Mega Man (1987 video game)
| Mega Man | |
|---|---|
| Mega Man box cover for the Nintendo Entertainment System | |
| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Designer(s) | Keiji Inafune |
| Platform(s) | NES/Famicom, PC |
| Release | 1987 |
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Mega Man is a video game developed and published by Capcom in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom. It is the first game in the long-standing Mega Man series starring the Mega Man character (known as Rockman in Japan), and it established many of the conventions that would define the 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.
Mega Man was ported to the PC in 1990 by Hi-Tech Expressions. Later it would be added to the Japanese collection game Rockman Complete Works: Rockman in 1999 for the Sony PlayStation. In 2004 it was re-released in the anthology game Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2.
Characters
- Mega Man — The protagonist of the game.
- Dr. Albert W. Wily — The antogonist of the game, his goal is world domination. He appears as the final boss in a hovering ship.
- Dr. Thomas Light — Creator of Mega Man, aids Mega Man on his adventure to stop Dr. Wily.
Gameplay
Mega Man is made up of stages. Each stage has both a body and a robot master. The stage select screen allows the player to choose from six stages. Once each of the six stages were completed, additional stages are enabled.
Stages
Stages in Mega Man are in the "platformer" genre. In the stage, Mega Man faces many enemies and obsticals. The enemies vary in size and behavior, and are defeated by one or more shots, either from Mega Man's "Mega Buster" or from one of the weapons he gains defeating a robot master.
Obsticals involve jumping from one platform to another. Platforms often move, or become insubstantial periodically, so that complex timing is often required.
Common Enemies
Powerups
- Large Life Energy
- Life Energy
- Large Weapon Energy
- Weapon Energy
- Life (1up)
- Bonus
Robot Masters
Robot masters are the bosses at the end of a particular level. Once Mega Man defeats a robot master, he gains the ability to use this boss' unique weapon. Some of the robot masters are weak against another robot master's weapon (e.g. Ice Man's weapon can heavily damage Fire Man). They can be played in any order, but some orders are easier than others. Because the first robot master will need to be defeated with Mega Man's default weapon, the game is easiest when playing the weakest robot master first. The robot masters in Mega Man are:
| Robot master | Weapon | Easily defeated by |
|---|---|---|
| Cut Man | Rolling Cutter | Super Arm |
| Guts Man | Super Arm | Hyper Bomb |
| Elec Man | Thunder Beam | Rolling Cutter |
| Ice Man | Ice Slasher | Thunder Beam |
| Fire Man | Fire Storm | Ice Slasher |
| Bomb Man | Hyper Bomb | Fire Storm |
Bosses
After defeating all the robot masters, Mega Man is forced to face what are considered to be the final bosses.
| Boss | Easily defeated by |
|---|---|
| Yellow Devil / Rock Monster | Thunder Beam |
| Mega Man Clone | Thunder Beam |
| Submarines | Super Arm |
Comparison to series
The first game of the Mega Man series produced, Mega Man differs from the other games in a number of ways. It is the only game to feature only six main stages: each of the subsequent games had eight. Mega Man was also the only game to feature a score counter, and to have bonus powerups. Some of Mega Man's atcions were not implemented until later in the series. In this game, Mega Man can't slide under obsticles (he gains this ability in Mega Man 3), and he can't charge his Mega Buster (implemented in Mega Man 4). The powerups in this game look different than the rest of the 8-bit Mega Man games, as pictured below.
External links
- Capcom official site, developers and publishers of Mega Man
- Planet Mega Man
- The Mega Man Network