Megaman. What is it about this videogame character that makes him stand tall with the likes of Mario, Sonic, and Link? Let's take a look at the games that brought this blue robot into our lives.


Megaman (Games 1-8)

At first look, the games are the same platform formula that Mario and Sonic employ. Megaman can move left and right, or up and down if there's a ladder handy (like Mario on a vine) and he can jump. He can fire at his enemies like Fire Mario, though he doesn't lose this ability if he touches one. And when he faces a boss at the end of a stage, if he defeats the boss, he gains the weapon used against him. Those weapons can be used against the other bosses like a giant game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, as well as for areas of the various stages that need a specific weapon or item to help move forward, just as Link needs various weapons to go on. What makes these games special, though, is Dr. Wily. Although he's a bad guy, he is the eternal optimist. He will always try someway to destroy Megaman and take over the world. As we went from game to game, we came across other characters (most of them good), either major or minor, that added to the games in one way or another, like Dr. Cossack. He was only doing Wily's dirty work because his daughter had been kidnapped by Wily.


Megaman X (Games 1-8, Command Missions)

We now move on to Megaman's younger brother, X. Again, we start off with the platform formula, but now we toss in a little of Sonic's speed with the dash move, as well as cling to walls. We still have to deal with bosses and get their weapons, but now we also have to look for armor parts to enhance X, as well as heart tanks to extend the life meter. Sigma, our replacement for Dr. Wily, is not the eternal optimist. He's just a sad robot with a major tendency to over-compensate in his bid to just get rid of X and Zero. MMX7 and Command Missions are the series only forays into the realm of 3-D. The additional characters, instead of adding to the game, sort of detracted instead, especially Alia.

Megaman Trigger (Megaman Legends 1 & 2)

We now travel hundreds of years into the future. Water covers most of the land on the world. It is in this world that we meet Megaman Trigger (though at the time, he's only known as Megaman Volnut), his pet monkey Data, Barrel Caskett and his granddaughter Roll. These were the only Action/RPGs (outside of MMX Comand Missions) that involved Megaman, and although they were good (some parts downright outragous), they never really took off, though both games are really fun to play. Treasure hunting, fighting pirates, building and upgrading weapons, and immense boss battles. Who could ask for more? (Answer: Everyone. Just about every MML fan is hoping that Capcom is going to make a third.)


Megaman.EXE (Megaman Battle Network 1-5)

Now we look at an alternate Megaman, one who exists in cyberspace. Lan Hikari is your average boy, fun, troublesome... with an average Net Navi. But that all changed when his father sent him a program that would upgrade his normal navi into Megaman, a super strong navi with a heart of gold. Together with their friends, they stop the various evil organizations that are out to take over the world. To fight the bad guys, as well as other opponents in regular net battles, they use battle chips which give their navies stronger weapons. As the games move on, Megaman gains new abilities, such as style-change, which allows him use stronger abilities with or without battle chips, and double-soul, which allows him to merge with another Net Navi.

Well, there we are, a brief look at the history of Megaman. I hope you enjoyed the trip. Please return all tray tables to their upright position and have a nice day.