When NES Mega Man Became GREAT! (Mega Man 4, 5, 6) 

Thank you to Apex Gaming PC for sponsoring this video Use code "GottaBeFrank" for up to $250 your next purchase: apexpartner.app/redirect/Gotta-Be-Frank Which of these games are your favorite? Let me know!

Fun fact: Dust Man (mm4) and Crystal Man (mm5) were both designed by a young Yusuke Murata, the manga artist of One Punch Man!

Mega Man 6 is my absolute favorite in the series. It really is shocking how amazing-looking that game is for NES hardware, since it holds up on-par with the likes of 9 and 10 in graphical fidelity while also retaining the charge shot and slide (admittedly, should've allowed those to be turned on and off in those games to make them better).

25:19 Centaur Man is from Greece since centaurs are from Greek mythology like Gyro Man.

Mega Man 4 really is my favorite of the NES games. The level design, and it's mechanics, are just so fun to blast through. Dive Man being my favorite, which is funny cause it's a water level, but it used the gimmick in actually fun ways. And yeah I agree the weapons are great, they do have quite a lot of use, and pack a decent punch as well.

One comment I have about 6 is that the excessive spike usage is becaue of the Jet Adaptor. 4 and 5 would instead have an endless pit to screw you over. The reason 6 had to include spikes is so you dont just fly into the ceiling and skip the entire level. Also for minibosses: Equip Flame Blast and spam to your hearts content. It shouldnt take more than 6 shots. As for the secret path in Mr. X stage 1, you go to the first flip platform, but then you make a big hop all the way to the second one. If I remember correctly, you can actually hold the button down and you wont get hit by the spikes. Then you go back to the first one (which should have flipped closer to the broken window) and then make another big hop to the second flip platform (which also should have flipped closer to the window) and punch that window open. One improvement I think you should have mentioned for 6 was the disappearance of the disappearing block puzzles, with only one appearing total. It was kind of useless for them to exist in 4 and 5 since you had gadgets to get past them anyways. And then it would also punish (with fittingly enough, spikes) if you run out of weapon energy. As for a more personal opinion, I find myself dying to insta-kill traps much more in 4 and 5 than in 6. 6 also felt the fastest for me, despite those darn slow rush animations. 4 had really slow bar filling and the charge shot was slower. 5 prevented you from charging while sliding. 6 prevented you from jumping out of slides, but it really doesnt affect the pace as long as you dont slide recklessly.

Mega Man 5 is my absolute favorite of the series. The music is mostly bangers, the bosses are pretty unique, the animation is crisp, level designs are memorable and the challenge isn’t ridiculous.

Mega Man 2's origin story was accurate...at the time. Mega Man 4 retconned Mega Man's origin story, changing it into how we know it today. Also, Centaur Man is from Greece (hence centaur, being from Greek mythology).

6 is my personal favorite entry in the classic series. You make some fair points about it, though.

As a kid who cut their gaming teeth on the NES (I'm almost 42), the classic Mega Man games are among my absolute favorites. They will never lose their luster with me. They're hard games for most younger people, but I have enjoyed watching people like my nephew trying real hard to beat these games and building the same spirit of resilience and perseverance that was instilled in me. Thank you for the fair and honest review of these games that are near and dear to me.

I gotta agree that Rockman 4 is where the series got really good. The previous games were good enough, but 4 is where the games really came into their own.

I've been saying MM4 is the best MM on the NES since 1992, when I got it for my birthday. Great video, thanks.

Also a piece of trivia is that in Mega Man 4 and 5, the one who designed Dust man and Crystal man, was a certain person called Yuusuke Murata...who many years later would be better know for drawing the manga version of One Punch Man

17:08 funny you say that since Yoko Shimomura of Street Fighter 2, Super Mario RPG and Kingdom Hearts fame composed that theme. As far as I know, it’s her only contribution to Mega Man

I had Megaman Anniversary Collection for PS2 and GameCube. Good times.

I had no idea Mega Man 4-6 was made when the SNES was out, that’s so cool!

"Metal Da- I refuse to say that" lmao that never fails to make me laugh

All of the percussion in Mega Man 6 is top notch! Seriously, for 8-bit music, the percussion is some of the most sophisticated, complex and outstanding of that console generation. Just listen to Knight Man's theme. Playing throughout the whole thing is a rapid hi-hat punctuated by crash cymbals. Then, there are the various backbeats, the syncopared kick drums and so much more. There's just so much going on in that theme. Mega Man 6 may just have my favorite soundtrack in the entire series.

Mega Man 6 was my favorite as a kid, but growing up my favorite has become 2. For me, 2 is the game of the NES area that I replay the most, due to having a good balance of difficulty, pacing, a killer soundtrack and stage design I enjoy. 6 is the runner up for me as an adult because I also love the soundtrack and the visuals of the levels a lot.

This is such an interesting perspective, because throughout the '90s and '00s, the general consensus always felt like 2 is the unassailable masterpiece, and 3 is right up there with it/one fraction of a point behind. I think it's totally valid and healthy for a fandom that long-standing views like this get challenged (3's still my favorite of the series, but I've definitely come to appreciate 4 and 6 in particular a lot more than I used to). It's just so interesting to hear about Mega Man becoming great STARTING with 4.

Thank you for this. MM4 was probably my favorite of the NES Megaman games, and my favorite non X MM game with MM7. So glad to see it get some love!

I used to rent Mega Man 4 all the time when it was released. The charge shot and secret items were great additions. As a kid back in the day, accidentally finding secret items in NES games was glorious.

So many points for referencing Street Fighter 2010, and one of the best tracks in a game with an insanely good soundtrack.

Mega Man 4 is my favorite of the first six games. Fond memories as a kid, but never beat it until I was in college. 6 is also a highlight for me (Jetpack Adaptor, baby!) Other favorites of mine are 7, 9, 11, X1, X4, and Legends 2.

Great Video! Suprised to hear you didn't like MM6, it's my favorite of the classic games. The level environments and robot masters felt they were at their most creative, and the Rush Uprgades were great. But hey to each their own, I didn't even think notice how many spikes there were in the game. I'm glad you mentioned graphical upgrades in these 3 games, they look great even compared retro-based games made today. You can tell the dev team had a great handle on the NES at that point.

31:19 That sprite actually looks so amazing for the NES.

It's so funny to hear such glowing reviews of these Megaman games, when 2 and 3 are more typically viewed as the best NES ones. The charge shot quickly became a staple of the series ever since it was introduced in 4, but something is lost with that addition that causes 2 and 3 to be viewed so positively.

Awesome video. Brings me back good memories. My favorite NES Mega Man games were 2, 3 and 6. I haven't played them in ages but for MM6 I recall being able to go through 2 'main' paths for each stages, and each one of those varying paths would make you use specific powers to get through them, so it encouraged you to use said powers (which in my opinion previous games didn't do that well except for some select enemy types and bosses; but it felt more prevalent in MM6, at least going by memory here). And because of that - at the time at least - it gave me the impression that MM6 was a bigger game, with a certain sense of exploration to it (to some extent). And the music is pretty good. All in all I'd say MM6 is my favorite of the last 3 games.

4 and 6 are tied as my favorites, but you make some good points. When I take off the nostalgia goggles, I can see where you're coming from about 6, but IMO 6 still represents the culmination of everything Capcom has learned from making the previous 5 games. When I first played 4 and got to the scene about Kalinka, it was pretty surprising for the time given how it was before the internet and it was the first time this happened in a Mega Man game. Back then, if we didn't have gaming mags to spoil it or IRL friends who played it before us, there really was no way for us to know about it ahead of time without any hints being dropped in game. When Wily was arrested at the end 6, we had good reason to think that was the end of the classic series until 7 came out. It was a different time back then.

I've been waiting for this one! :D

Thanks for revisiting these releases. The original MM games were a big part of my childhood, and I have so many good memories with them. MM5 was the last of the original series I owned. I remember liking it a lot, and I appreciated how they added new elements to keep things interesting. The mechanics in Gravity Man's level that had you walking on the ceiling were really neat. Wave Man's level felt like a better take on a water level compared to Bubble Man from MM2. Napalm Man's jungle-themed level felt really immersive. The upgraded buster charge shot felt really natural, and would become a staple in the MMX series. That said, even as a kid who was a huge MM fan, the series was feeling a little long in the tooth at that point. I moved on to the Super Nintendo soon after this, and MMX would be a much-needed refresh for the series.

I’m always happy to see a community of mega man fans who agree that 4,5,6 are objectively better gameplaywise than 1,2,3 🤷🏾‍♂️ bias aside mega man 4 being my very first mega man game after going back to play the original 2 had me messed up lol like where is my charge mega buster my slide and where is my rush jet lol for games that are already difficult it’s good to have those abilities

This was very interesting to watch considering just how different our opinions on the games are. I'm a huge fan of the NES Mega Man games, but only really grew up with 1 and 2 (mostly 2), and played the others in my teens and early 20s. Here's how I've always ranked them, from worst to best: 4. This one has always frustrated me and has always felt like the least fun one. Then again, my jaw dropped a couple of times while watching your video, because I did not know you could detonate Drill Man's missiles our hold out Pharaoh Man's weapon when fighting Wily's final form. These things still wouldn't save the lifts in Bright Man's stage or the mini bosses in Ring Man's stage, but... I might have to give this one another shot. 1. It shows that this is a first entry, and I don't mean that as a compliment. It is REALLY rough to go back to after playing literally any of the other ones. 6. Calling this "one of the Mega Man games of all time" is pretty accurate to me. It's perfectly fine, and while I do enjoy the Rush power-ups you get... I think those are the main reason I almost never used any of the Robot Masters' weapons. 5. I'd call this one the most overlooked one. I think it's got plenty of fun levels, cool items, neat bosses and... yeah, this one's just solid. Really enjoy this one! 3. I know people are divided on this one, and yeah the glitches and slowdown and stuff are a fact but... they don't really bother me that much. I like the levels, I like the power-ups, I ESPECIALLY like fighting Proto Man from time to time. Yeah, I love this one! 2. It might be the nostalgia talking, but... nah, Mega Man 2 has always been one of my favorite games ever, and the only Mega Man game that has ever come close to dethroning it was the first Mega Man X. 2 just flows perfectly, has great controls and never feels like it's overstaying its welcome. Literally the only thing I don't like in it is the one Wily Stage boss that forces you to use the Crash Bomber, but everything else is just perfect in my eyes! =)

Rockman 4 is the best of the classic series, personally my favourite anyways. The music, the weapons are mostly good. You get the slide and the best version of the mega buster which makes it more fun being able to charge and it not losing it if you get damaged.

Beautifully done Frank 🙂🙏 very well on depth in the 2nd half of the mega man games, *I even agree that hearing the capcom opening jingle in 8 bit was pretty nice, my first time hearing it was also in street fighter 2 turbo, along with final fight 2 and 3, whenever I hear that opening jingle, you're usually in for a treat* and just to throw this in thabks to exo, mega man 6 came out the same year as DONKEY KONG COUNTRY 1!!!! 😂😂

All six MegaMan games are my favorite when it comes to original Nintendo games.

Rockman 4 is pure gold. The best Rockman game ever made. 5 and 6 are okay, but 4 is best. 2 and 3 have better music, but 4 is still better. 4 has a beautiful intro and it feels vibrant. It has amazing level design. A new villain and two fortresses. Best game.

MM4 was the first Mega Man game I played and one of my first NES games in general, so I have very fond memories of playing it over and over again. I like to see it getting attention when most people seems to remember just MM2 and MM3. Personally I find MM5 harder than MM4, both the bosses and stages, that section in Wily Castle with the conveyor belts over an abyss and with the small helicopter things is a pain, but again I played MM4 way too many times and know it by heart. I really like the level design in MM6, the way the Adaptors allow taking different paths and finding secrets across the stages is genius. Overall the second trilogy of NES Mega Man games is fantastic and I don't miss any chance to recommend them to people interested in getting into NES.

Out of the three, Mega Man 6 is the one I played the most. The Rush fusions were just a lot "cooler" to me. Although, from the sound of it, maybe 4 deserves some more attention.

wait you can use the star crush on the dropping crystals in crystal mans stage!? i wish i knew this earlier when trying to beat mega man 5. cool tip!

I gotta say thank you for highlighting how good 4 is. In my opinion, it's the first time I felt like I had complete control over Mega Man's movement and that goes a long way for me. I don't hate 2 by any stretch of the imagination, but I am bothered when people think the series peaked there when 4 was just so good.

TO ANYONE THAT STRUGGLED WITH THE GORILLA TANK, I found a surefire strategy that I believe even works on the later boss. Instead of relying on the charge shot like one normally would. use your regular bullets and alternate jumping with rapid fire. If you continuously jump, shoot, shoot ,shoot, then repeat (I think it's 3 shots, maybe two) the bullet at the apex will damage the boss while the other two will push him back. Once I figured this out they became a breeze, they can't even get close to you and it maintains the largest window for dodging his projectiles. Happy hunting and best of luck fellow Mega-heads! Edit: forgot the reason I commented, great video and I appreciate your insights, although mm5 has a fire soundtrack, just listen to the tinny background notes lifted from house music in stone man's theme around 0:05/0:06 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9o8VHKE2lpM.htmlsi=lHMLxpmpI2JX3Or1 jk music is subjective, I just really dig it :) Thanks for the vid!

11:58 I think it's because the weak point is just barely out of reach and it keeps hitting the armored part

Though you may not like the game a lot, it doesn't make sense to say 6 ended with a "whimper". Especially when the game was new, seeing Wily finally not escaping and getting arrested was significant. Granted, it wasn't animated or flashy but the event itself was meaningful within the MM universe. It made sense as a true finale at the time.

Dude Maria yamaguchi the person who did the soundtrack for five did an excellent job. This is my favorite soundtrack tied with six.

Mega Man 4 is among 9,10 and 11 as my favorite classic mega man games. It is a fantastic games.

I'm glad that nowadays people are starting to appreciate the beauty of Mega Mans 4-6. For the longest time it used to be nostalgia bias for Mega Man 1-3, ESPECIALLY Mega Man 2, and it irked me in a strange way. Defending the later trilogy like this is awesome. (4 is my favorite by the way, lol)

I glad that you reviewed these. Quite frankly, I was worried that you wouldn't. ( Pun half intended. )

nice - as someone who bought megaman 2 & 3 w my lawnmower $ - you inspired me to dive into 4, 5 & 6 w the right expectations.

This is the first of your videos I have seen. Instant subscriber.

I love these Mega Man videos! Id love to see you run through another series like Zelda or Mario

As someone who is old enough to remember waiting for Mega Man 4 to come out, I can tell you we absolutely knew it was going to be Wily in the end. We knew that no matte rhow many games they made, it would always be wily. Even in the X games it is somehow still Wily.

MEGA MAN 4 IS THE BEST OF MEGA MAN 1-6 ON THE NES. DRILL MAN IS AWESOME TO.👍

Another honest look at my favorite franchise with an excellent video! MegaMan 4 is an impressive game. I was very disappointed when the game released when Cossack wasn’t a new villain. Wily eventually watered down the classic series, as Sigma did with the X series. I agree that 5 was good, but a step down. For me, I just couldn’t get into 6 and it stands as one of my least favorite games to return to. I did like the Rush Adapter upgrades though.

The generation shift being slow was a real thing. I remember clearly a lot of people still playing NES several years after the SNES' release, so Capcom's decision to keep supporting and making games for the NES is not at all as crazy as it sounds. And this was in Europe, Sweden specifically. The NES, SNES and Sega Genesis all co-existed for several years in the early 90s. It was seen as more of a tier thing than a generational thing. The NES was very decent, but the SNES and Genesis were both obviously superior, with which of the two you preferred being more down to personal tastes. Also, the fact there was hundreds of NES titles at the launch of the SNES meant people kept playing NES games until the SNES market caught up, and that took several years.

Check out the fan game project The Sequel Wars if you enjoy 4, 5, 6 but want to play Sega Genesis versions like The Wiley Wars. Only Mega Man 4 has released so far but it's a really great playthrough with the new visuals.

Mega Man 4 imo is honestly a better game than MM3. It doesn’t contain any of the padding like the Doc Robot stages and the weapons feel so much more fun. It felt like the art designers had a much more nuanced mastery of the graphics of the NES as the sprite work and details were a big step up. Also, Skull Man’s and Dr. Cossack’s 2nd fortress theme are some of the best tracks in the history of the franchise.

Wow, never knew Eddy could come back if you didn't take the item, guess even this old dog can learn new tricks.

funny you say that pharoh mans weapon is the worst, when its actually one of the best. i take it you didn't charge it up much (also the charged ball over you head can hit enemies at no cost til you actually shoot)

It should never be forgotten that in Mega Man 7, Mega Man was ready to KILL Dr. Wily. I mean, he was gonna KILL him.

Who would have thought that the oft-overlooked MM4 was peak level design and weapon-inventory for the entire 8-bit series!

Great vid bro

The MM4 boss's patterns are really pleasurable to battle, but I do wish they caused less damage when they touch you. The invicibility time frame could take less time to ward off too, just like MM2 or MM3 did (so that blast them with multiple shots be as effective as using charged shots).

Megaman 6 was fine, but a letdown as the end of the NES era... Megaman V for the gameboy does a much better job as a final game, at least

5 is another topper in the classic series too, not as good as 4 but I still like it more than 6 or 1. The Crystal Man stage sucks though with the falling crystals that have no pattern and just drop randomly.

I much prefer MM4 and MM6 over the much-ballyhooed MM2, but MM3 is still my favorite classic-style Mega Man.

This is the reason why I never played MM 4-9. I played MM 3, got a SNES, then there was Mega Man X and many years later I learned about the other sequels.

The harder a game is the more rewarding it is when you finish it. I like the Mega man games that are considered to be the hardest ones.

I do love me the battlebots announcer!!!

"i wasnt born when this game released" pls...im turning to dust!

2 and 3 are peak Mega Man… 4, 5, 6, are definitely lower tier… However 6 is definitely the best out of the latter 3…

The rain effect in Mega Man 4 I believe is nothing more than a palette cycling effect. And as such that's why the non-lit parts of the rain also overlap thbe Mega Man sprites.

In some ways Mega Man 4 feels like the first entry where the dev team had reasonable amount of time to finish it. For me 4 is probably my overall favorite, while I still don't care much for 5(my overall least favorite of the NES games) and 6.

One of the songs in mn4 reminds me of the music in the final area of ff1

3:42 when You brought up megaman 4 fan designs, I’m surprised you didn’t mention dust man. Both him and crystal man(from megaman 5) were designed by a 12 year old yuske murata, the artist of the manga remake of one punch man, meaning those 2 designs definitely have the neatest origin as they came from someone who’s still a renowned artist.

Coolio. I also much enjoyed the sequel trilogy more than the originals when I was a newer fan, and I also understand your disappointment with 6; it's a good game with a lot going for it, but for me it makes me wish there was a mashup game that took the best features of each into one title. I still quite like 4 - 6, I've probably played 5 the most out of them (Napalm Man is such a cool Robot Master but I wish he wasn't a pushover LOL) but in later years I would replay and rediscover 2 and replay it over and over along with World 4. Glad to hear you'll be moving to the World games after the OVAs though! Gotta rep for World 4 and World 5 again, they're great. It's kinda cool to see your trip with the series as a whole in a similar order to when I did as a kid. I really should revisit these games again sometime soon tho. I'm gonna sub now, I like your style, analysis, and content thus far. Keep it up!

i was able to get through Mega Man iv and v through a weekend rental at blockbuster. Though I did spend a ton of time going through the stages to figure out which was the best route to take. I do think these games were a lot easier compared to the first 3 games, as there was no way i could've gotten through MegaMan III the first time on a weekend rental.

Bro ,Gravity Man's Music is probably in the best 5 songs in the series.

Personal ranking of each 4: my second favorite mega man game, was surprisingly good when I picked it up for the first time this summer. Dust man's theme becoming an instant favorite and I think it does the plot twist thingy the best, albeit basic 5: oddly enough our opinions or swapped, I found this one to be the real stinker and just wanted it to be done with. Gravity, charge, wave and probably stone man being the only stages I like. Crystal man's theme is ear grating 6: not my absolute favorite, but a step up from 5 IMO. Like in flame man, those stupid little robots you *have* to charge shot, I remember liking how you could use them as platforms over the oil spills. An original idea that made the level stick out, what I found lacking in 5... Also I'm native so I can like Tomahawk man, his weapon is great against wily if u don't have beat

@Dive Man. You want to keep your distance, if you're too close to him he'll just dash at you right away. So you want to jump over him and slide to get some distance before he fires. Then he'll fire a few (3? it's been a while) times and dash, repeat. This also lets you manage the seeking torpedo so he fires it forward into your buster shots.

My copy of Mega Man 6 had a problem. If you stayed on the boss select screen for more than a couple seconds, the game would freeze and you'd have to restart. This happened 100% of the time but only affected the boss select screen, so I assume it was a rare physical defect. Fortunately you could get around this by planning in advance which bosses you were going to do.

Mega man 4's a personal favorite of mine

I feel like im the only one that likes the Power Stone. Its a good weapon. Strange to use, but very versatile once you get the hang of it. Plus, it has tons of ammo.

LOL, I love Mega Man 1-3 and found 4-6 to be not as much fun. I'm 48 and played these back in the day. Nice to see a different perspective.

Tomahawk Man Music is Boomerang Kuwagwer From MMX1

Jump & Shoot Man: All you gotta do is jump and shoot!

I loved Megaman 6. Probably still my favorite of the original 6.

I have the, so far as I've seen, unique opinion that the Megaman series has only gotten better with every entry, (maybe not 9 and 10) so I love this video based on the title alone.

Great video! Mega Man 6 is my favorite NES game and my favorite mainline game in the Classic Series as a whole! I think you should review the Game Boy games at some point.

Ring Man's disappearing platforms aren't just re-skinned. They operate differently. Rainbow wipes one way, and ring-based wipes another.

4:34 might have been the same composer. Capcom did have quite a few in-house musicians

I thought I was the only one that thought the thought the MegaMan 4 theme sounded a little like the 3rd stage in Street Fighter 2010. Lol

When i played Megaman 4 i found the ballon weapon in dive man´s stage, and decided to see if i missed out on anything else. How? By THROWING MYSELF IN ALL PITS ON ALL STAGES. Eventually i found the extendable hook weapon and that´s all there was in the game. Defeating Willy with those is a piece of cake.

those last levels are the pits lol

Yeah I think 5 and 6 are the strongest of the NES games. But 3 is my favorite ;)

The Boss Rush actually isn’t meant to pass run time, it is meant to make the player feel powerful by having all of the weaknesses. I get that a lot of people don’t like the Boss Rush, which is fair, it does hurt replayablity as after you restart the game, you then know their weaknesses, and it makes the Boss Rush redundant.

I hear Apex Gaming PCs age like fine milk

2:45 i think about this almost daily, id like to approach netflix or something withi it, im sure somebody has

Just wanted to point out that saying Mr. X out loud sounds like saying the word Misdirects. Thought you might enjoy that.

What’s your favorite robot master design for 4 ,5,6