Software:Mega Man: The Wily Wars

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Short description: 1994 video game
Mega Man: The Wily Wars
PAL cover art
Developer(s)Minakuchi Engineering
Publisher(s)Capcom
Artist(s)Keiji Inafune
Composer(s)Kinuyo Yamashita[1]
SeriesMega Man
Platform(s)Mega Drive/Genesis
Release
Genre(s)Action, platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Lua error in Module:Lang/utilities at line 332: attempt to call field '_transl' (a nil value). is a 1994 video game compilation of platform games developed by Minakuchi Engineering and published by Capcom for the Sega Genesis; the compilation features remakes of the first three Mega Man games which were originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, alongside a new game called Wily Tower, only unlockable with a completed save file.

The Wily Wars saw a physical release in Japan and Europe, while the physical North American release was cancelled, with it only seeing the light of day as part of the Sega Channel service. In 2019, The Wily Wars was one of 42 games included in the Sega Genesis Mini and in 2021 got a physical re-release on cartridge, North America included, by the company Retro-Bit. On June 30, 2022, The Wily Wars was added to the Nintendo Classics service. Reviews have been generally positive.

Plot

After being defeated by Mega Man for the third time, the evil Dr. Wily has built a Time Machine to travel back in time in an attempt to change the past and defeat the robotic hero Mega Man in one of their first three conflicts.[3][6] Each game follows Mega Man reliving his past adventures in which Wily dispatches a set of powerful robots to take over the world which must be single-handedly stopped as before. After completing his travels through time, Mega Man must use all he has learned to tackle the Wily Tower.

Gameplay

The player battles Quick Man in Mega Man 2.

All three games have the player control Mega Man through a series of platform stages which can be completed in any order. At the end of each stage is a boss battle with a Robot Master. The player will acquire that Robot Master's special weapon, which can then be selected and used throughout the rest of the game. Each game also features one or more support items that aid the player in reaching places the player cannot reach by normal means. Each Master Weapon and support item has limited energy that can be replenished by picking up items left by fallen enemies.

The compilation features an upgrade to the original games' visuals, as well as arranged music.[7] An important change is that the compilation provides battery back-up for each game. As a result, it is possible to continue the original Mega Man from a later point in the game, though Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 lost the password feature because of this. The Wily Wars removes several glitches present in the NES versions of the game.[8] Upon completion of all three games, an exclusive game mode, called "Wily Tower", is made available to the player. In Wily Tower, Mega Man travels through three different stages fighting against a trio of new bosses called the "Genesis Unit", which are based on characters from the Great Classical Novel Journey to the West: Buster Rod.G (Sun Wukong), Mega Water.S (Sha Wujing), and Hyper Storm.H (Zhu Bajie).[9] After they are defeated, the player finally faces Wily in the titular tower. Wily Tower requires the player to equip Mega Man with eight weapons and three support items from any of the three main games to proceed.

Development

Artist Keiji Inafune claimed that the development of Mega Man: The Wily Wars was outsourced and rather slowgoing. He described the debugging procedure for The Wily Wars as "an absolute nightmare", even helping out in the process himself. "It was so bad," he recalled, "I found myself saying, 'I can't believe we've made it out of there alive.'"[3] Inafune based his designs of the three new Wily Tower bosses on characters from the ancient Chinese novel Journey to the West. Other than these characters, Inafune's only other illustrative contribution to the game was the depiction of Mega Man and Rush on the cover art.[3] The soundtrack of The Wily Wars consists of 16-bit versions of the original Mega Man musical scores, as well as new songs for the Wily Tower portion of the game. The composer for the Wily Wars has not been officially credited by Capcom. According to the game's sound effects creator Kouji Murata, Kinuyo Yamashita was responsible for the music composition and arrangement.[1]

Release

Following the success of Software:Street Fighter II: Champion Edition on the Mega Drive/Genesis, rumors began circulating in the United States that a Mega Man game was in the works for Sega's 16-bit system, the Sega Genesis.[10] The Wily Wars was displayed by Sega of America at the Sega Summit sales meeting in May of that same year.[11] The Wily Wars was first released in Japan on October 21, 1994.[3][4] It was the first Mega Man game to be released on a non-Nintendo console.[12] Game Players reported in its October issue that the North American release of The Wily Wars was put on hold indefinitely due to graphical problems.[13] The April 1996 issue of GamePro reported that it had been cancelled.[14] However, the game was released in a non-cartridge format on the Sega Channel, a paid subscription service for Genesis games.[7][15]

In 2012, Mega Man: The Wily Wars was included on the "Ultimate Portable Game Player" compilation, a portable device with 80 built-in Sega Genesis games.[16] On May 16, 2019, Sega announced that Mega Man: The Wily Wars would be re-released as one of the games included in the Sega Genesis Mini.[17] In August that same year, Retro-Bit teased a licensed physical cartridge reproduction of the game, with this being the first time the game was officially released in North America in cartridge form.[18] It would later get formally revealed on May 19, 2021, as Mega Man: The Wily Wars - Collector's Edition, with preorders opening two days later.[19] The Retro-Bit version has less slowdown than the original.[20]

On June 30, 2022, Mega Man: The Wily Wars was re-released on the Nintendo Classics service.[21]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Consoles +76%[23]
Famitsu24/40[24]
Hyper86%[25]
M! Games76%[26]
Mega Fun75%[5]
Video Games (DE)76%[30]
Computer+Videogiochi89/100[31]
Sega MegaZone69%[32]
Sega Pro67%[33]
Top Consoles14/20[34]

The Japanese publication Micom BASIC Magazine ranked the game fifth in popularity in its January 1995 issue, and it received a 6.3125/10 score in a 1995 readers' poll conducted by the Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine, ranking among Sega Mega Drive titles at the number 358 spot.[35][36] Mega Man: The Wily Wars received generally favorable reviews from critics.[34][37][38][39]

Christian Nutt and Justin Speer of GameSpot stated that The Wily Wars is "a must for any serious Mega Man fan".[7] Jeremy Parrish of 1Up.com labeled the game as "Not Worth It!" because certain design issues prevent it from aging as well as the NES versions of the games.[40] The Wily Wars consistently ranked high among Nintendo Power editors as a game they would have liked to see on the Wii Virtual Console.[41][42][43]

Legacy

Elements of the game were adapted into the Archie Comics Mega Man series, with issue 20 notably including an opening that seemed to be leading into the game with the inclusion of the Genesis Unit and Mega Man Killers, while issue 55 involves Dr. Light having a vision of the game's conflict.

Notes

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Murata, Kouji. "これまでの仕事 / Works" (in ja). http://www.100v.jp/~yagiyama/works/index.html. 
  2. ↑ "The Information Superhighway NEXT EXIT: 1 MILE". EGM2 (Sendai Publishing) (8): 35–36. February 1995. https://archive.org/details/EGM2_08_February_1995_U/page/n33/mode/1up. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 MM25: Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works. Udon Entertainment. August 2013. p. 113. https://archive.org/details/MegaManMegaManXOfficialCompleteWorksByKBG/page/n112/mode/1up. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Software List (Software Licensee Release)" (in ja). Sega Corporation. https://www.sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Appel, Markus (April 1995). "Test Mega Drive - Mega Man Wily Wars". Mega Fun (CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG) (31): 71. ISSN 0946-6282. https://archive.org/details/MegaFun0495/page/n70/mode/1up. Retrieved 2019-05-20. 
  6. ↑ Mega Man: The Wily Wars Instruction Booklet. Capcom Europe GmbH. April 1995. p. 8. T-12046-50. "I should have melted that meddling robot years ago. But now, with the help of my new Wily machine, I'm going to fix that. I'll just take a quick blast to the past, and I'll make sure that Mega Man will never have survived any of our first three encounters! With Mega Man destroyed in the past, there will be nothing to stop me here in the future. The world will finally be mine!!!" 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "The History of Mega Man". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. November 6, 2003. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-history-of-mega-man/1100-6076983/. 
  8. ↑ Menes, Robert (May 15, 2006). "Review: Mega Man: The Wily Wars". Sega-16.com. http://www.sega-16.com/2006/05/mega-man-the-wily-wars/. 
  9. ↑ Burns, Ed (October 2, 2017). "Mega Man: The Wily Wars". Hardcore Gaming 101. http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/mega-man-the-wily-wars/. 
  10. ↑ "Mega Man for the Mega Drive?". Mega (Future Publishing) (16): 8. January 1994. ISSN 0966-6206. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/f7ce6183-3152-4e59-9f46-41487caff88d. Retrieved 2020-04-10. 
  11. ↑ Greenstein, Jane (May 20, 1994). "Big retailers to see Sega game preview. (1994 'Sega Summit' sales meeting sponsored by Sega of America Inc.)". Video Business. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-15414162/big-retailers-see-sega.html. 
  12. ↑ Overton, Wil (April 1995). "Viva Le Mega Man". Super Play (Future Publishing) (30): 30–31. ISSN 0966-6192. 
  13. ↑ "News: Chatter". Game Players (Imagine Media) 7 (10): 16. October 1994. ISSN 1091-1685. 
  14. ↑ "The State of the 16-Bit World: Cancelled Games". GamePro (IDG) (91): 44. April 1996. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_091_Volume_08_Number_04_1996-04_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n45/mode/2up. 
  15. ↑ Buchanan, Levi (June 11, 2008). "The SEGA Channel". http://retro.ign.com/articles/880/880968p2.html. 
  16. ↑ "Portable Sega Genesis With Mega Man: The Wily Wars Coming This Month". November 5, 2012. https://www.siliconera.com/portable-sega-genesis-with-mega-man-the-wily-wars-coming-this-month/. 
  17. ↑ Plante, Chris (2019-05-16). "Sega confirms 10 more Genesis Mini games, including a rare Mega Man" (in en). https://www.polygon.com/2019/5/16/18627095/sega-genesis-mini-games-announced-release-date. 
  18. ↑ Retro-Bit Gaming [@RetroBitGaming] (22 August 2019). "Only physically released in Japan and Europe, we are bringing #MegaMan Wily Wars to North America for both #Genesis & #MegaDrive --Get ready for a collector's edition that includes many extras! 🌟 More details on this release will come soon!#Gamescom2019 #retrogaming #Capcom". https://twitter.com/RetroBitGaming/status/1164658530789535747. 
  19. ↑ "Mega Man: The Wily Wars - Blast to the past to stop Dr. Wily!" (in en). http://retro-bit.com/megaman-thewilywars/. 
  20. ↑ "A Rare Retro Classic Comes to the Gaming Community as a Limited One-Time Release!" (in en). https://retro-bit.com/megaman-thewilywars-pr/. 
  21. ↑ "Nintendo Switch Online adds four more Mega Drive titles". July 2022. https://www.eurogamer.net/nintendo-switch-online-adds-four-more-mega-drive-titles. 
  22. ↑ "BEメガドッグレース: ロックマンメガワールド" (in ja). Beep! Mega Drive (SoftBank Creative) 10 (10): 18. October 1994. https://archive.org/details/beep-megadrive-1994-10/page/n19/mode/1up. 
  23. ↑ Boissarie, Véronique (July–August 1995). "Megadrive Review: Megaman The Wily Wars" (in fr). Consoles + (fr) (EM-Images) (45): 132. https://archive.org/details/Console_Plus_Numero_045/page/132/mode/1up. 
  24. ↑ "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: ロックマンメガワールド" (in ja). Famitsu (ASCII Corporation) (306): 40. October 28, 1994.  (Transcription by Famitsu.com. ).
  25. ↑ Hopkinson, Russell (August 1995). "Review: Megaman Mega World". Hyper (nextmedia) (21): 54–55. https://archive.org/details/hyper-021/page/54/mode/2up. 
  26. ↑ Ehrle, Oliver (May 1995). "Spiele-Tests: Megaman: Wily Wars" (in de). M! Games (de) (Cybermedia) (19): 44. https://archive.org/details/MANIAC.N019.1995.05/page/n43/mode/1up.  (Transcription ).
  27. ↑ Swan, Gus; Merrett, Steve (March 1995). "Megadrive Review: Rockman Megaworld". Mean Machines Sega (EMAP) (29): 62–65. https://archive.org/details/mean-machines-sega-magazine-29/page/n61/mode/2up. 
  28. ↑ Pottier, Christophe (July–August 1995). "Tests: Megaman Willy's World" (in fr). Player One (magazine) (fr) (Média Système Édition (fr)) (55): 104–105. https://archive.org/details/playerone-magazine-055/page/n105/mode/2up. 
  29. ↑ Marcelo Kamikaze (March 1995). "Mega: Rockman Mega World" (in pt). Super Game Power (pt) (Nova Cultural (pt)) (12): 42–43. https://archive.org/details/SuperGamePower_Ano_01_No._012_1995-03_Nova_Cultural_BR_pt/page/n41/mode/2up. 
  30. ↑ Schaedle, Wolfgang (August 1995). "Reviews: Wily Wars - Mega Man" (in de). Video Games (German magazine) (de) (Magna Media) (45): 79. https://archive.org/details/video-games-de-1995-08/page/79/mode/1up. 
  31. ↑ Loglisci, Antonio (December 1994). "Review: Rockman Mega World" (in it). Computer+Videogiochi (it) (Gruppo Editoriale Jackson (it)) (43): 126–127. https://archive.org/details/computer-videogiochi-43/page/n125/mode/2up. 
  32. ↑ Imtarnasan, Virode; Waring, Adam (July 1995). "Mega Drive Review: Megaman: Wily Wars". Sega MegaZone (Mason Stewart Publishing) (53): 30. https://archive.org/details/megazoneau53/page/n29/mode/1up. 
  33. ↑ Butt, Ryan (Easter 1995). "Review: Rockman Mega World". Sega Pro (Paragon Publishing) (44): 55. https://archive.org/details/sega-pro-44/page/55/mode/1up. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Street Man (July–August 1995). "Test: Megaman Mega World" (in fr). Top Consoles (Pressimage) (4): 94–97. https://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=130&num=2844&album=oui. Retrieved 2025-07-14. 
  35. ↑ Nishibu, Masako (January 1995). "メガドライブ" (in ja). Micom BASIC Magazine (ja). Super Soft Hot Information (The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation (ja)) (151): 29–31. https://archive.org/details/micom-basic-1995-01-ozidual/Micom%20Basic%201995%2001%20%28J%20OCR%29/page/29/mode/1up. 
  36. ↑ "メガドラ読者レース" (in ja). Sega Saturn Magazine (SoftBank Creative) 11 (9): 82–85. September 1995. https://archive.org/details/sega-saturn-magazine-ja-1995-09-01/page/85/mode/1up. 
  37. ↑ Müller, Christian (May 1995). "Mega Drive Review: Mega Man Wily Wars" (in de). Play Time (magazine) (de) (Computec) (47): 104. 
  38. ↑ Hartwig, Klaus-Dieter (August 1995). "Mega Drive Test: Mega Man — The Wily Wars" (in de). Gamers (magazine) (de) (MVL-Verlag) (27): 32–33. 
  39. ↑ Ippisch, Hans (September 1995). "Review: Mega Man The Wily Wars" (in de). Sega Magazin (de) (Computec) (22): 20–21. 
  40. ↑ Parrish, Jeremy (May 10, 2007). "The Mega Man Series Roundup". 1Up.com. IGN Entertainment. pp. 1–4. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3159344. 
  41. ↑ "Most Wanted". Nintendo Power (Future US) (229). June 2008. 
  42. ↑ "Wii Channels: Wanted!". Nintendo Power (Future US) (235): 28. December 2008. 
  43. ↑ "Download: Wanted!". Nintendo Power (Future US) (245): 21. September 2009. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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