Mega Man: Robot Master Field Guide Paperback – January 1, 2012

When it comes to Mega Man related publications, you can always count on stupendous quality from Udon. They've made Official Complete Works art books for multiple Mega Man series, they've published a massive fan art Tribute book that is simply amazing, and they gave us fantastic English translation publications of Hitoshi Ariga's stellar Megamix and Gigamix manga series. Now, they've made a book that is quite different in nature, but no different in terms of quality. This field guide is an excellent purchase to make, especially for fans of the Blue Bomber.The book is roughly 150 pages, and comes in a smaller format than I expected. Instead of a large art book, it's more of a novel, and really feels like a small reference guidebook to the characters of the classic Mega Man series. Every main character, Robot Master, Mega Man Killer, Stardroid, and prominent human from the entire collection of classic Mega Man titles is featured (Mega Man 1-10, Mega Man I-V, Mega Man & Bass, The Wily Towers, you name it, they're in here). Personally, I consider Mega Man 9 to be one of the best "classic" games in the whole series, so to see everyone from the newest entries, 9 and 10, included in the book is a real treat for me, as I really missed their presence in the Official Complete Works art book. The field guide is organized alphabetically by name, which makes looking up whatever character you want very easy and intuitive. At the back is an apendix of sorts that essentially lists each character by order of their "number" designation in series' canon. It's all very nice.Each character has a page (and sometimes more) for their profile. Listed at the top is the character's name, as well as their special weapon/attack name, their "number," and their weakness (making this a pretty handy guide to have nearby while playing the games). There is also a small thumbnail picture of who created the robot master originally, as well as a small picture displaying their in-game appearance sprites. It's quite stylish. In the main body of the page lies fairly descriptive information about the character, their history, what they like, their pet peeves, and anything else you could possibly imagine. Every bit of info is actual canon too. To get help on assembling the most accurate information possible, Udon recruited the help of some incredibly knowledgeable Mega Man savants from the always classy, always awesome Mega Man Network website.As you may expect, some of the information inside is very quirky, silly, and all sorts of fun. Did you know Terra, the leader of the Stardroids famous for his luxurious mane of green hair, has a love for shampoo and has a strong disdain for hats and helmets? Did you know that Dr. Wily views Flash Man as one of his greatest masterpieces, or that Flash Man is bald and therefore hates commercials about wigs, and abuses his flash powers to prolong baths? Or how about that Yamato Man hates the English language, yet loves Knight Man (An English robot, ironically enough), and that he's bad with money because of frivolous spending habits? No? Then you simply need this book. It's absurd how many Mega Man revelations are contained within. I'm not joking about any of these facts either, they're all canon that can be found within Capcom's own products over the years. Amazing and fascinating stuff. Granted, most devout Mega Man fans will probably know all of the information already, but to see it all in one locale and presented in such a pleasant fashion is awesome.In addition to the thumbnails depicting a creator and their in-game appearance, there's also a very nice, fairly sizable illustration of each character on their respective page. On some pages, there's even a picture included of Mega Man copying the various special weapons of the robot masters. Needless to say, all of the pictures included are quite nice to look at. Not only is the layout and art inside great, but the printing is vibrant and the quality and construction of the book itself is great as well.Udon is famous for their high-quality art books, so I expected no less. Great job Udon!Overall, this book was more than worth the lengthy wait we fans had to endure before its release. I think it's safe to say that this little guide book is a pretty niche product, appealing to the most hardcore of hardcore classic gamers and Mega Man enthusiasts. I personally fall into that category, and so can safely say this is an awesome little book to have. I give it my highest recommendation. It's awesome. Buy it, proudly display it on your desk or coffee table, and enjoy learning almost everything you could imagine about the characters of the classic Mega Man universe.*Udon has stated that if this book sells well enough, then they will start work on a field guide for the Mega Man X series with all its Mavericks and Maverick Hunters. There is even a little teaser at the end hinting at the very real possibility of this. So there's also that to look forward to! I'm sure it will be just as great as this one, as long as it takes less time to make than this one did... and THEN, just maybe we'll see a Mega Man Zero Field Guide. That's my personal hope anyway. Thanks for reading my review. Toodles.

What can I say? This book is amazing! It's colorful, informative, and put together very, VERY well. This book will last for many, many decades(considering you're not too rough with it or your dog doesn't get a hold of it). The book is just so well organized and just SCREAMS official! It covers every single robot master from the original Mega Man game series(including the Stardroids from MMV(GB), the King robots from MM&B, Mega Man Killers Enker, Punk, and Ballade, and the 3 Wily Wars exclusive robots). It also covers all allies and human enemies as well. It doesn't cover any series other then the original, although there is a teaser for a possible Mega Man X field guide at the end.The very beginning of the book has a nice intro message from Udon, followed by an explanation of robot numbers, then a list of robot number abbreviations and what they stand for. The next page has a list of all the robot master creators along with their picture.All the Robot Masters are in alphabetical order, and each has it's own page. The first thing you'll see is all the most important info. You'll see their name, robot number, the name of their weapon, their weapon weakness, a picture of the person(or robot) who created them, AND their in-game character sprite. In the middle of the page you see a big colorful artists rendition of the robot master, a much smaller picture of Mega Man using their weapon, and a quote from the robot master. At the bottom is a description of the robot master. You'll read about their history, personality, and things that they like and don't like.The book ends with an appendix. It lists all robot masters in numerical order, and it also groups them together by game. It has a list for unnumbered robots as well. A few examples are Auto, Dark Man, Doc Robot K-176, Oil Man, and Treble. Then you get a list of all the weapons from all games, listed alphabetically next to the enemy you acquire them from. The last thing in the book that is of significance is a few pages with information on the "key humans" of the series. These are Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, Dr. Cossack, and Kalinka(Cossack's daughter).The rest is just the aforementioned Mega Man X field guide teaser, and ads for other Mega Man books(and one Street Fighter one) from Udon. The final page lists all the books credits, and I must say that all those people who worked on it deserve a medal! My one and only very minor complaint is the page where they listed all the weapons from the game alphabetically next to the robot master you get them from. It would have been more useful if they had listed them next to the robot master who's weak against it. It would be especially handy when you're actually playing the games, instead of having to flip through to find each robot masters page one by one.Bottom line: You simply cannot be a serious Mega Man fan and not have this book. It's THAT good! It's definitely something you just have to have!

A cool, affordable little Mega Man collectible. It's simply amazing to thumb through a book full of every robot master and important robot in the classic series. If it's for a kid just getting into the world of Mega Man or an adult who loved it since day one, this is an enjoyable guide to your favorite video game bosses.The book is very comprehensive, including everyone you could ever think of from every official Capcom-made game; 9, 10 and even "Powered Up" included. Even some really obscure characters like the Star Droids and the extra bosses from not released in the US "Mega Man the Wily Wars" make an appearance here. Keep in mind that characters from games that Capcom licensed out to other companies like the early PC games and the Wonderswan version of Rockman and Forte aren't included which is understandable.The information is concise and it's nothing earth-shattering but it's a lot of fun and a deserving purchase for any Mega Man fan. I also recommend some of Udon's other Mega Man books such as the spectacular Mega Man: Official Complete Works.