Revisited the original Mega Man for the first time in a long time, and I think, possibly, that we're all idiots who decided this one was lesser than the rest, basically because it doesn't have 8 robot masters and a slide.
It's a gorgeous game, even with the graphical flickering that runs throughout it. The colour palette is carefully used to maximise how clear and engaging everything can look within the NES' limitations. A lot is made of how Mega Man is blue because that gave them the best colour design options, but even in all the robot master power colours, Mega Man looks good, which is... funny, because if you really look at his weird little body it's actually quite unpleasant. But who's closely examining NES sprites, anyway.
Controls are tight, as simple as they are. He jump, he shoot. Each enemy and their placement is clearly built with one solution in mind, and without incredibly tight controls it would fall apart (and often does on slipperier surfaces).
Bosses are memorable. For all that later Mega Man games expand upon this base, they never have a robot master that looks quite as good as Fire Man, Elec Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, or Cut Man. There's something special to them. Okay, maybe Heat Man. And Guts Man is, of course, some sort of mad icon for the series, reappearing constantly because we all just love that big burly jaw.
If this specific game has any failings, they're two-fold. One is the magnet beam. Optional within its level, and only obtainable as intended with Guts Man or Elec Man (necessitating either foresight or a second play of the most irritating level in the game), and yet without it you cannot actually beat the first Wily stage. That's bad design. That is absolute dog shit.
The other failing is that Wily himself is easy as all get out to beat, even if you aren't using the hilariously overpowered Elec Man weapon combined with the pause button (doing damage each time you unpause, allowing you to win with as much as a single blast). I don't necessarily want Wily to be as painful to fight as he is in Mega Man 7, but I want to feel like I overcame something.
Mega Man is a better game than it will ever get credit for, and I recommend you go back and give it another go, and just have some fun with it. I've never been more glad for younger me to have been wrong about a game.
It's a gorgeous game, even with the graphical flickering that runs throughout it. The colour palette is carefully used to maximise how clear and engaging everything can look within the NES' limitations. A lot is made of how Mega Man is blue because that gave them the best colour design options, but even in all the robot master power colours, Mega Man looks good, which is... funny, because if you really look at his weird little body it's actually quite unpleasant. But who's closely examining NES sprites, anyway.
Controls are tight, as simple as they are. He jump, he shoot. Each enemy and their placement is clearly built with one solution in mind, and without incredibly tight controls it would fall apart (and often does on slipperier surfaces).
Bosses are memorable. For all that later Mega Man games expand upon this base, they never have a robot master that looks quite as good as Fire Man, Elec Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, or Cut Man. There's something special to them. Okay, maybe Heat Man. And Guts Man is, of course, some sort of mad icon for the series, reappearing constantly because we all just love that big burly jaw.
If this specific game has any failings, they're two-fold. One is the magnet beam. Optional within its level, and only obtainable as intended with Guts Man or Elec Man (necessitating either foresight or a second play of the most irritating level in the game), and yet without it you cannot actually beat the first Wily stage. That's bad design. That is absolute dog shit.
The other failing is that Wily himself is easy as all get out to beat, even if you aren't using the hilariously overpowered Elec Man weapon combined with the pause button (doing damage each time you unpause, allowing you to win with as much as a single blast). I don't necessarily want Wily to be as painful to fight as he is in Mega Man 7, but I want to feel like I overcame something.
Mega Man is a better game than it will ever get credit for, and I recommend you go back and give it another go, and just have some fun with it. I've never been more glad for younger me to have been wrong about a game.