Support NeoGAF

[RK128]

The Mega Man Retrospective continues! After the release of Mega Man 4, we got Mega Man 5 a year later and this game is a more 'simple' sequel compared to Mega Man 2 and 3. It has less new features, but it sticks with what works and it ends up being a great time because of that.

Development:
Right after Mega Man 4 release, development soon followed on a sequel game. Inafune continues working with the series and cities saying that he feels that Mega Man 5 was one of the more easier games in the series. In his own words, he did not want to "make an unreasonable game, an affront to the players".

The Team Behind Mega Man 5 includes the following:
Director - Ichirou Mihara
Producer - Tokuro Fujiwara
Designer - Ichirou Mihara
Programmer - Tadashi Kuwana
Artists - Keiji Inafune, Hayato Kaji, Naoya Tomita, Kazunori Tazaki, Kazushi Ito
Composer - Mari Yamaguchi

Considering they felt they stretched the core foundation as far as they could at this point, they just made everything 'better'. Mega Man's slide remained the same but they gave his charged shot more power thanks to Mega Man 4 sudo-villain, Dr. Cossack, upgrading his Mega Buster. He also made a little bird robot named 'Beat' which can help Mega Man attack foes when he is close to them.

Some interesting information about Mega Man 5 is that the robot masters featured in that game are all based on creations over 130,000 Japanese gamers sent to Capcom thanks to a collaboration with Nintendo Power. This continued for a later installments of Mega Man Classic with the next game after this, Mega Man 6, having two of the robot masters be from western gamers for the first time!

The game released in December 4th, 1992 to solid scores and solid well for Capcom. One would thing this would be the final NES Mega Man title around this time period but we got Mega Man 6 a year later, which I will touch on when I make the Retrospective on that title.

Story:
After the events of Mega Man 4, Rock and Dr. Light are relaxing in his lab but when they go outside, what appears to be Protoman captures Dr. Light and Mega Man follows suit. Protoman is causing havoc across the world and goes after a series of robot masters Protoman took in; Star Man, Gravity Man, Gyro Man, Stone Man, Crystal Man, Charge Man, Napalm Man, and Wave Man.

After defeating them, we head to Protoman's base of operations and it functions like the Dr. Cossack levels in Mega Man 4. After fighting Protoman, the original Protoman appears and we learn that the one causing all the problems is a creation from Dr. Light called 'Dark Man IV'.

We then head through Dr. Wily's Fortress and take him out, saving the day. Dr. Light escapes and Mega Man saves Dr. Light. All is well with the world, with Protoman watching over Dr. Wily's base being destroyed as Mega Man & Light escape.

Simple story and one that continues the 'Wily is not the main villian.....nah, we are just playing around. Take out that guy yet again.' It makes up play through more levels, so cool with that set up.

Gameplay:
Well....its more Mega Man Classic. Jump and shoot action with abilities from past games feeling good here. The charged buster shot is very powerful and makes fighting through the robot master levels & fighting them much easier compared to past games. We also get a little bird named Beat, which can attack foes that come close to Mega Man. He is very useful for fighting bosses and its a good idea to find him! You do so by exploring the different levels for M-E-G-A-M-A-N-V letters.

Level gimmicks this time out continue to be interesting like past games, with Gravity Man having, well, gravity gimmicks that are tricky but fun to get through. My personal favorite robot master stage was Wave Man's level, were you get to ride a water craft until you get to the boss encounter.

The fights themselves are fun and enjoyable, with different patterns like other Mega Man titles. What makes this fun is how the level gimmicks translate into the boss stages. Gravity Man pushes upside down and right side up as you fight him, so Mega Buster or Weakness, you have to watch your surroundings and movement.

Some of the robot master powers are fun to play with, like the Star Shield though that isn't very effective. This mirrors the other powers, with them far less useful due to the stronger Mega Buster outside of Robot Master fights. This gets fixed in later games but it is a small issue here.

We see that happen in other Mega Man games with Underwater fights, but its nice seeing the robot master bosses having new ways to fight them. The only downside is that they are very easy to fight, as thanks to Mega Man's powerful Charged shot, you can kill them quite fast compared to normal Mega Buster shots.

Tower Stages:
The Tower stages follow Mega Man 4 with them being easy but still very rewarding to get through. The first fortress has a nice haunted feel with the location being set in a drab castle.

The second level is more high-tech with a lot of gimmicks to interact with. Spikes and Conveyor Belts common in this section.

The final two Protoman castle levels is on the a rooftop and one where you fight the fake Protoman himself.

The Wily Fortress is composed of four sections. The first one is a tricky section, with spikes being common and having you jump on spinning wheels.

The second area is set in a pipe system flooded with water. This is a fun section, as this wasn't explored in past castle stages. The final two levels is a BOSS RUSH, with two fights with Wily. This part of the game is enjoyable due to the Wily fights being rewarding battles, with the final one being against this big tank with a skull design. The weakness for this? Spoiler:

Spoiler

Super Arrow

Overall, this was a fun set of tower levels to go through.

Presentation:
Did you enjoy the presentation of Mega Man 4? Well, its more of that! The game has bright colors and more space-like locations compared to past games, and I love space levels.

The robot master designs are great as well and show a lot of personality.

Musically, we got a few nice tracks though I prefer the other NES soundtracks over this game. Something interesting to point out is that the Wily Fortress theme is composed by none other than Yoko Shimomura!
Crystal Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNMI-Vkrp_Q&index=3&list=PL68DA338C7EA8D0FA
Gravity Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPiKZ4AZR8A&list=PL68DA338C7EA8D0FA&index=4
Charge Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C75Q7bdQAQA&index=10&list=PL68DA338C7EA8D0FA
Wave Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI0_v340OPM&index=9&list=PL68DA338C7EA8D0FA
Wily Fortress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5YIJ_-WlNM&list=PL68DA338C7EA8D0FA&index=21
Evil Protoman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZS5V8o5p2Y&index=18&list=PL68DA338C7EA8D0FA
Protoman Fortress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cuDFYZXw0c&index=26&list=PL68DA338C7EA8D0FA

Corrections/Additional Thoughts:
NeoGaf Member Edson was nice enough to give me some feedback on the game regarding things I might of glossed over or mistakes I made covering the game. Here is his post.

FIrst of all Inafune had nothing to do with MM other than being an artist in Megaman 5. Get used to me attacking him, because I don't like him.

Some things I think you missed:

Megamans Charge shot now loses charge when hit. I don't know if you noticed this but it makes the game more frustrating than 4.

Dark Robots are based on the doc robots of 2, which is why the main Dark Robot could change into protoman.

You can go back to stages while at the fortress without the fortress resetting.

Overall:
I had a great time playing this for the first time! The gameplay is more Mega Man and after having some issues with Mega Man 4, having a more calmer and relaxed pace with this ones easy difficulty was nice. I enjoyed revisiting Mega Man 4 and honestly prefer that to this, but I enjoyed my time with Mega Man 5 a great deal. Highly recommend this if you want a fun adventure with the Blue Bomber.

Next up is a game I really want to cover; Mega Man 6. Never played this either, so this should be a lot of fun to try out!

 

[jb1234]

I love MM5. One of my favorite soundtracks in the series and some great levels. It's a little too easy (okay, it's really easy) but no less fun for that.

 

[RK128]

I love MM5. One of my favorite soundtracks in the series and some great levels. It's a little too easy (okay, it's really easy) but no less fun for that.

I enjoyed the game a lot for its easy of play . You can just pick it up and plow through the entire game in an hour or so; a lot of fun and was very enjoyable to play for the first time !

 

[Septimus Prime]

I don't remember there being any stand-out, amazing boss powers in MM5. As mentioned in the OP, I think the upgraded charge shot kind of outshines all of them. I did kind of enjoy Charge Man's slide kick attack, but it actually sucks because you take damage if you don't outright kill whatever it hits.

 

[F0rneus]

My favorite Mega Man game alternates between this one, 3 and 6. MM5 is such an outstanding, masterful platformer. It has a glowing soul. The robot master lineup is the strongest in the series IMO and some of those stages are beyond reproach (Napalm Man, Star Man, Wave Man, Gravity Man, Gyro Man, Crystal Man).

The Castle/Wily levels are amongst the strongest in the franchise too. Masterful levels, with fun albeit easy bosses.

Edit. Random trivia, but it took me the time since the release of MM5, to this month to realize that MM7's stage select theme is a remix of 5's stage select.

 

[RK128]

My favorite Mega Man game alternates between this one, 3 and 6. MM5 is such an outstanding, masterful platformer. It has a glowing soul. The robot master lineup is the strongest in the series IMO and some of those stages are beyond reproach (Napalm Man, Star Man, Wave Man, Gravity Man, Gyro Man, Crystal Man).

The Castle/Wily levels are amongst the strongest in the franchise too. Masterful levels, with fun albeit easy bosses.

Edit. Random trivia, but it took me the time since the release of MM5, and this month to realize that MM7's stage select theme is a remix of 5.

While I feel the Charged Mega Buster makes these fights more similar compared to past titles, MM5 has some great boss fights despite this and I had a lot of fun taking out all of them.

Really love the level design here and I hope I presented that through my Retrospective.

Agree on the Castle/Wily stages too; very well done and designed levels.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Have yet to play this title, but the fortress stage tracks are so good. Been a regular listen for years now.

 

[F0rneus]

While I feel the Charged Mega Buster makes these fights more similar compared to past titles

Well that's the Mega Buster for you haha. The boss weapons in 4-5-6 are extremely weak, and poorly thought out IMO because they didn't seem to balance them out, versus the charge shot.

I'd still argue that bosses like Gyro Man, are amongst the strongest in the series. Same goes for the level design. 5-6 in particular offer, what I feel is the apex of 8-bit platforming in terms of creativity.

I can't wait for your post on MM6, if you love it or not. I think it's the most underrated game ever. Not kidding. Just an incredible, incredible game.

 

[Gren]

Gyro & Napalm Man are two of my all-time favorite robot master designs.

Stages were also very pleasant to look at, as I recall. Many had a good range of complementing colors so each screen didn't come off looking bland.

Also, as ineffective/non-essential Beat usually is, it's always been my favorite robot helper.

 

[RK128]

Well that's the Mega Buster for you haha. The boss weapons in 4-5-6 are extremely weak, and poorly thought out IMO because they didn't seem to balance them out, versus the charge shot.

I'd still argue that bosses like Gyro Man, are amongst the strongest in the series. Same goes for the level design. 5-6 in particular offer, what I feel is the apex of 8-bit platforming in terms of creativity.

I can't wait for your post on MM6, if you love it or not. I think it's the most underrated game ever. Not kidding. Just an incredible, incredible game.

Playing MM6 for the coming Retrospective, I have to agree with you; really damn good game that gets a lot right. It also has a lot of new elements/features that expand the core foundations of the MM formula, so looking forward to covering that.

 

[Blues1990]

Fun Fact: This was the game that had introduced me to the Mega Man series, and I remember playing it back in 1992 (I was around 3 or 4 at the time). For me, MM5 holds a special place in my heart, and I'm super happy that it's getting the recognition it deserves.

I personally think the Darkman Theme is underrated, as far as the best Castle Theme is concerned. Here's a remix of the theme that was included in the 'We are ROCK-MEN!' album, and both Vol.1 & Vol.2 are worth picking up.

 

[RK128]

Fun Fact: This was the game that had introduced me to the Mega Man series, and I remember playing it back in 1992 (I was around 3 or 4 at the time). For me, MM5 holds a special place in my heart, and I'm super happy that it's getting the recognition it deserves.

I personally think the Darkman Theme is underrated, as far as the best Castle Theme is concerned. Here's a remix of the theme that was included in the 'We are ROCK-MEN!' album, and both Vol.1 & Vol.2 are worth picking up.

I'm so happy you enjoyed this Retrospective ! If you feel that I glossed over anything, please let me know and I will fix that asap.

The music in MM5 is good and while I don't like as much compared to other games, it is still damn good stuff. That remix you shared.....sounds soo good XD!

 

[TreIII]

MM5 (and 6 to an even greater extent) are pretty unsung among the Rockman pantheon, in my opinion.

I think both games represent when they were able to add some interesting gimmicks to the formula, without going too far out of their way. And hey, 5 had some pretty interesting boss battles!

 

[alf717]

Nice Super Adventure Rockman gif! =) that game is charming in its own rights. Played MM5 the first time when I was in 5th grade. I enjoyed 5 a lot and have fond memories of it. Had to rent the game back then and only could rent it for one day but I finished it within that time frame.

 

[RK128]

MM5 (and 6 to an even greater extent) are pretty unsung among the Rockman pantheon, in my opinion.

I think both games represent when they were able to add some interesting gimmicks to the formula, without going too far out of their way. And hey, 5 had some pretty interesting boss battles!

Completely agree; these two games are titles that are great for not completely changing things, but doing some fun 'little' things to the series gameplay. I would argue that MM6 does a lot more then MM5 for mixing up the gameplay but I digress . Thank you for posting here man !

Nice Super Adventure Rockman gif! =) that game is charming in its own rights. Played MM5 the first time when I was in 5th grade. I enjoyed 5 a lot and have fond memories of it. Had to rent the game back then and only could rent it for one day but I finished it within that time frame.

Thank you . Found it when looking for image of Beat but thought it showed my point nicely; MM having a bird helper & him showing powerful shots with his Mega Buster.

Will be covering Super Adventure Rockman during a special Retrospective I have planed for later down the line .

 

[vala]

Development:
Right after Mega Man 4 release, development soon followed on a sequel game. Inafune continues working with the series but for this title, he was a supervisor and was the project leader for the title, citing that he feels that due to his leadership Mega Man 5 was one of the more easier games in the series. In his own words, he did not want to "make an unreasonable game, an affront to the players".

This is not correct. Inafune was not the project leader or supervisor. The person in charge of all the game design in MM5 was Ichiro Mihara.

 

[RK128]

Saw the mistake; will fix that now.

 

[KevinCow]

Mega Man 5 is super underrated. I think it's largely because it was the fifth game in almost as many years (according to Wikipedia, the only year they missed between MM1 and MM6 was 1989), so people were getting a bit of series fatigue. But it's a great game. Same goes for Mega Man 6.

Oh, and Wave Man's theme is GOAT.

 

[Linkhero1]

I want to pick up a copy for NES but it's so expensive. Is there a reason why it's one of the more expensive games? MM6 came out after and it's not nearly as expensive.

 

[RK128]

Updated the OP to include the team that made the title and clarifying elements I was confused with (Inafune's role with the game). Hope this clears things up during the Development section of the game .

 

[G-Fex]

MM5 is the best one after 1

 

[RK128]

I want to pick up a copy for NES but it's so expensive. Is there a reason why it's one of the more expensive games? MM6 came out after and it's not nearly as expensive.

Going to assume that the game got a smaller print run, making carts more rare I suppose :l.

 

[bearbytes]

I want to pick up a copy for NES but it's so expensive. Is there a reason why it's one of the more expensive games? MM6 came out after and it's not nearly as expensive.

Going to assume that the game got a smaller print run, making carts more rare I suppose :l.

Yep, I think that's the reason. SNES was out by that time, and sales of NES titles were probably starting to decline. In fact, Capcom didn't even bother to release MM6 in the US, Nintendo published it themselves.

I had been wanting a copy of MM5 for a while, and after watching the price continue to go up and up, I finally just bit the bullet and got a nice copy earlier this year.

 

[Linkhero1]

Going to assume that the game got a smaller print run, making carts more rare I suppose :l.

Yep, I think that's the reason. SNES was out by that time, and sales of NES titles were probably starting to decline. In fact, Capcom didn't even bother to release MM6 in the US, Nintendo published it themselves.

I had been wanting a copy of MM5 for a while, and after watching the price continue to go up and up, I finally just bit the bullet and got a nice copy earlier this year.

That makes sense. It sucks because I wanted to play the game with the NES controller. I might bite the bullet soon but $100 is a lot of money.

 

[leroidys]

There's a lot to love about this game, but for me personally, it's ruined by how braindead easy it is.

 

[G-Fex]

There's a lot to love about this game, but for me personally, it's ruined by how braindead easy it is.

yeah cause games are only good if they're difficult.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I think every single robot master in this game is expertly designed, even compared to other Mega Man games with iconic masters like Shadow Man or Crash Man. Especially Gravity Man. There's a reason he's on the cover!

 

[vala]

BTW, here are some of the design notes done by Mihara.

http://www.rockman-corner.com/2015/10/mega-man-6-developer-notes-reveal.html

 

[RK128]

BTW, here are some of the design notes done by Mihara.

http://www.rockman-corner.com/2015/10/mega-man-6-developer-notes-reveal.html

Wow, that is great stuff! Will look at that link and see what I find. Thank you so much for sharing this us all man .

 

[RK128]

I think every single robot master in this game is expertly designed, even compared to other Mega Man games with iconic masters like Shadow Man or Crash Man. Especially Gravity Man. There's a reason he's on the cover!

The Robot master designs were fantastic here . Completely agree with you; Gravity Man has such a striking design and it was a good move they put him on the cover .

 

[Blues1990]

There's a lot to love about this game, but for me personally, it's ruined by how braindead easy it is.

I always recommended playing Mega Man V for newcomers to the series because of that. Just because a game is easy, doesn't mean it can't be fun to play.

I'm so happy you enjoyed this Retrospective ! If you feel that I glossed over anything, please let me know and I will fix that asap.

The music in MM5 is good and while I don't like as much compared to other games, it is still damn good stuff. That remix you shared.....sounds soo good XD!

Everything seems to be in order, so keep up the good work. There is a cool article on Beat that you should read. It's pretty cool.

I always loved the soundtrack in MM5, especially with the Complete Works rendition of the Robot Master themes. Wave Man & Gyro Man's stage themes are incredibly tasty beats.

 

[RK128]

I always recommended playing Mega Man V for newcomers to the series because of that. Just because a game is easy, doesn't mean it can't be fun to play.

Everything seems to be in order, so keep up the good work. There is a cool article on Beat that you should read. It's pretty cool.

I always loved the soundtrack in MM5, especially with the Complete Works rendition of the Robot Master themes. Wave Man & Gyro Man's stage themes are incredibly tasty beats.

Thanks for the link! Will check it out later and may edit the OP with more information about Beat if I find some cool info from it. Glad I covered everything !

MM5 has a good soundtrack and enjoy it, but I prefer later and earlier MM osts. Still a damn good soundtrack, as MM always has good music normally .

 

[OnPoint]

Played through this fairly recently with the lady. Probably the easiest of the NES-6, IMO. Was quite fun though.

 

[Syril]

You can see how comfortable they were getting with the NES color limitations by this point. A lot of later games used black really extensively (being the background) to make a sort of gritty comic book atmosphere but on this they were able to have a really good bright and colorful look without any of the colors looking unnatural.

 

[whiterabbit]

Played through this fairly recently with the lady. Probably the easiest of the NES-6, IMO. Was quite fun though.

IMO Megaman 2 on Normal mode is the easiest. I guess you could place 5 second. I don't think 5 is that much easier than the other games, but I guess it is if you know what you're doing. And the charge shot is pretty good in it. Those tigers that jump at you can do tons of damage. It's not like nobody has never died playing Megaman 5.

 

[explodet]

Dark Man's theme is one of my all-time favorite tracks in the Mega Man series.

Here's a kazoo rendition.

Also, as ineffective/non-essential Beat usually is, it's always been my favorite robot helper.

If you ask me, Beat is totally busted in this one particular game.
Beat makes the Wily Capsule fight in MM5 almost trivial.

 

[Swordian]

Some interesting information about Mega Man 5 is that the robot masters featured in the game, are all based on creations over 130,000 gamers sent to Capcom thanks to a collaboration with Nintendo Power. This continued for a number of titles (just like Mega Man 3 and 4).

The Nintendo Power contest was for MM6 and only 2 bosses were generated from that.

 

[RK128]

The Nintendo Power contest was for MM6 and only 2 bosses were generated from that.

Mmm......good to know. Will edit the OP now to fix that. Thank you for the heads up .

 

[whiterabbit]

The Nintendo Power contest was for MM6 and only 2 bosses were generated from that.

Mmm......good to know. Will edit the OP now to fix that. Thank you for the heads up .

I was curious about this myself, so I looked it up and here's what I found on the link: http://megaman.wikia.com/wiki/Boss_character_contest

Apparently all the Robot Masters for MM2 - 6 were created by fans. However, all of the entries came from Japan, except for 2 in MM6 that came from North America. I guess that's why they usually have a part in the credits where they show the bosses and a person's name - that would be the person who designed the robot.

 

[RK128]

I was curious about this myself, so I looked it up and here's what I found on the link: http://megaman.wikia.com/wiki/Boss_character_contest

Apparently all the Robot Masters for MM2 - 6 were created by fans. However, all of the entries came from Japan, except for 2 in MM6 that came from North America. I guess that's why they usually have a part in the credits where they show the bosses and a person's name - that would be the person who designed the robot.

That makes a lot of sense; credits are a nice spot to highlight the creations that fans helped produce .

 

[whiterabbit]

That makes a lot of sense; credits are a nice spot to highlight the creations that fans helped produce .

Yep. So the info from your original OP still stands correct.

 

[RK128]

Yep. So the info from your original OP still stands correct.

Still edited it but will add back what I cut-out. Thank you guys for the correct information !

 

[leroidys]

yeah cause games are only good if they're difficult.

Oh fuck off , I even explicitly qualified it with "for me personally". The high difficulty and high level of precision required is something intrinsic to the series, so when they strip that out it just feels flat to me. I appreciate that there is an easy game so that more people can get in to the series, I just don't enjoy playing it.

 

[whiterabbit]

Oh fuck off , I even explicitly qualified it with "for me personally". The high difficulty and high level of precision required is something intrinsic to the series, so when they strip that out it just feels flat to me. I appreciate that there is an easy game so that more people can get in to the series, I just don't enjoy playing it.

But you called it "braindead easy." I don't really think that's true. You still have to know what you're doing in this game. It still requires precision platforming and shooting.

 

[120v]

i remember being surprised by MM5... it was at the tail end of the NES' life, MM4 was good but breaching into "phoned in" territory. i bought MM5 not expecting much but you could tell a lot of effort was put into each stage and robot master designs.... it even looked better than some snes games at the time, from a design perspective.

wasn't years later until i realized how easy it was. for that reason i don't go back to it much but it's definitely underrated.

 

[OnPoint]

IMO Megaman 2 on Normal mode is the easiest. I guess you could place 5 second. I don't think 5 is that much easier than the other games, but I guess it is if you know what you're doing. And the charge shot is pretty good in it. Those tigers that jump at you can do tons of damage. It's not like nobody has never died playing Megaman 5.

You're probably right, but I don't know if I even count Mega Man 2 on Normal. I would rather play it (and stack the difficulty rankings) the way the game was intended originally. MM2 certainly isn't unreasonable on "Difficult".

I'm not saying no one has ever died playing Mega Man 5. Shit, I died a few times for sure. And I'm not even saying it's a negative. Was just making a statement that I found it to be on the easier side.

 

[whiterabbit]

You're probably right, but I don't know if I even count Mega Man 2 on Normal. I would rather play it (and stack the difficulty rankings) the way the game was intended originally. MM2 certainly isn't unreasonable on "Difficult".

I'm not saying no one has ever died playing Mega Man 5. Shit, I died a few times for sure. And I'm not even saying it's a negative. Was just making a statement that I found it to be on the easier side.

Okay. I see most speedruns of MM2 on "Normal" mode unless they're playing the other version for some reason. I've beaten it on Difficult and it's not much harder, although I felt I needed to save some E-tanks for the end.

MM5 might be on the easy side, although it's not as stupid easy as people are claiming. What about Crystal Man's stage? Those falling crystals can kill you very easy. Also the Dark Mans are all pretty fast and aggressive. I think MM5 might be one of the ones that you can beat entirely with the Mega buster.

 

[leroidys]

But you called it "braindead easy." I don't really think that's true. You still have to know what you're doing in this game. It still requires precision platforming and shooting.

Well, it kind of is. I replayed it when I got the legacy collection, probably for the first time since I got the anniversary collection in 2004 or whatever, and I didn't die once until the 5th stage I played. The game doesn't require you to learn most of the bosses patterns, and there is a serious dearth of platforming challenges.

Obviously this varies based on the player. I don't understand why so many people feel the need to argue my own experience with the game with me.

 

[whiterabbit]

Well, it kind of is. I replayed it when I got the legacy collection, probably for the first time since I got the anniversary collection in 2004 or whatever, and I didn't die once until the 5th stage I played. The game doesn't require you to learn most of the bosses patterns, and there is a serious dearth of platforming challenges.

Obviously this varies based on the player. I don't understand why so many people feel the need to argue my own experience with the game with me.

Fair enough. Crystal Man's stage and the one castle stage with those conveyor belt moving platforms are probably the two hardest parts that I can think of.

 

[BocoDragon]

The Kirby's Adventure of Mega Man games.

Way too easy, but such a great example of graphics on NES, and it has a sublime soundtrack.

It's one of my favourite Mega Man games... Actually, it being a breeze means its more playable than some of the others.

I remember renting this the weekend it came out and beating it as a kid. Protoman as an enemy had me legit shook. Loved his stage music.