u/Bad_Udername

A lot of people diss the Proto Man playthroughs of Mega Mans 9 and 10 and say that its bad that he takes 2x damage and 2x knockback and that he should have another downside. I disagree with this entirely since it makes sense both thematically and from a gameplay perspective. Starting with the thematic perspective it just makes sense that Proto Man is more frail then Mega Man since he was an earlier model (the first robot master) and has a broken power core, its why he needs his shield to fight, and to come at this from a gameplay perspective its good that Proto Man has a harsh downside since he gets great abilities like the charged shot, slide, and his shield (which is more useful than one would expect at first). Bass gets his dash and bass buster in Mega Man 10 with no such downside (besides being unable to shoot through walls or shoot while moving) and he trivializes the whole game, Proto Man needs the downside to be balanced. Plus its a good thing that he acts as the "hard" mode of both games since Mega Man is an easy series you probably won't struggle a lot playing through it, Proto Man changes this since him being so fragile means you can not play sloppily. You are forced to be more rigid and learn more about the game, and I do believe this to be a good thing since in Mega Man you can just damage race most of the bosses or run through enemy sections but its just not viable as Proto Man (unless you grind E Tanks). Also its just satisfying and relieving to beat tough bosses when you have little leeway, it feels more deserved.