One of the most fun aspects of playing all these NES Mega Man games back to back is that you can see how the series has (and hasn’t) changed through its beloved tenure on the system. From Mega Man 1 to Mega Man 4, a clear pattern of improvement exists, but I would argue that it’s Mega Man 5 that takes all the lessons and puts a bow on them. Mega Man 5 came out in 1992 and is probably one of the most technologically impressive NES games. My thoughts on its predecessors fresh in my mind, I came to appreciate Mega Man 5 far more than I thought I would.

The first thing you’ll notice? They fixed the slowdown. The game no longer stutters when more than two characters are moving at once. In fact, five or six enemies often appear onscreen with Mega Man and there won’t be a hiccup in sight. That, friends, is impressive in itself. Mega Man 5’s rogues gallery—which might now include Proto Man—isn’t of the same caliber as previous outings. Charge Man in particular stands out as one of the original series’ most gimmicky character designs.

Say it ain't so, Proto Man!

The level design, however, is top notch, featuring lengthy stages with plenty of surprises. Wave Man’s stage features a side-scrolling jet ski segment, Gravity Man’s stage plays with gravity in ways familiar to the VVVVVV fans out there, and Crystal Man’s (gorgeous) stage has some challenging platforming. Mega Man is tasked with collecting eight letters (one per stage) that spell out “MEGAMANV.” Once completed, new robotic pet Beat can be called to fly overhead and defeat enemies in hard-to-reach places. Rush Marine has been scrapped, Rush Coil is now more of a pogo stick, and the newfangled Super Arrow proves surprisingly useful. Famously, the Mega Buster has been given another level of charge, and it’s a doozy. You might argue it cheapens the game, but I wouldn’t say that. It looks cool and has its place (mostly boss fights).

The Robot Masters have been nerf’d a bit, it’s true: they can all be defeated by the mighty superpowered Mega Buster and their attack patterns are pretty easy to predict and memorize, but specific weaknesses are there if you want to exploit them. Another thing that’s changed the game for the easier is that extra lives, at least in the first eight stages, fall like rain. The counter doesn’t go past 09, but if I was keeping count, I probably would’ve had 25 going into Proto Man’s castle. This actually makes it easier to get through the game without leaning on restore points. The Proto Man and Wily castles are not terribly difficult, but they do ask you to make use of your Rush and Super Arrow items intelligently. They’re also quite long. You’ll probably want to save the one M-Tank you find for the final area. By the way, I think the M-Tank is new: it refills ALL your life and weapon energy!

What would happen if Thomas the Tank Engine grew a body and turned evil? THIS.

I really like Mega Man 5. I think it’s somewhere near the top of the NES series in terms of quality. The graphics, by the way, are fantastic (especially the backgrounds in Crystal Man’s stage) and the music is just as good as it’s always been. If you like these games, Mega Man 5 is a no-brainer. If you don’t have much experience with the series, Mega Man 5 might actually be a good place to start.