Rockman and Forte (Super Famicom, 1998)

(Credit to RedGaijin1991 for the drawing)

Time to return to the Mega Man series and cover another classic. This one was released in Japan at the tail end of the SFC's lifespan, too late to get a localization here. It eventually got a portable release (as Mega Man and Bass) years later, but as far as I'm concerned the console version is the best.

For a long time this game was incorrectly labeled "Mega Man 9" on the internet, but this isn't the case. It's more of a Mega Man 8.5, a fusion of elements from the seventh and eighth games. ...maybe that makes it 7.5. It also features a surprise guest. You'll never guess who it is: Forte, aka Bass. In any case, let's check it out.

Rockman 8 FC (PC, 2010)

 Today I'm taking a very special look at a de-make of Mega Man 8. The original was released on the Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn in 1996 and 1997 respectively, so this 8-bit styled de-make was likely even more difficult to make than the Rockman 7 FC de-make. At least that one only had to jump from 16-bit to 8-bit. This is also a very recent release, launching in 2010 and undergoing numerous revisions since then. I believe this is the third version of it. It's a lot of fun and worth checking out if you can get PC controller support to work, but be warned, it's SUPER difficult.

Rockman 7 FC (PC, 2008)

Not sure what that kanji says, but I'd like to think it says "bitch!"

That way it's "Rockman 7 bitch!"

Mega Man 7 was released in the mid 90's for the Super NES. It was the first original series game to make its presence felt on the 16-bit powerhouse. Due in part to the system jump, it looks and feels almost nothing like the earlier NES games that preceded it. As a result, Mega Man 7 was kind of an "odd man out". It was on the console known for Mega Man X  without being a part of that series, and by the time it came out I thought the original series was long over with.

In 2008 we got a retro version of the game (that brings it in line with the NES originals) when some intrepid fan-programmers created a version of Mega Man 7 with entirely NES-styled graphics and sound. Available for PCs as "Rockman 7 FC", this fan-creation very successfully integrates Mega Man 7 into an NES format...to awesome effect. We later got a Rockman 8 FC de-make as well, and it's pretty good too.

Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Sega Genesis)

One of the best games on the Sega Genesis, Mega Man: The Wily Wars includes the first three games in the series with revamped graphics and sound. When I heard that the game has additional content in the form of Wily Tower, I had to check it out. This post is all about Wily Tower; join me for a look at this exclusive and forgotten part of the Mega Man universe.

Mega Man: Powered Up (PSP, 2006)

Today I'm taking a look at something that I've never covered on here before. It's a PSP remake of the very first game in the series, and... it's pretty weird, to say the least. This had tons of potential to start a new franchise, giving us a Mega Man Powered-Up 2 and so on; unfortunately the problems with it likely doomed it to not continue as a series. That or Capcom just lost interest. Who knows with these companies these days.

In any case, this is a very easy game, especially for this series; it can be finished in two hours on a first go and one hour on a repeat run. It's essentially the Kirby's Dream Land of Mega Men. It's fun, though, and that's what matters.

Mega Man V (Game Boy, 1994)

This is it. The last Mega Man of the Game Boy exclusive series, the only one to have an entirely new cast of robot masters, and the only one to take advantage of the Super Game Boy to deliver its own color set.

Mega Man IV (Game Boy, 1993)

This game is RIDICULOUSLY GOOD. Capcom took everything that didn't work about the previous three games and fixed all of it, resulting in what may well be the perfect original series Mega Man game. The fact that it's on a portable system makes it even more of an achievement.

Mega Man III (Game Boy, 1992)

The next game in the Game Boy series is possibly the worst of the lot. How is that possible, when the first one is so barebones and difficult, and the second is ridiculously easy and shallow? Well, after the difficulty valley of the previous game, Capcom turned the difficulty back up for this one. Thing is, they cranked it. This game is HARD to the point of losing a lot of the fun factor. Add in poorly designed, frustrating stages, and the lamest selection of robot masters (at least in the second half) of any of the Game Boy series, and...well, this game just isn't that good, and Capcom missed the mark again.

Mega Man II (Game Boy, 1992)

Mega Man II! On the Game Boy! While the previous game was one of the harder games in the Mega Man pantheon, this one is probably the easiest out of all of them. Bar none. Yep, they went overboard when making difficulty adjustments for this one. This game makes the Whelk look like Ornstein and Smough.

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (Game Boy, 1991)

Once upon a time, Capcom decided to tap into the lucrative Game Boy market with their flagship series, starring the Blue Bomber (now the Gray Bomber...he's like reverse Gandalf).

While it never actually appears in the game, this was given the subtitle "Dr Wily's Revenge". Far from a straight, downgraded port of an existing NES game, this is a new-ish game entirely that utilizes elements from both Mega Man and Mega Man II on the NES.

Mega Man 10 (XBox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, 2010)

 Today I'm looking at... wait a minute, this is from 2010? Are we sure that I didn't just get dropped back in time to 1990? Hulkamania is running wild all over again! BAD DUDES!

Mega Man 9 (Wii, XBox 360, Playstation 3, 2008)

Mega Man classic returns after a 12-year hiatus! It's enough to make one's nipples hard in anticipation.

Mega Man 8 (Playstation, 1996)

 This one is a little bittersweet, because it was the last original series Mega Man game for a very, very long time. 12 years, if I'm not mistaken.

Mega Man 7 (Super NES, 1995)

The series debuts on the Super NES with a bang! ...that is, if you don't count the two (superior) Mega Man X games already on the system by the time this came out. I actually thought they were done with the original series after the sixth game and had moved on to exclusively Mega Man X. So it was pretty weird when we got this game, and even weirder when we got Mega Man 8 a few years later. The last two weren't quite so weird, probably because a decade had gone by and now we'll take anything we can get from this series.

Mega Man 6 (NES, 1993)

MEGA MANIA returns with the final NES installment. Did they save the best for last? No. No they did not. It isn't a bad game, though. I like it more than Mega Man 5.

Mega Man 5 (NES, 1992)

Mega Man returns with a game that is fairly acclaimed... but that I have never been a fan of personally. Will I like it more this time? Let's find out.

Mega Man 4 (NES, 1991)

Mega Mania continues! This one is very good, and gets my personal vote as perhaps the best of the six on NES. It doesn't get the same kind of hype that the two before it get, though.

Mega Man 3 (NES, 1990)

We enter the 90's with one of the greatest NES games of all time. This was also one of the first video games I ever got into, period. This and the Marioes. Good times. While the Mega Man brand has been severely tarnished over the past 12 years or so, this is Mega Man at its best.

Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989)

A big improvement over the original, Mega Man 2 is one of the finest and most iconic action games on the NES.

Mega Man (NES, 1987)

It's the first of Mayyyyy! First of Mayyy! And the Mega Man starts today. I'm celebrating this month with Mega Mania, a parade of Mega Man posts both new and old.

This, right here, is the game that started it all. I was going to play this during The Three Decade Project, but it ended up being pushed aside for the first Zelda game instead. I decided to revisit this post due to the historical significance that this game has going for it. 1987 must have been a magical time for gamers, because things like this were just coming into being for the first time. Also, we were a full eight or nine years away from internet message boards ruining our enjoyment of everything.