Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge}}
{{Short description|1991 action-platform video game published by Capcom and Nintendo}}
{{good article}}{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Redirect|Mega Man I|the Nintendo Entertainment System game|Mega Man (1987 video game)}}
{{Infobox video game
| image = Megamanibox.jpg
| caption = North American cover art
| developer = Minakuchi Engineering
| publisher = Capcom{{vgrelease|EU|Nintendo}}
| producer = Tokuro Fujiwara
| designer = Masashi Kato
| programmer = Masatsugu Shinohara
| artist = Keiji Inafune
Hayato Kaji
Miki Kijima
Etsuko Taniguchi
| composer = Makoto Tomozawa
| series = Mega Man
| platforms = Game Boy
| released = {{vgrelease|JP|July 26, 1991{{cite book|isbn=978-1-897376-79-9 |date=January 6, 2010 |title=Mega Man: Official Complete Works|publisher=Udon Entertainment | pages=64–65}}|NA|December 1991{{cite web| author=Nintendo staff |title=Game Boy (original) Games | url=https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/gameslist/manuals/dmg_games.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615005225/http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/gameslist/manuals/dmg_games.pdf | publisher=Nintendo | archive-date=June 15, 2011 | access-date=September 24, 2011}}|EU|July 10, 1992{{cite web | author=East, Thomas | date=September 12, 2011 | title=Mega Man: Dr Wily's Revenge coming to 3DS eShop this week | url=http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/30320/mega-man-dr-wilys-revenge-coming-to-3ds-eshop-this-week/ | work=Official Nintendo Magazine | publisher=Future plc | access-date=September 16, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103225303/http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/30320/mega-man-dr-wilys-revenge-coming-to-3ds-eshop-this-week/ | archive-date=November 3, 2014 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}}}
| modes = Single-player
| title = Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
}}
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, also known as Mega Man in Dr. Wily's Revenge or in Japan as Rockman World{{efn|Known in Japan as {{nihongo|Rockman World|ロックマンワールド|Rokkuman Wārudo|lead=yes}}}} is an action-platform video game by Capcom for the Nintendo Game Boy. It is the first game in the handheld series of the Mega Man franchise. It was released in Japan on July 26, 1991, and was localized in North America that December and in Europe the following year. The game continues the adventures of the android hero Mega Man as he once again confronts the evil Dr. Wily, who has dispatched his revived "Robot Masters" and a new "Mega Man Killer" named Enker.
Dr. Wily's Revenge is an action and platform game in the same vein as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Mega Man games. The player is tasked with completing a series of four stages in any order desired. Beating a stage's boss will earn the player a special weapon that can be selected at will and used throughout the rest of the game. Dr. Wily's Revenge specifically takes components of the original Mega Man and Mega Man 2, including their enemies, stage aesthetics, and Robot Masters.
According to series artist Keiji Inafune, Dr. Wily's Revenge was the first Mega Man game to be outsourced to a developer separate from Capcom. Critical reception for the game has been favorable, and most sources have denoted it as a competent, if excessively difficult, portable version of the popular NES series. Dr. Wily's Revenge was a best-seller and spawned four sequels of its own on the Game Boy, many of which follow its trend of reusing elements from their home console counterparts. In 2011, Dr. Wily's Revenge was made available as a Virtual Console launch title on Japan's Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS. It also appeared on PAL region and North American eShops later that year.
Plot
Set in the 21st century ("200X"), Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge follows the storyline of the original Mega Man series. The titular protagonist Mega Man, a super robot created by the benevolent Dr. Light, has restored peace to the world by halting the plans of the evil Dr. Wily and his powerful "Robot Masters". In Dr. Wily's Revenge, the mad scientist returns to send eight of his old Robot Masters to contend with the hero once again.{{cite book |editor=Capcom |editor-link=Capcom |title=Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge Instruction Booklet |date=December 1991 |publisher=Capcom Entertainment, Inc. | pages=6–12 | id=DMG-RW-USA}} After vanquishing four of the Robot Masters, Mega Man heads to Wily's fortress and deals with the remaining half of them. The protagonist then battles a new robot designed solely for destroying him, the "Mega Man Killer" Enker.{{cite book |isbn=978-1-926778-19-8 |date=April 12, 2011 |title=Mega Man: Robot Master Field Guide |publisher=Udon Entertainment | page=39}}{{cite web | author=Thomas, Lucas M. | date=September 15, 2011 | title=Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge Review | url=http://ds.ign.com/articles/119/1195121p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=September 18, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924103209/http://ds.ign.com/articles/119/1195121p1.html | archive-date=September 24, 2011 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} As Mega Man defeats Enker and obtains his Mirror Buster ability, Wily retreats to a space station. Mega Man gives chase and, using the Mirror Buster, destroys Wily's newly built, final weapon.{{cite magazine | author=Nintendo Power staff|title=Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge| date=August 1991| issue=27 | pages=52–7|magazine=Nintendo Power | publisher=Nintendo of America | issn=1041-9551}} After putting a stop to his nemesis once again, Mega Man travels back home via space shuttle.
Gameplay
File:Mega man dwr screenshot.jpg
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge is an action-platformer that shares many similarities with its NES counterparts. The player, as Mega Man, is able to choose among four stages to complete in whatever order desired. Each stage contains various enemies to blast through and obstacles to overcome, such as leaping between disappearing blocks over deadly spikes and bottomless pits. Mega Man's primary weapon is an arm cannon that has unlimited ammunition. Destroyed enemies typically leave items that replenish Mega Man's health or extra lives. At the end of every stage is a boss battle with a robot master, and defeating it earns the player its special weapon.{{cite magazine | title=Game Boy ProView: Mega Man |magazine=GamePro | issue=19 | page=78 | publisher=Infotainment World, Inc. |date=February 1991 | issn=1042-8658}} Each boss is weak to another's weapon, allowing the player to strategize the order in which they are beaten.
Dr. Wily's Revenge reuses and mixes stage components, enemies, and robot masters from the first two NES games in the Mega Man series. The initial four stages and bosses (Cut Man, Ice Man, Fire Man, and Elec Man) come from the original Mega Man. A password system allows the player to return to the game after any or all of these first four stages are cleared or when the player suffers a game over. Once the player completes these stages and travels through Wily's fortress, four more robot masters must be fought in order to progress. These bosses (Quick Man, Bubble Man, Flash Man, and Heat Man) are taken from Mega Man 2 for NES.{{cite web | author1=Nutt, Christian | author2=Speer, Justin | name-list-style=amp | title=The History of Mega Man | url=http://www.gamespot.com/features/6076983/p-26.html | work=GameSpot | publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=April 10, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212191035/http://www.gamespot.com/features/6076983/p-26.html | archive-date=December 12, 2009 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}{{cite web | author=Skistimas, Craig | title=ScrewAttack Video Game Vault: Mega Man in Dr. Wily's Revenge | date=April 10, 2008 | url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/video-game-screwattack/32731 | publisher=GameTrailers | access-date=January 29, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028083201/http://www.gametrailers.com/video/video-game-screwattack/32731 | archive-date=October 28, 2010 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }} Although they do not have their own stages, the player earns the special weapons of these bosses. Once all four are defeated, the player faces a new robot master created for the game, Enker.
{{Clear}}
Development
According to series artist and producer Keiji Inafune, Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge was the first Mega Man game to be outsourced by Capcom for its development. He felt the game turned out well because the project's leader was a "huge Mega Man fan" who appeared to understand the games better than some of Capcom's own people. Because he thought much of his artwork from the original Mega Man was not aging well, Inafune redrew many of his old illustrations to be used for the game's enemy character sprites. Beginning with Mega Man 2 for the NES, Capcom began accepting boss ideas from fans. It was not until Dr. Wily's Revenge that Inafune was able to design a boss character from scratch.{{cite web | author=Niizumi, Hirohiko | date=September 23, 2007 | title=TGS '07: Mega Man celebrates 20th anniversary | url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6179759.html | work=GameSpot | publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=January 29, 2011 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20121216073332/http://www.gamespot.com/news/6179759.html | archive-date=December 16, 2012 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }} To keep with the musical motif of naming characters, the new character Enker was named after the Japanese genre enka.
The decision to release a Game Boy incarnation of the Mega Man series came after the release of Mega Man 3 on the NES. Early reports of Dr. Wily's Revenge were made in February 1991 in both the magazine GamePro and Steven A. Schwartz's book The Official Guide to Mega Man.{{cite book | author=Schwartz, Steven A. | date=February 1991 | title=The Official Guide to Mega Man | publisher=Compute | pages=117–21 | isbn=978-0-87455-241-6}} The North American version of this game and the first DOS Mega Man game share a similar cover art. Instead of being an all new illustration, the Dr. Wily's Revenge North American artwork is a simple touch-up of Mega Man 3
Reception and legacy
{{Video game reviews
| Allgame = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite web | author=Williamson, Colin | year=1998 | title=Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge - Review | url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=11820&tab=review | work=Allgame | publisher=All Media Guide| access-date=January 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115035708/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=11820&tab=review|archive-date=November 15, 2014}}
| EGM = 8.5 out of 10{{cite magazine| author=Electronic Gaming Monthly staff|magazine= Electronic Gaming Monthly| title=Review Crew: Megaman | publisher=Ziff Davis| issue=25 | date=August 1991 | page=26 | issn=1058-918X}}
|Fam=26 out of 40{{cite magazine|author=Staff| date=August 9, 1991 | magazine=Famitsu | publisher=Tokuma Shoten | script-title=ja:クロスレビュー | trans-title=Cross Review | issue=138 | page=39 | language=ja | url=https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title_review&title_id=13585 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324155133/https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title_review&title_id=13585 | access-date=March 24, 2019 | archive-date=March 24, 2019}}
| GamePro = 4.7 out of 5{{Cite magazine| author=The Unknown Gamer| title=ProReview: Mega Man in Dr. Wily's Revenge |magazine=GamePro | issue=25 | page=44 | publisher=Infotainment World, Inc. |date=August 1991 | issn=1042-8658}}
| NP = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine | title=Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge| date=August 1991| issue=27 | page=69|magazine=Nintendo Power | publisher=Nintendo of America | issn=1041-9551}}
}}
General critical reception for Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge has been above average, a popular opinion being that the game retains the respectable run-and-gun gameplay of the earliest NES entries in the series.{{cite magazine | author=Strauss, Bob | date=November 1, 1991 | issue=90 | title=Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge | url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20243744,00.html | magazine=Entertainment Weekly | publisher=Time Inc. | issn=1049-0434 | access-date=December 9, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216063358/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20243744,00.html | archive-date=December 16, 2009 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} "What makes this game especially attractive to adults," proclaimed Entertainment Weekly{{'}}s Bob Strauss, "is that you can begin your quest on any one of four stages, thus avoiding that linear, start-over-again-from-scratch quality that only 12-year-olds find hypnotic." The use of old stages and bosses has not been universally positive. GamePro was disappointed by the game's lack of originality but preferred its use of recycled content to poorly made new content. In a 2007, retrospective of the Mega Man franchise, 1UP.com writer Jeremy Parish found the use of rehashed details acceptable for its original release, but believed that Dr. Wily's Revenge "hasn't really held up".{{cite web | author=Parish, Jeremy | date=May 10, 2007 | title=The Mega Man Series Roundup | url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=2&cId=3159344 | work=1UP.com | publisher=Ziff Davis | access-date=April 10, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629042058/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=2&cId=3159344 | archive-date=June 29, 2011 }}
Reviewers have also commented on the game's high difficulty level. Craig Skistimas of ScrewAttack stated that certain parts of the game simply require one to have played before in order to succeed. Allgame contributor Colin Williamson noted the game as extremely hard due to its "pixel-perfect jumps", the "sheer number of attackers and flying bullets", and a lack of checkpoints within each stage. IGN editor Lucas M. Thomas pointed out that the large size of the player character within the small Game Boy screen makes dodging enemy attacks overly challenging and sometimes impossible. He furthermore observed the difficulty to be compounded by a lack of helpful Energy Tanks introduced in the NES Mega Man sequels.
The readers of GamePro voted Dr. Wily's Revenge the best handheld game of 1991.{{cite news| author=PR Newswire staff|newspaper=PR Newswire | publisher=United Newspapers | title=GamePro Magazine Announces Reader's Choice Awards for Best Video Games of 1991 | date=January 9, 1992 | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11683070.html | access-date=February 14, 2010}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Nintendo Power readers voted it the fifth-best Game Boy game of that year.{{cite magazine | title=Nester Awards| date=January 1992| issue=32 |magazine=Nintendo Power | publisher=Nintendo of America | issn=1041-9551}} In North America, Dr. Wily's Revenge was released under Nintendo's Player's Choice best-seller label in 1996.{{cite magazine|date=September 1996 |title=Pick of the Paks: They're Back|magazine=Nintendo Power | publisher=Nintendo of America | issue=88 | page=79 | issn=1041-9551}} The game was followed by four sequels on the Game Boy, of which the first three similarly recycle content from the NES games. In Japan, the game was made available on the Nintendo Power cartridge service on March 13, 2001.{{cite web | author=Nintendo staff| script-title=ja:ゲームボーイ用のアクション系ソフト：4 |trans-title=Action software for Game Boy: 4 | url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n03/gb/npaction/page4.html | publisher=Nintendo | language=ja | access-date=June 3, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030203112653/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n03/gb/npaction/page4.html | archive-date=February 3, 2003}} Capcom had planned to release a full-color compilation of all five Game Boy games on the Game Boy Advance in 2004, but the project was cancelled.{{cite web | author=IGN staff | date=February 4, 2004 | title=Mega Man Mania Change | url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/490/490142p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=June 1, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613194123/http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/490/490142p1.html | archive-date=June 13, 2011 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}{{cite web | author=Driker, Brandon | date=January 26, 2006 | title=Mega Man Anniversary Collection Cancelled | url=http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=2133 | publisher=N-Sider | access-date=January 29, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610220712/http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=2133 | archive-date=June 10, 2011 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }} In 2011, Dr. Wily's Revenge was released as a Virtual Console launch title on Japan's Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS.{{cite web | author=Parrish, Jeremy | date=June 2, 2011 | title=Hands-on With Nintendo's 3DS eShop | url=http://www.1up.com/news/hands-on-nintendo-3ds-eshop | work=1UP.com | publisher=Ziff Davis | access-date=June 14, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019143145/http://www.1up.com/news/hands-on-nintendo-3ds-eshop | archive-date=October 19, 2012 }} The game made its way to PAL region and North American eShops later that year.{{cite web | author=Fletcher, JC | date=September 15, 2011 | title=NintendoWare Weekly: MotoHeroz, Mega Man | url=http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/15/nintendoware-weekly-motoheroz-mega-man/ | work=Joystiq | publisher=AOL | access-date=September 15, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026073752/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/15/nintendoware-weekly-motoheroz-mega-man/ | archive-date=October 26, 2011 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}
The character Enker, who debuted in Dr. Wily's Revenge, appeared as a boss in the Game Boy game Mega Man V and as a playable character in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Mega Man Soccer.{{cite web | author=Moriarty, Colin | date=April 6, 2010 | title=Mega Man 10 DLC Goes Online | url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/108/1082201p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=April 25, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409082818/http://wii.ign.com/articles/108/1082201p1.html | archive-date=April 9, 2010 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}{{cite web | author=Holmes, Jonathan | date=March 22, 2010 | title=Mega Man 10 DLC brings the Mega Man Killers | url=http://www.destructoid.com/mega-man-10-dlc-brings-the-mega-man-killers-168583.phtml | website=Destructoid | access-date=January 29, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801051616/http://www.destructoid.com/mega-man-10-dlc-brings-the-mega-man-killers-168583.phtml | archive-date=August 1, 2010 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }} A downloadable stage in Mega Man 10 features Enker as its boss and his Mirror Buster weapon as the reward for beating him.
{{Clear}}
References
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Japan|Video games|1990s}}
- [https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/XvslOK1FIb-TGZdissn4Za4WEI6zeCKA Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge] at Nintendo.com
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120611112612/http://www.capcom.co.jp/rockman/ Official Rockman website] {{in lang|ja}}
- [https://www.mobygames.com/game/mega-man-dr-wilys-revenge Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge] at MobyGames
{{megaman}}
Category:Nintendo Classics games
Category:Side-scrolling video games
Category:Video games developed in Japan
Category:Virtual Console games
Category:Superhero video games
Category:Mega Man spinoff games
Category:Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS
Category:Single-player video games