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Mega Man

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This article is about the video game series. For the original game, see Mega Man (NES). For the character, see Mega Man (character).

File:Capcom039.jpg
An illustration featuring several Mega Man characters from the various incarnations of the series.

Mega Man (known as ロックマン Rockman in Japan) is a series of video games from Capcom, usually starring the character Mega Man. The first series, now known by fans as the Mega Man Classic series, began in 1987 and over time has evolved to include several spin offs:

Background

File:Megaman.PNG
Mega Man firing his weapon while in Shadow Man's stage from Mega Man 3 (NES).

Main article: Mega Man (character)

The character of Mega Man was created in 1987 by Keiji Inafune at Capcom of Japan, which was then a small company eager to make a breakthrough with a new platform game.

In the story behind the original series, Rock is a robot created as a lab assistant by scientists Dr. Thomas Light and Dr. Albert Wily; following treachery by Dr. Wily, Rock was converted into a fighting robot to defend the world from Wily's violent robotic threats. Thus he becomes Mega Man (Rockman in the Japanese original).

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Megaman in Megaman:Powered Up an upcomming PSP game

Though all Mega Man games feature unique stories, settings, and characters, they nevertheless share several common features that have made the series one of the most consistent in video game history. Until very recently all Mega Man games were side scrolling, with 2D maze-like levels. The character controlled by the player was Mega Man himself, who had to fight through these levels using the Mega Buster, a cannon attached to his arm, to shoot the robotic monsters that inhabited his environment. After defeating a Robot Master, the boss of a level, Mega Man would gain the ability to use a new weapon. Levels can generally be completed in any order, and as a result determining the best strategic use of different weapons in different levels is one of the hallmarks of the series. Each new Mega Man game would contain new enemies, as well as familiar ones, new bosses (and thus weapons), and new gadgets.

Each series has a different take on this basic formula. In the Mega Man X series, the characters grow in abilities and power as the game progresses; in the Mega Man Zero series weapons are no longer copied, but abilities and enhancements can be collected throughout the levels. Mega Man Legends brings the gameplay into 3D and is an action adventure with role-playing game elements, and MegaMan Battle Network (whose spelling does not include a space) is an action RPG. While each series plays very differently, their roots in the classic Mega Man series are unmistakable.

The timeline for the series and its spinoffs is somewhat complicated. According to Rockman Perfect Memories:

MegaMan Battle Network is not included in this timeline and seems to be an alternate universe retelling of the original series. It claims to be set in 200X.

Mega Man's designer, Keiji Inafune, decided to name him Rockman based on rock and roll (hence, the reason his sister is named "Roll").

Some other names considered for the series include Knuckle Kid, Mighty Kid, and Rainbow Senshi Miracle Kid. Mega Man is also known as the "Blue Bomber" among fans.

Mega Man in other media

Television appearances

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Mega Man Cartoon (Ruby-spears).

Mega Man starred in a Saturday-morning style cartoon that premiered in 1995. The show was made by animating company Ruby-Spears, which radically redesigned the characters from the Mega Man video games. The show was cancelled during production of its third season, much to the delight of some older Mega Man fans, with only one episode from season 3 completed. The series was targeted towards a young audience. It is noteworthy, however, that Mega Man X made a guest appearance during the second season.

The pilot episode of the cartoon featured an anime-like style that far more closely resembled the canon character designs; this episode and two others like it were released in Japan as OVAs. The three OVAs are now available in English as Mega Man: Upon a Star.

Characters loosely based on Mega Man, his robotic dog Rush, and mentor Dr. Light appeared in the cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master in the United States. Dr. Wily was a villain in the same series. Since the show was produced by DiC Entertainment, the characters, depicted as midgets, bore little to no resemblance to their video game counterparts, although Wily looked somewhat like his NES sprites. Confusingly, whenever the robot masters made an appearance, they were depicted to be as tall as the show's titular character. The franchise's first three games were adaptated as episodes of the series.

There is also a long-running anime based on the Battle Network/EXE series.

The first series was simply called Rockman.EXE. The series is loosely based on the first two games, but also includes elements introduced in the third game (e.g. the "N1 Grand Prix" and the new PET design).

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Mega Man NT Warrior(Anime).

The second series, Rockman.EXE Axess, is also not directly based on any of the games but contains elements of the fourth game in the series. The third Rockman.EXE Stream , continues the tradition of not directly following the plot of the games. A new season was annouced in Japan: Rockman.EXE Beast. In this one new PET called Link PET is introduced. The general plot is still to come. A heavily edited version of the anime airs in the United States and Canada, where it is called MegaMan NT Warrior and MegaMan NT Warrior Axess. A Rockman.EXE movie, Bequeathed Program of Light and Darkness, is also a part of the anime series, taking place in the middle of Rockman.EXE Stream, and containing a plot loosely based on MegaMan Battle Network 5.

The various television series and manga contradict the storyline in the games and are therefore not considered canon.

Comics and manga

Mega Man has also been featured in many comics and manga in Japan. The most popular of these by far is the Rockman Megamix series by Hitoshi Ariga, who later went on to provide character designs and artwork for official Capcom releases including the Super Famicom game Rockman & Forte. In addition, Dreamwave Productions and Magnum Press made its own comic books based on the Mega Man Classic game series (although the books from Magnum Press are only found in Brazil and ended quite abruptly).

Each series (and usually, each individual game) has a licensed manga that follows its storyline, though only the Rockman EXE and Rockman Zero manga are still being serialised today. The manga of Rockman EXE, which was written by Ryo Takamisaki, is one of the few Mega Man manga available in English; it is known as MegaMan NT Warrior [1] in North America.


Other

A band calling themselves "The Protomen" recently(? I don't know the album's release date, only that it was posted-about in early November) produced an album with tracks based (loosely) on the Mega Man story, most frequently (though not sure if it's the official name) referred to as "Megaman Rock Opera". Samples of the album are available at the band's MySpace.

Trivia

  • Ian Corlett who voiced Dr. Wily in Captain N, would go on to voice Mega Man in the Ruby-Spears series.
  • Though The Beginning is considered chronologically as the first episode (of the Ruby-Spears cartoon) in some states it was aired as the second episode, after Electric Nightmare.
  • A minor villain named "Megaman" (no space) also appeared in an issue of Man Called Nova.
  • Mega Man's costume in Captain N is somewhat remiscant of the costume worn by Man-At-Arms from He-Man.
  • "The original intent was that he (Zero) would be the protagonist as early as the first X-game. But there were many whom protested, so he had to wait."[2] Keiji Inafune on Zero in a August 2002 interview with Super PLAY magazine.
  • The name Rockman, like many elements in the franchise, has been a target of much fan-speculation for years. At one point the character was referred to by the names Rainbow Kid (referring to his colour-changing) and Mighty Kid (which can be considered slightly similar in tone to the western name).
  • The second boss in the game Viewtiful Joe, also produced by Capcom, asks the hero "What, you think you're some kinda MEGA MAN or somethin'?", an obvious reference to the franchise.
  • In the first Megaman game, the boss that utilizes rocks as a weapon around is known as Gutsman -- not Rockman -- due to the original Japanese name for Megaman. In Japan, Guts is a phrase commonly associated with strength and vigor.

See also

References

  1. ^ Eriksson, Magnus (August 2002). "Mitt liv som robot". Super PLAY, p. 54.
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