Mega Man 5 met with some pretty heavy criticism, often being deemed outdated and unoriginal. Still, most of the fan base was still loyal and Capcom sought out to create the next in the franchise, Mega Man 6, for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Capcom released the Japanese version only, since the NES was being totally phased out, but Nintendo still published and released it in America. Alas, it would be the last Mega Man game created for the NES, and the last 8-bit Mega Man until the release of Mega Man 9. Mega Man 6 brings some new things to the table while keeping the core gameplay the series has always had intact.
THE STORY: Like the plot of every other Mega Man, the story is pretty simple. Short and sweet. A scientist (with a very familiar look to him) by the name of "Mr. X" has organized the world's first Robot Master Tournament, a contest to see who's robots are superior fighters. Dr. Light doesn't enter his robots into the tournament, because he doesn't believe in fighting. However, he sends Mega Man to watch over the tournament. Once the eight finalist robot masters are announced, it is revealed also that Mr. X has re-programmed the eight robot masters to do his evil bidding, and wishes to take control of the world. Mega Man must once again set out and destroy eight evil robot masters and an evil doctor. I wonder who "Mr. X" was trying to fool with those shades.
THE GAMEPLAY: Exactly as the first 5 games, you have a stage select screen when you start up the game, each robot master's mugshot being the indicator for each. The game plays exactly as previous titles did. It's a side scrolling shoot-em-up. Fun fact by the way: each robot master was developed by a fan of the series!
You get to choose any order you want to complete the stages in. At the end of each stage, you'll go head to head with one of the robot masters that were re-programmed by Mr. X. Each robot master possess it's own unique special abilities, which Mega Man will obtain upon defeating that boss. Just like the previous games, each robot master is weak to another robot master's weapon. You'll have to guess who's weak to what, and some weaknesses will be obvious, and others obscure. Some stages now have alternate pathways, which will earn you one of four letters, which spell out "Beat". Getting all four letters will unlock Beat as a weapon to use, who will fly in and attack enemies who are in your way.
Rush is also back for this game, but he works quite differently this time around. Instead of summoning him and hopping on his back in some way, he now fuses with Mega Man. The Rush Jet adapter gives mega man a jumping boost, negating the need for Rush Coil. The other is the Rush Power Adapter, which will allow Mega Man to punch through certain large blocks. There's no need for a long-lasting jet in this game so one wasn't made. You'll also be able to pick up energy tanks and the like, just as in previous Mega Man games.
Another new feature that you can find is the energy equalizer, which causes the energy of the most-drained weapon to be increased when Mega Man picks up a weapon energy capsule, unless he's already has a different weapon selected and in use when picking up the energy. After finished all eight stages, you'll have to get through Mr. X's fortress, which is a series of stages that can't be chosen in any order you see fit. Also, there are no passwords to start you up at stages after the first Mr. X stage. It's a marathon of endurance, just like the previous Mega Man titles and their corresponding final stages.
THE SOUND: Mega Man 6's soundtrack is much in the same vein as Mega Man 4's. It tried to capture the essence and atmosphere of the game as opposed to trying to be catchy, like Mega Man, Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3, and Mega Man 5. Mega Man 6 did a fantastic job of what it was supposed to do. Much like in Mega Man 5, Beat still makes his little chirp when he comes in and attacks. Rush unfortunately wouldn't get his animal call thrown in until Mega Man 7. Still, the soundtrack here is great and so are the little sound effects. The series' soundtracks won't always be catchy, but they most certainly are always good.
Here is a remix too
THE GRAPHICS: Even with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System's growing popularity and support, Capcom still released this game on the regular Nintendo Entertainment System. Some might think it was a bad thing, but once again Capcom has shown that they care more about the fun and awesome gameplay then the graphics.
The next addition to the classic series would show just how bad of an idea it is to focus too much on shiny new graphics. Mega Man belongs in 8-bit, and should stay in 8-bit. Too bad they forgot about this with Mega Man 7 and 8, but at least they eventually came around with Mega Man 9. Still, the graphics look the same as the previous Mega Man games, which have always been solid, and still are here.
OVERALL: Mega Man 6 was a great addition to the series and showed us how they can make a fun game while keeping the gameplay structure the same, and just changing or adding little bits here and there without altering too much. Unfortunately, this game has yet to be released on the Wii's virtual console, so you'll have to go to a used game store and pick up an old cartridge if your NES still works. You could also get the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the PS2 and Gamecube if you wanna play this. Either way, it's a great addition to the franchise so go ahead and snag this game already!
By 1992, the Super Nintendo was in full swing and the 16-bit era was raging, and the 8-bit market was continuing to shrink. Capcom, ever the company to play it safe, decided to revamp Megaman once again and release yet another Megaman title for the NES.
By this time, Megaman had become as big a gaming icon on the NES as Mario was; Megaman 5 was heavily promoted and gave NES fans a game they could enjoy, even if it was expected of Capcom. Most people had by this point moved on from the NES Megaman games, so how does this one compare to the rest?
THE STORY: It is the year 2013. Dr. Wily has been defeated once again and is living in hiding, bringing the world once again to peace. Proven innocent of wrongdoing, Russian scientist Dr. Cossack now lives in Japan and works alongside with Dr. Light in his efforts to better mankind through the development of robotics.
A few months later, the peace is shattered when suddenly Protoman, Megaman’s mysterious elusive brother appears to be giving commands to several robots attacking the city as Wily bots have done in the past! Protoman has always lived by his own rules, but neither Dr. Light or Megaman could imagine Protoman doing something like this for no reason.
Just before he could send Megaman into action to investigate, Protoman appears at the lab and kidnaps Dr. Light! Clutching his brother’s signature yellow scarf left behind, Megaman insists on stepping into the fray once again to save the city, rescue Dr. Light and discover the mystery behind Protomans actions.
THE GRAPHICS: Megaman 5 continues the trend from the previous games and is once again, one of the best looking games on the NES while bringing very little new to the table. But once again as a great looking NES game, it adds very little that Megaman 4 didn’t do. Sprites are just as well animated as ever, mid-bosses look great and there’s now a rotating set of sprites for Megaman!. Megaman 5 taps into everything the NES could do and produces some really great effects. You won’t be disappointed with the way it looks. Megaman 5 screams late NES game graphics.
THE SOUND: Megaman 5 was composed by Mari Yamaguchi, who had also worked on Breath of Fire and U.N Squadron. I find most of her music to be among the absolute best. Each track in 5 are memorable, distinctive and get to the point quickly so you know exactly what you are listening to everytime you play. 5 also some of the best remixes in the series by far. I often times find myself humming tunes from Megaman 5 while driving, working, sometimes even cooking!
Here’s a remix of my favorite track in the game, Naplam Man.This remix is from the second Megaman arcade game, the Power Fighters. I’ve always, always loved this remix.
THE GAMEPLAY: It should come as no surprise that Megaman 5 plays no differently from any of the previous Megaman games. It should also come as no surprise that this isn’t a bad thing as the formula once again works perfectly. Everything from the previous games is once again present: the jumping, shooting, even the sliding. Megaman 5 improves the Mega buster from 4 by allowing hyou to keep the charge when hit and also allowing Megaman to fire a larger 4×4 block blast rather than the tube shaped shot form 4. From this point on, Megaman would use this style of shot, so one could argue the perfected Mega buster came from Megaman 5.
Megaman 5 also has some minor gameplay additions featured for the first and last time. First among them is a section where Megaman rides on a water ski. This is like an auto scrolling shooter, but you can’t pause, change weapons or even charge the mega-buster. It only exists for about half of Waveman’s stage.
Another addition are scrolling backgrounds. The end of Gyroman’s stage is an elevator with platforms and spikes that need to be avoided with careful jumps and movements. Late into the game there’s also challenge to ascend to a platform by destroying supporting bricks. It’s odd 5 is the only game to try this.
Megaman 5 is one of my favorites, yet I can’t help but feel it has one of the worst weapon sets in all of the Megaman games! This time around, I have a bone to pick with every single weapon.
Water Wave – Sends a rush of water forward that only affects enemies on the ground. It is very weak and will not kill anything in one hit and doesn’t pass through enemies.
Crystal Eye – Shoots a large crystal that breaks into four smaller crystals and fly about. Like the Gemini Laser, it’s hard to aim it anywhere but straight, defeating the purpose.
Charge Kick – Turns Megaman’s slide into an attack. Would be really kinda cool if you could fire as normal with it selected. As it is, sliding into enemies is almost like 3′s Top Spin fiasco repeated.
Gravity Hold – Flashes the whole screen, destroying all effected enemies. This weapon is really cool, but enemies never leave power ups and it consumes a lot of energy.
Power Stone – Sends three stones orbiting away from Megaman. It is very rare that you’ll ever actually be able to hit multiple enemies with this weapon.
Napalm Bomb – Fires small grenades that roll along before exploding or hitting an enemy. A really cool weapon, but they aren’t very powerful.
Gyro Attack – Throws a spinning blade that can be controlled up or down. A cool weapon that doesn’t do much damage to most enemies. Also, why "attack"? Couldn’t they come up with a better name?
Star Crush – It’s another %&#$ shield weapon. Disperses when enemies touch it once. Consumes a lot of energy.
Super Arrow – It’s like Item 2 made into an attack. Doubles as a means of transport.
Beat – A robotic bird that automatically homes in and destroys enemies for you. Beat can be used only after collecting all of the MEGAMANV icons, by which point you’ll be used to playing without his aid and you might not even notice he’s there as the game doesn’t notify you! Beat is really cool, but I wish that Beat could be used a little sooner than until after you defeat all eight bosses!
THE CONTROLS: Megaman 5 once again controls literally identically to Megaman 4. The only slight tweak is in the Megabuster as it now doesn’t seem to discharge as easily and you no longer loose your charge when hit by an enemy.
D-pad: Movement
B: Fire
A: Jump
Select: No Function
Start: Pause/Menu
FUN FACTOR & FRUSTRATION: Due to the enhanced buster, most of the robot masters this time around are a cinch. If you choose to play without the charging ability of the Mega buster though, the game can be quite challenging. It’s also well worth mentioning that some of the stages can be infuriatingly difficult, particularly Crystalman’s stage. There are sections where crystals randomly fall through these shoots and you must make timed jumps to get through. Even as a child I hated these more than even the death lasers in Quickman’s stage from 2. Just when you think you’ve got the timing for them down, bam you’re hit, and then you fall into a pit. It’s a lot harder than it seems it would be.
HISTORY: As with previous entries in the series, development for Rockman 5 involved a robot master creation contest held in Japan where kids would submit drawings and ideas for robot masters. For the previous Rockman 4, the eight finalist robot designers received a special gold copy of the game as an acknowledgment for their work. This game the finalists didn’t receive anything, and their designs themselves were redesigned several times by Keiji Inafune before they were approved. Still, the robots maintain the child approach at least in spirit. Concept art for Megaman 3 shows early ideas for robotic sidekicks including a robotic dog which became Rush, and a robotic bird which became Beat here. Beat, roughly based on Megaman’s helmet, is a robot built from the previous game’s framed antagonist Dr. Cassock. When Megaman 5 came out for the NES in North America, Nintendo Power magazine heavily promoted it, even featuring a robot master creation contest for fun and showcased many ideas, some names of which would go on to be robots in future games! Megaman 5 won the category for best NES graphics in a 1992 poll in Nintendo Power.
OVERALL:
GOOD: Continues the Megaman tradition of excellent play control, graphics, audio and gameplay. Mega Buster feels much better than Megaman 4′s. Some original concepts such as falling ceilings introduced here that make the game more exciting. More legendary Megaman music. Many of the best themes in the entire series can be heard here. Relatively common and affordable for a later NES game. Great replay value. Gravityman and Starman have some of the most interesting and enjoyable stages in any NES game.
BAD: Visually looks almost exactly like the older games, which can turn off some players. Again, some of the robot masters are incredibly dumb. How about the robot based on a steam train, Chargeman anyone? CHOO CHOO! Rush Jet isn’t nearly as useful here as it was in Megaman 3, and joining the crapfest is the new version of the Rush Coil which turns Rush into a pogostick. One of the worst weapon sets in all Megaman games. A few are fun to use, but far too many stinkers make this one Megaman game you’re better to just stick with the main arm cannon.
CONCLUSION: For me personally, Megaman 5 is the pinnacle of Megaman games on the NES. The rebalanced Mega Buster makes using it much less frustrating than Megaman 4, and the great verity of stages gives it much more lasting appeal than the previous entry in the series. It came out in 1992 and by then most had stopped playing the NES Megamans, which is a real shame as even with a few issues, Megaman 5 is by far the best NES Megaman. I hope Capcom remakes it someday and retools the master weapons to be a bit better. Ah, I can dream, can’t I?
THE COMMERCIAL: Commerical time kiddies! Transport back to childhood and pertend you like in an awesome country like Japan that bothers to produce such steller ads as this.
By 1991, the Super Nintendo was already out and many people were eagerly switching over to the new console and abandoning the NES. Yet, the NES would still endure into its golden years thanks in large part to due to continued support from Capcom. One of Capcom’s major titles for 1991 was Megaman 4, which they announced would not be on the SNES as many had suspected, but still for the regular Nintendo instead. (bet it’s been a while since you last heard that term!). This choice kept sales figures for Megaman 4 to never hope to reach those of Megaman 2 and 3, but nevertheless, Megaman 4 did sell fairly well. Looking back on it now though, is Megaman 4 worth a look or were the masses right that it should have been made for the SNES?
THE STORY: It is the year 2011. Megaman has been fully repaired following the injuries he sustained in the collapse of Dr. Wily’s fortress following Gamma’s destruction in his third battle against Dr. Wily. Even though they were adveresies, it is a somber time for Megaman following the presumed death of the tyrannical scientist in the collapse. Although he had sworn to defend justice, he never intended Wily to parish.
After the chaos ended and peace was restored, Dr. Light received a message from a mysterious Russian scientist named Dr. Cossack, claiming to be the greatest scientific genius in the world and having been far too long overlooked by Dr. Light. Angered and jealous, Dr. Cassock has sent his eight most powerful robots to destroy Megaman to prove his robots are better than Light’s.
As Megaman prepares to face off against the soviet robot threat, there is but one thing he is sure of - IN SOVIET RUSSIA, ROBOT MASTERS YOU!
THE GRAPHICS: Megaman 4 is a great looking NES game, but it adds very little that Megaman 3 didn’t do. Sprites are just as well animated as ever, mid-bosses look great and there’s now environmental effects such as rain and running water. Megaman 4 taps into everything the NES could do and produces some really great effects. You won’t be disappointed with the way it looks. In fact, had Megaman 4 been on the SNES, I’m not sure it would’ve looked as good as what was done on the NES. It isn’t the best the NES could do, but it’s aged very nicely.
THE SOUND: New composer Minae Fuji (Ojalin) joins Megaman 3 composer Yasuaki Fujita (Bun Bun) to pump out more incredible tracks. You will find that you’ll hum many of these tracks and possibly want to seek out remixes to put on your ipod. Megaman music on your ipod? It’s more likely than you think! Here’s a remix of my favorite track in the game, The Cassock Citadel stage 1-2 theme.
THE GAMEPLAY: Everything from Megaman 3 is here – the jumping, shooting, even the sliding. Megaman 4 adds one new element that has since been a staple of Megaman: the Mega Buster charge shot. By holding the B button for several seconds, Megaman will charge up his standard Mega Buster up to three stages, unleashing a powerful bolt of energy equal to three of his standard plasma shots in a row.
The weapons for Megaman 4 are somewhat of a mixed bag. While none are as absolutely worthless as 3′s Top Spin, you’ll find a few of them are pretty poor and rarely used. The Skull Barrier is more a lot like the Woodman’s Leaf Shield from 2, except that it vanishes when it hits anything. The other fairly useless weapon is the Rain Flush, which pelts the screen with a weak acid rain damaging everything other than Megaman. As the Rain Flush does very little damage, you’ll hardly ever use it.
On the other hand, Megaman 4 also includes some of the best weapons in the series including the Ring Boomerang, Dive Missiles, and Pharaoh Shot. The Ring Boomerang travels through enemies, can grab items through walls, and is a rather powerful attack. Dive Missiles automatically home in on the closest enemy, making them extremely useful. The Pharaoh Shot is a combination of the multi-directional Metal Blade and the charge ability of the Atomic Fire. Hold down B to amass a large ball of energy that can be thrown from 50 to 90 degree arches. Some of the weapons suck, but the awesome ones more than make up for it.
THE CONTROLS:
Megaman 4 controls literally identically to Megaman 3. That is as good as it gets. You will never fight with the controls.
d-pad: Movement
B: Fire
A: Jump
Start: Pause
Select: No fucntion
FUN FACTOR & FRUSTRATION:
Megaman 4 includes the embarrassingly easy to defeat Toadman, but also the quite difficult Ringman, Pharaohman and Drillman. The difficulty of Megaman 4 is perhaps slightly more challenging than Megaman 3, but Megaman 4 is by no means an overly tough game, especially for NES standards. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the hardest, I’d give Megaman 4 is a 6.
HISTORY: Megaman 4 pioneered many concepts that would become staples of Megaman platforming for decades to follow. It is the first game to feature the Mega Buster, the basic ability for Megaman to charge his arm cannon. It marked the first game where Wily framed someone, a reoccurring theme in nearly every sequel to follow. It was the first Megaman game to make use of many cutscenes, allowed players to revisit stages of defeated robots, and marked the first to have hidden items and alternative paths through some of the stages. There is a extremely rare gold variation of the the Japanese version that was given out to the finalist winners of the Robot Master Creation Contest held in Japan. These eight cartridges are considered to be one of the Famicom’s holy grails. The only non-privately owned copy is for sale in Akiharaba’s legendary Super Potato retro game store. The price?
OVERALL: GOOD: Continues the Megaman terdition of excellent play control, graphics, audio and gameplay. Password system is streamlined from Megaman 3′s. Some original concepts such as falling ceilings introduced here that make the game more exciting. More legendary Megaman music. Megaman 4 has some of my favorite chiptunes of all time, particularly the Cassock Citadel theme. Relatively common and cheap to find in the wild.
BAD: The balancing of the Mega Buster isn’t quite right just yet. Some of the robot masters this time are incredibly dumb. Dustman anyone? Rush Jet isn’t nearly as useful here as it was in Megaman 3. More useless Megaman weapons: Skull Barrier and Rain Flush. By and large the most forgettable of the six games on the NES. The game can be beaten easily by seasoned Megaman players, but has the least replay value of all six NES titles.
CONCLUSION: Megaman 3 is where many stopped playing Megaman games, and it’s a true shame. Megaman 4 features everything that made the third game so excellent yet it starts a deja vu feeling a little too strong for its own good. The game is worth playing on its own merits, but as a Megaman game on the NES, it is perhaps the weakest of the bunch.
By 1990, the Nintendo Entertainment System had already peaked. The Turbografix-16 and Sega Genesis were out and vastly outperforming the limited tech of the Nintendo. Still, the NES was still able to hold its own very well that year thanks to yet another batch of excellent games, most notably Megaman 3. Even according to its own project manager, Megaman 3 was rushed. Many ideas started for it were left unfinished and glossed over. As a result, Megaman 3 is much less polished than 2 and manages somehow to be even easier than 2 was in it’s dumbed down American "normal" mode. All this said, Megaman 3 is remembered for being one of the best games in the series and a strong excuse why many oldschool gamers keep that NES toaster close to their television. Does Megaman 3 really deserve all the attention it garners?
THE STORY: Megaman 3 has no in-game explanation of the plot. To learn it, you have to actually read the Japanese manual, as the US manual is absurdly inaccurate. It is the year 2010. No, really, in the 2 game, it was 200X, and now it's 20XX, so it's plausible, right? After being defeated twice, Dr. Wily claims to be a changed man, and wants to team up with Dr. Light once again to build robots to benefit mankind. Dr. Wily and Dr. Light work together on a "peace-keeping" robot named Gamma, a massive Robot so powerful that once finished,would be able to stop anyone who tried to take over the world as Wily did. Gamma uses a special new form of power generated from newly discovered, extremely rare and valuable energy crystals. As the two doctor’s search, they discover that there are eight energy crystals being guarded by yet another set of crazed robot masters. Megaman is sent in once again to defeat the robots and retrieve the crystals, all the while being shadowed by a mysterious red robot that seems to only fight Megaman to test him. What is the secret to this mystery? Has Wily truly changed? What will happen when Gamma is finished?
THE GRAPHICS: Megaman 3 is very good looking for NES standards. Backgrounds are much more detailed than the previous two games and large enemy sprites are the norm. Megaman looks the same as always, but the robot masters this time around are all appealing to look at. Megaman 3 has some of the most varied stages of any game in the series. Gemini Man’s stage is a very cool multi-colored cavern that seems to be in space or something. It’s awesome. The only stage I don’t understand at all is Top Man’s. It’s not Top themed at all, instead more like a greenhouse growing…. something. No idea what his stage is. Maybe he’s the "top" of pot-growing? Regardless, it’s still a nicely designed stage with a cool theme. Top Man himself though? One of the lamest bosses in the series.
THE SOUND: Once again, the soundtrack is nothing short of amazing. Many of the tracks from the game are amongst the catchiest, most memorable chiptunes you’ll ever hear. Just like 2, many cover bands the world over remix Megaman 3. The title theme in particular just might be one of the best melodies used for any game’s title screen ever. I consider it a must-listen for anyone who is a fan of 8-bit. A special treat for you as you read: One of my favorite arranged versions of the awesome intro sequence.
THE GAMEPLAY: Megaman 3 plays identically to Megaman 2 - you run, shoot, jump and climb ladders. You progress through the stages fight each robot master and gaining their powers. Even by Megaman 3 this was old hat. Megaman 3 built upon Megaman 2 by adding two new features to the gameplay - sliding and Rush.
New for Megaman 3, by pressing down and B Megaman will slide, allowing him a quick boost in speed and maneuverability. In addition, sliding reduce Mergaman’s height from two spaces to one, allowing him to access narrow areas he normally would not be able to and also to avoid some attacks he would not if he were standing. As Megaman can jump out of a slide, the speed boost and the reduction in side greatly add to Megaman’s agility in battle.
The other major addition is Rush, Megaman’s robodog sidekick. Rush doesn’t directly aid Megaman in combat but rather serves the same role the three Items did in 2 in that he provides a platform for Megaman to gain access to otherwise unreachable areas. Rush has three forms: Rush Coil, Rush Jet, and Rush Marine. Rush Coil is basically a springboard that allows Megaman to preform a super jump that Mario would be jealous of. Rush Jet is the most useful as it provides Megaman with the ability to fly anywhere on the screen, over spikes, enemies, pitfalls and just about anything else. The final form for Rush is the Rush Marine, which acts the same as the Rush Jet, but only in water. Of the three this is used the least as there are only a handful of underwater sections in the entire game.
THE CONTROLS: The controls for Megaman 3 are almost identical to those from 2. The d-pad moves, B shoots, A jumps, Start pauses, select does nothing. As said above, sliding is now preformed by pressing down and B.
FUN FACTOR & FRUSTRATION: Megaman 3 is much less frustrating than the average Megaman game as long as you don’t use the Top Spin. This almighty useless weapon spins Megaman like a top for his arms and legs to slam into foes, but you’ll almost always collide with them causing you just as much damage. It really sucks. The level design this time around is a little easier than Megaman 2′s, especially if you make good use of the Rush Jet. If you’re still having difficulties with the game and are playing the NES or Famicom version, Get out a second controller and some tape. Megaman 3 has a set of beta-tester shortcuts mapped to the buttons of the second controller that when held, greatly reduce the game’s difficulty. Hold right on the d-pad of controller 2 and jump with controller 1 to preform a jump that even outperforms the boost Rush Coil offers! Hold up on the d-pad of controller 2 and jump with controller 1 to freeze sprite frames. Not very useful, but kind of cool. Hold up on the d-pad of controller 2 and A on controller 2 as well to completely freeze all robots on the screen including Megaman. You’ll either need a friend, a foot, or some tape to do this. This is helpful as Megaman can still fire even though he can’t move, but your enemies can’t do anything. There are a number of other tricks for the game, but these are the most useful, and then of course there’s Game Genie…
HISTORY: While Keiji Inafune has never directly said so, it’s pretty obvious the insperation for Megaman’s sidekick robot dog Rush came from Friender, the robo-dog sidekick to Casshern of the 1973 anime series Neo-Human Casshern. You just need to watch the opening sequence for that anime to see the influences.
In an interview with Nintendo Power in the October 2007 issue, series creator Keiji Inafune explained that he was disappointed with: "…what went into the game and what was behind the release of the game". He also stated that he was forced to put the game out before he thought it was ready and during the game’s production, the developers lost the main planner, so Inafune had to take over that job for completing the game. Inafune concluded, "I knew that if we had more time to polish it, we could do a lot of things better, make it a better game, but the company (Capcom) said that we needed to release it. The whole environment behind what went into the production of the game is what I least favored. Numbers one and two - I really wanted to make the games, I was so excited about them. Number three - it just turned very different".
Evidence of the game’s rushed devolopment cycle are everywhere in Megaman 3, but I’ll narrow them down to a few key examples:
No.1: The lack of an intro
Megaman 3 is the only NES game other than Megaman 1 to completely lack an introduction sequence. When you turn on the power, the titlescreen simply appears without explaining the story at all. The game features a brilliant titlescreen theme that plays for nearly a minute before looping, but the only way to hear all of it is to simply put the controller down and stare at a static titlescreen.
No.2: Protoman
In Megaman 3, Protoman appears in front of Megaman several times, at first hiding his true identity by wearing a Sniper Joe-like mask and using the name "Breakman". As you fight him each time, the game does nothing to explain what’s going on, or even who Protoman is at the end of the game. To me, this is a big sign of a rushed development.
No.3: Musical cues suddenly get cut off
There are a few tracks that normally get cut off unless you preform the up and A trick with the second controller. The first is Protoman’s whistle. Normally only the first part will play and then cut out. The second example is Dr. Wily’s theme on the mapscreen. Again, it cuts off at roughly only half way through it. The final example is the worst. After the mysterious shadowy figure that had been watching Megaman throughout the game saves him at the end of the game, the full version of Protoman’s theme plays as each Dr. Light Number robot scrolls by the screen. The full Protoman theme is a treat to hear, but it gets cut off right in the middle! What the hell Capcom?!
No.4: Unused sprites & other oddities in the ROM
Megaman 3 is teeming with unused sprites, only discovered through modern NES compilers and hex editors. In Gemini Man’s stage, there was originally to be a large Saturn-like planet in the background that would shimmer in multiple colors. Other examples include a Magnet Missile sprite as the Magnets turned on an angle, something that does not occur in the final game.There are many other examples. If you are curious, you can read all the examples discovered here. Even given its raid development shortcomings, Megaman 3 ending being a huge hit for Capcom when it was released in 1990, outselling nearly every other third party game that year. The wild success of two Megaman games in a row assured Capcom that a fourth would also sell well, so development of Megaman 4 was quickly scheduled, but the soon to be released Super Famicom would serve as a large growing pain for Megaman…
OVERALL: GOOD: The addition of the slide greatly increases Megaman’s agility and is a lot of fun to use. Password system returns. The longest Megaman game ever made at 21 stages. More classic Megaman tunes and one of the best titlescreen themes in videogame history.
BAD: Almost complete lack of an in-game story. That opening sequence music is AMAZING, but the only way to hear it is to stare at the static title screen. Many other musical oddities you cannot hear without special means, such as Protoman’s whistle playing part way, the Wily theme, and the epilogue. These tunes all get strangely cut off mid way through. Far too easy. The Top Spin sucks.
CONCLUSION: To me, the constant debate if Megaman 2 is better than 3 is irrelevant. They’re both must own, must play games that have timeless appeal. Megaman 3 is the first game where the US boxart even slightly resembles the blue bomber! As they say, third time’s a charm. Will Megaman 4 best it? Find out next time!
Mega Man 5 met with some pretty heavy criticism, often being deemed outdated and unoriginal. Still, most of the fan base was still loyal and Capcom sought out to create the next in the franchise, Mega Man 6, for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Capcom released the Japanese version only, since the NES was being totally phased out, but Nintendo still published and released it in America. Alas, it would be the last Mega Man game created for the NES, and the last 8-bit Mega Man until the release of Mega Man 9. Mega Man 6 brings some new things to the table while keeping the core gameplay the series has always had intact.
THE GRAPHICS: Even with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System's growing popularity and support, Capcom still released this game on the regular Nintendo Entertainment System. Some might think it was a bad thing, but once again Capcom has shown that they care more about the fun and awesome gameplay then the graphics.
OVERALL: Mega Man 6 was a great addition to the series and showed us how they can make a fun game while keeping the gameplay structure the same, and just changing or adding little bits here and there without altering too much. Unfortunately, this game has yet to be released on the Wii's virtual console, so you'll have to go to a used game store and pick up an old cartridge if your NES still works. You could also get the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the PS2 and Gamecube if you wanna play this. Either way, it's a great addition to the franchise so go ahead and snag this game already!
