My end goal with these posts is to get anyone who stumbles across them to give some of these games a shot, but for the most part, there is no need to play any of them in order. With these games especially, it can help to see the games in the larger context of each other if you are a new player to this franchise, and want to know where to get started. I'll be reviewing the games in order of release date, but when a new series comes up I'll preface it like this post.
Speaking of a series, lets discuss the Classic series.The Classic Series
- Mega Man
- Mega Man 2
- Mega Man 3
- Mega Man 4
- Mega Man 5
- Mega Man 6
- Mega Man 7
- Mega Man 8
- Mega Man 9
- Mega Man and Bass
The classic series is the simplest and probably the least challenging. With the exception of Mega Man, Mega Man 8 and Mega Man and Bass, these games are fairly easy. The concept of each game works like this: The player must defeat 8 robot masters (bosses) before proceeding to face about 4-8 final stages leading up to the final encounter with a Dr. Wily robot. The player must make use of the weapons gained from beating the bosses in order to gain advantages in combot as every boss has some sort of weakness to one of those weapons.
The series starts out pretty strong with Mega Man introducing these new elements and Mega Man 2 really perfecting them. While many argue that Mega Man 2 is the peak of the franchise as a whole, most don't feel the game decline until about Mega Man 4 or 5.
That isn't to say those games are even bad, but one of the biggest problems of the Mega Man games is that Capcom has always been afraid to move to fast into the next generation of consoles with the Mega Man games and even to this day don't utilize the full potential of newer systems to bring Mega Man back into AAA status. When the SNES came out, nobody was buying any NES games anymore, let alone ones that were essentially the slightly tweaked games from the same formulas as the last games.
Mega Man 7 was a bad start to the series going to the next step as well. Mostly cited for the bosses having a distinct lack of creativity, controls that seem a bit sluggish and floaty and a soundtrack that is far sub-par for a Mega Man game it is often called the worst game in the classic series. A lot of this comes with bad timing as well, as Mega Man X had just come out starting that series and not only was it a far better game, it's in most people's top 5 Mega Man games.
Mega Man 8 for the Playstation/Sega Saturn would deteriorate the series even further taking some of the above problems and adding one of the most laughably bad animie dubs ever seen.
Mega Man and Bass would be the first significant step back in the right direction, but it wasn't released in the US until a re-release for the Game Boy Advance. Plus, it's ball-bustingly difficult.
Finally, Mega Man 9 would return to the old school with a retro 8-bit look and a return to the fundamental game play style of the first few games. Mega Man 9 brings back a lot of hope to the classic series, but I doubt we'll see a Mega Man 10 for a long time. It will come out eventually but Mega Man 9 feels a lot like a one time deal instead of setting up the series to continue. While I personally loved seeing the game go back to 8-bit for one more game, I think I would just be frustrated to see Capcom continue in that style with it.
The Classic series really needs to reinvent the wheel here with a new next-generation Mega Man game. I'm talking more state of the line visuals, audio and gameplay. It's a huge task, but I think if done right Mega Man would be back on the Triple A for a while. I think this is why we won't see a Mega Man 10 for a while. Mega Man needs to quit playing it safe and push a few boundaries of limitations. How about taking some of those Resident Evil and Devil May Cry guys and have them start modeling us some new 3d robot masters?
If Mega Man 10 were to continue on as an 8-bit game, I'd feel a bit cheated myself that the series with as much potential as it has, constantly squanders it by playing it safe. I think Keiji Inafune knows this as well but his hands are tied a lot with the corporate HQ and I'll definitely get more into that when the Legends Series comes up. Mega Man 10 will definitely happen one day, and I'll even bet they finally make that push with the series then, but I wouldn't be surprised to not see it this console generation.
Of all the series to skip out on, this is the one not to do it to. This is gaming history right here, and if you fancy yourself at all to be any kind gamer or just someone interested in the evolution of video games and game design you should just not miss this one.
My individual review of Mega Man 1 should be up some time tomorrow, but I want to replay the game one more time before starting proper. Check back soon.
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