Season Shorts Review: Mega Man Dies at the End

 

Spoilers Below

Mega Man Dies at the End, Dies.

We are here to pay our respects. Mega Man Dies at the End passed away peacefully on March 23, 2013 at the age of 23 episodes.

M.M.D.A.T.E. was the beloved child of Lowbrow Studios and Machinima – born on a cold winter day, March 4, 2012. In its very first episode, M.M.D.A.T.E. told the story of Mega Man, who after defeating the evil Dr. Wily, falls out of the spotlight when he can’t locate the sexy female robot Roll – who is Mega Man’s girlfriend… or possibly his sister. It was complicated.

Mega Man had a very enjoyable and entertaining childhood. Any show that has Star Wars references in their second episode is A-okay in this writer’s opinion. A promising life was sure to follow.

Like its sibling Sonic For Hire, Mega Man also had an affinity for spoofing classic video games, like Battletoads, a criminally underrated NES game from 1991. It starred three anthropomorphic toads whose goal was to…you know what? I don’t even know, I never got that far. That level where players must rappel down a seemingly- endless pit while hanging from a vine sure was a doozy though, right?

Even board games like Mousetrap received attention from M.M.D.A.T.E. These references represent the essence of the show, a humorous, nostalgic romp through the childhoods of the viewers.

As the show matured, so did its choice of references. Mega Man spent four episodes – over one-sixth of its lifetime – engrossed in a Pulp Fiction homage. In the show’s final days, Thelma and Louise, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all received references.

However, Mega Man will be remembered most for its sense of humor. Oftentimes self-depreciating, the show never took itself too seriously, even poking fun at the primitive, pixelated animation of the show and game themselves.

Although not a kid-friendly show, Mega Man did not rely on profanity or obscene language nearly as much as other shows – even compared to Sonic For Hire. Not relying on offensive dialogue shows a stronger confidence in the writing, and for good reason. It was snappy, witty, but still maintained a level of innocence in the show’s characters. They were always just a bit naive  a bit dim, but not annoyingly so it never got stale. The writing also never spelled the joke flat out for the audience. This is also a sign of good writing, because the writers have enough confidence in the clarity and humor of the joke that they can allude to something and not have to explain it and risk ruining the joke or treating their viewers like idiots.

The laughs may not have been enormous, but they were frequent enough to keep the show entertaining each week. Therein lies the flaw in other great Machinima series, they have good and bad, hit-or-miss episodes. Mega Man Dies at the End never suffered from this ailment, and remained healthy throughout its life.

The plot was interesting enough as well, although there weren’t too many twists and turns. They weren’t necessary though, as the writing was entertaining enough on its own, even if the episode wasn’t really going anywhere. The storylines got a bit more complex towards the end, and a few surprises were added before the show reached its inevitable conclusion: Mega Man – the character – died, bringing the show along with him.

Previously not garnering anything more than a passing mention on BubbleBlabber, Mega Man Dies at the End deserves not just acknowledgement, but praise, from this site as well as others. The show was born, lived, and died as a hilarious, intelligent, and respectable gem that still managed to float to the top while only existing briefly in the sea of crap we call the Internet. The show lived with no regrets, and our only one should be not giving the show the attention it deserved while it was still with us.

Services will be held on Machinima’s “Happy Hour” YouTube channel, where re-runs will always be available for viewing.

In lieu of flowers, please just follow @Gonzo_Green on twitter.