It's no secret that MegaMan originated in Japan. If the anime-style graphics aren't a dead giveway, the japanese names in the credits are. But there are significant differences between the American and Japanese games, and I don't just mean the box art! On the other side of the Pacific, MegaMan is known as Rockman. (Back when MegaMan 1 came out, Capcom of America decided that American consumers wouldn't like the name for some reason and re-named him MegaMan because it had more marketing appeal.) There is a rumor that he almost got named "Rainbow Man" because he had 7 weapons, and the rainbow has 7 colors. All of the robot names are written in English in the Rockman games, but the people's names are often in kanji. This has lead to the confusion over Dr. Light/Right/Wright's true name. Protoman's name in the Rockman games is simply "Blues," (which makes sense if you've ever heard his whistle theme played all the way through.) Bass and Treble are called Forte and Gospel, respectively. All of the good guy names are variations of the old Rock/Roll pun that started the series. Not all of the MegaMan games that graced Japan came out in the U.S. (For some reason, we GOT MegaMan Soccer...) Rockboard was an 8-bit game that came out for the Famicom (NES). It was a board game kinda like monopoly with Megaman characters. I'm sketchy on the details because I've never actually played it. Rockman & Forte is the biggest surprise. This Super Famicom (SNES) game was released after Megaman 8 came out in the U.S. It is easily as good as Megaman 7 or 8. You can play as either Rockman or Forte (Forte has a cool machinegun-type buster and can double-jump,) and you fight against 6 new bosses, plus Astroman and Tenguman from Megaman 8. (But they have new attacks!) Unfortunately, it looks like Capcom has no intention of bringing Rockman and Forte out in the U.S. as Megaman 9 or Megaman and Bass or whatever. They are convinced that the SNES market in America is dead, and they kinda have a point. Oh well. that's why we have emulation, I guess...

As a special treat for curious Americans, I've copied the Rockman and Forte page from the Capcom of Japan website. This is still in the original kanji, exactly as it apears at capcom.co.jp. The only reason I've copied it here instead of linking to it is because sooner or later, they'll take it off of their page when a new Rockman game comes out and the link will be defunct.

There are two other MegaMan games that didn't come out in the U.S. (or if they did, I never saw 'em!) Rockman: The Power Battle and it's sequel, Rockman:The Power Fighters. Both of these games are a MegaMan fan's wet dream. You can choose to play as the hero Rockman, the villan Forte, the mysterious Blues, or, (in Power Fighters) as the newcomer Duo. (From Megaman 8.) So what are these four super robots united against? Every boss in any Megaman game EVER!! That's right! You get to freakin' put in a quarter, choose your character, and relive every single Megaman boss fight!! Now, as I've said, I haven't ever even SEEN this game in person, let alone played it, and since it's an ARCADE ONLY game, I doubt I ever will get to play it since capcom never even bothered to bring it out in the U.S. *sigh* So anyway, I don't know the specifics. Does it include the new bosses from the gameboy series? I don't know. Do you get to use the weapons of your defeated enemies? I don't know!! I wish I knew!! If anyone knows of an arcade in Illinois that has this game, EMAIL me!!