Mega Man, known as Rockman (ロックマン, Rokkuman?) in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom in 1987 for the NES/Famicom. It is the first game to ever star Mega Man. Mega Man has been in several series and this is the first game in what is known as the original Mega Man series. This first game established many of the conventions that would define several Mega Man series. Most notably, Mega Man established the setup of a number of stages, each with a Robot Master at the end that, when defeated, would pass on its unique power to Mega Man.
Later, it would be added to Mega Man: The Wily Wars for Sega Genesis (1994), as well as the Japanese collection game, Rockman Complete Works in 1999 for the PlayStation. In 2004, it was re-released in the anthology game, Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. There is also a remake called Mega Man Powered Up (Rockman Rockman in Japan) for the PlayStation Portable. It features full 3-D graphics and extra stages were added, making the Robot Master count 8 instead of the original 6. It also features a stage level editor. Another interesting feature of the remake is the super deformed style of Mega Man and other characters (Keiji Inafune claimed in an interview that he originally planned to make Mega Man look this way, but couldn't, due to the hardware restraints of the NES). . A mobile game version is now available from CapcomMobile and Movaya. In celebration of the ninth title's release in September 2008, Capcom Japan announced a Japanese Virtual Console release set for July that year.[1] It has also been released on the Virtual Console in Europe and North America[2]
Characters
- Mega Man — Tool assistant, originally known as Rock (or Mega in the remake), created and modified by Dr. Light to combat Wily.
- Dr. Albert W. Wily — The antagonist of the game, his goal is world domination. He appears as the final boss in a hovering ship (at first a tank-like machine in the remake).
- Dr. Thomas Light — Creator of Mega Man, aids Mega Man on his adventure to stop Dr. Wily.
- Roll — Mega Man's sister, she makes her debut in this game, though in the NES version her name is not mentioned. She is only seen at the ending of the credits in the NES version, but she can be downloaded in the PSP remake as a playable character.
- Robot Masters — The various industrial robots built by Dr. Light, reprogrammed by Dr. Wily to do his bidding. They become playable characters in the PSP remake. There were six in the original game, but there are eight in the remake.
Gameplay
Mega Man is made up of six stages, with a Robot Master at the end guarding a weapon. The stage select screen allows the player to choose from these six stages, and when they are all completed, the seventh and last stage appears in the middle of the menu, replacing the text "Stage Select, Press Start". This last stage is in fact more like four regular stages linked together, some a bit shorter than average, but with bosses that are considered harder than usual.
Stages
Screenshot of Cut Man's stage in Mega Man
The stages in Mega Man are designed in the "platformer" genre. In each stage, Mega Man fights his way through various enemies and obstacles before facing a Robot Master at the level's end. Upon defeating a Robot Master, Mega Man is able to assimilate their signature attack into his arsenal for the rest of the game. Unlike his standard blaster however, the Robot Master powers have limited ammunition which must be replenished by collecting ammo cells randomly dropped by defeated enemies. While the player is free to proceed through the game in whatever order they please, each Robot Master is designed to be especially vulnerable to a specific weapon. Some of which can be determined by observation (IE-Fire Man's vulnerability to Ice Slasher) and others only by experimentation.
Development and localization
Japanese cover artwork for the Famicom version
Creator Keiji Inafune stated in a G4 interview that the concept of the game was inspired by Rock, Paper, Scissors; every weapon and Robot Master has a strength and a weakness.[3]
Due to Nintendo of America's strict rules concerning religious references at the time, the Yellow Devil boss was instead named the "Rock Monster" for the original NES versioncitation needed. Also, when released in America, Capcom was forced to change the title of the game from Rock Man to Mega Man because Sony had copyrighted the name for their Rockman amplifiercitation needed.
In the original U.S. Instruction manual, "Dr. Light" is referred to as "Dr. Wright". In Mega Man 2, he is called "Dr. Light". The in-game text of Mega Man 3 refers to him as "Dr. Right". However, "Dr. Light" remains his official romanized name.
In the original Japanese version of the story, Dr. Wily was not Dr. Light's partner. Instead, he is simply a mad scientist who gets revenge on the world for not recognizing his scientific work.
Reception
Mega Man rated the 61st best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.[4]
The picture on the game's American box has been criticized as it contains virtually nothing that can be found in the game. Mega Man himself resembles a middle-aged man rather than a boy, and he is holding a handgun instead of his Arm Cannon. The game's cover is commonly ridiculed because of its inaccuracy; GameSpy placed it in first place of its Top Ten Worst Covers list.[5] The European box cover, however, features Mega Man looking more like his video game counterpart.
Remake
The Mega Man Powered Up box art.
Mega Man Powered Up (ロックマンロックマン, Rokkuman Rokkuman?) is a 2006 PlayStation Portable remake of the original Mega Man game released in 1987. It features a new super deformed art style in addition to two new Robot Masters, Time Man and Oil Man. Also, like in Mega Man 7, Mega Man 8, Mega Man & Bass, and the Mega Man X series, there is also a new introductory level that comes before the main level selection screen, complete with a new boss at the end. The game offers two ways to play each level. "New Style" takes advantage of the wide PSP screen and features altered level design with brand-new remixed music. There are actually 468 New Style stages in this mode, 13 for each difficulty (Easy, Normal, and Hard), and 39 for each character (see list of playable characters below). "Old Style" recreates the original aspect ratio and level design of the original Mega Man for NES, and features the original NES game music, but still retains the 3D graphics and super-deformed art style. The game also contains a challenge mode, a level editor, and an online infrastructure mode to distribute fan-made levels online.
Changes from the original storyline
Many storyline elements contradict with the original NES version. The English version of the story portrayed Dr. Wily as originally being Dr. Light's partner. Also an act of retconning is Neo/Mega's first encounter with Dr. Wily's scheme. In the American manual, Dr. Wily actually attempted to reprogram Mega, but failed when Neo/Mega resisted it (though it's unknown if it was Neo/Mega's internal programming or putting up a physical resistance that did the trick), and Roll was unaccounted for. This aspect of the plot wasn't completely lost, as at first it looked as though Wily actually succeeded in reprogramming Mega in the boss stories, but upon confronting him, he turned out to be a completely different character.
In order to capture and reprogram a boss, Mega Man needs to defeat the boss with only the Mega Buster. Attempting to use another weapon will destroy the robot. In the original NES version, capturing the bosses is not possible, any weapon including the Mega Buster destroys the bosses. The rescued bosses' storylines portray the Robot Masters as not being reprogrammed, but rather being "rejected" by Dr. Wily.
In the ending of the original game, it is said that the battle wouldn't end until all opposing forces are brought to justice, while the remake instead states that Dr. Wily seemingly changed his ways in New Style. Lastly, Mega Man first being called "Mega" is a localization error which compromises the "rock and roll" reference. It was canonically stated in the U.S. release of Mega Man 4 that his original name was "Rock" (which is also mentioned in Mega Man for Game Gear).
Gameplay
Screenshot of the New Style version of the stage select screen.
The gameplay is essentially that of the original Mega Man game and its successors. However, new unlockables and the ability to play as the Robot Master characters the player fights against attempt to give the game a long-term replay value, as well as fan service. The player can also use the PSP's ability to download data, such as custom levels from other players and costumes for Roll (who must also be downloaded into the game to become playable). These are the playable characters.
- Mega Man (Rockman)
- Mega Man S (Rockman S)
- Mega Man C (Rockman C)
- Cut Man
- Guts Man
- Ice Man
- Bomb Man
- Fire Man
- Elec Man
- Time Man
- Oil Man
- Mega (Rock)
- Roll
- Proto Man (Blues)
A mode called Challenge mode has various challenges to complete. They vary from collecting items to timed challenges. Mega Man's challenges are the first ones available, with the ones for the Robot Masters available after unlocking them as playable characters. After beating New Style Mode in any difficulty, boss survival challenges are accessed. The first four boss survivals involve the Robot Masters, in Old Style, Easy, Normal, and Hard modes. The next four survivals involve the bosses in Dr. Wily's fortress, in the same modes as the Robot Master survivals. The last two survivals feature every boss in the game (except, suspiciously, the Proto Eye from the opening stage) in only the Normal and Hard modes. Any playable character can be played as in the New Style boss survivals. Once all 100 challenges have been completed, the player will be able to use Protoman in the game. However if you have already downloaded Protoman from the "Final Data" download, you will get nothing for beating all 100 challenges.
Adaptation in other media
The Robot Masters as seen on Captain N
The Captain N: The Game Master episode, "Mega Trouble for Megaland" was based on Mega Man and Kid Icarus.
Mega Man in popular culture
The band The Megas play rock covers of songs from the Mega Man soundtracks, with lyrics that attribute personality quirks to each of the robot masters. [6]
References
External links
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