Mega Man, one of the most iconic characters in video game history. He starred in what is now one of the most famous side scrolling action games in history. For his creation, we have to thank Keiji Inafune. He is responsible for many important things in video games, but Mega Man is one of the most important ones. I will go over those others another time, for now, I want to start a new regular section here on 2 Shots of Geek: “Did You Know?”. Here, we will go over fun facts and lesser known secrets on video games, anime, comics, and all things geek. I want to start it off with one of my favorite games of all time: Mega Man X.
Keiji Inafune is considered the father of Mega Man. With the release of the SNES, Capcom knew that the blue bomber had to make the leap. Originally, the plan was to release a new entry into the Mega Man series with improved graphics, audio, etc. That idea was scrapped in favor of a new, more mature series that showed growth, much like the SNES did from the NES. From here, Mega Man X was born. If you haven’t played Mega Man X, I urge you to stop reading this right now and go find a way to do so. It is one of the greatest side-scrollers ever made, and as I shall soon point out, you can get access to it right now without too much effort. Anyways, here are some fun facts about Mega Man X:
- The title was being teased as “Super Mega Man” at one point, and was rumored to have a “fairly large memory capacity and battery back up” according to an interview with Capcom in Game Players magazine in 1993.
- The title has sold 1.16 million copies to date, making it the 41st best selling game in Capcom’s history.
- The game was ported to PC in 1995 by Rozner Labs, and was packaged with a six-button controller.
- When the PSP was released, the team originally intended to release Mega Man X9. Instead, they went back to their roots and made Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, a remake of Mega Man X with redone graphics, anime cut scenes, a remixed soundtrack, and a few gameplay tweaks.
- Mega Man X was released as a free download for Android devices in Japan on November 18, 2011(damnit!).
- Mega Man X was also released for iOS devices on December 21, 2011. The game incorporated touch controls and you could purchase weapons in game to make it easier(oh god no).
- The Wii Virtual Console got a direct port of Mega Man X in 2011.
I’m sure there are other details, but these are the most interesting ones I remember going through my youth until today. Mega Man X is a series with a very rich story, and many many offspring series. I will delve into those some other time, but for now, if you haven’t had a chance to play Mega Man X, go do it! You have a lot of ways to get your hands on a copy! You owe it to yourself to experience the first adventure of the most recognizable character who hasn’t been in a game of his own in almost a decade. Come on Capcom, bring us more Mega Man X!