Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. Well spring has sprung, and May is upon us once again. And that means that once more we can take a look back at the 8-bit chronicles of the blue bomber himself. Welcome to the 2nd (and likely final) annual Mega May. Well last year we looked at the first four Mega Man games on the NES. And while the 4th installment didn’t overly wow me, I can at least say that these four were the most memorable, and definitely the most popular of the bunch. So how does the choice of this week’s review stack up? Let’s find out with Mega Man 5.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1992
PUBLISHER: Capcom
GENRE: Action Platformer
By the time Mega Man 5 saw its release, most companies had already abandoned ship on the waning NES. However, Capcom stuck around until the bitter end, releasing a slew of interesting games for the console, most notably two more sequels to Mega Man, since they were pretty easy to make considering the engine was for the most part the same all the way through, only with minor tweaks with each coming game.
The man behind the blue bomber, Keiji Inafune, would work under a new project manager for the fifth Mega Man title. However, to ensure the game would keep that classic feel, and not be too hard or annoying, Inafune used his experience to keep things going as they always did. This meant that Mega Man five would have a lowered difficulty from the previous titles. Mega Man 5 was released in December of 1992 to the states, and a release in Europe in 1993. Because it was so late in the lineup, the game wasn’t a monster seller as the previous titles, and can be considered the hardest of the six games to find. It was the most expensive Mega Man game I bought, finding it used for 30 bucks. But was that 30 bucks worth it?
COVER STORY
This is a far better cover than the ones prior. Gravity Man looks great as a towering presence, Mega Man is finally looking like his game counterpart. Gone are definitely the days of the horrors of the original box art. I also like seeing Protoman in the background, as you’ll see in the story section, he plays an important role in this adventure. Plus that sleek, beautiful purple border. The cover is probably my personal favorite of the six Mega Man titles, and is a definite eye pleaser for most mega fans.
STORY
It’s the year 200x, and once again everything is peaceful and calm. Until once again the world is under attack by eight robots. And to make things worse, Dr. Light has been kidnapped. And the one behind all of this is… Protoman? Has Protoman turned evil, or is someone more familiar pulling all the strings? Either way, it’s up to Mega Man to save the day.
GAMEPLAY
Mega Man 5 is a 1 player action platformer. Once again you control Mega Man through 8 boss masters, and then face off with the main villain in his castle, in this case what appears to be Protoman. You move Mega Man with the D-pad, can jump with the A button, shoot with the B button, can slide with down+a, and charge up your mega buster by holding the B button for a second or two. Nothing new has really changed to Mega Man’s arsenal. The only real changes come from new abilities earned, but we’ll get to those shortly.
Once again it’s 8 more robot masters on the scene, and this motley crew includes…
STAR MAN: On an outer space base with gravity controls similar to water levels prior, which means the longer the A button is held, the higher up Mega Man will go. So you’ll have to time perfect gravity jumps avoiding spiky ceilings and floors in order to make it to Star Man. Defeating this lunar loon nabs you the Star Crash, which is the game’s stock shield ability.
GRAVITY MAN: In this level, you’ll find spots with arrows on the wall either pointing up or down. When you walk into one, it will either send you to the ceiling, letting you walk upside down, or back to the floor. You’ll need to hone your skills to make it to Gravity Man, battling him as he constantly flips gravity. You get the Gravity Hold from him, which can send certain enemies upside down and instantly defeated. Can be the most useful obtained item.
GYRO MAN: High up in the clouds, you’ll face more enemies as well as a few elevator rides. Gyro Man likes to hide in the clouds above and drop down on you when he gets the chance. His defeat nabs you the gyro blade. By pressing up or down, you can make the gyro move in that direction, making it good for annoying enemies above or below.
CRYSTAL MAN: Deep within a crystal mine, with falling diamonds, and even a crystal Sniper Joe to deal with, you’ll make it through to face off with Crystal Man, who fires a ball that splits into multiple projectiles. Defeating him earns you the Crystal Eye, which splits into multiple parts on contact with a wall. The downside is you can’t fire until all of the balls are gone.
NAPALM MAN: In this jungle level filled with robot tigers, missiles, and drills sees Napalm Man, the game’s stock bomber. He shoots napalm bombs and missiles while also trying to get the legitimate drop on you. Defeating him gets you the Napalm Bombs. They bounce about for a bit and do decent damage.
STONE MAN: In the stone cave level filled with robot bats, mice, and mets that like to split into three tiny annoyances will have Stone Man at the end, he throws a pair of spinning stones, and often try to jump on you, turning himself into rubble. Defeating him gets you the Power Stone, the spinning rocks as mentioned prior.
CHARGE MAN: This level takes place on a train, with plenty of train enemies, as well as chicken robots that shoot little robot eggs. At the end is Charge Man, a robot train. He shoots projectiles from his steam pipe, and charges at you. Defeating him gets the Charge Kick, an upgraded slide that can destroy certain obstacles, and is easily the worst Mega Man ability ever.
WAVE MAN: This level starts off as another underwater plant level, but as you’ll see by the time you get to the surface after dealing with bubble platforming, you actually do a jet ski level, as you glide across the water dealing with the enemies that come your way. At the end is Wave Man. He shoots tridents and random spouts of water. Defeating him gains you the Water Wave, which sends a twin wave of water out.
Other than the acquired moves, Mega Man has a few new items he gains through his journey. Once again, he gets the help of his dog Rush, but this time only with the coil and jet abilities since there is no underwater spots in this game. The coil is different this time, as instead of a spring that shoots just Mega Man up, it’s Rush that springs up with a coil underneath him. It’s weird to get used to initially. The jet controls the same as in Mega Man 4
Defeating Star Man nabs you the Super Arrow. It’s really nothing special, just an arrow that sticks to walls, making some tricky spots easier to get over. The E Tanks return, but now there’s also the rarer M tank, which will fill not only Mega Man’s health bar, but every single ability bar. Suffice is to say, these are the most valuable items in the game for the later final levels of the game.
But the biggest addition is Beat the Robot Bird. In each robot master level, you will find a letter that spells out MEGAMANV. When all eight are collected, you will gain the ability of Beat the Bird, who acts as an invincibility as he’ll destroy any enemy in your path. However, like the other abilities, he has an energy bar, and can run out quite quickly.
After defeating the masters, it’s off to Protoman’s castle, where you once again must do several stages and plenty of enemies from the previous levels, as well as new robots. Until finally you make it to the ultimate showdown with Protoman. But to the shock of very few, it turns out this Protoman was a fake, and as you’d expect, the real culprit is none other than Dr. Wily. Yes, this is really the same plot idea from the last game, and believe me, it’s not the last time they’ll do this. So, you then have to go through Wily Castle, beat more enemies, face the robot masters again, and once again defeat Wily and save Dr. Light.
Other than that, the game remains unchanged. You get unlimited continues and passwords. There are no issues with controls, and the hit detection is solid. The difficulty in this one is a mixed bag. Easier in some areas than previous games, but still has some pain spots that will take a while to get pitch perfect.
GRAPHICS
Once again Capcom delivers some top notch graphics for a Mega Man game. All the sprites look great, and i like that certain levels have differing enemies that all fit into the levels given. For example, Star Man’s stage will have the little met enemies in space helmets. Crystal Man has Sniper Joe enemies that shoot crystals. It’s the nice touches that really make this game look that much better. The levels also are some of the best looking in my opinion, and the most fitting for the robot masters involved. It all makes for one of the best of the best graphically for the series.
MUSIC
As expected, Capcom hits another winner with this soundtrack. Many memorable tracks. My personal favorite has to be the Protoman levels, which all have this really great sense that a lot is on the line as it’s a battle of brother against brother. Granted, the soundtrack isn’t as top notch as 2’s, but it’s still excellent.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Mega Man 5 is a vast improvement over what I felt was the weakest of the series in Mega Man 4. More creative level choices, some more interesting robot masters (despite the awesomeness of Pharaoh Man in 4), and just some interesting new add-ons in general. However, considering the outcome of the game’s plot, you could tell the franchise was heading into dire territory, and it wasn’t going to get any better. But still, this is a Mega Man game, and it’s still a fun play no matter what. If you can find this one, give it a play.
RANKING:
1st: Mega Man 3
2nd: Mega Man 2
3rd: Mega Man
4th
5th: Mega Man 5
6th: Mega Man 4