I wanted to do something different this weekend, so I decided to play the Megaman games. Since I have to be obsessive about this kind of stuff, I decided to make it a sort of challenge. I kept track of who I beat and when, and since the info does no good on my hard disk, I wanted to share it.
Here are the rules of the "Mega Marathon", if you have a weekend of your life you don't want back either.
- The challenge is the NES Megaman games, 1-6. I was going to do 7 and 8, but 8 kept crashing, and 7 is different enough from the NES ones that I can justify cutting it out if I'm cutting 8. Besides, 8 games is overkilling overkill.
- You must beat all 6 games. You get as many continues as you need.
- You don't need to beat them in order, and you can jump around between the games as often as you want.
- Savestates are only to be used to save your progress when switching games.
- The pause-select trick in MM1 and the menu-dodge trick in MM2 are allowed. The various glitches in MM3 are not.
- Megaman 2 is played on Difficult. Like a real man.
- You can take short breaks as needed, and stop to do things you really need to do, like dinner, sleeping, and running errands. But in the spirit of the challenge, you should spend your spare time playing, or give up.
- If you're keeping track of time, a game is cleared when you land the last hit on the final Wily machine.
Here's my playthrough log, I would have recorded it but really, I don't think anyone wants to see 71 Youtube videos of me either beating a game I already recorded or fumbling around a game I didn't know too well. All times are approximate and do not include the times I didn't spend playing, or the time I played MM8 before it crashed irrevocably on Grenade Man.
Before I get into a bunch of numbers, I will say that while this took me nearly 12 hours, and that's just play time, I didn't feel bored except while slogging through the fortress of Megaman 5. Capcom took a lot of shit for these games being so similar, but the fact that they held my interest for that long is pretty telling, and I'm someone who gets bored easily.
"Cleared" means I beat the boss of that particular stage or game. "Failed" means I lost all my lives and had to continue.
Time (in hours:minutes, approximate):
Start Megaman. Seems like a good place.
0:05 - Bomb Man cleared.
0:10 - Cut Man cleared. I selected the stage by mistake, but it worked out.
0:12 - Guts Man failed. Yeah, on those stupid platforms. I usually nail them.
0:17 - Guts Man cleared.
0:24 - Elec Man cleared, with Magnet Beam
0:28 - Ice Man cleared.
0:31 - Fire Man failed. Got pushed off a cliff by one of those fireballs.
0:35 - Fire Man cleared. Off to Wily
0:40 - MM Wily Stage 1 cleared. Yes, I pause-tricked on the Yellow Demon. I'm not a robot.
0:41 - MM Wily Stage 2 failed. The enemies at the start got all cheap on me.
0:50 - MM Wily Stage 2 failed . Friggin' clone. I decide I need a change of pace
Start Megaman 4. Haven't played it in years.
0:54 - Toad Man cleared. If you can't beat Toad Man, give up on gaming.
1:00 - Bright Man failed. Those platforms in the darkness near the end of the stage.
1:08 - Bright Man failed. They move before I even land on them! How is that fair?
1:17 - Bright Man failed. Again. I drop a vile word into the chat room that I can't quite remember, but was immediately immortalized by Mr. Bomberman in a definition.
1:24 - Bright Main failed. Yeah, same place. But I begin to see what it is I'm doing wrong.
1:31 - Bright Man cleared. FINALLY!
1:34 - Pharaoh Man cleared. Also got the balloon. I decide to head back to the first game.
Continue Megaman.
1:39 - MM Wily Stage 2 cleared. Beat the clone with the Fire Storm. Did not use the pause trick on it!
1:45 - MM Wily Stage 3 cleared. I died after tossing my last brick, but managed to get lucky enough to beat the bubbles with my gun anyways.
1:53 - MM Wily Stage 4 failed. Fireman got me. Never again.
2:00 - MM Wily Stage 4 cleared. Woo!
Megaman Cleared!
Start Megaman 6. I've seen it played before, but never played it myself.
2:10 - Plant Man failed. Those springs are really tough to get the hang of.
2:18 - Plant Man cleared.
2:26 - Wind Man cleared.
2:30 - Flame Man cleared. This is the Punch-Out of Megaman games. Every robot master is a stereotype.
2:35 - Tomahawk Man failed. Messed up with the Jet Adapter (which is AWESOME). Got the Energy Balancer.
2:40 - Tomahawk Man cleared, with Beat part
2:45 - Yamato Man cleared, with Beat part
2:53 - Knight Man cleared, with Beat part
3:05 - Centaur Man cleared, with Beat part
3:10 - Blizzard Man cleared. With the fortress left, I switch up a bit.
Start Megaman 3. The best of the series. Yeah, everyone loves 2. But it's not better.
3:15 - Magnet Man cleared
3:19 - Needle Man failed. Needle Man himself did me in. I was going after the Rush Jet.
3:24 - Needle Man cleared.
3:29 - Hard Man cleared.
3:36 - Top Man cleared.
3:41 - Shadow Man cleared. A good ways into 3, I decide to pop back over to 4.
Continue Megaman 4
3:52 - Ring Man cleared. Shame you don't get the same Ring Boomerang he uses on you.
4:01 - Dust Man cleared.
4:10 - Dive Man failed. Dive Man himself showed me the folly of sequence breaking.
4:17 - Skull Man cleared.
4:22 - Dive Man failed, thanks to some cheap spike positioning. I'm getting pretty frustrated with the stage by now, so...
Continue Megaman 6
4:30 - Mr. X Stage 1 cleared. This boss is a fucking PAIN.
4:32 - Mr. X Stage 2 failed. Spikes are cheap death.
4:36 - Mr. X Stage 2 cleared.
4:46 - Mr. X Stage 3 cleared.
4:52 - Mr. X Stage 4 cleared. And it's Wily. Was anyone thrown off by this?
5:00 - MM6 Wily Stage 1 cleared.
5:04 - MM6 Wily Stage 2 failed. I forgot how to press the "jump" button with the jet.
5:09 - MM6 Wily Stage 2 cleared.
5:10 - MM6 Wily Stage 3 failed. Got nailed by a fan trap.
5:18 - MM6 Wily Stage 3 cleared.
5:22 - MM6 Wily Stage 4 cleared. Wow, I didn't expect it to be as easy as it was.
Megaman 6 Cleared!
Start Megaman 5. This one I was playing blind, aside from the walkthroughs...
5:28 - Star Man cleared, with Beat letter.
5:33 - Gravity Man cleared, with Beat letter.
5:44 - Gyro Man cleared, with Beat letter. All 3 of those were pretty much Mega Buster fodder.
5:48 - Crystal Man failed. I decided that was enough for the night.
Continue Megaman 3. I picked this up in the morning.
5:53 - Spark Man cleared. Worst weapon ever.
5:57 - Snake Man cleared.
6:04 - Gemini Man cleared.
6:12 - Doc Robot Shadow Man cleared. I'll be honest, I don't like the Doc Robot stages.
6:17 - Doc Robot Gemini Man cleared. And I also hate Gemini Man, so this sucked double.
6:27 - Doc Robot Needle Man cleared.
6:33 - Doc Robot Spark Man cleared. QUICKMAAAAAAAAAAN!
6:34 - Break Man cleared. Oh, and Wily's really still evil.
6:38 - MM3 Wily Stage 1 cleared.
6:42 - MM3 Wily Stage 2 cleared. Poor poor nerfed demon.
6:45 - MM3 Wily Stage 3 cleared. Even poorer nerfed clones.
6:52 - MM3 Wily Stage 4 cleared.
6:54 - MM3 Wily Stage 5 cleared.
6:57 - MM3 Wily Stage 6 cleared. I think Gamma was supposed to keep the peace by making everyone too busy laughing at it to wage war.
Megaman 3 Cleared!
Start Megaman 2. I need something easy before going back to 4 and 5.
6:59 - Flash Man cleared.
7:04 - Quick Man cleared.
7:08 - Metal Man cleared. Prepare for blade abuse.
7:13 - Air Man cleared. Though I had to save the E-tank until the very last moment.
7:19 - Bubble Man cleared. I'm ready for 4 again.
Continue Megaman 4
7:22 - Dive Man failed. The spikes on this level are bullshit, I tell you.
7:25 - Dive Man cleared. But...I forgot the damn wire!
7:30 - Okay, Dive Man cleared again, and got the wire.
7:38 - Drill Man cleared. Let's hit Cossack.
7:45 - Cossack Stage 1 cleared.
7:54 - Cossack Stage 2 cleared. The Cossack stage has some clever bosses, it's a shame they never get remembered.
8:00 - Cossack Stage 3 cleared.
8:06 - Cossack Stage 4 cleared. Damnit, it's Wily again, using blackmail.
8:17 - MM4 Wily Stage 1 cleared.
8:24 - MM4 Wily Stage 2 cleared.
8:30 - MM4 Wily Stage 3 failed. Dive Man, again. I ran out of shields.
8:40 - MM4 Wily stage 3 cleared. Take that, you periscoped jerk!
8:43 - MM4 Wily Stage 4 cleared. The teleporting saucer debuts. I don't think anyone likes it.
Megaman 4 Cleared!
Continue Megaman 5
8:53 - Crystal Man cleared, with Beat letter.
9:04 - Napalm Man cleared, with Beat letter. Most of these levels are too long.
9:12 - Stone Man cleared. Forgot the letter.
9:22 - Charge Man cleared, with Beat letter. Really? Choo-Choo Man?
9:30 - Wave Man cleared, with Beat letter.
9:36 - Got the letter from Stone Man's stage.
9:46 - Protoman Stage 1 cleared. This is where things get kin of boring.
10:02 - Protoman Stage 2 cleared. I kept dying with cheap spikes, and I kept getting 1-ups. Really.
10:12 - Protoman Stage 3 cleared.
10:17 - Protoman Stage 4 cleared. Glad that's over. Oh, it's really Wily.
10:18 - MM5 Wily Stage 1 failed. Suicide to restore weapon energy.
10:28 - MM5 Wily Stage 1 cleared.
10:35 - MM5 Wily Stage 2 failed. Ran out of jet at a bad place.
10:42 - MM5 Wily Stage 2 cleared. Cripes, this fortress is spike-happy.
10:53 - MM5 Wily Stage 3 cleared.
10:59 - MM5 Wily Stage 5 cleared. Good riddance to this game.
Megaman 5 Cleared!
Continue Megaman 2. The home stretch.
11:04 - Wood Man cleared.
11:08 - Heat Man cleared.
11:13 - Crash Man cleared. Since Bomb Man was first, only fitting his cousin is last.
11:19 - MM2 Wily Stage 1 cleared. Dragon, you're awesome.
11:25 - MM2 Wily Stage 2 cleared.
11:28 - MM2 Wily Stage 3 cleared.
11:37 - MM2 Wily Stage 4 cleared. Damn turrets.
11:44 - MM2 Wily Stage 5 cleared.
11:49 - MM2 Wily Stage 6 cleared...mission accomplished!
Megaman 2 Cleared!
Megaman clear time: 1:16
Megaman 2 clear time: 1:12
Megaman 3 clear time: 1:40
Megaman 4 clear time: 2:49
Megaman 5 clear time: 2:42
Megaman 6 clear time: 2:10
Total Clear Time: 11:49
And yes. I am fucking crazy for doing this.
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