Mega Man is considered to be one of the most iconic video game franchises of all-time. The Mega Man series started back in ’87 on the NES and ended up growing in popularity following the release of MM2 in 1988. Mega Man 2 is considered to be one of the most successful yet iconic entries within its own series reaching more than 1.5 million copies in sales. Mega Man 2 is considered to be a cult classic among the gaming community because of its addictive yet challenging gameplay and its legendary 8-bit soundtrack. Mega Man 2 normally gets talked about more so than the first entry from ’87 due to its success despite the original game seeing the debut of boss characters like Guts Man, Fire Man and Elec Man. It should also be noted that the main antagonist of the Mega Man series Dr. Wily had appeared in the first three games on NES between ’87-’90. While the early Mega Man games from the NES have a notorious reputation for being difficult many old school gamers will go on record and argue that MM3 was quite possibly the hardest entry within the main series. The stages in Mega Man 3 felt way longer than they needed to be and players only had a limited number of tries to complete the entire game. Mega Man 4 from ’91 was a game that should have been on the SNES console which came out in 1990. In terms of graphics and quality Mega Man 4 overall was a step up from its predecessor but it was not quite as possible as MM2. Mega Man 4 had reportedly sold more than 1.7 million copies following its release on the NES despite the growing popularity of 16-bit gaming consoles like the SNES and Sega Genesis. Mega Man 5 from ’92 was a game that often got overlooked mainly because people were sick of 8-bit gameplay by the early 90’s. It should also be noted that the weapon set in MM5 was bad compared to other entries within Mega Man series. Mega Man 5 overall is not a bad game and there are many who feel that its underrated overall. The main villain in Mega Man 5 Regal was not nearly as popular as Dr. Wily from the original trilogy and was pretty much a new face similar to that of Dr. Cossack from MM4. Dr. Wily returned as the main antagonist in Mega Man 6 in ’93 the same year Capcom released Mega Man X for the SNES. Mega Man 6 is a game that many people have polarizing opinions about. While some feel that Mega Man 6 was underrated and praised the return of Dr. Wily others complained about the weapons not being as good as previous entries. While Mega Man 6 still managed to reach over 1.5 million copies in sales from ’93 onwards its still not quite as popular as the first three MM titles.

Mega Man X on the other hand was considered to be legendary following its release on the SNES. Everything about MegaMan on the SNES felt two times better than what we got on the NES from ’87-’92. The gameplay, graphics, presentation, soundtrack and storyline for Mega Man X were all amazing. Mega Man X saw the video game debuts of Zero who is one of the most popular characters in the MM franchise. Mega Man X also saw introduction of Sigma who was quite possibly the greatest villain in the Mega Man series. Mega Man X had so many memorable soundtracks including the “Intro” to Stage 1 along with “Storm Eagle” and “Spark Mandrill’s” theme. Mega Man X was arguably the best entry within the X series aside from MMX4 which came out on the PS1 in 1997. Mega Man X2-X3 which appeared as SNES exclusives back in the 90’s were also fun games but they were not quite on the same level as the game from ’93. It should also be noted by the time Mega Man X3 came out in ’95 casual gamers were already looking to purchase the PS1. The original PlayStation console was one of the reasons why Mega Man 7 ended up being overlooked during its time because it was also a SNES exclusive. Mega Man 7 was considered a flop in sales and it ended up getting more hate than it deserved back in the day. One of the biggest complaints about MM7 was the quality of the boss battles since they seemed too difficult or perhaps unfair to some players. The controls for MM7 felt sluggish and the gameplay felt too slow in comparison to Mega Man X. Mega Man 8 from ’96 was considered to be a bad game by many people due to uninspiring level designs which made the gameplay experience feel boring. While Mega Man 8 had a decent soundtrack it was not enough to save the game from being one of the worst entries within the entire series.

Mega Man X4 came out in ’97 and it was hands down one of the best entries in the entire series. Mega Man X4 was quite possibly the only entry within its own series that was better than the MMX game that came out for the SNES in ’93. The voice acting in Mega Man X4 along with the soundtrack were among two of the best features of the game. Also, the graphics for Mega Man X4 looked more advanced than anything we got on the SNES. Despite, Mega Man X4 not being a massive commercial success it was still better than Mega Man Legends which also came out in 1997. Mega Man Legends was big deal back in the day because it was the first 3D installment within the MM series. While Mega Man Legends was a very fun game there are many who would agree that it could have been better. The music in Mega Man Legends was a let down but the cartoonish vibes and the exploration aspect of the game were considered to be strong positives. While ’97 was considered to be good year for the Mega Man series in general there were so many big games that was released around that time. During ’97 we got to see the release of games like Final Fantasy VII, Tekken 3, Gran Turismo, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and others. The Mega Man series was starting to decline in popularity towards the late 90’s mainly because casuals had more options and different preferences in relation to gaming. Capcom knew the Mega Man series was staring to appeal more towards a niche audience during the late 90’s which is one of the reasons why Mega Man & Bass from ’98 appeared on the SNES exclusive in Japan. Mega Man & Bass was eventually ported to Game Boy Advance during the early 2000’s but it should have been released for the PS1 during the late 90’s. During the late 80’s-early 90’s the Mega Man series was one of the best things Capcom had going for them. By the late 90’s Capcom had more profitable IP’s including the Street Fighter and Resident Evil series. Also, Capcom had produced several Marvel games including Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom which ended up becoming way more popular than anything Mega Man related. Despite, Mega Man’s decline in popularity and mainstream appeal he is still one of the most recognizable figures in gaming today.