One of the things I loved about Contra back in the day was that you could play it two ways: you could use the code, have fun with a friend, and play through the game.
Or you could play through a challenging game as designed. And when you finally beat it without the code (or in one continue, or one life), you felt really awesome. And no, it wasn't impossible, we did it as kids, without the internet or walkthroughs or save states. Just a bit of practice.
Mega Man 1 had some difficult spots (like the yellow devil thing), so I definitely won't call you a noob. But other than that one fight, I really enjoyed the challenge level of the game.Call me a n00b, but I could only beat Megaman (1) on the PowerPak with save states
My point isn't to brag about what games I'm good at (I'm pretty mediocre at a lot of games) -- it's to say that many of us enjoyed the challenge of these games.