25 Years Of Mega Man

Wow I have not updated since ... October lol ?

Well anyway , it's the 17 of October and today marks the 25th anniversary of The Mega Man series.

I have so many feelings regarding this franchise and this character you have no idea.

I am emotionally attached to the Mega Man franchise , don't get me wrong I love Super Mario Brothers , Sonic The Hedgehog , and other series but I have so many fond memories of the blue bomber that I will always cherish.

I grew up in a crowded low income household located in Brooklyn , I lived there with my 8 siblings ( at the time ) my 4 cousins , my mom , 2 aunts , and my grandmother . The women in the family did everything they could to make us children happy even though they didn't have much , they sacrificed so much to make sure that we had a good childhood and that included a Nintendo Entertainment System. My earliest memories of Mega Man would have to be watching my siblings play the game either in the kitchen or in my aunt's room. For some reason I was just glued to the TV watching my siblings breeze through the levels like it was nobody's business, I enjoyed Mega Man changing colors and I was always bopping my head to the soundtracks. My brother who is two years younger than me often referred to Mega Man as " Mega Tree" because he would always try to say Mega Man 3 which I believe was his favorite at the time , he also always looked up to the sky like Mega Man did in the endings for Mega Man 2 and 3.

 Speaking of Mega Man 3 I remember that game being rather dark compared to the first two series and I was only about 6 or 7 years old. I remember Proto Man being a miniboss in certain stages getting on everybody's nerves and I remember being terrified of the creepy Doc Robots ... they gave me nightmares and let me say that Mega Man getting crushed by the blocks did not help things at all , I know he survived but good grief Capcom that was way harsh Tai. Shit got real though when they revealed who Proto man really was , I remember everyone saying " OOOHHHHHHHHHHHH " once it was revealed that he was Mega Man's brother.

It was just an amazing thing to witness  and I think that it is such an underrated moment in gaming, it should really be up there with the death of Aeris in FFVII.

I grew up amongst many artists in my household and I kept it going as grew older and I owe so much of it to this character. Keiji Inafune is a huge inspiration and me and my family always went on about how adorable and amazing the Mega Man character designs were , I remember my siblings staying up all night designing their own masters and they allowed me to stay up with them for a little bit and do some illustrations. We are all adults now but we always reminisce about that fun night because we all bonded despite the age gaps , they were all pre teens at the time while I was still in elementary school but we all had something in common. Those memories and the wonderful work of Keiji Inafune always give me the fuel I need as an artist and I am so thankful.

Remember the fall tv season ? remember seeing all of the commercials for the new cartoons ?
There were always great new things to look forward to on TV in the 90s .

I can tell you exactly where I was when I found out that Mega Man was getting an animated series.
I was jumping on my aunt's bed when I saw the commercial and I started screaming because I was so excited. I ran to go tell everybody the good news but they were already celebrating in the living room.
For some reason that show aired really early on Saturday mornings  .... I am gonna say maybe around 6 or 7 am ? but me and my siblings were always up to watch it.

 My mom purchased a SNES for my little brother in the Christmas of either 1994 or 1995 .
We took notice of the difference but we were very impressed even though Capcom TRIED IT when they killed Zero ... and then WAIT ...... IMPLIED HE WASN'T COMING BACK. The tone of the X series was rather serious compared to the classic series , you take notice in the character development and you can hear it in the soundtrack. Zero's situation in the first X game was heart wrenching especially the way it happened. I thought about it for days and nights because I would imagine it was traumatic and unexpected for anyone playing that game , also I thought that Zero was too great of a character to go out like that ... sooo..... thank you Keiji Inafune for feeling the same way and actually bringing him back.

When Funcoland was still a thing my brother took it upon himself to start collecting the cartridges again because the ones we had from our childhood had been stolen. Sadly the NES that we had from all of those years back had finally died out , but my younger brother used his birthday money to buy a new one for me because he knew how much I wanted to play Mega Man again. I was finally able to experience Mega Man as a young adult , I understood the format so much better and I enjoyed the classic games with a square NES controller more than any of the popular systems we had owned at the time.

So here were , it's the year 2012 and Mega Man is 25 years old. I only have one year on the blue bomber but he still means so much to me.

If I had to pick a favorite Mega Man game I would choose Mega Man 3 hands down

As I stated earlier I have great memories from this particular game. Also I think the character designs were the most unique , I feel like the staff broke away from the simple and solid designs in the previous two games and they challenged themselves. Also the quality of the music was right on the money. I know that this is Inafune's least favorite but I enjoyed it the most.

If I had to pick a favorite robot master it would be Shadow Man

For some reason I had a crush on him when I was younger. I enjoy battling him and I enjoy his weapon.

Most importantly , my favorite theme is .... drumroll please

IT'S ELEC MAN'S THEME !!!! Honestly the composers at Capcom can do no wrong , but Elec Man's theme is the catchiest of them all. I took me years to come to this conclusion.
I honestly find myself either doing the flash dance routine or twerking to this song and I kid you not.


So there it is , my entry dedicated to the fabulous Mega Man.

I will end this by saying that Mega Man means so much to me and I am so thankful for such a great character and series , when I think of him I think of my childhood and good times with my family.

Thank you little man for helping me bond with my family and giving us all great memories. I am not sure what Capcom plans to do with you but I hope that they treat you right in the coming years because you deserve it. Congratulations on 25 years of greatness and I will forever adore you. I love you little dude and I will always be with you in your neverending fight for everlasting peace.