Mega Man: Get Equipped with Thread Shot!

[fanboymaster]

MM9 finished. I dunno, it's got a lot of fun stage ideas and gimmicks but it somehow feels even more punitive than the series usually is, like failing a challenge always felt like it either just wasted time or instantly killed with little in-between. The mini-bosses I feel more confident saying I could have done without.

 

[Mogri]

The latter makes the former pretty damn hard, to be fair.

I understand where this sentiment comes from, but while many of the weapons feel really bad to use,

• that's true of most games in the series
• Triple Blade and Wheel Cutter are extremely good and fun. (Commando Bomb would be, too, except that the bomb itself doesn't deal much damage -- it's the Crash Bomb problem.) Rebound Striker, Water Shield, and Solar Blaze are also good. Chill Spike and especially Thunder Wool are legit terrible for general use, but at least Chill Spike makes the Nitro Man fight a lot of fun.

Meanwhile, the stages and bosses are almost uniformly fantastic, and the difficulty modes are among the best I've ever seen (they rearrange levels, add/remove enemy abilities, and so on - it's not just changing damage numbers).

 

[Octopus Prime]

The biggest issue with Thunder Wool is that the one instance where you're supposed to use it is also the instance where it's easiest to misfire with it and wind up wasting a shot.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Still waiting for the Internet majority opinion to come around to "Mega Man 10 is one of the best games in the series (with some of the worst weapons in the series)."

I've always liked it better than MM9, but I replayed it last week and was struck by how thoughtful and well-made it is overall. Well, barring the fact that 2-3 of the weapons are total trash (triple blade and the water shield are good enough to almost entirely compensate IMO). The game throws up a pretty stiff challenge, but no one section seems insurmountable the way some in MM9 can be. A couple sections are a little long, but overall I found it to be creative and fun with some excellent music throw in, too. Put this up there with Blaster Master Zero and Bloodstained: CotM in the top tier of Inti Creates games.

 

[Sarge]

I liked it better than my original play, but MM10 still doesn't rate all that highly for me. I do agree that MM9 can be a bit too hateful at times, but I still love it anyway. I have to wonder if I had the sort of muscle memory that I have with the earlier games if it would actually line up with them pretty well... but then I remember Inti Creates was involved and some of that MM Zero design slipped in there.

 

[Lokii]

9 has always felt pitch perfect in terms of difficulty to me while I often find 10 hard in a frustrating way. Different strokes!

 

[4-So]

As a Mega Man Megafan, I think I prefer MM10 to MM9. Although that's like trying to compare something awesome with something fantastic. It's a good problem to have.

 

[ShakeWell]

I think I need to revisit 9 and 10. I haven't played either since they were new (except a recent spin through Galaxy Man's stage because someone made it run on the NES, and with flashcart in hand, I had to experience that), though my thoughts at the time were "Mega Man 9 is amazing" and... well, Mega Man 10 remains the only game in the main series I've never finished, which I think says enough. But I have Legacy Collection 2 now, so I should just give them both another go.

 

[fanboymaster]

10's down, not an all time favorite but felt less spiteful in design than 9. Some decent master weapons but by and large stuck to the buster, not really a problem in my eyes but yeah. I'd say I liked it more than 9 overall.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Something that really helps one’s enjoyment of MM10 is getting the triple blade as soon as possible. Blade Man is one of those bosses where his weakness doesn’t make the fight a heck of a lot easier, so as long as you have an energy tank you’re probably good to go. The stage is one of the tougher ones, though, so getting the water shield from Pump Man is a big help. Sheep Man is the natural starting point for me, since it’s the easiest stage and boss combo, but again his weapon isn’t a huge help against Pump Man, so it isn’t really a necessary detour. Basically, if you can grab an energy tank or two along the way, starting with Pump > Blade is probably the optimal opening in terms of being manageable and getting you the best weapons in the game quickly.

I’ve been playing this series again lately! The amount of Mega Man games I play is almost 100% dependent on my son’s interest level: a few years ago he was totally obsessed and we played them all to death, but lately he’s been into other stuff. But in the last week we’ve completed Mega Man 10 and Rockman 5 (he wanted the JP version because I have an actual cartridge of it downstairs), plus we beat the robot masters in Rockman and Forte and dabbled with the extremely impressive Rockman 4 Minus Infinity. It’s great to be back! Sadly, the kid only wants to see top tier gameplay, so he loses interest when Dad isn’t winning. That meant dropping R4MI, since it was full of new boss patterns and enemies and I was getting my ass kicked. Now we’re on Mega Man X2, which I can’t claim to be an expert at, but I’m fairly confident I can at least finish it in relatively short order. So far I’m even managing to remember the boss order, although I forgot where 90% of the collectibles are. MMX2 is no MMX, but at least it isn’t MMX3.

 

[fanboymaster]

Mega Man 11 down and with it all the mainline Classic line. Really dug 11, good change of pace with strong level design and some good subweapons.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I’m replaying MM11, too, and I’ve been really enjoying it. I think the game gets a bum rap because it has more of a learning curve, what with the new mechanics and longer levels. But it has some really excellent weapons, and being able to access them all quickly is a game changer for me. There are also some super fun upgrades you can buy, like the auto-shot charger and the super energy balancer that just gives EVERY weapon energy when you pick some up. It really feels like they want you to be switching between abilities constantly and it’s great that the control scheme makes it quick and easy to do so.

 

[4-So]

I didn't start to enjoy MM11 until I played it on an easier mode than whatever the default normal is. I still think the levels are too long, and I can always do without voice acting in these games, but the weapons were neat and I came around on the general look and feel of it.

I am not a fan of the gear system at all and it's my one major gripe with the game. It introduces complexity that I can't rightly call fun or engaging. I tried to play the game with the gear system as something optional, even though it makes certain sections more difficult. (And that could explain why I found Normal difficulty so frustrating.)

 

[Sarge]

It's definitely designed around the gear system, but I agree that I'd probably like it better without it. Hopefully they'll ditch it if we get a sequel.

 

[zonetrope]

You can turn the voice acting off, I sure as hell did.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I think engaging with the gear system (is that a pun?) is pretty key to enjoying the game, personally, I use the speed gear constantly to line up charge shots, pour on the damage with rapid fire or dodge hazards. The power gear only really serves to buff boss weapons, since the upgraded buster shots it gives you aren’t really any better than mashing while using the speed gear. It’s also worth learning where your favorite weapons are on the right stick, so you can switch back and forth quickly.

I get why people have gripes with this game and I could rattle off a half dozen problems with it myself, overall I think they did some cool stuff that freshens up the formula nicely. This game could have just been another retro remake like 9 and 10, but I’m glad we got this instead.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I found the gear system kind of awkward. Sometimes you can see the utility of it, like when you slow down time to squeeze shots through otherwise difficult to access openings, but just as often it felt like I was juggling knives in the demo. Bullet time is a nifty trick that lends itself well to games; just not Mega Man in particular.

Also, I seem to recall from the plot that the Gear system was considered too unstable for widespread use in robots... so they went with giving them free will instead. Yeah, nothing bad could happen there!

 

[RT-55J]

imho engineering-type folks wanting to work on a pie-in-the-sky sci-fi-ish concept with regards to the consequences instead of producing something conceptually simple but obviously/immediately beneficial is a surprisingly realistic premise for a classic Mega Man game.

 

[Sarge]

This game could have just been another retro remake like 9 and 10, but I’m glad we got this instead.

You're wrong, and I've reported you to the mods.

 

[fanboymaster]

Over the last couple weeks I've played X1-X5, some brief thoughts.

Mega Man X: This is the best Mega Man game, I played this one twice through just because. Been my favorite for years, no change, just great in every facet.

X2: This is X1 but worse in basically every way. It's not bad by any means but there's just not a lot of reason to play it.

X3: This is also worse than X1 in most ways, but it's at least got some weird mad ambition to it with all its weird upgrades and such, not one I'd play super often, but I'd dig it out more often than X2, it just has a stronger identity.

X4: X is a pretty eh game, the game makes it clear it doesn't care much, Zero's great fun to play as though, so he makes it the second best thus far. The plot is just intensely bad and sets a lot of precedents for the kinds of intensely bad its sequel will be.

X5: This game has, in my eyes, basically no redeeming qualities. There's some decent music I guess? It's ambitious but essentially every change it makes is bad and its story is both intensely bad and extremely verbose. They added a lot of explanations of mechanics but not any for any of the obtuse ones like the parts/boss level system. Level designs are still simplified like MMX4 but even more budget choked, Duff McWhalen's stage is terrible and the game being set up to unavoidably force anyone pursuing all items to go through it three times feels intensely spiteful.

Spiteful's really the word to describe a lot of the design here. When you get to the Sigma stages and it starts dropping in references to old MM games it's all the things that are either spiteful or tedious, quickman lasers, devil boss, rangda bangda, sniper joe pattern enemies, hallways and hallways of spikes when the game tries to make you nostalgic for old school Mega Man it seems to think the things you most want to remember are the most irritating aspects of the design.

I know the story isn't "the point" in Mega Man but special demerit to the X and Zero fight. The games implied the inevitability of this fight and the ending they decided was canon has the fight as basically a random footnote with no drama whatsoever, it just sort of happens for almost no reason. Even in the bad ending the fight needing to be followed up by both boss refights and the sigma fights drains it of any dramatic stakes. So yeah I think X5 is extremely bad. X6 will probably be worse but I'll probably dislike it less, guess we'll see, playing Xtreme 1 and 2 before I replay X6.

 

[Fyonn]

I like X2 more than X1 because it has X's full core kit from moment one, and can be 1000% completed armorless. Also I just like the boss designs more.

If you haven't played the Zero Project hack for Mega Man X 3, I highly recommend it. Changes the experience a lot. Even if you don't use Zero for the whole game, he's a lot more capable, can die multiple times, can use weapons, and Zero Project comes with a side serving of save files instead of passwords.

 

[fanboymaster]

Mega Man Xtreme down, as GBC games go that's actually quite good, three different dash mappings to try to make it feel natural, good 8 bit interpretations of the sprites and music, shockingly faithful level designs.

 

[Ludendorkk]

Don't know if this is the right thread but this video was very interesting:

 

[conchobhar]

It's funny how divisive X5 is. It's easily my favourite X game and probably among my favourites in the entire series— for more or less the same reasons that detractors point to.

 

[Super Megaman X]

You're not alone, Conchobhar. X5 is right up there as one of the best for me, as well. I love the boss designs, the story, and the endgame is simply exquisite, the best in the series. About the only big negative is how damn much Alia interrupts the levels. It'd be nice if there was a mode where you could turn her off and just play through. (And I do like Alia! A lot! Just.....damn!) Also, I'm a big fan of Megaman 8, I think that game gets a lot more hate than it deserves. Jump Jump Slide Slide sucks, but not that bad, guys!

 

[FelixSH]

Don't know if this is the right thread but this video was very interesting:

I knew that the games were very popular, and there were a lot of threads about building folders on gamefaqs that I liked to read, but I didn't know that there was (and still is!) a competitive scene. I wished the video gave one or two examples of folders that were supposed to be great, but didn't actually worked out. I always found these gamefaq-threads very interesting.

A shame that it is basically unremembered, elsewhere.

 

[madhair60]

It's funny how divisive X5 is. It's easily my favourite X game and probably among my favourites in the entire series— for more or less the same reasons that detractors point to.

Pretty much the same.

 

[Mogri]

What gets me is how much X4 is praised when X5 does so many of the same things and is maligned. Having played X5 first, I was underwhelmed by X4.

 

[Regulus]

It's funny how divisive X5 is. It's easily my favourite X game and probably among my favourites in the entire series— for more or less the same reasons that detractors point to.

I'm curious - what are those reasons? The most common complaints to me appear to be the level design and the translation.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Maybe its allure lies in the Guns 'n Roses names for all the Robot Masters.