Mega Man (1987, NES) by Capcom

Current Zipless Leaderboard (megamanleaderboards.net)

GAMES FROM THIS EPISODE OF AVGN:
–Mega Man (NES)
–Pro Wrestling (Master System)
-Shatterhand (NES)
-Action Fighter (Master System)
-Shingen the Ruler (NES)
-Phalanx (SNES)
-Snow White and the 7 Clever Boys (PlayStation 2; PAL)
-Action in New York (NES)
-Rallo Gump (DOS)
-Ghost Lion (NES)
-Eliminator Boat Duel (NES)
-Street Sports: Street Hockey ’95 (SNES)
-Irritating Stick (PlayStation)
-Crackout (NES; PAL)
-Cock’in (Commodore 64)
-Treasure Master (NES)
-Karnaaj Rally (Game Boy Advance)
-Hell Fighter (NES)
-Scrapyard Dog (Atari 7800)
-Rollerblade Racer (NES)
-Killer Kong (ZX Spectrum)
-Hammerin’ Harry (NES)
-Super Duper Sumos (Game Boy Advance)
-Ultimate Stuntman (NES)
-X-Man (Atari 2600)

NOTE: Although this episode was originally released in 25 short vignettes, the Nerd immediately released all 25 as a giant “full episode” the day after Christmas.  In my opinion, this is a single episode, so only one of the 25 games will be represented (although if any are reviewed seperately, they’ll be featured). 

I mean, I knew this was gonna be fun, but I had no idea HOW fun until I derusted the robot masters.  But we’ll get to that in a second; Mega Man, the original game for the NES, was released by Capcom in 1987 and they had a smash hit on their hands, despite the awful cover art (the reason the Nerd roasted this game in the Bad Game Cover Art episode).  This game plays amazingly for 1987, and holds up rather well even today (although casually, I admit the others in the series are vastly superior).  And as a speedrun, it’s a gem on the NES.

Back in 2020, I participated in the Big 20 #13, which had Mega Man’s 6 robot masters as one of the 20 goals.  So I was already well-versed and experienced at that portion of the game, only needing 2 hours or so to derust and practice before I was ready for speedruns.  However, the Wily stages were new to me, and I learned them the day I ran this trial.  I fully expected this trial to take me days, and yet I was able to put up a very impressive time in a single 3-hour stream.  I still cannot believe it.

This is one of the games in the Trials that I am the most proud of, in terms of my achievement.  I am so happy.  Thank you to all the people that helped me and cheered me on, especially those listed in the picture below.  I had so much fun learning the new stages and derusting the robot masters.  This was an excellent speedrun, with responsive controls, fun routing options, amazing speed tech, and presentation that holds up rather well for its’ archaic place in the NES’ timeline.  If you’re a Mega Man fan and an NES speedrunner, this should be a no-brainer.  But even if not, this is one you might want to give a whirl.  I certainly think you’ll enjoy it!