Mega Man (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Capcom's 1987 action game for the NES, Mega Man.

Mega Man was Capcom’s first game designed for a home console without any roots in an arcade IP, and it was a pioneering effort. Though it never achieved the levels of financial or critical success enjoyed by its sequels, its myriad innovations established several staples that would become commonplace in the side-scrolling action genre, and alongside the release of Konami's Castlevania (   • Castlevania (NES) Playthrough  ), it marked the close of 1987 as a watershed moment for the quality of third-party NES games. The machine was already well behind the technological curve, but these efforts helped give rise to a second wind that would carry the NES well into the next decade.

Dr. Wright, renowned scientist and inventor, along with his assistant, Dr. Wily, strove to create humanoid robots that would one day perform dangerous tasks in the place of humans. The prototype, Mega Man, was a huge success, and so six more robots were created in his image, each with a specific purpose in mind.

Dr. Wily envied Dr. Light's talents and reprogrammed these robots to seize control of major assets and resources, effectively placing himself in charge of the world. As the only robot left unaffected by Wily’s nefarious tinkering, Mega Man is selected by Dr. Wright as the champion that would become savior to both human and robot-kind alike.

As the game begins, you choose which of the robots you'd like to go after. The theme of each stage is based on the talents of the robot controlling of the area, and each offers its own unique obstacles. From icy platforms to fireball rain, there's no shortage of unique challenges to overcome.

Mega Man is granted use of the weapon of any robot master he defeats, and this is key in deciding the order you should on take on the stages. Each robot master has a specific weakness, and though they can all be taken down with Mega Man’s stock arm cannon, the job will be much easier if you're properly equipped to exploit their weaknesses. The structure gave players an unprecedented amount of choice for a platformer of its time, and it worked so well that it ended up becoming the defining feature of the franchise.

One he has finished off the first six stages, Mega Man must go to Dr. Wily’s fortress and battle his way through a gauntlet of platforming challenges before taking on the evil mastermind himself.

Mega Man‘s graphics, though not as detailed as those in later games in the series, are light years beyond most other NES games released in 1987. Each sprite has a distinct look and color scheme, and most of the enemies are tailored specifically to the theme of the stages in which they appear. The soundtrack is phenomenal with its well put together, heavily layered melodies that suitably complement the action.

Mega Man‘s difficulty level is pretty high, but the tight controls are hard to fault. Death is common as you're learning the ropes, but the game is usually fair in the endless number of ways that it'll kill you.

Of interesting note, Mega Man was originally named Rockman in Japan. According to Game Players magazine, Capcom USA’s then senior vice president Joe Morici (whose ‘thank you’ message appears at the beginning of most of Capcom’s US NES releases’ instruction manuals) decided that the name Mega Man would appeal more to American audiences, but chose to leave the other characters’ names the same (for example, Mega Man’s sister robot was named Roll), despite the lack of context provided for Mega Man’s repurposed title.

Another interesting point is that the corridors that Mega Man must fight through to reach the boss lairs were intended to hide load times since the game began development as a Famicom Disk System title. Even though the game was released on cartridge, the corridors were left in place and became a regular fixture in later games.

As the progenitor to a legacy that spans well over 100 games, Mega Man is a worthy ancestor. Its winning combination of graphics, sound, gameplay, and fair challenge make it a game that, while not as good as its follow ups, deserves much recognition for its incredible achievements.

I uploaded videos of the mainline Mega Man games some years ago, but I've grown discontent with the blurry quality of their 720p recordings, so here is a brand new playthrough with a razor-sharp 4K picture. Hope you enjoy it!

You can also find my playlist of Mega Man games here:    • Mega Man Playthroughs  
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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