Author’s note: To get the most nostalgia out of this article, go to youtube and find your favorite megaman music to play while reading this article. Megaman is one of Capcom’s most iconic properties, having various games on the various video and handheld game systems, such as the Nintendo, Gameboy, PlaysStation, XBox among others. Most of the “canon” games fall into one of two main timelines. There are other games that don’t really fall into these timelines, but are not canon to the series. The first is a timeline during which the “classic” Megaman series with Dr. Wily and the Robot masters, then later turns into the Megaman X series, Megaman ZX series, and Megaman Zero series where humans (who sometimes get turned into cyber-elves), robots and reploids coexist. But not all reploids function properly, often going on rampages, causing destruction to property, and endangering lives. The reploids that malfunctioned became known as Mavericks. The robots that seek to bring order back to the system became known as Maverick Hunters. Some ideas on how these timelines interact can be found here The alternative timeline is present in the Megaman Battle Network series of games. In this timeline, the internet is more integrated into daily life than it is today. Instead of having robots to help them do things, people have artificial intelligence programs called “NetNavis.” They are computer programs utilizing artificial intelligence, and can perform numerous tasks for their real-world operators, like phoning and navigating the internet. NetNavis reside in PETs(Personal Terminals), devices similar to smartphones. PET’s can, like many modern cell phones be used for e-mail, connecting to the net, alarm clocks and plenty of other stuff. The internet of this timeline is overrun by malicious viruses, and operators often customize their Navis for battling them. Battlechips are often used, containing data which can be sent to the Navis, equipping them with various tools of combat. By connecting PETs to networks, “Jacking in”, Navis can be transferred to various computerized devices. With this background as the base, we can begin looking at the gameplay mechanics, powers, and plot, we can see how to capture some of that feel in our own games. In the first timeline, the games are platformers, based around running, and sliding, climbing ladders, and jumping over deadly spike-filled pits. Environmental hazards such as fire, ice, wind, and water, as well as platforms that disappeared and reappeared in specific problems or dropped off into nothing underneath Megaman’s feet, energy projectiles that blocked the player’s path for a few seconds, or enemies positioned such that it was virtually impossible to reach an area without taking damage from them without timing the jump perfectly all routinely added to the challenge of the levels. “Standard” enemies are usually defeated pretty easily by shooting multiple times or charging a shot. Many enemies respawn if you leave the screen and come back. But no matter how carefully players are, players will usually receive some damage, but it’s pretty easy to get back because the enemies generally will often drop health items or weapon charge, or, rarely, additional lives. Mini boss and boss fights are a bit more complex in that their patterns needs to be carefully watched in order to avoid taking massive damage from either the weapon projectiles themselves or the projectile’s shards as they break apart. In order to make their defeat easier, the bosses usually need to be tackled in a specific order, so that Megaman has access to the appropriate weapon. Each of the boss’ weapons only has so much power to use, so many shots before it must be recharged. In Megaman ZX players needed to be careful not to target the boss’ weak areas because it would cause damage to the weapons when the players received the power-up. In later games in the series, it’s impossible to fight bosses out of sequence because the keys to open up new areas are only found by fighting the bosses. Furthermore, in certain games, secret power-ups are hidden throughout the levels, able to be accessed by taking advantage of glitches or the weapons’ abilities. These power-ups include items which refill Megaman’s health or weapons energy, decrease damage, allow him to jump higher, run faster, access new areas, and increase energy output. When Megaman uses the boss’ weapons, they change his appearance, sometimes in minor ways, such as simply giving him a new color scheme, sometimes to the extent that he appears as the boss he defeated. In regards to the Megaman Battle Network games, the fighting sequences for the game are on a grid that looks like this -> But how does one take a 2D platformer and turn it into 3D scenario in which players can interact? Some examples on how that might be made possible are here and here ) as well Megaman Legends and Legends II, that you can find reviews and walkthroughs on YouTube. When looking at these mechanics, one might be wondering how one could use them as a tabletop RPG, as it doesn’t seem well suited to do so. There are a variety of ways this could be done. First of all DMs might use a superhero system and use the “Robot” to represent a Megaman type of a character, equip with a charge shot or a laser sword to play as someone like Zero, perhaps something like Marvel’s old FASERIP system. Marvel has various robot type characters, among the most iconic of these is the Sentinels. Conversely, one might use the Mutants and Masterminds ruleset. Or you might use something like Eberron’s Warforged, heavily modified, perhaps in D&D 4th or 5th edition to represent the Maverick Hunters, and animated objects as the mavericks. A third option might be to use an anime RPG like BESM. The cypher system might be another alternative, if one is willing to take the time to create the rules for it. Finally GURPS could be used to model the game. Whatever system you use, there will […]
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