LogFAQs > #949280720

88. Mega Man 5 (NES, 1992)

I think it's a testament to how many of these suckers Capcom churned out in quick succession that I'm taken aback that MM5 didn't come out until after the SNES era had already gotten started. Like every other NES Mega Man game, you pick stages one at a time from a list of 8 Robot bosses, and once clearing those fight off a gauntlet of stages leading to Wily itself. What impresses me about 5, though, is how much the level design diverges from the rest of the series up to that point - games had largely been iterating on the designs of Mega Man 1 and 2 ad nauseam. 5 has a stage built on a moving train, another with a sidescrolling jet-ski course, and one where the whole gimmick involves switches in gravity. The cleverness and originality of the main levels, along with the series' first set of collectibles (grabbing a hidden letter in each stage unlocks a secret weapon), helps the whole experience feel renewed, despite its obvious structural similarities. As someone who played through the series (mostly) sequentially on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection in the mid-00s, I was pleasantly surprised by 5 when it rolled along, enough that it snuck to my all-time favorites.

87. Super Castlevania IV (SNES, 1991)

Speaking of the SNES era, here's one of its earliest releases - out before the aforementioned MM5. I don't have nearly the experience with the level-based Castlevanias versus the IGA Metroidlikes of more recent times, and was pretty excited to dive into this one when I picked it up in the mid/late-00s, after having tackled most of the big Metroidvania titles. And while Castlevania IV is obviously not as deep or as long of a game, it still feels fairly modern - movement is fluid and the Vampire Killer has a lot of mobility and flexibility. Game difficulty can be harsh but in most cases enemy patterns and weaknesses can be fairly learned, outside of maybe some of the more obnoxious end game bosses. Plus, the game has some killer uses of the SNES's famous Mode 7 scrolling, with rotating rooms, spinning tunnel corridors, and swinging chandeliers; it's a shame that the game's more interesting and novel uses are stacked at the beginning half.
Like I said with Contra 4, sometimes a simple and straightforward action game just really hits the right spot. There are many Metroidvanias to come here, but I wanted to celebrate this gem as well.

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it's an underwater adventure ride