Mega Man: Robot Master Field Guide

by Udon Entertainment

The Mega Man: Robot Master Field Guide is the ultimate handbook to the classic Mega Man universe. Inside you'll find profiles of every major Mega Man character, including all the Robot Masters from Mega Man 1-10, Mega Man and Bass, the Mega Man Gameboy series, plus important special characters like Proto Man, Rush, Roll, Duo, and more. Each profile features classic CAPCOM artwork, and includes bios, quotes, likes and dislikes, weapons, and, of course, each Robot Master's secret weakness!

Genres: Video Games

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2011

About the author

Udon Entertainment Corp. is a Canadian art studio and publisher.They publishes original and translated comic books, graphic novels, manga and art books related to anime and video games. It was founded in 2000 and is named after udon, a kind of Japanese noodle.

Reviews

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mega Man series is pretty difficult (I could never get much of anywhere in any of them, although I watched my brother win the first seven), but incredibly creative, full of colorful characters and backgrounds. This book presents the main robots in the series alphabetically, each with illustrations including official artwork and game sprites. They also have descriptions that not only detail how they attack within the game, but also give details about their personalities and what (if anything) they did before being consigned into combat. Did you know that Aqua Man likes fart jokes, that Chill Man is a photographer, that Cut Man enjoys kirigami (like origami, but with cutting involved), that Dive Man and Pirate Man don't get along despite their common nautical themes, that Dust Man has bad breath, that Guts Man likes karaoke and is good friends with Stone Man, that Flame Man requires three oil changes per day, or that Wood Man is interested in sumo wrestling? Robots with strangely old-fashioned designs, like the steam locomotive Charge Man and the propeller-based Gyro Man, are said to have been cost-cutting measures by Dr. Wily. While it makes sense that the Robot Masters would have hobbies, as they were programmed to be human-like (although they apparently don't have full free will, X being the first robot who does), I'm not sure why they would have been given the ability to consume food. Yet it's mentioned that Auto enjoys crackers, Frost Man likes rock candy, and Heat Man is fond of barbecues. At least with Tango, it's mentioned that his craving for tuna is unusual for a robot. I guess that, with the level of technology in the games' world, they COULD make robots that taste things, but what would be the point? I'm also not sure what Plant Man gets out of sunbathing. In addition to the primary series, the guide covers bosses from the Game Boy games, Mega Man & Bass, and the bonus stages from The Wily Wars. While most of the Game Boy installments just reuse Robot Masters from the NES games, Mega Man V (the convention became to use Roman numerals for the GB ones, even though I'm pretty sure they were used in some of the NES ones before that) instead features the extraterrestrial Stardroids. The three new Masters from Wily Wars are based on the disciples from Journey to the West, one resembling a monkey with an expanding staff, another pig-like, and a third based on a kappa. I don't think the third disciple (known as Sha Monk or Sandy in translations) was ever described as a kappa, but he DID live in a river.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes 1-10, no X series

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not in the running for any literary awards, this book was pure indulgent fun. No disrespect towards Mario, but growing up Mega Man was my favorite video game hero. I had 2-5 for the NES and my brother got 6 so I was able to play that too. This book is the perfect guide to help you remember what weapons to use on which Robot Masters as well as just pure fun. If you aren't a fan of the Mega Man series, you may not find this book as much fun, but for me this was just good, nostalgic fun!