Mega Man 5 Is Better Than You Remember

I think another reason why MM5 is so overlooked is because it only lasted a year being the new game prior to it being overshadowed by X1 and we all know how iconic X1 is, so MM5 simply wasn't given enough time to build a legacy, sadly.

I have had this idea in my head for years now that a large part of the reason why people say the latter Mega Man NES titles are "bad" is because they play the games in order on a modern collection and are burned out by the time the latter half of games roll around. I don't think any of the original games are anything less than great if you judge them individually and don't just compare them to, say, MM2.

MM5 isn't better than I remember because it's my favorite classic MM game.

Dr. Light is so smart he constantly gets outwitted literally every time by his rival.

I already knew Mega Man 5 was the best Game Boy Mega Man but on NES I never understood the bad reputation.

MM5 is actually my favorite classic series game, so it's super refreshing to see positivity about it

I’m happy someone is defending 5, it’s not as bad as what people say, even though I literally never hear anyone say anything about it lol

That stage design really is just gorgeous. There are so many vibrant colors on display that if I didn't know better, I could almost mistake them for early 16-bit.

This is technically the best charge shot of the NES era. It got a pretty noticeable size nerf in MM6.

In Megaman 5, the megabuster continues if it hits a three shot enemy. In Megaman 4, the buster shot gets absorbed when hitting a three shot enemy.

For my problem for MM5 is that I don't find the robot master weapons that enjoyable so I find myself using the charge shot and sadly that means the ost gets overshadow from the charge shot sfx.

When I first played Mega Man 5, I found it to be my favourite NES Mega Man game simply because of how well designed it was, the story and the overall game. I'm glad Mega Man 5 is being looked back in a more positive light.

J: "I've no fear of boredom" [Cue the Megaman boss-rush] J:"I've 1 fear of boredom"

Mega Man 5 was always my favorite of the NES games. It could be because that's the one i had growing up, but I think its because I played the first couple X series games first. MM5 relying more on the charge shot was closer to how I played MMX, so it just felt like a natural step backwards in what I enjoyed. Excellent review, looking forward to MM6!

One thing I like about Megaman 5 was the Robot Masters character designs. Each of them look unique, and their silhouettes are different from one another. Chargeman is my favorite design wise and stage theme. The boss fights could have been better and the powers mostly lack luster and redundant.

As someone who was there and a huge Mega Man fan at the time, it’s not that the fans didn’t appreciate Mega Man 5, the critics didn’t. The Genesis and SNES were in full swing and the critics/magazines were ready for next gen Mega Man. I was only 6 or 7 at the time and just had an NES so my friends and I loved Mega Man 5. I feel like the critics would’ve hated anything on old hardware at the time. 5 just had unfortunate timing.

Finally! My favorite Classic Mega Man game gets the justice it deserves!

It’s very easy to overlook Megaman 5 as a neglected middle child but you cannot deny that it is better designed and a bit more fleshed out than the first three games and even having improved graphics for NES standards. It’s a shame how Dr. Cossack is immediately tossed aside and even get a mention unless you read the manual, he also plays no part in the series after 5 either sadly. Also is the Jet Ski section in Wave Man’s stage the very first instance of a Ride Chaser before Megaman X? It’s no wonder J didn’t like it lol, but the challenge feels more fair than say, X5 Volt Kraken, X7 Ride Boarski, and especially X8 Avalanche Yeti and Gigavolt Man-O-War. Overdrive Ostrich and Jet Stingray aren’t too bad.

The exploration in Mega Man 5 was a precursor to the exploration in Mega Man X. A fantastic idea that was later built upon to great effect.

I’ll also look at Mega Man 5 as a good game. I just get a bit more critical of it when I have to compare it to other Mega Man games. Despite that, I don’t see it as a forgettable game, I personally always remembered as “the game with THAT charged shot” because I often find myself using that over the special weapons most of the time(probably because the water wave, charge kick and power stone are just bad). Still fun game ⭐️, Napalm Man’s the GOAT