Mega Man

Name: Mega Man
Year: 1987
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Platformer
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: A few times

Mega Man was the most prolific series on the NES, beginning with the first game in 1987, and ending with Mega Man 6 in 1993.  While some games are considered superior to others, Capcom did an impressive job of keeping the quality high throughout the entire series.  There's certain aspects you know you can expect when you play a Mega Man game: being able to play the first eight (or in the first game, six) levels in any order, obtaining a boss' weapon after you beat them, phenomenal music that's different on every level, and a high degree of difficulty, strategy, and control.

The official story behind Mega Man 1 is that evil Dr. Wily has reprogrammed robots originally designed for menial labor.  While there's no opening cutscene to explain this in-game, the art and design elements do a good job of conveying it.  The majority of robots have a clear non-combat purpose (pick ax robots, demolition robots, car crusher robots, etc), and most levels appear to take place in a realistic location (construction site, polar research area, etc).  I especially love the final level, which appropriately takes place inside a robot factory - what more logical location could there be for Wily's lair?

Mega Man 1 is one of the least popular entries in the series (probably second only to Mega Man 6), and this is because it's also the most difficult game in the series.  A big reason why Mega Man games are still popular to this day is because every obstacle and enemy in the game is completely avoidable, with enough skill and strategy, but you also have a health meter that lets you decide when it's worth it to take a hit or two.  While that holds true in this game in well, there's still quite a few quirks: falling off ladders when you unpause, dying instantly on spikes even when you're flashing invulnerable, falling instantly at super-speed when you miss a jump from a moving platform, etc.  That, combined with a few seemingly "unfair" elements - "normal" enemies that take a third of your health with one hit, for instance - held this entry back from feeling like a true masterpiece.

Graphics & Animation: 3 (Good)
The graphics here are great.  There's six Mega Man games produced for the NES over a span of seven years, and the main character's designs stayed almost exactly the same throughout all six games.  That's an impressive testament to how well Mega Man and his cohorts were designed. The sequels would improve upon the formula with moving backgrounds, oversized enemies, and colorful cutscenes; but still, there's a cutscene as you prepare to enter each level, and Dr. Wily flies away in his spaceship once you've beaten the first six stages.  This was better then anything else on the NES in 1987, and it would only get better as the series progressed...

Music & Sounds: 4 (Excellent)
One of the hallmarks of the Mega Man series is the incredible music.  Every level in the game has a different, full-length theme song!  This was unheard of in 1987, and still impresses even today.

Controls & Level Design: 3 (Good)
Mega Man 1 has the worst controls of any Mega Man game for NES, but that means it still has tighter controls then 90% of the NES games out there.  While the strategy and skill are definitely present (trying to rush through any given level will always get you killed faster then taking your time and being strategic), it lacks the refinement of later games in the series.  The level design is also a little uneven; while some areas seem very unforgiving (like the moving platforms in Gut Man's stage), other aspects seem too easy (such as bosses that die in three hits using the right weapon).

Story & Presentation: 4 (Excellent)
Mega Man 1 has some of the best theming out of all the Mega Man games.  I couldn't even begin to tell you what function Snake Man from Mega Man 3 would serve, be it combat or civilian, and I have no idea where or how his snake-themed level is suppose to be taking place.  In this game, the locations and functions of the robots seem a lot more defined, giving you a sense of the story without you having to read the manual or a text intro.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 3 (Good)
The Mega Man games were designed to be challenging, so that you'd keep replaying the game and learning all the possible patterns and strategies. The fact that you can do the first eight (or in this game, six) levels in any order add to the replayability, because any time you're stuck you can just stitch to a different level.  That being said, length is definitely the Archie's heel of this game - it has only ten stages in all, making it by far the shortest Mega Man game for the NES.

Total: 17 (Good)