Mega Man
Introduction
Mega Man was developed and published by Capcom, released for the Famicom in Japan in December 1987 by a small six-person team working under a project supervisor who reportedly pushed for perfection in every detail despite the tight crew size. Fresh Capcom hire Keiji Inafune, credited on the game as ‘Inafuking,’ designed and illustrated nearly all of the game’s characters and enemies, as well as the Japanese box art and instruction manual artwork, launching what would become a defining role for him across the series’ NES and Super NES years. Players control the titular robot hero as he battles through the fortresses of six Robot Masters in any order the player chooses, absorbing each defeated boss’s signature weapon to use against the others in a rock-paper-scissors style of weakness-exploiting that became the series’ signature mechanic. Despite a slow initial commercial reception, Mega Man’s tight platforming, memorable chiptune soundtrack, and non-linear stage select established a formula that would carry the franchise through dozens of sequels and spin-offs over the following decades.
