Anyway,let's get started.
Let's kick things off with a piece of trivia from the latest entry,Mega Man 11. As many of you know,most X Series Maverick Bosses receive name changes when brought to the West.
Well,Capcom has finally done it with the Classic Series. 2 Robot Masters got name changes for unknown reasons. Impact Man and Bounce Man are called Pile Man and Rubber Man,respectively,in Japan.
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And now,let's continue with the game that started it all,Mega Man 1.
Mega Man 1 was made by Capcom under Keiji Inafune,who was still a rookie at the time. Because Inafune wanted a more detailed game,he decided to make Mega Man blue..this was due to the NES color pallete having more Blue.
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During development of Mega Man 1,everyone at Capcom Japan was having a bit of trouble coming up with a name for the game and it's title character. They eventually came up with these names: Mighty Kid,Knuckle Kid,Battle Kid,Rainbow Warrior Miracle Kid,and Battle Rainbow Rockman. They chose the 5th name,but shortened it to just Rockman. The rainbow part comes from Mega Man's ability to change colors every time he equips a Master Weapon.
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There were a few unused ideas that never made it to the first game. There were plans include 8 Robot Masters instead of just 6. An Aquatic Robot Master and the Legendary Bond Man. Both Masters never made it past the planning stages,but unlike the potential "Water Man",Bond Man received concept art and was even featured in a Manga by the legendary Hitoshi Ariga,creator of the Mega Man Megamix and Mega Man Gigamix Mangas.
Anyway,Bond Man's weapon would've stopped enemies in their tracks. This attribute was given to Ice Man's weapon. Both bots were dropped due to limited cart space.
And according to developers,Mega Man's helmet crest would've also changed shape depending on which weapon he was currently using. This look would've been inspired by the heroes of Ninjacaptor,a Japanese Toku show.
However,due to software limitations,this was never implimented. We Would see this idea revisited and reworked in Mega Man 11,however.
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Also,the MM1 story was gonna be a bit longer. After defeating the Robot Masters,Rock would've returned home and Dr.Light would've informed him that Roll was captured by Wily. Rock would've stormed Wily's lab to rescue his robo-sis and stop the mad scientist. During those final stages,Rock would've battled Roll,who would've been converted into a Giant Mech. These story ideas were dropped quickly.
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Thanks to Capcom USA not understanding Japanese Fiction Naming Customs,Rockman was changed to Mega Man in the U.S. See,the reason why Rockman is named Rockman,is because his civilian name is Rock. Obviously,Capcom USA didn't get this,and changed the name. Plus,they thought Rockman sounded wimpy.
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Due to a very short deadline,Capcom USA had less than a few hours to create the American Box Art for MM1. And so Bad Box Art Mega Man #1 was born.
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Now let's talk about the most Famous game in the franchise,Mega Man 2!
Capcom Japan didn't want a Mega Man 2 at all,but Keiji Inafune still felt that the series had life. So he struck a deal with his superiors,and they agreed to let him make the game,if he and his team worked on it in their own spare time. Inafune agreed and Mega Man 2 was eventually created.
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There were some concepts that never made it into MM2. Once such concept was that Mega Man could burn the trees in Wood Man's level if he used Atomic Fire on them. It was scrapped due to software limitations. Another concept was that the Piko-Piko Master battle was gonna be much harder,with the boss taking away floor space.
Another unused concept was the Player Select option,where you can choose either Mega Man or Roll.
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Also in MM2,A Metool Generator was created,but for some reason went unused. It can still can be found within the games Data,though.
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Mega Man 2 was also the first game to feature a Boss Design contest. Unfortunatly,it was Japanese only.
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For unknown reasons,Capcom USA used some strange concept art of Wood Man in the Mega Man 2 manual,instead of his official art.
This 'concept' Wood Man had a Leafy Breastplate and a... Fiery Fist!? A fire weilding Wood Man? Truely Bizzare.
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There are 2 very famous Japanese Music Video tributes to MM2,'Okkusenmon' and 'I Can't Beat Airman'. Both are cool to listen too.
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The U.S. Version of 2 had a difficulty selection. This was put in place to help American Gamers get into Mega Man. Normal is the easy mode. While Difficult is the True normal mode.
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Going back to MM1 for a second to give you this interesting tidbit: Journey's song "Faithfully" sounds similar to Elec Man's stage music. Listen to Both Songs and you'll agree.
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Here's another bit about Mega Man's origins.
Mega Man was loosely based on Astroboy. Both are robots created by a kindly scientist and fight evil. Plus in MM1's ending,Rock has a similar hairstyle to the legendary anime hero. And,to add on to that,Mega Man was originally gonna be an Astroboy game,but Capcom lost the licsence.
Inafune and co. were disappointed,but got over it quickly promising to create something even better than Astroboy. And,sure enough,they succeeded.
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Here's something amusing: Sailor Moon's Tuxedo Mask is very similar to Protoman. They Both look basic,yet cool. They have pre-entrance gimmicks(proto has his whistle and tuxy has his roses). And They are always there to save the Main Hero of the series.(sailor moon and mega man).
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While we're on the subject of Anime Comparisons!
Mega Man and Protoman are loosly based on Speed Racer and his older brother,Racer X. Proto and Racer X are the long lost older brothers of Mega and Speed respectively,who disappeared after an accident. Plus,both Racer X and Proto are mysterious and they save their younger brothers.
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Moving right along..
Various Mega Man characters have made cameo apperences in other Retro Capcom Games.
Mega Man,Roll,and Rush make a small cameo apperence in Super Gem Fighter. Also making a Cameo is Mega Man X,Zero,and Iris.
In Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter,there is a Mega Man banner in the mall stage. In that same stage a person in a Mega Man costume is surrounded by a crowd of people.
In Megaman Legends 2. Ice Man and Kalinka are pictured on some Manga. Best of all,in the bar is a TV showing a Rockman Anime. Also,In one of the Mega Man Battle Network games,there's a poster of Duo(i think in lans room).
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Felicia and Mega Man must be friends,because In Super Gem Fighter,she uses his moves. In this brief cosplay,the Night Warrior can attack with a Short-Range Mega Buster Shot and has a Slide Kick.
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Now on to My personal favorite game in the Classic Series,Mega Man 3.
Mega Man 3 has a host of unused and altered content. For example: There is minor evidence to suggest that Wily Stages 4 and 5 were supposed to be a single stage. The biggest givaway is the fact that the Boss Rush and the Wily Battle take place in 2 different stages (Wily Stage 4 and Wily Stage 5 respectivly),where in other Mega Man titles,the Boss Rush and Wily battle take place in the same stage.
Also in Mega Man 3,there is reason to believe that the Final Stage was originally gonna be longer. Biggest proof comes from the Large Energy Capsule at the begining of the stage. There's also the stage theme,which is too long for a short stage.
Speaking of long/short music. The Wily's castle theme was a bit longer then what we normaly hear. This is because the music was supposed to be part of a longer scene. The music was initially supposed to begin a bit after Dr.Light informs Mega Man that Wily stole Gamma.
Speaking of,Wily was supposed to rise above a city and up to a mooned night sky. In the final,the city and moon are deleted. Don't ask me why.
Gemini Man level once had Saturn-esque Planets in it's background.
According to the MM3 Prototype,Magnet Man and Snake Man were originally gonna host Doc Robot...Not Needle Man and Spark Man. The Proto Stage Select screen shows Snake Man on the top-right,instead of the top-center; Needle Man is on the top-center,instead of the top-right; Spark Man isn't on the top-left as he is in the final,instead,he's on the bottom-center; And Magnet Man is located in Spark Man's 'Final' position. This arrangement looks more natural than in the final. More evidence of this comes hidden inside the MM3 Rom,where broken tiles from Magnet Man's level can be found. Doc Robot's host levels have a 'broken' theme to them.
And finally,In the Rockman 3 Beta,Protoman transforms himself into Break Man in Gemini Man's level,while in the Final,he just stands there for a few seconds. This is evidence that Proto was supposed to transform into Break Man then and there,but Capcom either forgot to implement it or decided not to use it due to technical issues,as if you visited Gemini Man first,you'd face Break Man in other levels. That might've been a bit too tough to program in,a problem Capcom didn't wanna deal with,so they left the transformation out.
More proof that Mega Man 3 was somewhat rushed.
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Next up..Japan-Only Titles!
There've been a small number of Mega Man games that never saw release outside of Japan in Any form...not even in Compilation games.
The first game to stay in the land of the rising sun,was Rockboard. Rockboard was a Japanese-style boardgame,similar to Monopoly. Mega Man only appears as the GamesMaster,and not as a player character. There were 5 Playable Characters: Dr. Light,Dr.Wily,Dr.Cossack,Kalinka Cossack,and Roll (in her first playable appearence).
The reason for the lack of a U.S./Euro/Aussie release was simple: It was an NES game made in 1993. The game was quite text heavy and by the time proper translations would've been completed,it would've been 1994,the year that the NES officially became obsolete.
The next Japan exclusive game was The SNES/Super Famicom version of Mega Man and Bass. We would eventually get the GBA port,but it's somewhat watered down and inferior too the original.
Next up is Super Adventure Rockman,which was mostly an FMV game. But unlike the ones seen on the Sega CD,this one's actually good.
The Japan exclusive Wonderswan handhelds would get their own Mega Man titles...3,in fact. The first was for the Original Wonderswan called,Rockman and Forte: Challenger from the Future. It was a traditional platformer with a Really High dificulty level,in fact,some stages are downright unfair.
The next 2 games were for the Japan-Exclusive Wonderswan Color. These games were part of the Battle Network series. We have Rockman EXE WS,which was an extremely hard platformer,with some unfair elements. Capcom would do this type of thing again for the Battle Network series with Mega Man Network Transmition for the Game Cube.
Rockman EXE Battle Chip GP was a Tournament-style game using Battle Network's battle mechanics. In this game you can play as a Navi other than Mega Man,which was cool. Unlike the other 2 Wonderswan games,this one recieved a port on the Gameboy Advance,which was released worldwide.
The Neo Geo Pocket Color,which sold poorly in the States,had a Mega Man title too: Rockman Battles and Fighters. This Japan-exclusive was an 8-bit compilation port of the 2 Arcade Titles,Power Battles and Power Fighters. The game looks pretty good,plays good too.
Rockman Complete Works was a PSX re-release of the 1st 6 Mega Man titles. Bad News: it's Japanese Only, Worse News: it's 6 individual discs that were sold seperatly,Good News: Each game has some cool extras,Even Worse News: Our version of Complete Works,Mega Man Anniversary Collection,lacks these extras.
Rockman Battle and Fighters was a PS2 exclusive compilation disc that contained the 2 Arcade games....with a few extras.
Other Japanese Battle Network/EXE exclusives include: Rockman EXE 4.5:Real Operation,a game that takes place between EXE4 and EXE5; Rockman EXE: The Medal Operation,an Arcade title; And Operate Shooting Star,a remake of EXE1,that doubles as a crossover between EXE and Ryuusei No Rockman.
And finally,Various Mobile Games were also kept in Japan,including,Rockman DASH: Great 5 Island Adventure and the infamous,Rockman XOver.
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Back to Mega Man 1! The opening to Bon Jovi's (She’s A Little) Runaway sounds like the character select screen in Mega Man 1. Listen to Both Songs and you'll see (hear) what I mean.
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Here's some more nutty trivia: The Krion Conquest is an NES game that has heavy Mega Man influences,so heavy that it could be considered a Clone. The sprite art and main heroine are solid proof of this. Nice game,but the difficulty level is extremely high.
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It's Mega Man 6 Time!
Keiji Inafune wanted to end the Classic Mega Man series at 6,so that he could focus on the then-new X Series. However,Capcom wanted more Classic Mega Man and convinced Inafune to let the Series continue.
And unlike with the "X6 Fiasco" (I'll talk more about that later),Inafune warmed up to Capcom's decision and even had a hand in the creation of most future classic series titles.
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Initially Mega Man 6 was never supposed to leave Japan,but Nintendo of America stepped in and volunteered to both publish and translate the game for North America. Capcom reluctantly agreed to Nintendo's request and Mega Man 6 was brought to North America.
The reason for Capcom refusing to release the game outside of Japan varies.
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Mega Man 6 is the ONLY game in the whole franchise to have Robot Masters designed by North Americans. Famed magazine,Nintendo Power,in conjunction with Capcom USA,held it's own Robot Master design contest for the game. Thousands were submitted,but only 2 got excepted. Knight Man and Wind Man were designed by Daniel Vallee and Michael Leader respectively.
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And the nutty trivia just keeps on coming!
Capcom's Viewtiful Joe looks similar to Protoman. He's a red-clad hero who wears a mask similar to Proto's visor,as well as a short scarf.
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Guts Man is Wily's Favorite Robot Master. Here's proof: Statues of Gutsman can be found in Wily's final stage in MM1. The Gutsdozer in MM2. MM3 has the Gutsman-like junk golems. MM5 has Stoneman,whose a brick-themed Gutsman. And MM7 has the Gutsman abomination,Guts Man G.
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The Mega Man franchise is chalk full of musical references!
Mega Man's real name is Rock. His sister's name is Roll. Rock and Roll....get it? Also Rock has an older sibling named Blues aka Protoman. Break Man,Protoman's/Blues' one-time identity,is also a musical reference (to breakdancing,an uber popular dance style of the late 80's and early 90's).
Beat and Tango,2 of Mega's pets,also have music based names.
Mega Man has a rival named Bass,who has a wolf named Treble. Their Japanese names are Forte and Gospel. Plus,Wily has a pet bird called Reggae.
Some of Wily's other robots are also named after musical terms (enker,quint,ballade,and punk).
Duo is also a robot whose named after a musical term.
For the X Series,we have the Twins Techno and Middy. And the Mavericks in American version of X5,are all named after members of the band,Guns 'n Roses.
The Battle Network series and Legends series both contain musical references too. But,I'll let you guys find them yourselves.
It's strange,but with all of these musical names,Capcom has yet to create a musical-based Robot Master.
The Archie Mega Man Comic has Tempo,the civilian alias of Quake Woman,an Archie exclusive Robot Master.
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Now some trivia related to Dr.'s Light and Wily.
Dr.Wily looks is based on Albert Einstein. Dr. Light was loosely based on Thomas Edison...though His look was based on Santa Clause.
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Here are 3 bits of trivia on X and Zero.
X and Zero are the only ones in their respective families that are not named after musical terms. X was named after his unlimited potential and Zero was named after Kamakaze Fighter Pilots.
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In Mega Man's Power Battles ending,Dr.Light mentions that he's working on an Advanced AI program. This is the ONLY reference to X in the original series. In Bass' Power Battles ending,Dr. Wily mentions that he's creating a powerful Robot that will destroy Mega Man. The robot Wily's talking about is none other than,Zero. But Wait there's more: In Bass' Power Fighters ending,Zero is not only talked about,but his plans are actually shown.
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Classic Mega Man's looks and mindset are that of a 12-year-old boy. While His Brother X,who's supposed to be younger,has the looks and mindset of a 17-year-old. Zero has a slightly older mindset.
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Since Mega Man 4,Dr. Wily has been using the Disappearing/Reappearing saucer as his final attack. Stupid and Repetitive Crapcom!
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Here's an interesting fact that connects Evil Energy,Roboenza,and the Maverick Virus.
Believe it or not,The Evil Energy from Mega Man 8 is basically a prototype of the Maverick Virus from the X series. The Roboenza virus from Mega Man 10 was created from the Evil Energy. And in turn,Roboenza was modified into the Zero Virus,which eventually became the Maverick Virus in the X Series.
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This next bit is for all the Sony Haters.
Due to Sony of America's hardassness,Mega Man Battle and Chase was not allowed to come to America,so it didn't. However,it was included as a hidden game in the Mega Man X Collection.
For an Earlier example of Sony America's hardassness,we go back to Late 1996-Early 1997. Where Sony America initially refused to let any more 2D games on their console. But Capcom (as well as a few other companies,such as konami) hit back by threatening to never release their 3D games on their console in America. Sony submitted and 2D games were allowed to be on American Playstations.
So what's this got to do with Mega Man? Well,the 2D Capcom games in question were Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4.
One last tidbit,Mega Man 8 was initially gonna be a Saturn exclusive,but Sony of Japan protested heavily,so a Playstation version was also made. However,to be true to their original intentions,Capcom made the Saturn version of 8 the definitive version of the game,by giving it extra content (such as extra menus and battles with cut man and wood man).
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Classic Series Music had a way of sneaking into the X series!
In Mega Man X1 and the PS1 version of Mega Man X3 contains remixed versions of the "Selected Boss" theme from the original series. Part of Mega Man X5's Intro theme is a remixed version of Mega Man 3's "Get Weapon" theme. Also in Mega Man X5,a remixed version of the Mega Man 1's "Fortress Boss" theme is played during the battle with the Shadow Devil.
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Random Tidbit # 2,000! The Joes and Metools are the Franchises most recurring stage enemies. They appeared in many forms thoughout the series.
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Here's the first bit of Legends Trivia.
In Japan,Mega Man Legends is called Rockman DASH. DASH is an acronym which stands for Digouters Adventure Story in Halcyon Days. (shouldn't it be DASHD instead?)
Anyway,Digouter is the Japanese name for Diggers.
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Here's the ONLY bit of Mega Man and Bass Trivia.
Most of the enemies in Mega Man 8 are reused in Mega Man and Bass. Judging by how well the PSX/Saturn graphics are handled on Super Famicom/SNES,the system was more powerful than we thought. However,despite the 32-bit graphics,the Music and Sound is still 16-bit. In fact,most of the sound effects were recycled from Mega Man 7.
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Here's 4 more MM1 tidbits. Last ones,I promise!
Mega Man 1 is the only game in the series that doesn't have a "Map" for Wily's Skull Fortress Or a "Get Weapon" Screen. It's also the only game where Mega Man lacks Buoyancy when in water and spikes can still kill him if he's invincible.
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The first part of Mega Man 1's ending theme is also the 1st part of Mega Man 2's Intro theme.
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Mega Man 1 is the Only console title in the Franchise with a Scoring System
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Mega Man 1 was created because Capcom wanted to really bust into the home console market. Prior to Mega Man,all of Capcom's console games were just ports of their arcade titles. They wanted something original,a game that was exclusively for the home console market.
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Here's an example of careless translation!
In Mega Man 7,Mega Man threatens to kill Dr.Wily. However,in Rockman 7 Rock does no such thing. Mega Man's "Threat" is nothing more than a localization error.
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Here's some more MM7 trivia for ya: In Spring Man stage,you can find Astro Man's plans hidden in the backround.
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Believe it or not,there have been some Mega Man Classic titles where Dr.Wily was Not the Final Boss. These titles are: Mega Man 5 GB,where the final boss was Sunstar; Super Adventure Rockman,where the final boss was Ra Moon's Shin Yellow Devil aka The Ra Devil; And the non-canon Rockman and Forte:Challenger from the Future,where the final battle was with Rockman Shadow.
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Auto Survived Through The X-Series?! Acording to Capcom Japan he did! See,in Volt Catfish's MMX3 PS1 intro,Auto can be seen watching TV. The scene is very brief,so it's kinda 'blink and you miss it'. The canonicity of this moment is questionable and might just be an Easter Egg.
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Here's a fun bit of trivia for ya: When we Americans first played Mega Man 6,we thought that Yamato ment Samurai. However,thanks to the Internet,we now know what the True meaning of that word is.
A Yamato is a Japanese word that decribes Japan itself. It was originally a province in Feudal Japan,where it was the center of Japanese cultural and political activities. The word “Yamato” is beloved by many Japanese because of what it symbolizes.
On a similar note: Tengu Man is based off of a mythological Japanese demon with wings and a long nose. They are sometimes associated with birds...mainly crows.
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One final piece of MM6 trivia for ya.
Europeans Never got Mega Man 6 when it was first released. So they never had a chance to play the game (ligitly) until it was released on the Europeon Virtual Console on June 2013.
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How about some Battle Network trivia?
As you know most Original Series robots have Battle Network counterparts. Only instead of robots,they're Net Navis. The only Robot Masters that Don't have Navi Counterparts (yet) are Crash Man,Hard Man,Gemini Man,Crystal Man,Centaur Man,Spring Man,Burst Man,Clown Man,Grenade Man,Frost Man,Astro Man,Pirate Man,Dynamo Man,Time Man,Oil Man,All but 1 of the American PC Robot Masters,All but 1 of the Rockman and Forte Wonderswan Robot Masters,All of the Mega Man 9 and 10 Robot Masters,All of the Mega Man 11 Robot Masters,The 3 Members of the Genesis Unit,2 of the 3 Mega Man Killers,and The Stardroids.
Clock Man from Rockman and Forte WS and Shark Man from Mega Man 3 PC were 2 obscure Robot Masters that were turned into Net Navi's. Though ClockMan.EXE's only apperence was in the Japan exclusive,Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star.
Also,Punk was the Only Mega Man Killer to ever recieve a Navi version.
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Ring Man's Navi counterpart is Ring,a female Navi who made her only appearence in Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge. She's basically what a RingMan.EXE would look like if he was genderbent.
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And now even More Random trivia.
Dr.Wily's 1st stage theme in Mega Man 2 is by far the most popular Mega Man theme ever. In fact,This song has been remixed and rearranged many times by loyal Mega Man fans. Some consider it overraded.
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Mega Man Starforce might've been planned to be a Mega Man Battle Network title at one point. There are some unused models hidden within the game for Lan and MegaMan.EXE. There's even a 3D map of AC/DC Town hidden within the game.
For unknown reasons,Capcom decided to make the game into a whole new series instead.
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Time for some genderswapping madness.
Mega Man 9's Splash Woman is the first (and so far only) Female Robot Master. Though this originally wasn't the case,Splash Woman was originally Ocean Man in the game's planing stages.
There Was a female Robot Master in the planning stages,however,named Honey Woman,who would eventually become Hornet Man. Because he still wanted a female Robot Master,Keiji Inafune replaced Ocean Man with Splash Woman,as he believed that the Water Element would be better suited for a Female.
This was a really good decision on Inafune's part.
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Random Robot Master trivia time!!
Toad Man,Snake Man,Slash Man,Hornet Man,and Sheep Man are the only 5 Robot Masters that are designed after Animals. Tengu Man doesn't count,because he's not based on an Animal.
On a related note: Tengu Man,Splash Woman,Junk Man,Shade Man,and Centaur Man are all based on mythical creatures. Junk Man is based on the Frankenstein Monster,in case you guys were wondering.
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Did you know..
That due to a rushed job,Mega Man Soccer's Ending/Credits isn't properly programmed into the game. They're still in the game,they just don't load during normal play. The Ending/Credits can only be viewed with a cheat device.
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Speaking of rushed development....
The Game Gear Mega Man title was also rushed,as there are many parts of it that seem incomplete. Plus,Wave Man's stage plays Gravity Man's Music. Wave Man's music is used for the Game Over Screen. Why? because,US Gold,a 3rd rate company,made the game. Capcom only gave it licensing rights. Kinda like those lame Mega Man PC titles.
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While on the topic of the PC Games...
Mega Man had 2 crappy PC games,each game had it's own set of Robot Masters. Volt Man,Sonic Man,and Dyna Man are from the First PC game. Blade Man,Oil Man,Water Man,Shark Man,Torch Man,and Bit Man are from the Second. Even though it's the 2nd PC game,it's called Mega Man III. What the hell happened to Mega Man II PC? I guess we'll never know.
While the PC1 Robot Masters somewhat original in design,the PC3 bots are "Frankensteined". Wave Man PC is a modified Air Man with the fan replaced with water jets; Shark Man uses parts from Snake Man and Gemini Man; Bit Man uses parts from Crash Man,Hard Man,and Spark Man; Torch Man is a modified Magnet Man without the magnet and a torch arm added; Blade Man PC is a modified Metal Man with spikes and a blade launcher; And then there's Oil Man PC,who is a modified Flash Man with an oil shooter and an oil can head.
Also,each of the PC3 bots have the same movements and their standing poses are recycled from Mega Man PC1's Volt Man. Lazy!
Finally,as I mentioned earler,Shark Man was eventually given an EXE counterpart in the form of SharkMan.EXE.
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Yay,more random trivia...
The rotating sheild weapon has been a Mega Man tradition for as long as I can remember. Most Mega Man games have this type of weapon.
The only games that Don't have a Rotating Sheild Weapon are: Mega Man 1,Mega Man 3,Mega Man 8,and Mega Man and Bass.
Mega Man 2 has the Leaf Sheild,Mega Man 4 has the Skull Barrier,Mega Man 5 has the Star Crash,Mega Man 6 has the Plant Barrier,Mega Man 7 has the Junk Sheild,Mega Man 9 has the Jewel Satillite,Mega Man 10 has the Water Shield,and Mega Man 11 has the Acid Barrier.
Even the terrible titles had Sheild Weapons. Rockman and Forte WS has the Flame Mixer and Mega Man PC has the Force Field.
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Want More MM7 love? Coming right up!
Mega Man 7 is a great big homage to the previous games in the series. For example,That one path in Freeze Man's level,where you get the Rush Search,is very remenicent of the end of Flash Man's level.
Freeze Man's stage also seems to be a mix between Ice Man's level and Skull Man's.
The final streach of Cloud Man's stage is remenicent of that final platforming area in Air Man's level. It even has similar enemies.
Slash Man's theme sounds similar to Wave Man's.
Turbo Man's stage contains homages to both Fire Man's stage and Quick Man's stage.
In the Proto Man battle,Proto himself lacks a health bar,just like in Mega Man 3.
The stage music of the Robot Museum is a medley of Guts Man,Heat Man,and Snake Man's themes.
The All Clear music (the tune that plays when you beat dr.wily) is a 16-bit remake of the All Clear music from Mega Man 3.
Burst Man's stage contains a small homage to the final Disappearing/Reappearing block section of Heat Man's stage.
There are many many more homages not listed here,try to discover the rest for yourselves. Or,I can make a comprehensive list sometime in the future.
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Random trivia time again! Hope you're not too sick of these?
The Yellow Devil,in fact,is the most revisited Fortress Guardian in the history of the franchise. It made it's debut in Mega Man 1. Without the Pause-Glitch Trick,the thing is very tough to beat.
The Yellow Devil returned in Mega Man 3,as the Yellow Devil mk.2. This battle was easier. Yellow Devil mk.3 appeared in the Arcade title,Mega Man Power Battles. It's successor,Yellow Devil mk. 3.5,was fought in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters,the sequel to Power Battles.
The next Devil to appear was The Green Devil aka the Jello Devil. It was fought in Mega Man 8. A weaker,more pathetic version of the monster was fought in Mega Man and Bass.
Other Devil's include: The Grey Devil from Rockman and Forte WS,Dark Moon from Mega Man V GB,The Mini-Devil's and The Twin Devil in Mega Man 9; The Block Devil from Mega Man 10,who's insanely difficult on Normal and Hard modes; The Shadow Devil from Mega Man X5; Mega Man 11's Yellow Devil mk.3 (mk. 4 in reality) and the Rainbow Devil from the Mega Man Zero series.
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Did ya know that thanks to Sega of America,we never received the Genesis exclusive,Mega Man:The Wily Wars in cartrage form. Instead Sega wanted the game to be an exclusive to their then-upcoming Sega Channel. Sega got what they wanted,but we Mega Man fans didn't,as many of us didn't own a subscription to the Sega Channel. The Sega Channel wasn't that great to begin with. While America was screwed over,Europe got an official cartrage.
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Here's something you guys likely didn't know..
The Voice Acting for the U.S. versions of Mega Mans 8,X4,and X7 were all done in Japan by English speakers.
This explains why those games have such bad voice acting.
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Here's a Bass and Treble facts for ya:
Bass was created soley because Keiji Inafune no longer considered Proto Man to be a proper rival. Bass and Treble's early names were Baroque and Crash respectively. Both names musical references. Also,Treble was initialy a Doberman,not a Wolf.
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And now...Even More Random Trivia!!
Mega Man Wily Wars's Wily Tower contains 3 selectable bosses that could be considered Prototype Mavericks. BusterRod G,HyperStorm H,and MegaWater S,likely inspired Capcom to make all selectable Bosses in the X series Animaloid.
On a similar note these 3 bosses were inspired by characters from the legendary Chinese Novel,Journey to the West. BusterRod G was inspired by Son Wukong (aka Son Goku),the main hero of the story.
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Want more Battle Network trivia?! You got it!
Mega Man Battle Network 1 was originally gonna be 3 games. One starring Lan and Mega Man,one starring Mega Man Buster and his NetOp,Seimei Kazami,and the 3rd starring Mega Man Blade and his NetOp,Roudou Kazami. The 3 games would've had an interconnecting Story and the Lan/MegaMan game was to go alongside the then-upcoming Anime.
The Buster and Blade Mega Men and their stories were scrapped during early development.
Also,A guy named Mike Kenan was originally gonna be Roll.EXE,and then Bass.EXE's,owner. Mike would've given Roll to Mayl at a later time.
However,Mike was dropped during early production and Roll became Mayl's Navi from the beginning. While Bass became an Independent Navi.
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I have lot's of favorite Robot Masters,but Keiji Inafune's favorite Robot Master is Elec Man.
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During thier development,some Robot Masters were given prototype names.
Bright Man was Pearl Man,Pharaoh Man was Miira Man,Dive Man was Diver Man,Napalm Man was Bit Man,Plant Man was Flower Man,Tomahawk Man was Geronimo Man,Yamato Man was Musha Man,Blizzard Man was Spur Man,Burst Man was Shabon Man,Cloud Man was Smoke Man,Junk Man was Franken Man,Slash Man was Claw Man,Shade Man was Vampire Man,Turbo Man was Dash Man,Cold Man was Freezer Man,Burner Man was Blast Man,Ground Man was Driller Man,Magic Man was Magician Man,and Dynamo Man was Coil Man,Crash Man was called Missile Man,Bubble Man was called Water Man,Quick Man was called Boomerang Man,Metal Man was called Rolling Man,Hornet Man was called Sting Man (after his sex change,that is),Tornado Man was called Weather Man,Concrete Man was called Cement Man,Plug Man was called Plasma Man,Galaxy Man was once called Space Man,Jewel Man was called Diamond Man,and Search Man was called Commando Man.
And,as stated earlier,Splash Woman was once a male Robot Master called Ocean Man and Hornet Man was once a female Robot Master called Honey Woman.
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The Mega Man series is one big realm of musical references. And here's another:
Neon Tiger's Stage music sounds similar to "My Michele" by Guns N' Roses. According To Capcom Japan and Keiji Inafune,It's all a Coincidence.
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Random Trivia Time Again..this time for the X Series.
Mega Man X4's Web Spider's design was inspired by Bospider,a Fortress Boss in Mega Man X1.
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Hope you're not sick of the music related trivia either? 'Cuz,we're not through yet.
Like the Original Series,the Mega Man X Series remix's and reuses music. For instance - In Mega Man X5,Tidal Whale's 'Final' theme is a remixed version of Bubble Crab's (although originally this wasn't the case).
The Rangda Bangda's theme in X5 is a remixed version of the 'Fortress Boss' theme of X1. Plus,Dr Light's X5 capsule theme is the same as his X1's.
Megaman X2's 2nd X-Hunter Stage Theme is used for the 1st 2 Stages of Gates Lab. Also in X6,The Final Battle theme is a mix of Sigma's X1 and X2 Battle Themes.
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Did you check out Frost Walrus' Stage? Blizzard Buffalo and Chill Penguin can be seen damaged and frozen in the backround. Buffalo can be seen at the begining of the Stage and Chill Penguin can be seen during the mid-boss battle.
I totally missed this while playing X4 for the 1st time.
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Here's another example of a Translation Screw-Up.
In Blizzard Buffalo's PS1 and PC intro,his name is misspelled. He's called Bilzard Buffalo in that intro. This is Capcom Europe's stupid error,since they translated the game. It seems that Capcom USA isn't the only ones guilty of translation errors.
As stated earlier,This Version of the game never made it to the States as a single disk. Though,it was part of The Mega Man X Collection.
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As you know most Maverick Bosses in the Main Series are all based on creatures from the Animal Kingdom. However,there are a couple of exceptions. We have Spilt Mushroom from X4,Spike Rosered from X5,Tornado Tonion from X7, and Optic Sunflower from X8.
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Here's more music trivia! Infinite Mijinion's Music was inspired by the song "Final Countdown".
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Did you know that during the battle with Metal Sharkplayer in X6,he will often times summon the 'Ghost' of a past Maverick. He'll sommon either: Sting Chameleon from X1,Magna Centepede from X2,or Blast Hornet from X3.
When Sharkplayer's Weapon,the Metal Anchor,is charged up by X,X summons the 'spirit' of Storm Eagle.
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Mega Man X5 has a bunch of Beta tunes,as well as an Unused one.
Tidal Whale's Stage,Dr.Light's Capsule,Stage Select,Mission Report,and The Ending all had different music than in the Final Game. For an unknown reason,Capcom swiped out Tidal Whale's original theme for a remix of Bubble Crab's.
Anyway 'Armageddon' was a song that was Supposed to play when you fail to blow up the Space Colony Eurasia,but for some reason Capcom neglected to put it in the final game. In the Final,the scene is silent.
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You likely didn't know that Axl was added into the series soley because Capcom wanted a hip,young character to represent a new generation of Mega Man X titles.
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Did you know that The Mavericks of Mega Man X5 have similar stages to Mega Man X4's.
Spike Rosered's stage is similar to Web Spider's. Crecent Grizzly's stage is similar to Slash Beast's. The 2nd part of Dark Necrobat's stage is similar to Cyber Peacock's. The 'stairway' section of Shining Firefly's stage is similar to Split Mushroom's.
The 'Land Chaser' section of Volt Kraken's level is similar to Jet Stingray's. Spiral Pegasus' stage is similar to Storm Owl's. And Burn Dinorex' stage is similar to Magma Dragoon.
Unfortunately,there is no similarities between Tidal Whale's stage and Frost Walrus'...Other than the fact that Both Bosses Battle you in a big Room.
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Here's something interesting: Mega Man X3 is the Only Mega Man X game has no Fire Maverick.
We have: Flame Mammoth from X1,Flame Stag from X2,Magma Dragoon from X4,Burn Dinorex from X5,Blaze Heatnix from X6,Flame Hyanard from X7,and Burn Rooster from X8.
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As you likely knew,The Mega Man X5 Mavericks are named after the Band Members of Guns N' Roses. The most noticable being Axl The Red aka Spike Rosered being named after Axl Rose.
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Did you know that Street Fighter Moves have been used in The Mega Man X Series.
In Mega Man X1 you can receive Ryu's 'Hadouken'. In X2 you could get Ken's 'Shoryuken'. Also in X2,Flame Stag's weapon,in X's use,strongly resembles a fiery version of Guile's 'Sonic Boom'. In X4,Magma Dragoon has 'Shoto' moves.
Also in X4,a charged up Rising Fire looks similar to a fiery 'Shoryuken'. In X5,When X is wearing his Gaia Armor,he can use a move that's similar to Chun-Li's 'Kikoushou'. In X8,X can use the 'Shoryuken' if he's wearing his Ultimate Armor.
X8's Burn Rooster has Akuma's 'Tenmakujinkyaku',a move that Zero gains from the Maverick. Also in X8,Zero gains the Shoto's 'Tatsumakisenpukakyuu' from Dark Mantis. These moves can only be preformed using the Zero Knuckle.
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Here's one of the most interesting bits of trivia on this list:
Mega Man X5 was supposed to be the Final Major entry in the Mega Man X Series. Inafune wanted to end the X Series to focus on the upcoming Zero series. Capcom,however,had Other plans....
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Were you aware that The X Series has a decent amount of Unused Content and Beta Elements.
Mega Man X had a Jellyfish bot that drilled down,an Anglerge mid-boss that blew air out at X,and a Hoganmer who jumped around.
Plus,Vile had some extra attacks while in the ride armor and there was an unused path to Launch Octopus. None of these things are found in the Final.
In X2's Beta there was: A Ride Armor Rider,sans his Ride Armor,A Carry Arm that damaged you, And even a Test Enemy that looked like a Chain of Large Weapon Power-Ups.
In X3's Beta there was: An unused Ride Armor boss,Mavericks having a Maverick Insignia instead of a Doppler one, A Ganseki Carrier that moves left and right,and a Wild Tank enemy that rose up from the ground.
There was also an alternate way into Blast Hornets room. None of these things are found in the Final. Also Bit and Byte had a different look,as did Neon Tiger.
X4's Beta had a creepy looking unused mugshot,which was used as a placeholder. And in X7's Beta,X was playable from the Start.
It's also worth noting that all SNES X games have a strange unused 'W' health bar. No one really knows what this bar's purpose was.
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Did you know that Mega Man X6 is the only game where the Mavericks keep their Original Japanese names.
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Here's an example of Capcom oversight: In the official X3 Artwork,Bit always carries a shield,yet in the games he doesn't have one.
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Here's some more Beta Trivia for ya:
ln the Mega Man 8 Beta,Frost Man stage and the Stage Select had different music.
On a related note,Mega Man 4 and 7 had unused mini-bosses. The Mega Man 4 boss was a Sphinx in Pharaoh Man's level who attacked with plasma pellets and boulders.
The Mega Man 7 boss was a hovering robot that attacked with it's spike fists,it also had an electric attack.
However,as an Easter Egg,The MM7 Lost Mini-Boss can be seen in a busted-up/destroyed state at the beginning of Shade Man's stage.
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Here's something amusing! When a Mega Man X fan listens to the song "Saved By Zero" by The Fixx,they can't help but to think about Zero saving X. XD
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Did you know that some Maverick Weapons were based off of Robot Master Weapons and Vice Versa. It's true. Here's a brief list.
Boomer Kuwanger's Boomerang Cutter = Cut Man's Rolling Cutter
Launcher Octopus' Homing Torpedo = Dive Man's Dive Missile
Spark Mandrill's Electric Spark = Spark Man's Spark Shock
Morph Moth's Silk Shot = Dust Man's Dust Crusher
Gravity Beetle's Gravity Well = Galaxy Man's Blackhole Bomb
Jet Stingray's Ground Hunter = Snake Man's Search Snake
Spike Rosered's Spike Ball = Knight Man's Knight Crush
Volt Kraken's Triad Thunder = Elec Man's Thunder Beam
Blaze Heatnix' Magma Blade = Sword Man's Flame Sword
Dark Necrobat's Dark Hold = Bright Man's Flash Stopper
Here are some of the Master Weapons that were based on Maverick Weapons.
Burner Man's Wave Burner = Flame Mammoth's Fire Wave
Freeze Man's Freeze Cracker = Chill Penguin's Shotgun Ice
Clown Man's Thunder Claw = Wire Sponge's Strike Chain
Pirate Man's Remote Mine = Manga Centepede's Magnet Mines
Nitro Man's Wheel Cutter = Wheel Gator's Spin Wheel
Ground Man's Spread Drill = Tunnle Rhino's Tornado Fang
Astro Man's Copy Vision = Split Mushroom's Soul Body
I think I missed some,but You get the idea. May make a complete list one day.
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Did you know that Frost Walrus is the first Maverick to have 2 songs used for his stage. One for the 1st half and One for the 2nd half. This Idea wouldn't be reused until Mega Man X8.
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Here are 2 bits of trivia on The X-Hunters!
The X-Hunters were originally gonna be in X1,instead of X2. I don't know all of the details,but according to some Concept art,this seems to be the case.
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Also there were originally 4 X-Hunters planned and Violen was gonna have a 2nd form.
However there wasn't enough time or money to implement them. This 4th X-Hunter was gonna be female and the 1st female villain of the entire Mega Man Franchise. it's gotta make you wonder what the 4th Zero Part was gonna be?
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Continuing on from that X5 tidbit: Capcom Japan Created Mega Man X6 without Keiji inafune's knowlage (ie. behind his back). Inafune initially wanted to end the X Series with X5,but later decided that an X6 should be made,however he wanted to wait. He wanted time to come up with fresh new ideas,weapons,and armor for the game. As well as an X Series replacement for Zero.
However,Capcom ignored him and made X6 anyway. Inafune later apologized to the fans for Capcom's deed and promised to make sure the Mega Man franchise is handled with more care in the future.
Had Capcom Japan waited,like Inafune wanted,X6 would've been on the PS2 (and maybe the gamecube).
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Did you know that out of all of the games in the Original Mega Man Series,Keiji Inafune hates Super Adventure Rockman the most. He considers the action scenes and some of the attitude too unfitting of the Classic Series.
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Did you also know that both Mega Man Powered Up and Maverick Hunter X were remakes of Mega Man 1 and Mega Man X1 respectively. Both were supposed to be the start of a brand new continuity for their respective series.
Inafune planned to recreate the first 8 Mega Man titles,as well as the first 6 Mega Man X titles..including his Own version of X6.
However,due to extremely poor sales of MMPU and MHX,this never came to be. PSP Sucks!
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Here's yet another interesting piece of random trivia.
The Final Enemy in the Original (Robot) Time-Line is Sera from Mega Man Legends 2...for now,at least. On that same note,Mega Man Starforce 3's Crimson Dragon is the Final Enemy of the Secondary (Network) Time-Line...at least,for the moment.
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Here's some common knowledge that I'm gonna drop anyway:
Originaly Keiji Inafune wanted to make Zero the main hero of the Mega Man X Series,but Capcom feared that no one would except him as a Mega Man. So Hayato Kaji's Mega Man X was chosen to be the New Mega Man,instead.
Years later,Inafune created the Mega Man Zero series.
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Here's a piece of X1 prototype trivia that very people are aware of:
Mega Man X1's Intro Stage was originally supposed to be a White City instead of a highway. This city had RT-55J as a Mid-Boss,as well as an unused flying flamethrower enemy. The White City isn't in the final game.
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Random Trivia #20XX! The Original Series Characters Aren't the Only ones to get EXE/Battle Network counterparts. Iris,Colonel,and even Zero have Net Navi counterparts.
Shockingly we never had EXE versions of X,Alia,Vile,or Sigma...at least,not yet.
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Did you know that Zero has died 3 times within the course of the Franchise. Once in X1,Again in X5,and Again in Zero 4,this time for good.
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Here's something funny: It's rumored that Sigma's appearance was based on The Original Series Character,Doc Robot.
Also,contrary to popular belief, Sigma's look was Not inspired by Sagat...or M.Bison for that matter.
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Here's something strange: During the initial battle with Optic Sunflower,The Final Weapon From Mega Man X4 can be seen in the Background...even though it was destroyed in X4.
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And now something Really Interesting: Zero was originally gonna have his own Ultimate Armor for Mega Man X4,but for whatever reason,it was scrapped. Instead of Ultimate Armor,Zero has his 'Kuro Mode',which does nothing but change his color to black.
The Ultimate Armor for Zero would've been made by Dr.Wily,Zero's creator.
Thankfully,in future titles,Kuro Mode becomes an actual power-up for Zero.
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Let's talk about the Ruby-Spears Series for a bit,shall we?
There were plans in place to create a Mega Man X spin-off animated series,but due to the main series cancellation,this plan was scrapped.
Capcom and Marvel Comics planned to create a comic adaption of the show,but it never came to be. Again,thanks to the show itself being canned.
Despite it being an adaption of the Classic Series,Ruby-Spears Mega Man is so loose,that it can be considered it's own Mega Man Series.
Initially,the Series was to have an art style just like Capcom's official art. There are a few reasons for the drastic change in art style:
Reason 1 - The Anime style wasn't that popular in America and we were used to a more American look to our cartoon shows. This was before the Anime Boom in 1997.
Reason 2 - In America,The 'Kid Hero' was looked down upon,so Mega Man,Roll,and Proto Man were aged up. This attitude later changed in the early 2000's.
And Reason 3 - Muscular Heroes and Villains were the Thing in 90's America.
Also,the MM1 story was gonna be a bit longer. After defeating the Robot Masters,Rock would've returned home and Dr.Light would've informed him that Roll was captured by Wily. Rock would've stormed Wily's lab to rescue his robo-sis and stop the mad scientist. During those final stages,Rock would've battled Roll,who would've been converted into a Giant Mech. These story ideas were dropped quickly.
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Thanks to Capcom USA not understanding Japanese Fiction Naming Customs,Rockman was changed to Mega Man in the U.S. See,the reason why Rockman is named Rockman,is because his civilian name is Rock. Obviously,Capcom USA didn't get this,and changed the name. Plus,they thought Rockman sounded wimpy.
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Due to a very short deadline,Capcom USA had less than a few hours to create the American Box Art for MM1. And so Bad Box Art Mega Man #1 was born.
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Now let's talk about the most Famous game in the franchise,Mega Man 2!
Capcom Japan didn't want a Mega Man 2 at all,but Keiji Inafune still felt that the series had life. So he struck a deal with his superiors,and they agreed to let him make the game,if he and his team worked on it in their own spare time. Inafune agreed and Mega Man 2 was eventually created.
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There were some concepts that never made it into MM2. Once such concept was that Mega Man could burn the trees in Wood Man's level if he used Atomic Fire on them. It was scrapped due to software limitations. Another concept was that the Piko-Piko Master battle was gonna be much harder,with the boss taking away floor space.
Another unused concept was the Player Select option,where you can choose either Mega Man or Roll.
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Also in MM2,A Metool Generator was created,but for some reason went unused. It can still can be found within the games Data,though.
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Mega Man 2 was also the first game to feature a Boss Design contest. Unfortunatly,it was Japanese only.
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For unknown reasons,Capcom USA used some strange concept art of Wood Man in the Mega Man 2 manual,instead of his official art.
This 'concept' Wood Man had a Leafy Breastplate and a... Fiery Fist!? A fire weilding Wood Man? Truely Bizzare.
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There are 2 very famous Japanese Music Video tributes to MM2,'Okkusenmon' and 'I Can't Beat Airman'. Both are cool to listen too.
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The U.S. Version of 2 had a difficulty selection. This was put in place to help American Gamers get into Mega Man. Normal is the easy mode. While Difficult is the True normal mode.
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Going back to MM1 for a second to give you this interesting tidbit: Journey's song "Faithfully" sounds similar to Elec Man's stage music. Listen to Both Songs and you'll agree.
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Here's another bit about Mega Man's origins.
Mega Man was loosely based on Astroboy. Both are robots created by a kindly scientist and fight evil. Plus in MM1's ending,Rock has a similar hairstyle to the legendary anime hero. And,to add on to that,Mega Man was originally gonna be an Astroboy game,but Capcom lost the licsence.
Inafune and co. were disappointed,but got over it quickly promising to create something even better than Astroboy. And,sure enough,they succeeded.
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Here's something amusing: Sailor Moon's Tuxedo Mask is very similar to Protoman. They Both look basic,yet cool. They have pre-entrance gimmicks(proto has his whistle and tuxy has his roses). And They are always there to save the Main Hero of the series.(sailor moon and mega man).
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While we're on the subject of Anime Comparisons!
Mega Man and Protoman are loosly based on Speed Racer and his older brother,Racer X. Proto and Racer X are the long lost older brothers of Mega and Speed respectively,who disappeared after an accident. Plus,both Racer X and Proto are mysterious and they save their younger brothers.
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Moving right along..
Various Mega Man characters have made cameo apperences in other Retro Capcom Games.
Mega Man,Roll,and Rush make a small cameo apperence in Super Gem Fighter. Also making a Cameo is Mega Man X,Zero,and Iris.
In Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter,there is a Mega Man banner in the mall stage. In that same stage a person in a Mega Man costume is surrounded by a crowd of people.
In Megaman Legends 2. Ice Man and Kalinka are pictured on some Manga. Best of all,in the bar is a TV showing a Rockman Anime. Also,In one of the Mega Man Battle Network games,there's a poster of Duo(i think in lans room).
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Felicia and Mega Man must be friends,because In Super Gem Fighter,she uses his moves. In this brief cosplay,the Night Warrior can attack with a Short-Range Mega Buster Shot and has a Slide Kick.
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Now on to My personal favorite game in the Classic Series,Mega Man 3.
Mega Man 3 has a host of unused and altered content. For example: There is minor evidence to suggest that Wily Stages 4 and 5 were supposed to be a single stage. The biggest givaway is the fact that the Boss Rush and the Wily Battle take place in 2 different stages (Wily Stage 4 and Wily Stage 5 respectivly),where in other Mega Man titles,the Boss Rush and Wily battle take place in the same stage.
Also in Mega Man 3,there is reason to believe that the Final Stage was originally gonna be longer. Biggest proof comes from the Large Energy Capsule at the begining of the stage. There's also the stage theme,which is too long for a short stage.
Speaking of long/short music. The Wily's castle theme was a bit longer then what we normaly hear. This is because the music was supposed to be part of a longer scene. The music was initially supposed to begin a bit after Dr.Light informs Mega Man that Wily stole Gamma.
Speaking of,Wily was supposed to rise above a city and up to a mooned night sky. In the final,the city and moon are deleted. Don't ask me why.
Gemini Man level once had Saturn-esque Planets in it's background.
According to the MM3 Prototype,Magnet Man and Snake Man were originally gonna host Doc Robot...Not Needle Man and Spark Man. The Proto Stage Select screen shows Snake Man on the top-right,instead of the top-center; Needle Man is on the top-center,instead of the top-right; Spark Man isn't on the top-left as he is in the final,instead,he's on the bottom-center; And Magnet Man is located in Spark Man's 'Final' position. This arrangement looks more natural than in the final. More evidence of this comes hidden inside the MM3 Rom,where broken tiles from Magnet Man's level can be found. Doc Robot's host levels have a 'broken' theme to them.
And finally,In the Rockman 3 Beta,Protoman transforms himself into Break Man in Gemini Man's level,while in the Final,he just stands there for a few seconds. This is evidence that Proto was supposed to transform into Break Man then and there,but Capcom either forgot to implement it or decided not to use it due to technical issues,as if you visited Gemini Man first,you'd face Break Man in other levels. That might've been a bit too tough to program in,a problem Capcom didn't wanna deal with,so they left the transformation out.
More proof that Mega Man 3 was somewhat rushed.
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Next up..Japan-Only Titles!
There've been a small number of Mega Man games that never saw release outside of Japan in Any form...not even in Compilation games.
The first game to stay in the land of the rising sun,was Rockboard. Rockboard was a Japanese-style boardgame,similar to Monopoly. Mega Man only appears as the GamesMaster,and not as a player character. There were 5 Playable Characters: Dr. Light,Dr.Wily,Dr.Cossack,Kalinka Cossack,and Roll (in her first playable appearence).
The reason for the lack of a U.S./Euro/Aussie release was simple: It was an NES game made in 1993. The game was quite text heavy and by the time proper translations would've been completed,it would've been 1994,the year that the NES officially became obsolete.
The next Japan exclusive game was The SNES/Super Famicom version of Mega Man and Bass. We would eventually get the GBA port,but it's somewhat watered down and inferior too the original.
Next up is Super Adventure Rockman,which was mostly an FMV game. But unlike the ones seen on the Sega CD,this one's actually good.
The Japan exclusive Wonderswan handhelds would get their own Mega Man titles...3,in fact. The first was for the Original Wonderswan called,Rockman and Forte: Challenger from the Future. It was a traditional platformer with a Really High dificulty level,in fact,some stages are downright unfair.
The next 2 games were for the Japan-Exclusive Wonderswan Color. These games were part of the Battle Network series. We have Rockman EXE WS,which was an extremely hard platformer,with some unfair elements. Capcom would do this type of thing again for the Battle Network series with Mega Man Network Transmition for the Game Cube.
Rockman EXE Battle Chip GP was a Tournament-style game using Battle Network's battle mechanics. In this game you can play as a Navi other than Mega Man,which was cool. Unlike the other 2 Wonderswan games,this one recieved a port on the Gameboy Advance,which was released worldwide.
The Neo Geo Pocket Color,which sold poorly in the States,had a Mega Man title too: Rockman Battles and Fighters. This Japan-exclusive was an 8-bit compilation port of the 2 Arcade Titles,Power Battles and Power Fighters. The game looks pretty good,plays good too.
Rockman Complete Works was a PSX re-release of the 1st 6 Mega Man titles. Bad News: it's Japanese Only, Worse News: it's 6 individual discs that were sold seperatly,Good News: Each game has some cool extras,Even Worse News: Our version of Complete Works,Mega Man Anniversary Collection,lacks these extras.
Rockman Battle and Fighters was a PS2 exclusive compilation disc that contained the 2 Arcade games....with a few extras.
Other Japanese Battle Network/EXE exclusives include: Rockman EXE 4.5:Real Operation,a game that takes place between EXE4 and EXE5; Rockman EXE: The Medal Operation,an Arcade title; And Operate Shooting Star,a remake of EXE1,that doubles as a crossover between EXE and Ryuusei No Rockman.
And finally,Various Mobile Games were also kept in Japan,including,Rockman DASH: Great 5 Island Adventure and the infamous,Rockman XOver.
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Back to Mega Man 1! The opening to Bon Jovi's (She’s A Little) Runaway sounds like the character select screen in Mega Man 1. Listen to Both Songs and you'll see (hear) what I mean.
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Here's some more nutty trivia: The Krion Conquest is an NES game that has heavy Mega Man influences,so heavy that it could be considered a Clone. The sprite art and main heroine are solid proof of this. Nice game,but the difficulty level is extremely high.
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It's Mega Man 6 Time!
Keiji Inafune wanted to end the Classic Mega Man series at 6,so that he could focus on the then-new X Series. However,Capcom wanted more Classic Mega Man and convinced Inafune to let the Series continue.
And unlike with the "X6 Fiasco" (I'll talk more about that later),Inafune warmed up to Capcom's decision and even had a hand in the creation of most future classic series titles.
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Initially Mega Man 6 was never supposed to leave Japan,but Nintendo of America stepped in and volunteered to both publish and translate the game for North America. Capcom reluctantly agreed to Nintendo's request and Mega Man 6 was brought to North America.
The reason for Capcom refusing to release the game outside of Japan varies.
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Mega Man 6 is the ONLY game in the whole franchise to have Robot Masters designed by North Americans. Famed magazine,Nintendo Power,in conjunction with Capcom USA,held it's own Robot Master design contest for the game. Thousands were submitted,but only 2 got excepted. Knight Man and Wind Man were designed by Daniel Vallee and Michael Leader respectively.
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And the nutty trivia just keeps on coming!
Capcom's Viewtiful Joe looks similar to Protoman. He's a red-clad hero who wears a mask similar to Proto's visor,as well as a short scarf.
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Guts Man is Wily's Favorite Robot Master. Here's proof: Statues of Gutsman can be found in Wily's final stage in MM1. The Gutsdozer in MM2. MM3 has the Gutsman-like junk golems. MM5 has Stoneman,whose a brick-themed Gutsman. And MM7 has the Gutsman abomination,Guts Man G.
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The Mega Man franchise is chalk full of musical references!
Mega Man's real name is Rock. His sister's name is Roll. Rock and Roll....get it? Also Rock has an older sibling named Blues aka Protoman. Break Man,Protoman's/Blues' one-time identity,is also a musical reference (to breakdancing,an uber popular dance style of the late 80's and early 90's).
Beat and Tango,2 of Mega's pets,also have music based names.
Mega Man has a rival named Bass,who has a wolf named Treble. Their Japanese names are Forte and Gospel. Plus,Wily has a pet bird called Reggae.
Some of Wily's other robots are also named after musical terms (enker,quint,ballade,and punk).
Duo is also a robot whose named after a musical term.
For the X Series,we have the Twins Techno and Middy. And the Mavericks in American version of X5,are all named after members of the band,Guns 'n Roses.
The Battle Network series and Legends series both contain musical references too. But,I'll let you guys find them yourselves.
It's strange,but with all of these musical names,Capcom has yet to create a musical-based Robot Master.
The Archie Mega Man Comic has Tempo,the civilian alias of Quake Woman,an Archie exclusive Robot Master.
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Now some trivia related to Dr.'s Light and Wily.
Dr.Wily looks is based on Albert Einstein. Dr. Light was loosely based on Thomas Edison...though His look was based on Santa Clause.
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Here are 3 bits of trivia on X and Zero.
X and Zero are the only ones in their respective families that are not named after musical terms. X was named after his unlimited potential and Zero was named after Kamakaze Fighter Pilots.
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In Mega Man's Power Battles ending,Dr.Light mentions that he's working on an Advanced AI program. This is the ONLY reference to X in the original series. In Bass' Power Battles ending,Dr. Wily mentions that he's creating a powerful Robot that will destroy Mega Man. The robot Wily's talking about is none other than,Zero. But Wait there's more: In Bass' Power Fighters ending,Zero is not only talked about,but his plans are actually shown.
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Classic Mega Man's looks and mindset are that of a 12-year-old boy. While His Brother X,who's supposed to be younger,has the looks and mindset of a 17-year-old. Zero has a slightly older mindset.
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Since Mega Man 4,Dr. Wily has been using the Disappearing/Reappearing saucer as his final attack. Stupid and Repetitive Crapcom!
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Here's an interesting fact that connects Evil Energy,Roboenza,and the Maverick Virus.
Believe it or not,The Evil Energy from Mega Man 8 is basically a prototype of the Maverick Virus from the X series. The Roboenza virus from Mega Man 10 was created from the Evil Energy. And in turn,Roboenza was modified into the Zero Virus,which eventually became the Maverick Virus in the X Series.
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This next bit is for all the Sony Haters.
Due to Sony of America's hardassness,Mega Man Battle and Chase was not allowed to come to America,so it didn't. However,it was included as a hidden game in the Mega Man X Collection.
For an Earlier example of Sony America's hardassness,we go back to Late 1996-Early 1997. Where Sony America initially refused to let any more 2D games on their console. But Capcom (as well as a few other companies,such as konami) hit back by threatening to never release their 3D games on their console in America. Sony submitted and 2D games were allowed to be on American Playstations.
So what's this got to do with Mega Man? Well,the 2D Capcom games in question were Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4.
One last tidbit,Mega Man 8 was initially gonna be a Saturn exclusive,but Sony of Japan protested heavily,so a Playstation version was also made. However,to be true to their original intentions,Capcom made the Saturn version of 8 the definitive version of the game,by giving it extra content (such as extra menus and battles with cut man and wood man).
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Classic Series Music had a way of sneaking into the X series!
In Mega Man X1 and the PS1 version of Mega Man X3 contains remixed versions of the "Selected Boss" theme from the original series. Part of Mega Man X5's Intro theme is a remixed version of Mega Man 3's "Get Weapon" theme. Also in Mega Man X5,a remixed version of the Mega Man 1's "Fortress Boss" theme is played during the battle with the Shadow Devil.
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Random Tidbit # 2,000! The Joes and Metools are the Franchises most recurring stage enemies. They appeared in many forms thoughout the series.
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Here's the first bit of Legends Trivia.
In Japan,Mega Man Legends is called Rockman DASH. DASH is an acronym which stands for Digouters Adventure Story in Halcyon Days. (shouldn't it be DASHD instead?)
Anyway,Digouter is the Japanese name for Diggers.
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Here's the ONLY bit of Mega Man and Bass Trivia.
Most of the enemies in Mega Man 8 are reused in Mega Man and Bass. Judging by how well the PSX/Saturn graphics are handled on Super Famicom/SNES,the system was more powerful than we thought. However,despite the 32-bit graphics,the Music and Sound is still 16-bit. In fact,most of the sound effects were recycled from Mega Man 7.
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Here's 4 more MM1 tidbits. Last ones,I promise!
Mega Man 1 is the only game in the series that doesn't have a "Map" for Wily's Skull Fortress Or a "Get Weapon" Screen. It's also the only game where Mega Man lacks Buoyancy when in water and spikes can still kill him if he's invincible.
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The first part of Mega Man 1's ending theme is also the 1st part of Mega Man 2's Intro theme.
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Mega Man 1 is the Only console title in the Franchise with a Scoring System
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Mega Man 1 was created because Capcom wanted to really bust into the home console market. Prior to Mega Man,all of Capcom's console games were just ports of their arcade titles. They wanted something original,a game that was exclusively for the home console market.
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Here's an example of careless translation!
In Mega Man 7,Mega Man threatens to kill Dr.Wily. However,in Rockman 7 Rock does no such thing. Mega Man's "Threat" is nothing more than a localization error.
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Here's some more MM7 trivia for ya: In Spring Man stage,you can find Astro Man's plans hidden in the backround.
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Believe it or not,there have been some Mega Man Classic titles where Dr.Wily was Not the Final Boss. These titles are: Mega Man 5 GB,where the final boss was Sunstar; Super Adventure Rockman,where the final boss was Ra Moon's Shin Yellow Devil aka The Ra Devil; And the non-canon Rockman and Forte:Challenger from the Future,where the final battle was with Rockman Shadow.
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Auto Survived Through The X-Series?! Acording to Capcom Japan he did! See,in Volt Catfish's MMX3 PS1 intro,Auto can be seen watching TV. The scene is very brief,so it's kinda 'blink and you miss it'. The canonicity of this moment is questionable and might just be an Easter Egg.
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Here's a fun bit of trivia for ya: When we Americans first played Mega Man 6,we thought that Yamato ment Samurai. However,thanks to the Internet,we now know what the True meaning of that word is.
A Yamato is a Japanese word that decribes Japan itself. It was originally a province in Feudal Japan,where it was the center of Japanese cultural and political activities. The word “Yamato” is beloved by many Japanese because of what it symbolizes.
On a similar note: Tengu Man is based off of a mythological Japanese demon with wings and a long nose. They are sometimes associated with birds...mainly crows.
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One final piece of MM6 trivia for ya.
Europeans Never got Mega Man 6 when it was first released. So they never had a chance to play the game (ligitly) until it was released on the Europeon Virtual Console on June 2013.
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How about some Battle Network trivia?
As you know most Original Series robots have Battle Network counterparts. Only instead of robots,they're Net Navis. The only Robot Masters that Don't have Navi Counterparts (yet) are Crash Man,Hard Man,Gemini Man,Crystal Man,Centaur Man,Spring Man,Burst Man,Clown Man,Grenade Man,Frost Man,Astro Man,Pirate Man,Dynamo Man,Time Man,Oil Man,All but 1 of the American PC Robot Masters,All but 1 of the Rockman and Forte Wonderswan Robot Masters,All of the Mega Man 9 and 10 Robot Masters,All of the Mega Man 11 Robot Masters,The 3 Members of the Genesis Unit,2 of the 3 Mega Man Killers,and The Stardroids.
Clock Man from Rockman and Forte WS and Shark Man from Mega Man 3 PC were 2 obscure Robot Masters that were turned into Net Navi's. Though ClockMan.EXE's only apperence was in the Japan exclusive,Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star.
Also,Punk was the Only Mega Man Killer to ever recieve a Navi version.
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Ring Man's Navi counterpart is Ring,a female Navi who made her only appearence in Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge. She's basically what a RingMan.EXE would look like if he was genderbent.
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And now even More Random trivia.
Dr.Wily's 1st stage theme in Mega Man 2 is by far the most popular Mega Man theme ever. In fact,This song has been remixed and rearranged many times by loyal Mega Man fans. Some consider it overraded.
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Mega Man Starforce might've been planned to be a Mega Man Battle Network title at one point. There are some unused models hidden within the game for Lan and MegaMan.EXE. There's even a 3D map of AC/DC Town hidden within the game.
For unknown reasons,Capcom decided to make the game into a whole new series instead.
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Time for some genderswapping madness.
Mega Man 9's Splash Woman is the first (and so far only) Female Robot Master. Though this originally wasn't the case,Splash Woman was originally Ocean Man in the game's planing stages.
There Was a female Robot Master in the planning stages,however,named Honey Woman,who would eventually become Hornet Man. Because he still wanted a female Robot Master,Keiji Inafune replaced Ocean Man with Splash Woman,as he believed that the Water Element would be better suited for a Female.
This was a really good decision on Inafune's part.
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Random Robot Master trivia time!!
Toad Man,Snake Man,Slash Man,Hornet Man,and Sheep Man are the only 5 Robot Masters that are designed after Animals. Tengu Man doesn't count,because he's not based on an Animal.
On a related note: Tengu Man,Splash Woman,Junk Man,Shade Man,and Centaur Man are all based on mythical creatures. Junk Man is based on the Frankenstein Monster,in case you guys were wondering.
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Did you know..
That due to a rushed job,Mega Man Soccer's Ending/Credits isn't properly programmed into the game. They're still in the game,they just don't load during normal play. The Ending/Credits can only be viewed with a cheat device.
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Speaking of rushed development....
The Game Gear Mega Man title was also rushed,as there are many parts of it that seem incomplete. Plus,Wave Man's stage plays Gravity Man's Music. Wave Man's music is used for the Game Over Screen. Why? because,US Gold,a 3rd rate company,made the game. Capcom only gave it licensing rights. Kinda like those lame Mega Man PC titles.
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While on the topic of the PC Games...
Mega Man had 2 crappy PC games,each game had it's own set of Robot Masters. Volt Man,Sonic Man,and Dyna Man are from the First PC game. Blade Man,Oil Man,Water Man,Shark Man,Torch Man,and Bit Man are from the Second. Even though it's the 2nd PC game,it's called Mega Man III. What the hell happened to Mega Man II PC? I guess we'll never know.
While the PC1 Robot Masters somewhat original in design,the PC3 bots are "Frankensteined". Wave Man PC is a modified Air Man with the fan replaced with water jets; Shark Man uses parts from Snake Man and Gemini Man; Bit Man uses parts from Crash Man,Hard Man,and Spark Man; Torch Man is a modified Magnet Man without the magnet and a torch arm added; Blade Man PC is a modified Metal Man with spikes and a blade launcher; And then there's Oil Man PC,who is a modified Flash Man with an oil shooter and an oil can head.
Also,each of the PC3 bots have the same movements and their standing poses are recycled from Mega Man PC1's Volt Man. Lazy!
Finally,as I mentioned earler,Shark Man was eventually given an EXE counterpart in the form of SharkMan.EXE.
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Yay,more random trivia...
The rotating sheild weapon has been a Mega Man tradition for as long as I can remember. Most Mega Man games have this type of weapon.
The only games that Don't have a Rotating Sheild Weapon are: Mega Man 1,Mega Man 3,Mega Man 8,and Mega Man and Bass.
Mega Man 2 has the Leaf Sheild,Mega Man 4 has the Skull Barrier,Mega Man 5 has the Star Crash,Mega Man 6 has the Plant Barrier,Mega Man 7 has the Junk Sheild,Mega Man 9 has the Jewel Satillite,Mega Man 10 has the Water Shield,and Mega Man 11 has the Acid Barrier.
Even the terrible titles had Sheild Weapons. Rockman and Forte WS has the Flame Mixer and Mega Man PC has the Force Field.
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Want More MM7 love? Coming right up!
Mega Man 7 is a great big homage to the previous games in the series. For example,That one path in Freeze Man's level,where you get the Rush Search,is very remenicent of the end of Flash Man's level.
Freeze Man's stage also seems to be a mix between Ice Man's level and Skull Man's.
The final streach of Cloud Man's stage is remenicent of that final platforming area in Air Man's level. It even has similar enemies.
Slash Man's theme sounds similar to Wave Man's.
Turbo Man's stage contains homages to both Fire Man's stage and Quick Man's stage.
In the Proto Man battle,Proto himself lacks a health bar,just like in Mega Man 3.
The stage music of the Robot Museum is a medley of Guts Man,Heat Man,and Snake Man's themes.
The All Clear music (the tune that plays when you beat dr.wily) is a 16-bit remake of the All Clear music from Mega Man 3.
Burst Man's stage contains a small homage to the final Disappearing/Reappearing block section of Heat Man's stage.
There are many many more homages not listed here,try to discover the rest for yourselves. Or,I can make a comprehensive list sometime in the future.
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Random trivia time again! Hope you're not too sick of these?
The Yellow Devil,in fact,is the most revisited Fortress Guardian in the history of the franchise. It made it's debut in Mega Man 1. Without the Pause-Glitch Trick,the thing is very tough to beat.
The Yellow Devil returned in Mega Man 3,as the Yellow Devil mk.2. This battle was easier. Yellow Devil mk.3 appeared in the Arcade title,Mega Man Power Battles. It's successor,Yellow Devil mk. 3.5,was fought in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters,the sequel to Power Battles.
The next Devil to appear was The Green Devil aka the Jello Devil. It was fought in Mega Man 8. A weaker,more pathetic version of the monster was fought in Mega Man and Bass.
Other Devil's include: The Grey Devil from Rockman and Forte WS,Dark Moon from Mega Man V GB,The Mini-Devil's and The Twin Devil in Mega Man 9; The Block Devil from Mega Man 10,who's insanely difficult on Normal and Hard modes; The Shadow Devil from Mega Man X5; Mega Man 11's Yellow Devil mk.3 (mk. 4 in reality) and the Rainbow Devil from the Mega Man Zero series.
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Did ya know that thanks to Sega of America,we never received the Genesis exclusive,Mega Man:The Wily Wars in cartrage form. Instead Sega wanted the game to be an exclusive to their then-upcoming Sega Channel. Sega got what they wanted,but we Mega Man fans didn't,as many of us didn't own a subscription to the Sega Channel. The Sega Channel wasn't that great to begin with. While America was screwed over,Europe got an official cartrage.
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Here's something you guys likely didn't know..
The Voice Acting for the U.S. versions of Mega Mans 8,X4,and X7 were all done in Japan by English speakers.
This explains why those games have such bad voice acting.
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Here's a Bass and Treble facts for ya:
Bass was created soley because Keiji Inafune no longer considered Proto Man to be a proper rival. Bass and Treble's early names were Baroque and Crash respectively. Both names musical references. Also,Treble was initialy a Doberman,not a Wolf.
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And now...Even More Random Trivia!!
Mega Man Wily Wars's Wily Tower contains 3 selectable bosses that could be considered Prototype Mavericks. BusterRod G,HyperStorm H,and MegaWater S,likely inspired Capcom to make all selectable Bosses in the X series Animaloid.
On a similar note these 3 bosses were inspired by characters from the legendary Chinese Novel,Journey to the West. BusterRod G was inspired by Son Wukong (aka Son Goku),the main hero of the story.
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Want more Battle Network trivia?! You got it!
Mega Man Battle Network 1 was originally gonna be 3 games. One starring Lan and Mega Man,one starring Mega Man Buster and his NetOp,Seimei Kazami,and the 3rd starring Mega Man Blade and his NetOp,Roudou Kazami. The 3 games would've had an interconnecting Story and the Lan/MegaMan game was to go alongside the then-upcoming Anime.
The Buster and Blade Mega Men and their stories were scrapped during early development.
Also,A guy named Mike Kenan was originally gonna be Roll.EXE,and then Bass.EXE's,owner. Mike would've given Roll to Mayl at a later time.
However,Mike was dropped during early production and Roll became Mayl's Navi from the beginning. While Bass became an Independent Navi.
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I have lot's of favorite Robot Masters,but Keiji Inafune's favorite Robot Master is Elec Man.
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During thier development,some Robot Masters were given prototype names.
Bright Man was Pearl Man,Pharaoh Man was Miira Man,Dive Man was Diver Man,Napalm Man was Bit Man,Plant Man was Flower Man,Tomahawk Man was Geronimo Man,Yamato Man was Musha Man,Blizzard Man was Spur Man,Burst Man was Shabon Man,Cloud Man was Smoke Man,Junk Man was Franken Man,Slash Man was Claw Man,Shade Man was Vampire Man,Turbo Man was Dash Man,Cold Man was Freezer Man,Burner Man was Blast Man,Ground Man was Driller Man,Magic Man was Magician Man,and Dynamo Man was Coil Man,Crash Man was called Missile Man,Bubble Man was called Water Man,Quick Man was called Boomerang Man,Metal Man was called Rolling Man,Hornet Man was called Sting Man (after his sex change,that is),Tornado Man was called Weather Man,Concrete Man was called Cement Man,Plug Man was called Plasma Man,Galaxy Man was once called Space Man,Jewel Man was called Diamond Man,and Search Man was called Commando Man.
And,as stated earlier,Splash Woman was once a male Robot Master called Ocean Man and Hornet Man was once a female Robot Master called Honey Woman.
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The Mega Man series is one big realm of musical references. And here's another:
Neon Tiger's Stage music sounds similar to "My Michele" by Guns N' Roses. According To Capcom Japan and Keiji Inafune,It's all a Coincidence.
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Random Trivia Time Again..this time for the X Series.
Mega Man X4's Web Spider's design was inspired by Bospider,a Fortress Boss in Mega Man X1.
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Hope you're not sick of the music related trivia either? 'Cuz,we're not through yet.
Like the Original Series,the Mega Man X Series remix's and reuses music. For instance - In Mega Man X5,Tidal Whale's 'Final' theme is a remixed version of Bubble Crab's (although originally this wasn't the case).
The Rangda Bangda's theme in X5 is a remixed version of the 'Fortress Boss' theme of X1. Plus,Dr Light's X5 capsule theme is the same as his X1's.
Megaman X2's 2nd X-Hunter Stage Theme is used for the 1st 2 Stages of Gates Lab. Also in X6,The Final Battle theme is a mix of Sigma's X1 and X2 Battle Themes.
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Did you check out Frost Walrus' Stage? Blizzard Buffalo and Chill Penguin can be seen damaged and frozen in the backround. Buffalo can be seen at the begining of the Stage and Chill Penguin can be seen during the mid-boss battle.
I totally missed this while playing X4 for the 1st time.
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Here's another example of a Translation Screw-Up.
In Blizzard Buffalo's PS1 and PC intro,his name is misspelled. He's called Bilzard Buffalo in that intro. This is Capcom Europe's stupid error,since they translated the game. It seems that Capcom USA isn't the only ones guilty of translation errors.
As stated earlier,This Version of the game never made it to the States as a single disk. Though,it was part of The Mega Man X Collection.
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As you know most Maverick Bosses in the Main Series are all based on creatures from the Animal Kingdom. However,there are a couple of exceptions. We have Spilt Mushroom from X4,Spike Rosered from X5,Tornado Tonion from X7, and Optic Sunflower from X8.
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Here's more music trivia! Infinite Mijinion's Music was inspired by the song "Final Countdown".
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Did you know that during the battle with Metal Sharkplayer in X6,he will often times summon the 'Ghost' of a past Maverick. He'll sommon either: Sting Chameleon from X1,Magna Centepede from X2,or Blast Hornet from X3.
When Sharkplayer's Weapon,the Metal Anchor,is charged up by X,X summons the 'spirit' of Storm Eagle.
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Mega Man X5 has a bunch of Beta tunes,as well as an Unused one.
Tidal Whale's Stage,Dr.Light's Capsule,Stage Select,Mission Report,and The Ending all had different music than in the Final Game. For an unknown reason,Capcom swiped out Tidal Whale's original theme for a remix of Bubble Crab's.
Anyway 'Armageddon' was a song that was Supposed to play when you fail to blow up the Space Colony Eurasia,but for some reason Capcom neglected to put it in the final game. In the Final,the scene is silent.
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You likely didn't know that Axl was added into the series soley because Capcom wanted a hip,young character to represent a new generation of Mega Man X titles.
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Did you know that The Mavericks of Mega Man X5 have similar stages to Mega Man X4's.
Spike Rosered's stage is similar to Web Spider's. Crecent Grizzly's stage is similar to Slash Beast's. The 2nd part of Dark Necrobat's stage is similar to Cyber Peacock's. The 'stairway' section of Shining Firefly's stage is similar to Split Mushroom's.
The 'Land Chaser' section of Volt Kraken's level is similar to Jet Stingray's. Spiral Pegasus' stage is similar to Storm Owl's. And Burn Dinorex' stage is similar to Magma Dragoon.
Unfortunately,there is no similarities between Tidal Whale's stage and Frost Walrus'...Other than the fact that Both Bosses Battle you in a big Room.
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Here's something interesting: Mega Man X3 is the Only Mega Man X game has no Fire Maverick.
We have: Flame Mammoth from X1,Flame Stag from X2,Magma Dragoon from X4,Burn Dinorex from X5,Blaze Heatnix from X6,Flame Hyanard from X7,and Burn Rooster from X8.
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As you likely knew,The Mega Man X5 Mavericks are named after the Band Members of Guns N' Roses. The most noticable being Axl The Red aka Spike Rosered being named after Axl Rose.
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Did you know that Street Fighter Moves have been used in The Mega Man X Series.
In Mega Man X1 you can receive Ryu's 'Hadouken'. In X2 you could get Ken's 'Shoryuken'. Also in X2,Flame Stag's weapon,in X's use,strongly resembles a fiery version of Guile's 'Sonic Boom'. In X4,Magma Dragoon has 'Shoto' moves.
Also in X4,a charged up Rising Fire looks similar to a fiery 'Shoryuken'. In X5,When X is wearing his Gaia Armor,he can use a move that's similar to Chun-Li's 'Kikoushou'. In X8,X can use the 'Shoryuken' if he's wearing his Ultimate Armor.
X8's Burn Rooster has Akuma's 'Tenmakujinkyaku',a move that Zero gains from the Maverick. Also in X8,Zero gains the Shoto's 'Tatsumakisenpukakyuu' from Dark Mantis. These moves can only be preformed using the Zero Knuckle.
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Here's one of the most interesting bits of trivia on this list:
Mega Man X5 was supposed to be the Final Major entry in the Mega Man X Series. Inafune wanted to end the X Series to focus on the upcoming Zero series. Capcom,however,had Other plans....
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Were you aware that The X Series has a decent amount of Unused Content and Beta Elements.
Mega Man X had a Jellyfish bot that drilled down,an Anglerge mid-boss that blew air out at X,and a Hoganmer who jumped around.
Plus,Vile had some extra attacks while in the ride armor and there was an unused path to Launch Octopus. None of these things are found in the Final.
In X2's Beta there was: A Ride Armor Rider,sans his Ride Armor,A Carry Arm that damaged you, And even a Test Enemy that looked like a Chain of Large Weapon Power-Ups.
In X3's Beta there was: An unused Ride Armor boss,Mavericks having a Maverick Insignia instead of a Doppler one, A Ganseki Carrier that moves left and right,and a Wild Tank enemy that rose up from the ground.
There was also an alternate way into Blast Hornets room. None of these things are found in the Final. Also Bit and Byte had a different look,as did Neon Tiger.
X4's Beta had a creepy looking unused mugshot,which was used as a placeholder. And in X7's Beta,X was playable from the Start.
It's also worth noting that all SNES X games have a strange unused 'W' health bar. No one really knows what this bar's purpose was.
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Did you know that Mega Man X6 is the only game where the Mavericks keep their Original Japanese names.
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Here's an example of Capcom oversight: In the official X3 Artwork,Bit always carries a shield,yet in the games he doesn't have one.
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Here's some more Beta Trivia for ya:
ln the Mega Man 8 Beta,Frost Man stage and the Stage Select had different music.
On a related note,Mega Man 4 and 7 had unused mini-bosses. The Mega Man 4 boss was a Sphinx in Pharaoh Man's level who attacked with plasma pellets and boulders.
The Mega Man 7 boss was a hovering robot that attacked with it's spike fists,it also had an electric attack.
However,as an Easter Egg,The MM7 Lost Mini-Boss can be seen in a busted-up/destroyed state at the beginning of Shade Man's stage.
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Here's something amusing! When a Mega Man X fan listens to the song "Saved By Zero" by The Fixx,they can't help but to think about Zero saving X. XD
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Did you know that some Maverick Weapons were based off of Robot Master Weapons and Vice Versa. It's true. Here's a brief list.
Boomer Kuwanger's Boomerang Cutter = Cut Man's Rolling Cutter
Launcher Octopus' Homing Torpedo = Dive Man's Dive Missile
Spark Mandrill's Electric Spark = Spark Man's Spark Shock
Morph Moth's Silk Shot = Dust Man's Dust Crusher
Gravity Beetle's Gravity Well = Galaxy Man's Blackhole Bomb
Jet Stingray's Ground Hunter = Snake Man's Search Snake
Spike Rosered's Spike Ball = Knight Man's Knight Crush
Volt Kraken's Triad Thunder = Elec Man's Thunder Beam
Blaze Heatnix' Magma Blade = Sword Man's Flame Sword
Dark Necrobat's Dark Hold = Bright Man's Flash Stopper
Here are some of the Master Weapons that were based on Maverick Weapons.
Burner Man's Wave Burner = Flame Mammoth's Fire Wave
Freeze Man's Freeze Cracker = Chill Penguin's Shotgun Ice
Clown Man's Thunder Claw = Wire Sponge's Strike Chain
Pirate Man's Remote Mine = Manga Centepede's Magnet Mines
Nitro Man's Wheel Cutter = Wheel Gator's Spin Wheel
Ground Man's Spread Drill = Tunnle Rhino's Tornado Fang
Astro Man's Copy Vision = Split Mushroom's Soul Body
I think I missed some,but You get the idea. May make a complete list one day.
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Did you know that Frost Walrus is the first Maverick to have 2 songs used for his stage. One for the 1st half and One for the 2nd half. This Idea wouldn't be reused until Mega Man X8.
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Here are 2 bits of trivia on The X-Hunters!
The X-Hunters were originally gonna be in X1,instead of X2. I don't know all of the details,but according to some Concept art,this seems to be the case.
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Also there were originally 4 X-Hunters planned and Violen was gonna have a 2nd form.
However there wasn't enough time or money to implement them. This 4th X-Hunter was gonna be female and the 1st female villain of the entire Mega Man Franchise. it's gotta make you wonder what the 4th Zero Part was gonna be?
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Continuing on from that X5 tidbit: Capcom Japan Created Mega Man X6 without Keiji inafune's knowlage (ie. behind his back). Inafune initially wanted to end the X Series with X5,but later decided that an X6 should be made,however he wanted to wait. He wanted time to come up with fresh new ideas,weapons,and armor for the game. As well as an X Series replacement for Zero.
However,Capcom ignored him and made X6 anyway. Inafune later apologized to the fans for Capcom's deed and promised to make sure the Mega Man franchise is handled with more care in the future.
Had Capcom Japan waited,like Inafune wanted,X6 would've been on the PS2 (and maybe the gamecube).
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Did you know that out of all of the games in the Original Mega Man Series,Keiji Inafune hates Super Adventure Rockman the most. He considers the action scenes and some of the attitude too unfitting of the Classic Series.
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Did you also know that both Mega Man Powered Up and Maverick Hunter X were remakes of Mega Man 1 and Mega Man X1 respectively. Both were supposed to be the start of a brand new continuity for their respective series.
Inafune planned to recreate the first 8 Mega Man titles,as well as the first 6 Mega Man X titles..including his Own version of X6.
However,due to extremely poor sales of MMPU and MHX,this never came to be. PSP Sucks!
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Here's yet another interesting piece of random trivia.
The Final Enemy in the Original (Robot) Time-Line is Sera from Mega Man Legends 2...for now,at least. On that same note,Mega Man Starforce 3's Crimson Dragon is the Final Enemy of the Secondary (Network) Time-Line...at least,for the moment.
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Here's some common knowledge that I'm gonna drop anyway:
Originaly Keiji Inafune wanted to make Zero the main hero of the Mega Man X Series,but Capcom feared that no one would except him as a Mega Man. So Hayato Kaji's Mega Man X was chosen to be the New Mega Man,instead.
Years later,Inafune created the Mega Man Zero series.
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Here's a piece of X1 prototype trivia that very people are aware of:
Mega Man X1's Intro Stage was originally supposed to be a White City instead of a highway. This city had RT-55J as a Mid-Boss,as well as an unused flying flamethrower enemy. The White City isn't in the final game.
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Random Trivia #20XX! The Original Series Characters Aren't the Only ones to get EXE/Battle Network counterparts. Iris,Colonel,and even Zero have Net Navi counterparts.
Shockingly we never had EXE versions of X,Alia,Vile,or Sigma...at least,not yet.
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Did you know that Zero has died 3 times within the course of the Franchise. Once in X1,Again in X5,and Again in Zero 4,this time for good.
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Here's something funny: It's rumored that Sigma's appearance was based on The Original Series Character,Doc Robot.
Also,contrary to popular belief, Sigma's look was Not inspired by Sagat...or M.Bison for that matter.
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Here's something strange: During the initial battle with Optic Sunflower,The Final Weapon From Mega Man X4 can be seen in the Background...even though it was destroyed in X4.
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And now something Really Interesting: Zero was originally gonna have his own Ultimate Armor for Mega Man X4,but for whatever reason,it was scrapped. Instead of Ultimate Armor,Zero has his 'Kuro Mode',which does nothing but change his color to black.
The Ultimate Armor for Zero would've been made by Dr.Wily,Zero's creator.
Thankfully,in future titles,Kuro Mode becomes an actual power-up for Zero.
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Let's talk about the Ruby-Spears Series for a bit,shall we?
There were plans in place to create a Mega Man X spin-off animated series,but due to the main series cancellation,this plan was scrapped.
Capcom and Marvel Comics planned to create a comic adaption of the show,but it never came to be. Again,thanks to the show itself being canned.
Despite it being an adaption of the Classic Series,Ruby-Spears Mega Man is so loose,that it can be considered it's own Mega Man Series.
Initially,the Series was to have an art style just like Capcom's official art. There are a few reasons for the drastic change in art style:
Reason 1 - The Anime style wasn't that popular in America and we were used to a more American look to our cartoon shows. This was before the Anime Boom in 1997.
Reason 2 - In America,The 'Kid Hero' was looked down upon,so Mega Man,Roll,and Proto Man were aged up. This attitude later changed in the early 2000's.
And Reason 3 - Muscular Heroes and Villains were the Thing in 90's America.
The reason why the Mega Man 6 Robot Masters wern't in tbe show is because during the creation of the 1st season (1993),Capcom were still undecided as to wether or not to bring 6 over to the west. By the time the decision was made,however,the 1st season's production was just wrapping up.
As to why they weren't in Season 2. It's because Nintendo of America owned the license to Mega Man 6,thanks to them publishing tbe game in North America. Ruby-Spears likely didn't wanna pay extra licensing fees,so they've decided to just leave the MM6 Robot Masters out. The license was only temporary however,and in a few short years,it expired and went to Capcom USA.
Also,Bass and the Mega Man 7 Robot Masters wern't in the show due to the Game being made at the same time that Season 2 was.
One final tidbit,Roll RS has over 30 different gadgets/tools/appliances installed into her Utility Arm.
May dedicate a whole post to the RS series in the future.
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Here's some more Interesting Stuff:
The Mega Man Legends Series hosted a few firsts for the Franchise: The first Female Villain (tron bonne),The first Love-Triangle (rock-roll-tron),The first Evil Mega Man (mega man juno),The first female Final Boss (sera),The first Non-Robot Mega Man (rock voulnutt),The first 3D Mega Man title (mega man legends 1),The first to have an entry that Doesn't feature Mega Man at all (misadventures of tron bonne), and The first to Not follow the traditional Mega Man formula (ie. select a stage,destroy it's boss,take his weapon,repeat 7 more times and go to the fortress levels).
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Duo was originally supposed to be a Robot created by Dr.Cossack,but it was later decided that he'd come from space instead.
Despite this change,Duo still has Russian influences in his design. The 4 divits in his armor resemble coat buttons,while the top part of his head resembles Russian headwear.
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Did you know that Servbots are more popular in Japan,then they are in the States.
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And finally,The Mega Man Franchise has over 150 enteries.
That's all for now. Here's to another 30 Years of Mega Man Goodness.
Stay Gold,Space Cowboys.
