Rockman & Forte: Mirai kara no Chōsensha (ロックマン&フォルテ 未来からの挑戦者 Rokkuman ando Forute: Mirai kara no Chousensha, lit. "Rockman & Forte: Challenger from the Future") is a video game in the classic Rockman series. It is considered to be a “sequel” to Rockman & Forte due to its naming, though the story continues on from Rockman World 2. It was developed by Bandai under license by Capcom and released on August 5, 1999 for the Bandai WonderSwan.
Overview[]
Like in Rockman & Forte, the player can choose to play as one of the two titular characters. Once again Rockman can charge his shots and slide while Forte can fire in seven directions (straight up, straight forward, or any diagonal) with a rapid-fire arm cannon, do a double jump, and dash. This time, however, Rockman and Forte each get different Special Weapons from the Robot Masters they defeat. Rightot's shop returns with some of the items from Rockman & Forte, but now Reggae and Tango are available for Forte and Rockman respectively.
Rockman & Forte: Mirai kara no Chōsensha only has eight stages. After finishing the opening stage, five stages are selectable initially, including the opening stage. The first four selectable bosses are (from top to bottom) Dangan Man, Konro Man, Aircon Man and Komuso Man. Defeating all the bosses will unlock the Clock Men, and after defeating them, Compass Man and then finally Rockman Shadow.
Story[]
From the game's opening scene:
The year is 200X. Symphony City, a city where people and robots live in peace, is attacked by robots called the Dimensions. According to eyewitnesses, the overwhelmingly powerful Dimensions are led by a robot that looks just like Rockman. He resembled a dark evil figure obsessed with destruction. When Rockman heard the news at Right's laboratory, he ran out to the scene despite the fact that he was under maintenance. At the same time, Wily saw the dark Rockman and sent Forte to the city to confirm the mystery. Who exactly is the dark Rockman?!
- Rockman Shadow: "My name is Rockman Shadow! I am a robot of great power. I will not tolerate anyone who disobeys me!"
- Rockman: "Stop hurting people! Who are you, anyway? You look just like me. Why are you doing this?!"
- Forte: "I came here today to try to put an end to Rockman, who I hate, but things seem different than usual."
- Rockman: "Forte, I don't have time to worry about you right now. I have to stop those robots!"
- Forte: "Tsk! All right, fine, there's Wily's laboratory near this city. Let's call a truce here!"
For the time being, the two had to set aside their differences and face the new threat of the Dimensions. After defeating all of them, they face their leader, Rockman Shadow. He briefly discusses Quint, a version of Rockman that previously came from the future but was captured and customized by Dr. Wily. Depending on which character confronts him at the end, he will give a different version of his origin, but in the end he will be put out of his misery, revealing that he wanted to be destroyed in order to stop his destructive desires.
Note: The year is given in the game as 200X, but this is most likely either a typographical error or a continuity error, as Bass/Forte made his debut in Mega Man 7, which took place in 20XX.
Enemies[]
Opening boss:
Name | Weapon | Weakness | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rockman | Forte | Rockman | Forte | |
Dangan Man | Rockn Vulcan | Forte Vulcan | Barrier Wind | Forte Cyclone |
Konro Man | Flame Shower | Flame Mixer | Rockn Vulcan | Forte Vulcan |
Aircon Man | Barrier Wind | Forte Cyclone | Flame Shower | Flame Mixer |
Komuso Man | Doppel Crash | Doppler Attack | Barrier Wind | Forte Cyclone |
Clock Men | Time Switch | Time Bomb | Barrier Wind/Doppel Crash | Forte Cyclone |
Compass Man | None |
Final Boss:
Gameplay differences[]
While gameplay of Mirai Kara no Chousensha is mostly faithful to a typical Rockman game, it differs in several aspects:
- The player can only have a maximum of eight lives as opposed to the traditional nine.
- Unlike other games where once the player has beaten a stage they may leave at will as long as they have acquired the Exit option, Exit is a single use item, and must be bought again at the shop every time the player uses it.
- The player does not recover weapon energy between stages.
- Buster shots fired from one screen travel to the next screen, allowing players to defeat enemies that have not even been seen yet as long as they move to the next screen quickly enough.
- This is the first Rockman game to feature mini-bosses in all Robot Master stages. Rockman 11 would later also follow this model.
- Robot Masters do not have an invincibility period after being hit, allowing the player to continuously attack them if possible, though bosses have points in their attack patterns in which they are invincible.
- Special Weapons do a set damage against all bosses, such as Barrier Wind/Forte Cyclone dealing 5 units of damage. Rapid hitting weapons deal less damage but easily drain the boss' HP.
- After defeating a Robot Master in the game, the Robot Master's portrait on the stage select screen changes to show him in a defeated pose. This is unique among the Classic series, as other titles instead blank out the Stage Select portraits or dim them after their stage is completed.
Item shop[]
Dr. Right and Roll run a shop and create items in exchange for Screws that can be found throughout the stages. All the items are available to purchase from the beginning. Dr. Right is the shopkeeper in Rockman's story, and Roll in Forte's story.
Except for the Super Buster, Hyper Buster, Energy Balancer, Energy Saver, Super Recover and Super Armor, all items can be used only once, which means they need to be purchased again after usage.
Items in common | Screws | Function | |
---|---|---|---|
Spare Body | 200 | Gives one extra life. | |
Exit Parts | 50 | Allows the player to exit a stage that was already completed. | |
Energy Balancer | 150 | When you pick up a weapon energy, the Special Weapon that has the lowest remaining energy will be refilled. | |
Weapon Charge | 300 | Refills the energy of all the Special Weapons. | |
Energy Saver | 150 | Special Weapons use less energy. | |
Super Recover | 200 | It allows your energy to be recovered by a larger amount than usual. | |
Item Presenter | 50 | When activated, a Party Ball appears in one area of the stage. | |
Shock Guard | 20 | Protects from spikes once. | |
Super Armor | 300 | Reduces the amount of damage inflicted. | |
Rockman's items | Screws | Function | |
Rush Coil | 100 | Rush appears to allow Rockman reach high areas with the Rush Coil. | |
Tango | 200 | Tango appears and rolls to attack enemies. | |
Beat | 300 | Beat will appear and make Rockman invincible for a short period. While in effect, Beat will fly around Rockman damaging the enemies he touches. | |
Eddie | 150 | Eddie appears and drops one item. | |
Forte's items | Screws | Function | |
Gospel Boost | 200 | Gospel (Treble) transforms into a booster-adapter allowing Forte to fly for a limited time. | |
Super Buster | 300 | Doubles the power of the Forte Buster. | |
Hyper Buster | 300 | The Forte Buster shots can pass through walls. | |
Reggae | 150 | Reggae appears and drops one item. |
Other Media[]
The Mega Man series from Archie Comics teased at an adaptation of the game in Mega Man #20, although the series went on hiatus before it could adapt the full storyline. Despite the hints, Ian Flynn stated that the game was off limits, as Capcom told him he may not use the material.[1] It is possible it could've been Quint as Ian Flynn stated that he had plans for Quint and also stated that the team can make their own line of Robot Masters[2], and due to their physical/visual similarities. Ian stated that the closest thing he could make is a "quasi-adaptation" of the story, with Quint taking the role of Rockman Shadow and make expies of the Dimensions giving the story an homage feeling.[3]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Mega Man ZX Advent references some bosses of this game as comic book characters. If the player can collect a certain Secret Disk, Konro Man appears in the cover of a digital comic book and is described as a walking stove hero. The Hunter Ray says he wants to create a comic book about a robot that fights with a folding fan in each hand (Aircon Man), and the item "Comic (Orange)" that can be obtained in Sharon's request is an action comic about two talking wrist watches (Clock Men).
- This is notably one of the few Mega Man games where Dr. Wily was not the mastermind behind the events or even a boss. He is, however, indirectly responsible for Rockman Shadow's existence, as he scrapped and abandoned him for being a failed prototype of Quint.
- The game reuses many tracks from Mega Man & Bass, which were downgraded to 8-bit to meet the limitations of the WonderSwan.
- This is the only Rockman licensed game mentioned in the book R20 Rockman & Rockman X Official Complete Works.
- Enemies in this game resemble enemies from the Mega Man X series as many are insects, along with Batton Bones being common throughout stages. It is possible that the enemies fought are early-production Mechaniloids from the future.
See also[]
- Mega Man II
- Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha/Script
- Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha Damage Data Chart
References[]
- ↑ https://www.bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7636#p401847
- ↑ http://www.bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=423239&f=1#p423239
- ↑ BumbleKast for August 8th, 2022 - Priority Q&A Podcast with Ian Flynn. YouTube (8 August 2022). Retrieved on 8 August 2022.
External links[]
- Official page
- Translation of Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha dialogue
- Site with information about Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha (archive)
- Review of Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha
- Fan translation by NickDC on Romhacking.net
- Concept art gallery
Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha | |
---|---|
Playable Characters | |
Rockman • Forte | |
List of Bosses | |
Dangan Man • Konro Man • Aircon Man • Komuso Man • Clock Men • Compass Man | |
Other Bosses | |
Grey Devil • Rockman Shadow | |
Rockman's Special Weapons | |
Rock'n Vulcan • Flame Shower • Barrier Wind • Doppel Crash • Time Switch | |
Forte's Special Weapons | |
Forte Vulcan • Flame Mixer • Forte Cyclone • Doppler Attack • Time Bomb | |
Support Items | |
Rush Coil • Tango • Beat • Eddie Gospel Boost • Reggae | |
Miscellaneous | |
Damage Data Chart • Game Script |