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The Blue Bomber has now passed 36 years since its inception, with the original title being released on December 17th, 1987, and it's close to celebrating its 37th anniversary this year.

Among the many anniversary celebrations Mega Man had over the years, there's one in particular which never saw the light of day. While the Mega Man Anniversary Collection saw an official release for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube back in 2004, there's one collection for the GBA that never saw the light of the day and was supposed to be released alongside the main console collection, with this particular one being a collection of all the Mega Man Game Boy titles packed into one GBA cartridge, with some new features added, as well as all of them being colorized to some extend.

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The GBA collection was originally titled "Mega Man Mania", and that's the title which many fans have used since then to refer to the cancelled anniversary project.

Today, after 20 years since Mega Man Mania got cancelled, a community of very talented Mega Man fans have taken it upon themselves to create their own colorized version of all the Game Boy titles of the Blue Bomber, and the fan project has taken the title of "Mega Man Mania", as the original release was known initially.

Featuring a brand new trailer, veteran romhacker MarcMax showcased the already existing GB DX hacks, with the very first being Mega Man World 5 DX, which MarcMax worked on some years ago alongside kensuyjin, and the very first Mega Man World having a DX version right now as well by Specialagentape.

But that's not all the trailer showcases, as Marc also shows the upcoming GB Mega Man titles that are getting the DX treatments as well, and this includes all of the other remaining GB Mega Man titles, these being Mega Man World 2 DX (by Specialagentape), Mega Man World 3 (by MarcMax and kensuyjin) and closing the trailer up with the announcement of Mega Man World 4, covering the entire release of Mega Man World games on the Game Boy with brand new fan-made DX versions, as the original Mega Man Mania would have. Marc even hints at a possible GBA collection-like release that features all of the DX titles packed into one, just like the original Mega Man Mania would have done so many years ago!

Those interested can try out the already released DX romhacks for both Mega Man World 1 and 5 over at Romhacking.net, and be sure to keep a close eye on MarcMax's YouTube Channel for any upcoming announcements for the rest of the Mega Man World DX romhacks!

MarcMax's YouTube Channel
Mega Man World 5 DX romhack at Romhacking.net
Mega Man World: Wily's Revenge DX romhack at Romhacking.net

 

[4d1xlaan]

Um, because this game has got bosses that are NOT from the NES games?

Not just bosses but stages in general

1-4 were watered down nes ports but 5 was completely brand new and unique to gameboy, so it's particularly interesting in that regard

 

[SDA]

1-4 were watered down nes ports

Not exactly. Each had a set of four Robot Masters from two games (Dr. Wily's Revenge had bosses from MM1 and MM2, Mega Man II had bosses from MM2 and MM3, and so on), and the levels were all different.

I can't consider those four games ports, but moreso rehashes. They even have the Mega Man Killers from whom you can take a brand new weapon that never appeared in the NES games. So basically they are not mere portings because they have some original content.

 

[4d1xlaan]

Not exactly. Each had a set of four Robot Masters from two games (Dr. Wily's Revenge had bosses from MM1 and MM2, Mega Man II had bosses from MM2 and MM3, and so on), and the levels were all different.

I can't consider those four games ports, but moreso rehashes. They even have the Mega Man Killers from whom you can take a brand new weapon that never appeared in the NES games. So basically they are not mere portings because they have some original content.

Yes, rehashes were the better word, when I said watered down. You put it better than I could

 

[SDA]

Yes, rehashes were the better word, when I said watered down. You put it better than I could

I mean, could the original NES stages be even fit inside the game? Considering the Game Boy's small screen size, I really don't think so.

 

[4d1xlaan]

I mean, could the original NES stages be even fit inside the game? Considering the Game Boy's small screen size, I really don't think so.

They probably could, gameboy cartridges can hold a few MBs of data. but by watered down I wasnt clear, but I meant smaller stages with nit as much detail as the originals, so I wouldnt expect 1:1 levels anyway

I dont know if capcom would have ever dared do that, but at least we know Sega didnt care about screen size on the game gear ;p

 

[SDA]

They probably could, gameboy cartridges can hold a few MBs of data. but by watered down I wasnt clear, but I meant smaller stages with nit as much detail as the originals, so I wouldnt expect 1:1 levels anyway

I dont know if capcom would have ever dared do that, but at least we know Sega didnt care about screen size on the game gear ;p

I agree, in fact the Mega Man game on Game Gear makes you do blind jumps because of the screen size (and the levels were just about the same).

Mega Man Xtreme for Game Boy Color, on the other hand, actually manages to recreate the stages from Mega Man X1 and X2 on a smaller screen size with some differences to accommodate. That is, while in Mega Man Xtreme 2 they just made some new levels.

 

[urbanman2004]

Gameboy colored rom hacks in 2024? What a time to be alive

 

[Eddypikachu]

Soooo... is there a guide on how to colorize gb games yet or no

 

[TecnoCharmy]

I love seeing retro games getting love and new updates! This is awesome!

 

[SDA]

Soooo... is there a guide on how to colorize gb games yet or no

Go to toruzz's website and you'll find how to do such a task.

 

[zfreeman]

Soooo... is there a guide on how to colorize gb games yet or no

https://toruzz.com/blog

 

[Stwert]

I’ll be honest, I’ve always been a bit shite with the Mega Man games, that doesn’t stop me from liking them though, so this is definitely something to keep an eye on.

 

[_Snow_]

The real reason why they cancelled Mega Man Mania was because they lost the original source code for the five GB games. Understandably, without the source code there's not much you can do.

Ouch that's just bad. I can understand an indie coder losing source code because his machine died, but for a company not to perserve source code for its project.. wow.

I'm excited for the colourization. The games look wicked tits! I don't understand why I'm a Mega Man fan though. The games can be frustratingly, dpad imbedded in tv screen hard. Yet so fun.

 

[SDA]

The games can be frustratingly, dpad imbedded in tv screen hard. Yet so fun.

I have been playing Mega Man for years and I'm pretty good with it... mostly. Depends on your skill.

 

[Clydefrosch]

people will literally never learn that a professional trailer that gets passed around the gaming outlets is like a signal flare...
might as well say "we did 1 and 5 and we dont really wanna do the others anymore"

 

[lookingattech]

awesome stuff! can't wait to relive these classics with a fresh coat of paint.