Mega Man NES

Mega Man is Capcom’s December 1987 debut for the series, directed by Akira Kitamura with music composed by Manami Matsumae — Capcom’s first project built specifically for a home console rather than arcades. You play the robot hero Mega Man, taking on six Robot Masters (Bomb Man, Guts Man, Cut Man, Elec Man, Ice Man, and Fire Man) in any order and gaining each one’s weapon upon defeat.

That weapon-stealing mechanic, letting a defeated boss’s ability become a tool for tackling other stages, became the series’ defining hook and one of the more influential ideas in action-platformer design. Despite this original entry’s modest sales, it launched a franchise that grew into one of Capcom’s longest-running series, with the sequel Mega Man 2 the following year widely considered the point where the formula was fully refined.