The 7th entry and one of only three games (Mega Man And Bass was a case of No Export for You before its GBA port, and Soccer is considered non-canon) in the original Mega Man series released for the SNES.In the closing of Mega Man 6, Dr. Wily was finally put in jail. What Mega Man didn't know was that Dr. Wily had robots hidden somewhere is his lab. After six months without Dr. Wily's input, the robots would activate, and search for Dr. Wily.The Robots gave a city a surprising attack, looking for their master. Mega Man and Dr. Light watch the robots help Dr. Wily escape from a far distance. Mega Man goes out to stop Dr. Wily. Along the way, he encountered Bass, another humanoid robot, and Treble, his mean robotic wolf. They are also trying to stop Dr. Wily. The battle began...Though built using the same engine as Mega Man X, and featuring a similar emphasis on storyline, gameplay-wise Mega Man 7 actually has more in common with the line of Mega Man games previously released on the Game Boy, featuring two sets of four Robot Masters instead of eight from the start, along with the item shop featured in the fourth and fifth Game Boy outings, and Mega Man and the various other enemies being scaled more like their Game Boy sprites than their NES ones (though, thankfully, without the insane jumps that this often entailed in the Game Boy entries).Robot Masters:
DWN-055: Shade Man, weak to Wild Coil, gives the Noise Crush
DWN-056: Turbo Man, weak to Noise Crush, gives the Scorch Wheel
On a side note, a fan-made NES style remake of this game can be found online.
Tropes:
A.I. Breaker: Hard to say if it was intentional or not, but several of the Robot Masters*
Cloud Man, Junk Man, Freeze Man, Spring Man, Slash Man, and Turbo Man
will have a flinch animation when hit with their weapon weakness which causes their AI to reset into a predictable, and in some cases, very exploitable pattern, making them almost humorously easy to beat.
On the other hand, Burst Man's weakness to Scorch Wheel, although it causes him to flinch and reset his AI, can actually make him more difficult to defeat, as opposed to easier.
A Winner Is You: In the Anniversary Collection version, the end credits sequence (Mega Man walking away from a burning skull fortress in deep contemplation, a slideshow of the robot masters, and Bass looking out overhead) is replaced by just showing the credits against a plain black background. Apparently, this is because the developers, Atomic Planet, didn't know how to properly emulate the Mode 7 effects used here.
Anti-Frustration Features: This is the first of the Mega Man games to split up the Wily Castle stages, allowing the player to restock supplies as well as automatically recharging weapon energy between each level. This is also the first of the console games to introduce the item shop, where the player could max out their E-Tanks, W-Tanks, S-Tanks, and Extra Lives between stages.
Awesome, but Impractical: The Protoshield, Protoman's iconic shield, given to Mega Man after beating Protoman in battle ... unfortunately the shield works the same as how Sniper Joe's use them, and can only block shots while standing perfectly still. If you move, jump, or shoot, it becomes useless, and what's worse, you cannot use any weapon other than the Mega Buster or any of the Rush abilities at the same time as the Protoshield.
Call Back: This game makes several references to previous games, but the most apparent is the robot museum stage. Glass tubes with various robot masters on display, with Wily making off with Guts Man (to be remodeled into a fortress boss later), and the music for that stage is a mix of Guts Man, Heat Man, and Snake Man's themes.
Charged Attack: The Noise Crush is a Collect Type, where Mega Man must bounce it off a wall to catch the ricochet to empower the next blast. The Wild Coil and the Mega Buster are Hold Types.
Console Cameo: At the beginning of Junk Man's level you can see several Famicom systems lined up in the background. Also, Rush Search may randomly dig up a Game Boy.
Dub Induced Plot Hole: In the US dub, Mega Man confronting Dr. Wily at the end of the game and claiming he is more than a robot (and as such does not have to be Three Laws Compliant) before attempting to kill Wily. As this was only present in the dub*
In the original Japanese script, Mega Man does try to kill Wily, but is forced to stop once Dr. Wily reminds him he cannot harm humans
Easter Egg: There is a code that allows you to duel Bass in a one on one two-player duel ala Street Fighter.
Eternal Engine: Not all that uncommon in the Mega Man universe, Burst Man's and Junk Man's stages are some sort of chemical plant and junk smelting factory respectfully. Turbo Man's stage is this mixed with a Cool Garage.
Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: Robotic dinosaurs are a major theme of Slash Man's stage. Robot dinosaur fossils are also present in the background of Freeze Man's stage.
Feed It With Fire: All the games use Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors, but this was the first game to have boss enemies who actually became more powerful based on the weapon you used against them.
If you hit Spring Man or Turbo Man with the Thunder Bolt, they will each enter a supercharged form, giving them access to new abilities for a short time.
Freeze Man, if hit with his own weapon, the Freeze Cracker, will cause the game to freeze for a moment, and Freeze Man to cast the player an Aside Glance before healing his health.
Fictional Currency: The first Mega Man game to use Bolts as money, also an aversion to the usual Money Spider trope, as it actually makes sense that destroyed Mecha-Mooks would leave behind screws and bolts.
Foreshadowing: The ending has a scene where a comet streaks across the sky, setting the stage for Duo and the Evil Energy in 8.
Forklift Fu: Truck Joe from Turbo Man's stage tries to run Mega Man down with something that looks akin to a forklift-like machine with a spiked plate on the front, possibly a dangerously tricked out crate-pusher of some sort.
Freeze Frame Bonus: During the introduction backstory we see a newspaper headline of Dr. Wily having been arrested by Mega Man at the end of Mega Man 6, however if you look at the lower right-hand corner of the newspaper, you'll see a quick cameo of Cut Man and Guts Man in something called Cut Man 2.
Funny Background Event: An amusing oversight in the Robot Museum, in the first room of Robot Master glass cases if one looks to the far right and far left of the room, they will see Plant Man on display twice.
Lost in Translation: The Truck Mini-Boss in Turbo Man's stage is named the Sisi Truck, which in Japanese is a play on the word Shishi, a Chinese guardian lion statue. In English, however, this sounds a lot more like its name is supposed to be "Sissy Truck".
The Mole: Bass was first introduced as a potential ally to Mega Man, who claimed to also be battling Dr. Wily. When he's discovered injured later, Mega gives him access to Dr. Light's lab to be repaired. Bass ends up ransacking Light's lab and stealing the plans for some new upgrades for Mega Man and Rush, delivering them to his creator, Dr. Wily.
Monster Clown: Mash, the boss of the robot museum stage.
Multiple Life Bars: The VAN PookinMini-Boss from Shade Man's stage has the Alternate Knockout Conditions variant, and can be defeated by either destroying its outer shell or by attacking its core. Interesting in that this has an effect on gameplay as each method will open up one of two different paths to continue through the level.
Mythology Gag: Mega Man's costume when he has The Thunder Bolt equipped bears a shocking resemblance to the costume worn by Mega on the US Box Art.
The Freeze Cracker and Thunder Bolt are nearly identical in appearance to the Shotgun Ice and Electric Shock weapons, respectively, in Mega Man X 1. May also count as a Call Forward due to Mega Man X taking place later in the timeline.
Never Say "Die": Averted with the kanji on the Oni Mask Boss's head, which roughly translates to "certain killing". Also in the US dub of the ending, in which Mega Man actually says "Die Wily!!"
Our Werewolves Are Different: The Gilliam Knight, a common enemy in Shade Man's stage, can transform into a Werewolf Robot under the full moon, changing attack tactics to lunging at Mega Man, and gaining almost as much health as a boss.
Properly Paranoid: The entire Excuse Plot of this game stems from the fact that Dr. Wily always knew that eventually in his efforts of Take Over the World he might fail and get captured, so he hid four secret Robot Masters that would activate if not contacted within six months and come to find him wherever he was being held to free him.
Remember the New Guy: Auto has apparently been working with Dr. Light for awhile, although this is the the first time in 7 games we've actually seen him.
Discount Card: The Hyperbolt found in Spring Man's stage.
Shout Out: To Ghosts N Goblins; hold the B button while selecting Shade Man's level and it will play the famous first level theme from the series.
Also in Shade Man's stage are the Gilliam Knights, who can transform into a Werewolf Robot that looks very similar to an enemy in Super Ghosts N Goblins.
Shade Man's normal stage music takes a riff from Bloody Tears.
Gamerizer, the turtletank boss of the second Wily Castle level is a Shout Out to the popular Japanese monster Gamera.
Shown Their Work: How Spring Man becomes magnetic when hit with Thunder Bolt is actually how electromagnets really work, an electrical current flowing through a coil of wire creates a powerful magnetic charge.
Temporary Platform: The timed version, wouldn't feel like a true Mega Man game without them.
Three Laws Compliant: Regarding the first law Thou Shalt Not Kill in particular, played straight in the Japanese version, but partially subverted in the US version, in which Mega Man claims to be "more than a robot" and therefore above the first law towards killing Dr. Wily, but never makes good on this threat before Wily's Castle collapses.
Tincan Robot: Junk Man, cobbled together from old robot parts.
Utility Weapon: This game has a large amount compared to others-
The Freeze Cracker can be used to freeze the molten junk in Junk Man's stage, revealing an alternate path. It can also be used on the Weather Control Machine enemies to make it snow.
The Thunder Bolt can be used to power up machines.
The Scorch Wheel can be used to light up candles and burn up foliage.
Warmup Boss: Mad Grinder from the intro stage, helps that he comes already pre-damaged before you have to face him.
We Will Meet Again: Delivered twice by Bass, instead of Dr. Wily, the first time after Bass's rematch in Wily Castle 1, and the second after Mega Man hesitates too long after deciding to kill Dr. Wily at the end of the game, with Bass swooping in to save his creator.
Weather Control Machine: Cloud Man's stage involves an enemy that changes the weather, generating lots of pushing wind and blinding rain (one of the few games to notice how driving rain will reduce visibility). Cloud Man uses these gimmicks as well when you fight him.
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: This is the first, and so far only, game to get into this. Mega Man seriously considers killing Wily after defeating him for the umpteenth time. Unfortunately (but fortunately for Wily) Mega Man was Three Laws Compliant, leaving him unable to carry out his threat.
In the American version, extra dialogue was actually added where Mega Man actually prepares to shoot Wily. Wily reminds Mega Man that robots aren't programmed to harm humans, only for Mega Man to retort that he's "more than a robot" and prepare to open fire. Luckily for Wily his fortress then starts blowing up, and in the confusion Mega Man hesitates long enough for Bass and Treble to appear and teleport Wily to safety.
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