MMLC Robot Master List: Metal Man

Number: DWN-009

Weapon: Metal Blade

Weakness: Metal Blade

A robot whose design is based on that of Cut Man. The key is to watch his quick movements and dodge his Metal Blades.

After suffering a thorough defeat at the hands of Mega Man and Dr Light, Dr Wily rebounds with an assortment of EIGHT deadly Robot Masters… and the first off the line was designed specifically for combat against the Blue Bomber.

Like Cut Man, Metal Man is quite speedy and tosses a sharp projectile. Unlike the Rolling Cutter , however, the Metal Blade travels in eight directions and flies across the entire screen. A much better weapon, for sure!

The Metal Blade kinda sorta (actually does) give Mega Man an unfair advantage :P

The 8-way firing and rate of fire make it a solid choice for just about any moment or level in the game, and its usefulness against bosses (including Metal Man himself!) really seals the deal. And on the meta side of things, the idea of 8-way firing was itself a fairly unique concept in early NES games, so that was another part of the weapon’s “wow” factor.

I’m old enough that I remember MM2 releasing and getting some great coverage in Nintendo Power (one of my favorite covers ever!). I probably read this issue… actually I can’t even guess how many times! Like, every day until the next issue came out?

Anyway, of the eight new Robot Masters, Metal Man stood out as a “cool” boss, so on the playground he was a great character to pretend to be and fight the other kids. Surely we all did that, right??

Ryuji Higurashi (Mega Man series illustrator)

“With a straightforward cool design, supremely useful special weapon, a fun ‘dodge-and-shoot’ battle, and an awesome stage tune on top of all that, I think it’s safe to say Metal Man is a top-tier character.”