Ok fine, robot masters they are. And certainly evil as well. Yet one of them has to stand above the others as the best evil robot master of all-time.

We recently ran a series of polls to determine whom it would be. The polls were set up to first find the best evil robot master from each of the “classic” games (Mega Man 1-10, and we threw in Mega Man & Bass as well), and then the winner from each game was put head to head for a final poll.

Let's first take a look at the robots that almost won.

#3. (TIE.) Gravity Man (Mega Man 5), Splash Woman (Mega Man 9) (mouse over to view)

Gravity Man had a pretty interesting stage with a cool gravity mechanic (which I mention in my review for VVVVVV) that flipped you up onto the ceiling. Can't say the music in this stage does much for me, but then, I felt that Mega Man 5 had some of the weakest music in the early games. And of course the gravity mechanic was part of the fight with Gravity Man himself, making for a pretty interesting battle.

(Watch a playthrough of his stage...)



To be honest Splash Woman wasn't one of my favorites from Mega Man 9, but I can see the appeal. Her stage has some unique parts, including riding bubbles to the top of the water while avoiding spikes, as well as riding on quickly moving, soon to be disappearing water platforms also in the midst of spikes. Pretty cool stuff. The boss battle isn't bad either, and I always like seeing sea bosses controlling sea creatures, even if it is a bit cliché.

(Watch a playthrough of her stage...)



#2. Magnet Man (Mega Man 3) (mouse over to view)

Ah Magnet Man. His stage revolved around... you guessed it... magnets! Magnet enemies that try sucking you into pits, sucking you towards themselves, etc. And of course it had disappearing blocks too. And a battle against Proto Man! This stage had everything! The music was pretty classic as well. Magnet Man himself also tried to suck you at him, as well as jump into the air and shoot magnets down at you. He's pretty dope.

(Watch a playthrough of his stage...)



Alright. And our big winner is...














#1. Crash Man (Mega Man 2) (mouse over to view)

I distinctly remember how much I loved Crash Man's stage when I first played Mega Man 2. It was something totally new to me, an almost completely vertical stage in a video game?! It wasn't just the fact that it was vertical that was compelling, but the real sense of height that it established as well. When you start the stage the sky is bright blue, but as you move higher up clouds start appearing, and as you travel even higher up the sky goes dark and you can see faint stars in the background, which are super bright by the time that you reach the very top. At which point you are basically in outer space. This may not sound especially amazing by today's standards, but at the time it was like nothing I had ever experienced in a video game. The music for the stage was pretty awesome as well. And Crash Man himself well... he jumped around and shot bombs at you. Sticky bombs with drills attached to them. How cool is that? He also looks awesome.

(Watch a playthrough of his stage...)



And now here are a bunch of random pictures of Crash Man, just because.






URL to share (right click and copy)

"Love" the Snake Man / Star Man almost-porn..

--I'm cool with Crash Man. Mega Man 2 is awesome. Mega Man 3 comes up in 2nd -- again.

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 03/27/12, 02:02

Actually the Snake Man / Star Man one was pretty tame compared to another I found (and did not want to post.) Do a search for "Crash Man" on Google images and it comes up first row.

Ug. Who draws this stuff?!

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/27/12, 03:24

Edited:

03/27/12, 03:24

Congrats, Clash Man.

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 03/27/12, 03:38

Nice editorial! Fun to read, and good picks too.

I've really warmed up on Snake Man over the years. He's one of the iconic Mega Man 3 bosses to me, from his super-unique stage to his spiffy look and great theme song. Crash Man and Gravity Man are a couple of my other favorites as well.

Zero, wasn't your favorite Gyro Man at some point?

Posted by

TriforceBun

on: 03/27/12, 04:12

@TriforceBun I could have sworn that I did a top 10 Mega Man boss robot list here long ago (and not the vile one... that wasn't me!) Hmm. But I can't find it. Anyway yeah Gyro Man was my favorite for a long time, mostly due to the awesome fact that he could fly, but I think he has dropped a bit on my list since then.

Crash Man might actually be my favorite now, which means you guys made the right choice for once.

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/27/12, 04:23

Crash Man was cool even in the Gameboy version of Mega Man II.

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 03/27/12, 04:46

I was actually thinking of showing him in every form he has been in (official games, not fan art), but then I realized that I had no idea.

Apparently he is the only MM2 robot that hasn't shown up in the Battle Network series?

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/27/12, 04:59

Edited:

03/27/12, 04:59

Zero, that rising bubbles while avoiding spikes segment was actually in Burst Man's stage first. Then again since it's from a non-NES game I suppose that doesn't count for you

Posted by

X-pert74

on: 03/27/12, 07:00

Well Mega Man 7 was in the polls as well! Hmm. Yeah I guess it's not the first time that it appeared in the series, but it was still an interesting mechanic.

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/27/12, 07:03

Gotta correct both you guys--the rising bubbles were in Wave Man's (MM5) stage first! In fact, the layout of Splash Woman's bubble section seems to mirror Wave Man's intentionally.

Posted by

TriforceBun

on: 03/27/12, 07:19

I think I actually knew that. Or remember it from past conversations.

Well, I did say that Splash Woman wasn't one of my favorites. I hate to play the gender card but... I think she did as well as she did for being a woman in a field of men. Otherwise not much particularly stands out about her stage / self.

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/27/12, 07:22

@TriforceBun I stand corrected I have yet to play Mega Man 5.

@Zero I think she was a cool boss design in general, I loved her stage music, and in general I thought it was a fun level to play. That part with the horizontally-moving platforms as you climb through the area with spikes walls I also thought was really good.

Posted by

X-pert74

on: 03/27/12, 07:37

YES!!!!! Crash Man is the best! ... That used to be my screenname before NinSage.

Get your dancing shoes on, kids.... it's time to rock out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJuZlpOUg1w

"Ready? LET'S GO!!"

Posted by

Chocobo_Rider

on: 03/27/12, 07:57

Edited:

03/27/12, 07:58

@TriforceBun

I remember playing that section of the stage and not dying and wondering why. Then I remembered Wave Man's stage...yep, played it before.

Congrats Crash Man.

Posted by

ludist210

on: 03/27/12, 17:37