In 1987 Capcom introduced what would prove to be one of its most popular characters worldwide - and despite what has been universally called the ugliest box art of all time, Mega Man began to catch on in the US, whose game market is decidedly different from Japan's. At the same time, Rockman was slipping onto Famicom systems in Japan - same blue underpants as Mega Man's but sporting a different name and a more attractive, or perhaps more marketable, cover. A robot built to fight for justice, Mega Man stood for intense, original action platforming on the Nintendo Entertainment System. True to form, Capcom has milked this series for all it's worth; it's a great one - and the company's most important pre-Street Fighter property. In 1987 the NES was a hot commodity, and consumers flocked to the console in droves. Capcom, as a developer, was already prolific with the system and had a crop of excellent games (Ghosts 'n' Goblins, Trojan) under its belt by the time it released Mega Man. Victimized by arguably unattractive interpretive artwork (a fate that persisted for years to come), the game was a sort of low-key success. The true breakthrough would come with Mega Man 2. Mega Man recently celebrated his 15th anniversary, and the Blue Bomber is showing no signs of giving up the fight for everlasting peace. Though the classic Mega Man line lies dormant, for now, the mega mythos continues to expand with a seventh game in the Mega Man X series, the now established alternate-reality Mega Man Battle Network titles on the Game Boy Advance, and the budding X-related spin-off series Mega Man Zero. Join us as we take a look back at the myriad games of the Mega Man legacy, some of which, unfortunately, stayed in Japan and some of which, unfortunately, did not. The bulk of Mega Man's games were good, a few were great, and some we'd rather not discuss at length. There's still one thing they have in common--each is a part of Mega Man history. Mega Man (Rockman in Japan) System: NES (Famicom), Reissued 1999 PlayStation Released 1987 The Basics In 1987, Capcom introduced a game to its lineup with an uninspired title and totally appalling box art. It wasn't a huge success. Mega Man, the tale of a boy robot forged by Dr. Thomas Light to end the plague of rebelling construction robots liberated and controlled by his renegade assistant, Dr. Wily, opened up an interesting can of worms for Capcom. The largely nonlinear gameplay and the innovative idea of stealing the weapons of defeated bosses were what earmarked this series for longevity. Later we learned that the boring title and lackluster art were workarounds to the peculiar title of the Japanese original Rockman and the then-taboo anime-style artwork that adorned its cover. And now you understand why Guts Man isn't called Rockman! Gameplay You dropped your google-eyed hero into any one of six stages of your choice - Bomb Man, Fire Man, Ice Man, Guts Man, Elec Man, or Cut Man. They didn't really have to come up with totally unique stage names the first time out, as the series was new in the first place, and the characters were just then being introduced. (Further down we'll examine the developer's creativity and where it eventually failed. For now, content yourself with the basic gameplay elements.) After you vanquished the six bosses (perhaps with the elecbeam pause trick, a cheat for massive damage particularly effectual on large bosses) you gained access to the Dr. Wily levels, wherein you had to kill the bosses again (get used to it), huge, nasty and slowdown-ridden blob enemies, and finally come down hard on Dr. Wily himself. Of course, he escaped the grasp of justice in time for a sequel. The ending contained the classic paradox that sent the world of modern philosophy on its head - "Fight, Mega Man! For everlasting peace!" The Bosses and Weapons Welcome to the magic of Mega Man. When you killed bosses, you gained their power - although sometimes that power was shrunk and weakened to fit into Mega Man's little gun. Each boss was weak against a certain other boss's weapon - though the distribution of power was not always completely logical. Of course, that logic became meaningless in the later games in the series. After all, what would you expect Skull Man to be weak against? Let's just enjoy those early, simpler days with their simpler weapons. This time around you went up against Bomb Man, who gave you bombs (obviously); Fire Man, who gave you a fire beam; Ice Man, who had his little ice shards; Guts Man, who had the ability to hurl large rocks (which you had to find littered about the levels); Elec Man, who had an electric beam, which, besides being powerful, also had a bug which centered around it, pausing and un-pausing the game repeatedly; and Cut Man, with his scissors-blades. In addition, you picked up the magnet step, which let you place platforms that you could jump on. Japanese Version In Japan, Mega Man was known as Rockman. While the Japanese game's name may not make a lot of sense note that Rockman was made out of Rock. He served as the household robot that Dr. Light had created to sweep up after the good doctor's messes. Although it was a victim of low-key presentation, Mega Man was a winner in gameplay. The series was true innovation that slipped through the cracks, as competition was fierce, and tons and tons of NES games were coming out. As would become Capcom's policy with the series for the next couple of generations, the artwork and main character's name was changed as the long spate of cultural isolationism pioneered by the friendly folks at the US divisions of your favorite Japanese developers took hold. It would be ten years before a Mega Man title appeared in the States sporting original artwork.. Mega Man II (Rockman 2: The Enigma of Dr. Wily in Japan) System: NES (Famicom), Reissued 1999 PlayStation Released 1987 The Basics Mega Man came into his birthright in this, the second title in the series. Unlike the first title, Mega Man II was wildly popular and earned the accolades of the mass consumer. Instead of facing a mere six robot bosses, Mega Man faced eight - which became the series standard. The next important innovation was the addition of passwords, which let you re-enter the game at a later date without starting from scratch. There were also three upgrade items from Dr. Light to augment Rock's powers. Add in the excellent music and the distinctive graphical style that surrounded the game - including portraits of the bosses - and the amazingly huge dragon in Dr. Wily stage 1, and we can assume that Capcom intended to make Mega Man its star. Gameplay First, select between normal and difficult mode and then pick a boss - the order you play them in can be important. Make sure to start with Metal Man because he's easy and his blades are absurdly useful. In fact, you can smack down most of the bosses with these blades, especially if you've chosen normal mode. Then, make your way around trouncing bosses and collecting weapons and items. Those huge wolves in Wood Man's stage look really nice, don't they? After you defeat all eight, Dr. Wily shows up again. Play through a few more stages, revanquish the henchmen, and off you go to fight... an alien? The Weapons and Bosses The Metal Blade is probably the best weapon in the entire series. The rest of them aren't bad either - the Mega Man bosses aren't even lame - yet. Bubble Man is kind of sad, challengewise, but he's made up for by his stage's superlative tune. When you defeat him you'll get the Bubble Lead, which rhymes with "need," not "head." You weren't trying to poison the evil robots this time. You tackled Metal Man and his saw blades, Bubble Man and his bubbles, Heat Man and his chargeable "atomic fire," Flash Man, who will let you stop time, Quick Man, whose boomerangs were lethal, Air Man and his baby tornadoes, Crash Man and his bombs, and Wood Man and the leaf shield - a very useful rotating circle of protection. Japanese Version Rockman picked up a subtitle in this version - a convention that would be maintained throughout the series and has not been carried over to the US games even to this day. The game was otherwise the same, except that Crash Man was known as Clash Man in Japan (and one can't help but wonder why they bothered - both are kind of silly and both are real words), and there was no choice of modes in the Japanese game. It turned out that normal mode was an easy mode and difficult mode was the only way to play in the original version. Things changed a lot since those days, with this situation being reversed in Metal Gear Solid. Final Thoughts Capcom had a huge hit on its hands with this title. Taking the ideas laid down in the first game and refining them, the company came up with an excellent and imaginative game - with some shining spots in graphics and music to help it along. It's one of the true NES classics. Mega Man III (Rockman 3: Dr. Wily's Time to Die!? in Japan) System: NES (Famicom), Reissued 1999 PlayStation Released 1990 The Basics Capcom decided to take everything that was Mega Man and polish it until it positively shone - Mega Man III was quite possibly the pinnacle of the series. Not only did Capcom manage to come up with some great bosses and excellent music, developers managed to give you a pretty long experience in this game. This game marked the debut of the mysterious Proto Man - Mega Man's brother. With Rock's canine pal, Rush, and the new handy-dandy slide move, and you had respectable innovations. OK, maybe Top Man wasn't the best idea, but this game held serious flair. If you're going to nit-pick, there are some titles coming up that are much more deserving of your scorn. In the end, this was a top-notch game. Gameplay Mega Man III had the same setup as that of the last Mega Man game - although Dr. Light has whipped up a canine pal to assist you this time. This game marked the debut of Rush, Rock's dog, and in this title you used him to traverse the various obstacles in your path. It was a good idea to start with Top Man - his pattern was easy, his weapon was "effective" against Shadow Man, and it's Shadow Man's weapon you really wanted. Shadow blades were as close to metal blades as the designers could get without being totally cheap. The great thing about this game was that you got to play through four bonus stages and fight the bosses from Mega Man II over again - and this time, they weren't the wimps Capcom USA had made them last time around. Add on top of that the eight normal stages and a Wily stage or three and we had a goodly sized game here. However, some players made use of a particularly absurd glitch that would cause Mega Man to become invulnerable. If you held the second-player gamepad to the right, then jumped into a pit, Mega Man would lose all his health and become impervious to damage. Not very honorable, but if you were having trouble beating some of the bosses, you could take the easy way out with this bug. The Weapons and Bosses Top Man's topspin had to be the silliest thing ever. Mega Man could now whirl like a top! As you can imagine, it was totally ineffectual except against the big, bad boss (Shadow Man) and, of course, the last boss. Funny how these things work. That's right, Mega Man! Hurl yourself at that huge robot head with your nemesis inside! It'll only take one taste of your spinning prowess to knock him for a loop! Otherwise, we had a decent amount of variety. Things hadn't gotten lame - yet. In Mega Man III, we got Snake Man, who looked cool but whose little snakes weren't that useful; Gemini Man, whose beams were powerful but hard to aim; Needle Man and his needles; Spark Man and his balls of electricity; Hard Man and the hard punch, a flying fist; Top Man and his dainty spin; Shadow Man and his shuriken; and Magnet Man's magnets, which flew at metallic opponents. Japanese Version Ah, yes. The naming conventions of Capcom USA continued to erode the careful themes of the original creators. Blues (to go with Rock and Roll) became Proto Man. It's not a terribly creative name, but neither is "Mega Man." Otherwise, the game was left to its own devices. Final Thoughts Again, Capcom brought its immense resources and talent to bear and released another NES classic. Mega Man III was the beginning of the end - various forces would drive the series downward and into the base clay. That's the future - for now, enjoy the fruit of Capcom's labor - its most popular series. The pinnacle of its NES effort - Mega Man III. Mega Man X7 Systems: PlayStation 2 Released October 2003 The Basics After running for 10 years, Mega Man X finally goes 3D. Kind of. With a hybrid concept that features characters composed entirely of polygons traversing both open 3D areas and locked side-scrolling stages, X7 met with some trepidation from series fans. In the end, X7 provided some decent new ideas mixed with classic Mega Man X action. Gameplay Three heroes were available, though in a reversal of fortune it was X who would join up late this time. At the outset, the plasma sword-swinging Zero was paired with newcomer Axl, who had the ability to hover and transform into enemies by copying their robo DNA. Two characters could be chosen for each proper level, and like with the bonus feature in Mega Man Xtreme 2, you could switch between the two characters at will. The 3D stages used a rudimentary targeting system, while the traditional side-scrolling stages played just as you would expect them to. Unfortunately, with the switch to 3D the series had its first taste of camera problems. The Bosses Among a mechanical monkey, warthog, anteater, fly, crow, and hyena, the mighty Tornado Tonion made his debut. With his eclectic tornado and dashing good looks, he might have the stuff to create yet another Mega Man spin-off. Or maybe not. Final Thoughts Even with a dramatically slower Zero and the addition of sometimes-unwieldy 3D elements, X7 still retained the Mega Man feel. That feel seemed to be getting a bit tired, however, at least within the X series. Stages and bosses have become nearly indistinguishable from their predecessors, while weapons and powerful armor are repeatedly gained and lost. At this point, some gamers are clearly losing interest in what the series has to offer. Mega Man Zero Systems: Game Boy Advance Released September 2002 The Basics Zero awakens from a long sleep (see his ending in X6) to face an army bent on retiring (read: destroying) reploids. Many fans had dreamed of seeing Zero as the central character of a Mega Man title, and their hopes were finally realized in this game. Gameplay You still selected a stage and fought your way to the boss, taking out everything that stood in your way and taking care not to come into contact with deadly floor and ceiling spikes, but you didn't absorb the powers of that boss upon his defeat. Instead, Zero used a handful of weapons, which he mastered over time through repeated use. Cyber elves could be found to provide backup effects, such as saving you from a pit or halving a boss's life. Each level had to be cleared in one straight shot, though you were allowed to retry once you reached a boss. Like in certain games in the X series, your performance was ranked according to a strict system. The Weapons and Bosses Zero's weapons (the Z-saber, buster, triple rod, and shield boomerang) gained levels and new attacks as they were used, and elemental crystals supplemented them with additional effects. The ice chip froze, the thunder chip paralyzed, and the fire chip burned enemies over time. The game had a large collection of bosses, since many bosses had lackeys under their command. Mythological names like Harupia, Fefnir, and Leviathan dominated the list. Final Thoughts With gameplay truly befitting the Mega Man name, a unique art style, and enough twists to the story and mechanics to set it apart, Mega Man Zero succeeded on every level that matters. The nicest touch? Variable death animations for bosses depending on how they were killed. A finishing blow with the Z-saber would fittingly cleave your foe in two. Mega Man Zero 2 Systems: Game Boy Advance Released October 2003 The Basics Mega Man Zero met with enough success to warrant a sequel, and so a new Mega Man series was born. A year after the events in the first game, the reploid resistance was forced into action once again. Gameplay The basic gameplay of Zero 2 was almost identical to that of the first title. The game retained its brisk level of difficulty, and the cyber elves were back to help out in a pinch. Zero wielded nearly the same useful assortment of weapons too, which again were powered up through repeated use. There were, however, new techniques to be mastered by attaining an A rank or higher in certain stages. The Weapons and Bosses Many of the same bosses returned for Zero 2, but they were joined by an entire cadre of new ones who would have loved to take Zero apart piece by piece. The red-clad hunter once again wielded the Z-saber, buster, and shield boomerang, which could be enhanced with the same three elemental crystals. At least a few things changed, though. The triple rod was replaced by the chain rod, which could be used as a grappling hook. Each weapon was capable of special techniques that let Zero execute moves with button combinations similar to those in later games in the X series. Final Thoughts As seems to be common criticism against Capcom, once a series begins, the innovation seems to slow to a trickle. The special techniques in Zero 2, while not entirely new, were very welcome and added an extra bit of luster to an already good game. With a solid track record and the support of an active Zero fan base, the series can surely be expected to continue.