiness' that 1 and 2 have, just enough to make these the versions I prefer playing, even if there's a ton of bad stuff here..
35
A precursor to the 2010's tradition of 'remake that adds more 'things' without improving the core fundamentals'.
36
Would be a whole lot easier to stomach if getting to its best moments didn't require THREE WHOLE PLAYTHROUGHS. Whole game is balanced like shit tbh and the plot's a pathetic tournament arc, but this isn't... horrible? It's still a Battle Network game at its core, and I absolutely wouldn't have played it as many times as I have if I didn't like a few of the things here.
37
I don't HATE ZX, but I don't like it either. Fucking shonen-ass desecration of Zero's best qualities. Fuck this metroidvania bullshit, and Serpent is a dripless antagonist.
38
Not good for a Mega Man game, but it's still somewhat fun to play, and there's enough 'easy' moments to ease the burden of the bad parts.
39
A marketing ploy for selling battle chip toys, and with no way to replicate that easily, your option is to play it the awful way w/o bonus chips, or to play it with a patch that turns it into a regular BN game. Either way, it has the same problem with 4 where it feels too grindy too often, and its best moments are locked behind tedium and exasperation.
40
The most iconic classic MM setpieces and moments - a strength that makes it timeless, yet not necessarily the most fun one to play. I can't think of any level from this game I really like on its own and I never liked the weapon balancing.
41
Good for a first attempt but its age damn sure shows compared to every other game that followed.
42
I didn't play enough of it to see if people's quipping about the difficulty was deserved, but the footage I've seen certainly confirms that guess.
43
The only mainline MM I never finished lmao. Not even as bullshit as 9, but it's just more tedious and unfun overall.
44
Generally better than people are willing to admit but it also has the most 'bad' parts of any Classic game, and everything 'good' it does with its level design was expanded upon later. Cut Man's still an excellent introductory stage though, very fun to play and kind of makes me wish Mega Man games had a more linear stage/difficulty progression.
45
eh?????????? it's as good as a NES to GB conversion from this time can be I guess.
46
Network Transmission with an arguably 'better' implementation of the card mechanics and platforming, but it has ZERO sauce. A quick anime tie-in game with budget gamefeel and uninteresting vibes.
47
It's not good, but I wish it would be re-released just because.
48
Enough time has passed for me to probably call this my least favorite of the X games I played - ironic to me, cause it used to be my favorite.
I just can't think of a single part of it I enjoy playing, and it doesn't dip into 'masochistic hell' territory enough for it to be a memetic experience like X6
I just can't think of a single part of it I enjoy playing, and it doesn't dip into 'masochistic hell' territory enough for it to be a memetic experience like X6
49
8 Comments
Never had a drive to play command mission bc I'm not too big into X as a series and I've heard it's kinda sucky as an rpg
Zx advent I haven't played bc my only way to play it rn is on a 2ds and my hands outgrew the 2ds and it feels like complete shit
Zx advent I haven't played bc my only way to play it rn is on a 2ds and my hands outgrew the 2ds and it feels like complete shit
play operate shooting star
based take on mega man 2
Thoughts on Megaman powered Up?
Really good, forgot to add it
Replay MM8.
I don't think I will!
Ninjabunny
2 years ago