While the Mega Man mainline series has had its share of undeniable success and lent gaming history more than a few of the best platformers ever made over the years, that has never stopped Capcom from regularly tormenting fans with some brutally difficult games. In fact, intense difficulty is one of the things the series is best known for.
There are some legendarily tricky moments in the Mega Man series that are capable of causing an otherwise sane and gentle gamer to cross over the threshold into total rage and utter madness. Knowing where to find those moments can be useful for gamers with either a low threshold for irritation or an insatiable appetite for ruthless challenge.
12 Mega Man 5
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After the impressive challenge of the previous two Mega Man entries, fans were given a significant breather with the easiest entry in the entire mainline series. Mega Man 5 offers ample items and extra lives, straightforward level design, and a distinctive lack of moments reputed to inspire a drywall-punching rage in even the most mild-mannered gamer.
While this entry is plenty of fun overall, there are times that it can feel a bit too easy, which is odd to say about a Mega Man game. It does make it a great entry point for beginners, however.
11 Mega Man 2
It seems as if Capcom heard word that Mega Man was widely considered an almost painfully difficult game because they clearly relented a bit on the sequel. Well, actually, they relented a lot: Mega Man 2 is one of the easier Mega Man titles of them all.
However, “easier” doesn’t mean easy, nor does it mean the game isn’t great. In fact, Mega Man 2 is a fan favorite. There’s still a fair amount of challenge here, as well, especially in Quick Man’s level with the deadly horizontal laser beams, and in Wily’s Fortress 4 with the Boobeam Trap.
10 Mega Man 6
The final NES entry for Mega Man was far from a bad game, but it was also not all that different from the previous five titles, and therefore anyone playing them in order was likely to start feeling a bit of Blue Bomber fatigue. It was probably wise, then, that Capcom didn’t make this one excruciatingly hard on top of being pretty stagnant.
One of the cooler aspects this game has to offer is the Rush Jet Adapter, which is cool-looking, fun to use, and just a little bit OP.
9 Mega Man 8
Fans dedicated enough to battle their way past the excruciating Dr. Wily battle in Mega Man 7 are often terrified to imagine what Mega Man 8 has in store, but are then pleasantly surprised to learn that the game is fairly challenging, but (usually) not in a cruel or sadistic sort of way.
This title has its grueling moments (see: jet board) for sure, but for the most part, it’s a well-balanced experience and a somewhat underrated Mega Man entry.
8 Mega Man 11
Even the most masochistic lover of difficult games can likely admit that it’s not really very fun when the challenge is due to something perceived as cheap or totally random. While some of the older Mega Man titles could be somewhat guilty of this, Mega Man 11 generally avoids it altogether while remaining challenging.
Utilizing the gear system in this game can reduce the difficulty significantly, as can simply turning the difficulty down manually, but if fans want a strong but fair challenge, it’s waiting here in this latest Mega Man title.
7 Mega Man 7
The leap over to Super Nintendo for Mega Man began with an entirely new series in Mega Man X, which probably left fans wondering whether the Blue Bomber as they knew him was gone for good. That theory was proven wrong with the excellent Mega Man 7, which updated the original series with some pretty 16-bit graphics and significantly more challenge than the previous two entries.
While there’s a fairly strong difficulty balance throughout the first half of the game, things get far grimmer after the Wily stages kick in, particularly in the final fight, which is considered by many to be the toughest Mega Man boss of them all.
6 Mega Man 3
While there is a fair amount of challenge throughout Mega Man 3, the real difficulty doesn’t set in until the player has cleared out all the Robot Masters and is ready to continue onto Wily’s Castle, only to discover that there are four more mysterious levels to complete.
The second half of this game is long and it is unrelentingly challenging. Clearing out the four mystery levels with their two bosses each and then going onto six levels of pursuing Dr. Wily can be a harrowing experience, but it is without a doubt a rewarding one.
5 Mega Man 4
Mega Man 4 saw the advent of one of the game’s most iconic features: the charging Mega Buster. It came just in time, too, because there are parts of this one that require all the help a player can get.
With some beautiful level design ending up in some brutal boss fights, this one strikes a great balance when it comes to the challenge it offers in the game’s first half, but once Dr. Cossack’s Citadel hits, the difficulty begins elevating, and it does not relent.
4 Mega Man 10
Capcom’s second retro-style entry in the Mega Man series built off of the many successes of Mega Man 9 while also dialing back the difficulty just a tad. Overall, it was a wise decision, as it made the game more accessible to less Blue Bomber-savvy gamers. And for those who were expecting something more torturous, there’s always Hard Mode.
With that added little kick of difficulty, players got to experience some trickier enemy placement and variations to the already-tough bosses. It’s not for the faint of heart.
3 Mega Man & Bass
Super Famicom’s Mega Man & Bass was the original ninth mainline entry, but it would take five years to get to North America, and even then it was in a subpar port to the Game Boy Advance. The game was already one of the tougher entries in the series, but with the screen squeezed onto a handheld it became legendarily difficult.
Playing the original Super Famicom title can reduce some of the trickiness, but not enough to keep this one from near the top of the list.
2 Mega Man
The very first entry in the Mega Man series still stands as one of the most difficult in franchise history, even in spite of the fact that there are only six Robot Masters to face rather than the now-standard eight.
Part of the difficulty of this title was in the developers feeling their way through the creation of a unique new series, part of it was some absolutely unforgiving platforming sequences, and all the rest of it was the Yellow Devil. This infamous boss fight is frequently cited as one of the toughest ever crafted, and for very good reason.
1 Mega Man 9
With Mega Man making a bold retro return in 2008, Capcom decided to do it right by honoring one of the series’ most notable hallmarks: being really, really tough. This one is even more unforgiving and unrelenting than any other, and this time it’s purely the result of sadistic design, not primitive technology, as was partially the case in some earlier entries.
Even in spite of its heartless difficulty level, this is easily one of the best games in the entire series, which (sort of) helps soften the blow of the endless stream of Game Overs.