OH HAI Podcast Listeners and welcome back to the Giraffe Feels Podcast. If you have not heard 
our first two episodes yet, please check them out. They were about Castlevania III and Mega Man 2. Please get in touch if you like the podcast or have ideas or comments. Social media coordinates can be found at the end of the episode. 

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This is our first mix episode. What I want to do occasionally is episodes where I look at a bunch of games in a series and discuss both the games and the music. Sometimes these episodes will also be based around a theme. I have a bunch of ideas for those, so stay tuned. 

This episode is out the first six Mega Man games. Mega Man was a big part of my adolescence and a series I have rediscovered recently due to the new Mega Man Legacy Collection. So join me, won't you, on episode two of the Giraffe Feels Podcast. 

Like so many others it seems, the Mega Man series came into my life when Mega Man 2 came out. Someone in my neighborhood did own Mega Man 1, but the cover looked really dorky. Capcom did a pretty bad job with their American game covers back then. Even when Mega Man 2 came out, I was pretty confused. Is he (he?) a robot or a person? A cyborg? According to Wikipedia, Mega Man is officially an android. You know, like DATA. 

We also never bothered with Mega Man because this friend had an original Megatron generation one toy that still turned into a gun. He always had it pointed right at where you would walk into his room, which totally creeped me out. Often I just wanted to get out of there.

When someone got a copy of Mega Man II, the hype took over our neighborhood. We would sit at his house in the morning and watch him play. I wasn't allowed to play, for reasons I will explain when we do an episode on the legend of zelda, and sat mesmerized by what seemed at the time to be a rather epic side scroller. Over what was probably a week, this friend got to Dr. Wily's stage, but got stuck at one point. I asked, as always, if I could try, and was told no way. 

When I was a kid, one set of my grandparents lived with us. My grandfather died when I was pretty young. We used to go to flea markets together. He bought me my first Transformer and was really nice, but had a lot of health issues. My grandmother stayed with us until she died when I was about to turn 12. This was about a year after what I talked about last episode. 

Grandma had been a stay at home mother for all her life. She loved to spend money on us kids though. We were a solid middle class home, but both of my parents worked hard for that. Her health issues were pretty hushed, but I have a feeling she knew that she only had a few years and wanted to see us happy. We would go to the Toys R Us a few towns over and pick out a new game when it was featured in Nintendo Power. This particular friend though who got Mega Man 2 first, if he got a game and wouldn't let me play, grandma would get it for me. He was a jerk and his parents were too. I have a lot of memories of his mother being very rude to my mom because I “got extra help” in resource room, with the implication that it was some kind of cheating. This kid obviously had ADHD, but hid it well by interests in sports and playing drums. He did turn me onto Slayer/Metallica before they hit the mainstream. 

I woke up the day after he got stuck in Dr. Wily's stage and headed over in the morning. He was still at it, but I went outside to play basketball with his sister. Suddenly I heard a triumphant YES! And he beat the stage. I went home for lunch and found a brand new copy of Mega Man 2 sitting on my bed. I called my friend, who was oddly excited for me and told me to drop by later and let him know how far I got. 

I don't remember how far I got into Mega Man 2 that day, but I did have notes from what I remembered of the order that my friend had gone in. I generally start with Flash Man, although that level can be tricky, and then go from there based on whose weapons will hurt the next boss. After a few years of watching others play Nintendo so much, I was so happy everytime I got a game of my own. I spent time that summer playing the game and eventually beat it. When I figured out, through a lot of trial and error, to use Bubble Man's weapon on Dr. Wily I felt quite triumphant. When I remembered to use it during my playthrough on the Mega Man Legacy Collection, I felt the same feeling. 

The soundtrack to Mega Man II is amazing. In general, Mega Man games had great music, but Mega Man 2 really sets the bar high with levels like Wood Man, Flash Man, the intense Heat Man, and the slick and jazzy Bubble Man. I have so many memories directly connected to individual beats in various tracks and places in levels. 

Mega Man 2 is still one of my favorite video games. I replayed it recently as part of the Mega Man Legacy Collection, which puts together the first six games plus a ton of extras. It's well worth picking up. While the first MM borders on excessively difficult, Mega Man 2 still, in 2016, feels “just right” and is both fun and challenging. This play through I struggled with Quick Man's stage because of those heat beams you have to dodge. I used to be so good at doing that, but this time it took me probably 10-15 tries to get it right. Nevertheless, I kept at it and eventually got through. Mega Man 2 is FUN. I like challenging games, but I like fun even more. 

Each of the eight stages was compelling in its own way. I still feel quite accomplished when I gently glide through Bubble Man's stage. I can hop the clouds in Air Man's level from deeply ingrained memory. Quick Man is so tough until you realize that Flash Man's weapon will cut in health in half. The coolest part of Mega Man 2 is having to fight all eight bosses again. As a kid, this absolutely blew my mind. It seemed so grandiose and daring to essentially make someone go through the game again. This was before Super Ghouls N Ghosts of course. I remember the first time I blew through it because I knew which weapon to use. It's pretty amusing that Metal Man is weakest to, well, Metal Man's weapon. 

The game also tricks you into thinking you have beaten Dr. Wily, but there is one more form to go. The silence in that level made my heart race as a kid. It seemed so ominous. 

I didn't like Mega Man 3 when it came out. I got it new, excited after a feature in Nintendo Power, but only played for a few days before shelving it. I found it to be unreasonably hard in general and once I got frustrated I gave up. Quickly, the series was running out of credible names for the villainous robots too. Hard Man and Top Man, even though I really dig his music, just seemed ridiculous. My attention was definitely veering more towards games like Castlevania, and Final Fantasy, which came out that summer and became a big game for me and my friends in the coming year. 

I didn't actually play Mega Man 4 until Mega Man Legacy Collection came out There are some rough parts, but I enjoyed it. The Cold War aesthetic and storyline seems a bit random, even if pertinent to the time period. I love the weather effects and how rain and snow impact the game. These days that is so normal, but there was a time when it felt pretty revolutionary. I really appreciate as an adult how each Mega Man game tries different stuff. Mega Man 3 adds the ability to slide, which is super useful in Mega Man 4. That game adds the charged up blaster, which some have argued is a bit too useful. I didn't feel like I abused it in my playthrough. 

If you love these games, or want to check them out, the Legacy Collection is a great place to start.  I bought it on my PS4, but I wish I had gotten it for my 3DS. These games are totally made for a handheld device. 

Again, the Giraffe Feels podcast is written, edited, produced, and performed by William Wend. You can follow me on Twitter @wpwend. Giraffefeelspod is the user name to follow on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. We have a Youtube page that is linked on the website.

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