Game

Mega Man 5

Capcom's 1992 action platformer for the NES, the fifth in the series.

draftAlso: Rockman 5, Rockman 5: Blues no Wana!?Updated 2026-10-25
On this page
  1. How it plays
  2. Across the series
  3. Cartridge
  4. Code lineage
  5. Related
  6. Mechanics
  7. References
  8. Sources

Mega Man 5 is Capcom’s action platformer for the NES. It came out in Japan on 4 December 19921 as Rockman 5: Blues no Wana!?2. In its story Proto Man leads an army of robots against the city and kidnaps Dr. Light3. The player picks which of eight Robot Masters to fight from a screen of their portraits4, and each one Mega Man beats gives him its weapon5. Some of the bosses came from a design contest held in Japan, which drew 130,0006 entries.

Keiji Inafune assembled the team7, and Mari Yamaguchi wrote the music8. Inafune felt that Mega Man 4 had already done everything, so the team powered up the charge shot, making it bigger and more colorful9. The game also adds Beat, a robot bird Mega Man can call once he collects letters spelling MEGA MAN V10.

In Japan it entered Famicom Tsūshin’s sales chart at No. 211, behind Final Fantasy V. Nintendo Power praised its control and graphics12. Famicom Tsūshin’s reviewers found it almost unchanged from Mega Man 4 and as hard as ever, and their total comes to 58 of 10013 on Famitsu.com’s normalized scale. GameSpot’s 2003 history of the series called it underappreciated, a game that lost out as players moved to the Super NES14.

#How it plays

Mega Man jumps as he did in Mega Man 4. Every jump leaves the ground at the same speed, and letting go of A stops the rise at once15. The slide is Mega Man 4’s too, as fast and as long, and a press of A jumps out of it16. Charge Man’s weapon, the Charge Kick, turns the slide into an attack17.

Holding B charges the charge shot. A short hold still fires a normal shot, and the two charged strengths sit at new counts: the full charge comes at a lower count than in Mega Man 4, and the half charge at a higher one18. A hit pushes Mega Man back, away from the way he faces. Holding that direction halves the push19.

Rush, Mega Man’s dog, turns into a springboard from the start and into a jet sled once Mega Man finds its adaptor20. Energy Tanks refill his life, and a Mega Tank refills his life and every weapon’s energy at once21. Beating a Robot Master can earn a password, which resumes the game from that point22.

#Across the series

Mega Man 5 keeps Mega Man 4’s jump and slide15,16. It moves the charge shot’s thresholds, and it lets the player resist a hit’s push18,19. Beat is new to the series here10.

Cartridge

Interactive: rom-parts (needs JavaScript)

512 KB, a cell per 512 bytes, from 406 mapped regions

Code lineage

FromToMatchBytesWhat
Mega Man 4 bank-switch-applyMega Man 5 bank-switchingidentical37Mega Man 5's routine that maps the two switchable PRG banks from their shadows, and then runs a sound request that arrived while it was busy, is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte (37 bytes). Mega Man 5 enters it through 6 new bytes that set both shadows from one bank number, the bank and the one after it.
Mega Man 4 bank24-tailMega Man 5 chr-bank-18identical83252 tiles of Mega Man 4's font in bank 36 ($BB00-$BE3F), which look like Japanese kana when drawn out, are byte for byte tiles in Mega Man 5's CHR at $30300-$3063F (832 bytes).
Mega Man 4 chr-menu-and-cossack-map-backgroundMega Man 5 chr-bank-18identical2,048Mega Man 5's CHR at $31800-$31FFF holds the 128 background tiles of Mega Man 4's bank 20 at $8800-$8FFF, byte for byte (2,048 bytes): the block Mega Man 4 took from Mega Man 3's title screen tiles, with Mega Man 4's two changed tiles.
Mega Man 4 chr-wily1-backgroundMega Man 5 chr-bank-19identical416Mega Man 5 has the 26 letter tiles, A to Z, that Mega Man 4 took from Mega Man 3, byte for byte (416 bytes), in its CHR at $32410.
Mega Man 4 distance-and-directionMega Man 5 distance-and-directionchanged181Mega Man 5's routines for an object's distance to the player on each axis, and the direction to him in 16 steps, are Mega Man 4's, with two changes. It adds two routines that measure the same two distances to another slot's object. And its direction routine starts by setting Y to 0, the player's slot, and falls into the copy of slot Y's position, where Mega Man 4 has a separate entry that copies the player's position and jumps on. The rest is byte for byte, except the address of the 48-byte direction table, which is the same in both and follows the code directly in Mega Man 5.
Mega Man 4 entity-aimMega Man 5 aim-and-divideidentical103Mega Man 5's 8-bit and 16-bit division routines are Mega Man 4's, which are Mega Man 3's, byte for byte (103 bytes), at $F207 in its fixed bank.
Mega Man 4 entity-moversMega Man 5 entity-moverschanged240Mega Man 5's routines that move an object right, left, down, or up and then check tiles, and for the player the platforms it stands on, follow Mega Man 4's with three changes besides addresses. The facing flag they set or clear is bit 5 of the object's flags, where Mega Man 4 uses bit 6. A right-wall hit no longer copies the player's ground tile type from $45 to $3F. And before a vertical move, Mega Man 5 saves the player's vertical screen in $03, where Mega Man 4 saves its horizontal screen.
Mega Man 4 fill-nametableMega Man 5 fill-and-clearidentical76Mega Man 5's routine that fills a name table and its attributes with one value is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte; Mega Man 5 follows it with routines that clear the sprite buffer and the object slots.
Mega Man 4 frequency-outputMega Man 5 frequency-outputidentical224Mega Man 5's code that writes each channel's pitch to the APU, with vibrato, detune, and slides, is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.
Mega Man 4 music-track-readerMega Man 5 music-track-readeridentical587Mega Man 5's music track reader is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.
Mega Man 4 nametable-flush-ppu-controlMega Man 5 nametable-flush-ppu-controlrelocated77Mega Man 5's name table buffer flush and the four PPU routines after it are Mega Man 4's instruction for instruction; only the zero-page counter the rendering switches step differs ($EA in Mega Man 4, $F0 in Mega Man 5).
Mega Man 4 note-frequencyMega Man 5 note-frequencyidentical220Mega Man 5's note-to-pitch routines is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.
Mega Man 4 plain-moversMega Man 5 entity-collide-moverschanged345Mega Man 5's routines that move an object by its speed without checking tiles, and apply gravity, follow Mega Man 4's, with the gravity amount at $A1 instead of $99 and these changes. Eight bytes before the left mover clear the facing bit and fall into it. The player's gravity is skipped whenever a flag at $52 is set, where Mega Man 4 skips it only while a timer at $43 counts down. And Mega Man 5 adds four routines after them, one of which adds gravity to the vertical speed instead of subtracting it, capped at 7 pixels a frame.
Mega Man 4 platform-collisionMega Man 5 platform-collisionchanged288Mega Man 5's two checks for a platform object that the player meets moving vertically or horizontally, and their two distance helpers, follow Mega Man 4's test for test. Both walk the slots down from $17 and skip empty, off-screen, and non-solid ones. A one-way platform only catches a falling player, and the push is capped at 8 pixels. The changes: both checks also give up unless the moving object's own Y screen is 0. The horizontal check skips objects of type $02. The helper reads both of the shape's sizes from two tables through X, which it then sets to 0, the player's slot, where Mega Man 4 looks up the second size in the vertical check itself. The smaller box for a sliding player is chosen by `player_state` $02, where Mega Man 4 tests the player's sub-type for $10. And the horizontal distance helper no longer masks the screen difference to one bit. The four routines that push the player off a platform, which close Mega Man 4's region, sit after the position nudges in Mega Man 5.
Mega Man 4 play-soundMega Man 5 play-soundidentical340Mega Man 5's routine that starts a song or an effect, and takes the stop, pause, fade, and transpose commands, is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.
Mega Man 4 queue-soundMega Man 5 queue-soundidentical27Mega Man 5's fixed-bank routine that adds a sound to the queue is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte (27 bytes), at $EC5B where Mega Man 4 has it at $F6BC.
Mega Man 4 read-controllersMega Man 5 read-controllerschanged94Mega Man 5's controller read is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte, with one addition: before it returns, it zeroes controller 2's new presses and held buttons ($15 and $17).
Mega Man 4 resetMega Man 5 resetidentical98Mega Man 5's reset begins with Mega Man 4's first 98 bytes, byte for byte at the same address ($FE00-$FE61): the interrupt, sound, and rendering shutdown, the wait through four vblanks, the PPU address precharge, the RAM clear, the sound queue's empty markers, and the PPU mask shadow. From the mapper setup on, the two differ.
Mega Man 4 sfx-streamMega Man 5 sfx-streamidentical321Mega Man 5's sound effect reader is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.
Mega Man 4 sound-driver-entryMega Man 5 sound-driver-entrychanged108Mega Man 5's sound bank, bank $18, opens with Mega Man 4's entry jumps, multiply, and sound-data read at the same addresses; only the two bank numbers the read maps differ: the overflow data bank, $1D in Mega Man 4 and $1A in Mega Man 5, and the data bank it restores, $1F and $19.
Mega Man 4 sound-driver-tablesMega Man 5 sound-driver-tableschanged299Mega Man 5's sound driver tables, through the note period table, are Mega Man 4's at the same addresses. The 37 bytes after it ($8A1B-$8A3F), which hold data in Mega Man 4, are all zero in Mega Man 5, as in Mega Man 3.
Mega Man 4 sound-driver-updateMega Man 5 sound-driver-updateidentical146Mega Man 5's per-frame sound tick is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.
Mega Man 4 spawn-engineMega Man 5 spawn-enginerelocated128Mega Man 5's spawn engine walks its stage's spawn list ahead of and behind the camera with Mega Man 4's code, instruction for instruction; only the addresses differ: the stage's placement tables, the two list cursors ($9E and $9F in Mega Man 4, $AD and $AE in Mega Man 5), the scroll direction flag ($2F, $AC), and the four window temporaries, two bytes higher.
Mega Man 4 spawn-entryMega Man 5 spawn-enemychanged173Mega Man 5's routine that spawns an enemy from a spawn list entry follows Mega Man 4's step for step: the same checks for a live copy and the no-respawn bitmap, and the same slot fill from the entry's position and the parameter tables for its code, with the tables and temporaries at other addresses. It changes two things: it keeps the spawn code in the object's $0510 byte, which Mega Man 4 clears, and it masks bit 7 off the flags parameter and, when that bit is clear, ends by calling `entity_facing_to_flags`.
Mega Man 4 task-schedulerMega Man 5 task-schedulerrelocated146Mega Man 5's cooperative task scheduler is Mega Man 4's instruction for instruction; it sits 6 bytes higher, and only its jump and call addresses differ.
Mega Man 4 tile-alignmentMega Man 5 position-nudgeschanged216Mega Man 5's four routines that push an object out of a wall, ceiling, or floor after a tile hit are Mega Man 4's, byte for byte but for one instruction: after a ceiling hit, Mega Man 5 clears the carry before adding where Mega Man 4 sets it, so the object ends one pixel higher than in Mega Man 4. Mega Man 5 follows them with four new routines that move an object along X or Y by the amount in $10 or $11 and compare its position with one saved in $02-$03.
Mega Man 4 volume-envelopeMega Man 5 volume-envelopeidentical379Mega Man 5's volume envelope and fade code is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.
Mega Man 5 aim-and-divideMega Man 6 divide-16relocated65Mega Man 6's 16-bit division at $CC70 is Mega Man 5's `div16` at $F22D, except that it saves X in $08 instead of $09.
Mega Man 5 chr-bank-00Mega Man 6 tiles-bank-00identical176116 of the 157 non-blank sprite tiles in Mega Man 6's bank $00 at $8000-$89FF (115 distinct) appear in Mega Man 5's sprite CHR at $00000-$01FFF, rearranged: the longest stretch that matches tile for tile is 11 tiles (176 bytes), Mega Man 5's tiles $0A-$14 as Mega Man 6's $0B-$15.
Mega Man 5 chr-bank-18Mega Man 6 tiles-bank-10changed2,064Mega Man 6's bank $10 holds, at $8800-$900F, the 129 tiles of Mega Man 5's CHR at $31800-$3200F (2,064 bytes), the title screen block of claim mm4-mm5-title-tiles plus one tile, with one tile changed: the 33rd ($8A00), a hollow square in Mega Man 5 and a circled R in Mega Man 6.
Mega Man 5 chr-bank-19Mega Man 6 tiles-bank-11changed416Mega Man 6's bank $11 holds, at $82B0-$844F, Mega Man 5's 26 letter tiles, A to Z, from its CHR at $32410 (416 bytes), with the J redrawn: its hook reaches a pixel further left.
Mega Man 5 chr-bank-19Mega Man 6 tiles-bank-11identical160Mega Man 6's background bank $11 has 83 different tiles of Mega Man 5's background CHR at $32000-$33FFF. Besides the 26 letters (claim mm5-mm6-letter-tiles), the ten tiles right before them, at $8200-$829F, are byte for byte Mega Man 5's ten tiles at $32300 (160 bytes); the rest come in stretches of up to 10 tiles.
Mega Man 5 frequency-outputMega Man 6 frequency-outputchanged232Mega Man 6's period output is Mega Man 5's with one step added: after adding the channel's signed offset at $0714 to the period, a period of zero becomes 1. The added 8 bytes push the sound tables seven bytes higher, and the routine's table operands follow.
Mega Man 5 music-track-readerMega Man 6 music-track-readerrelocated587Mega Man 6's music track reader is Mega Man 5's, one byte lower ($8392 against $8393); only its call and jump targets, jump-table entries, and the addresses of the tables it reads differ.
Mega Man 5 note-frequencyMega Man 6 note-frequencyrelocated220Mega Man 6's note-to-period lookup is Mega Man 5's, one byte lower; the only differences are the two operands that address the period table, which sits seven bytes higher in Mega Man 6 ($8960 against $8959).
Mega Man 5 play-soundMega Man 6 play-soundchanged339Mega Man 6's sound command routine is Mega Man 5's with one change: where Mega Man 5 steps the sound's data pointer by incrementing $C1 and, on a carry, $C2 before copying it to $D0 and $D1, Mega Man 6 carries into X instead, so $C2 is left as it was, and the routine is a byte shorter. Code after it sits one byte lower, and its jumps, calls, and jump-table entries follow.
Mega Man 5 sfx-streamMega Man 6 sfx-streamrelocated321Mega Man 6's sound effect stream reader is Mega Man 5's, one byte lower ($8251 against $8252); only its call and jump targets and jump-table entries differ.
Mega Man 5 sound-data-bank1aMega Man 6 sound-data-bank36changed875Mega Man 6's sounds $23-$3C, the first 26 after its music, at $B758-$BAC2 of bank $36, are 22 of Mega Man 5's sounds from $1A to $3E plus four new ones ($2A-$2D). The 22 keep Mega Man 5's order, except that its $3E comes in as $2E. Seventeen are byte for byte. In the other five only addresses differ, each moved as far as the sound: one address inside each of four effects, and the four track pointers of $39, a sound with music's priority $00 (Mega Man 5's $30). Mega Man 6 leaves out 12 of Mega Man 5's $1A-$3A: $1F, $21, $23, $2B, $2F, $31-$34, and $36-$38. The Mega Man 5 disassembly's notes name two of the carried sounds, the ricochet ($1E, Mega Man 6's $27) and the hit ($2A, Mega Man 6's $35); the kill sound ($2B) is one of those left out.
Mega Man 5 sound-data-bank1aMega Man 6 sound-data-bank36identical79Mega Man 6's sound effects $61 and $62, at $BE99-$BEE7 of bank $36, are byte for byte Mega Man 5's $17 and $18, the first two effects after its music.
Mega Man 5 sound-data-bank1aMega Man 6 sound-data-bank36relocated116Mega Man 6's music $13, 116 bytes at $A19B-$A20E of bank $36, is Mega Man 5's music $11 moved. Only the four track pointers in its header differ, each $625 lower, as far as the song's start moved.
Mega Man 5 sound-directory-and-instrumentsMega Man 6 sound-directory-and-instrumentschanged568Mega Man 6's instrument table, 71 instruments of 8 bytes at $8B0F, has as many instruments as Mega Man 5's at $8ADB, but only 27 are the same under the same number. The longest such run is nine instruments, $3D-$45 (72 bytes). One more of Mega Man 6's is in Mega Man 5's table under another number.
Mega Man 5 sound-driver-entryMega Man 6 sound-driver-entrychanged108Mega Man 6's sound bank, bank $34, opens with Mega Man 5's entry jumps, multiply, and sound-data read at the same addresses; only the two bank numbers the read maps differ: the overflow data bank, $1A in Mega Man 5 and $36 in Mega Man 6, and the data bank it restores, $19 and $35.
Mega Man 5 sound-driver-tablesMega Man 6 sound-driver-tablesidentical292Mega Man 6's sound tables (note lengths, octave offsets, envelope steps, octave thresholds, and the period table) are Mega Man 5's byte for byte, seven bytes higher at $891C; the zero padding after them, up to the song directory at $8A40, is seven bytes shorter.
Mega Man 5 sound-driver-updateMega Man 6 sound-driver-updaterelocated146Mega Man 6's per-frame sound tick is Mega Man 5's at the same address; three call targets differ, because the stream readers they call sit one byte lower in Mega Man 6.
Mega Man 5 spawn-engineMega Man 6 stage-spawnerrewritten663Both games walk a stage's sorted spawn list with two cursors, one for each side of the screen, comparing the scroll position with each entry's screen and X position, but Mega Man 6's spawner is new code. Mega Man 5 reads fixed tables in the stage bank ($A9FF, $AA7F, $AB80), keeps its cursors in $AD and $AE, and treats codes from $C0 up as palette and CHR commands; Mega Man 6 reaches each stage's lists through pointers it sets in $74-$7F from tables in bank $3A, keeps its cursors in $0649 and $064A, and skips entries whose bit in $0650 marks them used.
Mega Man 5 vertical-section-transitionMega Man 6 vertical-section-transitionrewritten442Both games slide the screen to a new section when Mega Man leaves by the top or bottom, but Mega Man 6's is new code. Mega Man 5 tests the player's Y ($0378) against $08 and $E8 inside its per-frame scroll update, reads the section layout from the stage bank at $A950, and steps the slide 4 pixels a frame from there; Mega Man 6's transitions are separate routines that clear the object slots, reset the spawner, and run their own loop of 120 frames for a vertical move, drawing and waiting a frame each time.
Mega Man 5 volume-envelopeMega Man 6 volume-enveloperelocated379Mega Man 6's volume envelope code is Mega Man 5's, one byte lower; only its jump-table entries, call targets, and the address of the envelope step table, seven bytes higher, differ.

See also

Mentioned in

Mechanics

MechanicKindHow
JumpOne speedevery jump takes off at Mega Man 4's speed, upside down in Gravity Man's stage
Variable jump heightRelease capletting go of A stops the rise at once
Ground slideTimedMega Man 4's slide, as fast and as long, and A jumps out of it
Charge shotTiers on releasehold B for a half or a full charge; the full one comes at a lower count than in Mega Man 4
KnockbackFixed shovea hit pushes him back, and holding the way he faces halves the push
Every claim about this game, by concept (70)
generalMega Man 5's cartridge ROM, counted by part of the game: each stretch of code or data goes to the part the disassembly's labels and comments say it serves, and the value sums the bytes of each part.Code notes
Mega Man 5 came out on the Famicom in Japan on 4 December 1992. Nintendo of America's list of NES games dates the North American release December 1992.Publisher
In Japan the game is Rockman 5: Blues no Wana!? ("Blues' Trap!?").Web
In the story, Proto Man leads an army of robots against the city and kidnaps Dr. Light.Publisher
The player picks which of eight Robot Masters to fight from a screen of their portraits; they are Charge Man, Napalm Man, Gyro Man, Stone Man, Crystal Man, Wave Man, Star Man, and Gravity Man.Manual
Each Robot Master Mega Man beats gives him its weapon.Manual
Charge Man's weapon, the Charge Kick, turns Mega Man's slide into an attack.Web
Mega Man's dog Rush becomes a springboard (Rush Coil) from the start, and a jet sled (Rush Jet) once Mega Man finds its adaptor.Manual
Collecting the letters M-E-G-A-M-A-N-V, hidden in the stages, lets Mega Man call Beat, a robot bird that fights for him; Beat is new in this game.Manual
Keiji Inafune designed Beat, approved on his first drawing.Publisher
Energy Tanks refill Mega Man's life, and Mega Tanks refill his life and every weapon's energy.Manual
Beating a Robot Master can earn a password, which resumes the game from that point.Manual
Keiji Inafune says the team, feeling Mega Man 4 had already done everything, powered up the charge shot for Mega Man 5, which made it bigger and gave it more colors.Publisher
Some of Mega Man 5's bosses came from a design contest held in Japan, which drew 130,000 entries.Publisher
Keiji Inafune assembled the team that made Mega Man 5; Hayato Kaji joined partway through and drew part of Stone Man's sprite.Publisher
Mari Yamaguchi composed Mega Man 5's music.Publisher
Mega Man 5 entered Famicom Tsūshin's weekly sales chart at No. 2, behind Final Fantasy V.Magazine
Nintendo Power's review called the control outstanding and the graphics great, and found nothing bad about the game unless the player wanted more variety; it rated the game 3.9 for graphics and sound, 4.0 for play control, 3.9 for challenge, and 3.7 for theme and fun, out of 5.Magazine
Famicom Tsūshin's four reviewers gave Mega Man 5 a cross-review total that Famitsu.com normalizes to 58 of 100; their comments call the series tradition or a rut, the game almost unchanged from Mega Man 4, and as hard as ever.Web
GameSpot's 2003 history of the series found Mega Man 5's ideas wearing thin, praised its graphics and music, blamed its bosses and the market's move to the Super NES for its weak showing, and called it underappreciated and rare.Web
Mega Man 5's per-frame sound tick is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.Code
Mega Man 5's routine that starts a song or an effect, and takes the stop, pause, fade, and transpose commands, is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.Code
Mega Man 5's two checks for a platform object that the player meets moving vertically or horizontally, and their two distance helpers, follow Mega Man 4's test for test. Both walk the slots down from $17 and skip empty, off-screen, and non-solid ones. A one-way platform only catches a falling player, and the push is capped at 8 pixels. The changes: both checks also give up unless the moving object's own Y screen is 0. The horizontal check skips objects of type $02. The helper reads both of the shape's sizes from two tables through X, which it then sets to 0, the player's slot, where Mega Man 4 looks up the second size in the vertical check itself. The smaller box for a sliding player is chosen by player_state $02, where Mega Man 4 tests the player's sub-type for $10. And the horizontal distance helper no longer masks the screen difference to one bit. The four routines that push the player off a platform, which close Mega Man 4's region, sit after the position nudges in Mega Man 5.Code
Mega Man 5's CHR at $31800-$31FFF holds the 128 background tiles of Mega Man 4's bank 20 at $8800-$8FFF, byte for byte (2,048 bytes): the block Mega Man 4 took from Mega Man 3's title screen tiles, with Mega Man 4's two changed tiles.Code
Mega Man 5 has the 26 letter tiles, A to Z, that Mega Man 4 took from Mega Man 3, byte for byte (416 bytes), in its CHR at $32410.Code
52 tiles of Mega Man 4's font in bank 36 ($BB00-$BE3F), which look like Japanese kana when drawn out, are byte for byte tiles in Mega Man 5's CHR at $30300-$3063F (832 bytes).Code
Air controlEvery frame in the air the d-pad alone sets where Mega Man moves: the air routine copies the held Left or Right into his direction and moves him by his X speed that way, 1.30 px/frame, and with neither held he doesn't move. He turns at once, and nothing carries over from the ground.Code
Boot sequenceMega Man 5's reset begins with Mega Man 4's first 98 bytes, byte for byte at the same address ($FE00-$FE61): the interrupt, sound, and rendering shutdown, the wait through four vblanks, the PPU address precharge, the RAM clear, the sound queue's empty markers, and the PPU mask shadow. From the mapper setup on, the two differ.Code
Charge shotMega Man 5 moves Mega Man 4's charge thresholds. On release its counter $38 fires a normal shot from 16 ($10), a half-charged one from 40 ($28), and a full one from 80 ($50), and nothing under 16; Mega Man 4's counter, which starts at 1 on the press, fires nothing under 32, a half charge from 32, and a full one from 92. So the full charge needs a lower count and the half charge a higher one.Code
Controller readingMega Man 5's controller read is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte, with one addition: before it returns, it zeroes controller 2's new presses and held buttons ($15 and $17).Code
Coyote timeBecause the ground state runs the air routine before it moves him, Mega Man walks one frame past the edge before he falls: the frame whose move takes all three floor points off a ledge still counts as grounded, and on the next the floor test finds nothing after a 1 px drop, so the air routine puts him in the air state falling at 1.25 px/frame and moves him by the air's rules that frame. A press on that frame or any later one in the fall doesn't jump, since only the ground state reads A, after the air routine reports him standing.Code
Enemy spawningMega Man 5's spawn engine walks its stage's spawn list ahead of and behind the camera with Mega Man 4's code, instruction for instruction; only the addresses differ: the stage's placement tables, the two list cursors ($9E and $9F in Mega Man 4, $AD and $AE in Mega Man 5), the scroll direction flag ($2F, $AC), and the four window temporaries, two bytes higher.Code
Mega Man 5's routine that spawns an enemy from a spawn list entry follows Mega Man 4's step for step: the same checks for a live copy and the no-respawn bitmap, and the same slot fill from the entry's position and the parameter tables for its code, with the tables and temporaries at other addresses. It changes two things: it keeps the spawn code in the object's $0510 byte, which Mega Man 4 clears, and it masks bit 7 off the flags parameter and, when that bit is clear, ends by calling entity_facing_to_flags.Code
Enemy targetingMega Man 5's routines for an object's distance to the player on each axis, and the direction to him in 16 steps, are Mega Man 4's, with two changes. It adds two routines that measure the same two distances to another slot's object. And its direction routine starts by setting Y to 0, the player's slot, and falls into the copy of slot Y's position, where Mega Man 4 has a separate entry that copies the player's position and jumps on. The rest is byte for byte, except the address of the 48-byte direction table, which is the same in both and follows the code directly in Mega Man 5.Code
Mega Man 5's 8-bit and 16-bit division routines are Mega Man 4's, which are Mega Man 3's, byte for byte (103 bytes), at $F207 in its fixed bank.Code
Forced blankingMega Man 5's routine that fills a name table and its attributes with one value is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte; Mega Man 5 follows it with routines that clear the sprite buffer and the object slots.Code
Game loopMega Man 5's cooperative task scheduler is Mega Man 4's instruction for instruction; it sits 6 bytes higher, and only its jump and call addresses differ.Code
GravityOne routine, entity_gravity_collide, moves Mega Man vertically in the ground, air, and slide states, before their horizontal move. By the sign of his speed's whole byte (8.8 fixed point, positive up) it moves him down or up by the speed, takes gravity off the speed, and only then tests the floor points under a fall or the ceiling points over a rise. The ground state runs the whole air routine first and reads A and the d-pad only if that routine found him standing and he was already on the ground.Code
Gravity takes 0.25 px/frame ($40/256) off Mega Man's upward speed every frame, after the move: the reset code writes $40 to $A1, and the gravity routine subtracts $A1 from the speed's fraction byte with the borrow into its whole byte.Code
When gravity takes Mega Man's speed below −7 px/frame (its whole byte under $F9), the gravity routine sets it to exactly $F9.$00, so he falls at most 7 px a frame.Code
On the ground Mega Man's vertical speed rests at −1 px/frame ($FF.$00): a floor found under a fall snaps him onto it and entity_stop_y sets that speed. So each grounded frame moves him 1 px down, takes gravity, and tests his floor points; ground there puts him back with the same speed, and none leaves him in the air falling at 1.25 px/frame.Code
When a falling Mega Man's floor points find a solid tile, LEEF7 subtracts the tested row's depth into its 16 px tile from his Y pixel, which puts the points on the tile's top row and his feet on its top, and keeps the Y fraction. A fall of up to 7 px a frame always ends on the top of the tile it reaches.Code
Measured in Mesen from power-on, at the start of Stone Man's stage, Mega Man stood with his Y fraction at $80 once the teleport landed him. The floor snap keeps the fraction (floor-snap), so it stays with him on flat ground until a slide's end adds to it.Verified
Mega Man 5's routines that move an object by its speed without checking tiles, and apply gravity, follow Mega Man 4's, with the gravity amount at $A1 instead of $99 and these changes. Eight bytes before the left mover clear the facing bit and fall into it. The player's gravity is skipped whenever a flag at $52 is set, where Mega Man 4 skips it only while a timer at $43 counts down. And Mega Man 5 adds four routines after them, one of which adds gravity to the vertical speed instead of subtracting it, capped at 7 pixels a frame.Code
Ground slideMega Man 5 keeps Mega Man 4's slide, 2.5 px/frame for 26 frames ($1A), with a jump out of it on any slide frame a fresh A press comes without Down and there is headroom. The earliest is the slide's 3rd frame, counting the set-up frame (Down and A) as the 1st: a fresh press needs A let go on the 2nd.Code
Down and a fresh A press start a slide only if the slide's start point, 15 px ahead of his center and 4 px below it, isn't in a wall; with a wall there the press does nothing, neither slide nor jump. The slide moves his Y pixel 2 px down and tests a lower, wider box: floor points 10 px below the new center at x−14, x, and x+14; ceiling points 8 px above it at the same three; and wall points 15 px ahead, 5 px above it and 9 px below. Its stand-up and jump-out test his headroom at three points 14 px above the slide's center (12 px above his standing one) at x−14, x, and x+14.Code
A slide ends at the standing test, which a wall, the timer's end, or a turn sends it to. A turn (a held direction against the slide's) zeroes the timer and still moves him 2.5 px the new way on that frame. The test checks his headroom (slide-box): a solid tile there keeps him sliding at 2.5 px/frame, tested again every frame; a clear one raises him the 2 px back, puts him in the ground state with the walking pose and walking speed, and sets his vertical speed to −0.25 px/frame ($FF.$C0), so the next frame's fall moves his Y fraction $40 down before the floor snap. A slide off a ledge ends at once in the ground state without the 2 px back, at the same −0.25.Code
Mega Man 5's ordinary-floor movement differs from Mega Man 4's, though the walk, the step pose, the jump, gravity, the fall cap, air control, and the slide's speed, length, and start are the same. The first difference on flat ground: on a slide's last frame Mega Man 5 raises his center the 2 px the slide lowered it and sets −0.25 px/frame, where Mega Man 4 leaves it 2 px low at −1 px/frame, so for that frame Mega Man 5 stands 2 px higher, and each of its slides adds $40 to his Y fraction. Against blocks, Mega Man 5's ceiling points are 10 px above his center (Mega Man 4's 9) and his wall points 9 px above it (Mega Man 4's 8); its slide's wall points are 5 px above and 9 px below the slide's center (Mega Man 4's level and 9 below), and its slide's ceiling points 8 px above it (Mega Man 4's level with it).Code
HitboxMega Man's position is his center. Standing, walking, and in the air his floor points are 12 px below it at x−7, x, and x+7; his ceiling points 10 px above it at x−7 and x+7; and his wall points 8 px to the side he moves toward, at 9 px above, level with, and 11 px below his center. Tiles are 16 px.Code
When the horizontal move puts a wall point in a solid tile, the move routine pushes Mega Man back by the point's depth into that 16 px tile, so x+8 ends on the wall's first column moving right and x−8 on the first column past it moving left. The X fraction, his speed, and his pose stay, so he walks in place against it.Code
When a rising Mega Man's move puts a ceiling point, x−7 or x+7 at 10 px above his center, in a solid tile, LEEDD adds 15 minus the point's depth into the tile to his Y pixel, which leaves the point on the tile's bottom row, and entity_stop_y sets his speed to −1 px/frame; he stays in the air and falls from the next frame.Code
JumpNothing tests the ceiling before a jump starts: a fresh A press on the ground sets the jump speed and runs the air routine again, whose rise is the first test. So under a block two tiles over the floor, the lowest he can walk under, the jump still starts, and its 3rd frame meets the block: his ceiling points must rise 11 px to reach its bottom row, and the rise is 5, then 4.75, then 4.5 px (9.75 px after two frames, 14.25 after three).Code
The frame a falling Mega Man's floor test finds ground puts him in the ground state with the walking pose ($04) and still moves him by the air's rules. On the next frame he walks on at once if he holds the direction he held on landing; any other direction, or none, starts the step pose. The air state reads no A press, so a press on the landing frame is lost, and the next frame's press jumps.Code
KnockbackMega Man 5 keeps the 0.5 px/frame knockback, always against the way Mega Man faces, but lets the player resist it: with the direction he faces held, the push drops to 0.25 px/frame ($40).Code
Music driverMega Man 5's sound bank, bank $18, opens with Mega Man 4's entry jumps, multiply, and sound-data read at the same addresses; only the two bank numbers the read maps differ: the overflow data bank, $1D in Mega Man 4 and $1A in Mega Man 5, and the data bank it restores, $1F and $19.Code
Mega Man 5's music track reader is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.Code
Mega Man 5's note-to-pitch routines is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.Code
Mega Man 5's volume envelope and fade code is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.Code
Mega Man 5's code that writes each channel's pitch to the APU, with vibrato, detune, and slides, is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.Code
Mega Man 5's sound driver tables, through the note period table, are Mega Man 4's at the same addresses. The 37 bytes after it ($8A1B-$8A3F), which hold data in Mega Man 4, are all zero in Mega Man 5, as in Mega Man 3.Code
PRG bank switchingMega Man 5's routine that maps the two switchable PRG banks from their shadows, and then runs a sound request that arrived while it was busy, is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte (37 bytes). Mega Man 5 enters it through 6 new bytes that set both shadows from one bank number, the bank and the one after it.Code
RunningMega Man walks and moves through the air at the speed held in his X speed ($03C0.$03A8), 1.30 px/frame ($01.$4C) on ordinary floor; no walking or air code sets it. The slide writes 2.5 px/frame there, and its end and the jump out of it write $01.$4C back. Measured in Mesen from power-on at the start of Stone Man's stage ($26 = 2), the X speed read $01.$4C and each walking frame moved him 332/256 px.Verified
On the ground Mega Man's sprite sub-type decides whether he moves. Standing ($01), a held direction sets the step pose ($0D) and moves him one frame; in the step pose he doesn't move, whatever the d-pad does, until its animation leaves its first frame, and then walks ($04) toward a held direction or stands with none. Walking, the same direction keeps him moving; letting go puts him in the step pose without a move, and the other direction puts him in it with one move that way.Code
The step pose lasts 6 frames: its animation (sub-type $0D, descriptor $01,$05 at $BB28 in bank $13) holds its first frame until its tick count, reset with the sub-type, reaches 5. So from standing, or on a turn, a held direction moves Mega Man on the first frame, holds him still on the next 5, and walks from the 7th; letting go of a walk holds him 6 frames, whatever the d-pad does, before he stands or walks on. Measured in Mesen from power-on at the start of Stone Man's stage.Verified
Sound effectsMega Man 5's sound effect reader is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte at the same address.Code
Mega Man 5's fixed-bank routine that adds a sound to the queue is Mega Man 4's, byte for byte (27 bytes), at $EC5B where Mega Man 4 has it at $F6BC.Code
Tile collisionMega Man 5's four routines that push an object out of a wall, ceiling, or floor after a tile hit are Mega Man 4's, byte for byte but for one instruction: after a ceiling hit, Mega Man 5 clears the carry before adding where Mega Man 4 sets it, so the object ends one pixel higher than in Mega Man 4. Mega Man 5 follows them with four new routines that move an object along X or Y by the amount in $10 or $11 and compare its position with one saved in $02-$03.Code
Mega Man 5's routines that move an object right, left, down, or up and then check tiles, and for the player the platforms it stands on, follow Mega Man 4's with three changes besides addresses. The facing flag they set or clear is bit 5 of the object's flags, where Mega Man 4 uses bit 6. A right-wall hit no longer copies the player's ground tile type from $45 to $3F. And before a vertical move, Mega Man 5 saves the player's vertical screen in $03, where Mega Man 4 saves its horizontal screen.Code
Variable jump heightMega Man 5 keeps Mega Man 4's jump. Both write 5 px/frame ($05.$00) into the vertical speed at $03F0/$03D8 on a jump, and set it to 0 on any rising frame without A.Code
VRAM bufferMega Man 5's name table buffer flush and the four PPU routines after it are Mega Man 4's instruction for instruction; only the zero-page counter the rendering switches step differs ($EA in Mega Man 4, $F0 in Mega Man 5).Code

References

  1. ^Mega Man 5 came out on the Famicom in Japan on 4 December 1992. Nintendo of America's list of NES games dates the North American release December 1992.PublisherMM25 · Famitsu, Rockman 5 review page · Nintendo, NES Gamesrevised
    How we know
    NES 12/04/1992
    p. 52, release table · archived copy ↗
    発売日: 1992年12月04日
    game page header · archived copy ↗
    December 1992
    PDF p. 8 · archived copy ↗

    The quote matches our archived copy.

    Revised after a check by a second AI model, 2026-10-22.

    In the claim ledger

  2. ^In Japan the game is Rockman 5: Blues no Wana!? ("Blues' Trap!?").WebFamitsu, Rockman 5 review page
    How we know
    ロックマン5 ブルースの罠!?
    game page header · archived copy ↗

    The quote matches our archived copy.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-22.

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  3. ^In the story, Proto Man leads an army of robots against the city and kidnaps Dr. Light.PublisherMM25 · Mega Man 5 NES manual · Nintendo Power 44
    How we know
    Proto Man showed up with a whole army of mysterious robots behind him and began laying siege to the city. … Proto Man also kidnapped Dr. Light.
    p. 52, story · archived copy ↗
    eight of Protoman’s robotic creations
    p. 5, Getting Started · archived copy ↗
    An army of robots led by the mysterious Protoman is bent on destroying the world.
    p. 105, Now Playing · archived copy ↗

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  4. ^The player picks which of eight Robot Masters to fight from a screen of their portraits; they are Charge Man, Napalm Man, Gyro Man, Stone Man, Crystal Man, Wave Man, Star Man, and Gravity Man.ManualMega Man 5 NES manualrevised
    How we know
    you will see mug shots of eight of Protoman’s robotic creations. Use the control pad to highlight the robot you wish to battle
    p. 5, Getting Started · archived copy ↗
    CHARGE MAN NAPALM MAN GYRO MAN STONE MAN … CRYSTAL MAN WAVE MAN STAR MAN GRAVITY MAN
    pp. 16-17, Robot Masters Notes · archived copy ↗

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  5. ^Each Robot Master Mega Man beats gives him its weapon.ManualMega Man 5 NES manual
    How we know
    you will gain their special weapon and add it to your arsenal
    p. 9, Power Up! · archived copy ↗

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  6. ^Some of Mega Man 5's bosses came from a design contest held in Japan, which drew 130,000 entries.PublisherMM25 · Nintendo Power 44revised
    How we know
    Total number of boss character submissions: 1 30,000
    p. 52, release table · archived copy ↗
    Some of the boss robots that appear in Mega Man V were the result of a design contest, similar to this one, that was held recently in Japan.
    pp. 79-80, Mega Man contest page · archived copy ↗

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  7. ^Keiji Inafune assembled the team that made Mega Man 5; Hayato Kaji joined partway through and drew part of Stone Man's sprite.PublisherMM25
    How we know
    '5' was put together by the staff that Inafune assembled, otherwise known as the Rock Family.
    p. 57, Kaji · archived copy ↗
    I was called on in the middle of it all to help out in any way that I could. I did some of the dot work for Stone Man.
    p. 55, Kaji · archived copy ↗

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  8. ^Mari Yamaguchi composed Mega Man 5's music.PublisherCapcom Unity, Mega Man 10 soundtrack postrevised
    How we know
    Mari Yamaguchi (Mega Man 5)
    composer list · archived copy ↗

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  9. ^Keiji Inafune says the team, feeling Mega Man 4 had already done everything, powered up the charge shot for Mega Man 5, which made it bigger and gave it more colors.PublisherMM25 · Nintendo Power 44
    How we know
    I knew we had to come up with something new, so we powered up the Charge Shot. It felt like everything had already been 'done' in '4', … We didn't just make the Charge Shot bigger in '5', but also added some different colors where we could.
    p. 53, Super Mega Buster · archived copy ↗
    After some minor tweaking to the Mega Buster to make it more powerful
    pp. 79-80, Mega Man V review, opening · archived copy ↗

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  10. ^ abCollecting the letters M-E-G-A-M-A-N-V, hidden in the stages, lets Mega Man call Beat, a robot bird that fights for him; Beat is new in this game.ManualMega Man 5 NES manual · GameSpot, History of Mega Man
    How we know
    If Mega Man can collect the letters to spell out M EG A M AN V, Mega Man can call and activate BEAT,
    p. 12, Just Beat It! · archived copy ↗
    There were letters hidden in the stages that spelled out "MEGA MAN V."
    1992, Mega Man V, Gameplay · archived copy ↗
    Still, this game saw the introduction of Rock's friend and helper, Beat, a small mechanical bird.
    1992, Mega Man V, The Basics · archived copy ↗

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  11. ^Mega Man 5 entered Famicom Tsūshin's weekly sales chart at No. 2, behind Final Fantasy V.MagazineFamicom Tsūshin 211
    How we know
    『ファイナルファンタジーV』が、予想どおり…みごとトップに輝いた。 … それに続いて『ロックマン5』が初登場で2位にランクイン。
    Weekly Top 30, opening text · archived copy ↗

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  12. ^Nintendo Power's review called the control outstanding and the graphics great, and found nothing bad about the game unless the player wanted more variety; it rated the game 3.9 for graphics and sound, 4.0 for play control, 3.9 for challenge, and 3.7 for theme and fun, out of 5.MagazineNintendo Power 44
    How we know
    the control is outstanding. … The graphics are great and the enemies are cool … Unless you'd just like to see more variety in the game play, characters or story, there's really nothing bad about this game
    p. 105, Now Playing · archived copy ↗
    MEGA MAN 5 CAPCOM — |IP/PASS 3.9 4,0 | 3.9 | 3.7 |COMIC ACTION
    p. 107, Power Meter · archived copy ↗
    G=GRAPHICS AND SOUND … P=PLAY CONTROL
    p. 107, Power Meter key · archived copy ↗

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  13. ^Famicom Tsūshin's four reviewers gave Mega Man 5 a cross-review total that Famitsu.com normalizes to 58 of 100; their comments call the series tradition or a rut, the game almost unchanged from Mega Man 4, and as hard as ever.WebFamitsu, Rockman 5 review pagerevised
    How we know
    週刊ファミ通、Xbox 360の場合は40点満点のため、合計点数×2.5点が基準点 58 … 『ロックマン』って良く言うと、伝統。悪くいうと、マンネリ。 … これといった新システムもなく、前作『ロックマン4』とほとんど変わっていない。 … あいかわらず難しい。
    cross review · archived copy ↗

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  14. ^GameSpot's 2003 history of the series found Mega Man 5's ideas wearing thin, praised its graphics and music, blamed its bosses and the market's move to the Super NES for its weak showing, and called it underappreciated and rare.WebGameSpot, History of Mega Man
    How we know
    Mega Man V tried really hard, sporting excellent graphics for the NES and some good tunes, but wacky bosses and the market's shift toward the SNES didn't do much to help it.
    1992, Mega Man V, The Basics · archived copy ↗
    Mega Man was wearing thin in the area of innovation this time around.
    1992, Mega Man V, Gameplay · archived copy ↗
    try to savor this underappreciated and fairly rare title.
    1992, Mega Man V, Final Thoughts · archived copy ↗

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  15. ^ abMega Man 5 keeps Mega Man 4's jump. Both write 5 px/frame ($05.$00) into the vertical speed at $03F0/$03D8 on a jump, and set it to 0 on any rising frame without A.Codeplasticsmoke/megaman5-disassembly-ca65 · plasticsmoke/megaman4-disassembly-ca65
    How we know
    L80A4: lda $AF bne L80B5 lda #$00 sta $03D8 lda #$05 sta $03F0 jmp player_st_air
    src/bank1B.asm#L122-L128 · upstream ↗
    L8259: lda $03F0 bmi L8283 L825E: lda $16 and #$80 bne L8283 lda #$00 sta $03D8 sta $03F0 beq L8283
    src/bank1B.asm#L335-L343 · upstream ↗
    186    LDA #$00                            ; zero sub-velocity
187    STA ent_yvel_sub                    ; Y velocity sub = 0
188    LDA #$05                            ; jump speed 5 px/frame
189    STA ent_yvel                        ; Y velocity = +5 (up)
    src/bank3C.asm lines 186–189 at a63bb6e · upstream ↗
    425    LDA joy1_held                       ; held buttons
426    AND #$80                            ; A still held?
427    BNE L_8338                          ; held: full jump
428    LDA #$00                            ; zero
429    STA ent_yvel_sub                    ; cut jump: Y vel sub = 0
430    STA ent_yvel                        ; cut jump: Y vel = 0
    src/bank3C.asm lines 425–430 at a63bb6e · upstream ↗

    Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-21.

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  16. ^ abMega Man 5 keeps Mega Man 4's slide, 2.5 px/frame for 26 frames ($1A), with a jump out of it on any slide frame a fresh A press comes without Down and there is headroom. The earliest is the slide's 3rd frame, counting the set-up frame (Down and A) as the 1st: a fresh press needs A let go on the 2nd.Codeplasticsmoke/megaman5-disassembly-ca65 · plasticsmoke/megaman4-disassembly-ca65
    How we know
    lda #$1A sta $35 lda #$02 sta $30 lda #$80 sta $03A8 lda #$02 sta $03C0
    src/bank1B.asm#L161-L168 · upstream ↗
    lda $14 and #$80 beq L82C8 lda $16 and #$04 bne L82C8 … jsr probe_horiz lda L0010 bne L82C8 lda #$4C sta $03A8 …
    src/bank1B.asm#L377-L393 · upstream ↗
    217    LDA #$1A                            ; slide duration 26 frames
218    STA $34                             ; set slide timer
219    LDA #$02                            ; state $02 = slide
220    STA player_state                    ; enter slide state
221    LDA #$80                            ; slide speed 2.5 px/frame
    src/bank3C.asm lines 217–226 at a63bb6e · upstream ↗
    474    LDA joy1_press                      ; newly pressed
475    AND #$80                            ; A button?
476    BEQ L_839D                          ; no jump: steering
477    LDA joy1_held                       ; held buttons
478    AND #$04                            ; Down held?
479    BNE L_839D                          ; Down+A: stay sliding
    src/bank3C.asm lines 474–479 at a63bb6e · upstream ↗

    Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-26.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-21.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.

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  17. ^Charge Man's weapon, the Charge Kick, turns Mega Man's slide into an attack.WebGameSpot, History of Mega Man
    How we know
    Charge Man's charge kick, which turned your slide deadly
    1992, Mega Man V, The Weapons and Bosses · archived copy ↗

    The quote matches our archived copy.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-22.

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  18. ^ abMega Man 5 moves Mega Man 4's charge thresholds. On release its counter $38 fires a normal shot from 16 ($10), a half-charged one from 40 ($28), and a full one from 80 ($50), and nothing under 16; Mega Man 4's counter, which starts at 1 on the press, fires nothing under 32, a half charge from 32, and a full one from 92. So the full charge needs a lower count and the half charge a higher one.Codeplasticsmoke/megaman5-disassembly-ca65 · plasticsmoke/megaman4-disassembly-ca65revised
    How we know
    buster_charge_ctl: lda $32 bne L910F lda $30 cmp #$04 beq L910F lda $16 and #$40 bne buster_charge_tick lda $38 cmp #$10 bcc L910F cmp #$50 …
    src/bank1B.asm#L2291-L2311 · upstream ↗
    buster_charge_tick: lda $38 cmp #$20 bne L9148 … L9148: inc $38
    src/bank1B.asm#L2314-L2319 · upstream ↗
    buster_tier_threshold:.byte $28,$50,$FF
    src/bank1B.asm#L2891 · upstream ↗
    buster_tier_preset:.byte $18,$A8,$A9
    src/bank1B.asm#L2892 · upstream ↗
    1751    STY $35                             ; minimum charge (tap)
    src/bank3C.asm line 1751 at a63bb6e · upstream ↗
    1710    CMP #$20                            ; level 1 threshold ($20)
1711    BCC L_8D59                          ; tap shot: normal spawn
1712    INC $36                             ; flash phase 8
1713    CMP #$40                            ; level 2 threshold ($40)
1714    BCC L_8D0C                          ; small charge
1715    INC $36                             ; flash phase 9
1716    CMP #$5C                            ; full charge threshold ($5C)
    src/bank3C.asm lines 1710–1716 at a63bb6e · upstream ↗

    Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-21.

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  19. ^ abMega Man 5 keeps the 0.5 px/frame knockback, always against the way Mega Man faces, but lets the player resist it: with the direction he faces held, the push drops to 0.25 px/frame ($40).Codeplasticsmoke/megaman5-disassembly-ca65 · plasticsmoke/megaman4-disassembly-ca65revised
    How we know
    615player_st_hurt:
    src/bank1B.asm lines 615–637 at 7fd6512 · upstream ↗
    L80C2: lda #$02 sta $08 lda $0528 and #$20 beq L80D1 lda #$01 sta $08
    src/bank1B.asm#L138-L144 · upstream ↗
    803    LDA #$80                            ; knockback speed 0.5 px/frame
804    STA ent_xvel_sub                    ; X velocity sub
805    LDA #$00                            ; zero
806    STA ent_xvel                        ; X velocity px
    src/bank3C.asm lines 803–806 at a63bb6e · upstream ↗

    Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-21.

    Revised after a check by a second AI model, 2026-10-21.

    In the claim ledger

  20. ^Mega Man's dog Rush becomes a springboard (Rush Coil) from the start, and a jet sled (Rush Jet) once Mega Man finds its adaptor.ManualMega Man 5 NES manual
    How we know
    (RC) Rush Coil: Rush tums into a springboard to send Mega Man flying over obstacles. … Rush can only transform into the Rush Coil at the beginning of the game. Mega Man must find the Rush Jet adaptor before Rush can become the Rush Jet.
    p. 10, Robot Reinforcements · archived copy ↗

    The quote matches our archived copy.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-22.

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  21. ^Energy Tanks refill Mega Man's life, and Mega Tanks refill his life and every weapon's energy.ManualMega Man 5 NES manual
    How we know
    Energy Tanks: These tanks of energy refill Mega Man’s supply. … Mega Tank: These tanks of mega-energy refill Mega Man’s energy level. They also refill all of Mega Man’s weapon energy levels.
    p. 13, Special Items · archived copy ↗

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  22. ^Beating a Robot Master can earn a password, which resumes the game from that point.ManualMega Man 5 NES manual
    How we know
    As you reduce Protoman’s robot masters into scrap metal, Mega Man may be rewarded with a secret password.
    p. 13, Using Your Password · archived copy ↗
    The next time you play Mega Man 5, you can continue from where you
    p. 14, Using Your Password · archived copy ↗

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Sources

Code

Primary

Secondary