E3 2005: More Mega Man mania @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on May 16, 2005

News: Mega Man Zero 4, Mega Man Battle Network DS and the Mega Man X Collection, woo!

Capcom knows a good thing when they see it. And then they run it into the ground. Such is tradition and such it will always be. But even after all these years there's still plenty of steam left in the Mega Man franchise.

Starting things off is Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team for the DS. Double Team is a combination package of the GBA Battle Network 5: Team Colonel and Team Protoman that is coming this summer. The DS version differs by allowing players to:

Use your favorite Navis - When battling in liberation missions, players can transport their favorite Navi into your current version from the other version and vice versa. Now Team Colonel and Team Protoman are completely interlinked!

Go Wireless ? Battle tournament style with several participants!

Dual Screen Functionality ? Players can access their Cyber Map and PET through the dual screen.

Cheer on Mega Man - Built in Mic support helps to power him up! Carry over chip data from prior GBA games into the Dual Screen version!

Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team will be available in the fall.

Moving on to another fall Mega Man release, Capcom has confirmed the Mega Man X Collection for the PS2 and GameCube.

Mega Man X Collection will include Mega Man X through Mega Man X6 and previously Japan-only release Mega Man Battle and Chase, the Mega Man kart racing game.

To round out the new releases, Mega Man Zero 4 is coming to the GBA this fall. Neo Arcadia is once again in a state of chaos and Zero is once again called upon to save the day. New for Zero 4 is:

New ?Weapon Seizing? System ? By skillfully defeating enemies, players can collect various weaponry and parts from their opponents to use as sub-weapons

New ?Weather Changing? System ? As you progress through the game, players have the ability to change the weather, concurrently altering the level of difficulty and maps. When it snows, dangerous spikes are now covered, making it easier to proceed onward. Hidden routes are revealed when the weather clears.

New ?Item Recipe? System ? By combining the parts that are taken away from defeated enemy Reploids with items that are found throughout the game, you can create new chips and equip them.

New ?Elf Customizing? System ?Customize your own Cyber elf to best suits your unique fighting style. Utilize up to three types of elf abilities: ?Nurse-type' regenerates Zero's health; ?Animal-type' improves movement and provides back-up attacks; ?Hacker-type' increases movementand fighting techniques.

With all the Mega-maniacs on staff you can be sure we'll have more on these titles soon.