Something the series could do in the future if we want multi phase bosses is just tie the phase transitions to certain points on their healthbar instead of giving them separate healthbars. It wouldn't work for every boss, but it's an option that could cut down on people feeling faked out when they thought they'd won.
I think Mega Man's established the two stage thing enough that it's fine, but other games do the same health bar thing and it works. Not opposed to either, I'd just rather Mega Man stay the course, because I'm very easily confused.
"what if your mother calls you to dinner" is a wild excuse lol. Anyway, I don't think any of these are that bad, jusst sometimes poorly executed. Big Eye can always be negated with *some* weapon in Rock's kit like ice slasher/spark shock, which I'd say is the best use of these weapons outside of boss weaknesses also. I've never personally had trouble with him and would worst case scenario just need a well timed slide to get past him. The bike was already perfect in X2 pretty much, it's just that the next games messed it up by trying to make it stand out (which I appreciate but it just didn't work). Spikes are actually awesome imo (as long as they're not overused), as they allow for some really interesting speed strats at times where you abuse i-frames to get through a section faster. It's what you said, they're a rule you can bend. I don't see the issue with double fortresses personally, it's just more content and it's always foreshadowed amyway by the mere fact that the first fortress is never Wily, yet you know for a fact that it's Wily you fight at the end, so if MM12 had an antagonist other than Wily at first, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to see a second fortress, so idk about you personally. It's the same reason why you always know you haven't beaten an X game until you get to Sigma (well, most of the time anyway). I thought it was pretty obvious but guess not... though I get it if someone thinks one fortress is enough for a Megaman game. I personally don't mind either options, as my favorite Megaman (MM&B) has one fortress anyway. Dropping platforms is the one hazard I just can't understand. Seriously, everything else you mentioned I can see the downsides to it, but not this one. Is a set of well timed jumps really that off putting? Honestly, I'm gonna sound completely crazy by saying this, but I feel like Megamaan fans generally wished the games were easier... dare I say they have a... skill issue? (Throwback to one of your older videos). But seriously, a lot of things Megaman fans commonly complain about are things that I'd never think of as poorly designed obstacles and just minor difficulty spikes (pun not intended). Its really weird to me because usually people who love this sub genre (if you can call it that) are usually pretty hardcore gamers who like having their asses handed to them, yet Megaman is an exceptional case where the game is just easy enough to attract casuals, but just hard enough to make people despise the difficulty. It's really interesting what kind of audience Megaman has gathered over the years. Sorry if my hypothesis sounds insane, but I just couldn't help but notice it time and time again. Anyway, great video as always!
I think the Cossack and Proto Man fake out probably did get a lot of people when the games first came out, but them being retro makes it pretty obvious these days. The drop platforms just feel like a little much for a regular stage, especially one that could be the first Mega Man level someone ever plays. I also did a lot of runs of Powered Up around the time I did the previous video and the longer ones in the final stage are really infuriating, though hey, at least they saved those for the end.
@@ExploDjinn the sad reality is that Megaman just isn't beginner friendly, it's an investment game where you get better at it over time, and not something to breeze through like say Kirby, so if we were to point out everything that isn't beginner friendly in the series, we'd be here for a while. Of course, that's not to say it shouldn't be beginner friendly, but to only select a few examples of a greater issue within Megaman's design philosophy (that is limited resources mixed in with trial and error) feels somewhat unfair to me. But who knows, maybe I'm tripping and we really should just make drop platforms easier to ride, or ideally, keep them for optional areas with extra items only... which would probably be the best way to use them now that I think about it.
The reason I dislike the 2 castles isn't because I feel like I was lied to or it goes on too long but because they just kept doing it. It's supposed to be a plot twist but became repetitive and lazy. I liked it the 1st time 'cause they never did it before, so it was a good surprise 'cause we'd always gotten 12 stages, so we already felt like the game was complete, so we got more of this already great game. I wish 5&6 instead of having a 2nd "surprise" castle just had 1 castle with 8 stages and stopped pretending like it was still a twist at this point.
Personally, I really hope Megaman 12, if it happens, does have someone besides Wily as the final boss, but have it set up like it's gonna be similar to 4 through 6. The lack of twist is the twist! The Big Eyes and their ilk are probably my least favorite overall, but the original ones from the first game are insane. Like, a third of your health because you didn't guess the jump arc RNG... yeah, Fujiwara definitely worked in this game LOL
I actually kind of like Wily as the villain every time, since it kind of gives the series a Saturday morning cartoon vibe, though I do hope they do something big with Lumine, if we ever get an X9. As long as the gameplay's good, though, I won't complain.
Actually the "Ride Chaser" was first introduced in Mega Man 5 when you think about it And just like in X4 and X5, if you miss the "MEGAMANV" letter you better restart the whole stage yippie 💀
Honestly, I don't think any of these hazards are that bad (besides the Ride Chaser Sections). I could see an argument against spikes, but most of the time they're pretty easy to dodge.
Something the series could do in the future if we want multi phase bosses is just tie the phase transitions to certain points on their healthbar instead of giving them separate healthbars. It wouldn't work for every boss, but it's an option that could cut down on people feeling faked out when they thought they'd won.
I think Mega Man's established the two stage thing enough that it's fine, but other games do the same health bar thing and it works. Not opposed to either, I'd just rather Mega Man stay the course, because I'm very easily confused.
"what if your mother calls you to dinner" is a wild excuse lol. Anyway, I don't think any of these are that bad, jusst sometimes poorly executed. Big Eye can always be negated with *some* weapon in Rock's kit like ice slasher/spark shock, which I'd say is the best use of these weapons outside of boss weaknesses also. I've never personally had trouble with him and would worst case scenario just need a well timed slide to get past him. The bike was already perfect in X2 pretty much, it's just that the next games messed it up by trying to make it stand out (which I appreciate but it just didn't work). Spikes are actually awesome imo (as long as they're not overused), as they allow for some really interesting speed strats at times where you abuse i-frames to get through a section faster. It's what you said, they're a rule you can bend. I don't see the issue with double fortresses personally, it's just more content and it's always foreshadowed amyway by the mere fact that the first fortress is never Wily, yet you know for a fact that it's Wily you fight at the end, so if MM12 had an antagonist other than Wily at first, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to see a second fortress, so idk about you personally. It's the same reason why you always know you haven't beaten an X game until you get to Sigma (well, most of the time anyway). I thought it was pretty obvious but guess not... though I get it if someone thinks one fortress is enough for a Megaman game. I personally don't mind either options, as my favorite Megaman (MM&B) has one fortress anyway. Dropping platforms is the one hazard I just can't understand. Seriously, everything else you mentioned I can see the downsides to it, but not this one. Is a set of well timed jumps really that off putting? Honestly, I'm gonna sound completely crazy by saying this, but I feel like Megamaan fans generally wished the games were easier... dare I say they have a... skill issue? (Throwback to one of your older videos). But seriously, a lot of things Megaman fans commonly complain about are things that I'd never think of as poorly designed obstacles and just minor difficulty spikes (pun not intended). Its really weird to me because usually people who love this sub genre (if you can call it that) are usually pretty hardcore gamers who like having their asses handed to them, yet Megaman is an exceptional case where the game is just easy enough to attract casuals, but just hard enough to make people despise the difficulty. It's really interesting what kind of audience Megaman has gathered over the years. Sorry if my hypothesis sounds insane, but I just couldn't help but notice it time and time again. Anyway, great video as always!
I think the Cossack and Proto Man fake out probably did get a lot of people when the games first came out, but them being retro makes it pretty obvious these days. The drop platforms just feel like a little much for a regular stage, especially one that could be the first Mega Man level someone ever plays. I also did a lot of runs of Powered Up around the time I did the previous video and the longer ones in the final stage are really infuriating, though hey, at least they saved those for the end.
@@ExploDjinn the sad reality is that Megaman just isn't beginner friendly, it's an investment game where you get better at it over time, and not something to breeze through like say Kirby, so if we were to point out everything that isn't beginner friendly in the series, we'd be here for a while. Of course, that's not to say it shouldn't be beginner friendly, but to only select a few examples of a greater issue within Megaman's design philosophy (that is limited resources mixed in with trial and error) feels somewhat unfair to me. But who knows, maybe I'm tripping and we really should just make drop platforms easier to ride, or ideally, keep them for optional areas with extra items only... which would probably be the best way to use them now that I think about it.
you are filling a very specific niche my guy. these are the kinds of megaman videos i want to watch
Thanks!
Mega Man should finally make a Spike Man whose attacks kill you in 1 hit and touching him kills you in 1 hit.
Well, they did change Needle Man's name to Spike Man in the NT Warrior dub.
The reason I dislike the 2 castles isn't because I feel like I was lied to or it goes on too long but because they just kept doing it. It's supposed to be a plot twist but became repetitive and lazy. I liked it the 1st time 'cause they never did it before, so it was a good surprise 'cause we'd always gotten 12 stages, so we already felt like the game was complete, so we got more of this already great game. I wish 5&6 instead of having a 2nd "surprise" castle just had 1 castle with 8 stages and stopped pretending like it was still a twist at this point.
Fair enough. Mr. X was so obvious, that it kind of felt like even Capcom was making fun of it at that point.
Personally, I really hope Megaman 12, if it happens, does have someone besides Wily as the final boss, but have it set up like it's gonna be similar to 4 through 6. The lack of twist is the twist!
The Big Eyes and their ilk are probably my least favorite overall, but the original ones from the first game are insane. Like, a third of your health because you didn't guess the jump arc RNG... yeah, Fujiwara definitely worked in this game LOL
I actually kind of like Wily as the villain every time, since it kind of gives the series a Saturday morning cartoon vibe, though I do hope they do something big with Lumine, if we ever get an X9. As long as the gameplay's good, though, I won't complain.
Actually the "Ride Chaser" was first introduced in Mega Man 5 when you think about it
And just like in X4 and X5, if you miss the "MEGAMANV" letter you better restart the whole stage yippie 💀
Good point. You could definitely call it the prototype.
Honestly, I don't think any of these hazards are that bad (besides the Ride Chaser Sections). I could see an argument against spikes, but most of the time they're pretty easy to dodge.
Yeah, but when spikes are bad, they're bad. There was a lot of yelling when I got to Dive Man's stage on Gameboy.