| Mega Man 5 | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art | |
| Developer | Capcom |
| Publishers | |
| Director | Ichirou Mihara |
| Producer | Tokuro Fujiwara |
| Designer | Ichirou Mihara |
| Programmer | Tadashi Kuwana |
| Artists |
|
| Composer | Mari Yamaguchi |
| Series | Mega Man |
| Platforms | |
| Release | |
| Genres | Action,Platformer |
| Mode | Single-player |
Mega Man 5[a] is a 1992 video game developed and published byCapcom for theNintendo Entertainment System. It is the fifth installment of theoriginalMega Man series and was released in Japan on December 4, 1992. It saw a release during the same month in North America and in 1993 in Europe byNintendo.
It takes place two months after the events ofMega Man 4.Mega Man's brother and allyProto Man apparently leads a group of menacing robots in attacks on the world and kidnaps his creatorDr. Light, forcing Mega Man to fight against his brother. Assisted byDr. Cossack, the scientist he met in the previous game, Mega Man has to figure out the truth about what happened and rescue Dr. Light.Mega Man 5 carries over the same graphical style and action-platforming gameplay as the four preceding chapters in the series. The game introduces a new character,Beat, a robotic bird that the player can use as a weapon once a series of eight collectibleletters are found. ArtistKeiji Inafune had to re-illustrate the bosses several times but described his work as fun.
Mega Man 5 was met with a positive critical reception for its graphics, difficulty, and music, while receiving criticism for its lack of innovation in its plot or gameplay. Like previous games in the series,Mega Man 5 was remade forPlayStation in Japan. It later appeared onmobile phones, and become part of game collections, includingMega Man Anniversary Collection. It has also been released throughVirtual Console andPlayStation Network inemulated form.[6] Two follow-ups were developed at the same time and released in 1993:Mega Man 6, a direct sequel for NES, andMega Man X, a spin-off for theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System, and start of its owngame series.
Mega Man 5 takes place during the 21st century, about two months after the events ofMega Man 4, when the mad scientistDr. Wily once again attempted to take over the world.[2]Proto Man, secret brother and once ally to the world's greatest heroMega Man, apparently leads an army of robots in a series of destructive attacks on the world.[7] To cripple the world's defenders, he kidnaps his own creator, the genius scientistDr. Light.[8] As Mega Man witnesses his creator's kidnapping, he's confused, wondering why Proto Man is doing this, but with little choice left, he sets out to stop him, assisted byBeat, a robot bird thatDr. Cossack gave him as a gift. With Dr. Light gone, Dr. Cossack now assists Mega Man from the sidelines for the occasion, and he powers up the charge shots of his Mega Buster and sends him Beat to help him on his battles to save Dr. Light.
Mega Man prevails over a new group of eight powerful "Robot Masters" working under Proto Man: Star Man, Gravity Man, Gyro Man, Stone Man, Crystal Man, Charge Man, Napalm Man, and Wave Man. He then makes his way to Proto Man's fortress, where he has to fight against the four Dark Men, new robots designed to destroy him, and he defeats the first three, but the alleged Proto Man ambushes Mega Man and nearly kills him.However, a second Proto Man arrives just in time, revealing the first as an imposter: it's the fourth Dark Man. After defeating the final Dark Man, Mega Man finds out that Dr. Wily was behind everything: two months earlier, Proto Man had ruined his most recent evil plan, as he had rescued Dr. Cossack's daughter Kalinka, who Wily had kidnapped to blackmail Dr. Cossack into working with him in order to destroy Mega Man. Wily was furious, and in retaliation, he created Dark Man to frame him for his robot's crimes, including the kidnapping of his own creator.[9][10]
Mega Man pursues Wily to his newest hideout, defeats him, and saves Dr. Light. However, the fortress begins collapsing, and while Mega Man is distracted from holding up the ceiling from crushing him and Dr. Light, Wily manages yet another retreat. Just after Wily escapes, a familiar whistle is heard, and part of the ceiling is blasted away, allowing Mega Man and Dr. Light to also escape. As the two watch the castle collapse from a distance, their mystery savior is revealed to be the real Proto Man, who quietly slips off unnoticed.
Mega Man 5 isanaction-platform game[failed verification] that is very similar to previous titles inthe series. Gameplay revolves around the player using the central character Mega Man to run, jump, and shoot his way through a set ofstages. If the player takes damage, Mega Man'slife meter can be refilled by picking up energy capsules scattered about each level or from fallen enemies. Mega Man's default Mega Buster arm cannon can be fired an unlimited number of times. The Mega Buster's charge feature, introduced inMega Man 4, has been upgraded to allow its powerful, charged shots to encompass a wider area. However, if Mega Man gets hit before he could fire a charge shot, the accumulated charge will be lost.[2][11] Each stage ends with aboss battle with a Robot Master; destroying that Robot Master lets the player copy its special "Master Weapon", which can be toggled and used throughout the remainder of the game. Unlike the Mega Buster, Master Weapons require weapon energy to use and must be replenished if it is depleted in the same selected stage.[7] Otherpower-ups including extra lives, "Energy Tanks", and a new "Mystery Tank", which fully refillshealth and all item power, can be picked up as well.[7][10]
After completing certain stages, the player can call on Mega Man's faithful dogRush to reach higher platforms or cross large gaps using his "Coil" and "Jet" transformations. These abilities require refills with the same weapon energy that Master Weapons use.[7][12] Some of the level designs inMega Man 5 are different from earlier games in the series. For example, in Gravity Man's stage, thegravitation is reversed from the floor to the ceiling, while in Wave Man's stage, the player drives awater craft from the halfway point to the boss room.[10][11] Hidden within each of the eight Robot Master stages is a collectible circuit board. Gathering all eight of these boards (spelling "M-E-G-A-M-A-N-V" in English versions or "R-O-C-K-M-A-N-5" in the Japanese version) gives the player access to a robot-bird friend by the name ofBeat. The player can then call on Beat to attack any onscreen enemies, and he will home in on them and charge them.[7][10][12]
Having had major involvement in the development in all priorMega Man games, artistKeiji Inafune, credited as "Inafking", worked under a new project leader forMega Man 5. As with past entries in the series, Inafune used his experience to guide his supervisor and the other team members.[2] He did this in order to avoid making what he considered to be an "unreasonable game, [...] an affront to the players". As a result of this leadership, Inafune feltMega Man 5 turned out with a lowerdifficulty level.[2] The team already felt they had accomplished all the gameplay they could with the release ofMega Man 4, so they decided to simply "introduce powered up versions of everything", such as the Mega Buster.[2] After working diligently on the fourth installment of the series and being the man behind the concept of the chargeable Mega Buster, Hayato Kaji, credited as "H.K", was called in to help out during the middle ofMega Man 5's development. The game was "taking a while to come together" at that point according to Kaji.[2] Inafune summarized his work onMega Man 5 as being fun, but he admitted having trouble with the designs, balance, and colors.[2]
In a new direction Capcom held a contest in collaboration withNintendo Power magazine requesting submissions for new villain characters, the eight Robot Master bosses inMega Man 5 are a result of fans sending in their own designs to Capcom.[13] Capcom received over 130,000 character submissions for the game.[2] Inafune recounted having a difficult time getting approval on the chosen bosses, having had to re-illustrate them several times.[14] However, the artist had little trouble in designing Beat, whose first draft was accepted by Inafune's superiors.[2] The idea for Beat originated in the development ofMega Man 3, where the concept support robots included a dog and bird. The team chose to keep the dog character as Rush for this earlier game, while the bird would serve as the basis for the character Beat inMega Man 5.[2] The musical score ofMega Man 5 was composed by Mari Yamaguchi (credited as "Mari").[15]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7.75/10[17] |
| Famitsu | 23/40[18] |
| Game Informer | 7.75/10[19] |
| GamePro | 4.5/5[12] |
| IGN | 8.5/10[20] |
| Nintendo Power | 3.825/5[21] |
| VideoGames & Computer Entertainment | 8/10[22] |
Mega Man 5 has enjoyed generally positive reactions from printed and online publications. Many critics were complimentary of the game's graphics, music, play control, and challenge level.[12][16][19][20][21][23][24][25][26]IGN's Lucas M. Thomas holdsMega Man 5 as one of his favorite entries in the series and, because of its lowered difficulty compared to its predecessors, considers it the easiest of the bunch to casually pick up and play through.[11][20] IGN listsMega Man 5 as the 84th best game on the NES.[27]
Like other sequels in theMega Man series,Mega Man 5 has suffered criticism for its lack of innovative gameplay and storytelling.GamePro summarized the game as "déjà vu all over again for disciples of the series" and that "Capcom must get some kind of cash rebate for recycling video games".[12]1UP.com's Jeremy Parish consideredMega Man 5 as "a painfully phoned-in episode lacking not only innovation, but pretty much all the polish and balance that made the earlier games so enjoyable".[28]
In 1999,Mega Man 5 was re-released for thePlayStation as part of the Japan-exclusiveRockman Complete Works series.[3] It featured a helpful "navi mode" for beginners, arranged music, encyclopedia modes, and artwork.[23] A port of this version with fewer extras was released in North America for thePlayStation 2 andGameCube in 2004 andXbox in 2005 as part ofMega Man Anniversary Collection.[29][30] Another port of the game was released in Japan in 2007 formobile phones compatible withYahoo! Mobile andEZweb applications.[4] Finally, in 2011, the NES version was made available on theWiiVirtual Console service in both Japan and North America, and thePlayStation Network in Japan.[31][32][33] It has also been released on theWii U's Virtual Console as well as theNintendo 3DS's Virtual Console.[34]
Narrator: In the year 20XX AD. A vicious army of robots is bent on destroying the world!! And behind this destruction is... ProtoMan!?
Dr. Wily: You've done well, Mega Man! I never expected you to defeat my powerful Dark Man robot!! Until now I have managed to frame Proto Man for my crimes, but now the real Proto Man has appeared and spoiled my plan!! Dr. Light is a captive in my lab. Come if you dare!! Ha, ha, ha.
