I played the version included in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection (PS2), so I don't know how close to the original it is. Took me about 10 hours to complete. This was also the first time I've ever played a Mega Man game.
After falling to my death through a solid floating platform for about the 20th time, and having to purposely kill myself many times because the floating platforms got into a pattern that made it impossible to cross (I guess I MIGHT have been able to use the Magnet tool), I decided it wasn't worth my effort to not use the Pause cheat. If it's going to be cheap to me, I'll be cheap right back if possible. Not being able to stand on the pivot part of the moving platforms that flip down made me think of the original Pitfall! and how you can safely stand on the alligator's head when it opens its mouth. I did beat the 6 bosses legit to acquire all their tools. Dr. Wily's stage is when I threw the notion of a full legit win out the window.
I guess the concept of ducking or bending down was foreign to the programmers, which would be ironic considering that the game was made in Japan. That wouldn't have been so bad if not for enemies that are completely below waist level. Being able to shoot in any direction other than perfectly horizontal also would have been useful -- I'm pretty sure the NES can handle that ability.
I guess I'm just really tired of the NES convention of monsters respawning about 1 to 2 seconds after killing them if you don't move far enough forward. Although in this game, that does come in handy for replenishing your health and ammo bars if you are patient enough (you might even get really lucky and get an Extra Life drop).
While it is a neat feature to be able to use the tools of each boss you defeat, there is almost nowhere before Dr. Wily's stage where you need to use them to access anything. The 6 bosses are also relatively easy to defeat with your standard weapon. So, you can almost forget that they exist and are needed to progress through Dr. Wily's stage -- for example, there is not one place where the Magnet tool is needed before Dr. Wily's stage, but you cannot make it though the final stage without it.
I did really like the Elecman stage's theme. I also liked some of the disappearing block platform sections. Thankfully, they were considerate enough to put in several Continue points in the final stage. I was actually fully expecting to have to replay the entire stage when I lost all my lives.
As for the Collection, it would have been REALLY nice to have something resembling a full manual for each game. It's REAL useful for it to have a single section that lists the items found across all the games, and then mention that not all items are in all games -- yeah, thanks for that "Tip." How about some images of the Item Icons in the games so you know what those things are when you run across them? I still have no idea what that thing that kinda looks like a hair dryer does -- the only one I came across is in Elecman's stage. I can see the whole having Mega Man run from one game feature to the next as opposed to a simple menu layout getting very tedious.
