Video: Today's Teens Simply Cannot Handle The Insane Challenge Of Mega Man

Yeah, it looks pretty hard...

I feel old now, and I'm only 20.

Watching that reminded me why I love megaman games x3

See, I don't buy it. I recently discovered that my girlfriend's nephew, who is six years old, fell in love with the NES Mega Man games. I was quite surprised, but then I remembered: that's exactly what happened to me when I was his age and, like him, had no previous gaming experience.

The problem isn't "kids these days", it's kids who get their introduction to gaming with dumbed down crap.

Well, the games are really hard, though. I'm 24 and to this day I am unable to finish any Mega Man games.
And I started playing with Super Mario Bros.

Yeah well they're teenagers. They aren't good at most things. Except for thinking they already know everything.

@ricklongo
Agreed. Those of who grew up with these games got used to a much steeper difficulty curve than what you see today. I remember playing this game when I was five years old; while I didn't beat the game, I was able to reach the Wily stages. But by that point I'd already been introduced to the first Mario and Zelda games, as well as Metroid, Blaster Master, and a plethora of other less than forgiving games.

Some of the did ok but at least they weren't stuck up. Thought the funniest part had to be your one who took her a while before she knew she could shoot.

Overall it was enjoyable and was proud of one of them at least making it to bombman. Though I found it odd they would start with bombman even though I always started with cutman.

I'm not a teen and I can't handle the challenge in Mega Man either.

He holds da controlla like a sammich. Just eat that, kid and don't play with yo' food

These games were hard so as to increase the play time of the game. Games don't have to be hard now we have more to work with and the capability to add more to the game through DLC, so really it's just a case that kids and teenagers like me are used to less challenging games. Just because it's easy, doesn't mean that it's not fun.

Hand - Eye coordination = Zero, zilch, nada, none
Im sorry, but thats what happens if you let people play video games that probably never left the comfort zone of a smart phone endless runner

@Larryislife Not quite. A short, hard challenge is not the same as a long, drawn out breeze.
Content alone isnt the point here. But if a game boild down to 40 hours of mashing a single button, say, Final Fantasy XIII, then where is the point of even playing it ?
Playing a game is to overcome a certain challenge. If there is none, i might as well not play it in the first place.

I guess them sucking is to be somewhat expected. I mean, Megaman is pretty hard. Then again...this is still rather cringe-worthy in some moments.

Kids today don't have a clue! Timing and Shoot... shoot... shoot simples

@Einherjar @Larryislife I also disagree with Larry. Today's easier games have more to do with how video games have become much more mainstream. In every art form, from music to movies to painting to (yes) video games, there are going to be "easier" stuff catered to a less die-hard crowd. Obviously, this doesn't mean that sort of product is going to be inherently bad, but it also doesn't mean that "kids these days" are less likely to enjoy a harder game.

I'd wager the percentage of new gamers who could enjoy tougher challenges has stayed pretty much the same if we're talking global population. That number has obviously decreased when we tackle the actual gaming population, but that's because, like I said, the mainstream appeal of gaming has grown so much over the past decades.

Here's a thought guys, maybe, just maybe... they're not gamers! GASP!

@Einherjar @ricklongo Of course, there has to be some challenge. What would be the point in playing a game if there was no challenge? I'm just saying that the difficulty of a game doesn't have to be a massive factor in having fun, though it can be. Yes, games have become more mainstream and I accept that as a factor in the dipping game difficulty, but I also maintain that games don't have to be difficult for you to get some value out of them, unless you like difficult games.

@Dipper723 lmao I agree.

My 13 year old refuses to play our kiddie wii u because he can't figure out how to beat games. Kids today resort to mindless games like cod where death has no meaning. I remember has a 7th grader with my friends learning he to beat Zelda and metroid on snew, and today the same 7th graders would rather play hide and seek (mike Myers they all it) on cod. Mindless entertainment, I'm going back to captain toad.

As if the ego of 80s gamers wasn't big enough, let's bring a bunch of teenagers on set and record them failing at their first try playing Mega Man.

Blah blah blah games were better in my day... sips tea and looks down on the plebs from my ivory tower

@Larryislife No offense, but your comment #16 completely misses the mark. Games weren't harder to increase playtime at all. They were hard because they were meant to offer you a challenge and give you a true sense of achievement when you finally defeated the final level or boss.
That happens way too little nowadays, with tutorials for almost the whole part of a first level, in game hints in plain sight, regeneration and what not. I don't know how young you were when you started gaming or if you're a retro gamer, but other than that the games that @einherjar @ricklongo (you both made some good points by the way, gentlemen) and me are more than likely thinking about (other than Mega Man) are from WAY before you were even born, so I don't think you'd truly be able to relate to them as we do.
You're "supposed" to spend weeks on end with them, gradually inching your way to the end by playing a level (or two if you were good) every day and not by breezing through a game within the space of six hours or less, ESPECIALLY with the prices that a lot of these bite sized experiences have in today's market.
Luckily there are also quite a few good and intensive games left, but the larger part is still too easy by comparison, and in some genres such as first person shooters that is also because they give more (too much?) attention to the multiplayer part, so the actual solo "adventure" that you think you are going on is over before you know it and does little more than wet the appetite, which (besides the attraction of the multiplayer) might possibly be why these games and their sequels are selling so well.
I do agree with you on the fun part of games, but for me personally, a true sense of having finished the game by overcoming the obstacles it places in front of me is also a large part of enjoying it. As far as I'm concerned it should contain both fun and some serious difficulty options, not just one or the other.

This is what happens when you let today's "gamers" who are used to the A.D.D. gameplay of Call of Duty and silly app games play classic games that actually took thought, time, and skill to beat.

It's not necessarily a knock against them, but gamers who grew up on app games and post-playstation 1 are really used to a different type of gameplay.

"What... You mean I can't just keep running like I do in Temple Run? These things are going to kill me?"

@Quorthon
I found your comment condescending and rude toward all folks between the ages of 13 and 19.

I love the Fine Bros! Good choice, NL.

Haha, I needed this. Modern gaming holds people's hands sooo much and it shows in these teen's remarks. The one guy made it TEN SECONDS into the level and had to start ALL OVER and he was SHOCKED!

@TheRealThanatos Sorry, I'm not very good at conducting what I want to say. I just think people take it a little too hard when something like this pops up, but my view on retro gaming has changed a little. I don't want to start an arguement here. Tbh I really can't offer much insight because I've never played Megaman.

Honestly, I don't really like retro games, or incredibly difficult ones. I just play for the experience and if part of that experience for you is the difficulty, then that's perfectly fine.

Next week: Teens who have never been in water react to swimming. Stay tuned.

@TheRealThanos I think it's a mix of both.

@Turnip-Forest As someone who prefers difficult games, eeyup.

@Larryislife No need to apologize: it's just differences of opinions, that's all. And we agreed on games needing to be fun as well, so no damage done. (except to the spelling of my avatar's name... )

anyone else just want to take the controller and do it yourself?

I'm always happy when the Fine Bros. pick a classic for them to play and, despite its difficulty, they still appreciate and enjoy the experience. I love how utterly confused they are by enemy respawns though.

@TheRealThanos I just can't seem to get anything right today ._.

1 can be pretty brutal, though. Especially the second Wily Stage, I mean dang.
Same thing with 2 - the Wily stage bosses are where the challenge is.
3 and 5 have the bloody Doc Robots and Dark Man with massive collision damage.
4 is just lengthy, but very reasonable!
6 is just easy.
7 and 8 are simple, but harder if you're doing a Buster-only run.
Like 1, 9 has its GOTCHA's, but it's still reasonable like 4. Best one.
10, though, not only takes time to learn, but is white-knuckle every time to play on account of the midbosses or stage hazards. And the Hard Mode bosses add attacks that make them something else (plus Strike Man's stage turns dang near into a bullet hell shmup game).

So they haven't SEEN difficult, yet!

What this shows is the progress of games and that newer players expect poor game design to be abandoned. Mega Man isn't just difficult, it is abusive. It is full of bad design philosophy left over from the arcade era when the objective was to make someone feed quarters into a machine by killing them. It pushed the limits of the hardware to the point that it can be difficult to control or even see what is going on screen as enemies flicker and frames frequently drop.

@Dipper723 At least two of them play games regularly.

@Larryislife Wouldn't lose any sleep over it if I were you...

@Larryislife, @TheRealThanos, @ricklongo
First off, i never said that difficulty equals fun. That way, games like Animal Crossing wouldnt stand a chance at all, wouldnt they ?

Now, in all seriosuness though, a games needs to be at least a tad challenging. Thats the whole point of the medium, or else i could be watching a movie.
To elaborate on my point with Final Fantasy XIII: First: Its NOT a blatant hater comment, for everyone whos wondering. I dont hate it for the sake of hating it
I own the game twice, and have finished it several times. An this is the basis of my comment: I finished the game without the use of weapon crafting, without equipment changes and solely using the auto battle command ("pressing a single button over and over) several times.
The game offers no challenge what so ever. Worse, it doesnt even offer gameplay. All it does is look good and present a nice, japanesy story.
If you ask me, it was a fine movie, constantly interrupted by mandatory button presses.

This is what i mean by games need a little challenge. To be honest, lets take Dark Souls for instance. Highly popular and praised and tough as nails. Frankly, i grew up in th egolden age of gaming and can play MegaMan with my feet (no joke) and yet, i cant play Dark Souls as its to hard for my taste.

Difficulty is highly objective. It all comes down to hand - eye coordination, logical thinking, twitch reflexes etc.
You may master Ninja Gaiden, but you may fail at a slow paced strategy game. Thats perfectly normal.

But were talking about games, that get rid of these challenges for the sake of luring in more and more players, not realizing that they are alienating everyone else. And even worse, they are training people to not enjoy harder challenges.
You know why people from "the golden age" cherish challenging games ? Because they grew up without an alternative. Either you learn to play it, or you dont play at all.
So we know its doable. But with games getting more and more easy, you create a whole new audience that never learned to overcome any sort of challenge (physical or mental). The end result: No challenging game will be profitable anymore, since the the golden agers are the minoroity now.

Thats where the panic of "easiy games" come from.
It has nothing to do with easy games being bad. Its that challenging (not hard) games are dieing out.

Thats also why i die a little inside, if a big RPG is announced, with overpowered gear as pre order bonus...
Thats like "order now, and we finish the game for you"

Nothing is more satisfying than overcomming a challenge for yourself. A thing, that has been lost since the day of "oh, i just look it up online"

@Einherjar My "essay" on difficulty wasn't directed at you, but I did agree with all the points you made before that and for me challenge in a game is a sign that there is a serious difficulty setting, so that is why I mentioned you in the comment as well.
And I VERY much agree with the last three points you just made...

P.S.

I actually think that games like Animal Crossing do offer some kind "difficulty" or challenge. Namely that some people will probably have to "force" themselves to slow down and find satisfaction in just tinkering with no true goal other than owning a house, having a job, managing your garden and so on in a game world that looks like it came out of a fairy tale/Sesame Street. And the fact that if you want to truly play this game as it is meant to be played, you should visit your house/village every day.
@Darknyht Yeah, I have to agree with you there. Mega Man is a particularly harsh example of a game to give kids their first 8 bit experience with. But on the bright side: almost everything you play after Mega Man will probably be a lot easier. Even some of the other infamous 8 bit games...

I'd just like to see this same bunch try to play Ninja Gaiden. That would amuse me to no end.

Nice to know that even the young'uns think that today's games are too easy compared to this!

@OmegaStar Fascinating.

The difficulty of MegaMan is that the game teaches you its aspects through showing instead of telling, which is a rarity among modern games, partly because of higher complexity, partly to make it more accessible for the average consumer unwilling to spend some time learning things. But because it shows, it demands focus from the player, and that's good.
Many games nowadays are supposed to give a player a feeling of accomplishment to keep him interested (trophies/achievements/stamps are the degeneration of that), and learning things doesn't feel compelling to casual players. Back in the 8-bit times, the accomplishment was hard-earned through determination and patience - but the standards of modern media make things so easily accessible that some kids never learn how to earn a victory of sorts.

But in MegaMan's defense: I don't buy this video being a genuine display of MegaMan being to hard for the current young generation - this is most definitely forged by selecting clear examples of casual players who aren't interested in challenging games, and one, maybe two, youngsters who put some effort into it.
Also, Capcom didn't kill MegaMan because of difficulty, but because it wasn't profitable enough. If difficulty was the problem, they would've simply added an "Super-Easy Mode" that either has no Game Over, a score system that penalizes damage but removes health, or health recovery by standing still for a few seconds - but at the cost of not being able to play through the entire game.

@Einherjar I really agree, and I think it can only get worse.
Challenging games are definitely becoming way too rare, and dumbing down gameplay for higher accessibility even hit some well-established franchises recently (Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, Tomb Raider, Halo, and many more). But that's not even the end of it: DLC stuff that gives you an advantage is also becoming increasingly common, as well.
And just to add that: the popularity of the Souls series shows that there's still a good market for challenging games (though the Souls games range from unfair to misbalanced), and the same goes for Bayonetta. Problem is that developers aren't satisfied with their consumer base anymore. It's all about the money, because competition is heavier than ever before, and numbers write the success... at the cost of challenge-loving gamers turning away from them.

@HyperSonicEXE Interesting, nice to know 10 kept the difficulty of the franchise. The only main series Mega Man game I haven't played (thanks to Nintendo not merging Wii U eshop and Wii Shop Channel funds!).

They weren't too terrible. My first time playing the original MegaMan games went about the same. I always usually started on CutMan's stage though. The one thing I found funny was the I made it to the end of the level scene where the screen rolled.

Also you've gotta give props to the one guy who made it to BombMan. I doubt I could've done that on my very first try.

Also on the subject of difficulty in games, NES games were made notoriously harder, because there wasn't as much content. You didn't want someone to buy a game for full price just to beat it an hour later. That's why people would keep coming back and learning patterns in order make it farther in the game. Take Super Mario Bros. I can beat the game in less than 20 minutes. But when you first play the game you don't know about the warp zones. It makes the game much longer and in turn much more difficult.

So yes, Games are easier today than what they were in the past, but these kids did very well for their first attempt.

A better test would have been to put Mega Man 2 or any of its sequels in the hands of teenagers. I like the first Mega Man, but it's a game with cheap difficulty, although it is a bit better then many NES games that threw tons of enemies at you at once while your playable character often did not have the options or abilities to get through everything.

Mega Man, Castlevania, other games of that era are cheap when it comes to difficulty. Throwing a billion enemies at a player and asking them to dodge or fight back the onslaught with minimal weapons and a main character that can barely jump in not difficulty, that cheap and poor game design.

The later Mega Man games were better designed because they offered E-Tanks, Power Adaptors, and things like Beat to help the player have a better chance at survival. Those games weren't really any easier, the player just had better options.

Same goes for Castlevania. The 16-bit entries have a much better design philosophy due to the playable characters getting more options like the ability to pick up dropped sub weapons, multi-directional whipping, item crashes, moves like back flips that can let them dodge attacks, and better movement options.

Games today might be much easier then their forebears, but the NES era, especially the early games are poor examples of difficulty. The difficulty in many of those games boiled down to "Lets have the player fight off tons of enemies at once while navigating bottom-less pits with their poor jumping abilities"

Things got better in later NES games, but 16-Bit games developed a better sense of difficulty. They offered the player better options in terms of dealing with the challenges of the game, but still retained enough difficulty while not being cheap about it.

@WaveyChristmas I think it depends on whether they played it when they were young.
I was shocked at how good I was at Megaman 1 & 2 on VC (which I had on NES) and how bad I was at 3.

Old school difficulty was all about making a 20 minute game last longer. In the arcades, the aim of the difficulty was to force you into spending all of your money. There's so many cheaap shots in old Capcom arcade games that are clearly thrown in as guaranteed player-deaths.

Ugh. Some of this comment section is what's wrong with gaming today. It's emabressing reading these "old school" gamers acting so pretentious and smug. If they had their way new kids wouldn't even be allowed to play old games because they aren't "worthy". Do the gaming world a favor and find a new hobby

They should have done the following:
1. Give the kids an instruction manual of some kind.
2. Have them take on Cut Man's stage.

I'm very bad at Mega-Man games...

@Quorthon .....

It's not a matter of games being easier or kids sucking more, it's just lack of practice. I'm 19 and Castlevania and Megaman 2 are some of my favorite games, but they're really not for everyone my age. I just got into that style of platformer through Cave Story and enjoyed it, so I got better at the older ones through the Virtual Console. I sucked at Megaman my first try too, and I'm sure all of you did too until you'd played it for a while.

@Yorumi I found Cut Man and Bomb Man to be on par in difficulty, but with stages Cut Man has less obstacles and some of them are slower and easier to maneuver around. There's only one of those large enemies at the very end and regardless of if it hits them they should be able to just run through it unless they get confused.

This is what happens when you're raised on mobile pay to win games. Welcome to what my childhood gaming was like kiddies.

@ricklongo I'm going to go with something different, and suggest it's just these kids (the ones in the video)'s attention span and impatience. They're not really getting the gist of how you play a 2D platformer. You don't just keep running for the end not pressing anything hoping for the best; the point is that you take your time, explore, be strategic about these things, or even just try your best. These kids have grown up in an age of technology where everything in itself is instantaneous and quick, and things come in short-bursts and they're not really used to concentrating on things for long spans of time; they just do something and move on. In reference to your girlfriend's nephew who you mentioned loves MegaMan and was able to blast through, I think that's more of him perhaps not being as enamoured to things like mobile phones, and rather the creative, eager to learn spirit of a child coming through (which is what games really capture).

I didn't play Megaman until recently too when they appeared on the VC and he was added to Smash. Thing is, I enjoyed them and they are awesome and yeah classics, but like most games from that era they're hard because they control awfully compared to modern titles which have honed it over the years.

Shovel Knight I think demonstrates it perfectly. In terms of enemy and level design it's probably equally as tough as Megaman, but the smooth controls and clever, optional, check point system (as well as various other modern sensibilities) makes it a much fairer experience. I died because I messed up or didn't notice an enemy tell/pattern, not because a platform I was meant to jump on had yet to visualise due to it not being fully on screen. And when I died I went back to the checkpoint each time, unless I smashed it, I didn't have to worry about lives and the prospect of "mess this up and you have to do it all over again!" And as such I actually went and revisited levels of my own accord, which I rarely do in games with lives unless there's hidden extras I missed.

I think if the controls were made smoother and all the technical issues of the time were fixed, Megaman wouldn't be so tough after all. For the most part. The bosses would still be tough as they should be. Either way playing them made me very excited for Mighty No.9

@Caryslan A lot of that also had to do with getting to grips with the hardware and the limits of the hardware. Sometimes they put in a bit more than the hardware could handle and in other cases the functionality that they desired simply wasn't possible (yet), resulting in gameplay possibly feeling wooden, choppy and whatever other negative label you can come up with. To me some of those things are actually the charms of those older games (remember the inertia in some games? made for some pinpoint button pressing), and yes that is seen through rosy colored spectacles because it concerns my youth, but I still enjoy these games today, even in light of the games I play on later and current consoles.
@Joetherocker Most of us probably died a lot when we first started gaming. I can't even remember how many times in my life I've seen the words "Game Over" displayed on a screen, but it's definitely into the several thousands. As for you and Mega Man: to your credit you at least understood that it takes time and you need to keep trying to get better at it. Most teens your age and younger just don't seem to have the patience anymore or can't get over how ugly the graphics are. And yet they play Minecraft and other indie games that are designed to look almost exactly like those "ugly" 8 or 16 bit games, but that's another discussion entirely...

Seriously I see today's kids playing smartphone games and thinking that they're the epitome of gaming and it makes me feel sad inside.

That said has anybody ever played Megaman and Bass? Playing the game as Bass was HARD because you basically had no charge shot and had to lower the bosses health 1 sliver at a time (because bosses have temporary invincibility after every hit no matter how small) so his rapid buster was a liability.

I feel the Megaman Zero games had the right idea, if you rank was low the bosses would be easier, but if it was high the bosses would be harder and drop an extra reward (usually a meaningful one).

Mega Man is a very good example of a game that's challencing but not cheap. Sure it might feel cheap is some places (I find it very annoying in some MM titles where you have to beat all the robot masters again and then all Dr.Wily's massive robots, all with the same lives) but it has great controls and good play mechanics. Same cannot be said about certain NES games.

@DarkKirby
Megaman & Bass... King Stage 2 was INSANE with Bass. So many bosses, so hard to hit that final one. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
And that was with Save states. Needles to say, it's the hardest Mega Man game for me so far. I've played all the classic one's, though I do find the final bosses of the first two Mega Man X (haven't played other titles in that series) extremely hard too.

MM1 is a cakewalk... It should be required fare to call yourself a Retro gamer. Along with Contra NES, Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda, and Lifeforce/Salamander.

I bought Mega Man on the Wii VC and I think it's the hardest game I've ever played.

The great games from my childhood I'm 32.

Battletoads... now that's a challenge!

Well it's also super hard because developers were still in arcade mind sets where it wants to eat all your quarters.
Mega man 1 was in the beginning where people didn't know how to make balanced enemies as well.
Still can't explain how I'm terrible at Mario 3. Maybe it's the Wiimote. Or the inertia mechanics

Challenge has its place. It's funny, though. As early as the 16-bit era I saw game magazines (EGM) rating incredible games low because they were too hard for the reviewers.

Target Earth and Herzog Zwei always stick out in my mind because I thought they were impossible at first, but eventually I could finish them every time I sat down to play and they remain two of my favorite games ever (yet, they both received super low scores in EGM at the time).

Still, some games I've played are super hard and I just never cared much to finish them. It has to be fun to make the challenge worth it.

I haven't finished my virtual console copy of Mega Man, yet. Those little flip-down moving platforms drive me nuts. Even with save state restoring! (It was moderately difficult for me back when it first came out).

.........all is lost for the generations of gamers. Both hilarious and a disgrace. " You never said i couldn't walk on it" & "Was that a boss"...FACE....PALM!

at least they're not watching Pewdiepie playing it...

The saddest part of this video is that they hardly know who he even is, despite being in Super Smash Bros...meaning they don't even play Super Smash Bros or they'd at least know who he was

So much hate for a couple of kids genuinely enthusiastically trying out a tough video game. Cause you guys all beat these games in one try, right?

They did pretty well for their first time, and they seemed to enjoy it! Not bad at all.

P.S. People here raging about Cawadoody have probably never even played it. (Disclaimer: I haven't either but at least I don't use it as a straw man.)

...I beat this and I'm only 16... Their skills weren't THAT bad though, for most of them being non-gamers. As for the gamers... well, they need to improve quite a bit...

This is what happpens when you are raised on mobile games, kiddies.

Kids these days, I swear.

Can you jump and shoot?

Lmao

i'm just happy that a good number of the comments aren't laughing at the people in the video, they've probably never played a megaman game before and honestly it takes a few tries to get used to the game, and a few tries is really all they get....

I can't believe that a few made it as far as they did. Mega Man games are about as hardcore as they come. I might have to play a little bit tonight.

The comments from the players at the end of the video make me wonder why more companies don't realize that YES, CHALLENGING GAMES CAN BE FUN TOO. It's disappointing that mainstream games are just creating weak gamers who have their hands held through every part of the game while they themselves are trying to find ways to make it more of a challenge.

@Yorumi Agreed.

Its called nes hard for a reason.

I could never handle Mega Man either. I'm pretty sure all my favorite NES games were the ones that were fair.

The bearded kid did pretty well. I liked his approach with the game and how cool and analytic he was with every new element. Loved his way of learning the controls. Sometimes, adults could learn a thing or two from young people.

getting to the end of the first screen and thinking they finished they first level is what they are used to on their phones now

I feel older than dirt now (lets just say upper 30's) but I don't feel like it's "kids these days" either. I still love games and I regularly marvel at how far they've come. I have a soft spot for an older punisher like mega man but I also love a new school cinematic story like walking dead, sue me. or even a more traditional nintendo adventure that's easier with more content. If a modern mario level or even say "Last of Us" or something was as hard comparatively you'd just throw it down before you even got to much of the story and adventure meat of it.

I think it's ok, it's expanded the appeal and hasn't watered it down overall; quite the opposite. It's such a huge market now that there is room for old style harder games, huge adventures, rpgs, etc etc. just so so much, we have it all now. I could whine about the kids or just shut up and choose anything I want including downloading lots of those classics in minutes on my choice of platforms. it's a wonderful world now for all of us. (yes, I normally do complain but being a gamer now is just amazing, no excuse to complain here)

I still can't beat Megaman 2. Frickin Quick Man stage. So many ragequits.

Its funny, the main reason classic games were so hard was due to their arcade roots. They were really short 20-40min. games made insanely difficult to extend gameplay while guzzling quarters, but it was also that same difficulty that kept players coming back for more. Its just crazy how symbiotic that relationship was.

Gamers today just aren't quite as used to having to figure things out for themselves, like experimenting or trial and error. Its just not a skill they're used to using. Its not a generational thing either, I recall hearing reports that people in general are sorta "forgetting" how to do things without modern conveniences, and as a result of those conveniences attention spans are getting shorter. Many of us can't go a minute without our phone or some other device.

Well, seeing how incapable these kids are at simple tasks like BREATHING (exaggerated of course, but seriously, they can't work an NES or Gameboy for crying out loud! Let alone play the games!), it doesn't surprise me they are horrible at any NES game.. Wasn't it like an Olympic event when one of them beat the first level of Mario Bros?

They really should require them to at least read the part of the instruction manual that explains the controls before letting them play. There's just no excuse for getting that far before you even realize you can shoot the enemies.

Everyone sucks at Mega Man the first time they play it.

I still suck at Megaman, and I used a Game Genie for infinite health. Those areas in some episodes where you free-fall between walls of instant death spikes, or how after you beat all the robot madters in MM3, you've gotta go back and replay the MM2 robot masters...

MM2 is probably the best one though. Nice intro credits, more polish than MM1, and you don't have the IMO unnecessary slide mechanic.

I first played the original "Mega Man" when I was about ten years old, and to this day - 24 years later - I still can't beat the Yellow Devil without using the Electric Pause trick.

to be honest, theres a lot of things todays teens cant handle these days. take that how you will folks.

@Zombie_Barioth You talking about the arcade and the relationship with home consoles also made me think of games that still displayed the message "insert coin to start" or something similar. Mostly on Neo Geo, but there were some arcade conversions on other systems that still used that as well.
@ogo79 Wanna share some examples? You made me curious...

I am actually replaying this right now on 3ds(currently on Dr. Wily stages). I started with Mega Man 2 when I was a kid(although I am old enough to have played Mega Man 1). This video is a little unfair though because Bomb man Stage is not the first stage to play. Every Mega Man game has an unwritten order you play in that provides a learning curve. They should have started on Heatman.

Also back in the 80s we played the same level over and over to memorization.

@Quorthon I'm a teen and I'm close to beating Megaman 1. Man, I've been really missing out on the old games. They're generally more fun than today's games.

Let the elitism begin.

Geez, I'm 13 and breeze through most of the levels up until the Dr. Wily stages, which I just couldn't beat. Mega Man 2 is easier, though. This is embarassing.