Mega Man 5 carries over the same graphical style and action-platforming gameplay as the four preceding chapters in the series.

The game introduces a new character, Beat, a robotic bird that the player can use as a weapon once a series of eight collectible letters are found.

However, the fortress begins collapsing, and while Mega Man is distracted from holding up the ceiling from crushing himself and Dr. Light, Wily manages yet another retreat.

As the two watch the castle collapse from a distance, their mystery savior is revealed to be the real Proto Man, who quietly slips off unnoticed.

Gameplay revolves around the player using the central character Mega Man to run, jump, and shoot his way through a set of stages.

If the player takes damage, Mega Man's life meter can be refilled by picking up energy capsules scattered about each level or from fallen enemies.

[7][10] After completing certain stages, the player can call on Mega Man's faithful dog Rush to reach higher platforms or cross large gaps using his "Coil" and "Jet" transformations.

As a result of this leadership, Inafune felt Mega Man 5 turned out with a lower difficulty level.

[2] Inafune summarized his work on Mega Man 5 as being fun, but he admitted having trouble with the designs, balance, and colors.

[2] The idea for Beat originated in the development of Mega Man 3, where the concept support robots included a dog and bird.

[12][16][19][20][21][23][24][25][26] IGN's Lucas M. Thomas holds Mega Man 5 as one of his favorite entries in the series and, because of its lowered difficulty compared to its predecessors, considers it the easiest of the bunch to casually pick up and play through.

[12] 1UP.com's Jeremy Parish considered Mega Man 5 as "a painfully phoned-in episode lacking not only innovation, but pretty much all the polish and balance that made the earlier games so enjoyable".

[28] In 1999, Mega Man 5 was re-released for the PlayStation as part of the Japan-exclusive Rockman Complete Works series.

[23] A port of this version with fewer extras was released in North America for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube in 2004 and Xbox in 2005 as part of Mega Man Anniversary Collection.