Released in 1987, the first Mega Man game opened up Capcom’s charismatic blue robot dude on the world.
What’s the Fuss Over Mega Man Then?
As a confessed Sega fanboy I never owned an NES or SNES growing up so never really got round to playing any of the franchise. With over 50 games released including spin-off series and random games like Mega Man football, I don’t know how I dodged him for this long.
Happy Birthday Mega Man
With Mega Man’s 25th birthday on the cards, I thought it would be the perfect time to give the original game a try. With 25 years worth of ranting and reviews by many journalists, you have probably read it all before so rather than going through who Mega Man is I am just going to get straight to my thoughts on it.
I boot the game up and press start. I am greeted by a choice of levels which makes for a nice change. Rather than a linear game like Sonic, you can choose which level to play and ultimately this helps you get the weapons you need for your playing style.
Such Catchy Tunes
Like a complete N00b, I decided to just click the first one already selected Cutman. My mind is completely brought back to the 80s by the 8-bit NEStalgic music pumping out of my speakers. This is some good tuneage; catchy and awesome without getting to the point of annoyance.
I am typing away now and this song is still looping away in my head as I type, over the sound of the Christmas Slade music playing in the background. Shut up Noddy there is a retro tune coming in.
To summarise the music it is on par with Beethoven’s 9th; it holds up really well to this day and you could probably get Stanley Kubrick to use it in a film where a gang of people go around killing people with ceramic phallic objects…If you haven’t watched Clockwork Orange that would have made no sense.
Less Appealing Gameplay
Music aside you can’t make a good game without good gameplay. For me, this is where Mega Man 1 lets me down a little bit. Hear me out before you press the x button in the top corner of your browser. I am not saying it is a bad game but really really difficult.
I have just moved house so the last thing I want is dints in my fancy new walls thanks to the NES controller taking flying lessons. The difficulty of this game is far harder than many I have played. I kinda understand it, 25 years ago games were expensive and much shorter because of the limitation of memory on a cartridge. So to give people their money’s worth they made games hard.
Gotta Git Gud – Credit Where It’s Due
OK, so difficulty is not enough to ruin the gameplay. This is by no means a bad game and I need to give credit where it’s due, but I’m not feeling all the hype. I am sure some people out there will probably disagree with this review. Perhaps I need to step back in time and experience this game 25 years earlier.
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