| System: NES | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Capcom | Sound: |
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| Year: 1992 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Action-platformer | Rating: |
7/10 |
Dr. Light has been kidnapped! My god, by whom? By Proto Man! He’s surrounded himself with eight new robot masters (not the most charismatic bunch, if you ask me, right Star Man?) and is waiting for his little brother at the heart of his fortress.
Oh, surprise, we’ll later discover that all of this was just a vile, sneaky, and diabolical plot by the awful, the despicable, the not-so-nice Doctor Wily.
You know the drill: Wily is defeated, but manages to escape, much to Mega Man’s astonishment. Yep, the fifth time, it’s still a shocker.
Nothing new under the sun, except for the introduction of a new cybernetic companion: Beat (aka, “the little pecker”). Also worth noting are two “innovations” I could have done without:
First, the charging of the mega-buster (the basic weapon) is now interrupted when you take a hit. Great…
Second, it’s Mega Man 5 that introduces the infamous jet-ski sequence, which will become a mandatory segment, and which will annoy the life out of us in the Mega Man X series. Not a fan!
By the way, I realised while taking screenshots that I completed the entire game almost exclusively using the mega-buster. That’s a sign that the secondary weapon design is a fail. In fact, the particularly high difficulty of the final section (the fortress) is mainly down to the uselessness of the weapons. Take Stone Man’s weapon, for example: explain to me how the projectiles can take up so much space and still never hit their targets?
Another question keeping me up at night: what’s the point of having a two-digit life counter if it stays stuck at “09”?
Suggested order:
Star Man > Gravity Man > Gyro Man > Crystal Man > Napalm Man > Stone Man > Charge Man > Wave Man
