Mega Man: The Wily Wars
Encyclopedia
Mega Man: The Wily Wars, released in Japan
as is a video game compilation by Capcom
for the Sega
Mega Drive. The game features remakes of the first three Mega Man games (Mega Man
, Mega Man 2
, and Mega Man 3
) that were originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
. The Wily Wars was released in cartridge format in Japan and PAL region
s. The North American Genesis version was available exclusively via the Sega Channel
service.
traveling back in time in an attempt to defeat the robotic hero Mega Man
in one their first three conflicts. Each game follows a similar storyline in which Wily dispatches a set of powerful robots to take over the world and Mega Man single-handedly stops them. Note that the Japanese and in-game storyline doesn't refer to time travel; the only true storyline addition would be the exclusive Wily Tower game, which takes place directly after Mega Man 3.
stages which can be completed in any order. At the end of each stages is a boss battle with a Robot Master. The player will acquire that Robot Master's special weapon, which can then be selected and used throughout the rest of the game. Each game also features one or more support items that aid the player in reaching places the player cannot reach by normal means. Each Master Weapon and support item has limited energy that can be replenished by picking up items left by fallen enemies.
The compilation features an upgrade to the original games' visuals, as well as arranged music. An important change is that the compilation provides battery back-up for each game. As a result, it is possible to continue Mega Man from a later point in the game, though Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 lost the password feature. The Wily Wars removes several glitches present in the NES versions of the game. Upon completion of all three games, an exclusive game mode, called "Wily Tower", is made available to the player. In Wily Tower, Mega Man travels through three different stages fighting against a trio of new bosses called the "Genesis Unit": Buster Rod. G, Mega Water. S, and Hyper Storm. H. After they are defeated, the player finally faces Wily in the titular tower. Wily Tower requires the player to equip Mega Man with eight weapons and three support items from any of the three main games to proceed.
claimed that the development of Mega Man: The Wily Wars was outsourced
and rather slowgoing. He described the debugging
procedure for The Wily Wars as "an absolute nightmare", even helping out in process himself. "It was so bad," he recalled, "I found myself saying, 'I can't believe we've made it out of there alive.'" Inafune based his designs of the three new Wily Tower bosses on characters from the ancient Chinese novel Journey to the West
. Other than these characters, Inafune's only other illustrative contribution to the game was the depiction of Mega Man and Rush on the cover art. The soundtrack of The Wily Wars consists of 16-bit versions of the original Mega Man musical scores, as well as new songs for the Wily Tower portion of the game. The composer for the Wily Wars has not been officially credited by Capcom. According to the game's sound effects creator Kouji Murata, Kinuyo Yamashita
was responsible for the music composition and arrangement. Prolific Basiscape composer Manabu Namiki
did a chiptune
-remixed of the Mega Water. S theme for the Chiptuned Rockman album in 2009.
Following the success of Street Fighter II′: Special Champion Edition
on the Mega Drive, rumors began circulating in the United States early 1994 that a Mega Man title was in the works for Sega's 16-bit system. The Wily Wars was displayed by Sega of America at the Sega Summit sales meeting in May of that same year. It was reported in the October issue of the United States magazine Game Players
that the North American release The Wily Wars was put on hold indefinitely due to graphical problems. However, the game was ultimately released in a non-cartridge format on the Sega Channel
, a paid subscription service for Genesis games.
stated that the game is "a must for any serious Mega Man fan." Sega-16 contributor Robert Menes summarized, "Although there's a few flaws that keep this from being an absolute must have, it's still Mega Man, and Mega Man games are among some of the best and brightest platformer series." Jeremy Parrish of 1UP.com
labeled Mega Man: The Wily Wars as "Not Worth It!" because certain design issues prevent it from aging as well as the NES versions of the games. Mega Man: The Wily Wars has consistently ranked high among the editors of Nintendo Power
as a game they would like to see on the Wii
Virtual Console
service.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as is a video game compilation by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
for the Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Mega Drive. The game features remakes of the first three Mega Man games (Mega Man
Mega Man (video game)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System . It is the first game in the original Mega Man series and the entire Mega Man franchise...
, Mega Man 2
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 2, known in Japan as , is a platform game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the second installment in the original Mega Man series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, and in North America and PAL regions the following years. Mega Man 2...
, and Mega Man 3
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 3, known as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third game of the original Mega Man series and was originally released in Japan on September 28, 1990. The game localized in North America later in 1990 and in European...
) that were originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. The Wily Wars was released in cartridge format in Japan and PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
s. The North American Genesis version was available exclusively via the Sega Channel
Sega Channel
Sega Channel was a project developed by Sega for the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console. Starting in December 1994, Sega Channel service was provided to the public by Time Warner Cable and TCI, which later was acquired by AT&T during its cable acquisition spree that formed AT&T...
service.
Plot
The premise of the compilation (as told in European promotional materials) involves the evil Dr. WilyDoctor Wily
, full name Albert W. Wily, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the original Mega Man series of video games. Designed by Keiji Inafune, he appeared in the first Mega Man video game and later in promotions and other media related to the series...
traveling back in time in an attempt to defeat the robotic hero Mega Man
Mega Man (character)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a cybernetic video game character, and the main protagonist of what has been referred to as the original Mega Man series developed by Capcom since 1987. The pixel art for the character was created by the designer of the original game in the series, credited under...
in one their first three conflicts. Each game follows a similar storyline in which Wily dispatches a set of powerful robots to take over the world and Mega Man single-handedly stops them. Note that the Japanese and in-game storyline doesn't refer to time travel; the only true storyline addition would be the exclusive Wily Tower game, which takes place directly after Mega Man 3.
Gameplay
All three games have the player control the protagonist Mega Man through a series of platformPlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
stages which can be completed in any order. At the end of each stages is a boss battle with a Robot Master. The player will acquire that Robot Master's special weapon, which can then be selected and used throughout the rest of the game. Each game also features one or more support items that aid the player in reaching places the player cannot reach by normal means. Each Master Weapon and support item has limited energy that can be replenished by picking up items left by fallen enemies.
The compilation features an upgrade to the original games' visuals, as well as arranged music. An important change is that the compilation provides battery back-up for each game. As a result, it is possible to continue Mega Man from a later point in the game, though Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 lost the password feature. The Wily Wars removes several glitches present in the NES versions of the game. Upon completion of all three games, an exclusive game mode, called "Wily Tower", is made available to the player. In Wily Tower, Mega Man travels through three different stages fighting against a trio of new bosses called the "Genesis Unit": Buster Rod. G, Mega Water. S, and Hyper Storm. H. After they are defeated, the player finally faces Wily in the titular tower. Wily Tower requires the player to equip Mega Man with eight weapons and three support items from any of the three main games to proceed.
Development
Artist Keiji InafuneKeiji Inafune
is a video game producer and illustrator. He was the former head of Research & Development and Online Business and Global Head of Production at Capcom, best known as the illustrator and co-designer of the character Mega Man, as well as the producer of the Onimusha and Dead Rising video game series...
claimed that the development of Mega Man: The Wily Wars was outsourced
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
and rather slowgoing. He described the debugging
Debugging
Debugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware, thus making it behave as expected. Debugging tends to be harder when various subsystems are tightly coupled, as changes in one may cause bugs to emerge...
procedure for The Wily Wars as "an absolute nightmare", even helping out in process himself. "It was so bad," he recalled, "I found myself saying, 'I can't believe we've made it out of there alive.'" Inafune based his designs of the three new Wily Tower bosses on characters from the ancient Chinese novel Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...
. Other than these characters, Inafune's only other illustrative contribution to the game was the depiction of Mega Man and Rush on the cover art. The soundtrack of The Wily Wars consists of 16-bit versions of the original Mega Man musical scores, as well as new songs for the Wily Tower portion of the game. The composer for the Wily Wars has not been officially credited by Capcom. According to the game's sound effects creator Kouji Murata, Kinuyo Yamashita
Kinuyo Yamashita
is a Japanese video game music composer and sound producer. Her best known soundtrack is Konami's Castlevania, which was also her debut work. She was credited under the pseudonym James Banana for her work on the Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game....
was responsible for the music composition and arrangement. Prolific Basiscape composer Manabu Namiki
Manabu Namiki
is a Japanese video game composer who works mainly on shooter games. He has worked with game companies such as Allumer, NMK, Raizing and Cave...
did a chiptune
Chiptune
A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...
-remixed of the Mega Water. S theme for the Chiptuned Rockman album in 2009.
Following the success of Street Fighter II′: Special Champion Edition
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, released in Japan as , is a competitive fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in . It was the first of several updated versions of the original Street Fighter II...
on the Mega Drive, rumors began circulating in the United States early 1994 that a Mega Man title was in the works for Sega's 16-bit system. The Wily Wars was displayed by Sega of America at the Sega Summit sales meeting in May of that same year. It was reported in the October issue of the United States magazine Game Players
Game Players
Game Players was a monthly video game magazine founded by Robert C. Lock and published by Signal Research, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The original publication was titled Game Players Strategy to Nintendo Games...
that the North American release The Wily Wars was put on hold indefinitely due to graphical problems. However, the game was ultimately released in a non-cartridge format on the Sega Channel
Sega Channel
Sega Channel was a project developed by Sega for the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console. Starting in December 1994, Sega Channel service was provided to the public by Time Warner Cable and TCI, which later was acquired by AT&T during its cable acquisition spree that formed AT&T...
, a paid subscription service for Genesis games.
Reception
Critical reception for Mega Man: The Wily Wars has been favorable. Christian Nutt and Justin Speer of GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
stated that the game is "a must for any serious Mega Man fan." Sega-16 contributor Robert Menes summarized, "Although there's a few flaws that keep this from being an absolute must have, it's still Mega Man, and Mega Man games are among some of the best and brightest platformer series." Jeremy Parrish of 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
labeled Mega Man: The Wily Wars as "Not Worth It!" because certain design issues prevent it from aging as well as the NES versions of the games. Mega Man: The Wily Wars has consistently ranked high among the editors of Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
as a game they would like to see on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service.