# Rockman & Forte Mirai kara no Chōsensha

Rockman & Forte Mirai kara no Chōsensha (ロックマン&フォルテ 未来からの挑戦者, Rokkuman ando Forute: Mirai kara no Chōsensha, lit. "Rockman & Forte: Challenger from the Future") is a video game published by Bandai and licensed by Capcom for the WonderSwan handheld system. The game was only released in Japan and is a part of the original Rockman (Mega Man) series.

## Gameplay

Similar to the previous game, Rockman & Forte (which was eventually released as a Game Boy Advance title in the US and in Europe, Mega Man & Bass), two characters are available for play: Mega Man and Bass. Mega Man plays in his traditional manner, where Bass deviates, as in the previous game, with a rapid fire standard weapon that cannot be fired while moving as well as the ability to dash (similar to the characters in the Mega Man X series) and double jump. The Robot Masters in this game do not exhibit a short period of invincibility after being damaged, allowing the player to continuously damage them where possible. A feature unique to the WonderSwan was a third set of controls located above the traditional directional controls, which allowed some games to be played with the screen oriented vertically. When selecting Aircon Man, the player is required to change their grip on the device, as the stage had to be played vertically. Finally, unlike previous games in the series, there are only five weapons to be obtained as opposed to the traditional eight; Compass Man does not surrender a weapon to the player upon defeat.
The Bolt system also returns allowing either character to purchase helpful items to be used during gameplay. Each character has access to both universal items like extra lives and exclusive items such as Mega Man being able to summon Rush, Eddie, Tango and Beat while Bass can summon Gospel (known as Treble in the West) and Reggae (a bird-type support robot that last was seen in the 1993 Famicom game Wily & Right no RockBoard: That's Paradise).
The bosses included are the Grey Devil (similar to the Yellow Devil featured in the original Mega Man), this boss is featured in the opening level of the game. Then the player can challenge the following Robot Masters: Dangan Man, Konro Man, Aircon Man, Komuso Man, Clock Men, and Compass Man. The final boss is Rockman Shadow.

## Plot

Like other games in the Mega Man series, Rockman & Forte Mirai kara no Chōsensha takes place in the year 20XX. A group of robots from the future calling themselves the "Dimensions" attacked Symphony City, a city where people and robots lived in peace. Though without any witnesses, the one leading the Dimensions with overwhelming power is a robot that appears similar to Rockman (Mega Man in the West), who calls himself "Rockman Shadow" (not to be confused with Quint from the Game Boy Mega Man pentalogy). He is said to be a dark and wicked character completely obsessed with destruction. Mega Man, who hears this news at Dr. Right's (Dr. Light in the West) laboratory, ventures to the scene despite being under maintenance. At the same time, Dr. Wily sees the dark Mega Man, and to ascertain the mystery he sends Forte (Bass in the West). Eventually Rockman Shadow and the Dimensions are defeated and their plans put to rest.

## Reception

Review score :
| Publication | Score |
| Famitsu | 23 out of 40 |
Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com called it the worst Mega Man game ever. The game was negatively received by IGN.