How would you rank the Mega Man games?

[NintendoLegend]

I have my opinions, but I would love to hear from others first... of course...

From what I've heard, people tend to consider 2 and 3 to be the best of the bunch. Do you have a strong opinion about which of those is best? If so, why? And where do the rest of the NES iterations fall on your rankings?

[flailthroughs]

Well, 2 is my favorite of that pair, since I never owned 3. I enjoyed 3 when I rented it more than 4-6, though. The charged Mega Buster didn't really do the original series any favors- it needed the mechanical overhaul that Mega Man X brought to really shine.

For me, I'd go with 2>1>3>4-6.

[metatron]

Whichever one first gives you the ability to charge your weapon...I think that's 3...it's my favorite.

[mt]

I don't know if i'll ever be able to decide between 2 and 3. I don't even want to get started. i always go back and forth and can never decide so i'm going to just stop right here!

All I know is that 4 is very underrated and has good level design and challenging bosses. the boss battles really got rid of the "x weapon beats the shit out of so-and-so boss" and ends up being much more rewarding (even if the game isn't as good as 2 and 3). i feel like it gets a bad rap just because ith as a few dumb bad guys (pharaoh man!?), but it's got some really great stuff in there. also, the end boss(es) are some of the toughest in the NES series and the game is quite a bit longer than the others.

1 is a classic and even if it didn't have some of the bugs worked out it's still a great and really challenging game. sucks that it doesn't have a password, but you can just leave your nintendo on

5 isn't a BAD game by any means but it is missing something I can't put my finger on. and it's a lot easier than the others. a lot of the enemies are furry animals, too, which is kind of dumb. the game kind of seems more "kiddy" than the others, which doesn't sit well with me. even the music is kind of wimpy, and sounds like you're going on a neat little trip instead of going to beat a bunch of robot ass like on the earlier games.


6 isn't bad either, and some of the new items/weapon things are pretty fun, but it's kind of "too little, too late" by this point and none of the levels are very memorable.

[ultramatt91]

Well, I rank my Mega Man 2 the best and my Mega Man 5 pretty good but just won't beat #2! I have played some other games on emulator but haven't played enough of them.

[NintendoLegend]

Just for the record -- 3 introduced the slide, 4 introduced weapon charging. Carry on...

[retrocadegames]

For me.. 3, 9, 2, 4, 10, 8, 5, 6, 1, 7.

Mega Man 3 to me is the best vs. 2 hands down. Has more characters, better story, music and gameplay! Plus its one of the longer MM games for the NES. Epic!

I had to put 9 second because in all honesty it really is a great game. I'm impressed, Capcom put a lot of effort into this title. They wanted to make sure all fans of the series would be pleased. No exceptions.

10 on the other hand felt rushed, lacked a lot on a few levels.
The screen borders still piss me off to this day.

[masterLEON]

2, 3, 1, 4, 9...small gap...5, 7, 8...large gap... 6, 10

1 was the only one, IIRC, which had the last part of Wily's stage where you had to fight several robot masters in a row. Also, no E tanks existed yet. I like that kind of challenge!

The first gap separates the really close ones from the rest. The second gap separates the ones I didn't really care for at all. 10 was like, full of spikes, and stage tunes and color palette choices made of mediocre and bland. Take more time next time (if there is ever another one).

[MattWritesStuff]

- 2 takes first place because it had my favorite robot masters, not to mention it was the first Mega Man game I played.

- 4 gets second thanks to the Mega Buster's introduction.

- 3 is, er, third, 'cause I like Rush. And sliding. And the insanely easy last boss, assuming you can use Top Man's weapon.

- 1 is fourth mainly because it's such a pain to beat, especially after getting used to Mega Man's other capabilities in the later games.

- 6 is fifth because it was meh.

- 5 is sixth because I bought it when it first came out... and beat it the same day. Was quite disappointing. I barely even died. The damn thing was $60!

[Septicor]

2 tops it for me.
3 was a slight second.
6 is the underrated gem
1 is tough, but fun
4 is okay, but nothing special
5 I think is the worst of the NES bunch. I didn't like the weapons