Rockman Strategy

Rockman Strategy
Box art of Rockman Strategy, featuring (from left to right) Fan, Rockman, and Rush.
Game Information
Developer(s):	Dream Come True
Publisher(s):	Acer TWP
Platform(s):	PC
Release date(s):	Taiwan: October 29, 2001 2002
Genre(s):	Strategy

Rockman Strategy (洛克人大戰, Rockman Strategy literally "Rockman War") is a PC strategy game from the original Mega Man series that was officially licensed by Capcom and developed by Dream Come True (美夢成真, Dream Come True). It was published in Taiwan by Acer TWP for Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP in 2001 and re-released in 2002.

Story

The meteorite crashing on Earth.

Just when everyone thought peace had finally settled on the world, a strange series of biological events started to occur after an unidentified object crashed on Earth. The world was shocked by a series of earthquakes and, concurrently, plants throughout the world began to grow and wither at high speed. As news reports began to flood televisions across the globe about these catastrophes and scientists try to discover what is causing it, the infamous Dr. Wily made an appearance on TV, shocking the world. He announced that he was somehow behind these events and that unless the populace cooperate and give in to his demands, the world would soon be doomed.

The evil Dr. Wily investigates the meteorite.

However, little did everyone know that Dr. Wily was cooperating with a group of invaders from outer-space. These powerful Robot Masters, all named after the twelve signs of the Zodiac, except for their leaders, Luna and Apollo, were fooled by Wily to help the evil scientist conquer the world.

Apollo and Luna land on Earth.

In Dr. Light's Laboratory, Dr. Light, renowned robotics engineer and pacifist, once again called on Mega Man (Rockman) to go after the evil Dr. Wily. Duo returned to Earth to assist with the take-down of these robots. They must also deal with a number of previously defeated Robot Masters that Wily has assembled to aid Luna and Apollo's forces.

Dr. Light's lab after being destroyed by the alien robots.

Wily with Apollo and Luna.

Mega Man, Rush, Auto, Eddie, the newly rescued Proto Man, Fan, and several others are forced to bring the alien robots off of their high-horses. Once Mega Man meets their leaders, Luna and Apollo, the droids inform Dr. Light that they had come to Earth seeking technology that had the capability to restore floral life to their planet, and they did not wish to cause trouble. However, the first person they met was Dr. Wily, and Wily used them for his plans. During the conversation, he uses some sort of device that managed to take control of them, and they are forced to fight against Mega Man. However, they are defeated, and afterwards Wily is stopped. After the incident, Mega Man and Duo take Apollo and Luna to Dr. Light's laboratory for repairs and the damage caused began to be restored. Dr. Light teaches them how to grow plants by using seeds, so the alien robots can restore their home planet.

Gameplay and Game Mechanics

Stage Select

Rockman Strategy has more than the traditional six-to-eight Robot Masters. There are twelve original bosses who are led by their leaders, Apollo and Luna. There are twelve because each is based on one of the twelve Zodiac signs. Once the player completes the Opening Stage, shown as Fire Man on the stage select screen, they are presented with the ability to replay Fire Man's stage or attempt to defeat Aries, Taurus, Gemini, or Cancer. Additionally, they can visit Dr. Light's Laboratory to buy items, purchase upgrades, or recycle parts into usable soldiers. Once the first four bosses are defeated, an event occurs which creates the need for Mega Man and his team to head to Taiwan to rescue Duo from the clutches of Ice Man, Guts Man, and Cloud Man. Once this is finished, four more bosses are accessible on the stage select. The game progresses in this fashion until all bosses have been defeated.

Dr. Light's Lab appears as a selectable pink dot on the map, each undefeated boss appears as a selectable green dot (when the cursor hovers over a dot, the mugshot of the boss is highlighted), and each defeated boss appears as a selectable red dot (the player can replay stages to earn more Screws if they wish).

Dr. Light's Laboratory

Dr. Light's Laboratory.

Dr. Light's Lab (萊德博士研究所), located in Japan, is an important part of the game. At the lab, the player can purchase items (defensive, healing, and destructive), equipments (helmets, body armors, gloves, and boots), chips, upgrade statistics, save the game progress, and even create partners to help on the battle field. All of this requires the use of Screws received from the destruction of enemy robots.

It is important that, unlike in previous outings, Mega Man cannot use weapons acquired from defeated Robot Masters, except for eight attacks that can be equipped in the lab. Moreover, certain weapons will require that Mega Man be upgraded to a certain level and have enough Skill Points to use them. The same goes for special attacks that other members of the team use, such as Beat, Eddie, Auto, Rush, Duo, and Fan.

The Field of Battle

The team faces Heat Man and Napalm Man in Leo's volcanic stage.

Proto Man joins the team to help defeat the aliens and Dr. Wily's henchmen.

Each boss has taken up residence in a certain part of Africa, Asia, or Europe. Mega Man and the rest of the team must make their way to these locations in order to deal with these robots, and the Robot Masters that Dr. Wily has sent to accompany and support them.

When a character's turn comes up, they can do one of several things:

• Move: They can move a certain number of squares, but only over certain terrain. Flying characters are more mobile than terrain-bound characters, of course.
• Fight: They can attack, use a special ability, or use an item. This only works if an enemy or ally is nearby. If they choose to attack an enemy, they enter combat for a period of 30 seconds, and either they die, the enemy dies, or time runs out. During combat, they can attack regularly, use special attacks, use an item, defend, or run away (if allowed). The "special move" feature depends on the character. For Mega Man, this allows him to change his element (this will be discussed later on).
• System: From here one can save the game, load a save file, or return to the title screen.
• Details: From here one can access the Options Menu, and change features such as text-speed and sound mode. This menu can also be used to view the stats of the team and review the stage objective, which is either to defeat the boss or all enemies.
• "End Turn": This option is very important. It allows the character to heal (while also changing the direction they are facing). It is a good way to end a turn.
• "Return": This option only appears in stages that have been completed. It allows one to return to the stage select screen.

Mega Man destroys Freeze Man with the "Bubble Bomb" attack.

The game is played in "active time" and, as such, each character has an "active time" bar (a green bar) that fills up slowly after each turn. Once this bar is fully filled it is their turn again. The same is true for each enemy character and Robot Master: they get a turn and also have a green bar which is filling up along with the player's characters.

A Note About Elements: As mentioned earlier, Mega Man has the ability to change his element: Red for Fire, Green for Wind, Yellow for Soil (Earth), and Blue for Water. Neutral powers can be used by the normal-colored Mega Man. However, the elements work in a circular nature. While Soil-based attacks may be effective against Water-based enemies, Water-based attacks will also do more damage to Mega Man while he is in his yellow form.

Stages and bosses

"Phase One" of the stage select screen.

Below is a list of the stages and bosses as they appear on the right-hand stage select screenshot from left-to-right, top-to-bottom. On a related note, some of the bosses will be accompanied by past Robot Masters.

• Battle in the City (城市之戰) - The Opening Stage in Japan, where the team must defeat all enemies, including Fire Man and Cut Man.

Phase 1

• Steelmaking Factory (煉鋼工廠) - Aries, accompanied by Bomb Man and Flame Man, in the North of Asia.
• The Coast Offensive and Defensive (海岸攻防) - Taurus, accompanied by Ice Man and Frost Man, in the East of Asia.
• Mine Cave (礦山洞窟) - Gemini, accompanied by Guts Man and Metal Man, in the South of Asia.
• Battle on the Clouds (雲上戰役) - Cancer, accompanied by Elec Man and Spark Man, above the Indian Ocean.

Event 1:

• Secret Sewer (秘密下水道) - Rescue Duo from Cloud Man 2, Ice Man 2, and Guts Man 2.

"Phase Two" of the stage select.

Phase 2

• Caldera (噴火山口) - Leo, accompanied by Heat Man and Napalm Man, in Indonesia.
• Undersea City (海底都市) - Virgo, accompanied by Bubble Man and Freeze Man, below the South Pacific Ocean.
• Desert Storm (沙漠風暴) - Libra, accompanied by Cut Man 2 and Hard Man, in the center of Asia.
• Aerial Combat Airship (空戰飛船) - Scorpio, accompanied by Cloud Man and Yamato Man, inside an airship above the North Pacific Ocean.

Event 2:

• Jungle (原始叢林) - Rescue Proto Man from Freeze Man 2 and Hard Man 2. Unlocked only if Secret Sewer is completed.

Secret Missions

• Uncharted Tribe (部落秘境) - Fight Napalm Man 2, Tomahawk Man, and Pharaoh Man in a tribe. Unlocked by completing Jungle in less than one hour.
• Bridge (跨海大橋) - Fight Bubble Man 2, Stone Man 2, and Burst Man 2 in a broken bridge. Unlocked by completing "Uncharted Tribe".

"Phase Three" of the stage select.

Phase 3

• Magma Inferno (岩漿地獄) - Sagittarius, accompanied by Fire Man 2 and Burst Man 2, in the Northwest of Africa.
• Arctic Glaciomarine (北極冰海) - Capricorn, accompanied by Dive Man and Aqua Man, in Kazakhstan.
• Meteorite Surface (隕石表面) - Aquarius, accompanied by Stone Man and Astro Man, in Africa.
• In a Tornado (龍捲風內) - Pisces, accompanied by Elec Man 2 and Tomahawk Man 2, in the Northeast of Africa.

Event:

• Room of Building Blocks (積木空間) - Battle against Bass and Treble, accompanied by Pharaoh Man and Knight Man. Unlocked when all previous stages (including secret ones) are completed.

Phase 4

• Temple of the Sun (太陽神殿) - Apollo, accompanied by Heat Man and Knight Man, in the South of Africa.
• Temple of the Moon (月亮神殿) - Luna, accompanied by Sword Man and Skull Man, in Madagascar.

Secret Mission:

• Chemical Plant (化學工廠) - Dive Man 2, Astro Man 2, and Yamato Man 2. The requirements to unlock this level are unknown.

Final phase:

• Laboratory (研究所) - Wily Machine α, accompanied by Flame Man, Frost Man, Spark Man and Metal Man, in Saudi Arabia.
• Dimensional Space (次元空間) - Wily Capsule α, accompanied by Skull Man, Bomb Man, Aqua Man and Sword Man. The stage dot is located in the Indian Ocean.

NOTE: Fire Man, Wily Machine, and Wily Capsule are also on the stage select screen. Also, there are additional stages that do not have a picture, where the player can go to earn bolts or complete side-missions, such as rescuing Duo (in Thailand) and answering Proto Man's distress signal (from Indonesia).

See also

• Translation of the Rockman Strategy script.
• List of playable characters and enemies from the game.
• List of Rockman Strategy items

Trivia

• This game's main bosses are named after constellations, which would later be used in the Mega Man Star Force series.

• This game features 12 major Robot Masters on the stage select (14 if Apollo and Luna are included), the Dr. Wily machine and Dr. Wily, as well as stages that take place between the Robot Master stages (the player is presented with four Robot Masters at a time and usually an event takes place before four more open up). The new bosses are nicknamed "Constellation Droids" by fans.

• 27 Robot Masters from other Mega Man games are also featured as mini-bosses, with two usually accompanying each member of the Constellation Droids. Each of these Robot Masters appears twice over the course of the game. Their breakdown according to their games of origin is as follows:
  • All six Robot Masters from the original Mega Man
  • Metal Man, Heat Man, and Bubble Man from Mega Man 2.
  • Spark Man and Hard Man from Mega Man 3.
  • Pharaoh Man, Dive Man, and Skull Man from Mega Man 4.
  • Napalm Man and Stone Man from Mega Man 5.
  • Yamato Man, Tomahawk Man, Flame Man, and Knight Man from Mega Man 6.
  • Cloud Man, Burst Man, and Freeze Man from Mega Man 7.
  • Sword Man, Astro Man, Aqua Man and Frost Man from Mega Man 8.

• This game has a few English misspelling, such as Blues' name being "Bluse", Duo's name "Dio", and Frost Man is "Forst Man". Fire Man and Flame Man had their names switched.

External links

• Rockman Strategy in the ACERTWP official site (archive)
• Rockman Strategy at The Mechanical Maniacs
• Rockman Strategy English patch (prototype)