By Christian Nutt and Justin Speer

In 1987 Capcom introduced what would prove to be one of its most popular characters worldwide - and despite what has been universally called the ugliest box art of all time, Mega Man began to catch on in the US, whose game market is decidedly different from Japan's. At the same time, Rockman was slipping onto Famicom systems in Japan - same blue underpants as Mega Man's but sporting a different name and a more attractive, or perhaps more marketable, cover. A robot built to fight for justice, Mega Man stood for intense, original action platforming on the Nintendo Entertainment System. True to form, Capcom has milked this series for all it's worth; it's a great one - and the company's most important pre-Street Fighter property.

In 1987 the NES was a hot commodity, and consumers flocked to the console in droves. Capcom, as a developer, was already prolific with the system and had a crop of excellent games (Ghosts 'n' Goblins, Trojan) under its belt by the time it released Mega Man. Victimized by arguably unattractive interpretive artwork (a fate that persisted for years to come), the game was a sort of low-key success. The true breakthrough would come with Mega Man 2.

Mega Man recently celebrated his 15th anniversary, and the Blue Bomber is showing no signs of giving up the fight for everlasting peace. Though the classic Mega Man line lies dormant, for now, the mega mythos continues to expand with a seventh game in the Mega Man X series, the now established alternate-reality Mega Man Battle Network titles on the Game Boy Advance, and the budding X-related spin-off series Mega Man Zero.

Join us as we take a look back at the myriad games of the Mega Man legacy, some of which, unfortunately, stayed in Japan and some of which, unfortunately, did not. The bulk of Mega Man's games were good, a few were great, and some we'd rather not discuss at length. There's still one thing they have in common--each is a part of Mega Man history.