Over the years, Mega Man has established himself as one of the greatest heroes in video games, a tried and true warrior who uses every weapon he can get his hands on – even ones belonging to his enemies – in order to stop the vile Dr. Wily. He's done quite a bit of battling over the years, starting on the NES and eventually working his way to the current generation of games, where his adventures live on with Mega Man 9 and 10 for digital release and the fan-developed Mega Man Unlimited coming next month.
However, there are some Mega Man games out there you might not have known about – ones that flew under the radar with little fanfare or, worse yet, didn't get a chance to shine in the United States. But with digital re-releases on the rise – like Mega Man 5 and 6 coming to both 3DS and Wii U via eShop – it's only fair that these games find another shot at life down the road. After all, Capcom owns the rights to the Blue Bomber, so why not make them happen?
Join us now as we look back at some classic Mega Man games you might have missed out on…
Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (Arcade)
Getting little to no exposure in the U.S., these Mega Man games weren't your typical entries in the series. You have different stories to choose from in each game, and you'll battle Robot Masters directly in combat, with the ability to occasionally call in Rush for battle. In a way, you could consider these like Mega Man fighting games, only with weapons instead of special moves. Though a bit limited compared to the side-scrolling fare, the Mega Man arcade games nevertheless looked good, and, with the right team handling their programming (like Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara's developers at Iron Galaxy, perhaps?), they could get a spiffy re-release.
Mega Man X3 (PlayStation, Sega Saturn)
Mega Man X3 found a pretty good wave of popularity when it was released for the SNES, but you may not realize that a special edition was made for the PS1 and Sega Saturn back in 1996, featuring animated sequences and remixed music that brought the side-scrolling action to better life. With the Wii U and 3DS, Capcom could consider the SNES release for the Virtual Console service, but what about other systems? A retouched Mega Man X3 – and perhaps even the other X games – would feel right at home for download on current-gen consoles, or maybe even the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Just something to think about, I suppose…especially if you're a fan of X.
Mega Man (Game Gear)
This one is rumored to get a re-release on the Wii U and 3DS over the next few months anyway, but nothing's officially announced just yet, so we'll go ahead and recommend it anyway. Developed by Freestyle and published by U.S. Gold (through a partnership with Capcom), Mega Man fared very well on the Game Gear, with a variety of enemies to face (like Bright Man, Star Man, Napalm Man and Stone Man) and great controls, along with sound and visuals that made proper use of the system. Here's hoping we get to relive this forgotten adventure soon.
Mega Man Soccer (SNES)
Are we the only ones that remember the time when Mega Man dropped his blaster and decided to enter the sports arena? Mega Man Soccer was a curious little beast, an enjoyable game of kickball that really delivered when it came to containing the Mega Man essence while delivering solid soccer action for one to two players. A re-release would certainly be in order for the Virtual Console service, if only because it's something different – and not every Mega Man fan got to experience it in its heyday.
Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Sega Genesis)
Yes. At one point in time, the Sega Genesis – or, in this case, the Mega Drive in Japan – got a triple dose of Blue Bomber action, thanks to a well-done compilation of the first three games in the NES series. Redone with better graphics and sound (well, for 16-bit standards, anyway), The Wily Wars stood out amongst the usual Genesis platforming fare, and managed to win over fans to the point that it became a rarity. We'd love to see this take on the series again, even if we've already got the NES versions to choose from. Sometimes bigger is better.
What forgotten Mega Man games would you like to see make a comeback?
