Time to look back at the fine history of Mega Man… except the Captain N stuff. Let’s all agree to forget about that.

In December of 1987, a fledgling video game company by the name of Capcom put out a shooting platformer called Rock Man. Soon after, it was sold worldwide only renamed as Mega Man and given inexplicably ugly box art.

Despite him packing heat in the picture, the core beauty of Mega Man really lied in his Mega Buster arm cannon. This gave the titular character the ability to gain the powers of robots he defeats. This feature added a simple but deceptively deep layer to the already overdone platform genre of the day, and propelled the series through decades of sequels and spin-off series.

However, since about 2010, things have been rather quiet on the Mega Man front. Little did we know, something big was building like a Charge Shot to be unleashed on his greatest foe: 30th Anniversary Man.

Several celebrations and honors have been planned for this celebration including the next main sequel, Mega Man 11, later this year.

Another intriguing event is the Rock Man 30th Anniversary Live show which highlights another cornerstone of Mega Man‘s success: undeniably catchy background music. At this show a rock band will perform selected tracks from the entire history of Mega Man.

The band will be made up of talented musicians in the game industry: Daisuke Miyazaki on guitar, bassist Atsushi Enomoto, the keyboard stylings of Norita Kamikura, Yu “Masshoi” Yamauchi keeping the beat on drums, and MOS filling in the various horn parts when needed.

Two shows will be held in the morning and afternoon of 8 July at Nakano Zero in Tokyo. Tickets cost 7,500 yen (US$70), and in addition to the music there will be special guests and limited edition Mega Man merchandise on sale at this one-time event.

All games will be represented in the setlist including the Mega Man X games and even the Mega Man Battle Legends titles. Personally, I’d be happy if it just focused on the songs from the first three games. At the very least, if they don’t include both the opening theme and Magnet Man theme from Mega Man 3 then they should be locked up for crimes against music.

But really this isn’t about arguing over which Mega Man song is the best, and not just because clearly I’m right that it’s the Magnet Man theme. Rather, this is about coming together to honor the blue bomber and suggest that at his age he maybe ought to settle down, hang up his helmet, and finally have some Mega Kids.

Event information
Rock Man 30th Anniversary Live / ロックマン30周年記念ライブ
Nakano Zero – Tokyo-to, Nakano-ku, Nakano 2-9-7
なかのZERO 大ホール – 東京都中野区中野2－9－7
11:30 – 12:30, 4:30 – 5:30, 8 July, 2018
Tickets: 7,500 yen
Tickets Sold at Ticket Pia, Lawson Ticket, e-Plus

Source: Capcom, Tate Corporation
Top image: YouTube/CapcomChannel
Insert image: Capcom