Mega Man 6

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Mega Man 6
platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Mega Man 6, known in Japan as Rockman 6: The Greatest Battle in History!!

3DS Virtual Console
, nearly twenty years after the game's initial release.

The story of Mega Man 6 opens during a competitive robot fighting tournament with entrants from all around the globe. A villainous figure known as "Mr. X" announces he has reprogrammed the eight powerful finalists with the intent to use them for taking over the world. The game's robotic protagonist Mega Man, who was sent to oversee the tournament, springs into action to foil X's plot. Mega Man 6 plays nearly identically to its five predecessors with a few added features such as stages with alternate pathways and new Rush adaptors.

Mega Man 6 is the first game in the series to receive character design input from fans outside Japan. This late-era game was also the last in the series released on Nintendo's 8-bit console, and the last game in the series with an 8-bit graphics style until Mega Man 9 in 2008. Due to the declining support of the NES and the growing presence of the newer and more powerful Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Capcom decided not to publish Mega Man 6 in North America, so it was released by Nintendo in that region. The game received positive reviews, with critics praising the gameplay and use of the established gameplay model from preceding chapters in the series, though it was criticized for not innovating much compared to its predecessors. It was followed up with Mega Man 7, released for the SNES in 1995.

Plot

Mega Man 6's story takes place after the events of

prison.[10]

Gameplay

Using one of two adaptors, Mega Man combines with Rush to propel through the air, seen in the first stage of Mr. X's Fortress.

The gameplay in Mega Man 6 is largely similar to its five NES predecessors.

mini-bosses. The player's primary method of attack is the "Mega Buster" cannon, which can be charged for more powerful shots. At the end of each of the initial eight stages is a boss battle, where the player inherits that Robot Master's unique "Master Weapon" if successful.[7] These eight levels can be completed in any order, although all Robot Masters are weak to a specific Master Weapon, adding an element of strategy to the order chosen by the player.[8] The player's health is represented by a gauge that can be refilled by picking up energy pellets. Extra lives, reserve energy tanks, and pellets that refill Master Weapon power can also be found throughout each level. Mega Man 6 introduces the "Energy Balancer", which automatically refills the weapon with the lowest energy when picking up Master Weapon power.[7][12]

Previous Mega Man games typically allowed the player to call on the transformable dog Rush or use other support items in order to traverse difficult or otherwise inaccessible parts of a stage. Mega Man 6 instead features a pair of "Rush Adaptors" that fuse Mega Man and Rush into special forms. The first, "Jet Mega Man", lets the player fly upward or hover for a brief period of time, but prevents the use of charge shots. The second, "Power Mega Man", utilizes a powerful, short-range punch attack for destroying large blocks.[7][8] The player cannot slide when using either adapter. Mega Man 6 also presents less linear ways to complete the stages than in previous entries in the series. There are two pathways in many of the stages that lead to boss rooms, but the player is often required to use one of the Rush adaptors to begin an alternate route. Although either one will clear the stage, only one of them will give the player a letter circuit board for assembling the helper bird Beat.[8][13] Collecting all four parts will allow the player to call on Beat to attack enemies.[7]

Development

Mega Man 6 was developed at the same time as the franchise's first spin-off, Mega Man X for Nintendo's newer console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Series artist Keiji Inafune, credited as "Inafking", stated that having a video game franchise with six titles is very rare, and one of the advantages to this is that players expect certain aspects of each game to be repeated in the next.[3] After having implemented so many different mechanics to the gameplay of past entries, Inafune thought that Rush adaptor assembly was inevitable. The artist struggled with the adaptor designs and ultimately found them to be unrealistic. According to Inafune, "If you think about it, they shouldn't be able to combine like this. It would be awkward if parts of Rush like his neck were left over after they combined, so what was I supposed to do?"[3]

The Robot Masters featured in some of the previous Mega Man games were the result of design contests held in Japan, in which fans of the series would submit their character ideas to Capcom. Keeping with the tradition, Japan held a design contest for Mega Man 6. After the release of Mega Man 5, the magazine Nintendo Power held a similar contest in North America.[3][14] Only eight out of the more than 200,000 worldwide character submissions for Mega Man 6 were accepted for the game.[3] Six of the Robot Masters were designed by Japanese fans, while the remaining two (Knight Man and Wind Man) were designed by North American fans who entered the Nintendo Power contest.[8][12][13][15] The North American cover of the game pays homage to the two designers by featuring their Robot Masters on it. Inafune admitted that it was stressful when the last characters being designed for the game were not meeting with the development team's schedule.[16] He concluded, "For having hit a lot of roadblocks, I feel like we got a lot done for 6. The theme for our designs was 'The world is our stage,' and I really enjoyed bringing what I felt was the unique flavor of different countries into the game."[3] Yuko Takehara, credited as "Yuko", composed the musical score for Mega Man 6.[17] Takehara collaborated with several other composers for the follow-up Mega Man 7 in 1995.[18]

A few months after the publication of Mega Man 5, Capcom announced the sixth installment in the original series, as well as

NES-101 for a retail price of $49.99 to attract consumers to buying the updated version of the original NES along with one or more new titles for the console, including Mega Man 6.[21] The game was also showcased alongside Mega Man X at the 1994 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.[22]

Mega Man 6 was re-released for the

Rockman Complete Works series exclusive to Japan.[4] This version of the game features a number of extras including remixed music, artwork galleries, and a "navi mode" to help guide players.[23] A port of the Complete Works edition was released on the North American-exclusive Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube in 2004 and Xbox in 2005.[24][25]

Mega Man 6 was released on Japanese

3DS Virtual Console in Japan and Europe, with North America on June 20, 2013. It was also released via the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan on May 14, 2014, in Europe on July 24, 2014[26][full citation needed] and in North America on August 21, 2014.[27]

Reception and legacy

Mega Man 6 has enjoyed a favorable reception from gaming publications and websites. The graphics, play control, challenge level, and added power-ups were generally praised.

ScrewAttack also appreciated these innovations and regretted missing out on the game when it was first released.[13] Mega Man 6 is listed by IGN as the 58th best game on the NES. The writers summarized, "Mega Man 6 is considered by many to be the last worthwhile NES release in the catalog, and though that's not saying much when looking at the title's contemporaries, Mega Man 6 is still as good as it gets in many respects."[34]

Mega Man 6 is occasionally seen as "redundant" to the series.

1UP.com contributors likewise found that the game's "inane" storyline and villains both insult fans of the series and outweigh the game's good soundtrack and interesting power-ups.[20][36] The four members of the Electronic Gaming Monthly review panel all voiced similar opinions regarding the game's familiar 8-bit presentation and its addition to the already repetitive nature of the series. One reviewer commented, "OK, Mega Man was fun and original back in the days when the letters 'N E S' meant something. Now the game is just getting redundant. Oh sure, Mega Man may learn a few new tricks here and there but this series has to end soon."[28]

Elements of the game made their way into the Mega Man series from Archie Comics prior to it going on indefinite hiatus. Some notable liberties were taken, such as introducing Dr. Pedro Astil, a creator character for Plant Man, and introducing the X Foundation (renamed the X Corporation) at the conclusion of the Mega Man 3 adaptation. The latter concept notably featured Mr. X as a separate character from Dr. Wily and as a future version of Xander Payne, a character exclusive to the comics who became involved in time travel after being part of an anti-robot extremist group known as the Emerald Spears. A view of the events of Mega Man 6 in the series' final issue prior to the hiatus hinted as Xander's overthrow and Wily's seizure of his resources and alias. The X Corporation's resources also provide Wily with the means of laying the groundwork for other schemes, including the abduction of Kalinka Cossack leading into Mega Man 4. Its membership was shown to include numerous identically costumed grunts and Madame Y, a character based on an "alternate universe" concept by former Capcom and Mega Man artist Hideki Ishikawa.

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: ロックマン6 史上最大しじょうさいだい}}の戦|たたかい!!, Hepburn: Rokkuman Shikkusu: Shijō Saidai no Tatakai!!

References

  1. ^ "Mega Man 6 International Releases". Giant Bomb.
  2. ^ Nintendo staff. "NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-897376-79-9
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-897376-79-9
    .
  5. ^ a b Famitsu staff (October 1, 2007). 主要3キャリアで『ロックマン』を配信！ カプコン10月の最新アプリ情報をお届け [Mega Man released on three major providers! Capcom's latest October release information]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  6. ^ Dotson, Carter. "'Mega Man' 1-6 Releasing for iOS and Android on January 5th". Touch Arcade. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e Capcom, ed. (March 1994). Mega Man 6 Instruction Booklet. Nintendo of America. pp. 7–14. NES-G6-USA.
  8. ^
    ISSN 1041-9551
    .
  9. ^ Capcom (January 1994). Mega Man 6 (Nintendo Entertainment System). Nintendo of America. Narrator: The 1st Annual Robot Tournament was held with 8 of the world's most powerful robots. But... Mr. X, the sponsor of the tournament, took control of the robots and began to take over the world.
  10. ^ Capcom (January 1994). Mega Man 6 (Nintendo Entertainment System). Nintendo of America. Narrator: Triumphant at last, Mega Man arrested the notorious Dr. Wily and brought him to justice. Sentenced to prison for his crimes, Dr. Wily now rules over a prison cell. At long last, the world is at peace. (Or not.
  11. ^
    ISSN 1042-8658
    .
  12. ^
    GamesRadar. Future plc
    . Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  13. ^
    Viacom
    . Retrieved January 16, 2011.
  14. ISSN 1041-9551
    .
  15. ^ a b Thomas, Lucas M. (February 16, 2010). "The 10 Steps to Mega Man 10". IGN. Archived from the original on April 24, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  16. ^ Inafune, Keiji (1997). "Rockman 10th Anniversary Celebration Plans". CFC Style Fan-Book (in Japanese). 3. Capcom: 24.
  17. ^ Gonzales, Joveth (February 5, 2010). "Japanese Mega Man 10 Soundtrack Details". Capcom Unity. Capcom. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  18. ^ Chris (May 2010). "Interview with Ippo Yamada, Ryo Kawakami, and Hiroki Isogai". Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  19. ISSN 1091-1685
    .
  20. ^
    1UP.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original
    on November 7, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  21. ^ "Television commercial for the NES 2 + Mega Man 6 + Zoda's Revenge StarTropics II". gameads.gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  22. ^ PR Newswire staff (January 5, 1994). "'Showtime' for the Nintendo Booth at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show". PR Newswire. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  23. CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved January 24, 2011.
  24. CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  25. CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  26. ^ "Virtual Console update: GBA titles, Breath of Fire and more".
  27. ^ "Mega Man Battle Network now on Wii U, more MM games all August".
  28. ^
    ISSN 1058-918X
    .
  29. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 256–257. ASCII Corporation
    . November 12–19, 1993. p. 38.
  30. ISSN 1091-1685
    .
  31. ^ Magnum, Thomas (August 17, 2015). "Test : Oldies: Megaman 6". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  32. ^ Ponce, Tony (December 25, 2009). "Why Mega Man 6 is the best of the Mega Mans". Destructoid. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  33. ISSN 1041-9551
    .
  34. ^ Casamassina, Matt. "58. Mega Man 6 - Top 100 NES Games". IGN. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  35. CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  36. 1UP.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original
    on July 21, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2010.

Further reading

External links

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