Mega Man (universe)

Mega Man (universe)
	;
Developer(s)	Capcom; Inti Creates; Tiger Electronics; Rozner Labs
Publisher(s)	Capcom; Tiger Electronics; U.S. Gold; Hi Tech Expressions
Designer(s)	Akira Kitamura; Keiji Inafune
Genre(s)	Platformer
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
First installment	Mega Man (1987)
Latest installment	Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection (2023)
Article on Wikipedia	Mega Man (universe)

The Mega Man universe (known in Asian territories as Rockman (ロックマン) and occasionally written as Megaman) refers to the Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the eponymous Mega Man series by Capcom. It is a Japanese video game franchise created by Capcom. Originating on the NES, the Mega Man franchise has spawned a multitude of video games across many platforms, as well as a variety of associated media. The series is the third such third-party franchise to contribute elements to a Smash game, with the titular Mega Man being a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Franchise description

The alternate logo used in title screens in the Western releases of the Mega Man games until the seventh installment.

In the 1980's, Capcom had a lucrative strategy of developing video games for arcades first and porting them to home consoles later. After many successful releases, Capcom decided to make their first console-exclusive franchise. They recruited a team of six, a small team even at the time, to make a new game for Nintendo's Famicom. This team developed a side-scrolling platformer, a popular and safe genre during this era, but wanted to stand out in a few ways. Firstly was a heavy emphasis on fast paced combat with more complex enemies than the game's contemporaries. These include the boss characters, which both drop special abilites when defeated and are weak to the abilites of other bosses in a dynamic inspired by rock-paper-scissors. Another innovation was the ability to choose any stage in any order. This non-linear game design had not been seen in a video game before and added a layer of strategy by choosing which stage to beat first in a weaker state.

The team settled on a robot super hero fighting against other robots, inspired by the manga Astro Boy. Keiji Inafune, who joined partway through development as a character designer, found similar inspirations in the designs he finalized. Inafune claimed he wanted to make the most detailed characters possible for the hardware, and he noticed that the Famicom's 56 color pallete has more shades of blue than any other color, hence why the playable character is mostly blue. The team decided to call this character and the game Rockman, based on rock & roll, the first of many musical references within the franchise.

Rockman released simultaneously in Japan and the United States on December 17, 1987, in uncommon practice at the time. Capcom U.S.A.'s then-Senior Vice President Joseph Marcini renamed the localized NES version of the game and titular character Mega Man, believing it would have a much wider appeal to young American audiences. The game saw two scientists, Dr. Thomas Light, and Dr. Albert Wily, have a falling out over disagreements in the ethical practice of their robotics research. A disgruntled Dr. Wily would steal the robot designs from Dr. Light to create the many robot masters bent on conquering the world. In response, Dr. Light retrofits a remaining robot and son-figure Rock with battle weapons and armor. Rock, along with his sister Roll and other friends, fights his way through the robot masters and eventually Wily to foil his plans. Mega Man was released to favorable critical reception, but moderately low sales (around 100,000 copies overall), though they were higher than Capcom originally anticipated.

While Mega Man was not a large enough commercial accomplishment for Capcom to necessarily justify a sequel, the company allowed the development team to create a sequel as an aside to other projects. The team focused on improving the original formula with enhanced graphics and audio, more levels, and new supportive items that addressed consumer concerns over the extreme difficulty of the previous title. Mega Man 2, in stark contrast to the original, was a huge success; it sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide, definitively established Mega Man as a long-running flagship franchise, and propelled Capcom to its present-day status as a world-renowned game developer.

More sequels followed soon after: Mega Man 3 in 1990, Mega Man 4 in 1991, Mega Man 5 in 1992, and Mega Man 6 in 1993, all released on NES. These games have since been ported, remade and rereleased several times on many other platforms. The Game Boy versions of Mega Man 1-5 are particularly notable for being entirely different games inspired by their NES counterparts.

While the series remained relatively popular, each release saw diminishing returns due to a perceived market over-saturation. To combat this and finally bring the franchise into the new console generation, the team decided to create a major shake up for the franchise. This includes a time skip set 100 years after the events of the classic Mega Man series and an overall darker and edgier tone. This game eventually released as Rockman X in 1993 for Super Famicom, localized as Mega Man X for SNES. In this game, Dr. Cain discovers the ruins of Dr. Light's labratory and finds the robot master X. A century early, Dr. Light built X as the first ever robot with free will, though he was put in stasis to solidify his moral code. While the reasons are unknown, Dr. Light never retrieved X before his own death. X wakes up to a world where humans and robots, now known as Reploids, peacefully coexist. However, Reploids sometimes go rogue and become criminals, dubbed Mavericks. X then joins the Maverick hunters alongside enemy turned rival Zero and other companions to keep world peace and stop a mounting Reploid uprising led by Sigma.

On the SNES alone, the franchise saw Mega Man X 2 in 1994 and Mega Man X 3 in 1995, the latter also releasing of PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and PC in certain countries, as well as a proper Mega Man 7 in 1995 and Mega Man & Bass in 1998. Many spinoffs also released, including Wily & Right no RockBoard: That's Paradise in 1993, Mega Man Soccer in 1994, as well as arcade games Mega Man: The Power Battle in 1995 and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters in 1996.

After being more or less exclusive to Nintendo consoles for its life, Capcom decided to shift the franchise over to PlayStation and other CD based consoles due to their disappointment in Nintendo 64 hardware. The first in this new era was Mega Man 8 in 1996 for PlayStation, Saturn and PC, which utilized the capabilites of the CD format to produce high quality audio and fully animated cutscenes. However, the English dub of this game and future entries are notorious for its poor voice acting. Next came Mega Man X 4 in 1997 and Mega Man X 5 in 2000, which dropped the Saturn from as a SKU. Spinoffs of this era include Mega Man: Battle & Chase for PlayStation in 1997, and Game Boy Color releases Mega Man Xtreme in 2000 and Mega Man Xtreme 2 in 2001.

At this point in time, complaints about the franchise feeling samey had begun developing and Mega Man once again needed a refresh. Due to the series almost exclusively having 2D gameplay, Capcom wanted the series to shift into 3D. The result was the third person shooter Rock Man Dash for PlayStation and PC in 1997, which was localized as Mega Man Legends. Set several thousand years after the Mega Man X series, the game follows Volnutt, a lowly digger who gets powered up with robotic weapons. He teams up with his found family Roll and Barrel Caskett as they travel the world in search of treasure and fight the Bonne family and other global threats. The game received a port for Nintendo 64 titled Mega Man 64. A prequel released as The Misadventures of Tron Bonne in 1999 and Mega Man Legends 2 released in 2000. A Taiwanese exclusive PC game titled Rockman DASH Zhěngjiù Dìqiú Dà Màoxiǎn also released in 1999.55

Keiji Inafune always intended for Mega Man X 5 to be the last in that particular series and wanted to move on to a new venture. However, Capcom created a new team to continue the series without Inafune's knowledge, which resulted in Mega Man X 6 for PlayStation in 2001, as well as Mega Man X 7 in 2003 and Mega Man X 8 in 2004. These entries were seen as arguably the worst in the franchise and ended the Mega Man X series, with the last entry on consoles being Mega Man X: Command Mission in 2004 for Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2.

The project Keiji Inafune worked on eventually released as Mega Man Zero in 2002 for Game Boy Advance. Taking place 100 years after the events of Mega Man X 5 and somewhat ignoring later installments, humans defeated the Mavericks and both humans and reploids were once again able to live in harmony. However, an energy crisis drove the humans to kill the Reploids to conserve fuel, causing a resistance movement to form. Zero is then discovered in a healing chamber, who goes out to piece together his century of absence, bring peace to the world once again, and try to find and defeat the mastermind behind this chaos. This game received sequels Mega Man Zero 2 in 2003 and Mega Man Zero 3 in 2004. Inafune initially wanted the series to stop here, but Capcom mandated a Mega Man Zero 4 in 2005.

Concurrently to this series, a separate team created Mega Man Battle Network also for Game Boy Advance in 2001. Taking place in an alternate universe to the classic Mega Man universe, scientist Tadashi Hikari develops a Net society where regular people can jack in with a Net Navi and live out a second life. His grandson Lan Hikari and his Net Navi MegaMan.EXE as they defend the net society against all forms of criminal malware, including antagonist Lord Wily. This game is a stark departure from the rest of the series in that it is primarily an RPG. Battles take place in an enclosed grid and players must used collected battle chips to defeat their opponents. This game received a full remake for Nintendo DS in 2009 titled Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star.

This series received a myriad of sequels and spinoffs. The mainline entries include Mega Man Battle Network 2 also in 2001, dual releases Mega Man Battle Network 3: White & Blue in 2002, dual releases Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun & Blue Moon in 2003, dual releases Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team Protoman & Team Colonel in 2005, which were combine into a single release on Nintendo DS as Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS in 2005, and dual releases Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar & Cybeast Gregar in 2005. Two platforming spinoffs released in 2003, Mega Man Network Transmission for Nintendo GameCube and RockMan EXE WS for WonderSwan Color. Two RPG games released for Cell phones, Rockman EXE Phantom of Network in 2004 and Rockman EXE Legend of Network in 2005, as well as arcade game Rockman EXE The Medal Operation in 2005. Several spinoff based entirely on battling also released, including Game Boy Advance games Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge in 2003 and Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation in 2004, Rockman EXE N1 Battle for WonderSwan Color in 2003, and Rockman EXE Battle Chip Stadium for arcades in 2005.

Also around this time, Capcom started developing many Mega Man titles for mobile phones, with several releasing every year consecutively. Alongside rereleasing preexisting Mega Man games several times, some original titles were also developed. This includes a canon Mega Man Legends game in 2008 titled Rockman DASH - 5tsu no Shima no Daibouken! and spinoff Rockman Xover in 2012.

After wrapping up the Mega Man Zero series, most of the same team then migrated over to development on a new series, which materialized as Mega Man ZX in 2006. Taking place 100 years after Mega Man Zero 4, human and Reploid relations have once again grown peaceful, with maverick hunters now being mass-produced. This includes Mega Man model X and Z, both modeled after X and Zero respectively. The character Vent or Aile depending on who the player chooses are suited up as a Mega Man model and go out to save the world from another mysterious maverick uprising. The game received a sequel in 2007 titled Mega Man ZX Advent.

The Mega Man Battle Network team also shifted over to Nintendo DS after dabbling with the console for a few rereleases to create the new game, which resulted in the release trilogy Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus, Leo & Dragon in 2006. Taking place several centuries after Mega Man Battle Network 6, the Net Society is now so advanced that anyone can travel between it and the real world at will. Protagonists Geo Stelar and Omega-Xis combine to create Star Force Mega Man to both protect the world from the EM Virus and keep their true identities a secret. Gameplay is similar to the previous Battle Network games, but with a 3D perspective. The game received a few sequels, including release trilogy Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker × Ninja & Zerker × Saurian in 2007, and dual releases Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace & Red Joker in 2008.

After a 12 year hiatus, the classic Mega Man series suddenly returned in 2008 with Mega Man 9 for WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network. The game was made in the exact 8-bit pixel art style of the first six Mega Man games, albeit with some subtle modernizations impossible to achieve on older hardware and new gameplay modes, as well as downloadable content released later. This game was received as a basic, yet well designed return to form after complaints of the many spinoff series losing sight of what made the franchise great in the first place in the eyes of many were forming. This game was followed up with Mega Man 10 in 2010, which had largely the same qualities as Mega Man 9 with expanded online modes and new characters. This game received less favorable reviews due to generally being considered safe and not innovative enough, which ironically is what put the series on hiatus in the first place.

Mega Man 10 would end up being the last Capcom-developed Mega Man game for many years. Around 2011, many projects were in the works, but ended up being canceled in messy ways. Four known projects include massive multiplayer online game for Windows Mega Man Online, the nearly finished level creator game Mega Man Universe, first person shooter reboot of Mega Man X titled Maverick Hunter, and Mega Man Legends 3, which initially had a public development period where anyone can contribute to various decisions before being canceled by a lack of confidence from executives. Keiji Inafune, who oversaw all of these games and had his reputation poisoned by these cancellations, left the company at this time to form his own studio. The games Inafune have made since his departure are Mighty No. 9 in 2013, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z in 2014, and ReCore in 2016, all of which were given negative reviews upon release and were considered pale imitations of previous games. Inafune also crowdfunded for the game Red Ash, though this game has yet to materialize.

During this drought of Mega Man content following Mega Man 10, the only game Capcom published was Street Fighter X Mega Man, a Mega Man style game with Street Fighter characters as both bosses and allies.

This drought ended in 2018 with the release of Mega Man 11 on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. This game once again sticks rigidly to the classic formula, but includes some unique gameplay elements and is the first in the series to utilize 3D graphics. The game received somewhat mixed reviews, praising the game for being a solid foundation for future games, but sticks to its formula to a fault at points and is afraid to do something truly innovative. This is also the last proper Mega Man game released to this day barring rereleases and the mobile game Rockman X Dive for mobile devices in 2020, once again causing a drought of content.

Outside of games, the Mega Man franchise has been represented in other media. This includes guest appearances like the Marvel vs Capcom and Super Smash Bros. series. Several animated series, comic books, and manga have been created, both directly based on games and in their own continuity. The Mega Man series has been considered highly influential in the video game industry, particularly with non-linear gameplay structure, story and continuity, and several well-regarded instances of modernization. The character is considered synonymous with Capcom and is one of the most recognizable video game characters of all time in regions where the NES was popular, despite new installments in the franchise being relatively few and far between in recent years.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

The Mega Man universe debuts in Smash 4 as the first Capcom series to make it into the Smash Bros. franchise, receiving a character, stage (alongside a boss), an Assist Trophy, and an assortment of trophies and music tracks.

Fighter

Mega Man (Starter): the title character of Capcom's Mega Man series; an android named Rock created by the illustrious Dr. Light. He was originally designed by Light to serve as a lab assistant, but he was ultimately modified to serve a higher purpose after Light's former colleague - Dr. Wily - went rogue. Equipped with the Mega Buster and the ability to absorb the powers of adversarial Robot Masters, Mega Man foils the plans of the nefarious Wily time after time with a strong sense of justice. He is one of the most fondly-remembered video game characters of his era. Similar to Nintendo's Mario, Sega's Sonic, and Namco's Pac-Man, Mega Man is often treated by fans as an unofficial mascot of Capcom. Despite being a third-party character, he is closely associated with Nintendo; the first seven Mega Man games released from 1987 - 1995 were originally exclusive to Nintendo consoles and he had a reoccurring presence on the American cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master, appearing alongside Nintendo's Pit and Konami's Simon Belmont. Mega Man was one of the five third-party characters to appear on the Japan-exclusive "If There Was a Smash 2" poll conducted by Masahiro Sakurai between the releases of the original Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Even though the Mega Man series entered a brief period of dormancy that coincided with the development of Super Smash Bros. 4, Mega Man was deemed significant enough to not only be included as a new fighter, but to also be one of the first shown off. He was revealed to be a newcomer in Smash 4 with the games' unveiling during E3 2013 alongside Villager and Wii Fit Trainer. His weight, gravity, and overall physics are faithful translations of the feel of the original Mega Man games. He has very few physical attacks, instead relying on a vast arsenal of weapons obtained from defeated Robot Masters from across the series. For his up special, he summons the robotic dog Rush to perform Rush Coil. Like Palutena, Mega Man has a wide variety of custom moves, one of which replaces Rush with another companion of his - the robotic bird Beat. Mega Man's Final Smash, Mega Legends, has him fire a continuous beam of energy alongside his alter egos: Mega Man X from the eponymous subseries, MegaMan.EXE from Mega Man Battle Network, Mega Man Volnutt from Mega Man Legends, and Geo Stelar from Mega Man Star Force.

Stage

Wily Castle (Starter): staged on a metal plateau before Dr. Wily's Skull Castle - the final stage of Mega Man 2. The plateau is flanked by two floating platforms. The main gimmick of the stage is that the Yellow Devil resides here as a stage boss. Otherwise, it is a stage similar to Yoshi's Island, with small floating platforms moving in and out of the stage. The platforms that appear differ in function depending on the version of Smash 4. In the 3DS version, platforms will float above the plateau and to the left and right of it. The layout is similar to the Bright Man Stage from Mega Man 4. In the Wii U version, on-rail platforms move along a set path. They are similar to the moving platforms in the Guts Man Stage from the original Mega Man; there are breaks in the rails that cause the platforms to abruptly fold and drop the the characters and items that were on top of it. It is one of the possible stages to appear in Level 3^(3DS) and Level 4^{(Wii U)} of All-Star Mode as a home stage for Mega Man. Only its Ω form can accommodate 8-Player Smash, which takes place on the plateau.

Items

Assist Trophy

Elec Man: a Robot Master from the original Mega Man; an android that can discharge electricity from his hands. When summoned, he hops around the stage and fire projectile Thunder Beams at opponents. He does not harm the summoner.

Smash Tour items

Energy Tank (Red): a health-restoring item from Mega Man 2. It heals the user if their damage exceeds 100% in battle.
Proto Man (Green) a reoccurring rival of Mega Man's created by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily. He is used on the board. If an opponent tour item specifically targets this item's user, it is reflected back to that item's user.

Enemy

Main article: Enemies

Smash Run enemy

Mettaur: a hard hat-wearing robot from the original Mega Man. It ducks underneath its helmet to protect itself from attacks and projectiles. It uncovers itself periodically to fire a three-way shot at opponents. It behaves similarly to the Octorok.

Mii Costumes

Main article: Alternate costume (SSB4)/Mii Fighter

Outfits

X's Armor (DLC): an outfit based on Mega Man X, a spiritual successor to the original Mega Man and Dr. Light's final creation. X himself appears in Smash 4 to assist Mega Man during his Final Smash. The costume was released with a corresponding helmet as downloadable content on April 15, 2015. The Mii wears blue armor and fires projectiles from X's arm cannon, the X-Buster.
Proto Man's Armor (DLC): an outfit based on Proto Man, a reoccurring rival of Mega Man created by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily. The costume was released with a corresponding helmet as downloadable content on April 15, 2015. The Mii wears gray-and-red armor with a yellow scarf around their neck and has Proto Man's shield strapped to their back. The Mii fires projectiles from Proto Man's arm cannon, the Proto Buster.
Zero's Armor (DLC): an outfit based on Zero, a reoccurring ally of X from the Mega Man X subseries and the protagonist of Mega Man Zero. The costume was released with a corresponding helmet as downloadable content on June 14, 2015. The Mii wears red-and-white armor and wields the Z-Saber, Zero's beam sword.
MegaMan.EXE's Armor (DLC): an outfit based on MegaMan.EXE, a virtual incarnation of Mega Man from the Battle Network subseries. MegaMan.EXE himself appears in Smash 4 to assist Mega Man during his Final Smash. The costume was released with a corresponding helmet as downloadable content on June 14, 2015. The Mii wears a navy-and-white suit.

Headgear

Music

Main article: List of SSB4 Music (Mega Man series)

Original Tracks

Arrangements and remixes unique to SSB4.

Cut Man Stage: an arrangement of "Cut Man Stage" from the original Mega Man. It plays on Wily Castle^{(Wii U)}.
Mega Man 2 Medley: a medley of pieces from Mega Man 2, including "Game Start", "Title", "Stage Select", and "Dr. Wily Stage 1". It plays on Wily Castle.
Air Man Stage: an arrangement of "Air Man Stage" from Mega Man 2. It plays in Smash Run and on Wily Castle^{(Wii U)}.
Quick Man Stage: an arrangement of "Quick Man Stage" and "Heat Man Stage" from Mega Man 2. It plays on Wily Castle^{(Wii U)}.
Spark Man Stage: an arrangement of "Spark Man Stage" from Mega Man 3. It plays in Smash Run and on Wily Castle^{(Wii U)}.
Shadow Man Stage: an arrangement of "Shadow Man Stage" from Mega Man 3. It plays on Wily Castle^{(Wii U)}.

Source Tracks

Compositions and arrangements directly sourced from Mega Man games with no alterations.

Mega Man Retro Medley: a medley of sourced pieces from the original Mega Man, including: "Game Start", "Elec Man Stage", "Bomb Man Stage", "Cut Man Stage", "Guts Man Stage", "Fire Man Stage", and "Ice Man Stage". It plays on Wily Castle.
Mega Man 2 Retro Medley: a medley of sourced pieces from Mega Man 2, including: "Air Man Stage", "Wood Man Stage", "Quick Man Stage", "Flash Man Stage", "Crash Man Stage", "Metal Man Stage", "Dr. Wily Stage 1", and "Dr. Wily Stage 2". It plays on Wily Castle^{(Wii U)}.
Mega Man 3 Retro Medley: a medley of sourced pieces from Mega Man 3, including: "Top Man Stage", "Shadow Man Stage", "Spark Man Stage", "Snake Man Stage", and "Hard Man Stage". It plays on Wily Castle^{(Wii U)}.
Mega Man 4-6 Retro Medley: a medley of sourced pieces from Mega Man 4, 5, and 6, including: "Dive Man Stage", "Skull Man Stage", "Dark Man Stage", and "Flame Man Stage". It plays on Wily Castle^{(Wii U)}.

Victory Theme

Victory! Mega Man: the first few bars of "Title" from Mega Man 2, led by electric guitar.

Trophies

Main article: List of SSB4 trophies (Mega Man series)

Masterpiece

Main article: Masterpieces

Mega Man 2

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The Mega Man franchise returns with a sizable boost in representation. Along with all previous content returning (sans one Assist Trophy), the franchise has expanded its scope to include content from other subseries such as Mega Man X and Mega Man Star Force. Along with the titular character returning as an unlockable fighter, two new Assist Trophies make their debut. The lone Mega Man stage returns now with more hazards and an even larger selection of music tracks, both sourced and rearranged. Rounding out the representation is a large variety of Spirits spanning every major video game subseries in the franchise, with no other third-party series having as many Spirits in Smash as Mega Man.