Mega Man (1990) NES

When deciding which game would kick-off the soon-to-be iconic video game blog, Sprite Ideas, it didn't take me long to come to a decision. The original Mega Man game for the NES spawned an iconic franchise, birthed a company mascot and more important than that, happens to be a personal favourite of mine. But as the series approaches its 25th anniversary this year (the game was released in 1987 in Japan/US) it faces an uncertain future.  

Looking back at the series' origin, there’s an immediate simplicity that would go on to form the backbone of the franchise. There is no introductory cut-scenes for exposition and hence any notion of a story will have to be found in the game’s instruction manual. Here, the simplicity strays into carelessness as the North American manual makes a number of slip-ups by referring to Mega Man’s creator as Dr. Wright (as opposed to Light) and setting the game in the terribly named "Monsteropolis" (seemingly made up by the NA localization team). Evidently, the series was still finding its feet by establishing some of the elements that would form the backbone of the franchise while still possessing some growing pains that would ultimately be cast aside. 

The points system in place here, for example, offers nothing and would be ditched by 1991 with the release of Mega Man 2.  There's no password system (and therefore no way to save your progress) and the game boasts just six Robot Masters compared to the now-standard eight. Fans of more recent entries in the series may also lament the lack of a charge shot, the ability to slide or even Mega Man's trusty sidekick, Rush. Ultimately, it's a game that is yet to establish the canonical story line that would be developed, manipulated and sometimes even ignored over the 100+ titles in this often-milked franchise: 

The Mega Man energy drink will let you perform for 33% longer.

But ridiculous merchandise aside, Mega Man brought with it another reason to have a few laughs at the Blue Bomber's expense. The original title's North American box-art, which displayed a character that only barely resembled the protagonist has frequently been cited as possessing some of the worst cover art in the history of video games. This was then run pretty close by the Captain N TV series and its own questionable "interpretation" of the main character. 

   Mega Man...                               Box-Art Mega Man...                     Captain N Mega Man...

That being said there's a reason that the NES original became something of a sleeper hit and spawned so many sequels - the gameplay. The classic run-and-jump formula is perfectly implemented across well-designed levels that manage (just about) to tread the fine line between an addictive challenge and joypad-smashing frustration. The music is at times excellent (Cutman's theme in particular) and the game, while seemingly on the short side (I managed to run through it in 3-4 hours), is well judged when you consider there's no way of saving your progress here.

Mega Man may not be the best game in the series - the sequel offers a number of improvements - but it still has plenty to offer and new fans of the series should definitely check out where it all began for the series some twenty-five years ago.