Catching Up: It Begins

This was originally intended to be a vidcast, but I really don't think that it's necessary. Rated PG for one bad word and off-screen cursing.

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I was born in the early 90's. As I was growing up, the Super Nintendo was winding down to make room for the 3D era.

My first MegaMan game was a demo of MegaMan Legends, played on my cousin's PS1. I hated the gameplay (primarily because I was [and still am] terrible at it), so it really turned me off MegaMan games.

Flash-forward a few years. I saw the coverage for EXE1 in my latest Nintendo Power and since there hadn't been a Kirby game in ages (I've always been a huge Kirby fan), I picked it up.

So began my introduction to the series that I would invest hundreds of dollars and countless hours in.

Flash-forward another few years. I've played all the EXE games that are out (1-5) and I need my fix. Not realizing what I'm doing, in the exact opposite of what I'm sure so many others did when EXE1 came out... I picked up MMXC, thinking it'll be just like EXE. (XD) To say the least, I was surprised. This put me off the older MegaMan games for even longer.

Flash-forward another two years. I had nothing to do in a room full of computers (long story), and, with the entire archive of Bob and George fresh in my mind, I searched for a web-based NES emulator. I found vNES (virtualnes.com) and browsed the catalog. I saw Mega Man 1-6.

MM's Mind: Mega Man. Mega Man X. Mega Man = Mega Man X. Mega Man X = hard. Therefore, Mega Man = hard.

I'll spare you the expletive-filled account of my brush with MM1.

MM's Mind: Mega Man hard. Try next one.

Mega Man 2 was, by far, the best game I'd ever played. (Of course, Brawl's taken that spot since then.)

That's not to say, however, that I was good at it. Or, for that matter, that the game's entirely fair.

Take, for example, Air Man. Let me ASCII something to show you what I mean.

I--------------------I
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I__M______________A__I
M=MegaMan
A=Air Man

This is your hit radius.

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IXXMXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXI

This is Air Man's Tornado-Rape radius.

IXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXI
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IXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXI
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IXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXAXXI

This is your hit radius on Metal Blade.

I--X--------X--------I
I--X-------X---------I
I--X------X----------I
I--X-----X-----------I
I--X----X------------I
I--X---X-------------I
I--X--X--------------I
IX-X-X---------------I
I-XXX----------------I
IXXMXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXI

This is your hit radius on Time Stopper.

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I__M_________________I

And this is your brain on drugs.