New to Mega Man

[Xuande666]

In my 30 years of gaming I've never played any MM games. I'm more of a casual gamer these days so I'm not really looking for punishing difficulty. That being said, I think these games have rewind now? Still, would it be best to start here or just move on to the X games?

[spy]

All games have a backstory. If you care about the story, play them in order. Otherwise, you can play any game.

[d]

Sounds like watching the franchise on YouTube or a ChatGPT summary is more your speed.

[theclaw135]

The first three games are oddly designed. There are many things that can trip up players. (Top Spin's energy usage, the wall beam boss in Wily Fortress 2, Ice Man's disappearing block puzzle)

For learning the ropes, Mega Man 6 is probably the friendliest. Made easier by how the Power Adapter and Jet Adapter require no ammunition.

[Puppy Cat Underfoot]

In the NES days, the backstory was in the manuals. However, both 2 and 4 have beginning cutscenes.

[Electric Cupcake]

Enjoy the lightheartedness while it lasts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P2fVmh-hV4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz4Cb-NZXUw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrN2xHoJYWw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZDZQUxoC28

Endless grimdark...

I suppose it's appropriate that Megaman takes place in the same universe as Resident Evil, going by the posters in 3 Remake.

[funewchie]

I'll be honest OP, I started Mega Man in general with Mega Man X1.
Then I went back and played Mega Man 7.
Then Mega Man 3.
Then I started at Mega Man 1 and worked my way through the Classic series.

...Well, okay, technically I started Mega Man with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvRIIxMgmAg

In my opinion, X1 is a good one to kinda get your eye in, and get some practice.
Mega Man 7 (or maybe 3 or 4) is a nice one to then get you adjusted to Classic Mega Man.
Then... well, the series is your oyster.

Just remember, the older the game, the more unpolished it's going to be.
(As they got better with each game they made. Especially the NES era, they had 6 games to really hone their skills)

Originally posted by Electric Cupcake:

Enjoy the lightheartedness while it lasts.

Endless grimdark...

I suppose it's appropriate that Megaman takes place in the same universe as Resident Evil, going by the posters in 3 Remake.

Eh, I ignore the doomsayer theorists on YT. They like to make everything in a franchise as depressing as they can.

I personally view each series as it's own branching timeline.
In the X series, I picture the Wily Wars as never having happened. As no one seems to know who Light was (not even X), no one mentions Wily, and the Reploids seem no different from the Classic robots.
(While non-canon, Zero even thought Roll was a Reploid in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3)

So, to me, the classic series went one path, the X series went another.
(And around X5, the Zero series branched off in one direction, while X6 onwards went a different path)

[Electric Cupcake]

No matter how you look at it, the Megaman timeline is constant war, repeated genocides and apocalyptic disasters, until the time of Megaman Legends when humans and robots have completely merged into "carbons."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-lgTS_BZPs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_7rmGlo-1U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykkdvYThT_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co6OHe4KaEc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8PWyxnd94Y

[Illaoi Bot]

just start with 1 its fine if you struggle you can look up the weakness of bosses and do the stages in the """"right""" order

1 tip i give you for the first game to save you some headache do gutsman and cutman before elecman youll find out why

otherwise the game is old and janky but its fine youll get used to it