About Me
WHAT IS MEGA MAN?"Mega Man" is the name of a video game character, and the games in which he stars. These games (with a few exceptions) are of an action platformer genre, all 2-D side-scrollers. They were created by the company Capcom. The series actually originated in Japanese under the name "Rockman" and was later ported to English as "Mega Man."The first Mega Man game was released on Nintendo's home console entertainment system (NES). It possessed graphics superior in detail compared to other NES games at the time, unmatched play control, and a unique twist on the usual side-scrolling action genre. Not only could you choose what levels to tackle in what order (instead of having to play them in a predetermined order like most games), Mega Man games also allowed the player to acquire an enemy's weapon by defeating him. With the inclusion of passwords in the second game, the player could also save his game and pick up about where he'd left off, instead of having to play the entire game from the beginning each time.As Mega Man gained in popularity, Capcom decided to branch out and began creating games of other genres, such as sports and racing. As time went by they also created several spin-off series, all of which have "Mega Man" in their title but all of which actually have very little to do with Mega Man. The games can be broken up into the following categories:The Original Series. As discussed above, these games began on the NES, then branched to the Game Boy (GB) and finally the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and beyond.The X Series. Of all of the spin-off series this one has the best connection with the original, not only because it ostensibly takes place in the future of the Mega Man series, but also because it shares the same basic traditional side-scrolling engine (with a few modifications of course).The Legends Series. When Capcom decided to take Mega Man into the third dimension, they created the Legends series. Although the plot for this series doesn't even claim to have anything to do with the original Mega Man, it's still a good series of games on its own. The Legends games are 3-D action/adventures.The Battle Network Series. Also referred to as "EXE," this series borrows some character ideas from the other series but is otherwise unrelated to the original Mega Man. The EXE games contain a completely unique engine that is probably best described as a cross between an RPG and a trading card game.The Star Force Series. A spin-off of the Mega Man Battle Network franchise, this game brings the franchise back with similar RPG gameplay but with an all-new Mega Man character and storyline to play through. In this RPG, you play as an elementary school kid called Subaru Hoshikawa. One day, Subaru comes into the possession of a special visor left behind by his missing father. When he puts on the visor, he meets an alien being called Warlock. Subaru and Warlock fuse into one and face off in a battle against the Virus.
