All you need to know about the seven main Mega Man series by Capcom.
Mega Man
The Mega Man series, known as Rockman in Japan and often referred as the "original Mega Man" or "Mega Man Classic", is the first series of the Mega Man franchise of games. The first game, Mega Man, was released on December 17, 1987 on the Famicom in Japan and on the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe.
The basic story of the series revolves around the robot engineer Dr. Thomas Light, his robotic "children", Rock/Mega Man (a lab-assistant) and Roll (a housekeeper), and their struggle against the mad scientist Dr. Albert Wily.
Mega Man X
The Mega Man X series, known as Rockman X in Japan, made its debut in December 1993 on the Super Famicom and Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
The series is set almost one-hundred years after the events of the first Mega Man series. The story revolves around Mega Man X, the final and ultimate creation of Dr. Thomas Light, who is discovered by world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Cain and used to create an advanced race of robots known as "Reploids". However, not long after their creation, some of the Reploids begin to go "Maverick" and attack humans. To combat this, a special unit known as the "Maverick Hunters" is formed and the "Maverick Wars" begin to take shape.
Mega Man Zero
The Mega Man Zero series, known as Rockman Zero in Japan, made its debut in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance.
This series takes place one-hundred years after Zero (from the Mega Man X series) had sealed himself after the Elf Wars. In this time-period, both the "Maverick Wars" and "Elf Wars" have ended, but a new threat has arisen. A young scientist named Ciel, leader of a "Resistance", is searching for the legendary hero Zero to help in the fight against the oppressive forces of Neo Arcadia. She comes across the ruins of the lab in which Zero was sealed and awakens him. Thus, Zero joins the Resistance and takes up his sword once again to fight against evil.
Mega Man ZX
The Mega Man ZX series made its debut in 2006 on the Nintendo DS and is set over 200 years after the events of the Mega Man Zero series.
In this new era, the difference between humans and Reploids has become nonexistent, and a new combination of "man and machine," called "Humanoids" has emerged. A new series of "Maverick" uprisings begins to occur, which proves to be a dangerous threat since all beings on Earth are now part machine in nature and thus susceptible to the outbreak. Vent / Aile, orphans from a Maverick outbreak that occurred ten years ago, get drawn into the new conflict, along with Girouette, the head of their delivery team.
Mega Man Legends
The Mega Man Legends series made its debut in 1997 on the Sony PlayStation. In Japan, the series is called Rockman DASH, DASH being an acronym standing for Digouter's Adventure Stories in the Halcyon Days.
The story is centered around the Mega Man Volnutt, his partner Roll Caskett, and Roll's grandfather Barrell Caskett, as they search the world, "digging" through ancient ruins, in search of Quantum Refractors (the major source of power for their civilization). Along the way, they skirmish frequently with Reaverbots and Air Pirates.
Mega Man Battle Network
The Mega Man Battle Network series is set in a parallel universe from the original Mega Man series. The first game in the series was released on March 21st, 2001 for the Gameboy Advance.
The series is set in a world where the Internet has become integrated with almost every piece of electronic equipment in existence (from TVs to ovens). In fact, it's become so complicated that special programs called Internet Navigators, NetNavis for short, are needed to efficiently process all of the data. NetNavis are stored in hand-held devices called Personal Terminals (PETs). These devices act as phones, pagers, instant messengers, news beams, and hacking devices all rolled into one, essentially making them portable computers. The main characters of the series are a fifth-grader named Lan Hikari (Netto Hikari in Japan) and his NetNavi best friend MegaMan.EXE (Rockman.EXE), this universe's incarnation of the legendary Blue Bomber. Together, Lan and MegaMan.EXE cooperate to fight off hackers and viruses.
Mega Man Star Force
Mega Man Star Force, known as Shooting Star Rockman in Japan, is a Mega Man series created by Capcom in 2006 for the Nintendo DS.
The series is set in the same parallel universe as the Mega Man Battle Network series, about two-hundred years after it, in the 220X time period. The main character, Geo Stelar, is son of a missing astronaut. He reluctantly joins forces with an alien named Omega-Xis to foil evil plots and attempt to find out what really happened to his father. The result of Geo Stelar's EM Wave Change with Omega-Xis (fusing together) forms the Star Force Mega Man.