This article has a talk page!This page details pre-release information and/or media for Mega Man (NES).
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Early Robot Masters#
Originally, the game was meant to have eight robot masters, much like the following sequels, but due to hardware limitations, this number was reduced to six. One planned boss was redesigned and two were completely scrapped.
Oil Man#
Oil Man was planned to be included since the first game, but he was removed after the number of Robot Masters was reduced from eight to six due to hardware limitations. After defeating him, Mega Man would get a weapon that could shoot an oil shot that would make enemies slip.
He was later reimagined in Mega Man Powered Up.
Bubble Man#
A Robot Master named Bubble Man was planned for the game, but he was eventually redesigned into the ice-elemental Robot Master, Ice Man. Instead of Ice Slasher, Mega Man would get a weapon that would release a bubble which Mega Man could use as a platform.
A different Bubble Man was later introduced in Mega Man 2.
Bond Man#
The most infamous of Mega Man concept art, Bond Man was a boss created by Keiji Inafune at a point in development where eight Robot Masters were intended, but after the number was reduced to six, Bond Man was cut.
Artwork of Bond Man was created by Hitoshi Ariga for the 1995 Comic BomBom publication, "The Men Who Created Rockman: The Rockman Creation Legend", a manga that gave a semi-fictionalized explanation of the hardships that went into the development of Mega Man and Mega Man 2, and as described to Ariga by Inafune, Bond Man was a robot based on a tube of adhesive. His weapon would have stopped enemies in place, which would become Ice Man's weapon, the Ice Slasher (or be removed in favor of the Ice Slasher; the order of boss creation isn't known).
The other thing about Bond Man that manga doesn't say about, is that he would use a flying stick to fly during his fight, and after defeating him, Mega Man would get that stick along with his aforementioned weapon. It seems that the flying stick would give Mega Man a "double jump" ability.
Bond Man has been loved by Mega Man fans for years since his reveal and was dubbed the "Phantom Robot Master". He was even planned for Mega Man: Powered Up, but Keiji Inafune decided to leave him out to preserve his legacy, and created Time Man instead.
Early Sprites#
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The 2018 event Rockman Unite1 displayed early materials from the game.
Early sprites of Elec Man and Bomb Man.
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Final |
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There are several changes between the tileset sheets and the final version:
Disk |
Line |
Details |
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5 |
0 |
Blaster and Killer Bomb are unchanged. |
1 |
The electric hazard had a device with a unique design with the enemy sprites. In the final version it is a block with the stage tiles. The Metall details were moved to the next line due to the increase of electricity tiles. |
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2 |
Metall had one extra frame. In the final it was replaced by CWU-01P's bubble (starting). |
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3 |
An unused cannon hazard (which slightly resembles Wily Machine's cannon) was replaced by CWU-01P's bubble (increasing). As its size was reduced, Adhering Suzy was moved from line 6. Bunby Heli has no changes. |
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4 |
The tiles of Mambu with closed eyes were removed, and one frame from Gabyoall was replaced by the item Yashichi. |
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5 |
Like the electric hazard, the horizontal fire hazard had a unique device instead of being part of the background. The flames were moved to the next line, and in its place is some tiles from the wave in CWU-01P's stage. Pepe has no changes. |
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6 |
The early Suzy was bigger and took more space. In the final it was shrunk and moved to line 3, and the horizontal flames from line 5 took its place. Screw Driver has no changes other than having two tiles moved to the next line. |
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7 |
Except for two tiles from Screw Driver being moved from line 6 to the end on this line and replacing an unknown tile (maybe a projectile for Kamadoma?), nothing changed. |
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6 |
8-B |
Pickelman had walking frames removed and a few tiles moved to different positions. In its place is one of the Appearing Blocks. |
C |
This line is unchanged. |
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D |
Sniper Joe tiles are unchanged, but the extra Watcher tiles with the eyes closed were replaced by its projectile and the item Magnet Beam. |
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E-F |
Sniper Joe had no changes. |
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7 |
0-1 |
Visible tiles are unchanged. |
2 |
Springer tiles after Crazy Razy were removed. |
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3 |
Springer tiles were replaced by frames from the lift that were in the next line. |
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4 |
Lift frames were moved up and a few tiles were deleted. In its place are tiles for the pause menu. |
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5 |
The spiked enemy was deleted, and Foot Holder was modified. |
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6 |
Foot Holder and Bombombomb had some changes. |
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7 |
Bombombomb had some changes. Except for the last tile, Super Cutter is the same. |
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8 |
8-F |
In the final version this blank space includes Big Eye, Changkey, the vertical fire hazard, a second Appearing Block, CWU-01P's bubble (complete), and the remaining tiles from the wave in CWU-01P's stage. It also includes Rock (from the ending) and a few tiles of Wily. |
Box Screenshots#
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Final |
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The back of the US box shows an early version of the Robot Master selection screen.
- The final adds "SELECT STAGE" to the text in the center, and makes "PRESS START" more flush.
- The character set is also slightly different in regards to the C, M, and N letters.
Famimaga Advertisement#
(Source: History of Hyrule)
Featured in December 1987 issues of Famimaga are two screenshots that depict the Robot Master selection screen and Cut Man's stage.
- The "SELECT STAGE" text is still not present, but at this point the character set is finalized.
- The score is very low and Mega Man already has Guts Man's weapon, most certainly from all items being unlocked as a debugging measure.