Every Legend Has a Beginning



Almost everyone by now has heard of Capcom's robotic hero Mega Man. Mega Man is to Capcom what Mario and Link are to Nintendo and what Sonic is to Sega. Hes had several games with varying playstyles from RPG types, to platformers and even a soccer game. However back in 1987 when the game Mega Man was released most people wouldn't know Mega Man until its sequel a year later, Mega Man II.


If you have been one of those few who have started the Mega Man series with a later game in the series and for some reason never played the first Mega Man thinking it was inferior to the later sequels well than you have missed a gem of a game.

The story is simple in this game, six robots who in this game are Cutman, Gutsman, Elecman, Fireman, Iceman and Bombman, along with Mega Man were created by Dr Light for industrial purposes. However unlike Mega Man the six were stolen by the evil Dr. Wily and reprogrammed to destroy the world.

Gameplay is just like later installs in the series you generally run to the right jumping over bottomless pits, and shoot enemies through out the level until you get to end of the level which after passing through a gate you are placed in a one and one duel with the robot master you selected. Once all six robot masters are defeated and their weapons are yours to command you are than granted passage into Wily's Skull Castle were after taking on a few of his minions, the first of many showdowns with Wily happens.

The main difference however with this game over the later games is how difficult this game can be especially to those who started with the other games. Sadly this game doesn't offer the E-tanks that will fully recharge your energy, and there is no password system like the other games as well meaning you would have to beat this game in one playthrough however thanks to save states that really isn't a problem in the Virtual Console release of this game. Unlike later games that have three or more utility items, Mega Man only has one the magnet beam which you dont even have to get if you dont want too, but trust me on this one you will want if for a part of the Ice Man stage.

As far as weapon balance goes this game does suffer from the unbalance of weapons like the other games do particular the Thunder Beam which is a very damaging weapon to begin with and can be even more powerful by a glitch by using the infamous pause/unpause trick, to weapons like the Super Arm that are useless unless you happen to have a supply of a certain type of brick.

Music wise the tunes in this one are just as good as the other games my favorite are Elecman and the Gutsman Stage, and really set the mood for this game.

The level designs are on par with the other games as well and are as unique as each robot master, Fireman's is fiery level with numerous firetraps and fire enemies while Iceman's is a winter wonderland type complete with ice physics such as sliding a bit after running.

In conclusion while the later Mega Man games tend to be the most well know it is worth picking up Mega Man's first outing. Even with the higher difficulty that this one has to offer compared to the others in the series. Once you play it though you will see that this game isn't that much different from the other games in the series.

Overall Rating: 8/10