THE LIBRARY

The Japanese and American boxes for the classic series side by side, from the 1987 original to Mega Man 11, with their histories and the questions behind them.

Capcom's six person team invents the template in 1987: Kitamura's concept, Inafune's art, Matsumae's three note score, and a sleeper hit.

Astro Boy, on the artist's own record, plus American comics, Santa Claus and Einstein, and a Famicom palette with more blues than anything else.

The sequel Capcom never ordered, built in the team's own time in three to four months, with 8,370 fan boss designs and Tateishi's soundtrack.

1.51 million copies from an unauthorized side project that fixed every complaint on the list, until Mega Man 11 finally passed it.

Takashi Tateishi built it from eight measures repeated under data limits, and the rankings canonized the compromise.

Rush, the slide, and a brother named Blues, shipped in September before it was ready, over Inafune's on record protest.

Dr. Cossack, the charge shot, 70,000 contest drawings, and the eight golden cartridges that are now among the rarest objects in the hobby.

Proto Man framed by an impostor, the Nintendo Power contest's 130,000 submissions, and Beat, the bird held over from Mega Man 3.

The last NES entry, published in America by Nintendo after Capcom passed, with two Robot Masters designed by North American fans.

Three months, 220,000 contest drawings, a rival named Bass, a versus mode built in two days, and an ending America and Japan wrote differently.

The tenth anniversary game: anime cutscenes, Duo and the Evil Energy, and the Saturn version that kept the extra bosses and songs.

Rockman & Forte, the Mega Man 8.5 built for Super Famicom players in 1998, King's robot rebellion, and the 100 CD database.

The 2008 download revival: an engine that simulates an NES, Splash Woman, and fake box art embracing the worst cover in the medium.

Capcom's management wanted 3D. The team wanted to surpass Mega Man 2, and called the result the new Mega Man 3.

Roboenza, the Easy Mode answer to Mega Man 9, and a soundtrack written by the returning composers of the first seven games.

The Double Gear, the 30th anniversary return, and the sales that finally passed Mega Man 2 to become the franchise record.

Inafune left Capcom in 2010, and nobody would step up and become the new Mega Man guy, until Koji Oda did.

Capcom's 1993 reinvention: the mature storyline, the armor capsules, Zero's origin as the intended hero, and the 1.165 million selling Super NES flagship.

Vile cannot be beaten in the opening, and the game states why in dialogue: X has not reached full power yet, and the armor system is the promise made playable.

Inafune's redesign that became Zero, Kaji and the Super NES palette, and armor parts borrowed from the RPG boom, all on the designers' record.

Setsuo Yamamoto wrote the vast majority alone. Four colleagues rescued one or two tracks each, and two of them went on to lead X2 and X4.

The X-Hunters ransom Zero's body parts, the Cx4 wireframe chip, Yuki Iwai's score, and the sequel reviewers called improved in almost every way.

His designer called keeping him dead a shame, built a sequel around his ransomed parts, and planned his final death for a finale that moved.

The first playable Zero, an outsourced production Inafune called psychological turmoil, and the 32 bit editions North America never received.

Two full campaigns for X and Zero, an army granted moral leeway, and the American PlayStation release Sony nearly refused.

Inti Creates with free rein: a century after the X series, a copy of X on the throne, and a villain who was nearly the original himself.

Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE: the internet world, the three by six grid, the folder of 30 Battle Chips, and the hit that launched with the Game Boy Advance.

The developers on record: a heartbeat horror game that failed, a card boom ridden on Capcom's terms, Pokemon, and the network society.

The first fully 3D Mega Man: Volnutt the digger on a flooded Earth, Inafune's favorite game in the franchise, and the cliffhanger that never resolved.

Capcom's only official reason was an internal assessment the project failed. The participation gloss, the Inafune denial, and the fan campaign, kept apart.

The MSX2 could not show the firefight Konami ordered, in Kojima's own GDC account. Hiding became the combat.

The Great Escape first, then the films Kojima named himself in his 1999 interview and his 2004 essays.

A Watson to watch the legend through, per Kojima and the design document, and the secrecy campaign that hid him.

Survive, five quiet years, the Master Collection, and Delta, the remake its producer called too faithful.

Hideo Kojima asked for a Bond style theme, the budget was gone, and Norihiko Hibino wrote one himself for Cynthia Harrell to sing.