Mega Man (1987 video game)
- This article is about the Nintendo Entertainment System game. For other uses, see Mega Man; for the DOS game, see Mega Man (1990 video game).
| Mega Man | |
|---|---|
| File:MegamanBox.jpg The box art for the North American localization of Mega Man. | |
| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Designer(s) | Akira Kitamura |
| Artist(s) | Keiji Inafune |
| Composer(s) | Manami Matsumae Yoshihiro Sakaguchi |
| Series | Mega Man |
| Platform(s) | NES, VC |
| Release | NES/Famicom Virtual Console |
| Genre(s) | Action/Platformer,Science Fiction |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Mega Man, known as Rockman (ロックマン) in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the first game to star Mega Man and is the first of the original Mega Man series. It established many of the conventions that would define the original series as well as several other 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. In 2008 it was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console. There is also a remake called Mega Man Powered Up for the PlayStation Portable.
Plot
Original Plot: The plot to Mega Man was originaly outlined in the game manual as the following.
"It's Mega Man versus the powerful leaders and fighting forces of Monsteropolis - that strange multi-faceted land of robot-like Humanoids. Brilliant scientist Dr.Wright conceived the construction of fully-operational human-like experimental robots to perform specific everyday duties. Dr.Wright, and his assistant Dr.Wily, encouraged with their very first near-human robot - Mega Man - proceeded to develop six additional Humanoids, all programmed to perform prescribed rituals. But, with the exception of Mega Man, all of Dr.Wright's near-human robot experimentation went awry. Assistant Dr.Wily turned disloyal, re-programming Dr.Wright's Humanoids, now bent on destroying opposition so Dr.Wily could control the world and its resources. Resisting re-programming, Mega Man is chosen the defender of the universe and its inhabitants. Mega Man dares to single-handedly penetrate seven separate empires of Monsteropolis, eliminating the leaders and followers of these sovereignties." [1]
Retconstructed Plot: However years later, and through various sequels and publishing the series origin would be retconned to fit the current perspective. Certain specific plot details would be re-established / re-written ( such as the name Dr. Wright, and the afore mentioned creation of "Mega Man" by both Light and Wily as their first robot, both being changed. )Along with those changes, the idea of Mega Man resisting Wily's programming was omitted.
Once retconned, the story became the foundation for the characters Rock,Roll, and Proto Man, which was the first robot-humanoid created by Dr. Light, and served as a prototype for Rock's upgrade to "Mega Man" [2]
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, which can be replayed if they were cleared. 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, known as the Wily Fortress, 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. During them, the six Robot Masters must also be fought again in a predetermined order before the final confrontation against Dr. Wily.
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 the Robot Master's 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 any order, each Robot Master is designed to be especially vulnerable to a specific weapon, encouraging the player to complete certain stages before others. Some vulnerabilities can be determined by observation (e.g., Fire Man is vulnerable to Ice Slasher) and others only by experimentation. Aside from the weapons taken from the Robot Masters, Mega Man is also able to get a platform generator item known as Magnet Beam, without which the player cannot finish the game.
Development and localization
Character designer 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 version[citation needed]. Also, when released in America, Capcom was forced [4] to change the title of the game from Rockman to Mega Man to avoid a trademark on the Rockman guitar amplifier.
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 name for the entire Mega Man series.
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. Later in the Mega Man series Dr. Wily is said to have created his nemesis Protoman, who is argued to be created before Mega Man.
Reception
Mega Man was rated the 61st best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.[5]
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, his costume is colored yellow and blue instead of being entirely blue, 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.[6] The European box cover, however, features Mega Man looking more like his video game counterpart.
Along with the retro feel of Mega Man 9, its cover art of was made as a homage to this one.
Remakes and re-releases
Mega Man: The Wily Wars
Mega Man was released alongside Mega Man 2 and 3 in the Sega Mega Drive compilation Mega Man: The Wily Wars. It is largely the same game as the NES version, though it now features enhanced graphics, arranged music and the possibility to save game via battery back-up. In addition, some of the glitches that appear in the NES game have been fixed.
Mega Man Powered Up
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 two new Robot Masters, Time Man and Oil Man, in addition to a new manga chibi art style. Keiji Inafune said in an interview that he originally planned to make Mega Man look this way, but could not, due to the hardware constraints of the NES. You can also play as Roll, Proto Man, and the Robot Masters. 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 manga chibi art style. The game also contains a challenge mode, a level editor, and an online infrastructure mode to distribute fan-made levels online.
Deviation from the original Storyline
Mega Man is called "Mega" as opposed to "Rock", which compromises the "rock and roll" reference. It was 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). In addition, the intro states the game takes place in the year 20XX rather than 200X to be more modern, but it is a largely negligible change as it is a variable.
The English version of the original story portrayed Dr. Wily as originally being Dr. Light's partner. However, this part of the storyline was an invention of the NES localization team, as Dr. Wily always saw himself as Dr. Light's rival. In the American manual, Dr. Wily actually attempted to reprogram Mega Man, but in the end of the game Dr. Wily says 'If only I had reprogrammed you back then!' (or Rock / Mega), but failed when Mega Man resisted it (though it's unknown if it was his 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. The rescued bosses' storylines portray each Robot Master as not being reprogrammed, but rather being "rejected" by Dr. Wily, while he apparently captures Mega instead.
In New Style, two more of Light's robots are included to bring the Robot Master count up to the series' standard eight. They are Time Man and Oil Man (the former is said to be experimental or incomplete). The inclusion of more Robot Masters should skew the robot master line, but as far as is known, DLN numbers were never assigned to them.
In the ending of the original game, it is said that the battle wouldn't end until all opposing forces are brought to justice. This is kept in Old Style, but New Style takes a different approach. Instead, it states that Dr. Wily seemingly changed his ways.
There are some things in this game that are not demonstrated in the series ever again - for one thing, Rock / Mega has brown hair instead of black, and a different hair style. Secondly, Roll shows an infatuation with him that is certainly not hinted at all in the rest of the series. Third, Proto Man displays abilities that would never appear in the series again, such as his Proto Strike (which in Mega Man & Bass took all of his energy), and he'd have an entirely different playing style in Mega Man 9. Finally, a lot of the Robot Master personalities conflict with subsequent appearances such as the reports of them in Mega Man & Bass, and their own stories are obviously not canon to the game since they are alternate events.
Gameplay
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).
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 Proto Man in the game. However, if you have already downloaded Proto Man from the "Final Data" download, you will get nothing for beating all 100 challenges.
Other releases
A mobile game version is now available from CapcomMobile and Movaya. In celebration of the ninth title's release in September 2008,[7][dead link] Capcom Japan released the game on the Japanese Virtual Console on July 29, 2008.[8] It has also been released on the Virtual Console in Europe and North America.[9]
Staff credits
- Planner: A.K. (Akira Kitamura)
- Character Designer: Yasukichi (Yasuaki Kishimoto), Tom Pon, Inafking (Keiji Inafune), A.K.
- Programmer: H. M. D. (Nobuyuki Matsushima)
- Sound Programmer: Chanchacorin Manami (Manami Matsumae), Yuukichan's Papa (Yoshihiro Sakaguchi)
References
- ^ http://freexbresse.free.fr/mmf/mm1.html
- ^ * Rockman Perfect Memories, ISBN 4-5751-6354-6
- ^ "Mega Man". Game Makers. Season 2. Episode 19.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Keithley, C (May 11, 2009 @ 08:16 PM). GameTrailers. Retrieved May 27, 2009, from GameTrailers Web site: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/mega-man-gt-anthology/49113
- ^ "NP Top 200", Nintendo Power, vol. 200, pp. 58–66, February 2006
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: year (link). - ^ "Top Ten Worst Covers". Retrieved 2006-05-22.
- ^ "Capcom celebrates Rockman with multiple Classic (re)releases!". Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ Fletcher, JC (29 July 2008). "VC Tuesday: Rock!". Joystiq. Weblogs, Inc. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
- ^ "One WiiWare Game and Two Virtual Console Games Added to Wii Shop Channel". Nintendo of America. 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
External links
- Capcom official site, developers and publishers of Mega Man