Mega Man (Game Gear)

Mega Man is a video game in the eponymous series that was developed by Freestyle and released exclusively in North America by U.S. Gold for the Sega Game Gear in 1994. Despite the title, it is not a remake of the original Mega Man, but an original title that uses elements from both Mega Man 4 and 5 in the same vein as the Mega Man games for the Game Boy. It is also the only Mega Man game released for the Game Gear handheld system.

Story
Mega Man's mission is to overthrow Dr. Wily's sinister plot to destroy humankind. For that, Mega Man will need to crush Wily's humanoid henchmen to move on to the Formidable Fortress.

Gameplay differences

 * Given the smaller screen size of the Game Gear, players often must do a leap-of-faith, hoping to land on another platform, as they often cannot see what is below. However, if the player holds the Jump button for a few seconds, they can move the camera position with the directional pad, allowing them to see any platform or trap that's otherwise offscreen.
 * Unlike most other Mega Man games, Mega Man can only have two buster shots on-screen at once, instead of three. A fully-charged buster shot does 4 units of damage instead of 3.
 * The Robot Masters act and move considerably faster and more aggressively than their NES counterparts.
 * There are no continues if the player loses all of their lives. Therefore, if the players get a Game Over in the final stages, they'll have to restart over from Wave Man's stage again (assuming a password is used).

Bosses
Most of the weaponry obtained from the bosses in this game is simplified to "(One word of the weapon's name) Weapon" when obtained; for instance, the Napalm Bomb and Rain Flush are called "Bomb Weapon" and "Rain Weapon," respectively. Each boss takes 4 units of damage from their weakness.

Trivia

 * The styling, but not the color palettes, of the Robot Masters and level tiles in this game is similar to that of Mega Man: The Wily Wars.
 * Sliding into Bright Man at the beginning of the battle right as he uses his Flash Stopper move will cause Mega Man to be frozen, but will also make him invincible, leaving Bright Man hopping in place forever until the player restarts the game.
 * Mega Man's artwork on the box is of him with the Salt Water weapon.
 * Mega Man's helmet on the title screen is taken from Mega Man 4.
 * In the stage select screen, Star Man's icon is miscolored green.
 * The instruction manual says that Mega Man and Dr. Wily were enemies since 1985, and that Mega Man "has been saving the universe on console screens around the world for over ten years." However, the first Mega Man game was released in 1987.
 * Wave Man also has no weakness outside of the Mega Buster.
 * Wave Man's theme was changed to Gravity Man's theme for this game. Oddly enough, Wave Man's actual theme can be heard during the Game Over.
 * Even though the final stage is shown to be the Wily Castle from Mega Man 4, it's Dr. Cossack's Citadel (Wave Man's and Toad Man's stage) that's seen exploding at the end of the game.
 * Dr. Cossack himself is also never mentioned.
 * Wily Castle consists of Quick Man's stage and a hallway which leads to the final battle with Dr. Wily, as well as a small final Wily stage that was taken from Mega Man 5.
 * When Dr. Wily is defeated, Mega Man does a final move like he is getting a weapon, which is unnecessary.


 * Instead of Dr. Wily jumping out of his capsule at the end of the game's final boss, he explodes with the capsule itself. However, he does appear in the closing screen following the credits, panicking before Mega Man.


 * This is one of the few games in the classic series that can be played from start to finish with the Mega Buster only, the other being Mega Man 10.