Topic: Who do you always fight first, and why?

[Fragman]

Everyone has their own preferred cycle when they play the classic games.  Sometimes it's for the weapon or upgrade they get, others just have a flow of the game they like.

Here's mine.

MM1:  Gutsman.  He's not that hard to beat with the buster and you need his weapon to get the magnet beam later, so this way you avoid having to replay.  Sure it delays picking up the more useful rolling cutter and Thunder Beam weapons just slightly but it's worth it, and having his stage out of the way is nice to do early.

MM2:  Metalman.  I think almost everyone likes to get his Metal blades right off the bat.  After that I actually go after Wood Man who has a secondary weakness to Metal Blade, followed by Airman, and work my way roundabout taking Quick Man or Heat Man last depending on how I feel that day.  MM2 is great for cycle breaking.

MM3:  Top man.  Yes Top Man.  A lot of people take on Magnetman first, a few go for needle man, but  top man is the easiest to buster in my experience with his incredibly simple pattern.  And since the top spin as useless as it is, is Shadowman's weakness that means you get the much more useful shadow blade next.

MM4:  Toad Man.  Aside from the fact that he's the easiest to buster, I just enjoy the opening of his stage so it's a good way to start the game.  Since the Buster starts charging in this game, weapons are less of an issue, but the rain flush does have some uses in getting those baddies who hide at awkward angles.  And it means you'll pick up the Pharoah shot in 2 more stages which is a useful weapon.

MM5:  This is the game I mix up the order the most, sometimes I even forget the weapons cycle but that does at least keep the game fresh.  Most people I think go after wave man to start, but I typically go after Gravity Man first.  He's easy to nail with charge shots when he switches gravity and his gravity hold is good for taking otu flyers, plus it tears Gyro Man a new one yielding another good anti air weapon, the remote gyro, which is also great for taking out those baddies who come in at awkward angles.

MM6:  Flame Man.  Okay you're saying.  WHAT?  Are you crazy?  You never take the fire guy first.  But hear me out.  At this point in the game you're probably not even considering the use of weapons in stages, with the hyper megabuster and adapters, so I focus on getting adapters, and Flame Man yields the very useful power adapter.  He's not that hard to take with the buster, you can dodge either of his attacks by staying near the middle of the room and jumping (ether over his forward shots or jumping up when he does his ground fire to give yourself a chance to spot the gap and land safely).  Of course if that's too difficult, you can just as well go after wind man first who's a total pushover and then take flame.

MM7:  You really don't have much choice but to take Burst Man unless you want to make a buster only run.  Though if you take Freeze man first you can pick up the Super Adapter a bit earlier.

MM8:  I usually take Grenade Man first.  The flash bomb is a useful weapon, and even works well on bosses who aren't supposed to be weak to it.  Grenade Man is pretty easy to buster anyway, so it's not that difficult.

MM&B:  Unless you're just insanely good, I think you HAVE to take on Cold Man first.

MM9:  Glaxy Man.  Wait what?  Not splash Woman or Concrete Man?  Well I've played Galaxy Man's stage plenty of times and found Galaxy man himself to be quite easy to buster.  Though I don't follow the typical cycle, and next go after Splash Woman, who's stage is much easier with the black hole bomb on hand for taking out those armored baddies and wall crawlers that sit off at hard to reach angles.  After that I take concrete Man and resume the normal cycle.

Okay those are my first picks.  Which are yours, and more importantly why?

[Bag of Magic Food]

MM2:  Metalman.  I think almost everyone likes to get his Metal blades right off the bat.

The only problem I have with this are those darned power-ups that require Item-1 or Item-2 to grab or to grab safely.  Speaking of which, does anyone like to get the Items in numerical order, despite that dangerous gap crossing in HeatMan?

After that I actually go after Wood Man who has a secondary weakness to Metal Blade, followed by Airman, and work my way roundabout taking Quick Man or Heat Man last depending on how I feel that day.

Wait, where does BubbleMan fit in?  I like to play him right after MetalMan because his stage is cool and has lots of uses for Metal Blade.

MM3:  Top man.  [...]

Yes to all of this, but where do you start the cycle of 3?  I prefer SnakeMan, because he's pretty easy to dodge if you climb onto that center hill and know when to jump.  GeminiMan might be easy too, but his powerful laser scares me, and his level is more annoying.  Which cycle I'd do first would probably depend on which Rush I wanted to use early.

Most people I think go after wave man to start,

Really?  I mean, true, the stage is set up so you never get to use special weapons, but I'm not good at fighting WaveMan, so I'd like to have at least an energy tank or something.  CrystalMan is also hard to dodge, and NapalmMan's level is just dangerous all around, but everyone else is mostly easy, so yeah, the order isn't a big deal.  The TASVideos run takes on StarMan first, though, for the Super Arrow, since you can get crazy speed with that arrow, even though I don't have much fun using it in realtime.

MM6:  Flame Man.  Okay you're saying.  WHAT?  Are you crazy?

Nah, this makes sense to me.  Get the Rush adaptors early, and then you can get all the secret goodies that only Rush can reach and not have to backtrack for anything.  I like how PlantMan has that one secondary weakness to Flame Blast, as if to help you in case you wanted to get both adaptors in a row.  And really, the game totally overcompensates you for beating FlameMan--I mean, he gives you TWO supremely powerful weapons that don't waste much energy and also break open barriers?

Of course if that's too difficult, you can just as well go after wind man first who's a total pushover and then take flame.

Yes, this is what I prefer.  In addition to being easier, WindMan has my favorite stage music, and it just seems more proper to play the four single guys with linear stages, then the four double guys with branching stages.  I believe the latest TAS run also starts with WindMan for some reason, when all the old runs were FlameMan first.  Although, there is that E-tank up high... and, you know, save the best music for last...

MM7:  You really don't have much choice but to take Burst Man unless you want to make a buster only run.

Er, what do you mean by this?  Is BurstMan really that easy without weapons?

Though if you take Freeze man first you can pick up the Super Adapter a bit earlier.

Yeah, that's it!  Start with FreezeMan to collect all the items without backtracking!  Although it can take a while to learn FreezeMan's pattern.

MM&B:  Unless you're just insanely good, I think you HAVE to take on Cold Man first.

Isn't he the only one you can start a complete boss weakness ring with?  That would be my reason.

[Dr. Wily II]

I remember this thread... Before the Great Crash...

MM1 - Bomb Man. To me, his stage is the easiest of the lot, plus, he just jumps around with easily dodgeable bombs.

MM2 - Flash Man. Well, let's just say on the first try, I could only clear his stage.

MM3 - Top Man. No question about it.

MM4 - Toad Man. Another no questions asked.

MM5 - Gravity Man. Well, I used to start with Wave Man, but, I hate the jetski part...

MM6 - Knight Man. Very predictable pattern out of the 8.

MM7 - Junk Man. Again, another predictable pattern.

MM&B - Cold Man. Well, his stage was the easiest out of the initial 3.

MMI (First 4) - Fire Man. He's not as menacing here as in the original.
MMI (Next 4) - Flash Man. Well, again, easiest of the 4.

MMII (First 4) - No specific order. All 4 are as easy to destroy with buster.
MMII (Next 4) - Top Man. Same reason as in MM3.

MMIII (First 4) - Snake Man. Easiest of initial 4.
MMIII (Next 4) - Skull Man. Well, his stage was the only one I could clear properly...

MMIV (First 4) - Toad Man. Still same old Toady.
MMIV (Next 4) - Napalm Man. No real reason, just wanted to finish him off first.

MMV (First 4) - Neptune. Another Toady of sorts.
MMV (Next 4) - Jupiter. Space stage.

[Fragman]

To answer Magic Bag of Food's questions...

MM2:  I do Bubbleman when I feel like it.  His stage is fun so I play it strictly for entertainment value.  If I've discovered that he has a secondary weakness to quick boomerang if Metal Blades make him a bit too easy, so sometimes that's a fun way to end the cycle.

MM3:  Gemeniman's stage is Hellishly long I admit but I've got his pattern down, and his gemeni beam is slow as a rock, nowhere near as threatening as Elecman was.  Needleman gives me a lot more trouble than that, and Gemeniman seems to have a secondary weakness to Shadow Blade anyway.


And Burstman is pretty easy to buster.  He hardly moves so you can pretty much stand still and outgun him as long as you can maintain a good rate of fire.  Even on the second fight I tend to use the buster on him instead of risking getting close enough to use the Scorch Wheel.

[Bag of Magic Food]

Meh, I'm probably thinking of Famicom-style BurstMan, where the bubbles were hopelessly difficult to escape from.

[BaconMan]

MM1: BombMan. It's another way to get the Magnet Beam, in which I take on ElecMan nest. Plus, I hate those first 3 platforms in GutsMan's.

MM2: FlashMan. Pretty much an easy way to get the Quick Boomer. Plus, I used to suck at QuickMan's stage without it.

MM3: HardMan, actually. And yes, there's a good reason why. But I'm not teeeeelling!

MM4: ToadMan. Duh.

MM5: StoneMan. He goes down pretty smoothly, and I work my way from there.

MM6: FlameMan. It's all about the adapters. And yes, breaking barriers.

MMV: Mercury. Simple space logic.

MM7: BurstMan.

MM7FC: CloudMan, actually. Burst is actually pretty tough to dodge (and easy to die against!) in this one.

MM8: TenguMan.

MM&B: ColdMan, of course. I've done GroundMan first a time or two as well; which works okay with Bass. But getting through TenguMan's stage as Mega is a TOTAL [sonic slicer]! Even with Bass, I often use T./G. Boost in the autoscrolling part. (I actually considered going for AstroMan's first once... that didn't go too well!)

MM9: I haven't yet, but I'd imagine I would go with GalaxyMan or JewelTran. (Depending on how tough Galaxy's stage is.)

[Satoryu]

MM1: Bomb
MMPU: Oil
MM2: either Flash or Air
MM3: i used to always pick Magnet first. if i were to play again, i'd likely pick Gemini.
MM4: Toad
MM5: Star
MM6: Flame
MM7: either Burst or Freeze
MM8: either Tengu or Grenade
MM&B: Cold
MM9: Splash

[Sky Child]

1- Elec, he doesn't move.
2- Dunno, haven't actually been able to finish 1 and try it. I'm picky.
3- See above
4- See above
5- See above
6- See above
7- See above
8- See above
9- I stopped being picky at this point and picked Galaxy first. I can't beat anyone else.

Proof that Sky fails at Megaman forever.

[Karai]

Clockwise, starting at the top left (or Cutman in RM1 case).

[Legendary]

Considering 8 is the only classic MM game I've played thus far (barring MnB, mainly cuz I couldn't make it to any of the bosses...;-;)...

Tengu Man. He's epic. =D

[Rock Miyabi]

MM1: Cut Man
MM2: Bubble Man
MM3: Magnet Man
MM4: Toad Man
MM5: Wave Man
MM6: Flame Man
MM7: Freeze Man
MM8: Grenade Man
MM&B: Cold Man
MM9: Splash Woman

No reason behind the mostly watery theme...I just realized it now, actually.

[Gaia]

MM1: Cutman (Elec alternatively)
MM2: Metalman (Air alternitavely)
MM3: Shadowman? (Snake alternatively)
MM4: Toadman
MM5: Random Starter
MM6: Tomahawkman (Flame alternitavely)
MM7: Freezeman
MM8: Frostman
MM&B: Coldman
MM9: Hornetman (Galaxy alternatively)

[Bag of Magic Food]

1- Elec, he doesn't move.

If you're super good, you can also pick up the Magnet Beam without using any weapons by mashing opposite directions, and then you'll have one fast game starting with ElecMan!

[Satoryu]

don't you have to press up and down at the same time to do that? i doubt that's possible on a normal NES controller. sounds feasible on Anniversary Collection, though.

[VixyNyan]

If the Bubble Man wall glitch is manageable with a real controller and hardware without save states, this (kinda) works too (with patience). ^^

[BaconMan]

1- Elec, he doesn't move.
2- Dunno, haven't actually been able to finish 1 and try it. I'm picky.
3- See above
4- See above
5- See above
6- See above
7- See above
8- See above
9- I stopped being picky at this point and picked Galaxy first. I can't beat anyone else.

Proof that Sky fails at Megaman forever.

Sky, if I may...

Start with MegaMan 8, and work your way BACKWARDS. Fact is, MM's 1 & 2 are the hardest [parasitic bomb] since vibranium. And the series, over time, only gets easier and more user-friendly. I'm not just saying that because of the decade of practice you get, btw; the difference is ENORMOUS, and noticable to anybody who pops them in, back-to-back. In fact, MMs 6 & 8 are so forgiving, it's nearly impossible to Game Over. The only reason people lose lives and E-Tanks in those, is because they stop for the day, and continue (since passwords in 6 don't save lives/tanks). 7's a *little* tougher than 6, and that's pretty much the only exception to that rule.

Bonus: It's like a love story, in reverse! (And much more gay.)

[Elpis TK31]

Guts, Air, Snake, Pharaoh, Star, Flame, Freeze, Tengu, Cold(or Ground) and Splash.

Because:
1- Super Arm for Magnet Beam
2- pixel jumping and my favorite way to start up the weakness cycle.
3- then Topman, so I have both WO's covered.
4- because I freaking LOVE Pharaoh Shot, sometimes I used just that and the buster.
5- come on people, SUPER ARROW!
6- habit, I barely play it, and it sets up the WO nicely.
7- Early Super Adapter, good weakness order.
8- again habit.
F- Ground is more fun, but Cold sets up the WO better.
9- because speedrunning says it's best to start with.


-Elpis

[Satoryu]

If the Bubble Man wall glitch is manageable with a real controller and hardware without save states, this (kinda) works too (with patience). ^^

that's very different. getting in Bubbleman's ceiling just takes repeated presses of Pause. and you only have to zip in one direction. for early Magnet Beam, there's a lot more zipping going on. not to mention the more complex setup.

[Galappan]

Let me see...

RM1 - Either Cutman or Bombman
RM2 - Airman. Boring Stage, cheap boss attack, must get rid first.
RM3 - Needleman. Good Warm up. I like using RM Weapons during the course of the stage so Needle Cannon is a good start. Then buster only with the Bosses.
RM4 - I don't play it much
RM5 - ""
RM6 - Tomahawkman/BEAT Parts stage. So that I have a lame reason to revisit them. 
RM7 - ""
RM8 - Clownman. Good warm up & I like his grunts.
RM&B - Coldman

[Bag of Magic Food]

RM6 - Tomahawkman/BEAT Parts stage. So that I have a lame reason to revisit them. 

I like this because I get to use the Robot Masters' weapons against themselves without having to go all the way to the end of the game.

[Shinichameleon / Nayim]

Here my list:

MM1 - Bombman
MM2 - Woodman
MM3 - Hardman
MM4 - Toadman
MM5 - Gravityman
MM6 - Blizardman
MM7 - Freezeman
MM8 - Tenguman
MM&B - Coldman
MM9 - Concreteman

for explanation........ i feel lazy to explain this