Review: Mega Man 5

Mega Man 5 has not been historically looked upon kindly. Many who are familiar with the entire series have marked this game as the decline of the series. The game does make some additions to the series that were repeated throughout every incarnation since, and some were never seen again.

The story once again faces you against an antagonist and their legion of 8 robots plus two castles. This time your main villain initially appears to be Proto Man, who has been seen in previous titles as a secondary, non-playable character. Later in the game, there will come an obvious plot twist that it wasn't really Proto Man, but Wily in disguise. It does provide the excuse for the game to throw two final castles at you. This is the same story structure that's been repeated throughout the series and is started to get stale and predictable. The ending is no surprise either as it could have been copy and pasted into any other Mega Man NES game.

One aspect that makes this game one of the weaker entry in the NES Mega Man series is the challenge level. Previous games would punish you over and over until you learned every levels feel and memorized every boss's patterns of attack. This time around, the levels provide little to no challenge and the bosses are just as disappointing. Before this, the mechanics of Mega Man was defeat a boss, use its weapon on another boss. However, Mega Man 5's bosses are so predictable and easy, a lot of the time I found myself just using the buster cannon and charged attack. The game had no satisfaction in conquering boss after boss; it just seemed so routine. Throughout the game, there are very few challenges, but there are also some very cheap moments. A few levels employ the trial and error tactic from Mega Man 2 with deadly results if wrong. Though these moments are few and far between, it's never an excusable method of design.

Perhaps the factor that crippled the difficulty was the continuation of the charge shot from Mega Man 4. Mega Man 1 through 3 left you with a buster shot that was represented as a little orb flying across the screen and was merely a last resort in boss battles. For the second time, the buster shot has been upgrade for a more useful role in the game. You can hold down the shoot button to charge up your canon and fire a more devastating shot at the expense of waiting a few seconds. It might be that the designers were having a hard time implementing this mechanic and balancing the game's difficulty level despite being so well-done in Mega Man 4.

As far as boss weapons go, most are just useless. Very few attacks are necessary to overcome the game's challenges, and others are just never used at all. The game also brings back Rush, Mega Man's canine sidekick with Rush Jet, Rush Coil and Rush Submarine. Jet and Coil have found their place in former games, and this one is no exception. There are moments where these tools become extremely viable. However, Rush Submarine has no necessity in the game. You can comfortably go through the entire game without even considering it. It does get a little irritating having to pause the game to open up a menu, select the tool, and then use it, just to open up the menu again to change back to your weapon. This is exacerbated when you have obstacles in succession that require either tool or both. Note: if you play this on the PS2 collection, R1 and L1 function as switching between your normal weapon and boss weapons. These buttons do not include Rush at all, which is a major disappointment. Personal note: I still don't know what C.Kick or G.Hold do.

Three  noteworthy additions are the M-Tank, S.Arrow and letters scattered throughout the game which spell out 'MEGAMAN5'. The former restore your optional weapons' power and your life, though the game doesn't require you to use boss weapons as much as previous games. It's almost ironic this is the game they chose to implement M-Tanks. S.Arrow is an arrow that Mega Man can shoot and it will attach itself to a nearby wall. This can be used to scale heights, or you can jump on the arrow with some skill and ride it like Rush Jet. It's an interesting weapon, but doesn't find much use throughout the game. Last addition, letters can be found scattered throughout levels, but their placements usually require you to know where they are before you can see them. Thus, making you play through the level a few times just to get them. Once you do collect them all, you get the BEAT weapon. BEAT is a little bird that is summoned as an attack. Its effect is minimal, as the game's difficulty can be overcome with your buster cannon most of the time. Overall, neither addition truly shines or changes the game at all.

The controls are just as solid as Mega Man 4. Jumping, running and gunning are executed nicely. There's not much else to be said, especially when simple works.

Listening to the soundtrack does give the feeling of playing a Mega Man game, but doesn't quite capture the same memorable hooks and tempos that previous titles are famous for. There are only a few tracks that live up to the standards expected of the series, the rest are just uninspiring. There's nothing bad enough about the soundtrack to distract from the gameplay, its just background noise. Overall, the sound effects are exactly the same as what's been present in previous incarnations. The one disappointment is the charge shot has the same sound effect as the regular shot.

The graphics still remain pleasing to look at. All the enemies and bosses animate nicely which compliments the game play style of watching for an enemy to telegraph its attack so it may be countered. All the stages are well well render and interesting to look at. The Mega Man series has been no slouch when paying close attention to detail.

Mega Man 5 isn't a bad game on its own, but when compared with the established tradition of the series, it falls short. Historically, this game has been seen as the decline of the original Mega Man series, and it definitely gives that impression coming off playing Mega Man 2 through 4 recently. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth being played. Some may find its lack of hardcore difficulty more appealing than the other games. The lack of usefulness in boss weapons is the biggest flaw of the game and rightfully earns the ire of the Mega Man following.