The Mega Man series , known in Japan as the Rockman series (ロックマンシリーズ, Rokkuman Shirīzu ? ) , also referred to as the " Classic series " or the " Original series ", is the first series in the Mega Man franchise . Its first video game, Mega Man , was released on December 17, 1987 for Nintendo 's Famicon during the Christmas season in Japan, and was localized a week later for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States.

The titles in the series are called " Mega Man " internationally, or " Rockman " in Japanese lands, followed by an Arabic numeral indicating their chronological order, except for its ninth title, " Mega Man & Bass ".

It debuted on the NES under the 8-bit format in the 2D platform/action genre, with " Mega Man 2 " being its most famous title. By 1995, with " Mega Man 7 ", it entered the 16-bit format of the Super Nintendo , eventually covering 32-bit with " Mega Man 8 " in 1996. In 2008, they returned to 8-bit retroplayability with " Mega Man 9 ". And in 2018, with " Mega Man 11 ", they renewed the format with next-generation graphics.