Mega Man 8-bit Deathmatch

Mega Man 8-bit Deathmatch is a fan game created by CutmanMike using the Zandronum engine (previously known as Skulltag), combining first-person shooter and Mega Man style gameplay.

The game was released on October 8, 2010, at 8PM Greenwich Mean Time. The newest version, Version 4, was released on May 17, 2014.

Plot
The story of the single-player mode of the game takes place one year after the events of Mega Man 6. The player is not Mega Man, but rather a "tournament robot" of customizable name and appearance that serves no purpose but to police the tournament. In fact, Mega Man even appears as an enemy in some stages.

After Mega Man defeated Dr. Wily for the sixth time, the real Mr. X was found and rescued. In celebration of his heroic efforts, Mr. X hosted the second annual robot master tournament with new rules and arenas. With permission from Dr. Light, each robot would have to be reprogrammed use the weapon swapping abilities of Mega Man to keep the competition fair.

During the final announcement of the second tournament, Mega Man and Dr. Light's television is interrupted by Dr. Wily. He states that the tournament is a great idea, and that he wishes to prove his genius by entering all his robots to prove once and for all that Dr. Wily is superior to Dr. Light. With no leads on where Dr. Wily could be hiding, or what he could be plotting, Dr. Light decides to enter Mega Man and his other creations to the tournament to ensure Dr. Wily doesn't have anything hidden up his sleeves. Later on, the tournament robot discovers Wily's true plans of world domination during the Mega Man 3 chapter.

After fighting through the stages of the Robot Master from Mega Man 4-6, the tournament robot finds Dr Light, Tango, and Mr. X in a cage. A trapdoor opens up under his/her feet, dropping him/her into a new arena where he/she re-battles the Robot Masters up to Mega Man 6 (including Time and Oil Man) as well as a restored Gamma. After Gamma's defeat, Wily is jailed, but soon escapes from prison and continues entering his own robots into the tournament long after in a series of bonus chapters, based on the events of Mega Man 7 and 8. After fighting off the Wily Capsule from Mega Man 7, engaging in a brief duel with Duo, and entering the finals of the tournament with 8 's Robot Masters, the Evil Robot breaks in, catching the attention of the robots. The tournament robot watches in the background as the Robot Masters argue with the Evil Robot and eventually attempt to battle him, resulting in the Evil Robot snatching their powers and flying off into space. The tournament robot finds Duo behind a structure, and bravely agrees to go after the Evil Robot alone in outer space, taking along Duo's Energy Fist. After a difficult fight, the tournament robot defeats the Evil Robot and returns to Earth.

A scene shows Dr. Wily fuming about a second robot foiling his plans in his laboratory with Bass and Treble, who states that "Phase 1" may be ruined, but quickly announces that they'll be going into "Phase 2".

Dr. Light's robots and other forces searched the Wily Tower that the Evil Robot broke into, but could not find a trace of the evil doctor anywhere. A year later, Dr. Light sees a news report reporting a new controversial law being brought into place in which robots would be assigned arbitrary expiration dates, however, the transmission is suddenly hijacked by King, asking robots to join his army and fight for their freedom. Dr. Light at first tells Mega Man that King's heart is in the right place, but that something is off, and sends him to ensure no hostilities take place. Elsewhere, Bass hears of King, and sets off to fight his forces, claiming that he hasn't had any action in a while.

Dr. Light sends the tournament robot out to fight King's forces alongside Mega Man and Bass. Eventually, they fight their way to King's Palace, but Mega Man and Bass both end up being incapacitated, leaving the tournament robot to face King alone. The tournament robot defeats King, who then realises the former's courage and strength to defend humankind. He attempts to stop the war that he started, but then the Genesis Unit suddenly smashes through the window into the room, incapacitating both King and the tournament robot. Buster Rod G insults King, stating that "what dumb king bows before his subjects", and that Mega Water S reveals that the war needs to go on for their master, and that they would take over since he would feel that King was not up to it. Hyper Storm H proceeds to throw King out the window to his (presumed) death, before they all leave.

Dr. Light sends Cut Man and the other Light Numbers to recover the tournament robot, Mega Man, and Bass. The tournament robot then sets off to continue fighting Wily's robots along with the Light Numbers whilst repairs are made on Mega Man and Bass. After fighting Wily's army, as well as defeating each of the Genesis Unit one by one, the tournament robot reaches Wily Tower, where Dr. Wily reveals that the Evil Robot was in his lab, and that he had some "fun things" planned had it not have broken out. He also explains that he still has samples of the Evil Energy and that it's stored in another castle, and that the tournament robot would not live to see the plan in action and join King in the scrap heap. He sends the Genesis Unit united to fight the tournament robot, but they end up defeated. He then tricks the tournament robot into picking up an explosive grenade in the shape of a score ball item from the first Mega Man game, and appears before them in a battle suit. However, the tournament robot uses their Mega Buster to destroy Wily's suit with one hit, prompting them to chase Wily out of the exploding tower and through a field. Wily eventually trips up, but is then rescued by his saucer, which then flies off.

Several weeks later, it is revealed that King had survived, and is seen conversing with Dr. Light, trusting him with money to repair damage from his war, and that he declines the offer to become allies with Light and that he would carve his own path.

Long after the events of the game, after the tournament robot's expiration date has passed, he/she is refitted with gold compartments due to his/her heroic efforts and displayed in the Robot Master Museum for centuries to come, with new heroes looking back at the past to remember the heroic tournament robot's efforts.

Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to classic Doom deathmatch modes, particularly to that of Zandronum. Weapons are found in the various levels, but each level contains a different set. There are over 50 levels, which consist of 8-bit textures & sprites based on past Robot Master's stages. Actions taken place will behave exactly the same as they do in the classic Mega Man games, but in a 3D perspective (with some minor exceptions). The player may opt to play as Mega Man, Roll, Proto Man, Bass, Duo, Bad Box Art Mega Man, the Mega Man Killers, the Genesis Unit and any Robot Master from the first eight Mega Man titles (including Powered Up and Mega Man & Bass). Players may also download custom skins and apply them to emulate playing as certain characters. Differences regarding abilities and weaknesses are not added, meaning all players are balanced in terms of skill and do not use their respective weaponry except the common Buster unless they pick up a new weapon on the battlefield.

In Version 4, in the chapter based off of Mega Man & Bass, the player teams up with Mega Man and Bass to fight against King's army in several team-based deathmatches as opposed to the usual free-for-all deathmatch format. Likewise, in the following chapter based off of Wily Tower from Mega Man: The Wily Wars, the player is teamed up with two of the Light Numbers per match against several of Wily's robots.

Trailer #2
This is the trailer of Mega Man 8-bit Deathmatch, showing off more levels, gameplay, modes of play, singleplayer bosses and more.



Download
Mega Man 8-bit Deathmatch was released on October 8, 2010. Available for download here.

Trivia

 * Nearly every stage features a Yashichi hidden somewhere, usually in a tiny hidden alcove or in an out-of-reach location. The Yashichi is purely for aesthetic purposes and does nothing; if the player uses cheats or other methods to reach the Yashichi, it cannot be picked up.