This was another game I had on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection as a kid, but it was the only one on that collection I never ended up completing. There was a Wily stage boss so tough I simply couldn't get past it, so I never did. I aimed to fix that this time, and I finally completed the last of the NES entries that had escaped me in my youth. It took me around two hours to complete the Japanese version of the game.

Mega Man 6's story once again takes the route that 4 and 5 did with the "fake real bad guy", this time in the guise of Dr. X, a character who has collected eight of the world' strongest robots and aims to take over the world (all the while looking VERY SUSPICIOUSLY like Dr. Wily ;b). Again, it's nothing really special, but it does give us an excuse to have a more globe-trotting look to our robot masters (several of which are also quite casually racist XP).

This entry is probably the easiest of the NES entries, but it's also one that has some of the tightest design. Putting a neat spin on the idea of using Rush as your platforming buddy, you now no longer have him as a transforming machine you ride, but now you fuse with him to transform! There are two mode, one for punching and one for a sort of hover/double jump jet boost combo, and the best part about them is that they have recharging energy! Finally, the issue the other five games struggled with, that your platforming weapon can run out of energy forcing you to grind for more, has been solved. Of course, this isn't entirely true, as the rideable arrow shot you can also get has limited energy, but it's a BIG step in the right direction. The stage design is overall very solid and well put together, and is probably one of the more consistently fair feeling of the NES entries (particularly with how kind it is about health and life powerups).

The bosses are also overall quite good. You once again have your dash and chargeable mega buster, and much like Mega Man 4, most all the bosses are quite tightly and fairly designed, leading to some very satisfyingly technical and challenging boss fights. The only real issue, if it can be called as such, is that a lot of the bosses, particularly the non-robot masters (though some of them are also like this), are just too easy. Mega Man 6 is by no means an "easy" game, by most standards, but compared to the other games, the challenges it offers can feel a bit unsatisfying at times despite how well designed they are. It's not a flaw in the empirical sense, to be sure, but it something that made this game hit a bit less well for me than I hoped it would.

The presentation is another mixed bag like Mega Man 5's was. Graphically, this is definitely the prettiest of the NES games, with the robot masters especially being very well detailed and impressive looking. However, the music here just isn't really anything to write home about compared to the glory days of Mega Man 2 and 3. It's still good music, but not an all-star track like those ones.


Verdict: Highly Recommended. Out of the old games, I think this one sits just below Mega Man 4 in quality for me. It's got some disappointingly easy places and some rough design bits involving the new Rush fusions, but it's still a really tightly designed game that does a good job of righting the ship after how rough Mega Man 5 was.