The Megaman series was obviously coming to an end for the NES era -- it was the 90s and the rise of the16-bit era with the Super Nintendo era was coming. In fact, if we think about the timeline we've had Megaman 4-6 during 1991 to 1993. Megaman X came out in 1993 -- the same year and one came out in November and the other came out in December. This also started showing some signs of decline for Classic Megaman.
I remembered playing Megaman 4 and it started a new method of gameplay -- the charged Mega Buster shot. It also had a skeletal enemy where one was forced to use the Charge Shot. The players had to learn when to use charge shots and when to use regular shots. It was a new change where the castle stages were extended into two parts -- Part 1 and Part 2. There was NO password where one could start in Part 2 which made the game a little more tedious. It's like how one had to go to the Cossack stage before the Wily Stage, the Darkman stage before the Wily Stage and the Mr. X stage before the Wily Stage. Strangely, Megaman X would be released just one month under the Rockman titles in Japan.
The games themselves were showing the end of the Classic Megaman franchise in the 8-bit era. They were also experimenting on new concepts such as the charged shot. Megaman 5 also brought in Darkman who may have ended up inspiring Vile's design for Megaman X. Megaman 6 brought in the Armor concept with Rush becoming the Jet Armor and Power Armor -- something that got implemented during the early 2000s with Megaman X5 (which was supposed to end the series so the Zero series can begin) and Megaman X was the game that began the concept of collecting pieces to gain a powerful armor.
So how did these games fare in terms of Robot Master weapons? I thought about how some newer weapons just got near useless such as the shield weapons. Megaman 5 had some weapons that I felt weren't even that useful against bosses. Take for instance the Charge Kick and Power Stone -- you're better off using Charged Shots against Waveman and Chargeman. Some bosses were easier to beat with the Mega Buster than the supposed weakness. Sure Spark Shock isn't all effective against regular enemies but it took out Magnet Man so easily or how Top Spin was useful against Shadow Man, Doc Robot Heat Man and the Gamma Robot.
Fortunately, Megaman 7 onwards stopped the whole extended castle scenario for the Classic Megaman series. It was a breath of fresh air not having to pass through a Bass Fortress in Megaman 7 before going to Wily Castle without a password to go to the second part immediately. I still don't have anything against the start with four stages to select from idea -- sometimes it can be good if the plot calls for it. The three last games were pretty much experimental -- trying to figure out new methods of gameplay.
So how did these games fare in terms of Robot Master weapons? I thought about how some newer weapons just got near useless such as the shield weapons. Megaman 5 had some weapons that I felt weren't even that useful against bosses. Take for instance the Charge Kick and Power Stone -- you're better off using Charged Shots against Waveman and Chargeman. Some bosses were easier to beat with the Mega Buster than the supposed weakness. Sure Spark Shock isn't all effective against regular enemies but it took out Magnet Man so easily or how Top Spin was useful against Shadow Man, Doc Robot Heat Man and the Gamma Robot.
Fortunately, Megaman 7 onwards stopped the whole extended castle scenario for the Classic Megaman series. It was a breath of fresh air not having to pass through a Bass Fortress in Megaman 7 before going to Wily Castle without a password to go to the second part immediately. I still don't have anything against the start with four stages to select from idea -- sometimes it can be good if the plot calls for it. The three last games were pretty much experimental -- trying to figure out new methods of gameplay.
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