Mega Man

Mega Man introduced the formula the entire series would run with for decades: six Robot Masters, pick them in any order, beat one and take their weapon into the next fight. Cut Man's scissors shred Elec Man, Elec Man's thunder beam stuns Fire Man — the whole game is a rock-paper-scissors puzzle disguised as run-and-gun platforming, and figuring out the intended order the first time through is half the appeal.

It's also the roughest entry in the series by a wide margin. There's no password save system yet — Wily's fortress has to be cleared in one sitting — and the physics, hit detection on Guts Man's block-throwing pattern, and infamous Yellow Devil boss fight are all noticeably less refined than what Mega Man 2 would deliver a year later. Fans who go back to the original after playing the sequels usually come away respecting it more than they expected to.

This page hosts the verified Mega Man ROM, built for Delta Emulator's NES core on iPhone — load it directly with no BIOS file or extra setup required.