Mega Man 5
Reviewed by M. H.
What can I say? This is a Mega Man game. I only have 5 and 6, so 6 is
all that I have to compare it to. However, I think that this is an
excellent game for so many reasons that I will cover in the rest of
my review. The plot is simple. Protoman, yes, Protoman, that red
guy who makes the funny whistle, has gone over to the evil side and
has let loose eight robot masters on the city. Of course, Mega Man has
to defeat these eight robot masters and then go after Protoman to
save Dr. Light, who has been captured. Pretty ordinary storyline.
Graphics 9 out of 10
Don't trust my graphics grade. I usually pay so much attention to
beating a game that I don't even look to see whether the game has
good graphics or not. I don't usually care. However, the game has all
it needs. The backgrounds are usually well suited to the level that
they are found in. The bosses are usually multi-colored and look like
what their name implies that they would look like, in good detail.
Music and Sound 10 out of 10
Once again, I don't usually pay much attention to this kind of stuff.
However, I do pay attention to music. If a game has bad music I
usually turn down the music and listen to the radio or a CD. Not so
with this game. I like very much the music to the Mega Man games
that I have. It is nice and usually applies very well to the level at
hand. I especially enjoy the music in the Protoman castle.
Game Challenge 10 out of 10
Although the Mega Man 6 reviewer said that Mega Man 6 is harder than
Mega Man 5, my personal opinion is that he can take that theory with
him to the grave. Mega Man 5, in my opinion, is defiantly harder. That's
not to say that Mega Man 6 is easy. I'm not going to get into that.
Anyway, there are places where jumping too high will land you on
the scrap heap for destroyed robots, but if you don't jump far enough
and/or high enough, you die because of that. The bosses are fairly easy
(not cinchy, like in some games) if you fight them in the right order.
The dungeon (Proto Man's and the other person's, who shall remain
nameless for the sake of not ruining anything, lairs) levels are fairly
difficult without being impossible. For example, in one level, the
ceiling moves up and down and tries to turn Mega Man into a pancake.
However, one or two of the dungeon bosses could use some work. I
mean, what's so hard about a robot with two beams running through
him that runs back and forth or a contraption that attracts the ground,
neither of which shoot anything? I especially enjoyed the end, where
the real foe has two robots to attack you with instead of the usual one.
This is not as good as the three end robots of Mega Man 6, but is getting there.
Game Play-Fun 9 out of 10
This game is really fun, from the gravity switches of Gravity Man's
stage, to the really high jumps in Star Man's stage. In Wave Man's stage,
you even get to ride a jet ski, although you can't use special weapons or
charge up while doing so. The game, overall, is one that once you beat it,
there's nothing more to do except to figure out how to get the one energy
tank in Napalm Man's stage or the 1-up in Stone Man's stage. The necessary
timing for jumping over the holes with crystals falling into them in
Crystal Man's stage is also something to look back upon. I still haven't
figured that one out. I usually use a certain special weapon (I'm not
saying which because it is my job to review the game, not tell you how to
beat it) to get through the last three dropping crystal places. However,
this is a game that I love to return to whenever I can get the Nintendo
to cooperate.
Rumble Pak 8 out of 10
The reason that the game is so low in this category is that, based on what
I have seen from Mega Man 6 and the precious little I have seen of Mega Man
1, this is just the typical repetitive thing. It has the traditional eight
bosses, two dungeons with four levels apiece, and the end pummeling of a
very evil guy. (Once again, I'm not going to tell you who, although you should
have guessed by now if you have played any of the other Mega Man games.)
If you have played any of the others, the only difference is what the robot
masters are, what weapons you get from them, and what kind of level
guards them and the two end people (Protoman and the other guy).
However, that is not all bad, since that is probably what the diehard
Mega Man fan is looking for.
Frustration
There isn't really much frustrating about this game. After you beat it
a couple times, you catch on to what to use on each boss and in certain
sections of the levels as well. You also catch on to the patterns of the
attacks of the robot masters, who, if you look carefully, go through the
same patterns over and over or attack in the same ways depending on
their distance from you. Once you catch on to the pattern, you know how
to avoid getting hurt by the masters and can start pummeling them with
the greatest of ease. Once you beat it a couple of times, it's all the same,
although it is fun to go back and make sure you can do it again at will.
Replayability 7 out of 10
I have already mentioned a couple times that I usually would play
this over and over. However, that can not excuse the fact that there
is precious little to find or discover how to get to after you have gone
through the levels once or twice. After that, it tends to get repetitive,
which for some people, keeps them from playing the game ever again,
or very often. The only reason that I don't play this game very often is
that my Nintendo has a tendency to act up and put forth stubborn refusal
to work without a fight, and I am unwilling to stay there for hours on
end to get a game that I have beaten countless times already to work.
Now, if I were to get my hands on a new game, such as Mega Mans 1-4,
I would be more willing to put forth the extra effort to get it to work
in order to allow me to conquer the new game. However, I would
probably play it at least once a week if the Nintendo didn't fight my
commands to make it work.
Game Value 10 out of 10
I paid $10 for a new copy of this game. If that doesn't make the game
worth the price, I don't know what will. I mean, the game might not be
worth it for somebody who might have paid $50 or $60 for it, but that
is their decision. I personally think that I would have been willing to
pay that much for it, based on the fact that I paid $40 for Mega Man 6,
but then again, I had never played a Mega man game before Mega Man 5
and I had played Mega Man 5, although I not yet beat it legitimately
(I had always used Game Genie), before purchasing Mega Man 6. If I
had any of the more advanced systems I would have probably purchased
and possibly beaten by now the newer Mega man games for the more
technologically advanced systems. That is how much I enjoyed Mega
Man 5. I would tell anybody who actually knows of a place where they
can still buy Nintendo games to go out and purchase Mega man 5. I
would say the same for Mega Man 6, but that is another subject.
Overall 9 out of 10
In conclusion, I would like to say that I defiantly would purchase
this game if I were somebody else and was given the opportunity.
Passed up opportunities like this are what make people really angry
at themselves. This is an excellent game for what I think was an
excellent game system. Too bad it became obsolete.