Ice Man
This guy’s my favorite of the first Mega Man’s bosses. He has my favorite stage music theme by far, and the slippery sliding mechanic of the ground was unlike anything else in the game. And those tubes you fall through—remember, this was from 1987—were out of this world cool looking. His stage stood out.
It was also the first time I was exposed to an ice level like this. The challenge of that kind of precision got me into it.
Ice Man himself only had those three ice arrows he’d shoot, so he wasn’t the toughest battle, but his look was beyond amazing. His gigantic furry coat complete with hood is the look. He reminds me of what Mr. Freeze should look like all the time. And if I had to choose just one character design out of all these robots, I’d choose Ice Man first, at least nine out of ten times.
Star Man
Star Man’s stage sets its tone with an immediate meteor strike at an observatory. There’s properly sci-fi music—best theme of the game if you ask me—and a low-gravity jump mechanic that works just like when Mega Man is underwater.
The high jumps are still present during the boss battle, but Star Man can stop midair as he launches his orbiting meteor shield at Mega Man like an angled version of Wood Man’s wood shield. And when his shield is down is the only time you’re able to properly attack Star Man. Be quick because he gives himself four more orbiting meteors soon enough.
Star Man’s larger than most other bosses, which is especially noticeable when he reaches one arm to the sky. He’s quite the imposing look, especially compared to his fellow Mega Man V bosses. His pattern may be easy to beat but his style wins the day every time.
Quick Man’s level destroyed me as a kid, I could always beat everything but I would leave him for last because he gave me so much trouble.