Mega Man (1990)

Mega Man (1990)
Hi-Tech Expression present: the absolute worst scenario for a Mega Man game to be in.
Genre(s): Platformer Platform(s): MS-DOS Release: 1990 Developer(s): Hi-Tech Expressions Publisher(s): Hi-Tech Expressions Successor: Mega Man 3: The Robots are Revolting

Mega Man is a platform game released in 1990 exclusively for the DOS, and Capcom has no involvement in this game. It also received overwelmingly negative reviews by fans and critics, which will be the main focus of this page.

Why It Mega Sucks

1. There's only 3 levels in the entire game (4 if you count the Dr. Wily level), which makes the game extremely short; it's even worse than the Mega Man game on WonderSwan, where there's 4 levels. This is a major downgrade considering that the first Mega Man game on the NES had six robot masters to beat and four Dr. Wily levels.
2. You can't play with a controller; you can only play with the keyboard, which makes the game hard to play. If you try to connect a controller, Mega Man will keep running to the left. Thankfully, the second Mega Man game on PC addressed this problem.
3. The controls are dreadful, even when compared to the first Mega Man game on the NES, which had stiff controls but was not bad and still a bit fun to use, but here it's a bit unresponsive and awkward to use.
   • It also doesn't help that you must play with the keyboard, which makes everything worse.
4. Awful graphics, even when using the CGA mode, especially compared to Mega Man 3 on NES or even Mega Man 2.
5. False advertising: The cover shows that you can use Rush, but in the game, he's not seen anywhere.
6. Awful level design, with enemies that spawn all over the places where you can't even shoot at them, a lot of poorly placed platforms, a lot of pits, and sometimes spikes. In addition, the levels are very confusing to navigate due to their large, nonlinear structure similar to Metroidvania, unlike the console games, which had a straightforward linear trek from start to finish as level design.
   • There is also the intro stage, which is only a straight line to the exit with nothing aside from a constantly respawning dog enemy, which is probably just there to pad the length of the game.
7. You take a lot of damage with little to no invincibility frames, which add more problems to the unfair difficulty or even to the game.
8. The sound effects are awful and are ear-bleeding to hear, as the game uses the PC speaker for sound, even though the AdLib and Sound Blaster sound cards were out for quite some time by then and could produce much better sound than the PC speaker.
9. Some enemies respawn as soon as you kill them, which is another problem with the unfair and awful difficulty of the game.
10. No speed limiter was programmed in, meaning the game would become fast to the point of being unplayable on more powerful computers, even during the time the game was released.
11. Not only does the cover show false advertising, but it's also a rehash of the North American box art of Mega Man: Dr. Wily Revenge on Game Boy.
12. There's not any music during the entire game, even if the Mega Man games are known for their great music. Although it's maybe for the best since the PC speaker makes bad music most of the time,
13. Awful ending, with only a congratulations screen, some information, and a comparison with Mega Man with Dr. Wily.

The Only Redeeming Quality

1. At least the game was made with only 2 people, which is impressive because there are still games that were made with a lot of people that are far worse than this game. It's even more impressive that it's not cancelled.

Reception

The game has been heavily panned, with many calling it one of the worst PC games of all time. PC Gamer put it on its list of the worst PC ports ever, calling it a "monstrous conversion" and a "terrible port". In recent years, its negativity has since died down a bit and found new appreciation thanks to Volt Man's funny appearances in the Make a Good Mega Man Level duology, Owlboy creator Simon S. Andersen's mock-up "remake", and The Gaming Historian's video about its development.

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