Renmauzo's thoughts on Mega Man: Part 1
Whatever name you associate with him, be it Mega Man, Rockman, or (The) Blue Bomber, Capcom’s loveable mascot is my favorite character as has been his series of games since’87.
Since ’88, I was hooked. From the look and gameplay, to the memorable cast of characters from one game to the next, I found myself always wanting to rise to the challenge presented in every game and see Mega Man prevail.
Over time, I bought the games new when I had money (which wasn’t often growing up) and have kept them ever since. As time went on and as I started to make more money, I picked up those games that I had missed (although I’m still missing a complete copy of the original Mega Man and I’m going to start to track down all the Gameboy games and the title for Game Gear), have bought two reproductions in Mega Man Wily Wars and Mega Man & Bass, and have gone out of my way to find oddities like Mega Man & Bass for WonderSwan, and I always go back to all these games on the regular; every Christmas Eve, for very personal reasons, I play through MMX through MMX4 on the SNES and PlayStation. These are games that I can speed run, are always fun, and are – ultimately – timeless.
It’s not just about my love for all things Mega Man, but my excitement in talking with other like-minded Mega Man fans about the series. When GutsDozer needed a Mega Man 11 special edition for Switch, I immediately thought, “I need to help this man”. I used to own 3 copies of Mega Man X3 (right place, right time each time) and gave two of them away to people I would come to know who had strong memories for that game and for various reasons, were never able to get one. Not once have I thought, “I’ve given away a couple thousand dollars’ worth of games!” but instead can reflect that I’m glad to have made other Mega Man fans happy, getting a game that has been important to them. For me, Mega Man X3 would be my greatest Christmas disappointment. In December of 1995, all I wanted for Christmas was Mega Man X3. I read the Game Pro article so many times in the month leading up to the holiday that I had nearly memorized it, and so I made sure to make my Mom very aware of how important this was to me. In the wee hours of the morning on the 25th, I went looking through the presents and found one distinctly the size and shape of an SNES game. As the morning wore on, all I was thinking about was that one gift, and when the time finally came and I unwrapped it, I was completely gutted to see a Programmable SNES game pad. I put on a smile and thanked my parents, but I think my Mom could see it in my eyes, and would tell me later in the day that she tried every store in town and no one had the game. I told her it was okay and that I appreciated her trying and that I was really happy with the pad.
A couple of years later, a friend told me Blockbuster was starting to sell off all their SNES rentals to make room for newer consoles and I raced down to find out that their X3 was sold already. When I started working in Ottawa, I came across a Micro Play and eagerly asked if they had a copy for sale. They didn't, but they took names and would let me know when one came in on trade...after the person who was ahead of me mind you. Years would go by, the Gamecube would launch, and finally I got the call (turns out the other guy didn't return their message) and so I raced down after work and finally got the game I had been after for nearly 10 years. Years later, I would happen on a couple of copies for $50 a piece, and so I snapped them up just based on my love of Mega Man X and as a counter to that feeling I had had all those years ago. Every Mega Man game I own has a story behind it, and I hold those memories dear.
Now, it doesn’t just stop at the games: as a trained animator, the artbooks, artwork, model kits, and toys really resonate with me and have influenced how I work while motivating me when I am working on a project.
I was onboard immediately with a mail subscription to the Mega Man comic by Archie, and stuck it out until it was cancelled. I managed to find those two Mega Man-focused issues of Nintendo Power, but I still want to find the GamPro covering Mega Man X3 which is what got me so pumped for the game at the time.
To be continued in part 2...
