The Comprehensive History of Mega Man
In this writeup, I will be covering the origin of Mega Man, as well as the dozens of video game titles he has appeared or starred in on console or portable systems. If I have left out some information that you could contribute, please msg me or create a writeup of your own in this node. Enjoy!
The Origins of Mega Man
A fifteen-year old video gaming icon, Mega Man (or Rockman as he is known in Japan) has created quite a following for himself. Appearing in more than 33 video games spread across six different platforms and three decades, the "Blue Bomber's" popularity is definitely due to gameplay, and the popularity the character had when home console systems were still in their infancy.
In 1987, Capcom, a Nintendo Entertainment System developer and an already-successful company, produced the first of the Mega Man games. A side-scrolling adventure/action game, Mega Man suffered from some pretty horrible graphics, even for the 8-bit NES. Despite the poor visuals and mediocre sound and music, Mega Man was a small commercial success, and merited a sequel.
Mega Man 2 was released later that same year, and drew even more fans into the series. It was obvious Capcom was trying to vault Mega Man into its flagship series at the time, because Mega Man 2 boasted better graphics, more controlled gameplay, and many other features that the original lacked. With the success of Mega Man 2, Capcom continued making sequel upon sequel, innovating the characters, storylines and gameplay when needed.
Over the last 15 years, Mega Man has amazingly stayed refreshing and enjoyable, and now that home console systems are becoming more and more powerful and advanced, you can expect to see future Mega Man games for quite awhile. Capcom has been incredibly successful since Mega Man's creation, launching the Street Fighter series, as well as other hits such as Marvel vs. Capcom. Mega Man not only became one of video gaming's most memorable icons, but he vaulted an average development company into the upper echelons of the business.
Mega Man Game Listing
Below is a listing of nearly every Mega Man game produced. Again, if you find a missing piece of important information, please let me know!
Mega Man
Platform(s): NES, Playstation (re-release)
Released: 1987
The game that started it all. Mega Man was a quality side-scrolling adventure/action game that put several elements together to make a fun and memorable gaming experience. The fundamentals of the series were established within this game. Created by the good scientist, Dr. Light, the standard weapon for Mega Man was a plasma blaster embedded into his arm (hey, he was a robot, you know), and as Mega Man destroyed one of the six bosses (later raised to eight in Mega Man 2, which became the standard from then on), he gained that bosses' power to use for the rest of the game. The final goal was to destroy Dr. Wily, the ultimate mad scientist.
Unfortunately, Mega Man did not let you resume the game from a certain point. You could not save the game, therefore forcing you to start over every time. Since the game was not the easiest game for the NES, this often frustrated players and stopped them from coming back. Regardless of the flaws, Capcom believed they were on to something, and continued with a sequel.
Mega Man 2
Platform(s): NES, Playstation (re-release)
Release: 1987
Upping the number of bosses, increasing the quality of graphics and sound, and adding more features to the gameplay made Mega Man 2 much more of a success than the original, and has attained "classic" status in the gaming world. Eight bosses needed to be defeated this time around, and eight became the standard number for future Mega Man games. Dr. Wily escaped Mega Man's plamsa blaster in their first encounter (of course), and the battle between the two continued. Also, it is imporant to note that this was the first Mega Man game to include selected difficulty levels.
Mega Man 3
Platform(s): NES, Playstation (re-release)
Release: 1990
Capcom put some major effort into Mega Man 3, and it showed. By far the best Mega Man game for the NES at that time (and still to this day), Mega Man 3 was the best Capcom would do for the NES. Sporting new features in gameplay, such as a slide move that Mega Man could perform and a new sidekick (a robotic dog named Rush), the series took a few more steps towards perfection. Still suffering from some pretty lame bosses (Hard Man?), this game still managed to carry the series upwards in popularity with gameplay.
Mega Man
Platform(s): Gameboy
Release: 1991
A rehash of the original, with four bosses thrown in from the NES version of Mega Man 2, Mega Man for the Gameboy was the first portable Mega Man game. Of course, suffering from the horrible sound and graphics of the original Gameboy, Mega Man was ugly and sounded bad, although the gameplay stayed enjoyable.
Mega Man 4
Platform(s): NES, Playstation (re-release)
Release: 1991
Mega Man 4 started to show the wear and tear of the series. As with any popular method of gameplay, gamers began to tire with the methods of play. Killing bosses and using their weapons just wasn't as original as it once seemed, and the innovations by the developers weren't enough to keep interest peaked. Commercially, Mega Man 4 was a hit, but the quality and innovation of the series was definitely starting to bend. Lastly, the advent of a system called the Super Nintendo Entertainment System started to hit the market.
Mega Man 5
Platform(s): NES, Playstation (re-release)
Release: 1992
Around this time, Capcom moved their attentions towards new franchises, and Street Fighter 2 was born onto the SNES. One of the most popular fighting game series ever, SF2 stole quite a bit of resources away from Mega Man, and Mega Man 5 was released with little commercial success onto the NES, a dying system. Barely any new gameplay and rehashed bosses brought the series to a boring low, and gamers were not as crazy about Mega Man as they once were, not to mention that most gamers were converting to the new 16-bit systems.
Mega Man 2
Platform(s): Gameboy
Release: 1992
A re-release of Mega Man 2 for the NES made its way to the Gameboy. A few new boss characters were the only innovations to an otherwise fun game.
Mega Man 6
Platform(s): NES, Playstation (re-released)
Release: 1993
The last Mega Man game for the NES, Mega Man 6 was a dismal showing for Capcom, and was published in the United States by Nintendo of America, simply because Capcom did not want to bother in the American market. Mega Man's sidekick Rush returned as a suit of armor, and duplicate bosses increased gameplay time, but made the levels more annoying. Overall, the cartridge of this game marks the official gravestone of Mega Man's journey on the NES.
Mega Man 3
Platform(s): Gameboy
Release: 1993
Probably one of the rarest titles to find in the Mega Man series, Mega Man 3 for the Gameboy was one of the worst of the series. Capcom spent little time porting the game over, and it showed, with poor graphics and difficult control for gameplay. Also, the innovations that made the series more fun on the NES made the Gameboy version a little bit worse.
Rockboard
Platform(s): Famicom
Release: 1993
A board game adaptation of Mega Man was created for the Japanese market, and never made it to the United States. A game of minigames, Rockboard's final goal was to destroy Dr. Wily and save the world. Original, eh?
Mega Man 4
Platform(s): Gameboy
Release: 1993
Another rare title, Mega Man 4 for the Gameboy was more of the same of Mega Man 4 for the NES, though the game innovations shined on the Gameboy version this time around. A fun game, regardless of the Gameboy's downfalls, this helped push the series along in the portable gaming market.
Mega Man X
Platform(s): SNES
Release: 1994
The first Mega Man game to reach the SNES, Mega Man X was a relief for Mega Man fans. Sporting excellent graphics and sound, and a few key innovations, Mega Man X helped restore
popularity to the series. Abandoning Rush the robotic dog, Mega Man's new friend was named Zero, who was as powerful and as useful as Mega Man himself. Also, the threat of Dr. Wily was gone, and a new enemy arose. A group of vigilante robots, led by the infamous Sigma, started raising havoc, and only Mega Man (now called X) could stop them.
Mega Man X was a faithful adaptation of the tried-and-overtried gameplay of the original games, but by making some key improvements, X managed to breathe some fresh air into the series, and prepared Capcom to release many more games for the 16-bit platforms.
Mega Man 5
Platform(s): Gameboy
Release: 1994
Mega Man 5 was the culmination of the NES and Gameboy series'. Fast, fun gameplay and polished graphics and sound made this the best of the bunch. However, it did not perform commercially as well as Capcom had anticipated, and they discontinued Mega Man games from the older, colorless Gameboy platform.
Mega Man
Platform(s): Game Gear
Release: 1994
A portable gaming console in color? Capcom licensed the series to US Gold, a developer who brought Mega Man to the Game Gear. Shorter levels and animations took away from the game, but it still was much better than the monochrome Gameboy games.
Mega Man X2
Platform(s): SNES
Release: 1994
X2 followed Capcom's previous formula: take the existing game and improve upon it in a few noticeable ways. X2 took the gameplay, graphics and music from X and bumped them up a notch, adding more value to an already fun game. X also had the ability to charge shots, and fire multiple shots at once. X2 was definitely a step in the right direction for Capcom, though the Mega Man X series still paled in comparison to the Street Fighter series in terms of sales and popularity.
Mega Man Soccer
Platform(s): SNES
Release: 1994
A strange game, Mega Man Soccer was definitely a departure from the series, and ended up being a decent game, though not as much fun as the FIFA games. Boasting new 16-bit graphics and average sound, the game did make a small splash in Japan, but just barely made it to the US market.
Mega Man: The Wily Wars
Platform(s): Megadrive
Release: 1994
A compilation cartridge for a Japanese/European version of the Sega Genesis, The Wily Wars had some definite enhancements for the series, and included the bosses from Mega Man 1 to Mega Man 3. Also a great game, though the cartridge is incredibly rare.
Mega Man X3
Platform(s): SNES
Release: 1995
As Capcom did with the original Mega Man series, they also repeated with the Mega Man X series. Mega Man X3 was yet another of the same, with few differences between Mega Man X2 and X3. New powerups and items, new bosses and the ability to control Zero made little or no difference, other than extend the life of the game a few more hours.
Mega Man 7
Platform(s): SNES
Release: 1995
Mega Man X was a totally different series than the original Mega Man, and fans were pleading to have a new, 16-bit continuation of the old series. They got their wish, and Mega Man 7 was born. Although Mega Man 7 did have some series innovations as compared to the NES versions, the real difference was that the game was featured on a 16-bit platform, and for the first time boasted excellent, crisp graphics and great sound. Dr. Wily still existed in the storyline, as did Dr. Light, Mega Man's creator, so Wily was once again the final baddy.
Rockman/Megaman: The Power Battle
Platform(s): Arcade
Release: 1995
The first Mega Man arcade game, the Power Battle was more of a fighting game, with Mega Man and his cohorts against the bosses from several Mega Man games directly. A cool concept, and it characterized the public's hunger for the fighting game genre at the time.
Rockman: The Final Battle
Platform(s): Arcade
Release: 1996
Nearly the same as The Power Battle, this second excursion into the arcades had little success, and although featuring new bosses, the game had little innovation to gameplay.
Mega Man X4
Platform(s): Playstation, Saturn
Release: 1997
A two-year hiatus from releasing Mega Man games gave the Capcom team time to make sure that X4 was done right. A solid game, X4 continued the series both in gameplay and storyline, although this time around the biggest innovation was getting complete control of Zero, X's sidekick. Also, the addition of full-motion video cuts in the game made storytelling more profound.
Mega Man 8
Platform(s): Playstation, Saturn
Release: 1997
Moving the series to the higher level systems, this was one of the first games to debut on the 32-bit systems, including the incredibly popular Sony Playstation. Capcom, still using the two-dimensional design for one of their flagship series, showed gamers everywhere that 2-D games were not dead yet. Mega Man 8 was a wonderfully fun and beautiful game, and took advantage of all that technology had to offer at that time.
Rockman: Battle and Chase
Platform(s): Playstation
Release: 1997, only in Japan
Just like every other classic Nintendo character, Mega Man and his posse had to make an appearance in a go-kart racing game. Unlike the hugely popular Mario Kart, Battle and Chase did not appear in the United States, as the game was just simply a vanilla racing game with little innovation.
Mega Man Legends
Platform(s): Playstation
Release: 1998
The first 3-D Mega Man game was not a traditional movement in the traditional direction. Mega Man Legends was the first of the series that departed from the "kill the boss, steal their weapon, repeat" ideal, as gamers took control of Mega Man in an adventure/RPG setting. Mega Man was no longer a robotic machination; instead, he was represented by a young man in a power suit. His sister provided powerups and upgrades, as Mega Man gathered information and defeated large robots to advance. A cool game, though a departure from the regular series fundamentals, and gamers did have complaints about the wacky 3-D controls.
Marvel vs. Capcom
Platform(s): Playstation, Dreamcast and Arcade
Release: 1998
Mega Man made an appearance in this game, though not a game specifically of the Mega Man series. A very popular fighting game, this was a hit in the arcades, as well as the home versions, and featured Mega Man as a choice for players to fight with.
Super Adventure Rockman
Platform(s): Playstation
Release: 1998, only in Japan
Mega Man's popularity in Japan was tenfold what it was in the United States, and so the Blue Bomber had an animated series created after him. Of course, Capcom felt the need to base yet another game off of Mega Man, and so Super Adventure Rockman was born. Adhering to the television program, the game featured lots of animated cutscenes and FMV gameplay, which ended up sucking horribly. The game was never released in the United States, mainly because the television program was not running in the US at the time of Super Adventure Rockman's release.
Rockman and Forte
Platform(s): Super Famicom
Release: 1998, only in Japan
For some odd reason, Capcom decided to release this game on the Super Famicom, which was the Japanese version of the SNES. However, at the time, both the Playstation and Saturn were in the market for consumers, so it is a mystery why this game was released on the Super Famicom and not on a higher end system. Regardless, it was a decent game, although like several other predecessors, it was never released in the United States.
Rockman Complete Works
Platform(s): Super Famicom
Release: 1999, only in Japan
A game per disc is what this series consisted of. Each Mega Man game from Mega Man until Mega Man 6 appeared on a disc, each one consisting of minimal improvements and pretty much standard gameplay. Needless to say, this version of the classic series did not sell well, and was only released in Japan.
SNK vs. Capcom: Cardfighter's Clash
Platform(s): Neo Geo Pocket Color
Release: 1999
Probably the oddest game featuring Mega Man, Cardfighter's Clash was a card game featuring Capcom characters. The game was not popular at all, though it did have a niche market, and therefore sold a decent amount of copies.
Mega Man Legends 2
Platform(s): Playstation
Release: 2000
Fixing the complaints of gamers seemed to be Capcom's main concern with Mega Man Legends 2. The difficult controls that existed in the original Legends game were improved, as were the graphics and sound. The series started to develop a solid storyline and background, and fans were believing that Legends could stand alone as its own series. The blend of action and RPG elements was a refreshing take on the Mega Man series, and Legends 2 helped establish a larger range of gameplay for fans to indulge in.
Mega Man 64
Platform(s): Nintendo 64
Release: 2001
Mega Man 64 was basically a port of Mega Man Legends to the Nintendo 64. Only a few small improvements were added, and the ugly textures of the Nintendo 64's graphics engine didn't help make the game look any better.
Mega Man Xtreme
Platform(s): Gameboy Color
Release: 2001
A very hard but very playable game, this was the first Mega Man game to appear on the Gameboy Color. A solid game, it featured all the latest innovations to the genre, and fans were relieved to see the goofy spin-offs ignored in favor of this classic game.
Mega Man X5
Platform(s): Playstation
Release: 2001
The latest in the Mega Man X series was also on the Playstation, though many wondered if Capcom would move the game to the newer systems such as the Dreamcast or Playstation 2. Regardless, the Playstation version was more than enough, as X5 was more fun than its predecessor, and showed fans that the Blue Bomber was ready to make the jump to high-end systems, regardless of the use of 3-D technology.
Summary
Mega Man's legacy will most likely continue on to the newer systems, such as the Xbox and Playstation 2, though Capcom has moved away from the Mega Man character in the recent years. A classic icon of gaming, Mega Man will most likely live on in gamers hearts, especially those of us that grew up with the Blue Bomber occupying our television screens for hours at a time.
Sources:
http://www.mmhp.net/TheSeries/History.html
www.gamespot.com
www.gamers.com