Friday, October 7, 2011

A Very Small Piece of Lost Mega Man Mania Artwork

I've been on a bit of a WayBack Machine tangent lately. And who can blame me: it's amazing just how much neat stuff you can dig up. Feeling the urge to explore the past once more, I went on a Mega Man Mania dig tonight, combing the archives in search of anything of interest that's been lost in time.

Whilst peeking through the innards of Nintendo of America's old webpage, I stumbled across a little nugget of interest (link tends to go down from time to time) related to the ill-fated Game Boy Advance collection. It's not exactly earth-shattering, but it's something Mega Man historians and completionists will no doubt dig.

Take a gander at the image on the right. What is that and why should you care? You're looking at a lost piece of Mega Man Mania artwork. This random decoration of TeruTeru-like foes may look insignificant, but its one of the only known pieces of artwork produced specifically for Mania, next to the contents of the game's packaging. Why are TeruTeru's associated with the Game Boy Mega Man games? This is Atomic Planet we're talking about, after all -- they fed on inconsistency.

Oh, and speaking of the game's packaging, I also dug this up from an ancient hard drive: high-res box art! I do believe that hasn't been seen in all its glory in quite some time, either. I'm not a fan of Atomic Planet's Mega Man art, but you have to give them credit for trying to recapture the essence of Inafune's nostalgic style.

So do enjoy the art. Document it, archive it. Whatever. It's all we have left of this cancelled gem.


  1. Don't remind me of Mania. :(

  2. I like it. I was really looking forward to this game. Too bad all the Mega Man game's I look forward to the most keep getting the boot.

  3. Well, on the bright side, at least the Game Boy titles are getting released on the 3DS' Virtual Console. The problem is, they won't be in color like Mega Man Mania was going to be, but that's better than nothing at all.

  4. Very awesome find. Been wanting a hi res copy of that cover forever now. Too bad it was never printed on any boxes...with any games inside them. Still, just looking at it brings at least some joy with the imagination. =)

  5. You asked all the questions I would on this piece of art, Protodude. Seriously, what the Rock? Why a TeruTeru? Why not a Biribaree or something?

  6. I remember seeing stuff about this game when the GBA first came out (first console I ever bought new as a lad).

    I always wondered what happened to it. It would have been great.

  7. Sad, true, but ultimately best to strive to keep all elements of Mega Man's history alive and well for posterity! Thanks for the find!

  8. "Mega Man Mania"? Like Hulkmania?

    No, thanks. I'd rather call it "Mega Man Madness"

    Something like that...

  9. The page containing the "nugget of interest" is down. You really can't blame AP for their inconsistencies since it's not the games. They just worked with he source material they had.

    Come on Protodude, give us the rom so we can play it too. I found this on your laptop :p

    Oh and that same box art has been around actually. I just wish I grabbed a display box from game store when they had them.

    Let's celebrate 15 years of Mega Man. Do it now! ^_^

  10. DeGamer: link works. You have to wait a few seconds.

  11. @DeGamer
    I'm really, really, super sure, that that "emulated image" was just a mockup someone made. Really sure. Oh, the screenshot might be real enough... But the screenshot in the emulator is a mockup. Kind of like when I put Earl from ToeJam & Earl: Panic on Funkatron into Bare Knuckle III. Good times, good times...

  12. Now we just need a high-quality leaked boxart of MML3 and the circle of cancelled bullshit will be complete.

  13. @ Anon 4
    Nugget link still doesn't work for me. What is it anyway?

    @Joseph Collins
    I wouldn't be surprised if it is a mock up. They're not that hard to make. But wasn't this image on their web-page? Kinda like one of the MM Zero games where they had screen shots of the game with the VBA border? Or am I confusing it with something else?

  14. @DeGamer:

    It was the source of the image -- Nintendo of America's own Mega Man Mania webpage. Anyway, the WayBack Machine has been under maintenance for the past three days. Today's supposedly the last day.

