Game Over (ゲームオーバー) is a common video game event that happens when the player's character is defeated, resulting in the end of the current stage and, in some cases, of the game. In the Mega Man games, this usually occurs when the Life Energy gauge is depleted and it was the player's last life, but on rare occasions it may be caused by other reasons. In most games a screen with the message "game over" is displayed when it occurs.
Defeat[]
Mega Man Zero 2 explosion
In most games from the Mega Man franchise, the player's character (Mega Man, Proto Man, Bass, X, Zero, Axl, Vent, Aile, Grey, Ashe, and others) explodes when the Life Gauge is depleted, scattering spheres of energy in a circular pattern and making a "tiun tiun tiun" (ティウンティウンティウン "byoo byoo byoo" in the Short Circuits from Mega Man #55)[1][2][3] sound. In some games the character also screams, examples being Mega Man 8, Mega Man X4, Mega Man ZX Advent, Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS, and Mega Man 11. This defeat animation also appeared in games from other series featuring Mega Man characters, like Marvel vs. Capcom, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Pocket Fighter, it appeared as one of the random defeat animations.
Mega Man explosion in Pocket Fighter
In the Mega Man Legends series, Mega Man Volnutt will collapse when defeated instead of exploding, leading to the Game Over screen. However, early footage from Mega Man Legends showed that he was originally planned to explode when defeated.[4] The first game was planned to have different voices talking in the game over screen.[5]
In the Mega Man Battle Network series, MegaMan.EXE (and other playable NetNavis) flash and disintegrate when defeated, followed by the text "MegaMan deleted" and a game over screen. An exception is Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge, where defeat results on a plug out.
Non standard game overs include:
- Being unable to leave an area or complete the mission objective before time runs out, like the stop the drill sub mission from Mega Man Zero 4.
- Fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom usually contain a time limit, the winner from a match being the one with most health when the time is over. However, excluding the final battle, running out of time results in a defeat in Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.
- Allowing a target to get away, like Gigabolt Man-O-War in Mega Man X8.
- The defeat of an ally, like the Resistance soldier in Mega Man Zero, and the destruction of Roll Caskett's vehicles in Mega Man Legends and Legends 2.
Continue[]
When the player's character is defeated, some games allows to Continue the game from a certain point, usually from the beginning of the current stage. The amount of continues vary between game, some having unlimited continues and others having none.
After getting a game over in the first Mega Man game, the score is reset and the player had the options to try the current stage again from the beginning or quit and return to the Stage Select Screen. With the introduction of passwords, Mega Man 2-6 display the current password alongside a game over message. Mega Man 7 and Mega Man X-Mega Man X3 didn't feature a game over message and continue option, simply showing the current password and returning the player to the Stage Select screen. Mega Man X contains unused data for a game over screen,[6] suggesting that it was either planned to be included or removed before release.
In Mega Man IV and Mega Man V, getting several game overs will result in a scene where Dr. Light upgrades the Mega Buster to make it charge faster. This upgrade isn't saved by passwords.
In Super Adventure Rockman, the player can only continue when defeated by some bosses, resulting in a cutscene where Mega Man is rescued (or challenged to continue in the battle against Quick Man) and can try again to face the boss again. The exception is Shadow Man, who destroys Mega Man. Although Ra Thor and the New Yellow Devil also destroy Mega Man, the player can continue against them, possibly due to them being the final bosses.
In the first Mega Man Zero game, extra lives count as continues. If none is available, the player is forced to quit the current mission, which will be considered a failure. The first mission and late game missions can't be quit, and losing on them results in a game over, requiring to restart from a saved game data. In Mega Man Zero 2-4, losing a life displays the message "Mission Failed" and returns Zero to the last checkpoint. Losing all lives result in a Game Over. Game Overs affect the score from the mission.
In The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, a game over only appears if the player is defeated in the Nakkai Desert early in the game or in the final mission. Those are also the only missions with a continue. Being defeated in other missions will result in the characters retreating back to the Gesellschaft to try again later on.
Gallery[]
Mega Man series[]
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Mega Man X series[]
Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX series[]
Mega Man Legends series[]
Mega Man Battle Network series[]
Mega Man Star Force series[]
References[]