Mega Man RPG Prototype is a fanmade browser-based role-playing game based off the Mega Man (Classic) series. It was created by Adrian Marceau (also known as Ageman20XX) and first released in 2011, developing and evolving further thanks to contributions by members of the game's community.
The plot has Dr. Light and Mega Man trapped in a prototype battle simulator, separated from Dr. Cossack. As they search for their friend and a way to escape, they encounter copies of Robot Masters across the Mega Man series, and even meet up with Dr. Wily.
Gameplay is inspired by Pokémon, with the Robot Masters serving as Mons, each able to learn abilities matching their Core type. The game has three campaigns, each unlocked by progressing enough in another campaign. In addition to a single starting robot, more robots can be unlocked through battling them or purchasing them through the shop.
The website for the game can be found here
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This game provides examples of:
- Action Initiative: An ability's "Speed" stat determines if it strikes before or after the opponent's move. The Copy type abilities and Field/Mecha Support abilities have the highest ability speed (+9), while Mega Ball, Metal Press, Air Twister, Crystal Mind, and Solar Blaze are tied for the lowest (-5).
- Adaptational Name Change:
- Flash Man's Time Stopper is now called Flash Stopper, likely to prevent confusion with Time Man. Bright Man's main ability, in turn, is renamed from Flash Stopper to Bright Burst.
- Dive Man's Dive Missile is now called Dive Torpedo.
- Frost Man's Ice Wave is now called Frost Wave, presumably to prevent confusion with Ice Man.
- Galaxy Man's Black Hole Bomb is now simply Galaxy Bomb.
- Dynamo Man's Lightning Bolt is now called Dynamo Bolt.
- Area of Effect: Several abilities exist than can hit all opponents at once. Most of these abilities have a side-effect to keep them balanced.
- Flash Stopper can hit all opponents, but divides damage between them.
- Gemini Laser hits each opponent one at a time, but gets weaker as it moves away from the initial target.
- Rain Flush hits all opponents, but is not affected by attack stat, defense stats, or the position of the opponents.
- Blizzard Attack lowers any raised Speed stats on the opposing field by one stage, but is otherwise one of the weakest area-of-effect abilities.
- Astro Crush is one of the strongest area-of-effect abilities, but lowers the user's attack stat by two stages after being used.
- Dynamo Bolt requires two turns to set up, and becomes weaker if the user has taken damage.
- The "Assault" series of abilities lowers a specific stat of each opponent by one stage (or take out up to 10% of each opponent's max HP in the case of Energy Assault). They also require 12 WE to use, which is above the maximum weapon energy for most robots.
- Armor-Piercing Attack:
- Some shields can be destroyed if they are hit with an ability of a certain type, such as hitting Super Arm with an Explode type ability or Leaf Shield with a Flame type ability.
- Roll Swing can destroy Super Arm barriers (being the only Neutral type ability that can do so), and Mega Ball can destroy Core Shields.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Buster Shot and its elemental variants fire multiple times based on your speed relative to that of the target's,note while Water Balloon will constantly fire, depleting weapon energy with each balloon fired. In Water Balloon's case, the the user won't be able to stop until either they've run out of weapon energy or the target is disabled.
- Auto-Revive: The Extra Life item revives a disabled robot with half health and weapon energy. If held by a robot, the item takes effect the moment they've been disabled.
- Bizarro Elements: While most types are common elements, there are some that don't have as much basis in RPG settings as they do in Mega Man:
- The Cutter type, which represents both blades (such as Rolling Cutter and Metal Blade) and piercing weapons (such as Needle Cannon and Yamato Spear).
- The Impact type, which mostly represents strong physical moves (such as Hard Knuckle), but is sometimes used to refer to large, solid projectiles (like Dust Crusher).
- The Swift type, which represents fast attacks (such as Quick Boomerang).
- The Missile type, which is used not just for missiles (Magnet Missile, Dive Torpedo), but also for a broader range of ballistic attacks, usually in conjunction with another type (Needle Cannon, Hard Knuckle, Hornet Chaser, etc.).
- Perhaps strangest of all are the Laser type and the Shield type, which don't have as much presence as independent types, almost always serving as secondary types for other abilities that have more conventional primary types.
- Boss Battle: Bosses are encountered at various points in the story, being similar to robots mechanically, with the differences being that they're immune to the secondary effects of Copy Shot and Copy Soul, and they cannot be unlocked by any means (nor are they planned to be in the future).
- Boss Bonanza: Chapter 5 is a battle against a Mega Man Killer, a battle against dark clones of the Copy Core robots, and a battle against dark copies of the 8 robots found in Chapter 2. Each of these battles is unlocked one after another.
- Boss Rush: The final mission of Chapter 5, where dark copies of the 8 robots previously battled in the doctor's campaign must be fought all at once.
- Charged Attack: The "Buster" series of moves, which charge up energy on initial use and fire an energy blast when used again. Pharaoh Shot and Dynamo Bolt work in a similar fashion. Both the Charge Module Item as well as Proto Man's Hyper Charged skill allows the user to skip the charging phases of most of these, however.
- Climax Boss: The rival battles in Chapter 3, which mark the midway point of each campaign.
- Counter-Attack:
- Air Twister raises a vortex that halves damage from oncoming attacks and deals counter damage at the end of the turn.
- Solar Blaze works similarly, but without the damage reduction.
- Damage-Increasing Debuff: Bass Crush, which halves the defense of the target for six turns.
- Damage Over Time: Three abilities leave objects on the field that damage opponents at the end of a turn:
- Galaxy Bomb lasts for five turns, but can only target whoever's at the front of the field.
- Thunder Wool can target benched opponents and deals more damage than Galaxy Bomb, but only lasts for three turns.
- Acid Glob lasts for up to nine turns, and while it is the weakest of the three Damage Over Time abilities by default, it can become about as strong as Thunder Wool if the user has an Acid Barrier raised.
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: Top Spin has the lowest attack power of any damaging ability, but it's a multi-strike move that doesn't stop until it misses, meaning that it's perfectly possible for it to rip through an entire health bar if the user's lucky enough.
- Defeat Means Playable: Aside from the starting and support robots, the main method of unlocking robots is by defeating them with only Neutral type abilities.
- Desperation Attack: The "Overdrive" series of moves, which use up 10 weapon energy (the maximum amount for most robots), hit all opponents, and deal more damage the lower the user's health is.
- Disc-One Nuke: Upon obtaining the Kalinka Link, you can straight-up create most robots you haven't unlocked for a relatively steep price from your battle data, as long as you've scanned and beaten them in battle. The kicker is that robots obtained this way start at Level 99, and literally one experience point away from Level 100.
- If you take the time to grind enough Starforce (no, not THAT Star Force) in the postgame, your robots' stats can potentially grow to four-figure numbers. Needless to say, stuff like this snaps the campaign in half. For reference, without such bonuses, the average robot's stats cap out at about the mid-500 to late-700 ranges.
- Dispel Magic: Jewel Polish has the ability to restore lowered stats of the user or an ally back to their normal value. Field hazards can also be eliminated by the ability if the user has enough weapon energy.
- Doppelgänger Attack: Gemini Clone creates a clone of the user that mimics their abilities for three turns before disappearing.
- Dual Boss: The second mission of Chapter 5 is a battle against dark versions of the three Copy core robots, with each having different weaknesses and resistances from the original and holding a stat booster. Which boss is holding what kind of stat booster depends on whose campaign it is.
- Enemy Scan: Opponents can be scanned for stats, weaknesses, resistances, etc. at any time without taking up a turn. Doing this is actually required to unlock several robots and the Mega Man 3 fields.
- If Crystal Man is on your side of the field, scanning will also reveal the abilities an enemy has equipped.
- Evolving Attack: Fire Storm and Atomic Fire increase in strength when used multiple times in a row, boosting a stat by three stages if used thrice without interruption (Defense for Fire Storm, Attack for Atomic Fire).
- Experience Booster:
- The Growth Module item doubles the experience and bonus stats rewarded to a robot upon defeating a target.
- Certain missions will add a multiplier for the amount of experience obtained. This can be increased by hitting an enemy with a super-effective attack, or by using the aptly-named Experience Booster ability.
- Experience Penalty: The amount of experience obtained in-battle can be reduced if the opponent is hit by an ability they resist, or if either side uses the Experience Breaker ability.
- Final Boss, New Dimension: All missions in the fifth and final chapter of each campaign takes place in a special field called "Final Destination".
- Fixed Damage Attack: Downplayed with Rain Flush, which isn't affected by attack stats, defense stats, or the location of opponents on the field, but is affected by the user's type and the type multipliers of the field.
- Feed It with Fire: Several robots, mechas, and bosses have Affinities, which are types that will heal the target if they are hit by them. Unlike Immunities, however, they can be overridden if one of the ability's types is also a weakness of the target's. The Circuit items can be held by a robot to give them an additional affinity at the cost of an additional weakness.
- Geo Effects: Each field has special multipliers for the strength of certain types, and sometimes the amount of damage, health recovery, or experience. These multipliers can be modified using the Field Booster item or the Field Support ability.
- In addition, there are skills that revolve around field multipliers, like Dive Man's Thalassophilenote or Blast Man's Pyrotechnician.note
- Increasingly Lethal Enemy: Robots with the Attack, Defense, or Speed Booster item equipped. Those with the Field Booster item can also be indirect versions, as they boost the power of the robot's core type (unless they're a Neutral or Copy Core), and thus most of their attacks. Combine these with skills that boost speed when certain multipliers are high, such as the aforementioned Thalassophile as well as Blizzard Man's Expert Skiier skill, and those two can become even more dangerous over time.
- Life Drain: Magic Card saps life energy from the target. The default ability of the Batton mecha works the same way.
- Limited Move Arsenal: Each Robot and Mecha can equip a maximum of eight moves.
- Loot Command: The Hornet Chaser ability can steal the opponent's held item if it lands the finishing blow.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Almost all abilities with the Shield type shield weapons are...well, shields. Most of them are based on shields from classic Mega Man, and can usually be thrown starting the turn after they've been raised at the cost of their defensive use.
- Super Arm has been turned into a shield ability, creating a barricade that halves damage dealt to party members at the front of the field. It can be broken by Explode type abilities, Impact type abilities, and Roll Swing.
- Leaf Shield halves damage dealt to the user, but can be destroyed by Flame type or Cutter type abilities.
- Skull Barrier negates ''all'' damage (save for Damage Over Time attacks), but dissipates at the end of the turn after it's raised. Furthermore, it doesn't negate the secondary effects of abilities the user is hit by.
- Plant Barrier is made up of four petals which reduce damage from attacks, but dissipate after being hit. Any petals left at the end of the turn will heal the user.
- Jewel Satellite is made up of four jewels, each of which represent a different element that they can negate damage from once before being destroyed.
- Water Shield is similar to Plant Barrier, being made up of eight water droplets that reduce damage taken by 10% before dissipating upon hit. However, its secondary purpose is offensive instead of defensive; using the ability while the shield is raised throws each remaining droplet, one at a time.
- Acid Barrier reduces damage taken for up to nine turns, and upgrades the Acid Glob ability while it's raised.
- In addition to the above abilities, there's Core Shield, which reduces damage from attacks with the same type as the user's own core (either internal or held) by 99%, and can only be destroyed by Mega Ball. Robots with held cores get a free Core Shield of the held type at the start of the battle, and if their shield is destroyed, it will regenerate one turn later.
- Money Multiplier: The Fortune Module item increases the amount of Zenny earned in battles.
- Non-Elemental: The Neutral type, given to Roll, Disco, Rhythm, and the Met mecha. Nothing in the game has a resistance or weakness to it, and most Neutral type abilities can be taught to any robot. Unlocking robots in battle also requires defeating them with only Neutral type abilities.
- Nonstandard Skill Learning:
- Most abilities can be purchased from Reggae's shop once enough cores of the corresponding type have been sold to him. Certain abilities can only be obtained through this method.
- There's also the Copy Shot ability, which gives the user whatever move the opponent last used in place of the Shot if the target isn't a mecha or boss. This can be used to learn abilities earlier than intended.
- Not Me This Time: Dr. Wily is not responsible for the doctors being trapped in the Prototype, and even helps Dr. Light look for Cossack after being defeated in Light's Chapter 3 battle. This leads to confusion in Wily's own third chapter, where Dr. Cossack finds him and assumes he is responsible.
- Optional Boss: Quint has a rare chance of appearing in Fusion Star fields, but is more likely to be encountered the more Fusion Stars are collected.
- Pokémon Speak: The speech of most mechas consists solely of parts of their Japanese name (or what it would be in the case of Flutter Fly and Beetle Borg). The exceptions (Met, Sniper Joe, and Bombomb) don't speak at all.
- Power Copying: The Copy type is an elemental version of this. All robots with this typing have shown the ability to copy powers in the main series (such as Mega Man himself), and its two abilities both involve copying something from the opponent.
- Regenerating Mana: Weapon energy is restored by 1 point at the end of each turn, which is useful given how much it can be depleted in a few turns.
- Shop Fodder: Screws don't count towards a player's BP, with their only purpose being to sell to Auto.
- Situational Damage Attack:
- Fire Chaser deals more damage the more speed boosts the opponent has.
- Crash Avenger deals more damage for each ally who has been disabled.
- Flash Stopper divides damage along all opponents, meaning the move is stronger the less opponents there are.
- Support Party Member: Each of the doctors can unlock a support robot who specializes in certain Status Buff and Status Infliction Attack abilities (notably being among the only robots who can use the "Support" and "Assault" series of abilities), and will target allies instead of opponents when using abilities such as the "Swap" moves. Dr. Light gets Roll, while Dr. Wily and Dr. Cossack get the new characters Disco and Rhythm, respectively.
- Splash Damage:
- Hyper Bomb has a chance of dealing reduced damage to benched opponents.
- Crystal Eye has a similar ability as Hyper Bomb, though it can only hit two benched opponents.
- If Freeze Cracker targets a benched opponent, it will also damage benched opponents next to the target.
- Spread Shot: The Scramble Thunder ability, which deals damage to the nearest and furthest opponent on the bench (unless only one opponent is present, in which case the ability will simply hit them twice).
- Starter Mon: Each doctor gets a single robot at the start of their campaign. Dr. Light gets Mega Man, Dr. Wily gets Bass, and Dr. Cossack gets Proto Man.
- Status Buff:
- Proto Shield halves damage dealt to the user or an ally of their choice for six turns.
- Rhythm Satellite likewise doubles the attack power of the user or an ally for six turns.
- Pharaoh Shot doubles the user's attack damage for up to three turns, but can be released early to deal damage to the opponent.
- Status-Buff Dispel: Certain abilities remove boosts to certain stats of the opponent. Ice Slasher removes speed boosts, Drill Blitz removes defense boosts, Bubble Bomb removes attack boosts, and Laser Trident removes all stat boosts.
- Status Infliction Attack: Disco Fever halves the attack power of the target for six turns.
- Summon Magic: Mecha Support, which summons a mecha to aid the user in battle, with the mecha summoned matching the robot's field (or a field of a matching type if the robot in question lacks their own field).
- Switch-Out Move:
- Super Throw deals damage and also forces the opponent to switch to a different robot.
- Flash Pulse deals damage before the user swaps places with an ally.
- You Will Not Evade Me: Ice Breath and Gravity Hold prevent the target from switching out for a certain number of turns. Ice Breath can be broken out of early by using or being hit by a Flame ability, though.
