So, those six Mega Man Mobile games we've talked about twice previously? They're coming soon, and possibly even sooner than anyone ever expected. Per Capcom Mobile's Twitter:

That's right, we get it January 5th, an entire day before Japan does! Take that, Japan!

That is, unless you take the whole time zone thing into account, in which case I think we might be getting it about the same time? Uh, hey Japan, you know I was just kidding with you about the whole "take that" thing, right?

As for price, nothing new on that front.

Anyway, I know that if you're reading this -- being a Mega Man fan site and all, thereby meaning you're probably a Mega Man fan -- these releases may have limited interest to you, or you might even be wary. Nonetheless, if all goes accordingly, I'll be able to offer some thoughts on these releases in fairly short order, so keep an eye on The Mega Man Network if you're interested in Megafying your mobile device!

Well, this has turned into a fine mess. Not the figure, I mean; rather, the situation leading up to this review.

You're probably thinking to yourself "Why this figure? Why now? And what about Alexx's "Facts & Figures" reviews?"

Following my video review of Bandai's D-Arts Ultimate Armor Mega Man X figure, I had some hopes of doing video reviews of figures as a regular thing. Truth be told, that was longer ago than I realized, and as I tried to pull things together, the things I needed just kept drifting further and further apart. I waited as days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and along the way, other things came up that led to them being pushed to the background. All the while, though, it's been eating at me.

I've given up the video idea for now, and I'm going oldschool with my review of this and the other things I've had sitting around, waiting for a video series that would never materialize. Instead, I'm just going to try to finally get these figures done and give them the long overdue attention they deserve, hopefully easing my conscience a bit as we head into 2017 (so far, it could be going better).

Oh, and as for Alexx's reviews? He's still doing them; in fact, he's got another in the works as we speak as we try to better tweak the format for this site and its nuances. So please look forward to those as I do my thing here for the time being.

On with the show!

-----

Too late for boxing day, sadly.

Double-O Zero in...

Not an ounce of fat on him...

"Look, Zero, we've told you before: You can't have a Sentai team with no one but yourself!"

First, of course, we have the box. As striking as the unusual (for Mega Man) orange/red deco is, and much like with Ultimate Armor X, this one isn't so great for displaying the figure, given the large decorative "Z" that adorns the box's front, obscuring part of the figure and its accessories.

Besides the color scheme, the biggest difference is Bandai's change from the D-Arts line to making it a part of the regular S.H. Figuarts line -- possibly the first and last of the Mega Man releases to do so. The Mega Man Zero is featured prominently beneath the character itself, and in case anyone was tempted to call him by the name of the series, the tag above the Bandai logo reminds you that he's just Zero.

As usual, the sides and back of the box feature pictures of the figure emulating some of the most iconic poses struck over the course of the series, primarily from the first game, given that's where his accessories hail from. Ah, if only there were accessory packs to give us the Chain Rod, Recoil Rod, and maybe a second Z-Saber.

Your parents help you hook it up. Then again, these days, you might help your parents hook it up.

In addition to instructions (now featuring English!), the S.H. Figuarts Mega Man Zero Zero figure comes with everything you see here.

You've got the base figure, his signature ponytail, an interchangeable "shouting" face, three sets of interchangeable hands, the Z-Saber, the Buster Shot, the Shield Boomerang, and the Triple Rod spear.

While I don't have a size comparison handy, this Zero is actually just a little shorter than the Ultimate Armor X figure by about a head, if even that.

As noted above, Zero's golden mane does not come attached; instead, you need to plug it into the back of his helmet.

The neat thing about his hair here is that it's actually articulated. I don't know if the Mega Man X Zero figures featured this, but as best as I can tell from pictures online, he doesn't -- or at the very least, not to this degree, since they're much bushier, solid pieces.

There are four points overall: Two strands each have their own on a hinge joint which connects to a solid piece, which connects by another hinge to the double-balled piece above. And, when plugged in, that acts as the last point of articulation.

The double-ball joint section also features a cover to hide some of that connection, but be warned as it tends to come off without too much difficulty.

(Also, please forgive my photography -- the hair looks a lot paler in the above picture than in real life.)

"The head-tilt means 'sass'."

"I don't think I'm comfortable with this..."

The ponytail fits in snugly to the back, completing the look of the figure. It doesn't take too much for it to come out, so be forewarned when attempting to pose the figure.

If there's one downside, it's that the curve causes the ponytail to come down the figure's back in an odd sort of manner, as seen at right, which is something you have to watch out for when balancing the figure as well. Flipping it around may work for some people, though then it curves outwards at the end with some pointed tips.

I haven't tried any durability tests, but the hair feels a bit rigid, with little to any bend to it, so be careful so as not to break it.

That said, Zero's a pretty dynamic character, so maybe the intent wasn't to have the hair fall down his back; instead, a windswept whoosh of sorts completes the look when you pose the hair as seen in the above pics.

At center, I tried to capture Zero's traditional standing-still pose from the games with both hair extensions flowing dramatically the same way. At right, the same pose, but I decided to have the hair going different ways, perhaps due to more volatile conditions.

"I just don't understand why the Wii Zapper didn't receive more support..."

Here, we have Zero posing with his Buster Shot gun in a firing position, complete with one of his hands designed to hold the weapon in a believable manner. There really isn't much more to it than that; no firing effects or anything, so let's talk about articulation here.

Not counting the hair, Zero features -- by my count -- about 26 points of articulation. His head moves on a ball joint, allowing him to look up, down, left, and right, and the neck itself is on another joint in his collar to further assist with how he turns his head.

Each shoulder has two points of articulation, a ball joint in the torso and another in the top of the arm, allowing him a pretty good range of motion, allowing him to do things like move his arm across his chest. The elbows each feature two hinge joints, allowing for a nice double-bend bicep curl, and the hands -- whichever ones you choose to use -- feature a ball joint which allows for bending and turning.

The chest features what I think is a ball joint concealed beneath his vest, allowing for a good bit of ab crunching and rotation, while the waist joint doesn't offer a whole lot, but nonetheless allows for an extra bit of bending.

The thighs are connected by another double-ball joint in a similar fashion to the shoulders, allowing him to do the splits, high kicks, or whatever else I only wish I could do with my own legs. Similar to the elbows, the knees each feature a pair of hinges, while the feet are connected with -- best as I can tell -- a ball joint beneath the gold boot cuffs and a hinge connecting to the feet themselves, allowing for a range of turning and tilting as necessary.

Put simply: Zero is every bit as flexible as he looks, perhaps even more so, and probably more than his 21XX counterparts.

"Rocket slap, go! Shield Boomerang, go! Rocket wrist, go! Enchanted golden cufflinks, go!"

"It not only shields me from bullets, but also from my father's disapproving glare."

Taking advantage of the design is the Shield Boomerang, which has a neat swirl effect molded in both translucent green and clear plastic surrounding a white disc. It attaches to the figure's arm in a special way. Rather than something so mundane as clipping on, it requires a bit of arm disassembly, as seen at left.

Basically, you need to remove the hand, and from the hand, remove the pegged ball joint and the gold wristcuff from Zero's gauntlet (this works on either hand, by the way). You'll want to put the cuff aside, and basically try to reassemble everything with the cuff attached to the Shield Boomerang in its place.

The new cuff is supposed to be held in place by a friction plug as it's slid along the edge of the arm, but I'm not sure the surface area there is quite sufficient for the job. I mean, it works, but I often found the Shield Boomerang coming loose, and it never quite felt as secure as I'd have liked it to be to have him wielding it with any regularity.

Before we move on to the remaining weapons, let's put Zero in the right mood. And to do that, he must undergo a frightening transformation!

"Do I feel a draft?"

"Waaaait a minute..."

As with others in the series, you swap faces by removing the front of Zero's helmet. The back doesn't come off, but if for some reason you just want an empty Zero helmet to sit on your desk, what does come off does a pretty good job of keeping all the key parts intact.

Underneath, we're met with an almost frightening baby doll-looking face that is the savior of the human race. As it turns out, Zero's greatest secret isn't the identity of his creator, but rather, the receding hairline he's taken on after a couple of centuries. Along with the flowing hair, all he needs is a mustache to have a real Hulk Hogan look going on.

Anyway, as you can see, the faces vary between calm/stoic and someone who's a bit peeved at someone or something off to the left of him. Admittedly, it looks a lot better once you get the helmet back on, and I'm sure he appreciates it, too.

"By the power of Skull Castle!"

Here, we've got Zero wielding his signature weapon, the Z-Saber. The Zero series version of the trusty sword doesn't feature as much detail as the X version, but it does look true to the games with its bone-like white handle and translucent green blade.

Sadly, as noted above, only one comes with him, so you can't pull off that neat double-Saber pose featured in some of the later games' art.

For this and the Triple Rod, you'll want to swap at least one of the hands into the gripping hand. The hands are rubbery, so with these (as well as the Buster Shot), you're going to need to pull them open a bit to slide the weapon handles into place. Once in, they hold firm pretty snugly.

In what is a rather nice touch, there are two other pieces of the figure which are removable as you please for display purposes. With the Z-Sabers forming the backbone of Zero's entire arsenal throughout the first three games, there are two small pieces which plug into Zero's holsters (one on each leg) that can be removed when he's wielding one or two weapons at a time.

These pieces are tiny, though, so remove them at your own risk!

Last, but not least, we have the Triple Rod. While it doesn't feature its namesake extending action as in the game, it nonetheless looks spot-on, basically being an inversion of the Z-Saber with a much longer handle and a much shorter blade, cast in the same translucent green plastic.

It should be noted that both this and the Z-Saber feature some pretty sharp and rigid points, so be careful with them, and don't let the young 'uns play with them! It's better to be safe than sorry.

And that's pretty much it for the Mega Man Zero S.H. Figuarts figure. As with the rest of the line, it's a quality piece, but -- barring your own judgment call, of course -- you may want to heed the "Ages 15 & Up" label on the box, as it's far more functional as a display piece (or, say, filming stop-motion animations) than as a play piece.

If you're a fan of this iteration of Zero, this is definitely one to get. And with that, I leave you with this group shot of all the figures I'm trying to get reviewed now as I get caught up, in case you were wondering what's next -- or just want some sort of frame of reference for the size:

"You mean to tell me that after I got my hair done, you're sticking me in the back row?!"

Oh, and one other thing: My utmost and sincerest apologies to the folks at Bandai and Bluefin Tamashii Nations. It was never supposed to take this long, and I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

---

For my previous reviews:

• Ultimate Armor Mega Man X (video)
• Figuarts ZERO Sigma (video)
• Bass and Treble
• Mega Man, Rush, and Metool
• Vile

The Mega Man Zero figure is available now at a suggested retail price of $50.99, and less at Amazon (with free shipping). A sample for this review was provided to us by Bluefin.

The year was... well, I don't remember what the exact year was. It was the late 90's, after Gundam Wing had exploded in popularity on Toonami, with merchandise all over the place.

I was visiting one of my old haunts at the time, Rebel Base Comics & Toys (at their old location), and happened to see a very large, very intricately detailed Gundam model -- well above the normal grade you normally see, filled to the absolute brim with detailing. Now, I've never been what you would call a huge Gundam fan (I've enjoyed looking at it from afar, checking out the forest rather than the trees, if you will), but I could tell that this was an absolutely exquisite piece of work from Bandai.

"Bandai," I thought. "They also do Mega Man (well, Rockman) model kits. What if they were to design a Mega Man figure at this level of quality and detail?"

Now, I'll grant you that I had some very different ideas from anything that Bandai or anyone else would ever put into production. I imagined a Mega Man or X with a removable helmet, hair underneath, maybe even some sort of artificial skin (i.e. rubber or a soft plastic or something). My ideas might have bordered on unrealistic, but nonetheless, I always dreamed of a premium Mega Man figure.

Over time, though my expectations had waned, I had always dreamed of a higher grade of Mega Man figure than the "Mega Armor Series" had provided us. We eventually got the S.H. Figuarts figures from Bandai, and I thought that was as good as we could expect. But then, some two decades (give or take) from when the dream began, TruForce Collectibles stepped up to raise the bar.

From the start, it's clear that this is not your typical Mega Man toy (in fact, I hesitate to even use the term "toy" at all here). Outside of the shipping box and tissue paper wrapping, the box is designed in a classy way, with a nice depiction of the figure using light and shadow across a black background and a pair of logos informing you that this is part of TruForce Collectibles' "Designer Series," likely so named due to the involvement of Capcom designer Keisuke Mizuno.

The box itself is made of a quality card stock which isn't especially durable, but carries a different feel from your typical boxes and cardbacks -- it's the type of material you can leave fingerprints on, if you're not careful. Along the sides are raised lineart images of X, while the back shows some of the poses the figure can take and runs down the features and accessories.

The front flap of the box opens up, revealing the figure and accessories inside, while the flap itself shows the original art from which the figure was designed. These images are highlighted by various in-fiction specifications regarding X's body and systems, some of which (like the Apogee Motor) I believe are all-new.

At the bottom, we're given some insight into who the figure's designer is and how they went about coming up with this version of X.

When first removed from the packaging, X will have some additional plastic wrapped around a few of his joints that will need to be removed.

He includes a number of accessories which would not be out of place with your standard S.H. Figuarts figure, including an alternate face, a pair of alternate hands, one X-Buster, two of the "Apogee Motor" jets for his back, and four different effect shot pieces (five if you include the center spike which separates from the yellow blast).

Beyond that, there is also a display stand with two articulated arms to help with posing, two small batteries which need to be installed, and two instruction sheets -- one for the battery installation in the X-Buster, and another for various other features and functions.

The figure itself is highly detailed, featuring a much greater number of details than your normal or even Mega Man X8 designs of the character, all while maintaining the same familiar silhouette fans have come to know and love over the years.

In addition to including more black trim and a third shade of blue to highlight some elements, there are also various markings which remind you both that this is a Maverick Hunter (per the insignia on his chest) and a robot (or Reploid, if you must), with warnings and other extremely fine print notes spread across his body.

One gets the feeling that if X were designed today instead of two decades ago, this might be what he would look like.

Both of X's hands and forearms are removable, allowing you to swap in open hands or the X-Buster as desired. The way in which this is done is similar to the S.H. Figuarts figures, but still different.

Rather than the plug being on the removable parts, it's instead on the elbow joint, plugging into the forearms or X-Buster with a satisfying click that lets you know it's firmly in place. The forearms then plug into the hands with ball joints which allow for a wide range of wrist movement beyond swiveling.

In terms of articulation, it's hard to put a number of points on this guy, because there are just so many bits that move and unfold that it feels like I'm discovering a new one every time I handle him. Even his shoulder armor is articulated with a hinge that allows you to move the arms in and out without accidentally knocking it off, and they're attached to the arm itself, allowing it to move with the appendage instead of hindering its movement. And don't even get me started on the detailing that goes into something like the second bend of his knee, giving him a full range of motion in that joint as well.

Trying to sum everything he can do up: He has full neck rotation on a ball joint, though he can't look straight up with it due to the helmet's shape preventing it. That said, there is a second joint at the base of the neck which allows him to look down, and you can actually make him look up through a combination of his neck, chest (also on a ball joint, I believe), and ab (yet another, I think) joints working together. You know, if making X look up is something you just want him to do.

His shoulders are not on ball joints, but with the number of hinges and swivels in place, they might as well be. Heck, this might be even better. He can lift his arms up and down, in and out, and as you can see in the pic at right above, even bring his arm further out to fold across his chest. There's a hinge inside the shoulder, at the top of the arm, and swivel just beneath the shoulder at the top of the biceps. Two hinges make up the elbow, giving it a double-bend, and again, the hands are on ball joints with a pretty good amount of freedom.

X's thighs are on ball joints, and can further extend to allow for a greater range of movement. The knees, as mentioned, have a double bend, with the second joint sliding down further when bent to give even more motion while exposing some cool mechanical detailing.

The feet are also on a ball joint... or two. It's hard to tell without taking it apart, but there is some sort of system in place which allows the foot to slide out further so that it can move more as well. The shape of X's boots don't really allow for any ankle-rocking action, but there is just a little there if you need it, and they rotate as well. Plus, if you don't mind the separated look, pulling the feet down can add a bit of height to him as well!

One feature of note is that the figure is made with a combination of plastic and die-cast metal, and near as I can tell, the bulk of the metal is in X's lower-legs. The result of this is that he remains incredibly stable while standing -- so much so that you can even get a pretty good Michael Jackson impression out of him, as seen above at right. Who knew X was such a smooth criminal?

One of X's most noteworthy attributes is his ability to wall jump, and while this figure can't do that, you can at least make him look like he can with the attachable Apogee Motors.

Just pop off the two small panels on the back of X's torso armor and plug the new pieces in, and away you go!

"WHAT AM I FIGHTING FO-- wait, I think the scripts got mixed up."

Swapping faces is just like with the Figuarts figures: Just pop the front of the helmet off, remove the face place that's attached, plug in the other, and put the helmet back on. Now X can scream at Sigma all night long!

Another cool feature included are the panels on the back of X's boots. On mine, the left boot takes a little more force, but using your thumbnail, you can pull open a panel that unfolds to reveal a rocket booster. Now you can have X dash or wall jump even more believably!

Closing is a little bit more of a trick, though, as the flap first folds down, then you have to push the whole thing back into the leg. Still, it's pretty satisfying to do, once you know how it works.

Finally, we come to the X-Buster itself. In order to get the most out of it, you'll want to install the two included batteries, which requires disassembling the weapon into the three pieces you see above. Put them back together per the instructions, twist the barrel, and you've got light-up X-Buster power!

Just be sure to note that if you're not using it for prolonged periods, you'll want to remove the batteries to avoid corrosion.

Whether or not you've installed the batteries, you can also attach a variety of effect parts to the barrel of the X-Buster to give it different looks. While the light looks good on the bare X-Buster, though, attaching more pieces of plastic (even translucent ones) diminishes the effect a bit.

Also, a word of warning: These effect parts are sharp, and in the case of this next piece, kind of heavy for its size. Be careful so as not to hurt anyone (or yourself) with them!

Here we have a full-charge styled shot. You can display it with or without the burst surrounding the barrel, but as noted, it's a heavier piece. As such, either way you decide to go, it's going to weigh the arm down a bit, and you might want to use one of those articulated arm pieces with the display stand to keep it upright.

Now, if you want to go for a super-huge blast (which you'll definitely need the display parts for, unless you want X to look like he's blasting himself to the moon), you'll need to remove the center spike as seen above and replace it with the part that looks like a clear Buster barrel, which emulates how that piece locks on to the other parts.

KA-BOOM!

Incidentally, I tried to get everything working together in tandem, with X unleashing a huge charge shot while in a dashing pose with all his jets out. Sadly, I couldn't make that one work on account of all the weight distributed throughout. This is the best I could manage:

Yes, I even tried it with both arms. Maybe I just needed to try harder.

Suffice to say, this is quite a figure, and probably the best, most detailed version of X we've ever seen -- and possibly will ever see. It's not the huge kit I imagined while standing in a comic shop so many years ago, but for its size and price, it's still quite good, and will look good in any collection -- especially among more contemporary characters, though the scale may not work as well among other Mega Man figures, such as those from the Figuarts line.

There have been several variations of the figure over the last year or so, and if they all maintain the same standard of quality across the line, you should be good with any of them.

And once again, my apologies to the folks at TruForce Collectibles and Bluefin Tamashii Nations for taking so long with this review!

---

For my previous reviews:

• Mega Man Zero
• Ultimate Armor Mega Man X (video)
• Figuarts ZERO Sigma (video)
• Bass and Treble
• Mega Man, Rush, and Metool
• Vile

You can also check out my review of Bandai's S.H. Figuarts Mario and Luigi figures at PoisonMushroom.Org!

Mega Man X is available now at a suggested retail price of $79.99. A sample for this review was provided to me by Bluefin.

Well, here's something offbeat for you today.

When it comes to people creating their own recreations of Mega Man characters and robots, many names may come to mind, from Mega Man, Proto Man, and Bass to Rush, or even a Metool.

But an Adhering Suzy (better known to some as an Octopus Battery)?

That's what one fan created, using a combination of 3D printing and some fancy electronic parts which seem to make it capable of "watching" things, just like the original concept! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem able to slide around the floor or glide through the air, but one thing at a time, right?

You can see many more pictures, including a neat pic with Dr. Wily's logo on the back and a video of the eye camera moving around (complete with mechanical whirring) here on Tumblr user Hakaseminarai's page.

How would you like to have one of these watching over your home?

Thanks for the tip, Spin Attaxx!

The villainous Dr. Wily has been a major part of the Mega Man franchise from the outset, his influence reaching well past his lifetime into other centuries and other series, but have you ever stopped to take look at him? Like, a really good look?

Over on Press The Buttons, Matthew Green has done just that. While the pixel art remained consistent throughout the era of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Green examines the promotional art used to depict the character with each new installment, and how each rendition seems to show an ever-gradual progression as Wily slides from jealous colleague to outright supervillain.

You can follow the progressive analysis for yourself here, though it must be pointed out that Wily has apparently managed to dial things back following his lone PlayStation/Saturn outing. Maybe there's hope for him yet?

Remember that cool Proto Man replica helmet that Capcom announced back in May? It was supposed to arrive in "Winter 2016," but nary a peep has been heard about it since orders were opened.

Until now, that is, and the news is unfortunately not good.

E-mails were sent out to those, such as our own resident Proto Fangirl Tabby, who had laid down their pre-order to sport the official look of Rock's cool older bro. Information is scant, noting little more than that there were "manufacturing complications" that led to the product's cancellation.

Those who ordered from Entertainment Earth have fared no better, according to Protodude's Rockman Corner.

One supposes it might be possible that the product received wasn't up to quality standards, or that the design might need to be further refined, with a second attempt to be made to sell it in the future. That's purely speculation, though, and for now we can only lament the loss of what would have been one more cool product for Blue Bomber (and Red Rocker) fans to add to their collections.

Since its introduction in 2006, the Dead Rising series has been well known for its plethora of references to other Capcom franchises, and being a brainchild of former Capcom Global Head of Production Keiji Inafune, it is of course no surprise that Mega Man would be among those more heavily featured.

The tradition continues today in Dead Rising 4, the latest entry in the series which is available now for Xbox One and Windows 10. With Frank West's most recent outing, the folks at Capcom Vancouver have a very special treat in store for Blue Bomber fans -- or rather, fans of his allies.

But first, we have the more traditional treat in the form of costumes based on two of Dr. Wily's greatest creations (no, not Turbo Man):

There are some neat little touches here, such as the metallic footsteps Frank makes as he runs, echoing those heard in some of the games. Plus, get a look at the thumbnail for the above video -- the Bass costume actually features Bass's eyes!

As cool as that is, that's not the real treat. This time out, Frank West can equip himself with an exo-suit that makes tearing through hordes of zombies a piece of cake. But as it turns out, there's one exo-suit that allows him to cut through them like a hot knife through butter -- or, should I say "a Z-Saber through Mavericks"?

Check it out:

How sweet is that? It's just a shame it lasts only two minutes.

Personally speaking, I'm a newcomer to the Dead Rising series, so if you're interested in my newcomer's thoughts on the game, you can check out my review of Dead Rising 4 here.

Source: Protodude's Rockman Corner

Capcom has found itself in an awkward place in the fighting game market as of late. The release of Street Fighter V focused on the competitive players and sacrificed various features in the process, leading to them falling shy of their projected sales by about half a million.

Fortunately for them, they're not fighting the battle of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite alone. This time out, it seems that Marvel is lending a major hand in making sure that this one gets done right. In fact, it almost looks like a new beginning for the series -- a soft reboot, perhaps?

“It’s not called Marvel vs. Capcom 4," Marvel Games executive producer Mike Jones pointed out to Yahoo Esports. "There’s a lot of meaning behind the Infinite part. Capcom can make great fighting games. What we’ve never been able to do is tell the story about why these worlds are coming together."

From the sound of things, Capcom gets to focus on making a great fighting game, while Marvel will handle the character and storytelling aspects.

“Storytelling is at the core of everything Marvel does in comics, TV, film, and now games,” Bill Rosemann, creative director for Marvel Games, explained. “That’s what we do. It’s not just characters colliding. There’s a reason for everything. You’ll notice in the backgrounds it looks like the worlds are merged. The question is who did this? These are questions and mysteries that will be answered as you play the game.”

Yahoo Esports goes on to note that "there is greater purpose for their character choices this time around," and look at the inclusion of Mega Man X:

“Mega Man X is far and beyond the most requested on the Capcom side,” Jones stated. “We wanted to get him in there and give the fans what they want.”

Check out the full article on Yahoo Esports to learn even more about the game, such as the reasoning behind the return to more simplistic two-on-two fighting, its freeform tag system, and striking the balance between being complex enough for hardened veterans while still being welcome to newcomers.

Oh, and for those of you wondering about the X-Men more than the (Mega) Man X, the above video interview with Maximilian Dood reveals that Marvel is basically saying "hang on" and "don't worry" on that front. It seems that they really are listening to the fans on this one.

Finally, since Dood brought it up, Magnet_Man sent along this image from NeoGAF user Harpoon which points out the similarities between our silhouetted mystery man from the original trailer and Sigma:

Magnet_Man also puts forth the idea that maybe the two will be playable alone, but will fuse into the final boss. An interesting idea that I'm sure many Mega Man X fans could get behind -- what do you think?

Do you love Mega Man? Do you love watching people play Mega Man? And most importantly, do you love showing support for children's hospitals?

If so, then MAGfest is the place to be at 12pm EST as Half Empty E-Tank celebrates 29 years of the Blue Bomber with a 72-hour marathon featuring players such as Jirard the Completionist, DjCUTMAN, Gaijin Goomba, Game Dave, My Life in Gaming, and many more! There will even be a segment featuring Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 with none other than Matt Papa of Inti Creates behind the controller!

Oh, and our own Tabby will be on hand to act as Spotter for HCHecxz as he takes a highlight reel tour of Mega Man Legends!

Plus, in exchange for your generous contributions to the Child's Play charity via the marathon, you'll have the opportunity to win one of several great prizes! E-Tank mugs, Mega Man helmets, posters, copies of the Archie comic book, and even Mega Man Legacy Collection for Nintendo 3DS (complete with golden Mega Man amiibo) are all among the prizes up for grabs!

To donate and learn about incentive goals, check out this link. You can also choose to purchase a Mega Man shirt from The Yetee and $3 of each purchase will go to Child's Play.

Finally, when it's showtime, you'll want to tune in on Twitch or their home page at megamanathon.tv to see all the fun and excitement. For the full schedule of games and who is playing what and when, click here. Oh, and in the meantime, if you want to see some clips of past events and more on their Facebook, then click here.

Before taking his spot to play the Famicom board game Wily & Right no Rockboard: That's Paradise! for Mega Man-athon 5 at 2:30pm EST, Game Dave has put out a video in which he tries to validate the oft-underrated and overlooked Mega Man 6 as the best game the series has to offer on the Nintendo Entertainment System:

Personally, I've always enjoyed this installment, and felt it was a fitting swan song for the series on the NES. But what do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Hoo-boy, I feel like I'm going to catch some hell with this one. Alas, this is the life I chose.

The iOS and Android ports of the six Nintendo Entertainment System entries in the Mega Man Classic series, rebranded under the name Mega Man Mobile, were released yesterday. And as I'm sure many of you are no doubt aware, the reception to them has been anything but kind.

I've tried to keep eyes forward, as Capcom reached out to me with the offer of codes with which to review the games -- codes I was happy to accept in the interest of providing this very review, as I honestly had little interest in purchasing the games myself otherwise (some of which I own a good five or so times -- I'm pretty well covered if I need my fix whether at home or on the go, and the lack of the Rockman Unity app and its tied-in bonuses didn't provided further enticement).

In the interest of further disclosure, I will admit that I have not played through any of these games in their entirety. Given how many times I've played them over the years, I played through roughly 3-5 stages per game with the belief that I can get enough of a feel for them from that -- though there is one exception, which I will get to when we come to it.

Also, I don't know whether it makes a difference or not, but the versions I played were on iOS through an Apple iPhone 6s Plus. All screens in this review were taken from each game's respective Google Play pages.

Anyway, here's what popped out at me as I played the games -- note that this is by no means a comprehensive list.

Where better to start than the beginning? It was my first Mega Man experience way back in the day, after all.

The first game in the series pretty much sets the stage for the rest of these ports, but that by no means indicates that all these ports are equal. Some truths are reinforced, while others are turned completely on their head, but we'll get to that as we go along.

The graphics and sound are by and large like what you know on the NES (or re-releases). Maybe not quite as good as you'd find pumping through your television, but it would take a keener ear than mine to really pick apart the problems. I will say that the videos released beforehand had me worried, but those fears were unfounded when I played, though there is an issue with the music restarting when you pause.

In terms of when things are actually moving, well, that's where things begin to falter a little bit. The frame rate is a bit sluggish, which Capcom says is because "each game has been optimized for the mobile devices with adjustments to game speed." There is an option to speed it up, which helps the overall flow, but as you'd expect, kind of makes everything move a bit faster in general, and so a bit more difficult to keep up with.

Among the other options you're given are whether holding the Fire button will have your weapons shoot constantly, or if you need to tap them for each shot (I went with auto), and a choice between Normal and Difficult settings (I mainly stuck to Normal), each with their own save files. Near as I can tell, Difficult is closer to the original NES games, while Normal softens things up a bit in terms of how many hits enemies take to be defeated and the like, as well as granting infinite lives (you're taken to the Continue/Stage Select screen after each death, though).

You can also change the arrangement of the three buttons at the right of the screen for jumping, firing, and cycling through your weapons one way. At the top right, there's another which isn't configurable, but brings up your pause/weapons screen.

Sadly, the Dpad at right cannot be moved at all, and its placement so close to the screen's edge (as seen in these screenshots) made moving left rather difficult in this game. For some reason, they moved it a bit in the rest, but this results in movement being more difficult in an already tough game. The result is that getting around usually took a much more concentrated and less immersive effort. Even climbing the ladders wedged into narrow spaces in Cut Man's stage took a bit more effort than normal, and I had to be overall more cautious.

Despite this, I was able to get through Cut Man, Bomb Man, and Elec Man's stages with relative ease. Guts Man was where I stopped, as even the Magnet Beam -- already a tricky item to use -- could not save the day this time, and the Dpad is just not good for quick, nuanced back-and-forth movement.

In a way that's nothing short of amusing, Mega Man Mobile 2 is perhaps the best game in this entire lot. That's not simply a judgment of the game as a whole against the others throughout the series' history, but it is the one I found perhaps the most playable of the lot.

The big change is not reflected in the screens, which is that from this game forward, the Dpad at left is moved just a bit to the right, enough so there's room between the Left direction is not touching the edge of the screen, and it makes a world of difference. I surprised myself when I took on Quick Man's stage and not only got through the beams on my first try without using the Time Stopper, but I might have even done so in record time for myself.

I couldn't believe it, though I suppose it's possible that playing on Normal assisted in the feat.

Speaking of which, a funny peculiarity about this game: Normal here is not like Normal in most versions of Mega Man 2, as enemy behavior is not changed. For instance, Tanishis in Bubble Man's stage lose their shell regardless of difficulty, and Blockies found in a few stages fly to pieces when shot in the face, rather than being destroyed outright. But regardless of difficulty, you can now jump through the chains of the Presses in Metal Man's stage.

The Metal Blade is still potent, but is unfortunately difficult to aim in diagonal directions. It's possible, but not quite as intuitive as in other versions, so it's not quite the "win button" it has become in other versions. In fact, in a replay of his stage (which you can do now), I fought Metal Man himself with it, and he actually took a good two or three hits with it!

One other thing I noticed in the time I spent playing was that enemies and such that were previously hidden by foreground objects no longer are. You can see Moles burrowing through the walls in Metal Man's stage, or the Pipis in Air Man's stage without any real difficulty.

Oh, and that reminds me: It may have been my own fault, but of the stages I played (which was everyone but Crash Man and Heat Man), the one that gave me the most trouble was -- quite amusingly -- Air Man. Sort of like when a movie is made about a song instead of the other way around, except I did eventually reach him, and he went down quick.

Emboldened to think that maybe things weren't quite as bad as I'd heard, I soldiered on to Mega Man Mobile 3, and... oy.

This is where I first really noticed the choppiness come into play. I took on Top Man's stage first, and ended up using the faster speed option (which you can toggle at any time via the options menu button at the upper left), and that helped a bit, but as noted before, that kind of speeds everything up. I can usually clear the spinning tops at the end of Top Man's stage with no hesitation, for instance, but they gave me pause when sped up.

I think the other stages I played ran a little better, but only just so. Incidentally, there were other... well, I won't call them problems, since it was exploiting the program to begin with, but there are things you could do in other versions of the game that you can't here, such as scrolling away the Have "Su" Bees in Hard Man's stage. Also, with no password screen, no easy E Tanks.

Of course, this is also the game which introduces the slide, but sadly, there is no slide button. I can't help but think that it would have helped quite a bit in the long run, as I find pressing down and jump while being sure to turn the right way first a trickier proposition here than on consoles. When you just need to get through a gap, it's fine, but when you need an evasive maneuver is when it falls flat.

After Mega Man Mobile 2 and Mega Man Mobile 3, I figured things had maybe evened out. Boy, was I ever wrong.

Good ol' Mega Man 4. For what it's worth, I've always found that of the NES games, this one challenged me the most short of the original, but I've gotten better at it over the years. Sadly, whatever skill I've gained in the years since its release did not translate over to Mega Man Mobile 4 at all.

That exception to the number of bosses I'd beaten in each of these games I mentioned earlier? This is it. I went to Toad Man's stage first, as I normally do, and while the stage was good enough (though it felt like it was really slowing down and I was struggling with the jumps in the wind and rain), it was the boss who handed me the most humiliating defeat of my entire Mega Man playing career.

Toad Man pretty well flattened me at least ten times in a row -- the maximum number of lives you can carry at once to battle in a normal Mega Man game. I was pulverized, thanks in part to not being able to reliably evade with the slide. And if I can't beat Toad Man, I don't even want to rate my chances against the rest of Cossack's crew.

This game is, of course, the debut of the Charge Shot, and as such, a new option is added to the menu which allows it to charge automatically, or you can hold it down as per tradition -- though this obviously can't work in conjunction with the turbo-fire, and the latter overrides it.

The Mega Buster's charge meter is shown beneath Mega Man's health meter when a weapon is not selected, maxing out when it's fully charged and ready to be let loose. This also results in what may be a divisive, but what I feel to ultimately be a positive change.

Mega Man himself no longer flashes while charging, but he also doesn't make any noise, meaning that the sound of the Mega Buster charging no longer drowns out the great music heard throughout most of the game. It's a bit of a trade-off, I think, but ultimately a positive one that carries forward with the remainder of these games.

Something else that carries forward from this game on is bound to irk some people. Whenever there's a screen-scrolling transition, whether it be Mega Man dropping from one screen down to another or entering the corridor to a boss, the screen fades to black before fading in on the next screen.

Mega Man Mobile 5, I really don't have too much to say about, except that it's what I wish Mega Man Mobile 4 was. Quite a bit easier and more fun to play, as things don't feel so hopelessly one-sided.

Seriously, I think Toad Man might have had a hand in development, if nothing else. He's clearly been itching for some payback.

Likewise, I don't have too much to say about Mega Man Mobile 6 in itself that hasn't been a general truth about this series of re-releases as a whole.

But, between Mega Man Mobile 5 and Mega Man Mobile 6, this where the other of those great truths (such as they are) about the NES Mega Man games gets turned on its head. Most generally consider Mega Man 5 and 6 to be the bottom tier of the releases on the platform, if not the series as whole, but here, I found them to be two of the better and overall more playable releases!

The simple truth of the matter is that none of these is the ideal way to play any of these six games, and that Capcom released them after putting such effort into creating definitive versions in the Mega Man Legacy Collection is almost confusing. And that's not even going into the work done by others, such as Taxman and Stealth, who created the nigh-definitive versions of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog CD on the same platform.

Still, these games are playable, if only adequately so when compared to other versions that have been released. I believe I've shown myself in the past to be a fairly capable Mega Man player, but I'll admit that even when I went through this, I don't think any of it (save the Quick Man beams) would ever wind up on my highlight reel; the stages were usually easy enough with but a few exceptions, while the boss fights were more or less slugfests to see who could last longer -- with little to none of the usual finesse I'm able to perform. That said, someone who hasn't been playing these games for the last three decades might find themselves having a more difficult time than intended as well.

If you find you need Mega Man on your mobile device, then I would most strongly recommend going with Mega Man Mobile 2, 5, or 6. Mega Man Mobile 3 is kind of okay, if you don't mind it seeming to chug along a little more than the others, Mega Man Mobile 4 I would advise keeping away from unless you really want to challenge yourself, and Mega Man Mobile itself is mostly just Mega Man, but a little bit less so, for better or for worse.

If you're interested, the six games are all available right now on the iOS App Store and Google Play for $1.99 USD each, or $2.79 CAD in the App Store and $2.89 CAD on Google Play.

It's been quite a while since we last heard anything about Red Ash. On the video game front, there still isn't any news to speak of, while we got a little bit of news about the anime back in June 2016.

In that regard, it is perhaps of little surprise that the latest news once again comes from the anime side of things with Studio 4℃ updating with a variety of new details and info.

As you can see by the new artwork at right, the Original Video Animation (OVA) now possesses a new name: Red Ash -Gearworld- (or "RedAsh -GEARWORLD-," to be precise).

The website, which is in Japanese, also provides some other tidbits of info as well for those eager to learn more about the story and what's going on in this world. By way of Google Translate, the synopsis says:

The future society where nanomachines are incorporated into genes, "nano species" (nano race) with special abilities are managed and discriminated under ordinary human "pure seed" (pure race). Among them, a nude boy Beck, a legendary hunter with the capability of "Red Ash" that turns into red ash, is used to earn surgery expenses to become a pure species, along with a mechanic 's weak big tiger, a parallel machine He was engaged in a dangerous job jumping to the old world. One day, a girl call chased by a mysterious dual-player safari & stripe suddenly pushed in front of Beck and got to jump to the gear world together. But the two players and their leader, Dinai, have relentlessly pursued the call and have finally attacked the Becks ...!

Yeah, that reads in a way that is just a bit confusing. Fortunately, I was able to get someone a little more proficient in the ways of translating Japanese to lend a hand:

In a future society where nanomachines have become incorporated into genes, the "Nano race" who possess special abilities are oppressed and discriminated against by the "Pure race" of normal humans. Among the Nano race is the young lad named Beck, a hunter of legend who possesses the special ability of "Red Ash" transformation. In order to pay for the costly operation that would allow him to become a member of the Pure race, Beck and his mechanic companion, a large but timid fellow named Tyger, have taken on dangerous work zipping to the old world in their Parallel Machine.  Then one day, they suddenly cross paths with a young lady named Call who is being chased by Safari and Stripe, a mysterious pair of crooks. Thrust into a mixed-up situation, together they zoom off to Gearworld, but are pursued relentlessly by the shady duo and their leader Deny, who ultimately commence an attack on Beck and his companions...!

So it appears we have two forms of humanity in the future: One with nanomachine-augmented genes which give them special powers, and another who are pure and treat the first like trash. Think X-Men, except it sounds like they did it to themselves.

One member of this nano race is Beck, who is a legendary hunter (I'm guessing something akin to a Digger, maybe? Or maybe I'm just projecting), who can use his ability of "Red Ash" to... turn into red ash. Well, at least there's no confusion there. Or maybe a lot of confusion, I don't even know yet. It's kind of confusing.

Anyway, it sounds like we've got a Pinocchio sort of story here, as he wants to be a real (i.e. "pure") boy, and is using his ability to help him realize his dream.

Also pointed out to me by my tour guide through this is that in this Kickstarter post from before, the Parallel Machine was called the "Parallel World Transfer Machine," and it seems that this "Gearworld" may be such a parallel world/dimension. As for Deny, he was previously explained to be a former friend and current rival of Beck's.

As to the rest of the page, there is a staff roll and some words from two of the project heads. From Director Yuta Yano Sano:

- About the works produced in this project

This work is adventure play theater, which is the royal road of animation. Through adventure, I will draw a human pattern that the hero grows over various troubles and conflicts, I want to make it a good story with good stories and actions that children and adults can enjoy.

And from Producer Hisae Yuhua:

- Motivation for this project

As a training project, we aim to establish educational method of CG animator as well as handwritten animation site. Also, since it is an impressive story filled with strong individuality and unique world view of the character in about 20 minutes of work, I hope to be able to create works that can be enjoyed by animators and viewers I will.

And that's pretty much it for now. More as it comes, and a huge thanks to DaftLegends on Tumblr for bringing this to my attention!

Today, we've got word from not one, not two, but three different fan game developers of different projects, and between them, hopefully at least one is enough to garner your attention. Normally, I'd have made individual posts for each, but with how long some have been waiting, I figured it might be more fun to make it a party instead.

First, Zerolegends sends an update about the previously-covered prequel to the Mega Man ZX series, Team Einherjar's "Mega Man ZX Genesis." The latest is that they are on their third alpha test, and will probably have one more before they move into the beta phase, which is where more of the story elements which connect it back to the Zero games come in.

The following video of Alpha Test 2 is geared more towards the game's environments, as well as something extra regarding the Four Guardians -- and a couple of other increasingly surprising appearances:

Alpha Test 3 shows off more distinct abilities for Models P and F, as per the official Mega Man ZX games, as well as something new at the end:

In addition to this, Team Einherjar is also working on a "Project FS," which is described as a Mega Man-inspired game with their own twist, but besides the character art at the end of the above trailer, more details are still to come. By the sounds of it, maybe they're taking the skills learned from working on "Mega Man ZX Genesis" and creating a Mega Man-esque game of their own design?

If you're interested in more "Mega Man ZX Genesis," then you might want to check out the nearly two-hour New Year live stream that they recorded.

Moving on, BLsquared has been at work on "Mega Man 2: Remastered." Hey, if you're going to hone your skills in game design class by remaking one of the Mega Man games, this is probably one of the best places you can start!

Here's a video of it in action with a remake of the Air Man stage, though BLsquared says the optimal experience is the Quick Man stage (as it was the first one completed):

Some of the assets are placeholders and others seem not to have been implemented yet. Unfortunately, it seems the project has also gone as far as it's going to at this time, but BLsquared has posted the source code here (along with more details and screens of the aforementioned Quick Man stage) for anyone interested in carrying on his work. Will any of you be the Dr. Cain to his Dr. Light?

Hm, that analogy sounded better in my head before taking the whole Mavericks thing into consideration.

Finally, we come to an update sent to me by HeatPhoenix about the "Mega Man Battle Network 3D" fan game. This time, they're collaborating with the developer of another fan game based on a property Mega Man Battle Network fans will no doubt be familiar with, revisiting that team-up from the past:

To learn more about the fan game "Kura5" (including a free demo to play), visit their page here.

And that's it for now! Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Regardless of what you think of the actual game itself, it's arguable that one of the most contentious aspects of the entire Mighty No. 9 debacle has been the deafening silence in regards to the physical rewards promised to those who backed the original Kickstarter at a higher tier. This much is clear because one can scarcely even talk about the game or its creators without the subject coming up.

That said, one can hope some small measure of comfort may come to those seeking it by way of the words of a moderator from the official Mighty No. 9 forums, as well as Fangamer themselves.

The moderator, Alraz, says that he heard at the beginning of the month that the physical rewards were (obviously) coming along slower than expected, with one of the books finished but no estimated time for when they would begin to ship.

Further down, another post (echoed on NeoGAF, via GoNintendo) from Steve of Fangamer stated the following:

We’ve been receiving a lot of questions from Mighty No. 9 backers regarding their remaining physical rewards, and I figured I would chime in here to clarify what’s going on from our end.

We (Fangamer) were contracted by Comcept to produce and fulfill the physical rewards (up to the $250 tier) for their Kickstarter project, however this is contingent on Comcept providing us with the necessary assets we need for fulfillment.

The question we’ve been receiving the most has been “When will you begin shipping the rewards?”. The remaining physical rewards are currently in production, and while we can provide estimates based on our (Fangamer’s) internal time-frames (e.g. Early-2017), these estimates are based on the assumption that we will receive all required assets from Comcept, and unfortunately we currently do not know when they will give them to us. Therefore, until we receive everything we need from Comcept, we cannot give a specific shipping time-frame just yet.

Also please keep in mind that our involvement in this project is limited to merch production and fulfillment for Comcept. While we’re happy to answer questions sent to our orders@fangamer.com customer support email address, we are not involved with providing updates or PR for this project; that is Comcept’s responsibility.

The Mighty No. 9 shirts, plushies, and boss posters were shipped off in 2015. If you were eligible for but haven’t received these items, please contact orders@fangamer.com for support.

So it seems much of it is still contingent on Comcept's help to help see things through, leaving us to wonder why they haven't done so at some point in the six months following the game's release (if not sooner).

As Steve points out, their part only covers rewards up to the $250 tier; subsequent physical rewards included signed sketches (which we saw Inafune himself autographing in previous videos), original Mighty Number boss concept art with a 3D printed model special boss number t-shirt, and of course, dinner with Keiji Inafune himself (sure, meeting with Inafune might be considered more of an event and therefore not physical, but the food would be physical, so I'm counting it), and I'm really not sure on the status of any of those.

If you happened to back at any of those levels and would like to share, I'd love to hear from you! (Especially if you were set to have dinner with Inafune.)

That's pretty much everything there is at the moment, but if I learn more, I'll be sure to pass it along.

It was only after I had posted about the three fan games yesterday that anyone told me about a little something called "Make a Good Mega Man Level 2," a contest where -- as you might have guessed -- entrants design their own treacherous (but good/fun) layout for the Blue Bomber to conquer.

Once the levels have been judged, they'll all be compiled into a ginormous fan game with robots and Robot Masters as far as the eye can see. For those familiar with the first iteration of the contest, there are some changes, such as the move from Blyka's engine, they're now using WreckingPrograms' Mega Engine. There are also more assets to use, and fewer rules.

All the rules and technical details can be found here, and if you're looking for help, ACESpark has a series of tutorial videos you can view on his YouTube channel.

Entries are due Monday, February 13th. Good luck to all those who enter!

Thanks to Garirry and Beed28 for the tips!

So if you've read my review of the six Mega Man Mobile titles and have decided "yeah, this is right for me," then you're in luck -- at least, if you're on iOS.

Capcom has announced that the six games are now available in one bundle for a slightly-discounted price of $9.99 USD. That's basically buying five of the games and getting one free. Or roughly $1.67 USD each.

If that sounds good, you can find the bundle right here.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of the original Mega Man Star Force in Japan, where it was known as Ryuusei no Rockman. Or yesterday, if you take time zones into account, but let's not overcomplicate this.

The successor to Mega Man Battle Network, both in terms of production and fictional chronology, Mega Man Star Force was arguably the most underappreciated of the seven Mega Man series. Or at least, it would be were it not for the fact that it had one more game than its Nintendo DS contemporary sidescrolling Mega Man series, Mega Man ZX. Throw in an anime (still waiting for something in Region 1, Viz) and a line of merchandise, and even with only three games, Mega Man Star Force nonetheless left a pretty nice footprint during the short time it was around!

Over on Twitter, ShaolinTurtle (who was kind enough to remind me of the occasion) has been showing off a pretty nice collection of Mega Man Star Force merchandise, while Protodude's Rockman Corner found this piece of art from the series' character designer, Yuji Ishahara, which commemorates the occasion (and might make for good mobile wallpaper, too!).

He also dug up this old video promoting the first game, back when it was curiously known as "Shinsei Rockman ZN":

The series took a bold step past Mega Man Battle Network's duplication of the oft-imitated Pokémon formula of releasing a new title with two versions at once by giving players a selection of three different versions to play. It also brought the concepts of its predecessor into the world of 3D with a redesigned battle mode -- one can only wonder how that would have looked had the games been released on the Nintendo 3DS instead of the Nintendo DS.

It also acted as something of the "Mega Man X" to Battle Network's Classic series by taking place a whopping two centuries into the future of that world. Instead of Lan and MegaMan.EXE, the series borrowed somewhat from their animated adventures by allowing new heroes Geo Stelar (Subaru Hoshikawa in Japan) and Omega-Xis (War Rock) to merge via EM Wave Change into that era's incarnation of MegaMan to fight threats alien and ancient alike.

For my part, I'm sorry to say that I never quite managed to get into the series as much as I would have liked. I wasted little time getting the first game (Dragon version, for those curious -- I still want the Takara action figure of that form), and I thoroughly enjoyed it -- more than most, it would seem. I had a tendency to hit a wall at the final boss of most Battle Network games, but Mega Man Star Force felt just right to me.

Sadly, the sequel didn't quite click as well. I found that too-frequent random encounters combined with trying to find my way around (especially after having to come back to the game later) to be too problematic after a while. As for the third game, I have unfortunately not had a chance to even try it yet.

Meanwhile, I'm not sure the anime ever came to Canada -- it was mostly U.S.-exclusive through Toonami or their online service, Neon Alley. But at least it got to keep its name -- none of that "NT Warrior" rebranding nonsense that Mega Man Battle Network got.

Maybe I'll get to come back to it someday. Honestly, I'd love for Capcom to give me a reason to do so professionally, i.e. some sort of anthology set.

But enough about me; what about you? What memories do you have about Mega Man Star Force? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

While we're still waiting to see what Capcom has in store for their previously-announced mobile Mega Man game, some potentially interesting news has arisen, at least if you live in Japan (or just happen to use a Japanese phone, for whatever reason): Capcom has announced that the first six Rockman games from the Famicom are being brought to iOS and Android devices on January 6th, 2017!

While ports of such games as these in the past have been -- pardon the expression -- touch and go, Famitsu reports that the six games (each sold separately) will feature a variety of gameplay options that should be friendly to beginners, or at the very least, help make them more playable on mobile devices. These range from auto-fire to auto-charge, as well as an adjustable game speed.

Furthermore, the recently-released Rockman Unity news feed app can be synced with the games in a fashion which doesn't seem too unlike what Nintendo has done with their mobile releases and My Nintendo. By completing certain missions within the sextet of games that are assigned each month, you can unlock different rewards. For instance, the image seen above (believed by Protodude to be a Shinkiro piece) is a lock-screen wallpaper that can be won by defeating the six Robot Masters in the original Rockman within a certain time.

As it stands, however, these releases are exclusive to Japan with no word of a Western release as of this writing.

Source: Famitsu, via Protodude's Rockman Corner

For at least a couple hours longer where I am, today marks the 29th anniversary of Mega Man. While this is a day worthy of celebration, I'm instead feeling a little melancholy, albeit for unrelated reasons.

I know I should probably have something to say or show for the occasion, but when you write about the character so frequently, day after day and week after week and year after year, it's ironic to not have anything to say to mark the event. Rather than force something, I'm going to instead save it for the 30th anniversary next year.

Interestingly enough, I had a submission from Diego sitting in my Inbox for the following animation by MissMello titled "Mega Man: Nightfall," which somehow seems almost fitting in some ways, not the least of which being how many fans feel about the franchise and how the emergence of X in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite feels like a new beacon of hope.

From the description:

Several years have passed since Dr. Wily’s last attempt at world domination ended in failure, thanks to the efforts of Megaman. Following the evil scientist’s subsequent disappearance, the Light family has enjoyed a time of peace, believing the days of fighting to be behind them.
However, unbeknownst to them, the mad doctor has been secretly plotting something far more sinister than any scheme he’s devised before. A plan that could herald in a new era of fear and chaos upon the world, but will this harbinger prove to be the doctor’s own downfall?
Taking on the mantle of the Blue Bomber once more, Rock must find a way to stop this dark threat to the world and family he loves. With the future hanging in the balance, can our hero prevail…and at what cost?
Fight on, Megaman! For everlasting peace!

This of course follows the old "Cataclysm" theory of what transpired between the Classic and X series, and though that's been debunked by the creators, it still serves as a fascinating "what if" for those who appreciate the darker side of the Blue Bomber's legacy.

As I said, though, I talk enough about Mega Man, so I'm turning it over to you guys -- consider this an open thread, but under the usual rules (my Batontons are watching like Laserbeak in the night). Talk about the above animation, what Mega Man means to you, how you were first introduced to the franchise, your favorite characters, games, or memories, your hopes for the future of the franchise, or whatever else.

Happy 29th, everyone, and may there be much to look forward to as we approach the 30th!

So, those mobile versions of the six Famicom Rockman games we heard about last week? Well, Capcom Unity has updated to say that the NES equivalents are coming to iOS and Android as Mega Man Mobile:

As you can see, however, there isn't as specific a date as Japan was given, with only "early January" being stated as the timeframe for release. What's more, there is no mention of pricing nor anything like the Rockman Unity app in their statement, so there's currently no telling if there will be any rewards such as that cool phone background we saw before.

For what it's worth, though, the descriptions given of the six games seem to add just a little bit to the lore of the franchise:

• Mega Man® Mobile - The evil Dr. Wily must be stopped in this classic action platformer, the original Mega Man!

• Mega Man® 2 Mobile- Dr. Wily resurfaces to threaten the world again! Only Mega Man can stand in his way.

• Mega Man® 3 Mobile - Fight berserk robots on uncharted planets. Mega Man must set a course for space to resolve this mysterious crisis.

• Mega Man® 4 Mobile - A year has passed since Mega Man’s battle in space. A new enemy appears – Dr. Cossack.

• Mega Man® 5 Mobile - Manic robots cause chaos in the city. How is Proto Man involved? Only Mega Man can find out!

• Mega Man® 6 Mobile - The Global Robot Alliance is formed, but this newfound peace is threatened by a new foe – the enigmatic Mr. X!

Finally, signing up at this link will apparently allow you to take advantage of "special offers," as well as be notified once the games go on sale (though if the notification comes through Apple as Super Mario Run's did, you might not receive it until a day or so later).