Mega Man 1 Did Something Incredible...

[@ViperAcidZX]

Fun fact: "Bad Box Art" Mega Man was the inspiration of the Mecha Biker boss from WayForward's Double Dragon Neon, and he even uses a space blaster that can do a charged shot along with a slide attack!

[@Mordecrox]

Is that the one with the Bimmy boss fight?

[@ViperAcidZX]

@@Mordecrox Yep.

[@Cactuscorpus]

Mecha rider looks a lot more like the box art for mega man 2 in Europe. It's neat that they had that inspiration though!

[@kingdomcome3914]

Super Combat Bot: Mecha Biker!

[@StarmenRock]

People never did him justice tbh. The horrible clay statue like face, his stance, the assymetrical helmet. It's borderline horror, imagine something like that moving torwards you with the intent to end your life

[@dmtrsgrksrphl2501]

About 4 years ago I posted a comment on a deleted video of this channel, whose topic was J being burned out of Mega Man from making lots of videos. My comment was that if J ever reviewed the Mega Man original series I would watch them because J makes in-depth videos about games, showing his dedication.

[@MacenW]

J is underrated and is a treat to listen to at work. As someone who was a huge mega man fan as a kid I might just dive back into these games.

[@robotx9285]

Damn,you remembered that after nearly half a decade.

[@xtrwombat4876]

My mom told me to tell u that you need to get off the inernet

[@Reossj]

Do megaman battle network series

[@STICKOMEDIA]

Ikr ​@@robotx9285

[@bulb9970]

15:10 The Copy Robot actually has the same AI as Elec Man. Both just walk back and forth, only stopping to shoot at 3 specific spots on the ground. If you shoot however, they jump randomly to the left or right and then shoot. Neither of them reaches the far left of the screen. So a safe strategy is to stay on the far left, jump whenever Copy Robot reaches one of the 3 spots and shoot on the air so you get him during the jump.

[@bulb9970]

@sharpester7277 Copy Robot's design was quite smart for catching people off guard. Most players will just shoot nonstop, which makes him jump all over the place and look like he's random BS, when he really isn't. If you equip the Super Arm neither of you will be able to shoot anything, so he'll just keep jumping if you mash the shoot button. There's also the fact that he doesn't have a real weakness, so it's safer to just use the buster. Fire Man has a similar design where he'll only attack when you shoot or are far away from him. So if you keep walking right next to him then he also won't attack, and that actually makes him a great first choice. Especially since the Fire Storm weapon is so good. Cut Man on the other hand gets stuck in a loop if you keep shooting him. But if you don't hit him then you'll see his AI might as well be completely random. He just does whatever he wants, and I don't think anyone has deciphered it to this day. The knockback is what prevents his fight from being super difficult. The bosses of 1 are very weird, but that's what makes them interesting too.

[@CarbonRollerCaco]

As for Elec Man himself, the initial fight is actually piss-easy. Just lure him onto the blocks on the left and his shots will pass over you as long as you stay grounded. Jump and shoot him between Thunder Beams to keep him pinned and you shouldn't take a single hit.

[@sor3999]

I would've never figured that out on my own.

[@BrickmanZero]

Wait so elecman only shoots at 3 specific spots? If he somehow got stuck in the corner then he won't attack at all?

[@theretroreview1991]

🎉🎉 I love you so 🎉much🎉🎉🎉😢😢😢😢😢😢Ty😢😢

[@ameerashourdraws]

J being goofy like how he was suffering from Wily's ship's ear-splitting sound is a blessing I never knew I wanted

[@CarbonRollerCaco]

*flexes eyebrows*

[@kingbash6466]

Crazy that Capcom making a sequel to a game that wasn't even that praised or even liked led to a franchise with multiple subseries and continuities for almost 40 years.

[@thomasffrench3639]

Mega Man 1 was pretty well received at the time. The only real competition from action platformers it had were Castlevania (which is excellent) Kid Icarus (which is pretty good) and Metroid (which can be fun, but is definitely flawed) you can see that it was very praised because it is on the level of those games.

[@michaelchauvin7219]

The premise was solid with MM1. The execution sucked. They knew they could do better. They did.

[@thomasffrench3639]

@@michaelchauvin7219 I wouldn't say the execution sucked, but it was just very flawed. Mega Man 2 is such a crazy improvement that it made the first one look bad.

[@capgorski]

I was there back in 87 and I will say with complete conviction that Mega Man 1 was liked and was easily one of the best NES games of 1987. 1987 was an overall rough year for the NES and this game was top tier.

[@thomasffrench3639]

@@capgorski it’s not worse than 1989.

[@MadRespectTV]

This was the first game I ever rented. The select stage was a major draw from the box art. When I realized defeating the boss resulted in gaining their power, my mind was blown. Great review!

[@keybladeoverlord]

I'm surprised you didn't mention how invincibility frames in Mega Man 1 didn't save you from the Insta-Kill Spikes in the various levels, which was something that was fixed in the very next game.

[@CarbonRollerCaco]

Please don't say it was "fixed". That implies it was unintended. Though it's not like I'm upset about the change; Mega Man 1 can be the Mega Man-ly Hardcore Bullshit Devs' First Try game of the series while the rest can actually be Reasonably Normie Finishable. :

[@jaretco6423]

​@CarbonRollerCaco If you think those are bad, you haven't seen the horror of Mega Man & Bass.

[@DandyDNA]

I wouldn't call it a fix, honestly I think spikes SHOULD kill you when you have i-frames so that you can't just damage boost

[@lapthom]

You are the first one I've seen online mentioning Mega Man 1's insta-death spike, something I also found surprising after having played 2 first.

[@christianhall3916]

@@DandyDNA In theory yes, they should kill you, but it's too frustrating in practice and allowing i-frames to protect against it works well in practice. It also creates a difference between spikes and pits: spikes you can survive being knocked into by an enemy, pits you can't. I'll also point out that that since the game allows damage boosting in another ways, like walking through enemies with it, not being able to boost through spikes feels inconsistent.

[@Jackattack359]

I didn’t think the bad boxart had such deep lore behind it

[@FezFindie]

In contrast to the amount of time they had to make the cover art~?

[@Jackattack359]

@@FezFindie yeah, that’s definitely odd

[@charmyzard]

I mean, it kind of shows the desperation of the artist. Happy that he eventually got love in stuff like Marvel v. Capcom.

[@Jackattack359]

@@charmyzard I’d call that a fair enough pay off for sure

[@tlst94]

What if in an alternate timeline, US localizers had never changed the games' boxarts, character designs, and lores? Imagine growing up with Japanese Sonic back in the 1990s.

[@colesephhh9546]

“How did this game get a sequel?!” -ReploidREVO, about ten times during a stream

[@brandonwilliams6119]

It’s very apparent that the X series may be J’s favorite part of the Megaman branch since there’s tons of videos about it on the channel which is also my favorite as well. But I cannot deny my beginnings started with the Classic series in the Anniversary Collection on GameCube, beating all those games and unlocking the Arcade games and that G4 Keiji Inafune Interview on the History of Megaman is one of my most memorable accomplishments.

[@Goosewitdajuice317]

Ah yes. Back when unlockables meant something. Reminds me of the sonic genesis collection on xbox 360. You could unlock videos of the developers talking about the process of making some of those games. That's where my love for phantasy star began

[@jazzcoollnation1035]

I remember playing this game during lunch at school on my phone. The yellow devil was the biggest pain

[@phorchybug3286]

You mean like buttons or touch phone?

[@jazzcoollnation1035]

@phorchybug3286 It was touch buttons. It made the game way harder.

[@mylam658]

Ah yes, the low frame rate mega man mobile ports. Love those. I still have all 6 of them.

[@Jdudec367]

I remember playing it on my 3ds as a kid....good times.

[@oliverpease6719]

@@mylam658trooper honestly, I’m not an fps snob but goddamn it hurt to play those

[@DiamondSapphireGD]

We've FINALLY reached the Classic Mega Man Retrospective!! Now that we've reached this, I feel the time is right to give J a message. I remember back around 2018-2019 or so, I stumbled upon the "Remake or Rebreak" episode where ExoParadigmGamer and J went over Mega Man & Bass, and that video got me curious about not only that game, but the Classic Mega Man games as a whole. Not long after that, I came across J's "Mega Man Zero Series Retrospective", which ended up being my proper introduction to his channel, from which I found his original "All-inclusive Mega Man X Retrospective". After watching all of his Mega Man videos, I felt more and more compelled to give the games a try, as I'd always heard some of the Classic and X games were a blast to play. Around that time, the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection was just released, and after getting that collection for my birthday, I obtained the Classic and X Legacy Collections, as well as Mega Man 11 later on that year. And to my delight (And disappointment, in some aspects), the Classic, X, and Zero/ZX games turned out to be a lot of fun- with the exceptions of Mega Man 3, X6, and X7 at first. Now that it's been a few years since then, and now that J's gotten to the Classic Series, I just wanted to say this from the bottom of my heart: J, thank you SO MUCH for introducing me to, and getting me curious about the Mega Man franchise all those years ago. It's been a fun time playing through all of these games over the years, and with the Battle Network Legacy Collection still going strong almost a year later (And I still haven't finished all of the games yet!), I can almost guarantee there's gonna be countless hours spent playing all of these games until my dying day, and I have you (And Exo by extension) to thank for that. And for that, I'll always be grateful. =D

[@thomasffrench3639]

Besides the Doc Robot stages, why did you hate Mega Man 3?

[@DiamondSapphireGD]

@@thomasffrench3639 I never "hated" Mega Man 3 per se, it just ended up being my least favorite of the 6 NES games. In my first few playthroughs of the game, the part that always got me down was indeed the Doc Robot levels, and it didn't help that the fortress levels (for the most part) were a joke, and the bosses in said levels weren't especially challenging. Thankfully, Mega Man 3's saving grace is the fact that the first half of the game is pretty good, and the soundtrack is GOD-TIER. So overall, I think MM3 is a "solid" game with some unfortunate issues that bring the experience down for me.

[@thomasffrench3639]

@@DiamondSapphireGD Yeah, I'm going through the games in order and am currently on 2, so I am really interested to see how I like 3. I feel like the odd numbers are the weird NES Mega Man games with pretty big flaws, so I'll just have to see.

[@xavierjuno4572]

​@@thomasffrench3639I mean I found 5-6 much better than 4 imo

[@RefreshingMirage]

This is taking me back to 2017, when I first found his original X6 video

[@CeruleanHee-ho]

YO, THE CLASSIC SERIES! LET'S GOOOO! Also, sick intro!

[@phorchybug3286]

Weird. I have to pay for my own separate comment but replies are perfectly free. I feel like a parasite doing this.

[@HubPie3]

Mega Man 1 was one of the first non-Nintendo/Sonic games I got on the Wii’s Virtual Console back in the day. I played for 30 minutes but got nowhere and stopped playing. Nowadays I can play MM1 with no issue, but I can say that it’s not a great starting point because of all the jank stuff. I still think it’s an okay game.

[@thomasffrench3639]

Man that takes me back. I have like 5 different ways I can play Super Mario Bros. 3: Wii VC, Mario All Stars, NES Classic, NSO Online NES and SNES.

[@freedustin]

Back in the day it was the bomb. It fit in perfectly in the NES Hard environment.

[@kolkagaming1234]

Megaman, will always be the closest thing to my heart I’ve been a fan of the franchise since October 2021 & it saved my life from a hard situation once, as a distraction & it’s no longer a distraction, Mega Man as a whole is one of my favourite gaming franchises in the whole wide world.

[@meathir4921]

When the world needed him most, he returned (to the franchise). Judging by how he was talking, I wonder if he'll cover games like Soccer or Wily Wars.

[@Stealthbat]

03:54 It's a translation thing. Dr. Light's actual name in Japan is Dr. Wright. It's not his western name, but it's one of two correct names for him. Also, Wiley was Dr. Wright/Light's assistant in the beginning. He had disagreements with Wright/Light and left him to start his own ambitions of taking over the world. This is common knowledge. I'm going to assume that since this was the first game in the series to get a western release, most likely they hadn't established proper names yet and just went with a direct translation for the manual.

[@FancifulDancingStar]

I'm pretty sure the "assistant" thing for Wily was more of a localization thing for the West that wasn't present in the Japanese version. From what I know, in Japan, Wily was always someone that worked together with Light in their younger days as a colleague, not an assistant. Honestly, I don't think Wily's ego would EVER allow him to work as a subordinate to Light. He has enough respect for Light to work with him as an equal (or at least did, back then), but never a subordinate.

[@Stealthbat]

​@@FancifulDancingStarJust did some serious digging and found the following quote from the Dr Wily page of the Megaman Fandom site... "According to the American manual for the first Mega Man, Dr. Wily was Dr. Light's assistant and worked on his DRN series of robots. Though this story was reinforced by the Ruby-Spears cartoon and later the PAL version of Mega Man Powered Up, it is not canon to the Japanese version of Wily's backstory."

[@FancifulDancingStar]

@@StealthbatMmm, just as I thought. There are quite a few things that seem to be pretty persistent in the localization that aren't in the Japanese version and that's one of them. Another one I know about is Mega Man knowing that Proto Man is his brother. From what I remember, in the Japanese version, Mega Man doesn't know about Proto Man's relation to him (so it's a little more like Speed Racer and Racer X).

[@Muhahahahaz]

Technically, his Japanese name is Dr. Right Actually, even more technically speaking… his name is “Tōmasu Raito”, which is literally just the Japanese way of pronouncing “Thomas Light” - The word “Right” was never involved in the first place This is exactly why his name was “localized” as Light… The Japanese were literally using that word to begin with, so transcribing it as “Right” is completely wrong, unless you are specifically speaking in Japanglish (and are trying to avoid the “L” sound, which doesn’t exist in Japanese) And as for Wright… The name “Wright” has a completely different connotation, and ultimately derives from the word “work” (etymologically speaking)

[@Muhahahahaz]

However, I can definitely see where the first translation went wrong - They saw “Raito” and thought the name had to begin with an “R” sound (Or maybe they were aware, and just felt like Dr. Light didn’t seem like a “name” or didn’t have the feel they were going for)

[@thomasffrench3639]

It’s funny because I literally just beat this game earlier this week for the first time after owning it along with Mega Man 2 (which I beat on normal aka easy when I was a teenager) on the Wii U. I’m going to beat Mega Man 2 on difficult, and after that I’m going to get the Legacy collection which is on sale on the Switch. And now I’m seeing reviews and videos on the first game this week. Funny how things work. As for the game itself, it’s not one of my favorite NES games, but it’s really fun. I played in weakness order, so it was pretty easy, and I really liked the robot stages aside from Ice Man Stage, although I didn’t really like the Wily stages very much. It’s too slippery to control, which they very fixed in Mega Man 2, and further refined in the other games from what I’ve heard. I don’t think that momentum based controls work for action platformers, which is why Castlevania has stiff controls. But I would recommend playing this game after Mega Man 2, just so if you visit it later it doesn’t feel weird. It’s a very good game, but it isn’t quite as great as it’s sequels due to the weird controls and weird bosses.

[@chadeklund9835]

Finally someone from a younger generation that actually doesn't say this is a proof of concept or a relic of the past. I'm getting tired of these newer reviewers coming in and not understanding these old titles. Thanks bro for actually getting it.

[@jeffb.6642]

12:26 - "..he uses a gun instead of an arm cannon" The box artists for Mega Man 2 didn't get this memo, either.

[@saphcal]

yeah but at least the guy is blue! tho tbh as a kid i thought he looked like a girl lol

[@vksasdgaming9472]

First Megaman was raw, but it had so much potential. So much that they got a chance to iron out bugs and refine the engine and design. Result was absolute masterpiece known as Megaman 2 and legacy was born.

[@Typical.Anomaly]

I CLEARLY remember playing MM3 as a kid in the early 90s. I CLEARLY remember keeping the P2 controller lodged in a dresser drawer, holding 'down' down on the D-pad so I could jump super high and pits won't kill me! (I think you can still die eventually if you stay in a pit long enough)

[@toanuva6178]

Honesty, playing the Wily Wars version is still a fun time.

[@chaoticembrace925]

Yup they just polished the game and the result is my fav way to play the game ( at the moment at least )

[@sidnew2739]

They made those games clunky, laggy and killed the sound-effects. Music is also worse. Wily Wars sucks.

[@chaoticembrace925]

@@sidnew2739 pick your flavor fam there's always powered up and complete works, u don't like one enhanced version there's always another

[@GetLostGames1]

That box art needed a sequel 😂

[@Loot1377]

It got a sequel with Mega Man 9 LoL

[@magnusdiridian]

I think gun.smoke on the nes had the same style art on the box

[@ghrtyeje]

2:49 Dang J, you always go so far above and beyond with these videos, that even obscure content like the old NES manual gets some nice coverage! I know it's a minor thing, but it really fleshes out the experience of these retrospectives, making them truly feel like they live up to the name: "Retrospective"!

[@charmyzard]

My good friend, a Megaman connoisseur, insisted me for a year plus that I try out the classic saga. Ended up having me play all the way through to 7! While (wisely) guiding me to get Magnet Beam before struggling through the Guts-Man stage BS, we did have a blast going through this experiment in parallel. Indeed, he told me how it wasn't at all in the cards to make another Megaman but developer love won out so we got 2, but we'll get to it when we do ;) Also holding my breath for your thoughts on 3, 4, and (especially) 5! These are something else.

[@B_e_D_e_O_X]

11:15 LOL this is a SpongeBob reference right? I’m dead

[@randommf24]

Yeah it is

[@Telecritter78]

The background of the box art is a *little* more interesting than you think. The layout of the seemingly random structures in the background actually matches the various areas of Dr Wily’s fortress - in order! Weird detail to randomly get right - say what you will about the TRON looking MF’er in the foreground, but the artist must have seen at least *some* of the game even if only in design docs.

[@LC5128]

Finally, the classic mega man games

[@lbxlunchbox2309]

SUPER FIGHTING ROBOT!

[@ThePandemicvideos]

MEGAMAN !

[@carlton_dynamo]

NOW I’VE GOT YOUR POWER!

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

One of my favourite "Mega Man" games.

[@AngelPerez-tu1nk]

You know, I always imagined that a funny way to acknowledge THAT particular piece of Mega Man history would be to use that color scheme for a super op power up/armor or something xD

[@fourkknife]

if you select magnet beam or super arm during the copy robot fight he'll walk around aimlessly and you can quickly swap to fire storm when you decide he's far enough away

[@marscaleb]

When I was a kid, my mom offered to buy me a new video game as a reward. I went to Toys R Us and picked out the original Mega Man. We had rented Mega Man 2 before, and I think Mega Man 3 was even out by this time. But yet, my interest was to go back to where it all began, and so I picked Mega Man 1. I was so glad I did, and I played the game so much - possibly more than any other Mega Man title, to be honest. I'm keenly aware of its faults and shortcomings, but that doesn't really matter. This game still put such a special place in my heart.

[@reedr7142]

This game was ahead of its time. I still play this and the sequels on my NES and CRT TV. I never felt MM was sluggish. Sure, there are glitches, but I’ve played X too, and I see no movement issues with either. I get wonderful use out of Ice, Fire, and Elec. I also start with Gutsman-makes the run super efficient, given my experience.

[@marissavaneck1358]

I've been told the reason gravity seems to hit so hard in Iceman's level is that Megaman's Y-velocity isn't reset to 0 when he's on a Foot Holder or the Magnet Beam's platforms. So when you get hit off or the Beam platform disappears under you, you're already at terminal velocity. Not sure how true this is, but the fall definitely looks 1) incredibly fast and 2) linear, i.e., no acceleration.

[@Destron5683]

You are correct, I have trudged through the code before, the issue is what the game treats as “ground”. When you touch the ground it resets the Y acceleration, but not all the solid surfaces are flagged as “ground” so the Y velocity is still in effect he’s just not falling because the surface is solid.

[@georgemcredmond4849]

Back when this was first released, it was pretty common to just buy (or ask your parents to buy) a game simply because it was new. I know in my school, it at least gave you a bargaining chip to trade games lent out over a few nights with other kids. I remember Toys 'R' Us used to photocopy the box art front and back, insert them into a "flip up" style plastic card and you would take a ticket to the register to buy the game. They kept the physical copies in the back. So I barely even knew what the few screenshots on the back were showing. It didn't matter if it was new and you knew other kids wouldn't have it. But I'm sure quite a few initial western sales had to be just simply because a new game hit the market. Luckily it was fun, and word of mouth spread, causing others to buy it after they had seen it at a friend's or rented it themselves once video stores started renting out NES games.

[@lordmarshmal_0643]

From what I can recall, this game was my first proper exposure to the franchise, though credit specifically to another KZbinr, RoahmMythril, for doing that His claim to fame (and the reason my brother showed me his content years ago) is clearing the mainline games' robot master stages (1-10 and the in-betweens) without taking a hit + playing buster-only where applicable in the cases where he's also cleaned up the Wily stages From what I understand he didn't do the whole gauntlet each game presents in one single attempt - he had plenty of outtakes throughout his career - but I'll give him credit for it anyways, I don't have the attention span for doing that sort of thing myself

[@TiroDvD]

The designer for the box art only had the English "Back of the Box" description which is weirder than the Instruction Manual Story: "It's ᴍᴇɢᴀ ᴍᴀɴ versus the powerful leaders and fighting forces of Mᴏɴsᴛᴇʀᴏᴘᴏʟɪs -- that strange multi-layered land of robot-like Humanoids created by the wrongly-performed experiments with human beings by Dr. Wily. Mᴇɢᴀ ᴍᴀɴ -- the chosen defender of the human race. Fore he dares to single-handedly penetrate Mᴏɴsᴛᴇʀᴏᴘᴏʟɪs seven separet societies to stop the rapid expansion of strange misrepresentations of humans. Mᴇɢᴀ ᴍᴀɴ's goal is monumental. He must infiltrate seven separate heavily-guarded empires. By himself, he must break-down and destroy the followers [sic] of empire leaders: Cutman, Gutsman, Iceman, Bombman, Fireman, Elecman, and Dr. Wily. The action involves ᴍᴇɢᴀ ᴍᴀɴ armed only with laser beam weapons, encountering strangely-configured Humanoids. They're atop, in and out of fortified prison-like structures strengthened with thick walls. Below icefields. Hidden amid gun turrets imbedded in concrete uprights, even in subterranean passages under ice fields. WOW! Wɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴᴅ Mᴇɢᴀ Mᴀɴ ᴘᴇɴᴇᴛʀᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴠᴇɴ sᴇᴘᴀʀᴀᴛᴇ sᴏᴄɪᴇᴛɪᴇs ᴏғ Dʀ. Wɪʟʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴇsᴇʀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ʀᴀᴄᴇ? Yᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɪɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ!"

[@TheUncivilizedNation]

Yeah that sounds like an entirely different game and a story way too ambitious to be properly portrayed by the NES

[@Vistico93]

A crouch feature certainly would've come in handy when fighting Iceman and the Yellow Devil, that's for sure

[@ericmalikyte885]

Great video. Can't wait for you to get to Megaman 9 (my favorite of the classic series games). But, DUDE, you've GOT to play Gravity Circuit. It's like an amalgamation of Megaman Zero and Ninja Gaiden and I'm totally obsessed. Killer OST, graphics, and stage/boss design.

[@esmooth919]

10:27 The good thing about the ice slasher is that once you freeze an enemy in place, you can switch to another weapon to take them out before they thaw off. It's my favorite way of dealing with this game's version of the sniper Joe's.

[@blockbusterlatefees7713]

The fun part is that the Mega Man 1 box art looks now like something a bad AI prompt would bring up 😂

[@coolbro6969]

I literally cried when you talked about the ending theme. You are absolutely correct. Those songs are what bind the mega man fandom.

[@Dragondan1987]

10:46 the game isn’t slowing down, you just have the power of lightning so your perception speeds up

[@Esirre]

17:50 I never beat mega man 1 so had no clue they gave him 'normal boy' sprite at the end. That's interesting as I'm not sure this is shown again. (I've beaten 2 & 3 and haven't seen it)

[@SolBadguyZAC]

8:32 killed me! Lol, yeah man. Gotta find out what's down there! That's right my guy, don't you leave that stage until you find an answer!!!!

[@Tesla2586]

I honestly hate it when people get rid of old stuff on their channel cause they are ashamed of it. I like seeing their humble beginnings and seeing them improve little by little. It makes them seen so relatable that way. But alas.

[@GarlicMonoxide]

Sometimes the "worst" of us inspires a new beginning for another

[@goranisacson2502]

Man, getting an actual NES just to play these games is some dedication! As a videogame-middle ager, I played MM3 on the NES back in the day as my entry, and MM4 at a friends house and MMX on the Snes. Gliding and charge shots have been part of my MM experience for so long that going back to the older games on emulation was always such an odd experience. Felt like you had to, even if it just didn't feel _right_. But It'll be fun to see J revisit them all, and drop some of the lore as he goes along.

[@djbusx]

Fun fact. Mega Man was one of the first games I owned on the NES. Just a couple weeks ago I finally beat it and had the same transcendence when the ending theme starting playing. I was freaking! Had to tell my partner immediately of the significance. Now I’m on MM5 of my complete playthroughs. I thank you and your videos for building up my interest and determination to beat all the classics.

[@enigmazero8624]

I love that the manual states that the Yashichi gives you 100,000 points (is that even true? In your footage you got no points for collecting it) but doesn’t bother to mention that it refills ALL your health and weapon energy.

[@benjamindeh873]

Woooh awesome video! I played megaman 1 when it came out, and its nice to see people getting to know this awesome franchise more recently. I love the disappearing blocks sections, the noise helped to sync the jumps, and I dont think the yellow monster near the end is as hard. Its not random, the pattern of blocks is always the same, so its more a battle of attrition than anything else

[@HelloMyNameIsRED]

I wish you'd talk about the PAL version box art of this game. It's one of my favorites of all time

[@ajfierro98]

You are my favorite KZbinr. Some of best videos I’ve seen on the site in my 11 years watching. You’re him, keep it up.

[@ColeFam]

Very happy to see the new series starting! I'm very curious to see what you think about the Classic series and if tour thoughts line up with mine. I hope at the end we get to see which are your top picks! (Also hoping for Mega Man Soccer coverage)

[@SpeedStar1642]

FIRST GAME SYNDROME BABY!

[@Celestial914]

I love how he uses Bad Box Art Megaman

[@Painted_Owl]

You know it’s funny. I caught wind of the channel through the TMNT 03 and Jak and Daxter videos from about a year ago, and the whole time watching those I had this nagging feeling that I already knew the channel… I just couldn’t place what it was. Turns out it was those Mega Man play throughs that were taken down. I remember watching them back in early high school with a buddy of mine. We’d go to his house and just chill, having some KZbin play in the back ground while we did homework n stuff. I miss those days. Mega Man isn’t an obscured character by any means, but as a fan of the blue bomber, I’ve always felt starved for some quality content on the series. Good to see your work with this retrospective. I can’t wait for the next upload.

[@AtomizerBaT]

That intro made me feel so old, I'm glad to have been apart of this long journey

[@GottaBeFrank]

Can't wait to see you repeat the Wily UFO bit many times.

[@RichardDong68]

Oh hey, it's the guy who tore Megaman X6 and X7 to shreds.

[@hondragrid]

As someone who grew up when the NES was out and rented but never owned Mega Man 1 back then, I actually and still to this day like its box art. I'm almost certain the box art pulled me in to play it along with looking at the back of the box and seeing the screen captures.

[@ginandsofapodcast]

Having been a huge Megaman X fan. I’ve been excited to finally see J take on the original Megaman games 🤘

[@JaceyMitchell]

As someone who did not grow up with the Mega Man series, I've got to say Mega Man 1 is easily my favorite in the series. Sure the lack of a password system can be a bit of a hassle, but I love the relative simplicity of the game. It is really Mega Man boiled down to the absolute essentials: difficult platforming, and almost non-stop action, mixed with some really cool boss battles that invite you to experiment with your arsenal. I know most people gravitate towards Mega Man 2 as the game where the formula was perfected, or even 3 which introduced Rush and the slide, but to me the first one is generally the one I load up on my Switch when I want some Mega Man action. 😁

[@vliegpaul]

When I was younger all the kids in the apartments I lived at would meet up and play NES at one kids house, usually mine since most people only had 1 tv and parents wanted to watch their own shows on their TVs. I shared a room with my older brother and he had a TV in our room. So all the kids would see every game the neighborhood had. Thats how I discovered Mega Man , and I loved it. I have been a big fan ever since.

[@MegaManNeo]

I replayed the first game many many times and despite its flaws, I think it's a good and fun game. Never did any glitch abuse though, so it was always a challenge to be done with Yellow Devil but that was also a fun challenge to overcome since it needed me to remember the pattern more than with any other boss. Luckily Nintendo's Virtual Console was a thing back then so I got chance to play many games I couldn't as a kid. Game compilations back then were no given, especially here in Europe for a series like MegaMan which never got the Anniversary Collection unless you import it.

[@Equ3strianGam3r]

The original Mega Man is the only game of the NES titles that I never got to play on the NES. I learned about the series with Mega Man 2 at a friend's house and loved the games after that but, I was never able to find a place where I could rent the first game. I appreciated the collections that were released later much more because of them having something I'd never played before plus the games in the series that I knew and loved.

[@legospacememe8468]

so happy to see you are finally doing classic mega man. its my favorite mega man series.

[@DandyDNA]

It's a very impressive '87 release, a real underrated game. Getting used to the Shadow Devil in X5 really prepared me for the Yellow Devil here 😂

[@Mike-B-Jackson]

3:00 - worth noting that the "thermometer style" health meter was new at the time and I can kinda see why they felt the need to explain it. It's intuitive these days, but that's only because it's so common now. Until then, most games were one-hit death, or lose power up then death. Even SMB2 had hearts instead of a bar. It's hilarious looking back now though, reading about how "degrees of health" are lost haha

[@xavierjuno4572]

Guess that makes sense, in a lot of ways MegaMan was very unique and intuitive for its time

[@thomasffrench3639]

I mean I feel like a lot of games were like that by the time Mega Man came out, Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania come to mind. Also RPGs had pretty complex health systems for the time.

[@Mike-B-Jackson]

@@thomasffrench3639 true, there were a solid handful. Still, most platformers were just like 1 or 2 hearts. Either way, it’s a funny bit of history

[@xavierjuno4572]

@@Mike-B-Jackson Ya I think MegaMan is one of the earliest examples of platformers having complex health systems (complex in the sense that you can take more than 1-3 hits)

[@thomasffrench3639]

@@Mike-B-Jackson Mega Man might have been the first to actually have health change based off the enemy as opposed to the level you were on.

[@Eldeecue]

I got this game as a random birthday gift in the 80s.....BEFORE Mega Man 2 had come out. I was six or seven years old at the time, mind, but I had the game for almost three months before I realized that after you beat a robot master, you got his weapon. I just assumed the menu the select button brought up was just some kind of elaborate, alternate pause screen. Also, the platforming bit in Gutsman's stage stage nigh on gave me PTSD--I always just did Elecman' stage twice to cheese it with the magnet beam

[@24MusicCarats]

Unique sounds, beautiful melodies, and visuals of the time is what made this megaman concept work.

[@PhantomEX0]

The time has finally come

[@MrReVersed]

The European box art had no reason for being so epic

[@CeeJayThe13th]

The boxart definitely held this game back. This was before the internet (or at least before it was common and you could just look up literally anything you want) so the front and back of the box and word of mouth are all most people had to go on unless they had subscriptions to video game magazines (which also weren't super common yet).

[@MavHunter20XX]

Rock and Roll! I remember seeing the cover art when I was very, very young, I was so confused by the art and having "MegaMan" on top. I was thinking, this must be some kind of joke.

[@laserkid]

Yes! Been waiting for these since the original X retrospective, looking forward to seeing which side entries you cover :D

[@gundambassexe31]

I loved the Megaman eras through the years but MM1 does show it's age and difficulty spikes especially with classic legacy collection. 💙💙

[@protocetid]

I want to commend you for not only recognizing the contributions this game has made not only to Mega Man, but to gaming as a whole. In my experience gen Z and younger have a harder time comprehending why 8 and 16 bit antiques are so important. No disrespect meant to gen Z, as time passes 80s and 90s games are only going to get more archaic and simple compared to whatever out at the time. It’s a bit surreal but cool to hear someone have nostalgia for NES games so many decades after it launched.

[@mechajay3358]

The nightmares fuel that is the US Box Art aside, it's cool that we're finally getting a retrospective ln the Classic Mega Man games.

[@esmooth919]

Talking about the weakness chain, I usually start with either bombman or gutsman as a means to negate backtracking, since one of the side weapons you pick up is *_mandatory_* to beat the game. You may think me crazy for starting with gutsman first, but he's kind of a pushover even with the normal megabuster. As long as he doesn't try to crush you under his weight, you're golden!

[@ExinerisLP]

Cool video! I've been a mega man fan my whole life (I'm in my 30s) so it's refreshing to see a relatively newer fan perspective on the original MM

[@jaysaiyajoestar1220]

god after 7 freakin years, J's Finally reviewing Classic series. Thank You!!

[@spacepope8495]

J’s MegaMan vids are still unmatched all these years later

[@Alianger]

The PAL box was awesome

[@NicholasproclaimerofMessiah]

When I played these games as a young child in the late 80s, it was excellent to have so many challenging stages available even though I was often not skilled enough to get past the bosses. With some games, I didn't get to see much of the game.

[@thomasffrench3639]

I feel like this is a major reason for Mega Man’s success. It still is challenging for people who like challenge, but if you weren’t good, you could still get a lot out of the game. The only real negative is an inconsistent difficulty curve, but honestly that’s not really that big of a deal

[@Chaodurr]

This video has incredible timing, I just recently beat Megaman 1 after picking the NES games back up because I was never able to beat them. X4 was the only MM game I knew like the back of my hand. But since beating MM1 earlier this week, I couldn't put it down! Beat it about 8 more times, and know yellow devil's pattern which is super satisfying. Got through 2 and looking forward to doing the rest of classic, but MM1 was so much fun! Helps that my favorite Robot Master in classic is Elecman ⚡

[@thomasffrench3639]

More than 8 times? I just beat it for the first time, and really enjoyed it, and it really game me a huge appreciation for 2 as I am loving playing Mega Man 2. It might take place of my favorite NES game from the original Castlevania, but we will see as I still have to tackle the Wily Stages.

[@bardinblue9830]

Awesome review! I think Mega Man 2 was the first in the series that I had ever played, and then Mega Man 3 was the first that got me excited enough about the series to buy it and start collecting the other games. The original Mega Man game was tough compared to the others due to no energy tanks... but it is still one of my favorite games of all time. Funny thing though... A few years ago, I was watching a video of Twitch on Reploid Revo doing a cussword-filled play through of Mega Man 1, often exclaiming "HOW DID THIS GAME GET A SEQUEL?!?!" LOL. Anyway, I'm glad that it did get not only "a" sequel, but a whole host of sequels and sequel series!

[@Unquestionable]

I grew up with Mega Man and yeah even as a kid I remember the first game being a curiousity more than a serious contender. Still have a ton of memories strongly tied to the series even if I didn't stay up to date.

[@theophilecaceres5855]

ooooo this is gonna be great, can't wait for the classic series to be entirely(?) covered.

[@Dorelaxen]

Mega Man was the first game I ever rented. Little mom and pop video store in my town. Never could beat it originally (that damn Yellow Devil), but it was an amazing experience. I remember being blown away because he could blink. BLINK. Miss those old days.

[@esmooth919]

8:53 This is my least favorite section in all of Mega Man 1, and they had the nerve to do it again in Wily Castle! Let me tell you why I never come here without the magnet beam: Those platforms that J is talking about? Not only do they raise and lower at random, making it impossible to jump from one to another if they're placed incorrectly, but sometimes they glitch out, hit you while you're standing on them, and cause you to fall through them, to your death! *_bring the magnet beam!_* That's really the only thing I don't like about Mega Man 1. I love this game otherwise.

[@esmooth919]

Not even the Yoku blocks annoy me this much! ... At least not until Mega Man 4, 5 and 6.

[@-Evil-Genius-]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🕹️ *Introduction to Mega Man Retrospective* - Overview of the channel's history with the Mega Man franchise. - Longtime focus on Mega Man X content. - Commitment to exploring the original Mega Man series. 02:22 🎮 *Setting Up to Play Mega Man* - Acquiring an NES for an authentic gaming experience. - Importance of consulting the game manual for essential information. - Humorous exploration of the manual's quirky instructions. 03:45 📜 *Mega Man's Backstory and Manual Discrepancies* - Brief overview of Mega Man's creation by Dr. Light. - Analysis of discrepancies and humorous aspects in the game manual. - Reiteration of the game's plot for clarity. 04:55 ⚙️ *Gameplay Mechanics and Level Selection* - Mega Man's straightforward controls and gameplay. - Unconventional level selection system's impact on playthrough variety. - Insight into the strategic element of choosing the order of Robot Master stages. 06:47 ⚖️ *Game's Imperfections and Design Critique* - Acknowledgment of Mega Man 1's unpolished elements. - Critique of gameplay issues, including controls and level design. - Discussion on the variability in stage quality. 09:22 🎮 *Boss Abilities and Weapon Effectiveness* - Analysis of Robot Masters' difficulty and weapon effectiveness. - Emphasis on the boss fights as wars of attrition. - Overview of each special weapon's utility and drawbacks. 11:26 📦 *Impact of Box Art on Game Sales* - Exploration of the disastrous impact of the US box art on Mega Man's Western sales. - Anecdote on the rushed creation of the infamous box art. - Recognition of the box art's enduring status as a meme. 13:32 🎨 *Visual Presentation and Soundtrack* - Appreciation for the striking original character designs by Inafune. - Acknowledgment of the NES era's visual limitations. - Positive remarks on the game's visual variety and catchy soundtrack. 14:23 🏰 *Wily Castle Challenges and Yellow Devil Boss* - Introduction to the Wily Castle stages and their challenges. - Highlighting the infamous difficulty of the Yellow Devil boss fight. - Mention of a glitch as a recourse for the challenging boss battles. 15:34 🏁 *Final Stages and Dr. Wily Battle* - Overview of the final stages and boss rush leading to Dr. Wily. - Recognition of the relative ease of the final boss fights. - Personal nostalgia associated with completing the game and its ending music. 15:47 🕹️ *Personal Connection with Mega Man 1* - Introduction to the creator's journey into Mega Man. - Initial struggles with Mega Man X1 leading to eventual fandom. - Fond memories of beating Mega Man 1, particularly the impactful end credits theme. 16:56 🎮 *Appreciation for Mega Man 1's Appeal* - Acknowledgment of Mega Man 1's unpolished nature. - Recognition of the game's unique and appealing aspects. - Comparison of Mega Man 1's design elements to later entries in the series. 17:51 🌟 *Legacy and Sequel Anticipation* - Mega Man 1's impact despite not being a major hit initially. - Reflection on the game's role in laying the foundation for the franchise. - Excitement and anticipation for the next installment, Mega Man 2. Made with HARPA AI

[@jeast9648]

Hey man, I'm glad you're getting some recognition.

[@unluckly9256]

As a long time viewer since 2018 now, I am beyond hyped for this retrospective

[@WinspearUltima]

It’s great to see you have an actual nes for theses games. Mega man is definitely worth playing on original hardware.

[@BlankSpacePub]

If you want to have an easy playthrough of MM1, start with Fire Man. His level might be a bit more challenging than some of the others, but he is one of the easiest bosses to beat (you can literally just stand in front of him motionless and spam your mega buster; his meter will run out before yours does if you go into battle with full health). Fire Man's weapon is the metal blade of MM1: its fire shield in combination with the overpowered fire shot largely nerfs the rest of the robot master stages. My order is Fire Man, Bomb, Guts, Cut, Elec, Ice. (Save the nastiest platforming stage for last!)

[@Theshark15z]

I read up on that Mega Man got a sequel is that the Development team had to beg to the executives if they can do another one. They finally agreed and allowed to do a sequel as long as they work on other projects. They agreed and many of the team developers did on their own time.

[@Rimpala]

for the longest time when I was a kid I used to only be able to complete the game up to Ice Man's stage because that one part with the bottomless pits were so difficult to get past and I didn't know what the magnet beam was XD