Mega Man 1 - The Birth of the Blue Bomber

Mega Man is the second humanoid robot created by Doctor Thomas Light. Unlike the robots of today, Mega Man has sentience and has free will. He is not bound by Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics” The three laws are listed below.

1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

Mega Man known as Rock Man in Japan is a robot created by Dr. Thomas Light. Originally known as Rock, Mega Man was never intended to be a battle robot. He was meant to be a lab assistant to Dr. Light and be the son he never had. Rock was different than most robots. He had free will just as humans do. He could make his own choices and learn from his experiences.

Rock had a sister named Roll who was a housekeeping robot. She would appear in the ending of the first game but her name was never mentioned in-game until Mega Man 3.Like Rock, Roll was never meant for combat but was meant to be a housekeeping robot.

Dr. Thomas Light was based on Thomas Alba Edison - the man who invented the light bulb. Not many people know that Thomas Edison had a Japanese assistant named Yoshiro Okabe who also served as his bodyguard. Yoshiro was a well connected individual who knew businessmen, politicians and nobles. He parlayed his connections into becoming a major player in Japan's steel industry and gainedvast amounts of wealth through it. In 1934, Okabe was at the unveiling of Edison's monument in Otokoyama, Kyoto. Okabe along with the monument helped establish a positive view of Thomas Edison among the Japanese thus making Thomas Light the protagonist scientist.

Dr. Light's nemesis was Dr. Albert Wily. Dr. Wily was based on Albert Einstein, who was instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb which devastated Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This painted Einstein as a villain to the Japanese even though Einstein was not at all an evil person.

Mega Man was not the first independent thinking robot that Dr. Light built. He and Wily created Proto Man / Blues. Proto Man was a prototype Mega Man who had an unstable nuclear reactor which could blow up at any time. Dr. Light wanted to repair him but was unable to as he escaped. Unlike the much more conforming Mega Man, Proto Man was a bit more rebellious in nature and much more an independent thinker.

The six robot masters that appear in the game - Cut Man, Guts Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, Ice Man and Elec Man were created by Dr. Light to be industrial robots and to do jobs which were too hazardous for humans. Dr. Wily was jealous of Dr. Lights success and reprogrammed the six robots to do his bidding and help him conquer the world.

With this imminent danger, Dr. Light was forced to upgrade Rock into a combat robot. He gave Rock ceratanium armor which could withstand tremendous heat, pressure and damage. He also equipped Rock with a powerful buster arm cannon that could decimate most foes. Aside from this, Rock also had the power to absorb the powers of his vanquished foes.

Will Mega Man beat the six robot masters and stop Dr. Wily or will Wily's forces prove too much for the Blue Bomber?

The game was based on the game of rock-paper-scissors with robot master being vulnerable and resistant to certain weapons in your arsenal. For example Ice Man is resistant to Fire Man’s weapon (Fire Storm) while being vulnerable to Elec Man’s weapon (Thunderbeam).

There are six initial stages that you need to complete. Each stage is like an obstacle course with legions of enemies, traps and obstacles. At the end of each stage lies a robot master. Defeat the robot master and you gain his weapon.

After you vanquish all the robot masters, you run after Dr. Wily. He will have a few more surprises for you and you will have a second dance with all six robot masters. When you finally face Wily and his Wily machine, you better be prepared for a challenging encounter.

Truly, Dr. Wily is a mad scientist. He had come up with all sorts of contraptions in order to hamper Mega Man’s efforts to restore peace and order. Enemies range from the Picket Man (a construction robot) to Sniper Joes (Proto Man knockoffs) to Mets (robot drones with indestructible hats).

The robot masters were created in the same manner as Mega Man was created – with independence and free will. They were initially created to do tasks that were normally too hazardous for humans. Dr. Light and Dr. Wily collaborated to create them and one day Dr. Wily reprogrammed them to be the generals in his vast robot army. Each robot master has his own weapon and his own personality. Vanquish the robot master and his weapon is yours to use.

Cut Man is a logging robot who uses his ceramic titanium shears to easily fell timber. His giant scissors can be thrown like a boomerang where they strike the opponent and come back to Cut Man who can easily throw the same weapon back again. His frame is lightweight and enables for fast and agile movement. Defeat him and gain the Rolling Cutter.

Cut Man is perhaps the easiest boss in the game. He can easily be taken out by the Mega Buster and can be dispatched in two hits by the Power Arm.

Guts Man is a civil engineering robot who is the powerhouse of the group with “Hulk Smash” powers. He could use his enormous strength to lift structures and boulders weighing more than two tons to hurl at opponents, tackle anyone or anything that stands in his way and cause earthquakes to destroy structures and immobilize his foes. Defeat him and gain the Super Arm.

Ice Man was created to explore the Arctic and perform tasks and experiments that would be done in subzero environments. He looks like a robot version of an eskimo with his attire. He can instantaneously use his ice powers to instantly freeze anyone and anything at a temperature of 200 degrees below zero. Defeat him and gain the Ice Slasher.

Bomb Man is a demolitions expert and was created to clear the land for development. He can create bombs and throw them with amazing accuracy. His bombs are powerful explosives that can destroy anything they come in contact with. Defeat him and gain the Hyper Bomb.

Fire Man is a waste disposal robot who has the ability to wield flames with temperatures of 7000-8000 degrees Celsius. His flames are so hot that they can virtually melt steel easily. Even Mega Man’s ceramic titanium hide can only withstand so much punishment. Defeat him and gain the Fire Storm.

Elec Man was originally created to control the voltage of nuclear power plants so they do not go Chernobyl. He is quick moving and quick thinking. He has the ability to shoots bolts of electricity in three directions simultaneously. Defeat him and gain the Thunder Beam.

Hitting the "select" button pauses the game and hitting it again unpauses the game.Doing this in rapid succession will help your weapons register multiple hits and will decimate opponents in no time. This trick is especially useful with the Thunder Beam as its long projectiles makes the trick super effective. This trick is especially useful in Dr. Wily's factory when you meet the Yellow Devil, Copy Robot and Dr. Wily himself.

In Mega Man 1 , Rush has not been created yet so Mega Man does not have any vehicle that will help him get over enemies and obstacles or go to hard to reach areas. You can get the Magnet Beam in Elec Man's stage but you need to have the Super Arm to be able to move the two blocks that impede you from getting this useful item.

The Yasichi could be found in the Fourth Wily Stage. It is near the teleporter. It refills your energy meter in full as well as all your weapons energy. Think of it as an "E" tank on steroids.

Even though this is the first installment of the series, Mega Man is extremely challenging. There is no password system where you can start the game at a certain point and with certain weapons or items. There are also no energy tanks to refill your health in case you are running low on juice. The margin for error in this game is lower than the next installments.

This game was innovative for its time as it allowed you to select your own path with the six robot masters. Games during the time mostly only had a linear path and did not allow you to select stages in the order of your choosing. To add to the innovation was the ability to “steal” your opponents’ powers and use them yourself.

Though the graphics in modern day Mega Man games are leaps and bounds better than the simplistic graphics of this classic, the game is fun and extremely challenging.