Mega Man (1987 video game)

In the year 20XX, robots developed to assist mankind are commonplace thanks to the efforts of renowned robot designer Dr. Light. However, one day, these robots go out of control and start attacking humans, among them six advanced humanoid robots created by Dr. Light for industrial purposes. Known as the "Robot Masters", they consist of Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, and Elec Man. Dr. Light realizes that the culprit responsible for these attacks is his old rival Dr. Wily, but is unsure of what to do. His helper robot, Rock, has a strong sense of justice and offers to be converted into a fighting robot to stop Dr. Wily's plans, dubbing himself Mega Man.Rockman manual, December 17, 1987, Capcom He eventually defeats the six Robot Masters and recovers their central cores, then confronts Dr. Wily within his Pacific-based robot factory, where he is manufacturing copies of Light's robots. After defeating replicas of the Robot Masters, and several robots designed specifically by Wily to defeat him, Mega Man confronts Wily in a final showdown and defeats him before returning home to his family.{{cite video game|title=Mega Man |developer=Capcom|publisher=Capcom|date=December 1987|platform=Nintendo Entertainment System|quote=Narrator: Mega Man has ended the evil domination of Dr. Wily and restored the world to peace. However, the never-ending battle continues until all destructive forces are defeated. Fight, Mega Man! For everlasting peace!}}

The initial Western release of the game has the same basic plot, and some significantly changed details from the original Japanese manual. In this version, Dr. Light and Dr. Wily (who is portrayed as Dr. Light's former assistant) co-create the humanoid robot Mega Man{{cite book|title=Mega Man Instruction Booklet |date=December 1987 |publisher=Capcom U.S.A., Inc. | pages=4–15 | id=NES-MN-USA}} alongside the six Robot Masters, each of whom were designed for the benefit of Monsteropolis's citizens{{cite magazine | author=Nintendo Power staff| title=Mega Man - A Star Is Born| date=November 1992 | issue=42 | pages=20–25|magazine=Nintendo Power | publisher=Nintendo of America | location=Redmond, Washington | issn=1041-9551 | url=https://archive.org/details/NintendoPower1988-2004/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20042%20%28November%201992%29/page/n21/mode/2up}} (no such place existed in the original plot). Dr. Wily, angered by Light taking credit for their work and desiring to use his creations for criminal purposes, steals the Robot Masters and reprograms them, then creates his own army of robots to seize control of Monsteropolis and declare it his own personal empire. Dr. Light, horrified by Wily's betrayal, sends Mega Man to destroy the Robot Masters and free Monsteropolis from Wily's machines.

File: NES Mega Man.png traverses Cut Man's stage. The player's score is at the top of the screen, and Mega Man's health gauge is on the left.|alt=A square video game screenshot that depicts a blue character sprite firing a shot toward a vertical brick wall. Other sprites surround the character and a score are visible at the top of the screenshot.]]

Mega Man consists of six side-scrolling platform levels freely chosen by the player. In each level, the player-character, Mega Man, fights through various enemies and obstacles before facing a "Robot Master" boss at the level's end. Upon defeating the boss, the player assimilates the Robot Master's signature attack, or "Special Weapon", into Mega Man's arsenal for the rest of the game. Unlike the standard Mega Buster (Rock Buster in Japan), the Robot Master powers have limited ammunition replenished by collecting ammunition cells dropped by defeated enemies at random. Enemies also drop energy cells that replenish Mega Man's health gauge. Though the player is free to proceed through the game in any order, each Robot Master is especially vulnerable to a specific weapon, which encourages the player to complete certain stages before others. The player can revisit cleared levels. Besides the weapons taken from the Robot Masters, the player is able to pick up a platform generator item known as the "Magnet Beam" in Elec Man's stage.

Mega Man features a scoring system where players score points for defeating enemies, and earn extra points for collecting power-ups from fallen enemies and for clearing each stage. Each Robot Master was worth a random number between 50,000 and 100,000 points whereas Dr. Wily was always worth 200,000 points. The scoring system was removed in later Mega Man games as it was found to provide no meaningful benefit to players and felt unnecessary to designers.

When all six Robot Master stages are completed, the seventh and last stage appears in the middle of the stage select menu. This stage, in which the player traverses Dr. Wily's robot factory, is a chain of four regular stages linked together, each containing at least one new boss. During these final stages, the six Robot Masters must also be fought again in a predetermined order before the final confrontation against Dr. Wily. As Mega Man's ammo is not restored between stages, every action the player takes is consequential.{{cite web | author1=Nutt, Christian | author2=Speer, Justin | name-list-style=amp | title=The History of Mega Man | url=http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-history-of-mega-man/1100-6076983/ | work=GameSpot | publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=April 17, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026090646/http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-history-of-mega-man/1100-6076983/ | archive-date=October 26, 2013 | url-status=live }}

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Before Mega Man, Capcom primarily made arcade games, and its console releases were mostly ports of these games. In the mid-1980s, Capcom made plans to develop Mega Man specifically for the Japanese home console market.{{cite episode| title=Mega Man| url=http://g4tv.com/gamemakers/episodes/1152/Mega_Man.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917124528/http://www.g4tv.com/gamemakers/episodes/1152/Mega_Man.html| archive-date=September 17, 2011| url-status=dead| series=Game Makers| series-link=Game Makers| credits=Interviewee: Keiji Inafune| network=G4| airdate=November 20, 2003| season=2| number=19| access-date=May 5, 2010}}{{cite magazine |magazine=Play | date=April 2004 | author=Hoffman, Chris | title=The Best Damn Mega Man Feature Period | volume=3 | issue=4 | publisher=Imagine Publishing | issn=1747-7859}} They decided to bring in fresh, young talent for the small team, including artist Keiji Inafune, a recent college graduate who started on the Street Fighter team.{{cite magazine | author=Nintendo Power staff|title=Power Profiles: Keiji Inafune | date=October 2007 |magazine=Nintendo Power | publisher=Nintendo of America | issue=220 | pages=79–81 | issn=1041-9551}} Inafune recalled that the Mega Man development team worked extremely hard to complete the final product, with a project supervisor and lead designer who sought perfection in every possible aspect of the game.{{cite web|author=doublespy |date=May 10, 2007 |title=Mega Manniversary Inafune chat 1/4 |url=http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/11278 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005082932/http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/11278 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 5, 2011 |work=1UP.com |publisher=Ziff Davis |access-date=May 11, 2010 }}

The development team for Mega Man consisted of only six people.{{cite web | author=Elston, Brett | date=July 3, 2008 | title=Mega Man 9 - exclusive interview with the mind behind the machines | url=http://www.gamesradar.com/f/mega-man-9-exclusive-interview-with-the-mind-behind-the-machines/a-2008070217152878013/p-2 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615194316/http://www.gamesradar.com/f/mega-man-9-exclusive-interview-with-the-mind-behind-the-machines/a-2008070217152878013/p-2 | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 15, 2011 | work=GamesRadar | publisher=Future plc | access-date=May 8, 2010 }} Inafune (credited as "Inafking") designed and illustrated nearly all of the game's characters and enemies, and the Japanese Rockman logo, box art, and instruction manual. He was responsible for rendering these designs into graphical sprite form. He said, "We didn't have [a lot of] people, so after drawing character designs, I was actually doing the dotting (pixelation) for the Nintendo. Back then, people weren't specialized and we had to do a lot of different things because there was so few people, so I really ended up doing all the characters." Inafune was influenced by the eponymous protagonist of Osamu Tezuka's manga Astro Boy in his Mega Man designs.{{cite web | author=East, Thomas | date=December 10, 2009 | title=Nintendo Feature: Mega Man: An Old School Legend! | page=1 | url=http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=13863 | work=Official Nintendo Magazine | publisher=Future plc | access-date=May 7, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103215818/http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/13863/features/mega-man-through-the-ages/ | archive-date=November 3, 2014}}{{cite web|author=Oxford, Nadia |date=May 10, 2007 |title=Mega Man Retrospective: Get Equipped with 20 Years |url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3159319 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013220038/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3159319 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 13, 2007 |work=1UP.com |publisher=Ziff Davis |access-date=May 4, 2010 }}{{cite web | last=Ashcraft | first=Brian | date=October 5, 2006 | title=Feature: Inafune On Porn, Halo and Deadly Sacred Floats | url=http://kotaku.com/205466/feature-inafune-on-porn-halo-and-deadly-sacred-floats |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013214201/http://kotaku.com/205466/feature-inafune-on-porn-halo-and-deadly-sacred-floats |archive-date=October 13, 2012 | work=Kotaku | publisher=Gawker Media| access-date=May 7, 2010}} Mega Man is colored blue because it seemed that the color had the most shades in the console's 56-color palette (cyan included), and that selection was used to enhance Mega Man's detail.

Although he is often credited for designing the character, Inafune insists that he "only did half of the job in creating him", as his mentor, director Akira Kitamura, developed the basic character concept before Inafune's arrival.{{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=May 4, 2010 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20121216073332/http://www.gamespot.com/news/6179759.html | archive-date=December 16, 2012 | url-status=live }} The basic sprites for Roll and Dr. Light were created before Inafune joined the project, and the designs for Cut Man, Ice Man, Fire Man, and Guts Man were in process. Aside from normal enemies, Inafune's first character was Elec Man, inspired by American comic book characters. The artist has commented that Elec Man has always been his favorite design. The designs for Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were based on Santa Claus and Albert Einstein, respectively; the latter character was meant to represent an archetypal "mad scientist".{{cite book |isbn=978-1-897376-79-9 |date=January 6, 2010 |title=Mega Man: Official Complete Works|publisher=Udon Entertainment | page=117}}

The team had initially considered names such as "Mighty Kid", "Knuckle Kid", and "Rainbow Man" before settling on their final decisions.{{cite magazine|author=Nintendo Power staff|title=What's So Hot About Capcom|date=March 1993|issue=46| pages=92-95|magazine=Nintendo Power|publisher=Nintendo of America | location=Redmond, Washington |issn=1041-9551 | url=https://archive.org/details/NintendoPower1988-2004/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20046%20%28March%201993%29/page/n99/mode/2up}} The "Rainbow" name was considered because the character could change into seven colors based on the weapon selected.{{Cite book|title=Rockman Character Collection|publisher=Capcom|year=1991|location=Japan|pages=50–51}} The production team chose a music motif when naming the main characters in Mega Man. The protagonist's original name is Rock and his sister's name is Roll, a play on the term "rock and roll". This type of naming would later be extended to many characters throughout the series. One of the original storylines considered by the team but not used in the final game was to have Roll be kidnapped, and Rock had to rescue her. Another idea had included a boss fight against a giant Roll near the end of the game.

{{multiple image| image1 = Rock-paper-scissors (rock).png| width = 100 | image2 = Rock-paper-scissors (paper).png| image3 = Rock-paper-scissors (scissors).png| width3 = 100| footer = Mega Man's gameplay was inspired by rock paper scissors, where certain bosses are weak to other weapons, e.g. Cut Man is weak to Guts Man's weapon because Guts Man's weapon specializes in picking up and throwing rocks and rock beats scissors.}}

The team decided to incorporate anime elements for the game's animation. Inafune explained, "[Mega Man's] hand transforms into a gun and you can actually see it come out of his arm. We wanted to make sure that the animation and the motion was realistic and actually made sense. So with Mega Man, we had this perfect blending of game character with animation ideas." The gameplay for Mega Man was inspired by the game rock paper scissors. The project supervisor wanted a simple system that offered "deep gameplay". Each weapon deals a large amount of damage to one specific Robot Master, others have little to no effect against them, and there is no single weapon that dominates all the others. Mega Man was originally able to crouch, but the team decided against it since it made players' ability to determine the height of onscreen projectiles more difficult. Naoya Tomita (credited as "Tom Pon") began work on Mega Man's scenic backgrounds immediately after his Capcom training. Tomita proved himself amongst his peers by overcoming the challenges of the console's limited power through maximizing the use of background elements.{{cite web | author=Hawkins, Matthew | date=August 31, 2011 | title=At Last, The Face Behind The Name TOM-PON Revealed | url=http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/08/at_last_the_face_behind_the_name_tom_pon_revealed.php | work=GameSetWatch | publisher=UBM plc | access-date=September 17, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217075418/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/08/at_last_the_face_behind_the_name_tom_pon_revealed.php | archive-date=December 17, 2011 }}

Mega Man was scored by Manami Matsumae (credited as "Chanchacorin Manami"),{{cite web | author=Greening, Chris | title=Interview with the Mega Man 1 & 2 Sound Team: Reunited 20 Years On | url=http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/manamimatsumae.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512135613/http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/manamimatsumae.shtml |archive-date=May 12, 2013 | publisher=Square Enix Music Online | access-date=February 19, 2011}} who composed the music, created the sound effects, and programmed the data in three months, using a sound driver programmed by Yoshihiro Sakaguchi (credited as "Yuukichan's Papa"). The musical notes were translated one by one into the computer language. Matsumae was challenged by the creative limits of three notes available at any one time, and when she was unable to write songs, she created the sound effects.

When the game was localized for distribution in America, Capcom changed the title of the game from Rockman to Mega Man. This moniker was created by Capcom's then-Senior Vice President Joseph Morici, who claimed it was changed merely because he did not like the original name. "That title was horrible," Morici said. "So I came up with Mega Man, and they liked it enough to keep using it for the U.S. games."{{cite journal | author=Game Players staff|title=Super Mega Man ― So What's the Deal? | journal=Game Players | issue=26 | publisher=Imagine Media| date=March 1993 | page=20 | issn=1091-1685}} 1UP.com's Nadia Oxford attributed this change to Capcom's belief that American children would be more interested in a game with the latter title.

{{Video game reviews

| Allgame = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite web |last=Smith|first=Geoffrey Douglas | year=1998 | title=Mega Man - Review | url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=1251&tab=review | work=Allgame |publisher=All Media Guide |access-date=May 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114130256/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=1251&tab=review|archive-date=November 14, 2014}}

| Fam = 24/40{{cite magazine | author=Famitsu staff|magazine=Weekly Famitsu| publisher=Enterbrain | date=December 25, 1987| url=https://archive.org/details/famitsu-0039/page/19/mode/1up| script-title=ja:クロスレビュー |trans-title=Cross Review | issue=39 | page=19 | language=ja}}
{{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=ロックマン |trans-chapter=Rockman |title=ファミコン通信 〜 '89全ソフトカタログ |trans-title=Famicom Tsūshin: '89 All Software Catalog |series=Famicom Tsūshin |date=15 September 1989 |page=53 |chapter-url=https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/images/fotolife/M/MULTi88/20200420/20200420023154.jpg}}

| IGN = 8/10{{cite web | author=Lucas, Thomas M. | date=August 18, 2008 | title=Mega Man Review - Wii Review | url=http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/899/899596p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=May 8, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313013431/http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/899/899596p1.html | archive-date=March 13, 2010 | url-status=live }}

| rev1 = The Games Machine

| rev1Score = 83%

| award1Pub = Golden Joystick Awards

| award1 = Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year

}}

Critics received Mega Man well. AllGame described the NES version of the game as a "near-perfect blend of action, challenge and audio-visual excellence" and awarded it five stars, their highest rating. Lucas M. Thomas of IGN described the game as an "undeniable classic" for the NES, noting its graphics, innovative weapon-based platform gameplay, and music. IGN editor Matt Casamassina proclaimed, "Mega Man is one of the best examples of great graphics, amazing music and near-perfect gameplay rolled into one cartridge".{{cite web | author=Casamassina, Matt | author-link=Matt Casamassina | title=30. Mega Man - Top 100 NES Games | url=http://www.ign.com/top-100-nes-games/30.html | website=IGN | access-date=April 20, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408080834/http://www.ign.com/top-100-nes-games/30.html | archive-date=April 8, 2010 | url-status=live }} GameSpot writers Christian Nutt and Justin Speer identified the game as a "winner in gameplay" granted its "low-key presentation". Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com likewise outlined it as a "charming (if slightly rough) start for the series".{{cite web|author=Parish, Jeremy |date=May 10, 2007 |title=The Mega Man Series Roundup |url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3159344 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629030836/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3159344 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |work=1UP.com |publisher=Ziff Davis |access-date=April 10, 2010 }}

Whether positive or negative, Mega Man has been commonly perceived as very difficult and is listed among the difficult games of Nintendo, being described by USGamer as “the introduction of the Nintendo Hard difficulty”. Casamassina found the game the hardest in the franchise, and among the hardest titles on the NES. Thomas observed that its combination of high difficulty and short length hurt its replayability. According to 1UP.com, the "Nintendo-hard" Mega Man bosses set the game apart from its two immediate and more popular sequels.{{cite web|author=Bailey, Kat |date=September 8, 2008 |title=Top 5 Overlooked Prequels |url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3169774 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225164005/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3169774 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 25, 2009 |work=1UP.com |publisher=Ziff Davis |access-date=May 6, 2010 }} Total! retrospectively characterized the game as "an overhard and unenjoyably frustrating platform nightmare".{{Cite journal| journal=Total! | publisher=Future plc |author=Andy | date =June 1992| title=Life, the Universe and Nintendo Games| issn=0964-9352}}

At the 1990 Golden Joystick Awards, Mega Man won the award for best console game of the year (8-bit).{{cite journal|title=The Golden Joystick Awards '91|journal=Computer and Video Games|issue=115|date=June 1991|page=10|publisher=EMAP|url=https://archive.org/stream/Computer_Video_Games_Issue_115_1991-06_EMAP_Publishing_GB/Computer__Video_Games_Issue_115_1991-06_EMAP_Publishing_GB#page/n9/mode/1up}}

Mega Man has additionally received various honors from video game journals and websites. IGN listed the game at number 30 on its "Top 100 NES Games of All Time". Nintendo Power ranked Mega Man at number 20 on its "100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time" in its September 1997 100th issue, then at number 61 in its "Top 200 Games" in its February 2006 200th issue.{{cite magazine | author=Nintendo Power staff | title=Nintendo Power's 100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time |date=September 1997 | issue=100 |page=91 |magazine=Nintendo Power | publisher=Nintendo of America | location=Redmond, Washington | issn=1041-9551 | url=https://archive.org/details/NintendoPower1988-2004/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20100%20%28September%201997%29/page/n102/mode/1up}}{{cite magazine|date=February 2006| author=Nintendo Power staff|title=NP Top 200|magazine=Nintendo Power | publisher=Nintendo of America | issue=200|pages=58–66 | issn=1041-9551}} 1UP.com included it in their "Top 5 Overlooked Videogame Prequels" and as number 17 on its "Top 25 NES Games" list.{{cite web|author=1UP Staff |title=The Top 25 NES Games |url=http://www.1up.com/features/top-25-nes-games?pager.offset=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629043115/http://www.1up.com/features/top-25-nes-games?pager.offset=1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |work=1UP.com |publisher=Ziff Davis |access-date=March 17, 2010 }} British magazine The Games Machine awarded it the "Star Player" accolade after its launch in PAL regions.{{cite news | author=Wee, Lim Choon | date=October 18, 1990 | title=Rockman goes to the rescue | newspaper=New Straits Times | publisher=New Straits Times Press | page=15 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MKRUAAAAIBAJ&pg=5682,900843 | access-date=May 4, 2010}}

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File:Mega Man 1 box artwork.jpg

Capcom's sales department originally believed that the game would not sell, but after Japan had received limited quantities, it had been seen as successful enough to quickly commission an American localization. As part of the rushed localization, the president of Capcom U.S.A. told the marketing representative to have a cover done by the next day, so he had a friend draw it within about six hours. Inafune blamed the game's relatively poor North American performance on its region-specific cover art, which visualized elements not found in the game: Mega Man himself resembles a man rather than a boy, his costume is colored yellow and blue instead of being entirely blue, and he is holding a handgun rather than having his arm cannon. Over the years, the cover art has been infamous in the gaming community.{{cite web | author=Elston, Brett | date=June 30, 2008 | title=The ultimate Mega Man retrospective | url=http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-ultimate-mega-man-retrospective/a-2008062794557758069 | work=GamesRadar | publisher=Future plc | access-date=April 17, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201094056/http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-ultimate-mega-man-retrospective/a-2008062794557758069 | archive-date=December 1, 2008 | url-status=dead }}{{cite web | author=Thomas, Lucas M. | date=February 16, 2010 | title=The 10 Steps to Mega Man 10 | url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/106/1069184p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=April 11, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418204134/http://wii.ign.com/articles/106/1069184p1.html | archive-date=April 18, 2010 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} It has been considered one of the worst game covers of all time by publications including GameSpy,{{cite web|author=Bowen, Kevin |date=January 12, 2003 |title=Top Ten Worst Covers |url=http://archive.gamespy.com/top10/january03/covers/index4.shtml |work=GameSpy |publisher=IGN |access-date=May 22, 2010 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412103326/http://archive.gamespy.com/top10/january03/covers/index4.shtml |archive-date=April 12, 2009 }} Wired,{{cite magazine | author=Koehler, Chris | date=April 24, 2008 | title=And the Worst Game Box Art Gaffe Ever Is… | url=https://www.wired.com/gamelife/2008/04/and-the-worst-g/ | magazine=Wired | publisher=Condé Nast Publications | access-date=May 6, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421112140/http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2008/04/and-the-worst-g | archive-date=April 21, 2010 | url-status=dead }} and OC Weekly.{{cite web | author=Mai, Peter | date=December 29, 2009 | title=Horrible Video Game Boxart: So Bad That It's Awesome | url=http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/horrible-video-game-boxart---s/ | work=OC Weekly | publisher=Village Voice Media | access-date=May 6, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529075254/http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/horrible-video-game-boxart---s/ | archive-date=May 29, 2010 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all}} The cancelled Mega Man Universe featured a "Bad Box Art Mega Man" playable character alongside the classic 8-bit Mega Man.{{cite web | author=Spencer | date=September 3, 2010 | title=There Are Three Mega Men In Mega Man Universe | url=http://www.siliconera.com/2010/09/03/there-are-three-mega-men-in-mega-man-universe/ | publisher=Siliconera | access-date=January 25, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106124032/http://www.siliconera.com/2010/09/03/there-are-three-mega-men-in-mega-man-universe/ | archive-date=January 6, 2011 | url-status=dead }} "Bad Box Art Mega Man" has since become a playable character in Street Fighter X Tekken.{{cite web|author=Pereira, Chris |date=January 17, 2012 |title=Pac-Man, Mega Man Teased for Street Fighter X Tekken on Vita |url=http://www.1up.com/news/pac-man-mega-man-street-fighter-x-tekken |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207064306/http://www.1up.com/news/pac-man-mega-man-street-fighter-x-tekken |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |publisher=Ziff Davis |work=1UP.com |access-date=March 10, 2012 }}

With little overseas press coverage save for a full-page advertisement in Nintendo Fun Club News, sales gained momentum over word of mouth, making the game a sleeper hit. While Mega Man was not a large commercial accomplishment for Capcom, the company decided to allow the development team to create a sequel, Mega Man 2, for a 1988 Japanese release. Many of the design elements cut from the original Mega Man due to space limitations such as planned enemy characters were included in the follow-up game.{{cite journal | journal=CFC Style Fan-Book | volume=3 | author=Inafune, Keiji | year=1997 | title=Rockman 10th Anniversary Celebration Plans | publisher=Capcom | language=ja | page=24 | author-link=Keiji Inafune}} Mega Man 2, with greatly improved box art, although still repeating the 'pistol' error, unchanged in directions from Capcom America, to veteran game illustrator Marc Ericksen, proved to be such a success that it solidified Mega Man as one of Capcom's longest-running franchises. Due to "overwhelming demand", Capcom reissued the original Mega Man in North America in September 1991.{{cite magazine | author=GamePro staff|title=Game Boy ProView: Mega Man |magazine=GamePro | issue=26 | page=68 | publisher=Infotainment World, Inc. |date=September 1991 | issn=1042-8658}} Capcom carried the same 8-bit graphics and sprites present in the original Mega Man into the next five games in the main series. Even though the sequels feature more complex storylines, additional gameplay mechanics, and better graphics, the core elements initiated by Mega Man remain the same throughout the series. Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 would later revert to the familiar graphical style set forth by this title.{{cite web | author=Nutt, Christian | date=August 4, 2008 | title=He Is 8-Bit: Capcom's Hironobu Takeshita Speaks | url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3752/he_is_8bit_capcoms_hironobu_.php | work=Gamasutra | publisher=UBM plc | access-date=May 7, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509122856/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3752/he_is_8bit_capcoms_hironobu_.php | archive-date=May 9, 2010 | url-status=dead }} The scoring system in Mega Man has not been present in any of its sequels.

According to GamesRadar, Mega Man was the first game to feature a nonlinear "level select" option, as a stark contrast to linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open world games like The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as the basis for the nonlinear mission structure found in most multi-mission, open world, sidequest-heavy games, such as Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.{{cite web | author=GamesRadar staff | date=October 8, 2010 | title=Gaming's most important evolutions'' | url=http://www.gamesradar.com/gamings-most-important-evolutions/?page=5 | website=GamesRadar | access-date=January 24, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111221132458/http://www.gamesradar.com/gamings-most-important-evolutions/?page=5 | archive-date=December 21, 2011 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}

{{Clear}}

Mega Man has been re-released several times since its 1987 debut. A version with enhanced graphics and arranged music was included alongside Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 in the Mega Drive compilation Mega Man: The Wily Wars. Another adaptation of the game was released in Japan on the PlayStation as part of the Rockman Complete Works series in 1999. This version also features arranged music in addition to a special "Navi Mode" that directs the player in certain portions of the levels. Mega Man was compiled with nine other games in the series in the North American Mega Man Anniversary Collection released for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube in 2004 and the Xbox in 2005.{{cite web | author=Navarro, Alex | date=June 21, 2004 | title=Mega Man Anniversary Collection Review for PlayStation 2 | url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mega-man-anniversary-collection-review/1900-6101043/ | work=GameSpot| publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=June 20, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040701032546/http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/megamananniversarycollection/review.html | archive-date= July 1, 2004 | url-status=live}}{{cite web | author=Navarro, Alex | date=March 14, 2005 | title=Mega Man Anniversary Collection Review for Xbox | url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mega-man-anniversary-collection-review/1900-6120432/ | work=GameSpot| publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=June 20, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050321033403/http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/megamananniversarycollection/review.html | archive-date=March 21, 2005 | url-status=live}} A mobile phone rendition of Mega Man developed by Lavastorm was released for download in North America in 2004. A separate, 2007 Japanese mobile phone release received a 2008 update adding the option to play as Roll.{{cite web | author=Inside-Games staff | date=April 4, 2008 | script-title=ja:カプコン、『ロックマン』『ロックマン2』を携帯3キャリア向けに完全移植+α | url=http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2008/04/04/28213.html | publisher=Inside-Games | language=ja | access-date=May 9, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003055101/http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2008/04/04/28213.html | archive-date=October 3, 2011 | url-status=dead }} Mega Man for the NES was reissued on the Virtual Console service for three different systems: the Wii in Europe in 2007 and in North America and Japan in 2008,{{cite web | author=Spencer | date=June 22, 2007 | title=Worldwide Virtual Console Outlook: Mega Man the Dolphin edition | url=http://www.siliconera.com/2007/06/22/worldwide-virtual-console-outlook-mega-man-the-dolphin-edition/ | publisher=Siliconera | access-date=May 5, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007054847/http://www.siliconera.com/2007/06/22/worldwide-virtual-console-outlook-mega-man-the-dolphin-edition/ | archive-date=October 7, 2012 | url-status=live }}{{cite web |first=JC |last=Fletcher |title=VC Tuesday: Rock! |url=http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2008/07/29/vc-tuesday-rock/ |work=Joystiq |publisher=AOL |date=July 29, 2008 |access-date=August 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609110113/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/29/vc-tuesday-rock/ |archive-date=June 9, 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|author=Nintendo staff|title=One WiiWare Game and Two Virtual Console Games Added to Wii Shop Channel|url=https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/vJ7Uf4uCpcC79acvme0klnA1k9Siytm4|publisher=Nintendo of America|date=August 18, 2008|access-date=August 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821043630/http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/vJ7Uf4uCpcC79acvme0klnA1k9Siytm4|archive-date=August 21, 2008|url-status=dead}} the Nintendo 3DS in 2012, and for the Wii U in 2013. The Complete Works version of the game was made available on the PlayStation Store in both Japan and North America.{{cite web | author=Spencer | date=June 22, 2009 | title=Mega Man Lands On PSN Game Archives Next Month | url=http://www.siliconera.com/2009/07/22/mega-man-lands-on-psn-game-archives-next-month/ | publisher=Siliconera | access-date=May 5, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810222756/http://www.siliconera.com/2009/07/22/mega-man-lands-on-psn-game-archives-next-month/ | archive-date=August 10, 2012 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | author=Spencer | date=January 18, 2011 | title=Import Mega Man Game Now On The US PlayStation Network | url=http://www.siliconera.com/2011/01/18/import-mega-man-game-now-on-the-us-playstation-store/ | publisher=Siliconera | access-date=January 25, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124054959/http://www.siliconera.com/2011/01/18/import-mega-man-game-now-on-the-us-playstation-store/ | archive-date=January 24, 2011 | url-status=live }}

An enhanced remake titled Mega Man Powered Up — known as {{nihongo|Rockman Rockman|ロックマン ロックマン}} in Japan — was released worldwide for the PSP in 2006. The game features a graphical overhaul with 3D chibi-style character models with large heads and small bodies. Inafune had originally planned to make Mega Man look this way, but could not due to the hardware constraints of the NES.{{cite web | author=Theobald, Phil | date=September 17, 2005 | title=Mega Man on PSP -- Keiji Inafune and Tatsuya Kitabayashi Interview | url=http://ps2.gamespy.com/articles/651/651835p1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329111321/http://ps2.gamespy.com/articles/651/651835p1.html |archive-date=March 29, 2012 | work=GameSpy| publisher=IGN | access-date=May 8, 2010}} Producer Tetsuya Kitabayashi stated that redesigning the character models was a result of the PSP's 16:9 widescreen ratio. The larger heads on the characters allowed the development team to create visible facial expressions.{{cite web | author=McGarvey, Sterling | date=February 24, 2006 | title=Tetsuya Kitabayashi Discusses the Mega-Makeover (PSP) | url=http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/rockman-rockman/691350p1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329113315/http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/rockman-rockman/691350p1.html |archive-date=March 29, 2012 | work=GameSpy| publisher=IGN | access-date=March 22, 2011}} "The concept for these designs was 'toys'. We wanted cute designs geared towards little kids ... the kinds of characters that you'd see hanging off of keychains and such," character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa explained. "Not only that, I made sure to tell the designers not to skimp on any of the original Mega Man details. We wanted their proportions and movements to be accurately reflected in these designs as well."{{cite book|isbn=978-1-897376-79-9 |date=January 6, 2010 |title=Mega Man: Official Complete Works|publisher=Udon Entertainment | pages=108–13}} As the size of the remake's stages are not proportional to those of the original, the widescreen ratio also presented the developers with more space to fill.

Mega Man Powered Up features two styles of gameplay: "Old Style" is comparable to the NES version aside from the updated presentation, and "New Style" uses the PSP's entire widescreen and contains storyline cutscenes with voice acting, altered stage layouts, remixed music, and three difficulty modes for each stage. This mode also adds two new Robot Masters (Oil Man and Time Man). The NES version was originally intended to have a total of eight Robot Masters, but was cut down to six due to a tight schedule. Additionally, the remake lets players unlock and play through the game as the eight Robot Masters, Roll, and Protoman. The New Style stages differ in structure from that of Old Style, with some pathways only accessible to specific Robot Masters. Mega Man Powered Up also features a Challenge Mode with 100 challenges to complete, a level editor for creating custom stages, and an option to distribute fan-made levels to the PlayStation Network online service.{{cite web | author=Navarro, Alex | date=March 13, 2006 | title=Mega Man Powered Up Review for PSP | url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mega-man-powered-up-review/1900-6145847/ | work=GameSpot| publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=June 20, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060423054136/http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/rockmanrockman/review.html | archive-date=April 23, 2006 | url-status=live}}{{cite web | author=Castro, Juan | date=March 14, 2006 | title=Mega Man Powered Up - PlayStation Portable Review | url=http://psp.ign.com/articles/695/695727p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=May 8, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425021924/http://psp.ign.com/articles/695/695727p1.html | archive-date=April 25, 2010 | url-status=dead }} Mega Man Powered Up received generally positive reviews, with aggregate scores of 83% on GameRankings and 82 out of 100 on Metacritic {{As of|2010|May|lc = y}}.{{cite web | title=Mega Man Powered Up for PSP | url=http://www.gamerankings.com/psp/929675-mega-man-powered-up/index.html | work=GameRankings | publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=May 8, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729154749/http://www.gamerankings.com/psp/929675-mega-man-powered-up/index.html | archive-date=July 29, 2010 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Mega Man Powered Up (psp) reviews | url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/psp/megamanpoweredup?q=mega_man_powered | work=Metacritic | publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=May 8, 2010 | archive-date=January 11, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111061456/http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/psp/megamanpoweredup?q=mega_man_powered | url-status=dead }} The remake sold poorly at retail, and was later released as a paid download on the Japanese PlayStation Network digital store{{cite web|author=Parish, Jeremy |date=May 31, 2007 |title=Mega Manniversary: Mega Morrow |url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3159950 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070729174553/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3159950 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 29, 2007 |work=1UP.com |publisher=Ziff Davis |access-date=May 9, 2010 }}{{cite magazine | author=Famitsu staff | date=December 15, 2009 | title=『ロックマン』シリーズ4作品がPlayStation Storeで配信決定 | url=http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1230524_1124.html | magazine=Famitsu | publisher=Enterbrain | language=ja | access-date=May 31, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023010414/http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1230524_1124.html | archive-date=October 23, 2012 | url-status=live }} and as a bundled with Mega Man Maverick Hunter X in Japan and North America. Capcom additionally translated Mega Man Powered Up into Chinese for release in Asia in 2008.{{cite web | author=Spencer | date=April 23, 2008 | title=Mega Man powers up… learns Chinese? | url=http://www.siliconera.com/2008/04/23/mega-man-powers-up%E2%80%A6-learns-chinese/ | publisher=Siliconera | access-date=May 31, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201170627/http://www.siliconera.com/2008/04/23/mega-man-powers-up%E2%80%A6-learns-chinese/ | archive-date=December 1, 2009 | url-status=dead }}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

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