There are a lot of painfully stupid Mega Man characters. With names like Plant Man, Tomahawk Man, Yamato Man, Clown Man and Gyro Man, it's clear that somebody at Capcom was purposely trying to crash the series into the ground. And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids and that damn dog. Well, that and the never-ending supply of sequels, spin-offs, remakes, ports and cameos.
Observant cynics could see trouble brewing from the very beginning. It all started with Mega Man III, when Capcom scraped the bottom of the barrel and discovered Top Man. This dizzying boss spins around making him hard to hit. But with the right weapon (the Hard Knuckle, if you're curious), Top Man can be toppled. And when that happens the Blue Bomber is given the Top Spin, today's questionable power-up.
In case you're too young to know what a top is, it's a toy that spins around that kids used to play with a hundred years ago. It spins. Hey look, it's spinning. Yup, that's the top experience. In this game, players get to spin around, just like a top. But here's the thing, the top move only works if the enemy is about to hit you. This makes the timing tricky, leading to a lot of accidental hits. What's more, the spin actually pushes the player backwards, which an be deadly if you're standing next to a bottomless pit. There are few things worse than dying because of a stupid power-up. Well, okay, Mega Man X Street Fighter is worse.
