Mega Man Tribute in Double Dragon Neon (Updated)
If you’ve played the newly-released Double Dragon Neon, you might have noticed one of the bosses seems a little familiar…
During the Space Dojo level, you cross through a pair of rather familiar shutters (which I forgot to mention when I first posted this) and encounter the character seen above as a boss called “Mecha Biker,” a “Super Combat Bot” who comes in on a red jet-powered motorcycle. Once you knock him off, however, he takes to a more ground-based approach: Triple-shots, charge-shots, and even a sliding kick. All while this music plays:
And once you finish him, he even explodes in Mega Man‘s signature fashion.
All in all, it seems pretty obvious what they were going for here. Kudos to the folks at WayForward and Majesco for including this nod to the Blue Bomber!
And if you want to check the game out for yourself, Double Dragon Neon is available on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network for 800 MS Points/$9.99, or for free if you’re a PlayStation + member! Just be sure to bring a friend; the game is so much better in “bro-op.”
Edit: In addition to a few other touches I forgot to mention (thanks to you guys in the comments for reminding me), GenjiRed even found a video of the level in question, one which is more platform-oriented than other parts of the game, so you can decide for yourself:
If you’d rather skip to the fight itself, click here or just skip to 8:50 on the player above.
Tags: Mega Man, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade
Filed under: Community Developments
That’s a pretty awesome track. I need to download this *now*.
Jake, you never seem to miss a beat, that’s why you got on my top 20 game music composers list.
You can tell everyone is wanting Megaman from everywhere.
That’s pretty awesome. The game’s musical style (80s cheese) is what I’d love to hear in a Mega Man reboot.
I’ll get this at some point today. I’ve already bought the soundtrack (it’s one of those “name your price” things) because Jake Kaufman is incredible.
I’d love for Capcom to get Wayforward to make a Mega Man game. And considering their recent love for outsourcing every game, why the hell not? Contra 4 was absolutely phenomenal.
So this is what bad box art X would look like…
@Munchy: Contra 4 was tough, even for Contra! Of course, I think the two-screen thing (and never finding someone to play with) played into that a lot.
Still, it’s far tougher than any of the first three games, that’s for sure.
Messy, boring, forgettable tune if you ask me.
Sounds like the stuff I put together on the fly.
so a reference to the green biker guy?
I frigggin love this!!!!!
>=D
this is like a total megaman reference it has the boss shutters and every thing and u can even like jump through them it’s pretty hilarious also he explodes into dots! this made my day
I think it’s totally called for and legit for another developer or publisher that isn’t CAPCOM to throw in easter eggs like that.
Yeah, I don’t see it. It just seems like a coincidence to me.
@New Era Outlaw – Did you read XxZappixX’s post? The character design itself doesn’t particularly scream Mega Man, but the jump, slide, triple shot, and charge shot moveset coupled with the Mega Man boss doors that you can jump through and the boss exploding in classic Mega Man fashion makes this extremely obvious what they were going for.
The tune sounds like they heard “Can’t beat Airman” or whatever its called and mixed it into a Double Dragon style. I personally thought it was alright, and I would’ve bet the guy in charge of Megaman 1&2 boxart came up with how X would look like.
Why is it that EVERYONE and their mother seems to be referencing Megaman and celebrating him and his games except for Capcom themselves (who seems to have forgotten him completely)!
I think folks are reading too much into this. I have linked the video so people can judge for themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcdl5ljCqyU&feature=plcp
@Anime10121
-Rockcan
-D-Arts figures
-Ongoing comic series
-Appearance
-Megaman characters to appear in Project X Zone
-Megaman to appear in Capcom All Stars
-Rockman Xover
-more 25th anniversary plans forthcoming
They may not be cranking out new games proper, but Capcom has hardly “completely forgotten” Megaman. I hate hyperbole.
As for this Neon character, it’s funny; when Capcom portrays Megaman as a ridiculously exaggerated Westernized character (Street Fighter X Tekken), it’s regarded as a slap in the face. When WayForward does it, it’s a loving tribute for all the fans to lap up.
@Moobire – The difference is probably the presentation. SFXT Megaman is obese and rather ugly-looking in screenshots, whereas this guy looks like something out of one of the later X games (he actually looks a LOT like Sigma) and has a fairly respectable if somewhat busy design. This is all opinion, of course.
@Moobire:
Timing, my friend. Timing is EVERYTHING.
Indeed. It’s not as though they can actually use the character here, but they made it pretty clear who they were imitating.
And thanks, guys, for reminding me of some of the other touches I’d forgotten. I’ve updated the post, and even threw in that video so people can decide for themselves.
*DANANANA*
SUPER COMBAT ROBOT…
@Moobire
The extra 25th anniversary plans are probably just more merchandise if they had anything substantial they wouldn’t be so cagey when asked about it.
As for the Project X Zone stuff I think that’s technically Namco’s decision on which characters they use Capcom just approves it.
@Mooibre
“As for this Neon character, it’s funny; when Capcom portrays Megaman as a ridiculously exaggerated Westernized character (Street Fighter X Tekken), it’s regarded as a slap in the face. When WayForward does it, it’s a loving tribute for all the fans to lap up”
It’s not the same thing at all. Capcom created Mega Man and can use him in any way they want to. After a couple game cancellations, the way they decide to use the character is not just as the Bad Box Art version, but a fat middle aged version of the Bad Box Art version.
WayForward however has no ties to the character and therefore has to radically change their character so he isn’t too similar. What they did was reimagine Mega Man in the universe of the game they were making. So it fits and looks pretty cool to boot.
The song sounds a lot like Airman Wont Die. Pretty awesome all around. If Capcom wont treat MegaMan right, at least we know game companies everywhere have our back.
Also the boss area looks like the MegaMan 2 Boss intro screen. Blue metal border, black in the center, with stars flying past in the background
…Double Dragon is still a thing?
Oh gosh, the thought of the people who made Contra 4 doing a Mega Man game is a really exciting prospect! Too bad that probably wouldn’t happen.
I love Mega Man references like this, it’s really intriguing.
The whole thing looks to be a Mega Man homage- the doors, the “Super Combat Robot”, triple shot, charge shot, slide, classic “death” effect… Heck, he calls his bike his “Space Hound”, and yelled “Rush!” at least once during the video!
@Mega SeveN
“What they did was reimagine Mega Man in the universe of the game they were making.”
You mean, like how Capcom reimagined Megaman in the Street Fighter/Tekken universe mashup they were making?
“Capcom created Mega Man and can use him in any way they want to.”
Unless fans disapprove, apparently.
Haha, they even added the hallway before the boss. Awesome! I may pick this one up.
@Moobire: You are very funny. SFxT Old Man was not a reimagining of Megaman in the SF/T universe. It was a parody of BBA Megaman in the SF/T universe. It wasn’t Megaman at all.
The disapproval of fans doesn’t seem to have much effect on what Capcom does, apparently. They can (and will) do it anyway, regardless of fan disapproval. “Can” does not mean “the fans will always be perfectly fine with it”, ya know? You took that single word very much out of context.
You don’t seem to realize… this Neon guy is a loving fanwork in itself. The main difference between Neon and Fat Man is that they actually tried to make Neon cool, and actually reimagined MEGAMAN, not Bad Boxart Man.
Capcom has reimagined Megaman countless times, and they’ve all been COOL characters, until SF/T. The main thing is that we Megaman fans want Megaman to be COOL, not a bumbling never-has-been.
And please, I’d love for you to show me an over-the-top western character to parallel SF/T Megaman. The closest I can think of is Homer Simpson…
@LBD Nytetrayn: I dunno… maybe it’s just because I’ve played 4 a lot more than any of the others, but I personally find Contra 3 to be the hardest of the old ones.
Unless you count the Genesis one, not using Browny.
Anyway, Wayforward is one of those developers like Platinum Games who I’d like to see make an entry in pretty much any franchise I like.
“Loving tribute” vs “Slap in the face”?
Mecha Guy is COOL?
I laughed.
He looks just as crappy as BBAMM, if not moreso. He’s not cool. He’s an exaggerated bruiser character with the most annoying 80s voice I’ve ever heard, and his design is just gaudy in it’s blue metallic spaciness. He is a blatantly silly parody, good intentions or not. Why is it okay if WayForward does it, but not a dev team that happens to work for Capcom?
Most ridiculous double standard of the year, guys.
I don’t really care either way, but if I had to pick, I’d get behind BBAMM. At least there he’s a likable underdog, unless you’re into shaming fat people that are more acrobatic than you.
And no. You can’t say the difference between them is timing, because they’re not even a year apart. We still don’t have a Mega Man game to look forward to, ergo any use or reference of the character that isn’t a game is going to immediately cause blue balls, by the argument of timing.
Even the argument of “well, it’s not Capcom, it’s WayForward” is pretty meaningless too, because if a company (let’s say a dev team at Capcom) can’t make a Mega Man game to satisfy fans of Mega Man, then any cameo they make of the character will either be too soon, too little, or too insulting. What you really want is a Mega Man game, not another Mega Man cameo. But if you’re willing to excuse one parody for existing, the least you could be is consistent.
@Slider
Why do I need to cite an over-the-top western character to parallel SF/T Megaman? What would that prove or disprove? SF/T Megaman is a new take on the character, just like Megaman.exe or Megaman Trigger; a parallel isn’t necessary now just was it wasn’t then. Just because you don’t consider this one “cool” doesn’t make it not so.
I obviously understand that what Capcom “can” do does not mean Megaman fans have to like it–I frequent this site, after all. I was quoting Mega SeveN because I found it ironic that after dismissing Capcom’s new spin on Megaman, he acknowledges that it is their right do so.
@Bob
While it may well (probably will) be more merchandise, your rationale doesn’t make any sense. If something “more substantial” (like a game, OAV, etc) was planned, they WOULD be more cagey. Companies don’t just casually let slip that they’re planning a new title–they arrange press conferences and even events around it.
@Munchy: I’m gauging by the fact I can beat Contra III on easy mode… well, easily, and get pretty close on normal.
Contra 4, on the other hand, even easy is a trial and a half.
@Treleus: I liked BBA Mega Man for MMUniverse, and I’ve made peace with SFXT Mega Man, though he really wasn’t the first thing many of us wanted to see after CancelMania ’11.
This is the only video I could find. Even the battle stage is a reference to Mega Man. The stage is like the boss intros in Mega Man 7. You don’t need to watch the entire video, just the boss selection. The borders, the rushing starfield in the background, and the blank middle scream this boss introduction screen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCA6RAGdSNw
Yeah, but I’m also pretty sure none of us wanted to see this either. It’s just kinda there. Would it really have mattered if BBAMM had come out now instead of when it did?
He actually reminds me of those biker knights in Secret of Mana. Those kicked ass. Can I see a nod of those instead?
Meh. I didn’t really hate fat BBAMM anyway, but I can understand those who do.
I really wanted to see some non-parody examples of this familiar typical over-the-top western character archetype that BBAMM seems to be based on. I’m just drawing a blank. Not trying to prove or disprove anything.
I mean, you can’t blame somebody for liking one thing and not another. Obviously fans can identify with this guy more than they can identify with the other guy for some reason. Maybe because he’s NOT actually Megaman. I say shrug. I don’t understand all this dramatic moralizing and stuff. I’m more offended that few people seem to be behind the idea of an HD classic Megaman game with modern graphics, like metal that actually looks like metal and stuff. But no Sepia filter, though…
I must say, I laughed at “Dev team that happens to work at Capcom”. So much fault in this reasoning. I don’t think the video game development system is as random and “free” as that. But I could be wrong =\
I do see how it seems weird that the whole “I’m a [insert category] so it’s okay if I poke fun at [category]” doesn’t seem to apply to Capcom. Then again, nobody gives Nintendo a free pass for some of the horrible things they’ve done with Mario…
@Treleus: Yeah! I instantly thought of the biker knights from Secret of Mana as well! (Mech Rider?) This boss seems to be annoying and spend lots of time moving and going off the screen too! Heh.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no trolling, that I’d totally buy a BBAMM themed game. I thought he was stupidly awesome in SFxT and was more angry with Sony’s blatant bribery of Capcom to make the 360 version suck than I was with Capcom for sticking him in the game.
@Moobire – I don’t get why this seems to be so hard to understand. Capcom owns Mega Man and can use him in any way they want. Yes, that makes it a perfectly valid choice for them to use a fat middle aged Bad Box Art Mega Man until the end of time. But they MUST know that especially after a couple cancelled games and Mega Man’s absence from Marvel vs. Capcom 3, that a more traditional Mega Man would have been more preferred. Did BBA Mega Man fit that game more? Yes, but did Pac-Man? Or the cat mascots? No. So clearly fitting the guest characters into the universe of the game wasn’t their biggest priority. In fact, considering the reason for his inclusion was because Keiji Inafune said he wanted it, I’d argue fitting him into the universe either wasn’t a thought at all, or was a last-minute one.
WayForward can not fit Mega Man into their game unless they got Capcom’s approval. Even if they did, Mega Man or Mega Man X wouldn’t really fit the game they were making. I honestly haven’t seen the rest of the game, so I don’t know if there are any other enemies that stand out as not really fitting, but I’d assume there aren’t. So how do you fit a tribute to Mega Man into your game that both fits the world and doesn’t infringe? You make a character that is reminiscent of him.
Yes there are similarities in these two situations, but claiming its some sort of double standard is kind of ridiculous (although I think that was someone else that said that). When it comes down to it, the Street Fighter X Tekken people wanted to include Mega Man because he represented Capcom, but decided to use a version of Mega Man that no person who wasn’t a huge Mega Man fan would look at and think it was him. WayForward was making a game completely unrelated to Capcom or Mega Man, and decided to throw in a tribute just because they could.
So you’re saying that BBAMM was basically a thoughtless misrepresentation of Mega Man, as if he were false advertising?
The reason I mentioned “double standards” was in the context of fans-towards-companies rather than the converse, and I meant to point out the unlikely opposite attitudes to two similar joke/cameo characters.
I can understand the feeling of being desperate for every bit of Mega Man reassurance, great or small. In that case, BBAMM ousts the chance of a more representative Mega Man that everyone already likes and is now really anxious to see. Okay, I’ll admit the bad timing is justification to be irritated about it, but not pitchfork mad. Once you play it, it’s all in good fun and not worth staying mad over. Same with the X skin for Zero, even though that personally irritated me.
So SF/T Megaman was a joke character–and according to you, a joke that only ‘huge Megaman fans’ would get. So learn to take a joke.
Wow, that’s an undeniable Mega Man tribute right THAR.
Imagine a Mega Man made by WayForward scored by Jake Kaufmann.
Yes.
Also… he really doesn’t look that bad, as far as futuristic soldiers are concerned. I can see how you’d think he looks overly detailed if you’re used to the simple Megaman style of robots. But I’m comparing him to the likes of Starseige Tribes and such.
You got to be a major moron if you can’t see it’s a reference to megaman. The death animation should have really given it away.