Key Takeaways:
Consistent releases are good in theory but dangerous in
practice, franchise fatigue is real
Do not blame the fans for your mistakes
Mega Man is the best franchise ever (Totally biased)
(The Blue Bomber himself, from each of his series. Credit:
pop-break.com)
My grandmother did not understand the magnitude of the
situation. After trying for years to defeat the vaunted Rock Monster (aka the
Yellow Devil in Japan) from the original Mega
Man, I had finally won. The year was 1991, the TV was a tube with 7
channels you needed to turn a dial for, and I was around 4 years old. Timing
the jumps required near perfection as the monster split itself into multiple
pieces that flew across the screen. Landing thunder beam shots directly in the
eye of the monster was daunting, and at age 4 I had no idea what the pause
trick was[1].
Hearing the victory jingle and watching Mega Man himself get teleported into
the next level was nothing short of exhilarating. 18 years later as I was sitting
down to play an NES inspired Mega Man 9 with
graphics and sound similar to the older games I was overwhelmed by the rush of
feelings that I once had playing in my grandmother’s kitchen. Humming along to
the music as I went through numerous “Game Over” screens, I had not felt the
same joy in decades. Since my childhood, I have spent countless hours playing
through the Mega Man franchise,
including all the seven series that have made it to the west (Classic, X,
Legends, Battle Network, Zero, ZX, and Star Force) and have found that most
brought a fun-filled, action packed experience. Yet even as a third party
mascot crossing over multiple consoles, the Mega Man franchise does not usually
reach the coveted million seller mark. This
sales gap combined with the departure of one of the creators of the character
(Keiji Inafune) has led to long periods of dormant activity for the Blue Bomber,
causing rifts between his maker, Capcom, and the fans who crave more robot
blasting.
(It’s even harder
than it looks. Credit: Youtube.com)
Back in the 1980’s, having a solid mascot was crucial for
most video game companies and even more so for Mega Man, who became the face of
Capcom. Nintendo had Mario, the clear champion of the realm, and Sega started
with Alex Kidd but was on its way with Sonic by the early 90’s. Granted these
were first party platforms that needed a signature character to market their
systems, but even before Mario and Sonic there were other crucial characters.
Pac-Man was practically the poster child for success in the arcade era and for
the company Namco. Capcom, a third party developer based in Osaka, Japan,
needed to make an impact. Its first attempt, Captain Commando, was, while a
nice play on words, a poor choice as he was originally designed as an old man
and meant to appear solely on ads and box art. It wasn’t until 1991 he was made
to look younger and was given a quality beat ‘em up game for the Super
Nintendo, but by this point in time Mega Man had become the face of Capcom. In
1987 the company’s executives tasked a team with goal to create a character to
be the mascot for the company (and naturally be a hit in the industry). After
much deliberation and development, Rockman
(the Japanese name for Mega Man) was released on December 17th,
1987. The name Rockman was used as an homage to Rock music, one of several
times the series would use different music related names (ex. Mega Man’s normal
name is Rock, his sister is Roll, his dog is Rush, Cat is Tango, his rivals are
Bass and Treble). Although Mega Man is called Rockman in Japan, when coming to
the states former Capcom VP of Sales Joe Morici opted to change the name to
Mega Man to make the character more relatable for the western market.
(Ready to Rock?
Credit: Wikipedia.org)
The game’s premise is to defeat several robot masters who
all specialize in a particular weapon or element (Iceman, Elecman, etc.). While
the Blue Bomber starts off with his normal mega buster for minimal damage, he
gains the powers of the fallen boss robots after he defeats them. Each boss is
susceptible to one of the other boss’ powers. What made Mega Man different
though is that the player is allowed to choose the order to tackle the game’s
villains. While simple in nature, this concept was revolutionary in the early
stages of gaming. Instead of going through a practice level or forced to go
along a predetermined path, the player
now had choices to make, effectively making the gameplay unique and
customizable. After defeating all stages, a gauntlet stage set is opened to
tackle the main villain, the evil Dr. Wily. Although the run and jump
platforming seemed simple on the surface, it was extremely difficult. However,
with tight controls, it was always the player’s fault if the character
perished, and when a challenge was completed it was very rewarding. Couple the
gameplay with outstanding music (a staple of the franchise) and Capcom thought
it had an absolute hit on its hands.
(Stage select, a revolutionary concept
for the series. Credit: Youtube.com)
While the original game sold fairly well, it was not enough
to warrant a sequel, and Capcom looked to move on from the character. However,
Capcom employees cared for the metal hero so much that they decided to work on
a sequel, which Capcom allowed as long as the individuals continued with their
regularly scheduled work. In essence, Mega
Man 2 became a labor of love, and it showed. The game was more challenging
yet more accessible, the music was brilliant, and the overall experience was a
blast to play. Naturally, the game sold extremely well worldwide, and Capcom
had found its mascot. Through today, Mega
Man 2 sits as the best-selling Mega Man game at 1.51 million units. Capcom
continued with the original franchise through 6 iterations on the NES, 1 on the
Super Nintendo, and 1 on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation. By the time Mega Man 8 was released though, the year
was 1997 and the character had grown tired while Capcom released two new
versions of Mega Man in the X series with a much darker tone and the Legends’
series, which focused more on exploration type adventure. Thus, the Classic
Mega Man remained dormant for 10 years, the dormancy of certain series which
would become the norm for the franchise.
(Yes, they’re all
some form of a Mega Man. Credit: Capcom-unity.com)
Despite the dormancy of the Classic series, Mega Man
continued onward in his newfound niches, possibly the most influential of which
was the Battle Network franchise. The Battle Network series focused on an
action-RPG style game where the user would control two characters, Lan Hikari,
a 5th grade student, and his NetNavi, Mega Man. Lan would connect to
different jacks across the world to have Mega Man delete viruses, after which
the player would be rewarded with either money or chips, to use as enemy
weapons at a later time (similar to the previous versions of the character).
The chip collecting process had a similar feel to that of Pokémon, where users hoped to collect all chips for endgame
bonuses. The reason this series is notable though is because it debuted in
2001, nearly 14 years after the first game in the franchise, and brought Mega
Man to a whole new generation. All characters, including robot masters from the
original series were reimagined, and the game launched with an anime that was
revered from its inception. Although I personally love all the series
(particularly Classic), the Battle Network series is the reason Mega Man is
still known today. Speaking with Brian Austrin, prominent blogger and reporter
on all things Mega Man from Protodude’s Rockman Corner (WWW.Rockman-Corner.com) he believed
that Battle Network was the key for long term success for the character. In a recent interview he
stated that the best decision Capcom made with the franchise was as follows:
Developing Mega
Man Battle Network. This sub-series, alone, brought Mega Man to a whole new
audience, a bunch of kids, who revived the franchise. This was a time when
interest in 2D platformers was waning and experimental games, like Mega Man
Legends, were underperforming. Capcom tapped into the "hobby and
collecting" genre that was popular at the time and made it their own. Kids
ate it up. No Mega Man series has been more successful than Battle Network. Period.
Naturally, I agree with his assertion.
Nevertheless, it’s interesting to note that previously the collectability used
in Pokémon was successful
here, along with launching a cartoon alongside the game. While the Battle
Network series did not approach the monumental numbers that Pokémon did, it still carved out a solid
return on the investment. However, Capcom realized right away it was onto
something and like the other series began pumping out annual sequels. In turn,
this lead to a short lifespan for the Battle Network franchise, which
unofficially became defunct in 2006[2].
Still, with multiple million selling games at a lower cost (handheld platform,
similar graphics and sound for each iteration) Capcom was able to take
advantage of the series’ popularity. Regardless, another series was laid to
rest in obscurity.
(Similar, yet different. Credit:
Megmana.wikia.com)
Without going into too much
detail, there are technically a total of 8 series within the franchise. Even as
a diehard fan, I find it difficult to keep track of 8 different Mega Mans
running around. What’s worse is that if one of the series is poor quality it
gets magnified, especially in today’s mainstream media. For example, looking at
the only franchise I haven’t had firsthand experience with, the Rockman Xover series, Capcom tried to
break into the mobile gaming era with a new Mega Man and it was a colossal
failure. The idea was perfect in theory: release a game on a storied character
on a platform hundreds of millions of people owned and hope to capitalize by
bringing in characters and enemies from all series for the 25th
anniversary of the original character. Unfortunately, Capcom forgot to make the
game challenging or interesting, and players were left with a boring social RPG
unlike anything in the series. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly a
social RPG is to this day. The fan reaction was so poor that Capcom decided to
not release the game in the United States. The game ceased operations for good
less than 2.5 years after its release, making it a black mark for the
franchise.
(Seriously,
what is this? Credit: Destructiod.com)
While there are still other
disappointments (Mega Man X7, why?) the
true issue is Capcom’s need to churn out games on a regular basis. When Capcom
knows it has something people enjoy, it tries to replicate it as quickly as
possible with minimal changes to the core design, which in turn leads to
franchise fatigue. The devoted fans are kept happy (which is always important),
but those less exuberant may be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of titles. After
Mega Man 2 was a huge success Capcom
rushed to ensure Mega Man 3 would
make it to holiday demand. Thankfully, quality was never an issue as the game
is probably one of the most revered in the franchise as a whole. Capcom made 6
Classic Mega Man games on the NES, and I cannot think of another franchise that
was able to release 6 titles of a franchise on a single console. Inevitably,
outside of the hardcore fans, casual users cannot tell the difference between
games, as Blake Harris said recently, “I love the games but it is the same thing over and over, less of a story to
it than the Sonic and Mario games. I have trouble remembering which Mega Man is
which.” This is why when a new series is due for release it becomes a pivotal
moment for the franchise. It’s another opportunity for Capcom to reclaim the
casual fans it needs for the series to be a rousing success. Furthermore, it
gives the company an opportunity to show to its longtime Mega Man fans it still
cares about the history of the character. This is why something like Mega Man Battle Network was
successful while others (Rockman Xover)
may have not been.
(Unrelated
– did you know Mega Man has sick flow? Credit: gamespite.net)
While Capcom does seem content on
letting certain iterations of the character fade (Mega Man Zero, ZX) its most recent activity with the Blue Bomber
has led to irate fan backlash. Since 2010, there have been no new releases in
the franchise aside from the aforementioned disaster Rockman Xover and 2015’s Mega
Man Legacy Collection, a port of the first 6 games in the Classic
franchise. In that timeframe no fewer than 4 Mega Man games have been
cancelled, including Mega Man Legends 3,
the long awaited follow up to the cult series. The second game ended with a
battle on the Moon and left the titular hero stuck in space. While there is
still major speculation as to why all the cancellations occurred, a large
reason is thought to be the falling out between the father of Mega Man (Keiji
Inafune) and Capcom. Although multiple individuals contributed in creating the
character, Inafune is largely deemed the one responsible for designing the
original Mega Man. After Inafune left Capcom in 2010, 4 projects were put into
obscurity and eventually cancelled: Mega
Man Legends 3, a Massively Multiplayer Online RPG Mega Man Online, Mega Man
Universe – a game where users could design stages and characters like in
the recent Super Mario Maker, and Maverick Hunter – a potential First
Person Shooter. Capcom reportedly cited a lack of fan interest for the reasons
behind the cancellations, whether that was valid or not is up for debate.
Naturally, it led to disappointed and angry fans, particularly those wanting Legends 3. Fans have taken to social
media to convince Capcom how much they want the game with a Facebook site
dedicated to getting 100,000 individuals to like the page for a commitment to
the product. It hit the 100,000 fan mark shortly after its inception, so the
demand still exists. Yet the Blue Bomber remains largely quiet, but hope still
seems to be apparent. The Classic Mega Man was included on the roster for Super Smash Brothers WiiU/3DS, with a cornucopia
of nostalgia with music, level and weapons from the series. Plus, a cartoon is
planned to hit the airwaves by 2017. If that is a success, surely more games
will follow. To cite Brian Austrin again “As a fan, I want nothing more than to see it
thrive. It all depends on what network it will appear on, how they will market
it, and, god willing, if it will attract non-fans. I am prepared for certain
liberties to be taken - a different and perhaps vastly unique interpretation of
the character. But it's all for the greater good. If the cartoon is a success,
you can guarantee we'll see more games.”
(Previous
Mega Man cartoons. Credit: Megaman.wikia.com/rockman-corner.com)
For a franchise with over 100
games, it’s odd that Mega Man is not a household name like friends Sonic and
Mario. While he may be a 3rd party character, he is still remembered
by most individuals who played games back in the 80’s and 90’s, and yet Forbes writer Paul Tassi thinks that “he's
definitely slipped into the ‘nostalgia’ pool, and kind of drowned in it.” I
think there is still potential for the Blue Bomber to make a comeback though.
At the end of the day, both casual and hardcore fans root for longtime
characters (much like Sonic); we all want to see them succeed. Without
question, Mega Man 9 was a success,
and while Mega Man 10 may not have
been as acclaimed, it certainly was not a disappointment. After Capcom put Mega Man 9 into the gaming landscape other companies followed suit with the
return to retro style gameplay, graphics, and sound (ex. Sonic 4). With inexcusable mistakes like leaving Mega Man off the
roster for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, it
seems like Capcom doesn’t understand just how powerful its own character can be
if given the opportunity. While the Resident
Evil and Street Fighter franchises
are the bestsellers for the company, it needs to understand that it has an
incredible mascot that deserves respect. It’s frustrating as a lifelong fan to
see it remain in obscurity. Keiji Inafune left Capcom and started his own
company to create Mighty No. 9, a
game focusing side scrolling action very similar to Mega Man, and it raised
nearly 4 million dollars on Kickstarter. While it’s gone through development
hell since ($251 hard earned dollars donated right here…), the big takeaway is
that players want more Mega Man. It can be Classic, Legends, Battle Network,
Zero, whatever, the fans want it, so hopefully the company will realize that
and make it happen. Personally, I think Capcom is the king of the fighting
genre, and with a huge array of characters in the franchise I think a fighting
game would be a lot of fun. Consumers love character mixes from various games,
and Capcom fighters are typically the most revered, it seems like a perfect
match.
(Mega
Man’s intro from the latest Smash
Brothers game. Credit: Youtube.com)
For me, Mega Man is a difficult
character to study. As I sit in my office with my favorite Robot Master (Cut
Man) action figure that I’ve had for decades and have literally travelled
around the world with on my left and my awesome Mega Man/X silver statue on my
right, I find it hard to articulate thoughts without bias. To me, Mega Man has
been and always will be the best character in gaming, from the music, to the
challenge, to the subtle personality in the heroes and villains, the franchise
truly has a lot to offer players. While I think consistency in annual releases
was a great idea at its inception, I now see that it was a mistake as the
drought for new content is that much more magnified as a fan. If we are to
truly enter a new era of content for the character I would advise Capcom
properly pace the releases to something more in line with successful franchises
(Super Mario Brothers, Final Fantasy). It is also absolutely
inexcusable for a company to cite fans as the reason behind cancellations. In
actuality, I strongly believe it was largely due to Inafune’s departure, but by
citing fans the company created a lot more anguish in the community.
Regardless, at the end of the day, we’re enthusiasts, and if given the content
we so desperately hunger for, all will be right. It’s been a long time since I was
battling the Rock Monster in grandma’s kitchen, but Mega Man 9 reminded me of that experience and so much more, so here’s
to the next time, whenever it may be.
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