To be honest, what the Megaman series has in nostalgia is almost equalled by its lack of originality. As such, the series isn't so much eight distinct games as eight iterations of the same game. Sure, there are a few minor variations, but they are all still applied to the same basic template. Players always take the role of Megaman, a heroic robot with a gun (or Mega-Buster, depending on the number of game you happen to be playing) attached to his arm. Initially created by the bushy-bearded Dr. Light to be a peaceful worker robot, Megaman is forced time and again to save the world from the clutches of the evil Dr. Wily. Invariably, Dr. Wily has created an array of eight themed robots that Megaman must defeat before going after their master. By destroying these robots, Megaman is able to Get Equipped with their weapons. Paradoxically enough, Dr. Wily seems to enjoy equipping his oft-defeated robots with the only weapons capable of damaging his last boss incarnation. This allows weapons like bubble lead to fall into Megaman's hands, and subsequently leads to the evil doctor's undoing. Strategy isn't exactly Wily's strong point. Nor, really, is creativity. He seems set on including one ice and one fire robot in each group of eight that he creates. When it comes right down to it, there really isn't much to distinguish Flame Man from Fire Man and Heat Man. Dr. Wily's real talent involves the use of his eyebrows, which could probably put The Rock to shame. That aside, this lack of originality isn't at all unexpected coming from Capcom. After all, this is the company that released about six versions of Street Fighter 2 before finally (and grudgingly, I suspect) moving on to the third installment of that series.
Before anyone gets the impression that I'm anti-Megaman, I should probably mention that I don't consider originality to be a strict prerequisite for a good game. If you have a great concept, repeating it can still lead to some awesome results. Just look at the A-Team! As far as I'm concerned, Megaman was doing fine right until the end of number seven. Unfortunately, one of the minor variations in number eight turned out to be nothing short of disastrous. Although they provide you with no warning, at some point between seven and eight Megaman Gets Equipped with Terrible Voice-Acting. This is a weapon that seems to have almost infinite ammunition, and doesn't appear to be good at any point in the game. Quite frankly, Megaman sounds like a little wuss, and the robots he faces are no better. Of course, when one of these robots is Clown Man, you know that Dr. Wily is really scrapping the bottom of the barrel. If you were afraid of clowns before, just wait until you see (and hear) this robot in action. And that, unfortunately, is no joke.
Return to Jaridis Blade's Gallery of Quotes