Are Mega Man games all work and no play?

Considering the fact that I have always enjoyed other widely despised gameplay elements such as collecting ten different sets of items and combing through huge maps for secret rooms to be sure they are 100 percent complete, you might figure I would have also always enjoyed games that kick my ass every step I take. But this was not the case. When news of Mega Man 9 arose, I found myself intrigued by the direction in which Capcom decided to go with the game's look, but very little interest otherwise.

I had taken Mega Man 2 home with me several times during my video game renting days. But unlike many gamers my age who were exposed to Mega Man at an early age, I never managed to finish it. In fact, I was unable to even defeat the "easiest" end bosses. I would play a little bit through each stage, running and gunning in a very ungraceful manner. If I was fortunate enough to make it to the end of the level, the boss who waited there for me would make sure I would go no further. To someone who was young and very inexperienced, the Robot Masters were immortal beings. No matter how many times I tried, it seemed as if I could never do anything more than make a slight dent in their life bar. I began to believe that there was just no hope for me to make any progress in Mega Man 2. Unfortunately, the belief stuck with me, and I stopped picking up Mega Man games altogether.

This all changed just a few days ago when I witnessed my boyfriend's transformation into a Blue Bomber fan. Mega Man 9 was the first of the series he had ever played seriously, and after just a small amount of time, he began to play the game with such fervor that he beat the entire thing in one evening. He has since also gone through 1-7 and is excited about working on the Mega Man X series. I was very taken aback by the sudden love for classic gaming that he had found, and I began to think about the legions of gamers whose lives have also been touched by these simplistic yet challenging games. This widespread adoration could not possibly be the work of retro-goggles alone. If it were, how did someone who had never played a Mega Man before 9 manage to become as ravenous a fan as someone who had been exposed to the games as a child? Were playing the games really worth all the pain to these people? Now that I had this question in mind, I had to cast aside all my doubts and play Mega Man 2 again for the first time in over fifteen years.

Of course the game was very tough, as I had always believed and heard from others. At first, the multiple roadblocks caused my doubts to return, and I would feel a little bit like giving it up again. But as I came back after every failure, I was surprised that I was getting better and better regardless of all the times I did something incorrectly. I found myself destroying end bosses that I had grown up believing to be invincible. In all my life, I have taken down many bosses who are considered actual gods, but taking down Ares did not give me the same feeling that overwhelmed me as each Robot Master fell at my feet. Soon enough, I found myself watching the credits roll, and it was surreal. I had beaten a game that had haunted me for years, and I have not felt such an immense amount of gratification in, well, ever. I too have started playing through the rest of the series, and am very much looking forward to playing Mega Man 9 when it is released on XBLA.

Strange as it may sound, I find the experience most easy to explain through the example of my grandfather. He worked nearly his whole life as a coal miner. The work was hard on his body, did not pay spectacularly well, and consumed twelve hours of his weekdays. But as miserable as his job sounds, he stuck with it for the entirety of his life for one reason and one reason alone: the value of a hard day's work. He came home every day, looked back on what he had accomplished, and felt satisfied with what he'd done. A person playing a retro game struggles to overcome a difficult part of a level and afterward, looks back on their accomplishment and feels that same sense of satisfaction.

While I am a person who really values the "hard day's work" feeling (I believe it must run in the family), a lot of gamers are really put off by all the extra effort that retro games require. This is an entirely understandable attitude to have, since most core gamers see video games as a means of escaping reality, and one that is notoriously stressful probably does not sound like a good way to wind down after a day at the office. But if you think about it, a game that is devoid of stressful situations is likely very dull. Where is the fun in playing something that does not force you to slow down, study your surroundings, and learn from your mistakes?

The Mega Man games are really not as frustrating as most people make them out to be, especially if you understand the rock paper scissors element of the gameplay. It's safe to say that if I am able to beat it without causing injury to myself, anyone should be able to. Things can get tough, but there is no obstacle within these games that is impassable, and each little accomplishment is a reward in itself.

The disappearing bricks in Heat Man's stage, for example, once made me shy away from his level entirely because I was never able to make it across them during earlier attempts. When I tried it now, it still took me a while, but I finally jumped to the other side of the chasm. And as I leapt, I smiled and thought to myself, "Wow.. did I actually do that?". Another example is in Air Man's stage, which had always been one of my favorites as a youngster. But I could never get past the areas with the moving platform and floating enemies without being knocked off a hundred times. Now I knew that I had to get the Leaf Shield beforehand, and it blew my mind how much more simple it made things. And I cannot stress this part enough: I defeated the beings I had believed were invincible growing up. It took time (as any epic battle ought to), but I won against them all. As you can imagine, it feels incredible.

Only through seeing Mega Man 2 to completion did I realize why so many people put themselves through the task of playing the classic Mega Man games time and time again. I know why these games are so highly regarded. I know that retro gamers are not just gluttons for punishment. Mega Man fans are in it for the emotional reward. They are people who get pleasure out of hard work, and the fact that it is just a video game is in no way a concern. The feeling of great accomplishment is still there, and as the overall difficulty of video games decreases to help usher in new gamers, it is a feeling that is rarely associating with gaming in recent years. Because of this, I too now say that yes, Mega Man is worth all of the effort you have to put into it.

If you are one of those people who are on the other side of the fence concerning tough retro games, I beg of you, please play Mega Man 2 and see it to the finish. Do not be frightened of it. Do not get frustrated over it. Do not deny yourself the absolute pleasure of conquering this game. Play it using save states, if you must. As it has happened to myself and all of the other gamers who are enamored with the little Blue Bomber, you too may just find yourself wanting more after the credits roll.