Jade Rambles: 10 Worst Megaman Weapons (revised)

[JadePharaoh]

Several years ago I made a video of what I felt were the ten worst weapons in the Megaman series. It remains one of my videos with the most views, and the most comments, most of them being a variation of "u forgot Top Spin/Power Stone" (both weapons I felt were much better than people gave them credit for if given a chance). Over the years (as well as the fact that MM10 has come out in the time since I made that video), I've grown dissatisfied with that list. There are some weapons on that list that I myself didn't give enough of a chance (Air Shooter, Yamato Spear, and Charge Kick), and as I thought about it, I feel there are worse weapons. It's still not an easy list, as the series is full of weapons that I really liked. Still, I like this one better than most other lists I've seen that almost all look identical to each other, and almost always include the Top Spin and Power Stone as the bottom two, and leave out the following weapons that are way worse. So here is my revised top 10 list. This may or may not be used as a transcript for a video in the future, but I felt I'd post it here first.

They're in no particular order, BTW; just in the release order of their respective games.




Hyper Bomb (Bombman, Megaman 1)

You get to hurl black ball cartoon-style bombs that fall to the ground and explode. Sounds simple enough. But while the explosions from these bombs are extremely powerful, they are quite unwieldy. The bomb sits on the ground for a couple of seconds before exploding rather than explode on contact. This not only requires very good timing, and a little luck to actually kill anything with it, it also severely limits its use to enemies on the ground, preferably ones that aren't very mobile, lest they casually stroll out of the bomb's blast radius before it goes off.



The Hyper Bomb got a considerable upgrade in the MM1 remake, Megaman: Powered Up. In that game, the bombs do explode on contact, making them much more practical. Unfortunately, Powered Up also severely limited the usefulness of nearly all of the robot master weapons by making them consume a lot more weapon energy, so it's a mixed bag. As you can play as Bombman and the other robot masters in this game, he gets an even better version of the Hyper Bomb that never runs out of energy and can be aimed with the d-pad. The Hyper Bomb also appears in Megaman's moveset in Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS, as one of his custom neutral specials. It too explodes on contact, making it a lot more useful that it was in its original game.




Atomic Fire (Heatman, Megaman 2)

Atomic Fire is one of those weapons that I wish I could like a lot more but is sadly a bit of a letdown overall. You shoot fireballs with it that you can charge up to three levels of strength, making it an obvious precursor to the charge shots in later games. However in this case, only a fully-charged shot is worth using (uncharged fireballs usually deal no more damage than a standard Mega Buster shot if an enemy's not immune to it), and you only get two fully-charged shots on a full bar of energy. Plus, if you take a hit while charging, you'll fire it prematurely, wasting the shot. This makes it extremely impractical for normal use. At least the game designers had the foresight to make the bosses that are weak to it really weak to it (Woodman, the Wily Machine, and to a lesser extent Quickman and Flashman), taking them out in just two hits (one if you're playing on American Normal mode). So you're better off saving this for boss fights; just don't miss. The Pharaoh Shot in MM4 would improve on this weapon in almost every way, however, having much more reasonable energy usage plus the ability to aim it in six directions.

The Atomic Fire would return in MM: Dr. Wily's Revenge for the GameBoy. it works mostly the same as in MM2, only with the added ability to melt down certain walls in the final stage. It also shows up in both of the arcade games, albeit functioning more like the Flame Blast from MM6, only you can charge it.




Spark Shock (Sparkman, Megaman 3)

I've stated many times before how strange I think it is that while the Top Spin is so widely reviled as the worst weapon in the series, there's another weapon from that very game that is a thousand times worse yet somehow gets a pass. The Spark Shock deals no direct damage to enemies (except bosses); it only stuns them for a few seconds. That's not bad on its own; the Ice Slasher from MM1 was very similar. However there is a major difference that cripples the weapon; you cannot switch weapons while the enemy is stunned. Other than just waiting for it to wear off, your only other option is to try sneaking past the enemy, but you still take contact damage if you touch them making it mostly useless, with the sole exception of stunning Bikke in mid-hop.

The Spark Shock was made MUCH more useful in MM3 for the GameBoy, allowing you to switch weapons to finish the stunned enemy off. It is also part of Megaman's arsenal in Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS, as his upward smash move, and is a rather useful launching attack.





Sakugarne (Quint, Megaman 2 GB)

You don't get this weapon until close to the end of the game, so that might be why this one is often overlooked. This eleventh-hour superpower is anything but "super", though. You get a pogo stick. You can bounce on it. Whee. Fun. You can supposedly hurt enemies by bouncing on them, but I have never been able to figure out how to do it without taking damage in return. At least the Top Spin would one-shot non-boss enemies to keep you from taking that contact damage, but no such luck with the Sakugarne. Again, you get it late in the game, so you're not even likely to miss it at all.





Napalm Bomb (Napalmman, Megaman 5)

Almost every Megaman game has a ground-crawling weapon, but for some reason MM5 decided it needed two, the Napalm Bomb and the Water Wave. After thinking about which of the two is more redundant, I decided on the former. While the Water Wave uses slightly more weapon energy, it's also faster, has better range, and can block projectiles. The Napalm Bomb, on the other hand, rolls lazily along the ground before exploding after a few seconds. It's not even a very impressive explosion either nor does it deal much damage in spite of being named after such a horrifying weapon.

The weapon returns in a few more games. It behaves the exact same way in MM4 for the GameBoy. In Megaman: The Power Battle, it behaves similarly, but with some tweaked bounce physics depending on the height you fire it from. It got its best buff in Megaman 2: The Power Fighters; in that game it gives off a massive explosion and explodes on contact, finally making it the awesome weapon it always should have been!





Plant Barrier (Plantman, Megaman 6)

Likewise, almost every Megaman game has a shield weapon. But I consider the Plant Barrier to be the worst shield weapon in the series, bar none. And it's not just because it's a shield made of pink flower petals either. It's very similar to the Skull Barrier from MM4; it will absorb a single hit, be it from an enemy or a projectile, damaging enemies that touch it. Problem is, it uses WAY more weapon energy than the Skull Barrier; only 7 uses on a full bar of energy. MM9's Jewel Satellite and MMU's Nail Shield have the same energy usage but protect you way better. You can't even fire it, like the Leaf Shield or the Star Crash.

For being such a crap shield, it has been one of the more recurring shields throughout the series. Both of the arcade games have it. It's received a bit of a buff in both, trading the ability to block projectiles for the ability to absorb direct contact from enemies for much longer. It can also be fired to deal even more damage. The big tradeoff was that it eats up even MORE weapon energy; only 3-4 uses on a full gauge. It is also part of Megaman's repertoire in Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS, as one of his custom down specials.






Blizzard Attack (Blizzardman, Megaman 6)

The Blizzard Attack feels like a bit of a troll. Hey, look; the series gives us a spread gun! But before you think about getting your Contra on, you discover that it is an energy HOG. You get a whopping seven shots on a full bar of energy.




Burning Wheel (Turboman, Megaman 7)

Overall, MM7 had a nice selection of weapons, but the Burning Wheel (aka the Scorch Wheel in the American version; I dunno why they'd change it) jumps out as underwhelming in comparison. It's similar to the ground-crawling weapons from past games, this time sending a ring of fire along the ground, only it's a bit more awkward. The wheel stays stationary for a moment when it's first summoned as it charges up, then sprints forward. It's probably not as bad as some of the other weapons I've mentioned, but I see little reason to get it out when there are several other weapons in this game that are better. I could actually say the same for MM8's Water Balloon, which could arguably tie for this position, but the Burning Wheel is much more awkward to fire.

The Burning Wheel would make one other appearance in MM: The Power Battle, functioning very similar to before.





Oil Slider (Oilman, Megaman: Powered Up)

As one of the new robot masters added to the roster in the MM1 remake, Oilman does not impress me at all with his weapon. It lets you shoot a glob of oil that falls to the ground; that itself appears to be even weaker than a standard Mega Buster shot. You can then step on the puddle of oil that it leaves, enabling you to streak forward extremely fast. Supposedly you can damage enemies by sliding into them, but like the Sakugarne above I have yet to figure out a consistent way to do so without taking damage as well. Another problem is using it around pits, as it is very difficult to control yourself as you're sliding. It essentially feels like a suicide weapon overall. This also makes Oilman the hardest robot master byfar to play as in this game as his version of the weapon has no noticeable improvements.





Thunder Wool (Sheepman, Megaman 10)

Even the most recent classic Megaman game wasn't immune to this. People gave Sheepman crap as soon as his design got leaked in Nintendo Power, but his weapon is what we really should have been knocking. You fire a cloud that drifts slowly upward before dropping a lightning bolt straight down. The lightning bolt itself is extremely powerful, but similar to the Hyper Bomb, there is a long delay between the time you press the fire button and the time the lightning is dropped, forcing you to time your shots very carefully. To make things even worse, if something touches the cloud before it discharges, it disappears, wasting your shot completely. Even worse still, this weapon also gives you only seven shots on a full bar of energy, so you'd have to make every shot count.