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104-754: Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge , also known as Mega Man in Dr. Wily's Revenge or in Japan as Rockman World is an action - platform video game by Capcom for the Nintendo Game Boy . It is the first game in the handheld series of the Mega Man franchise. It was released in Japan on July 26, 1991, and was localized in North America that December and in Europe the following year. The game continues

208-841: A first-person shooter might secretly enjoy that their character gets killed in the game, although their expressions might show the contrary. The game used in the study was James Bond 007: Nightfire . Shooter games have been around since the beginning of the video game industry . Notable examples of shooting arcade video games during the early-to-mid-1970s include Syzygy Engineering 's Computer Space (1971), Galaxy Game (1971), Tank (1974) by Kee Games , Gun Fight (1975) by Taito and Midway Manufacturing , and Midway's Sea Wolf (1976). In turn, early arcade shooter video games were inspired by early mainframe games such as Spacewar! (1962) as well as arcade electro-mechanical games such as Periscope (1965) and gun games . A major turning point for action video games came with

312-497: A scoring system where players score points for defeating enemies, and earn extra points for collecting power-ups from fallen enemies and for clearing each stage. Each Robot Master was worth a random number between 50,000 and 100,000 points whereas Dr. Wily was always worth 200,000 points. The scoring system was removed in later Mega Man games as it was found to provide no meaningful benefit to players and felt unnecessary to designers. When all six Robot Master stages are completed,

416-583: A "Robot Master" boss at the level's end. Upon defeating the boss, the player assimilates the Robot Master's signature attack, or "Special Weapon", into Mega Man's arsenal for the rest of the game. Unlike the standard Mega Buster ( Rock Buster in Japan), the Robot Master powers have limited ammunition replenished by collecting ammunition cells dropped by defeated enemies at random. Enemies also drop energy cells that replenish Mega Man's health gauge. Though

520-503: A boss enemy that is more challenging and often a major antagonist in the game's story. Enemy attacks and obstacles deplete the player character's health and lives , and the player receives a game over when they run out of lives. Alternatively, the player gets to the end of the game by finishing a sequence of levels to complete a final goal, and see the credits . Some action games, such as early arcade games , are unbeatable and have an indefinite number of levels. The player's only goal

624-408: A broad category of action games, referring to a variety of games that are driven by the physical actions of player characters . The term dates back to the golden age of arcade video games in the early 1980s, when the terms "action games" and "character games" began being used to distinguish a new emerging genre of character-driven action games from the space shoot 'em ups that had previously dominated

728-470: A developer separate from Capcom. Critical reception for the game has been favorable, and most sources have denoted it as a competent, if excessively difficult, portable version of the popular NES series. Dr. Wily's Revenge was a best-seller and spawned four sequels of its own on the Game Boy, many of which follow its trend of reusing elements from their home console counterparts. In 2011, Dr. Wily's Revenge

832-698: A different approach to game design at the time. According to Eugene Jarvis, American arcade developers focused mainly on space shooters during the late 1970s to early 1980s, greatly influenced by Japanese space shooters but taking the genre in a different direction from the "more deterministic, scripted, pattern-type" gameplay of Japanese games, towards a more "programmer-centric design culture, emphasizing algorithmic generation of backgrounds and enemy dispatch" and "an emphasis on random-event generation, particle-effect explosions and physics" as seen in arcade games such as his own Defender (1981) and Robotron: 2084 (1982) as well as Atari 's Asteroids (1979). In

936-412: A dominant genre in video arcades and on game consoles through to the present day. Space Invaders set the template for later games in the shooter subgenre, and it is considered one of the most influential games of all time. During the arcade golden age, from the late 1970s to early 1980s, a wide variety of new subgenres were created. The success of Space Invaders led to space shooters becoming

1040-530: A full-page advertisement in Nintendo Fun Club News , sales gained momentum over word of mouth , making the game a sleeper hit . While Mega Man was not a large commercial accomplishment for Capcom, the company decided to allow the development team to create a sequel, Mega Man 2 , for a 1988 Japanese release. Many of the design elements cut from the original Mega Man due to space limitations such as planned enemy characters were included in

1144-416: A limited range, but this attack is rare. Players may find a power-up within the game world that grants temporary or permanent improvements to their abilities. For example, the avatar may gain an increase in speed, more powerful attacks, or a temporary shield from attacks. Some action games even allow players to spend upgrade points on the power ups of their choice. In action games that involve navigating

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1248-406: A more deterministic, scripted, pattern-type" of play. Terms such as "action games" or "character games" began being used to distinguish these new character-driven action games from the space shooters that had previously dominated the video game industry. The emphasis on character-driven gameplay in turn enabled a wider variety of subgenres. Namco 's hit maze game Pac-Man (1980) popularized

1352-508: A new life, the player resumes the game either from the same location they died, a checkpoint, or the start of the level. Upon starting a new life, the avatar is typically invincible for a few seconds to allow the player to re-orient themselves. Players may earn extra lives by reaching a certain score or by finding an in-game object. Arcade games still limit the number of player lives, while home video games have shifted increasingly to unlimited lives. Action games take place in either 2D or 3D from

1456-527: A part of console emulation services. A remake with 3D graphics, titled Mega Man Powered Up , was released for the PlayStation Portable in 2006. In the year 20XX, robots developed to assist mankind are commonplace thanks to the efforts of renowned robot designer Dr. Light . However, one day, these robots go out of control and start attacking humans, among them six advanced humanoid robots created by Dr. Light for industrial purposes. Known as

1560-680: A plethora of shoot 'em up games taking place from a top-down or side-scrolling perspective. Space shooters were initially categorized as a separate genre from action games in the early 1980s, when the term was used to refer to character action games, up until character-driven shooters, particularly scrolling run-and-gun shooters, became popular by the late 1980s. The setting of shooter games often involves military conflicts, whether historical, such as World War II , contemporary, such as Middle East conflicts , or fictional, such as space warfare . Shooter games do not always involve military conflicts. Other settings include hunting games, or follow

1664-542: A recent college graduate who started on the Street Fighter team. Inafune recalled that the Mega Man development team worked extremely hard to complete the final product, with a project supervisor and lead designer who sought perfection in every possible aspect of the game. The development team for Mega Man consisted of only six people. Inafune (credited as "Inafking") designed and illustrated nearly all of

1768-570: A simple system that offered "deep gameplay". Each weapon deals a large amount of damage to one specific Robot Master, others have little to no effect against them, and there is no single weapon that dominates all the others. Mega Man was originally able to crouch, but the team decided against it since it made players' ability to determine the height of onscreen projectiles more difficult. Naoya Tomita (credited as "Tom Pon") began work on Mega Man' s scenic backgrounds immediately after his Capcom training. Tomita proved himself amongst his peers by overcoming

1872-437: A space, players will encounter obstacles, traps, and enemies. Enemies typically follow fixed patterns and attack the player, although newer action games may make use of more complex artificial intelligence to pursue the player. Enemies sometimes appear in groups or waves, with enemies increasing in strength and number until the end of the level. Enemies may also appear out of thin air. This can involve an invisible spawn point, or

1976-404: A stage's boss will earn the player a special weapon that can be selected at will and used throughout the rest of the game. Dr. Wily's Revenge specifically takes components of the original Mega Man and Mega Man 2 , including their enemies, stage aesthetics, and Robot Masters. According to series artist Keiji Inafune , Dr. Wily's Revenge was the first Mega Man game to be outsourced to

2080-442: A tight schedule. Additionally, the remake lets players unlock and play through the game as the eight Robot Masters, Roll, and Protoman. The New Style stages differ in structure from that of Old Style, with some pathways only accessible to specific Robot Masters. Mega Man Powered Up also features a Challenge Mode with 100 challenges to complete, a level editor for creating custom stages, and an option to distribute fan-made levels to

2184-430: A variety of perspectives. 2D action games typically use a side view or top-down view. The screen frequently scrolls as the player explores the level, although many games scroll through the level automatically to push the player forward. In 3D action games, the perspective is usually tied to the avatar from a first-person perspective or third-person perspective. However, some 3D games offer a context-sensitive perspective that

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2288-451: A visible generator which can be destroyed by the player. These points may generate enemies indefinitely, or only up to a certain number. At the end of a level or group of themed levels, players often encounter a boss . This boss enemy will often resemble a larger or more difficult version of a regular enemy. A boss may require a special weapon or attack method, such as striking when the boss opens their mouth, or attacking particular part of

2392-733: A world. Each level involves a variety of challenges, whether dancing in a dance game or shooting things in a shooter, which the player must overcome to win the game. Older games force players to restart a level after dying, although action games evolved to offer saved games and checkpoints to allow the player to restart partway through a level. The obstacles and enemies in a level do not usually vary between play sessions, allowing players to learn by trial and error. However, levels sometimes add an element of randomness, such as an enemy that randomly appears or that takes an unpredictable path. Levels in an action game may be linear or nonlinear , and sometimes include shortcuts. For levels that require exploration,

2496-454: Is Rock and his sister's name is Roll, a play on the term " rock and roll ". This type of naming would later be extended to many characters throughout the series . One of the original storylines considered by the team but not used in the final game was to have Roll be kidnapped, and Rock had to rescue her. Another idea had included a boss fight against a giant Roll near the end of the game. The team decided to incorporate anime elements for

2600-537: Is a 1987 action - platform game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System . It was directed by Akira Kitamura, with Nobuyuki Matsushima as lead programmer, and is the first game of the Mega Man franchise and the original video game series . Mega Man was produced by a small team specifically for the home console market, a first for Capcom, which previously focused on arcade video games . The game follows

2704-406: Is able to choose among four stages to complete in whatever order desired. Each stage contains various enemies to blast through and obstacles to overcome, such as leaping between disappearing blocks over deadly spikes and bottomless pits. Mega Man's primary weapon is an arm cannon that has unlimited ammunition. Destroyed enemies typically leave items that replenish Mega Man's health or extra lives . At

2808-443: Is controlled by an artificial intelligence camera. Most of what the player needs to know is contained within a single screen, although action games frequently make use of a heads-up display that display important information such as health or ammunition. Action games sometimes make use of maps which can be accessed during lulls in action, or a mini-map that is always visible. Action games tend to set simple goals, and reaching them

2912-471: Is not restored between stages, every action the player takes is consequential. Before Mega Man , Capcom primarily made arcade games , and its console releases were mostly ports of these games. In the mid-1980s, Capcom made plans to develop Mega Man specifically for the Japanese home console market. They decided to bring in fresh, young talent for the small team, including artist Keiji Inafune ,

3016-528: Is obvious. A common goal is to defeat the end-of-game boss. This is often presented in the form of a structured story, with a happy ending upon winning the game. In some games, the goal changes as the player reveals more of the story. Many action games keep track of the player's score. Points are awarded for completing certain challenges, or defeating certain enemies. Skillful play is often rewarded with point multipliers, such as in Pac-Man where each ghost that

3120-434: Is often under time pressure, and there is not enough time for complex strategic planning. In general, faster action games are more challenging. Action games may sometimes involve puzzle solving, but they are usually quite simple because the player is under immense time pressure. Players advance through an action game by completing a series of levels . Levels are often grouped by theme, with similar graphics and enemies called

3224-501: Is to get as far as they can, to maximize their score. The action genre includes any game where the player overcomes challenges by physical means such as precise aim and quick response times. Action games can sometimes incorporate other challenges such as races, puzzles, or collecting objects, but they are not central to the genre. Players may encounter tactical and exploration challenges, but these games first-and-foremost require high reaction speed and good hand–eye coordination. The player

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge - Misplaced Pages Continue

3328-608: The Nintendo 3DS . The game made its way to PAL region and North American eShops later that year. The character Enker, who debuted in Dr. Wily's Revenge , appeared as a boss in the Game Boy game Mega Man V and as a playable character in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Mega Man Soccer . A downloadable stage in Mega Man 10 features Enker as its boss and his Mirror Buster weapon as

3432-486: The University of Rochester on college students showed that over a period of a month, performance in eye examinations improved by about 20% in those playing Unreal Tournament compared to those playing Tetris . Most arcade games are action games, because they can be difficult for unskilled players, and thus make more money quickly. Researchers from Helsinki School of Economics have shown that people playing

3536-623: The Xbox in 2005. A mobile phone rendition of Mega Man developed by Lavastorm was released for download in North America in 2004. A separate, 2007 Japanese mobile phone release received a 2008 update adding the option to play as Roll. Mega Man for the NES was reissued on the Virtual Console service for three different systems: the Wii in Europe in 2007 and in North America and Japan in 2008,

3640-459: The arcades in the late 1970s. Classic examples of character action games from the early 1980s include Frogger , maze games like Pac-Man , and platformers like Donkey Kong . Shooter games allow the player to take action at a distance using a ranged weapon, challenging them to aim with accuracy and speed. This subgenre includes first-person shooters , third-person shooters , light gun shooters , rail shooters , run and gun games and

3744-547: The first-person shooter (FPS) genre was popularized by Doom ; it is also considered, despite not using 3D polygons, a major leap forward for three-dimensional environments in action games. 3D polygon texture mapping appeared in action games around the mid-1990s, introduced to fighting games by Sega AM2's Virtua Fighter 2 (1994), to light gun shooters by Sega AM2's Virtua Cop in 1994, and to FPS games by Parallax Software 's Descent (1995). Mega Man (video game) Mega Man , known as Rockman in Japan,

3848-443: The high score . It also had a basic story with animated characters along with a "crescendo of action and climax" which laid the groundwork for later video games, according to Eugene Jarvis , who said many games "still rely on the multiple life , progressively difficult level paradigm" of Space Invaders . Following the mainstream success of Space Invaders , the industry came to be dominated by action games, which have remained

3952-525: The "Mega Man Killer" Enker . As Mega Man defeats Enker and obtains his Mirror Buster ability, Wily retreats to a space station. Mega Man gives chase and, using the Mirror Buster, destroys Wily's newly built, final weapon. After putting a stop to his nemesis once again, Mega Man travels back home via space shuttle. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge is an action - platformer that shares many similarities with its NES counterparts. The player, as Mega Man,

4056-402: The "Robot Masters", they consist of Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, and Elec Man. Dr. Light realizes that the culprit responsible for these attacks is his old rival Dr. Wily , but is unsure of what to do. His helper robot, Rock, has a strong sense of justice and offers to be converted into a fighting robot to stop Dr. Wily's plans, dubbing himself Mega Man . He eventually defeats

4160-451: The "Star Player" accolade after its launch in PAL regions. Capcom's sales department originally believed that the game would not sell, but after Japan had received limited quantities, it had been seen as successful enough to quickly commission an American localization. As part of the rushed localization, the president of Capcom U.S.A. told the marketing representative to have a cover done by

4264-430: The 1978 release of Taito's shoot 'em up game Space Invaders , which marked the beginning of the golden age of arcade video games . The game was designed by Tomohiro Nishikado , who drew inspiration from Atari 's Breakout (1976) and the science fiction genre. Nishikado added several interactive elements to Space Invaders that he found lacking in earlier video games, such as the ability for enemies to react to

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge - Misplaced Pages Continue

4368-647: The 1990 Golden Joystick Awards , Mega Man won the award for best console game of the year (8-bit) . Mega Man has additionally received various honors from video game journals and websites. IGN listed the game at number 30 on its "Top 100 NES Games of All Time". Nintendo Power ranked Mega Man at number 20 on its "100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time" in its September 1997 100th issue, then at number 61 in its "Top 200 Games" in its February 2006 200th issue. 1UP.com included it in their "Top 5 Overlooked Videogame Prequels" and as number 17 on its "Top 25 NES Games" list. British magazine The Games Machine awarded it

4472-637: The 3DS in 2012, and for the Wii U in 2013. The Complete Works version of the game was made available on the PlayStation Store in both Japan and North America. An enhanced remake titled Mega Man Powered Up — known as Rockman Rockman ( ロックマン ロックマン ) in Japan — was released worldwide for the PSP in 2006. The game features a graphical overhaul with 3D chibi -style character models with large heads and small bodies. Inafune had originally planned to make Mega Man look this way, but could not due to

4576-571: The Game Boy, of which the first three similarly recycle content from the NES games. In Japan, the game was made available on the Nintendo Power cartridge service on March 13, 2001. Capcom had planned to release a full-color compilation of all five Game Boy games on the Game Boy Advance in 2004, but the project was cancelled. In 2011, Dr. Wily's Revenge was released as a Virtual Console launch title on Japan's Nintendo eShop for

4680-460: The NES version aside from the updated presentation, and "New Style" uses the PSP's entire widescreen and contains storyline cutscenes with voice acting, altered stage layouts, remixed music, and three difficulty modes for each stage. This mode also adds two new Robot Masters (Oil Man and Time Man). The NES version was originally intended to have a total of eight Robot Masters, but was cut down to six due to

4784-596: The NES version of the game as a "near-perfect blend of action, challenge and audio-visual excellence" and awarded it five stars, their highest rating. Lucas M. Thomas of IGN described the game as an "undeniable classic" for the NES, noting its graphics, innovative weapon-based platform gameplay, and music. IGN editor Matt Casamassina proclaimed, " Mega Man is one of the best examples of great graphics, amazing music and near-perfect gameplay rolled into one cartridge". GameSpot writers Christian Nutt and Justin Speer identified

4888-608: The North American home video game market (after it had crashed in 1983 ). Alongside side-scrollers, rail shooters and light gun shooters also became popular during the mid-to-late 1980s. Popular examples include first-person light gun shooting gallery games such as Nintendo 's Duck Hunt (1984), pseudo-3D third-person rail shooters such as Sega's Space Harrier (1985) and After Burner (1987), and Taito's Operation Wolf (1987) which popularized military-themed first-person light gun rail shooters. A trend that

4992-543: The Robot Masters and reprograms them, then creates his own army of robots to seize control of Monsteropolis and declare it his own personal empire. Dr. Light, horrified by Wily's betrayal, sends Mega Man to destroy the Robot Masters and free Monsteropolis from Wily's machines. Mega Man consists of six side-scrolling platform levels freely chosen by the player. In each level, the player-character , Mega Man, fights through various enemies and obstacles before facing

5096-414: The adventures of the android hero Mega Man as he once again confronts the evil Dr. Wily , who has dispatched his revived "Robot Masters" and a new "Mega Man Killer" named Enker . Dr. Wily's Revenge is an action and platform game in the same vein as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Mega Man games. The player is tasked with completing a series of four stages in any order desired. Beating

5200-474: The avatar eats will generate twice as many points as the last. Sometimes action games will offer bonus objects that increase the player's score. There is no penalty for failing to collect them, although these bonus objects may unlock hidden levels or special events. In many action games, achieving a high score is the only goal, and levels increase in difficulty until the player loses. Arcade games are more likely to be unbeatable, as they make their money by forcing

5304-530: The basis for the nonlinear mission structure found in most multi-mission, open world, sidequest -heavy games, such as Grand Theft Auto , Red Dead Redemption , and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions . Mega Man has been re-released several times since its 1987 debut. A version with enhanced graphics and arranged music was included alongside Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 in the Mega Drive compilation Mega Man: The Wily Wars . Another adaptation of

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5408-448: The best player, paving the way for the competitive multiplayer and deathmatch modes found in modern action games. Inspired by Street Fighter II , along with the SNK fighting games Fatal Fury (1991) and Art of Fighting (1992), John Romero created the deathmatch mode in id Software 's Doom (1993), which popularized competitive multiplayer online games . In the 1990s, there

5512-401: The boss. In many action games, the avatar has a certain number of hit-markers or health, which are depleted by enemy attacks and other hazards. Sometimes health can be replenished by collecting an in-game object. When the player runs out of health, the player dies. The player's avatar is often given a small number of chances to retry after death, typically referred to as lives . Upon beginning

5616-464: The challenges of the console's limited power through maximizing the use of background elements. Mega Man was scored by Manami Matsumae (credited as "Chanchacorin Manami"), who composed the music, created the sound effects, and programmed the data in three months, using a sound driver programmed by Yoshihiro Sakaguchi (credited as "Yuukichan's Papa"). The musical notes were translated one by one into

5720-626: The character, Inafune insists that he "only did half of the job in creating him", as his mentor developed the basic character concept before Inafune's arrival. The basic sprites for Roll and Dr. Light were created before Inafune joined the project, and the designs for Cut Man, Ice Man, Fire Man, and Guts Man were in process. Aside from normal enemies, Inafune's first character was Elec Man, inspired by American comic book characters. The artist has commented that Elec Man has always been his favorite design. The designs for Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were based on Santa Claus and Albert Einstein , respectively;

5824-458: The computer language. Matsumae was challenged by the creative limits of three notes available at any one time, and when she was unable to write songs, she created the sound effects. When the game was localized for distribution in America, Capcom changed the title of the game from Rockman to Mega Man . This moniker was created by Capcom's then-Senior Vice President Joseph Morici, who claimed it

5928-411: The designers not to skimp on any of the original Mega Man details. We wanted their proportions and movements to be accurately reflected in these designs as well." As the size of the remake's stages are not proportional to those of the original, the widescreen ratio also presented the developers with more space to fill. Mega Man Powered Up features two styles of gameplay: "Old Style" is comparable to

6032-490: The difficulty to be compounded by a lack of helpful Energy Tanks introduced in the NES Mega Man sequels. The readers of GamePro voted Dr. Wily's Revenge the best handheld game of 1991. Nintendo Power readers voted it the fifth-best Game Boy game of that year. In North America, Dr. Wily's Revenge was released under Nintendo's Player's Choice best-seller label in 1996. The game was followed by four sequels on

6136-500: The dominant genre in arcades for a few years, before a new genre of character-driven action games emerged in the early 1980s. The term "action games" began being used in the early 1980s, in reference to a new genre of character action games that emerged from Japanese arcade developers, drawing inspiration from manga and anime culture. According to Eugene Jarvis , these new character-driven Japanese action games emphasized "character development, hand-drawn animation and backgrounds, and

6240-453: The end of every stage is a boss battle with a robot master, and defeating it earns the player its special weapon. Each boss is weak to another's weapon, allowing the player to strategize the order in which they are beaten. Dr. Wily's Revenge reuses and mixes stage components, enemies, and robot masters from the first two NES games in the Mega Man series. The initial four stages and bosses (Cut Man, Ice Man, Fire Man, and Elec Man) come from

6344-436: The familiar graphical style set forth by this title. The scoring system in Mega Man has not been present in any of its sequels. According to GamesRadar , Mega Man was the first game to feature a nonlinear "level select" option, as a stark contrast to linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open world games like The Legend of Zelda and Metroid . GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as

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6448-414: The first DOS Mega Man game share a similar cover art. Instead of being an all new illustration, the Dr. Wily's Revenge North American artwork is a simple touch-up of Mega Man 3 's regional cover, with the surrounding landscape and robot masters cropped out of the picture. General critical reception for Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge has been above average, a popular opinion being that the game retains

6552-443: The follow-up game. Mega Man 2 , with greatly improved box art, although still repeating the 'pistol' error, unchanged in directions from Capcom America, to veteran game illustrator Marc Ericksen, ('Strider , Galaga , Bad Dudes', 'Tetris', 'Steel Empire' 'P.O.W.', 'Guerrilla War', ), proved to be such a success that it solidified Mega Man as one of Capcom's longest-running franchises. Due to "overwhelming demand", Capcom reissued

6656-487: The game as a "winner in gameplay" granted its "low-key presentation". Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com likewise outlined it as a "charming (if slightly rough) start for the series". Whether positive or negative, Mega Man has been commonly perceived as very difficult and is listed among the difficult games of Nintendo , being described by USGamer as “the introduction of the Nintendo Hard difficulty”. Casamassina found

6760-512: The game has the same basic plot, and some significantly changed details from the original Japanese manual. In this version, Dr. Light and Dr. Wily (who is portrayed as Dr. Light's former assistant) co-create the humanoid robot Mega Man alongside the six Robot Masters, each of whom were designed for the benefit of Monsteropolis's citizens (no such place existed in the original plot). Dr. Wily, angered by Light taking credit for their work and desiring to use his creations for criminal purposes, steals

6864-547: The game simply require one to have played before in order to succeed. Allgame contributor Colin Williamson noted the game as extremely hard due to its "pixel-perfect jumps", the "sheer number of attackers and flying bullets", and a lack of checkpoints within each stage. IGN editor Lucas M. Thomas pointed out that the large size of the player character within the small Game Boy screen makes dodging enemy attacks overly challenging and sometimes impossible. He furthermore observed

6968-430: The game the hardest in the franchise, and among the hardest titles on the NES. Thomas observed that its combination of high difficulty and short length hurt its replayability . According to 1UP.com, the "Nintendo-hard" Mega Man bosses set the game apart from its two immediate and more popular sequels. Total! retrospectively characterized the game as "an overhard and unenjoyably frustrating platform nightmare". At

7072-666: The game was released in Japan on the PlayStation as part of the Rockman Complete Works series in 1999. This version also features arranged music in addition to a special "Navi Mode" that directs the player in certain portions of the levels. Mega Man was compiled with nine other games in the series in the North American Mega Man Anniversary Collection released for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube in 2004 and

7176-423: The game's animation. Inafune explained, "[Mega Man's] hand transforms into a gun and you can actually see it come out of his arm. We wanted to make sure that the animation and the motion was realistic and actually made sense. So with Mega Man, we had this perfect blending of game character with animation ideas." The gameplay for Mega Man was inspired by the game rock paper scissors . The project supervisor wanted

7280-544: The game's characters and enemies, and the Japanese Rockman logo, box art, and instruction manual. He was responsible for rendering these designs into graphical sprite form. He said, "We didn't have [a lot of] people, so after drawing character designs, I was actually doing the dotting ( pixelation ) for the Nintendo. Back then, people weren't specialized and we had to do a lot of different things because there

7384-434: The games better than some of Capcom's own people. Because he thought much of his artwork from the original Mega Man was not aging well, Inafune redrew many of his old illustrations to be used for the game's enemy character sprites. Beginning with Mega Man 2 for the NES, Capcom began accepting boss ideas from fans. It was not until Dr. Wily's Revenge that Inafune was able to design a boss character from scratch. To keep with

7488-459: The genre of "character-led" action games. It was one of the first popular non-shooting action games, defining key elements of the genre such as "parallel visual processing" which requires simultaneously keeping track of multiple entities, including the player character, the character's location, the enemies, and the energizers. Other classic examples of character action games that followed include Nintendo 's Donkey Kong (1981), which established

7592-521: The hardware constraints of the NES. Producer Tetsuya Kitabayashi stated that redesigning the character models was a result of the PSP's 16:9 widescreen ratio. The larger heads on the characters allowed the development team to create visible facial expressions. "The concept for these designs was 'toys'. We wanted cute designs geared towards little kids ... the kinds of characters that you'd see hanging off of keychains and such," character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa explained. "Not only that, I made sure to tell

7696-462: The latter character was meant to represent an archetypal " mad scientist ". The team had initially considered names such as "Mighty Kid", "Knuckle Kid", and "Rainbow Man" before settling on their final decisions. The "Rainbow" name was considered because the character could change into seven colors based on the weapon selected. The production team chose a music motif when naming the main characters in Mega Man . The protagonist's original name

7800-420: The level is completed with time remaining, this usually adds to the player's score. In most action games, the player controls a single avatar as the protagonist . The avatar has the ability to navigate and maneuver, and often collects or manipulates objects. They have a range of defenses and attacks, such as shooting or punching. Many action games make use of a powerful attack that destroys all enemies within

7904-547: The mid-1980s, side-scrolling character action games emerged, combining elements from earlier side-view, single-screen character action games, such as single-screen platformers, with the side-scrolling of space shooters. These new side-scrolling character-driven action games featured large character sprites in colorful, side-scrolling environments, with the core gameplay consisting of fighting large groups of weaker enemies using attacks/weapons such as punches, kicks, guns, swords, ninjutsu or magic. The most notable early example

8008-497: The musical motif of naming characters, the new character Enker was named after the Japanese genre enka . The decision to release a Game Boy incarnation of the Mega Man series came after the release of Mega Man 3 on the NES. Early reports of Dr. Wily's Revenge were made in February 1991 in both the magazine GamePro and Steven A. Schwartz's book The Official Guide to Mega Man . The North American version of this game and

8112-412: The next day, so he had a friend draw it within about six hours. Inafune blamed the game's relatively poor North American performance on its region-specific cover art, which visualized elements not found in the game: Mega Man himself resembles a man rather than a boy, his costume is colored yellow and blue instead of being entirely blue, and he is holding a handgun rather than having his arm cannon. Over

8216-466: The original Mega Man . A password system allows the player to return to the game after any or all of these first four stages are cleared or when the player suffers a game over . Once the player completes these stages and travels through Wily's fortress, four more robot masters must be fought in order to progress. These bosses (Quick Man, Bubble Man, Flash Man, and Heat Man) are taken from Mega Man 2 for NES. Although they do not have their own stages,

8320-498: The original Mega Man in North America in September 1991. Capcom carried the same 8-bit graphics and sprites present in the original Mega Man into the next five games in the main series. Even though the sequels feature more complex storylines, additional gameplay mechanics, and better graphics, the core elements initiated by Mega Man remain the same throughout the series. Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 would later revert to

8424-420: The platforming of Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. (1983) with side-scrolling elements from racing game Excitebike (1984) and beat 'em up Kung-Fu Master to create Super Mario Bros. (1985) for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It went on to have a significant impact on the video game industry , establishing the conventions of the side-scrolling platformer sub-genre and helping to reinvigorate

8528-435: The player earns the special weapons of these bosses. Once all four are defeated, the player faces a new robot master created for the game, Enker. According to series artist and producer Keiji Inafune , Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge was the first Mega Man game to be outsourced by Capcom for its development. He felt the game turned out well because the project's leader was a "huge Mega Man fan" who appeared to understand

8632-468: The player is free to proceed through the game in any order, each Robot Master is especially vulnerable to a specific weapon, which encourages the player to complete certain stages before others. The player can revisit cleared levels. Besides the weapons taken from the Robot Masters, the player is able to pick up a platform generator item known as the "Magnet Beam" in Elec Man's stage. Mega Man features

8736-437: The player may need to search for a level exit that is hidden or guarded by enemies. Such levels can also contain secrets—hidden or hard-to-reach objects or places that contain something valuable. The prize can be a bonus (see below) or a non-standard exit that allows a player to access a hidden level, or jump ahead several levels. Action games sometimes offer a teleporter that will cause the player's avatar to re-appear elsewhere in

8840-523: The player to lose the game. Games sold at home are more likely to have discrete victory conditions, since a publisher wants the player to purchase another game when they are done. Action games contain several major subgenres. However, there are a number of action games that do not fit any particular subgenres, as well as other types of genres like adventure or strategy games that have action elements. Character action games , also called "character-driven" games, "character games" or just "action games", are

8944-407: The player's movement and fire back and a game over triggered by enemies killing the player, either by getting hit or enemies reaching the bottom of the screen, rather than a timer running out. In contrast to earlier arcade games which often had a timer, Space Invaders introduced the "concept of going round after round." It also gave the player multiple lives before the game ends, and saved

9048-436: The respectable run-and-gun gameplay of the earliest NES entries in the series. "What makes this game especially attractive to adults," proclaimed Entertainment Weekly ' s Bob Strauss, "is that you can begin your quest on any one of four stages, thus avoiding that linear, start-over-again-from-scratch quality that only 12-year-olds find hypnotic." The use of old stages and bosses has not been universally positive. GamePro

9152-425: The reward for beating him. Action game In an action game, the player typically controls a character often in the form of a protagonist or avatar . This player character must navigate a level , collecting objects, avoiding obstacles, and battling enemies with their natural skills as well as weapons and other tools at their disposal. At the end of a level or group of levels, the player must often defeat

9256-426: The same level. Levels often make use of locked doors that can only be opened with a specific key found elsewhere in the level. Action games sometimes make use of time restrictions to increase the challenge. However, game levels typically do not react to time passing, and day/night cycles are rare. When the timer expires, the player typically loses a life, although some games generate a difficult enemy or challenge. If

9360-401: The seventh and last stage appears in the middle of the stage select menu. This stage, in which the player traverses Dr. Wily's robot factory, is a chain of four regular stages linked together, each containing at least one new boss. During these final stages, the six Robot Masters must also be fought again in a predetermined order before the final confrontation against Dr. Wily. As Mega Man's ammo

9464-415: The six Robot Masters and recovers their central cores, then confronts Dr. Wily within his Pacific -based robot factory, where he is manufacturing copies of Light's robots. After defeating replicas of the Robot Masters, and several robots designed specifically by Wily to defeat him, Mega Man confronts Wily in a final showdown and defeats him before returning home to his family. The initial Western release of

9568-539: The story of a criminal, as seen in the popular Grand Theft Auto franchise. Although shooting is almost always a form of violence, non-violent shooters exist as well, such as Splatoon which focuses on claiming more territory than the opposing team, by covering the playable environment with colored paint or ink. Hybrid action games are games that combine elements of action games with elements from other genres. Studies have shown that people can improve their eyesight by playing action video games. Tests by scientists at

9672-542: The strategy of the game is that the player must carefully choose the order in which to tackle the stages so that they can earn the weapons that will be most useful for future stages. Critics praised Mega Man for its overall design. Mega Man established many of the gameplay, story, and graphical conventions that would define the ensuing sequels, subseries, and spin-offs in the Mega Man franchise. The game has since been re-released in game compilations such as Mega Man Legacy Collection , ported to mobile phones , and become

9776-402: The struggle of the humanoid robot and player-character Mega Man against the mad scientist Dr. Wily and the six "Robot Masters" under his control. Mega Man ' s nonlinear gameplay lets the player choose the order in which to complete its initial six stages . Each culminates in a boss battle against one of the Robot Masters that awards the player-character a unique weapon. Part of

9880-441: The template for the platform game subgenre, as well as Konami 's Frogger (1981) and Universal Entertainment 's Lady Bug (1981). Martial arts action games eventually emerged in the mid-1980s, with Data East 's Karate Champ (1984) establishing the one-on-one fighting game subgenre. While Japanese developers were creating a character-driven action game genre in the early 1980s, American developers largely adopted

9984-413: The world by halting the plans of the evil Dr. Wily and his powerful "Robot Masters". In Dr. Wily's Revenge , the mad scientist returns to send eight of his old Robot Masters to contend with the hero once again. After vanquishing four of the Robot Masters, Mega Man heads to Wily's fortress and deals with the remaining half of them. The protagonist then battles a new robot designed solely for destroying him,

10088-474: The years, the cover art has been infamous in the gaming community. It has been considered one of the worst game covers of all time by publications including GameSpy , Wired , and OC Weekly . The cancelled Mega Man Universe featured a "Bad Box Art Mega Man" playable character alongside the classic 8-bit Mega Man. "Bad Box Art Mega Man" has since become a playable character in Street Fighter X Tekken . With little overseas press coverage save for

10192-681: Was Irem 's Kung-Fu Master (1984), the first beat 'em up and the most influential side-scrolling martial arts action game. It was based upon two Hong Kong martial arts films, Bruce Lee 's Game of Death (1973) and Jackie Chan 's Wheels on Meals (1984), This side-scrolling arcade action format became popular during the mid-to-late 1980s, with examples including ninja action games such as Taito's The Legend of Kage (1985) and Sega 's Shinobi (1987), run and gun video games such as Namco 's Rolling Thunder (1986), and beat 'em ups such as Technōs Japan 's Renegade (1986) and Double Dragon (1987). Shigeru Miyamoto combined

10296-766: Was a "3D Revolution" where action games made the transition from 2D and pseudo-3D graphics to real-time 3D polygon graphics . 3D arcade system boards that were originally designed for 3D racing games during the late 1980s to early 1990s, such as the Namco System 21 , Sega Model 1 and Sega Model 2 , were used to produce 3D arcade action games in the early 1990s, including 3D rail shooters such as Namco 's Galaxian 3 (1990) and Solvalou (1991), 3D fighting games such as Sega AM2 's Virtua Fighter (1993) and Namco's Tekken (1994), and 3D light gun shooters such as Sega AM2's Virtua Cop (1994) and Namco's Time Crisis (1995). On personal computers ,

10400-401: Was changed merely because he did not like the original name. "That title was horrible," Morici said. "So I came up with Mega Man , and they liked it enough to keep using it for the U.S. games." 1UP.com 's Nadia Oxford attributed this change to Capcom's belief that American children would be more interested in a game with the latter title. Critics received Mega Man well. AllGame described

10504-473: Was disappointed by the game's lack of originality but preferred its use of recycled content to poorly made new content. In a 2007, retrospective of the Mega Man franchise, 1UP.com writer Jeremy Parish found the use of rehashed details acceptable for its original release, but believed that Dr. Wily's Revenge "hasn't really held up". Reviewers have also commented on the game's high difficulty level . Craig Skistimas of ScrewAttack stated that certain parts of

10608-419: Was made available as a Virtual Console launch title on Japan's Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS . It also appeared on PAL region and North American eShops later that year. Set in the 21st century ("200X"), Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge follows the storyline of the original Mega Man series. The titular protagonist Mega Man , a super robot created by the benevolent Dr. Light , has restored peace to

10712-517: Was popularized for action games in the early 1990s was competitive multiplayer , including what would later be known as esports tournaments. The arcade fighting game Street Fighter II (1991) by Capcom popularized the concept of direct, tournament-level competition between two players. Previously, action games most often relied on high scores to determine the best player, but this changed with Street Fighter II , where players would instead challenge each other directly, "face-to-face," to determine

10816-426: Was so few people, so I really ended up doing all the characters." Inafune was influenced by the eponymous protagonist of Osamu Tezuka 's manga Astro Boy in his Mega Man designs. Mega Man is colored blue because it seemed that the color had the most shades in the console's 56-color palette ( cyan included), and that selection was used to enhance Mega Man's detail. Although he is often credited for designing

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