Capcom released Mega Man 6 in Japan on 5 November 1993 as Rockman 6: Shijō Saidai no Tatakai!!. Support for the NES was fading, so Capcom chose not to publish it abroad, and Nintendo released it in North America in March 1994. The NES version never reached Europe: the first PAL release came on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on 11 June 2013.
The story revolves around Mr. X, who hosts a robot tournament, reprograms eight robots and turns out to be Dr. Wily in disguise. Two new Rush adaptors change how Mega Man plays: Jet Mega Man can fly for a short time, and Power Mega Man punches through large blocks.
Fans sent in more than 200,000 Robot Master designs. Six winners came from Japan, while Knight Man and Wind Man came from North American fans through a Nintendo Power contest. Mega Man 6 was the last series entry on the NES and the last with 8-bit graphics until Mega Man 9 in 2008.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Mega Man 6published by Nintendo; no NES release in Europe | NES | March 1994 | Nintendo | 2 |
| NA | Mega Man Anniversary Collectioncompilation; also GameCube (2004) and Xbox (2005); North America only | PlayStation 2 | 2004 | Capcom | 2 |
| NA | Mega Man 6Virtual Console | Nintendo 3DS | Jun 20, 2013 | Capcom | 2 |
| JP | ロックマン6 史上最大の戦い!!Rockman 6Famicom | NES | Nov 5, 1993 | Capcom | 1 |
| JP | ロックマン6 史上最大の戦い!!Rockman Complete Works | PlayStation | Dec 9, 1999 | Capcom | 2 |
| JP | ロックマン6 史上最大の戦い!!i-mode mobile phones | Other | Oct 1, 2007 | Capcom | 2 |
| JP | ロックマン6 史上最大の戦い!!Virtual Console | Nintendo 3DS | Jun 11, 2013 | Capcom | 2 |
| EU | Mega Man 6Virtual Console; the game's first PAL release | Nintendo 3DS | Jun 11, 2013 | Capcom | 2 |
| JP | ロックマン6 史上最大の戦い!!Virtual Console; Europe 2014-07-24, North America 2014-08-21 | Wii U | May 14, 2014 | Capcom | 2 |
| WW | Mega Man Legacy Collectioncompilation of the six NES Mega Man games | Windows | Aug 24, 2015 | Capcom | 3 |
| WW | Mega Man 6mobile release; also Android | iOS | Jan 5, 2017 | Capcom | 2 |
| EU | Mega Man Legacy Collectioncompilation of the six NES Mega Man games | Switch | May 22, 2018 | Capcom | 4 |
Also known as: ロックマン6 史上最大の戦い!! JP1ROCKMAN 6 JP1Rockman 6: Shijō Saidai no Tatakai!! JP1Mega Man VI NA5
Box art by region
NA Mega Man 6
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
-
AudioNES (NA)
The North American version has a reworked prologue theme because its translated opening cutscene runs longer.5
-
TitleFamicom (JP)NES (NA)
The US title screen drops the Japanese subtitle, uses a larger logo without the Japanese bleed-in effect and says "Press Start" instead of "Game Start".5
-
TextFamicom (JP)NES (NA)
In the English text "ROCKMAN" became "MEGAMAN" and the number 6 became VI. Several lines were rewritten: Mr. X's defeat line is more detailed in Japanese, and a line that addresses Rockman by name simply says "you" in English.5
Translations
-
English Official
Nintendo1994NES · Japanese Famicom versionReleased · complete
Official English NES release, published in North America by Nintendo.2
Where to play legally today
-
Nintendo eShop Purchase
-
Steam Purchase
Reception
Critics generally praised the graphics, controls, challenge and power-ups but called the game unoriginal. Nintendo Power named it the best NES game of 1993, and IGN ranked it 58th among NES games. Scores included EGM 7/6/7/7 and Famitsu 7/5/5/6.2
In lists
Sources
- 1ja.wikipedia.org
- 2en.wikipedia.org
- 3store.steampowered.com
- 4nintendo.com
- 5tcrf.net
- 6store.steampowered.com
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.