Mega Man Battle & Chase

Mega Man Battle & Chase, known as Rockman Battle & Chase (ロックマン バトル＆チェイス) in Japan, is a racing game from the Mega Man series released in 1997 for PlayStation in Japan and Europe, and released in North America in 2006 as part of Mega Man X Collection for PlayStation 2 and GameCube.

Story
A new-hit show called Battle & Chase has been released. It is an extreme racing show, that pays off a large amount of money to the winner: 10 million Zenny. Soon, word reaches out to everyone and many robots decide to enter for their own gain, and it becomes a challenge where the stakes are high, and the reward is higher. When word reaches Mega Man, he decides to enter to use the prize money to fix Dr. Light's computer, which had broken after a thunderstorm. In the end of the tournament, Dr. Wily appears and steals the prize money for his own evil purposes, and the player must race against Bass (when not playing with him) and Wily to recover it.

Playable racers
* Dr. Wily is unlocked after completing the game. Only playable in Versus and Time Attack modes.

** Duo is playable only in Versus and Time Attack modes. Outside Japan, Duo is unlocked after obtaining all four hidden parts that appear after defeating the Black Troop members. In the original Japanese release Duo is unlocked only by loading a special save given in a promotional event from the Dengeki PlayStation magazine or using a cheat device. When starting the game with the save, a cutscene will introduce Duo and his machine, he replaces Bass in the opening race, and the message "デューオ登場" ("Duo Appears") is present in the title screen. In the PlayStation the Best for Family version, Duo is available from the beginning, the special cutscene being absent.

Non-playable racers

 * 4 Roader
 * Truck Joe
 * Yellow Devil
 * Black 4 Roader (Black Roader)
 * Black Joe
 * Black Yellow Devil (Black Devil)

Other characters

 * Chest, Plum and Ripot
 * Minor appearances: Dr. Light, Auto, Rush, Eddie, Beat, Treble, Turbo Man

Other media
The game was adapted into a manhua by Wu Yang titled "Rockman Battle &amp; Chase" where it focused primarily on Shadow Man entering the "Battle & Chase" competition to obtain money for a house for his family.

Mega Man Battle & Chase was also adapted into the Mega Man Gigamix manga story "Burning Wheel", where it featured Mega Man competing against Dr. Wily and the Robot Masters from Mega Man 7 on a newly constructed bridge connecting Tokyo, Japan to San Francisco, California.

The game was also referenced in Archie Comics' Mega Man comic series during the Sonic &amp; Mega Man: Worlds Collide crossover with Sonic the Hedgehog. In Sonic the Hedgehog #251, the sabotaged boards responsible for the disabled weapons systems for Dr. Eggman's station, B. and C. was a reference to the game.

Trivia

 * Mega Man Battle & Chase was originally scheduled for a release on the PlayStation in North America in April 1997, a month after its Japanese release. Despite appearing in a number of magazine advertisements, the game was ultimately not released in North America, possibly due to Sony Computer Entertainment feeling there were already too many mascot-based racing games in the market at that time. The game did not see a North American release until Battle & Chase appeared in North American copies of Mega Man X Collection, which is presumably the European version of Battle & Chase running at 60fps.


 * Most of the voice-overs and the appearances of the characters Plum, Chest and Ripot were removed from the non-Japanese versions for unknown reasons.


 * The two loading screens can be interacted with. Each player can accelerate Auto (Player 1) or Eddie (Player 2) by pressing the X button, and the Baccone eyes can be moved with directional buttons.


 * The secret Extra Parts resemble four Robot Masters. The Hammer Body is similar to Knight Man and attacks with a spiked ball, Retro Engine ("Retro Turbo Engine" in Japan) resembles Turbo Man's engine, Sky High Wing resembles Gyro Man's propeller, and the Blade Tires resembles Slash Man's legs.


 * On the Mega Man and Roll courses, the player can see a Resident Evil logo (misspelled as "Residient Evil") together with a Capcom logo at the start.


 * The cars of Mega Man and Proto Man, Rush Roadstar and Red Striker, appear as toys in the game Mega Man ZX. They also appear in the racing sidequest in the Highway area of Mega Man ZX Advent, where the player can ride on them.


 * There is also a Mega Man racing game for cellphone called Rockman GP. It was released in 2004 in Japan and only has three racers.


 * If a Japanese version of the game is completed with Roll or Gutsman, and without being defeated once, a karaoke image will appear after their endings with the songs "Kaze yo Tsutaete" (with Roll) or "Ah Otoko Ichidai" (with Guts Man).


 * In the promotional video of the game that came with the Japanese version of Mega Man 8, it can be noted several changes happened from it to the final version, some of them being different item icons, the character faces don't move, Roll's car's ability to "fly" for a short time, and a course not present in the final version.


 * Battle and Chase was referenced a few times in Archie Comics' Mega Man series: the B&C Gazette (which included Chest, Plum, and Ripot as journalists), the mainframe for Wily's portion of the Egg-Wily Machine X, and the Skull Machine XX appears in Short Circuits #11.
 * Secret moves or sort-of-secret moves (officially not described, or mentioned in a misleading way):
 * To drift a bit sooner, instead of holding just the right or left button, tap the button of the opposite direction for a split second, and then resume. (Black Devil probably hints about it after losing.)
 * Press down, up and then taunt when running over a mine (the green one) may cause the car to hop with acceleration. However, the suceess rate is too close to zero, rendering it almost useless. (Black Troop reveals this after defeat, but they do not tell how hard it is...)
 * While using the Bone Head Body, there is a third mode of attack. Hold the down button while launching the special attack uncharged, four bombs will be left behind, floating a bit off ground.
 * Sky Circuit 3 contains a shortcut; just run into the kerb at a certain point, it will explode and let you pass.The path's floor is invisible. Part of it has traffic cones on the sides. (Look at the screenshots on the right.)
 * In versus and time attack modes, 1P may highlight the question mark on the left, then press R1, X and Start together. The big red question mark will turn blue. The result is that a car with random parts and rider will be given to you. 2P can do the same. Highlight the question mark on the right, then hit L1, X and start at the same time...
 * The Twin Arm Body's uncharged attack is rock throwing. Most are brown, occasionally grey ones come down. The latter would cause an earthquake in addition to knocking others dizzy. The dizziness will last longer, too.
 * Holding up or down adjusts how far Full Metal Body's throws the bomb in a charged attack.
 * The Hammer Body's charged attack can happen in four directions. Choose it by pressing the corresponding direction button before the special attack button.
 * While using the Retro Engine, tap the acceleration button rapidly to bring the speed to 588km/h. The backfire will turn yellow for some time. Before it turns green again, the car does not slow down even if it crashes into the kerb or runs on sand. It works just like Quick Man's charged move, but lasts much longer. (As shown in the screenshot right next.)
 * To get out of the frozen state (caused by Polar Body's charged attack), tap directional buttons rapidly.
 * Dr. Wily is the only non-robot character to be playable.