Looking Back on 25 Years of Mega Man: Brett Elston

Our next guest stepping off from the train of Mega Man memories has a name you all ought to be familiar with these days. Brett Elston, aka Brelston, one of the community managers from Capcom Unity. And Brett is a man whose love for Mega Man, I think it’s safe to say, precedes him. He’s been one of the driving forces behind Capcom’s Mega Man related events and the 25th anniversary celebration. Also, he beat the Wily Capsule in Mega Man 7 without using any Tanks, and I think that’s pretty awesome.
But on top of doing all that cool stuff, Brett also took the time to answer our stable of questions. So we’ll let the man have at it!

What are some notable memories you’ve had getting into, and otherwise playing Mega Man? Alternatively, what ways has Mega Man factored into your work?

My very first memory of Mega Man was renting the original game, probably around 1988 or so, and immediately loving it. The large, personable sprite, the amazing music, the weight put into the bosses (that opening splash with their name, their taunting pose etc was so cool, really sold the experience) all made me an instant fan. But for the longest time – who knows how long, time distortion is pretty intense when you’re young – I had no idea you could switch weapons. I just played the game as standard MM with no clue as to his real power. Then one day I accidentally dropped the controller, which, on its tumble down, bumped the start button and the d-pad. Now, I knew pressing start brought up a menu, but never gave it much thought (I was seven, c’mon); that accidental tap of the d-pad moved the cursor down one notch, highlighting Bomb Man’s power. Unpause, holy crap I’m green, holy crap I throw bombs, oh my god this is even cooler than I thought! This captivated my mind for years, and not long after I was making up my own stories about Mega Man, including a handful of “books” I made in 3rd grade; I’ve been able to hang onto one of them since 1990, cleverly titled (and spelled) “The Destrucshun.”

This stuck with me forever, well into my adult years and time as a games journalist. While writing editorial content, I handled a massive MM retrospective, constant posts about the li’l guy, I even got to reveal Mega Man 9 to the world alongside Nintendo Power back in 2008. This all led to me coming to Capcom, and now I spend all day writing emails about him, haha.

What is your sentiment on the current standing of Mega Man, and what do you want to see for the future?

Not an easy question to answer, obviously. Just four, five years ago we had constant product releases featuring multiple iterations of the character. Then most of 2011-2012, not much to share at all. Both ends of the spectrum. SFxMM helps us get back on track, and I hope every fan, whether new, lapsed, angry, elated, whatever – downloads the game and gives it a try. It’s a fantastic start to the anniversary.

What is your all time favorite Mega Man game (don’t worry if you can’t narrow it down to just one!).

Gotta go with the lame, easy answer of Mega Man 2. Back at GamesRadar, we finally got around to writing a Top 100 Games list and I absolutely insisted Mega Man 2 make the cut. If you’re going to represent 2D action games with one title, I cannot fathom a better example. The pacing, the length, the design, the music, everything is spot on and perfect. There’s a reason it’s the go-to answer and one of the most popular games of all time.

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