1. Mega Man (1987)
The original Mega Man can be a difficult game but an unique one as well. You have six robot masters to defeat before going after the mad scientist Dr. Wily. Yes there are rematches during the Wily Stages with those robot masters. If you memorize which of their abilities is a weakness to another very well.
You can quickly speed through these rematches in no time. You don't have much protection from enemy's projectiles since they can go through them. There's a great variety of everything for a short platformer. Do I even need to mention the soundtrack being great because it is. This is a true NES classic more people needs to play.
2. Mega Man 2 (1988)
For a lot of people they consider Mega Man 2 as their favorite Mega Man game. To be fair, it is truly worth of that title. We get two additional robot masters increasing the total to eight robot masters. Obviously you need to defeat before going after Dr. Wily again. I got to say Metal Man is one of my absolute favorite robot masters ever.
Everything from his level to the song playing to his ability. All of it is easily one of my favorite Mega Man stages ever. This game also introduced a small area where you must do a rematch against all the robot masters. A theme that also carried over to Mega Man X series. I felt this was the most balanced NES Mega Man game out of the six.
I can't even pick a particular stage I honestly did not like either. Mega Man 2 has a truly amazing soundtrack with excellent sound effects. This game not only surpasses the original, it likely stayed beyond most of the games that followed too. To me this is not only a must play game. Mega Man 2 is the very game you could listen to it's songs every single day.
3. Mega Man 3 (1990)
Mega Man 3 introduces the slide, a personal favorite of mine. You also get eight more robot masters to defeat. Seriously where is this old man getting all of these robots? They added a new robot who appears in four stages you cleared. You need to defeat him eight times since he represents all of Mega Man 2's robot masters.
Yes imagine that not only you got this game's robot masters but also a robots whose essentially all of MM2's robot masters in one. I know that's a lot to take in even before going after Dr. Wily. I felt some of them are some of my favorites like Magnet Man yeah I know no surprise. I felt this game is a little harder than the previous entry.
Mega Man 3 does try it's best. I would say it's one of the best among those on the console. You really need to memorize a lot more than usual to get far in this game. I felt it is still a well balanced game for what it brings to the table. Easily one of my favorite Mega Man games I played. I also don't have anything major for the criticism side of things.
4. Mega Man 4 (1991)
It wasn't common for any series to have more than three games on NES. Mega Man 4 starts one of the most annoying treads this franchise has to offer. They go out of their way to make it seem like someone else is responsible for these attacks. In this case, a Russian scientist named Dr. Cossack was forced by Dr. Wily to help him.
He actually stolen his creations then claim em as his own. Even Dr. Robotnik wouldn't go that low. So this means for the first time, you got two castles/fortresses to play through. I felt this time around the eight robot masters are a mixed bag. Sure I actually like Pharaoh Man & Skull Man despite being tough bosses.
But come on Toad Man, Ring Man & Dust Man? Yeah I am a little disappointed, even the worst of them from Mega Man 3 was better than this. Of course, the soundtrack is once again a home run. I felt adding those Cossack stages to make the game a little bit longer. To be honest, I kinda prefer those over that of the Wily stages.
5. Mega Man 5 (1992)
This has one of the strangest stories in any Mega Man game. Supposedly the new eight robot masters being led by Proto Man. It's a pack of lies, we all know it's Dr. Wily lol. Just like Mega Man 4, we got two fortresses to go through. The first of these are Proto Man theme despite being an impostor. Yes the real Proto Man shows up.
I actually felt they did a much better job with the eight robot masters to make up for the previous game's. Who doesn't like Napalm Man lol. Some of my favorite abilities are in this game too. I felt as a whole, it's deserves more attention than it currently gets. I am not saying it's better than some of the previous games either.
6. Mega Man 6 (1993)
I felt the eight robot masters here are alright. Clearly better than some of those from Mega Man 4. Yes I am not going to let it down so easily. Once again, we got two fortresses to get through. Supposedly Dr. Wily's mentor being the one responsible for those attacks. Of course, you knew it was actually Dr. Wily in disguise come on now lol.
Mega Man 6 may have some alright stages with some great ones. It does have some of the best additions in the franchise. If you go out of your way to collect what you need. You can combine with your robot dog Rush just like that in the cover picture above to increase getting to difficult spots. I will say the soundtrack is once again great.
We already pass the point of somethings got ridiculous. It only going to continue getting more ridiculous over each new Mega Man game. By now you would think this guy would stop trying already lol. I will say he does live up to being difficult in this one. A handful of robot masters are well laughable for the most part.
I mean come on Plant Man? Is this the best you could come up with Capcom? I could excuse similar theme robot masters. I will say the challenge ends up being slightly easier if you get your upgrades. This is a well designed game that may not live up to the hype some have. I felt it was an enjoyable experience.
7. Mega Man 7 (1995)
Mega Man 7 to me was a bit of an disappointment. I wasn't a huge SNES fan, I was way more into Sega Genesis during my child hood. I actually got to be honest, I really do prefer the first Mega Man X games on SNES over this. I felt there's a few major problems that does hurt this game. Unlike most Mega Man games, you only start with half the robot masters.
After you defeat the first four, you'll get a short stage in the Robot Museum. Followed by the last four robot masters. Honestly I rather have the option with all eight of them. I felt they didn't want you to speed run it too fast by doing it this way. Yet a lot of people still beat the game fast so what's the point?
I do have to agree with some people's point about Mega Man being a bit too big on the screen. It makes trying to avoid some hazards more difficult. For the most part, I actually liked the robot masters. Well except for one, Spring Man I bet a developer really enjoyed a slinky as a kid lol. Hell Ace Ventura got a world record with one of those lol.
Thank god we only got through Dr. Wily after defeating all eight robot masters this time. At least it did me a solid by doing that. I wasn't that happy with some of the stage designs truthfully. I felt some sub bosses was harder than the actual bosses. You don't even need to replay stages. Mega Man 7 ends up leaving a rather sour taste in my mouth.
8. Mega Man 8 (1996)
Oh come on already you go through half the robot masters with a short stage again. I do felt the short stage did serve more of a purpose as well being more enjoyable this time. After you defeat Duo whose clearly held back on you. The last four robot masters are up to take down. How the hell did they allow Aqua Man.
No not DC's Aquaman, they actually got a robot character called that. Oh the horrible of that now legendary bad voice acting. OMG you got to be kidding me, Clown Man? Didn't they watch the mini series called IT lol. Oh well I do sorta liked Grenade Man & Sword Man. I felt this is a better roster than the last couple of Mega Man games.
Thankfully after defeating the last robot masters, you can start going after Dr. Wily. If you really didn't see that coming by now. You must need a doctor's visit or something lol. Now they included the PlayStation 1 version. There does exist a Sega Saturn version that adds a few things to spice it up. This was also an anniversary game, what a sad year for Mega Man.
I do need to talk about how they further break down the stages in a rather annoying fashion. You select any of the robot masters. At several points sometimes after defeating a sub boss. You go through a loading screen before continuing on the stage. Now I know this was a CD game, of course it had to load up.
I felt they could've disguised it more like classic Resident Evil games did. Mega Man 8 ends up being the sore thumb of these games. The voice acting alone will make you turn off your speakers I'm not kidding. The soundtrack is alright at best with some bad sound effects. Yes a console with great audio not nailing that in this game, you know something is wrong lol.
9. Mega Man 9 (2008)
A huge time gap occurs, I meant in real life not in the actual game's time line lol. They chose to go a rather different take on going to the basic. We ended up with an NES style Mega Man game that actually doesn't suck. Yeah a huge surprise, it quickly made up for the previous game. I felt this had one of the absolute best selection of robot masters to date.
I honestly can't name a single bad one well except for Plug Man. Are you kidding me, do I plug it in lol. The rest including Galaxy Man & Hornet Man ends up being my two favorites. Now Capcom sure has a dirty mind because they have a female robot master named Splash Woman. I am not going to add any jokes to avoid offending any of the ladies.
I heavily felt these stages are hands down some of the finest in the entire franchise. I also feel the same way about their powers. Dr. Wily with his weaknesses ends up being one of the easiest. I do like how they added these style cut scenes. I didn't mention that in the previous ones because it took a long time for them to finally get it right.
Unlike most of them, this was originally a digital release. Since then it has been on several platforms including Legacy Collection 2. This game also inspired Sega to do Sonic 4 games, yeah that didn't do far lol. Honestly this is one of my favorite Mega Man games to date. I'm positive for a big fan who played them through out their child hoods, this really hit home for them.
10. Mega Man 10 (2010)
Finally we get to the second most recent entry. This is a follow up to the previous Mega Man game. Before Capcom suddenly went dark about Mega Man franchise. Mega Man 10, oh ok how many times does Mega Man has to own you Dr. Wily? I swear it's like a divorced couple that's still living together.
I do kinda agree with some reviews I came across. Some of these robot masters I do like. Then there's Sheep Man & Strike Man? Wait doesn't Strike Man look similar to a boss from Talespin on NES? Besides that, Sheep Man in every sense of the word sucks. He makes some of the worst robot masters seem like a master piece.
The soundtrack is good enough to keep you going for a while but quickly becomes repetitive. Now that's never a good sign but at least it doesn't suck. Some of these stages are mixed while there are some great ones. I would say one of the tougher Dr. Wily boss fights is present here. Like Mega Man 9, this also was originally a digital release.
Mega Man 10 should've been named When will it ever end, Mega Man? Even Dr. Robotnik can take a hint sometimes. Hell even Dr. Cortex has more common sense than Dr. Wily. Well oh okay creating Crash the way he currently is wasn't a good idea lol. This game is sorta giving a similar repetition to the last three NES Mega Man games.
Honestly it might be a mixed experience but if you are patient enough. There is some good things such as both this & MM9 in Legacy Collection 2 comes with every dlc. You might have to enter in a code but at least it's there instead of going through the trouble of buying it all again. Mega Man 10 does have a great cover I do enjoy staring at.
Now it's time to rank the Mega Man games from worst to best...
10. Mega Man 8
9. Mega Man 7
8. Mega Man 10
7. Mega Man 5
6. Mega Man 3
5. Mega Man
4. Mega Man 6
3. Mega Man 4
2. Mega Man 9
1. Mega Man 2
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