"Mega Man Star Force DX" Fan-Mod Now Available, Brings Several QoL Changes

The Star Force mod scene made a big splash today with the release of the hotly-anticipated "Mega Man Star Force DX". This is a patch for Mega Man Star Force 1 (Pegasus) that both enhances and "modernizes" the game to make it more in-line with its successors. It features several QoL improvements that are sure to please longtime series fans, among other tweaks.

Some points of interest:

• All three Star Force transformations can be obtained in a single game, and have received unique new abilities to set them apart from each other.
• Star Cards have been added - these replicate the effects of the Japan-exclusive Wave Scanner peripheral.
• All touch screen inputs and minigames can now be done with just the buttons.
• A new difficulty setting, Legend Mode, has been added.
• There are now two save slots, and saving speed has been increased.

 

For the full list of changes, screenshots and, of course, the download link itself, head over to our friends at The Rockman EXE Zone! Do note that you need a North American copy of Mega Man Star Force Pegasus to use this mod.

If Star Force 1 wasn't your cup of tea, maybe this will do the trick!

Ryo Takamisaki's New "Runaway Blues" One-Shot Manga Gets English Fan-Translation

One of the Rockman EXE Treasure Box's big exclusives isn't so exclusive anymore. "Runaway Blues", the brand-new one-shot by Ryo Takimashi, has been fully scanned and translated into English. Yay! Grab it here and give it a read!

In true Takimashi fashion, it's a lighthearted story with enough humor to make any EXE diehard smile. It's roughly 27-pages long. Short, sweet and a nice nod to the 20-year-old source material, "Runaway Blues" is a worthy addition to Takimashi

Bit of a bummer we won't see this stateside officially. Viz Media (to my knowledge) still hold the NT Warrior license... but they've been sitting on it for close to fifteen years. But hey, that's why we have fan translations! So a big thank you to Enbypigeono, Axl_Bullet, Digi148, Steph_o_Dell, nonbinarycriore and Bagpie.

Enjoy!

"Rockman-san" and "Rockman-chan" New Chapters Now Available

The adventures of "san & chan" continue today with brand-new chapters. "Rockman-san" is back with a short chapter that brings us a magic show starring Elec Man and Magic Man. On the flip-side, "Rockman-chan" delivers the usual craziness, featuring Guts Man transformed into an armchair and Dr. Light creates a spray that brings love and peace to the world!

You can check out both chapters here!

Don't forget -- we have previous chapters translated in English and Spanish, too! You can read those here and here.

Rockman X DiVE's Latest DiVE Festival Brings "Zero Nightmare"

It's close to the end of the month and that means i's time for Rockman X DiVE's DiVE Festival. The character this time is "Zero Nightmare". You can find the trailer after the break!

An Analysis of Game Sales From Mega Man 11 to Zero/ZX Legacy Collection

Guest post by Santiago Casale

The topic of sales numbers has become prevalent in gaming discourse. What used to be a worry reserved for shareholders has bled into fan circles as well. These enthusiasts look to numbers to see if their support has paid off. To prove to publishers that there's not only an audience for their games, but a desire for more.

 

Mega Man fans have been told, outright, that the sales of the original Mega Man Legacy Collection directly influenced Capcom's decision to greenlight Mega Man 11. That statement wasn't just heartening -- it was validating. Information like that isn’t always transparent, though. 

 

Sometimes a game fails to hit a sales milestone and the company simply doesn’t report on it. That might be the case with Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, for example. Information on how that title performed wasn't publicly released. But for situations just like that, we can look to fan-based data groups for help.

 

In recent years, fans took it upon themselves to create sales databases. And while some are infamously-inaccurate and unreliable like VGChartz, others strive for accuracy by gathering legitimate data from the networking services of the major gaming storefronts. Using this available data, I decided to conduct my own research to see how recent Mega Man games performed against Capcom's own data.

 

"Mega Man: The Wily Wars Collector's Edition" Pre-Orders Live in NA and EU

The promised day is upon us, friends. Mega Man: The Wily's Wars Collector's Edition is up for pre-order in North America and Europe. It's available from today until June 21st! Grab it here or here!

Mega Man: The Wily Wars Collector's Edition comes jam-packed with stuff:

• "Blue Bomber" cartridge for Genesis/Mega Drive hardware (third party, too)
  
• Double-sided Cartridge Sleeve
• Full-Color Instruction Manual
• Certificate of Authenticity
• Interchangeable Lenticular Cards
• Sticker Book
• Double-Sided Poster
• Collectors Cards with stats of featured Robot Masters

 

In addition to the above, this version of the Wily Wars features some performance enhancements, i.e reduced slowdown and a more consistent 60fps. It's a far cry from the original PAL version, thankfully.

Have it!

"Rockman-chan" Chapter 2 English and Spanish Fan Translations Now Available

The second chapter of Rockman-chan released over a week ago and now, thanks to Midori of Mega Man Tune-a-Day and Aldo Cáceres Vilca, we can read it in English and Spanish!

You can find the Spanish translation here and the English translation and download link after the break!

"Mega Man: The Wily Wars Collector's Edition" Announced

27-years in-the-making, The Wily Wars is finally getting a physical cartridge release in North America. Capcom, Limited Run Games and RetroBit are proud to announce Mega Man: The Wily Wars Collector's Edition!

Inside this lovely package, you'll find the game printed on a genuine, translucent "Blue Bomber" cartridge compatible with Sega Mega Drive and Genesis consoles, reversible cartridge sleeves, a full-color instruction manual, ventricular cards, a 16"x12" poster, a sticker collection booklet and MORE!

Cool stuff, right? Oh, it gets a little better. RetroBit have taken the liberty of boosting the game's performance. It now runs at a consistent 60fps with little to no slowdown. It runs better than the original NTS-J version, no less!

Pre-orders begin Friday, May 21 (through June 21) at 7AM PST. It'll set you back a cool $69.99. Learn more here!

Check Out the Trailer for Mega Man ZX's English Fan-Dub

After fifteen years, Mega Man ZX is finally getting a proper (albeit unofficial) English dub. And best of all? It's playable. 

A group of sixteen fans have spent the better part of a year developing the dub. It will be distributed in the form of a Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection PC patch, which will also include hi-resolution art to replace some in-game assets and brand-new text format. It's currently due to drop on September 12th, 2021.

Speaking as someone who experienced the 2006 "speechless" drama firsthand, I can't wait to see this finally come to fruition. It's incredibly ambitious and I wish the team nothing but the best!

You can learn more about the project and each individual voice actor from the video's description!

Rockman X DiVE -- "Vile MK-II" Joins in Time to Fight Sigma Virus

Look who's here! Vile MK-II was initially planned to appear much earlier in the game's development... but regular Vile got his spot instead. Now, he's been resurrected to join the cast of playable characters!

What's more, the Raid Boss mode is back this week along with "Sigma Virus" from Mega Man X2.

Find all the details after the break!

Jasco Announces New, Officially-Licensed "Mega Man All-Stars" Board Game

Capcom nominates Armando Sionosa to handle the game's art

 

Jasco Games' long-awaited successor to the officially-licensed Mega Man Board Game is coming closer to fruition.

The manufacturer announced Mega Man All-Stars this week on livestream. As the name implies, the game features a star-studded cast -- literally every Robot Master AND Star Droid ever! 

The basic gameplay tasks players with defending Dr. Light's lab from an incoming horde of Robot Masters and Star Droids; a concept deliberately inspired Hitoshi Ariga's Mega Man Megamix. To defend the lab, players must seek out and defeat different Robot Masters/Star Droids to build-up a Special Weapons loadout. Once adequately armed, they can take the final battle to Dr. Wily and - if strong enough - save the day.

Mega Man All-Stars will include four playable characters straight out of the box -- full-color mini figures based on Mega Man+Rush, Roll+Beat, Proto Man+Tango (Tango, people!) and Bass+Treble. The game's designers hint that it's possible to play as Robot Masters/Star Droids, even if they don't have an official mini-figure. We'll have to wait and see how that pans out exactly.

Much like its predecessor, Mega Man All-Stars will debut on Kickstarter. Campaign launch date and additional details are forthcoming. In the meantime, you should check out the livestream for more gameplay tidbits, close-ups of the mini figures, behind-the-scenes facts and more official art!

So that's that for now. Mega Man All-Stars sounds like a really promising idea and Jasco are hopeful fans will be receptive to it. I'm really looking forward to watching this one unfold! 

More news on this front soon!

"Rockman-chan" Chapter 2 Now Available

Following the release of Rockman-san and Rockman-chan's respective first chapters on April 28th, the second chapter of Rockman-chan is now available in Japanese. A second chapter from Rockman-san was expected to drop today but it has been postponed to an undisclosed date. In the meantime, you can read Rockman-chan chapter 2 HERE!

Of note, both manga are performing reasonably well on the Japanese charts. They're having to compete with Kumo desu ga, Nani ka?, Hariko no Otome and other heavy hitters from the Young Ace Up lineup. During the first week of release, Rockman-san and Rockman-chan (counted as one manga) the placed#6 at launch. They fell to #22 during the second week.

If an English and Spanish fan-translation become available at some point, we will report about them. Meanwhile, if you're behind, you can catch up with the first chapter translation of both manga here.

Mega Man Musicians The Megas & Mega Ran Unite for "Virtua Ongaku 9"

Virtua Ongaku, a live concert featuring the best chiptune artists and video game-inspired bands around, is back for its ninth iteration. Headlining Virtua Ongaku 9 are two power house performers from the Mega Man sphere: The Megas and Mega Ran. They will be joined by other talented video game music acts Super Smack, Lauren the Flute, and AnimeVivi.

Virtua Ongaku 9 will also double as a charity event benefiting the Asian Pacific Fund. It's an organiztion in the bay area that works to address critical issues in the Asian and Pacific islander community, such as poverty, education, housing and racism.

The concert is bound to be a lot of fun and it's for a good and worthy cause. Tune in Saturday, May 22nd at 7:00pm ET on Ongaku Overdrive's official Twitch channel. I'll see you there!

Hitoshi Ariga Reveals Scrapped Manga Project "Rockman Nanomix" (+English & Spanish Translation)

A few days ago, Hitoshi Ariga took to Twitter to reveal Rockman Nanomix -- a project that he was working on after the conclusion of Rockman Gigamix 10 years ago. Due to undisclosed reasons, unfortunately, the project was put on hold. However, Ariga was generous enough to turn the initial concept and rough pages into something that was readable for audiences.

As it happened with Rockman san and Rockman chan, the manga has been translated in Spanish thanks to Aldo Cáceres Vilca. You can find his translation here. An English translation is available as well thanks to our good friend Midori (who runs the Mega Man Tune-a-Day Twitter account).

You can read the manga in English and download it after the break!

Mega Man Zero 4 Composer Shares New Demos and "Falling Down" Orchestral Arrangement

A few months back we reported that Shinichi Itakura uploaded a demo for Falling Down, one of many tracks he composed for Mega Man Zero 4.

Fast-forward to today, the man didn't stop. He's continued to share his Mega Man Zero 4 resume on YouTube, uploading his own, wholly original Falling Down cover, and in this last months a brand-new orchestral arrangement, a self-cover of  Deep Deep AND four more demo tracks from the game!

You can find the orchestral arrangement and the playlist for all the new tracks after the break!

There's More Evidence That Rockman X DiVE is Coming to Steam

In late March, a series of Steam-related strings were discovered in the then-most-recent build of Rockman X DiVE. They carried the implication that a Steam version of the game was in the works. And now, with the advent of the game's May update, a new piece of evidence lends further credence

A Steam icon has found its way into the updated UI data (above). It's among other icons where you can link your Facebook, Line and Apple accounts to the game to transfer save data and/or switch devices.

The Steam icon cannot be seen by players at the moment; the asset is hiding away in the game data until the day it's needed. The Steam-related strings from the March are still there as well. You can read those after the jump below, if you're so inclined.

Pending official word from Capcom, the Steam version of Rockman X DiVE is *not* confirmed. But as evidence continues to mount, it's becoming increasingly likely we might here something soon. Gotta wait and see for now.

Buy $60 Worth of Mega Man Stuff From Udon, Get a Limited Edition Hitoshi Ariga Metal Card

Just in time for the annual celebration of "Mega May", Udon Entertainment are offering a limited edition Hitoshi Ariga Mega Man metal card with the purchase of $60 worth of Mega Man merch from their online store.

Unfortunately, all the artbooks and Mega Man Mastermix trade paperbacks seem to be sold out. At the time of this writing, you're purchases are limited to a small variety of T-Shirts, embroidered patches and a number of pins from their catalog.

Head over Udon's online store and enter the code ARIGA at checkout to secure your Hitoshi Ariga metal card

Unboxing the Rockman EXE 20th Anniversary "Treasure Box"

The Rockman EXE 20th Anniversary "Treasure Box" is already in the hands of those who preordered it. And thanks to YouTuber うばまろちゅーぶ we can take a closer look what's inside!

While the video doesn't show the interior of the special booklet which includes the new manga, it offers a good look at the other items. The new artwork drawn by Ryo Takamisaki and Minho Asada in particular looks great!

What's more, it appears Fukkan ended up including the "Cyber Beast Gregar (Greiga)" e-card with the "Rockman EXE no Subete Official Settei Shiryoushuu" reprint. That's a great bonus ... but do you think all of the above is worth the equivalent of 125€ or $151?

Let's us know in the comments!

The Classic Series Returns to Rockman X DiVE with Bass and Mega Man Thunder Beam Ver.

If we don't count Swimsuit Roll, it's been a long while since a new character from the Classic Series appeared in Rockman X DiVE. We would have to go back to May 2020 when Mega Man, Proto Man, Roll and Super Mega Man first dropped. 

But now,the wait is over! A fan-favorite rival from the Classic Series joins the fray alongside a new version of Mega Man, too!

Find all the details after the break!

Super Adventure Rockman Gets New, Accurate English Subtitles

Super Adventure Rockman's English fan-translation is close to 13-years-old. And, really, it was an admirable first effort. Prior to 2008, no one sincerely took up the task to translate -- let alone subtitle -- the Japan-exclusive interactive movie game. We have 'ol Oyster to thank for that.

Flash forward to the present. A Mega Man YouTuber, per tradition, surprised viewers with an unexpected birthday gift. This year it was a brand-new, more accurate English translation of Super Adventure Rockman Episode 1: Temple of Moon! The translation has even been paired with the audio from the Sega Saturn version in its highest-quality format yet. 

What's more, the animation was upscaled via AI. This was done to make things a bit more tolerable as a majority of Super Adventure Rockman's FMVs were presented in 192x144 (!!!). Only the Opening Movie, Ending Movie and Next Episode scenes were presented 320x240. But, hey, everything looks pretty good now!

Episodes 2 and 3 are expected to drop later this month. For now, you can watch Episode 1 above! Don't forget to turn on the captions!

Rockman X DiVE - The Hat and The Mysterious Art

Few things in Rockman X DiVE have caused more discussion among fans than the introduction of Iris -another-. In the midst of it, the development team released some early concept art, explaining the thought process behind her design.

What's more? As part of the "Half-Anniversary" of Rockman X DiVE's Japanese release, two new pieces of art have come to light that you don't want to miss!

Find all the details after the break!

Follow the "Underworld Broker" in Teppen's Latest Card Pack, "Ace vs. The People"

Following the "A Dark Agenda" card pack that released in early March, a new Ace Attorney-themed pack has arrived to Teppen. Althought it doesn't feature a new hero, it brings a mystery that must be resolved!

You can find all the Mega Man X-themed cards after the break!