Mega Man: An Old School Legend!

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With the announcement of Mega Man 10, what better time to look back over the career of one of the oldest games characters still starring in games today? From his NES debut in 1987 to his nails WiiWare outing, here's everything you need to know about the Man.

Mega Man 2 Box Art

What happens when you ask one of the creators of Street Fighter to hop genres and create a platformer? You get Mega Man, of course! Street Fighter guru Keiji Inafune was originally asked to design a game starring Japanese anime legend Astro Boy, but when licensing talks broke down Capcom dreamed up its very own cutesy robot boy. Names like Knuckles Kid, Mighty Kid and Rainbow Man were bandied about before the team settled on Rockman (Mega Man's Japanese name). Inafune drew the name from 'rock 'n' roll', and has reportedly never been happy with the 'Mega Man' moniker.

There was just one hitch when it came to Mega Man's debut: the game that the team delivered - 1987's NES Mega Man - was a flop. Inafune-san pleaded for time to work on an improved sequel between coding duties on a title Capcom believed was much more important - Professional Baseball Murder Mystery. It paid off: Mega Man 2 was a smash, and the franchise went from strength to strength, helped by an annual competition in Japan and the US where fan-designed bosses were chosen to appear in the next game.

It's odd that the fan-art idea wasn't extended to the games' boxes: the first two Mega Man games have the ugliest cover images ever. Official!

Anime Antics
You can't get Megaman off your screen just by switching off your GameCube. His TV appearances have ranged from a chubby green-clad kid in Captain N The Gamemaster to comedy three-episode adventure Upon A Star (made in 1993 but only released in 2002). But it's Megaman NT Warrior that's given the robokid his biggest telly break. Based loosely on the Battle Network games, it stars Megaman as an artificially intelligent bot who races around the Net battling viruses. In the US version, FireMan became TorchMan - seemingly to avoid offending firemen.

Robotat
The popularity of the boy in blue has led to Japanese toy shops being crammed with Mega Man-related merchandise. From remote-controlled cars to poseable figures designed to punch each other's lights out inside a boxing ring, there's all kinds of stuff for Mega Man fans. If you're a dedicated retrohead for whom a Mega Man pillow is going a tad too far, there are other options - www.80stees.com sells an "I beat the Master Robots!" T-shirt; the same site lets you have five Mega Man bosses lined up identity parade-style in a parody of The Usual Suspects emblazoned across your chest. Hey, each to their own...

Did You Know?

• Keiji Inafune was the producer on Zelda game The Minish Cap.


• Most Mega Man boxes were designed by Michiko Morita, who's produced art for Capcom titles from Ghosts 'n' Goblins to Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil Zero
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Mega Man: The Games

Mega Man 2

Mega Man 2 (NES, 1988)
The breakthrough game, with the man mega facing off against eight Robot Masters. So tough, Capcom had to build an easy mode into the US and European versions.

Mega Man In Dr Wily's Revenge

Mega Man In Dr Wily's Revenge (Game Boy, 1991
Grey-and-green Megaman with a mash-up of bosses from the first two NES games and a 'stepping stone' ability to avoid embarrassing tumble-off-a-platform deaths.

Mega Man X

Mega Man X (SNES, 1993)
An archaelogist discovers a long-dormant Megaman, names him 'X', sets him off some familiar boss-quashing platforming action and a 2D jumparound classic is born.

Mega Man Soccer

Mega Man Soccer (SNES, 1994
Dramatic turnaround - Megaman decides to settle his differences with the Robot Masters by kicking a ball around a pitch. The result: Smash Football-style football craziness.

Mega Man Legends

Mega Man Legends (N64, 2000)
Another departure from the Megaman norm, originally called Rockman DASH in Japan. Three-dimensional action-RPG with dungeons and chattable citizens.

Mega Man Xtreme

Mega Man Xtreme (Game Boy Color, 2000)
Game Boy Color gets its fix of side-on run-jump-attack! action. As terrifyingly tough as ever, with 15 bosses - including a giant robot penguin and an automated armadillo.

Mega Man Battle Network

Mega Man Battle Network (GBA, 2001)
Surprise! Megaman morphs into a packet of data and battles takey-turney style on a Tron-like grid. Average stuff, but it spawns more instalments *and* the anime.

Mega Man Zero

Mega Man Zero (GBA, 2002)
Set 100 years after Megaman X, where Metroid-style exploration is in vogue and Megaman's been replaced by a darker hero, Zero. This was Megaman creator Keiji Inafune's dream project.

Mega Man 9

Mega Man 9 (WiiWare, 2008)
Ten years after Mega Man 8 was released on PlayStation and Sega Saturn, The Man returned in style in this unashamedly old school action game. It was if nothing had changed since Mega Man 2 as gamers were challenged by another incredibly tough mission.






Are you a fan of Mega Man. Feel free to share your favourite memories of Mega Man games below...

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