MegaMan, known as Rockman [ロックマン] in Japan, is one of the most recognized video game characters in the world. It is one of my favorite franchises. The games featured a variety of stages and different robots. The bosses had different powers and abilities, and by defeating them, you gained those powers. One of the creators of this character claims to have been inspired by another Japanese hero, Astro Boy.
The Mega Man game series has over 50 different versions released by Capcom since 1987. The first of these was released for the Nintendo. The series known as “classic” has 11 main games, each one a sequel to the previous. In this sequence, we see the origin story and evolution of the character. Now let’s learn about the story of both the character and his games.
I want to take this opportunity to mention a very similar game that I liked called Azure Strike Gunvolt.
Table of Contents
The origin and creation of MegaMan
Everything begins when a man named Thomas Ligth invents two robots. One named Rock and the other Roll. They were created and programmed to perform maintenance and be assistants to Dr. Ligth. The robots considered Ligth as a father.
Other robots were created, always with the purpose of helping humanity. However, a former lab partner of Dr. Ligth named Dr. Albert Wily did not accept this purpose for the robots. Noticing their great potential, Wily begins to plan to command these robots.
Wily steals some robots and reprograms them to destroy and dominate the world. Upon seeing this, Rock does not understand why his “brothers” are doing so much harm. So, he asks Dr. Ligth to modify him and turn him into a battle robot. Thus, Mega Man is born with the main objective of putting an end to Wily’s evil plans.
The emergence and development of the games
In 1987, Capcom had games like Ghost ‘n’ Goblins and Trojan succeeding among the public. That same year, Capcom also released Mega Man (or Rockman) for the NES. In this game, Mega Man fights the six robots that Dr. Wily reprogrammed. They were called Cut Man, Ice Man, Guts Man, Bomb Man, Elec Man, and Fire Man. They are known as the Robot Masters, each with a different ability.
The gameplay was good for the time and was not so linear. Something that was innovative and stood out was stealing the distinct abilities of each Robot Master after defeating them. But due to the success of other games, during its release year, Mega Man did not stand out much in its first game. This soon changed with the release of Mega Man 2 in 1988.
Mega Man 2 brought many improvements compared to the first game. Many consider it one of the best in the series. Many of the standards that other games had emerged in Mega Man 2. Elements such as the password system, improvements in gameplay, and some items that helped the main character move better. Moreover, the soundtrack of this game is still remembered today as one of the best on the NES.
In 1990, Capcom released Mega Man 3. In it, we are introduced to Rush, a robotic “dog” that helps our character. We are also introduced to Proto Man, Mega Man’s older brother.
Problems with Mega Man
In 1991, Mega Man 4 was released. In this game, something was introduced that we still see today in Mega Man games. The Mega Buster ability allowed charging the arm cannon for a longer time.
We also meet Eddie, a robot that assists us on our journey through the game. However, it was in this game that Mega Man began to lose a bit of its audience. The stages and the new Robot Masters were very difficult. The soundtrack of this game did not stand out compared to the previous ones.
Mega Man 5 arrived in 1992, considered by many to be one of the worst in the series. The character’s abilities were modified, the soundtrack was dull, and the new Robot Masters were uninspired.
A large part of the game focuses on Proto Man, and it is in this game that we discover that he is not good. Beat, a robotic bird, is introduced in this game. In 1993, Mega Man 6 was released, presenting few improvements over its predecessor. This was the last one released for the NES.
Over the years, Capcom released several games for new consoles such as the Super Nintendo, Game Boy, PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii. None had as much prominence as the first ones.
Among these, the ones considered the best were those for Super Nintendo, which I personally played the most. For some time, Capcom focused on creating some spin-off games, leaving our character a bit aside.
MegaMan outside of games
In the late 80s, the animation Captain N was released, produced by DiC Entertainment, commissioned by Nintendo. The goal was to promote the company’s new games, so many characters from the games appeared.
However, something noticeable in this animation was that Mega Man was completely different from the game. He had a green armor! In 1993, the OVA Mega Man: Upon a Star was released. This is considered a series of educational shorts about Japanese culture.
Only in 1994 did Mega Man get his own animated series. This one has a story and elements much more faithful to the games. It had 26 episodes, divided into two seasons. However, in 1995, due to budget constraints, the animation was canceled. It began airing in Brazil in 1995 on SBT. It remained on air for a long time, sustaining good ratings.
From 2001 to 2006, the anime MegaMan NT Warrior was produced, which also had a manga produced by Ryo Takamisaki. However, the plot of this anime was based on the non-canonical series of the classic games, called Battle Network. The anime was brought to Brazil in 2007 and was even broadcast by Globo.
In 2018, the animation Mega Man: Fully Charged premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States, inspired by the classic series of the games. Mega Man has also appeared in many products, items, comic books, and mangas.
Regardless of the ups and downs that Capcom had with Mega Man, nothing detracts from the fact that Mega Man brought a lot of profit and fame to the company. Today, we have this character as one of the most famous in gaming.
Mega Man products
Below we will leave a list of products such as Artbooks, action figures, games, and books. I hope you enjoyed the article; if you did, share it and leave your comments.
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