Now to be fair, there are plenty of scenes in the show, and some other distinct changes that the dub made in strange ways, but a good portion of it comes down to nit-picking in my opinion. Far too many people have put the original show on a pedestal, when it just isn't that great a show in the original audio or the dub. So let's knock the original show down a few pegs, and maybe prop the dub up a little with a point by point comparison!
The Story
For what it's worth, each episode is nearly identical plot wise, with nearly no deviation. It does happen often enough to be noticeable if you've seen both shows though, in the form of a few cut scenes, changed dialog, or just different effects used. The biggest deviation I can think of that actually changes how the plot looks would be from the episode, "Don't Mess With Mama Zap!"
The episode in the original show has Count Zap in a drunken stupor, literally drinking out of the bottle, and ends with the possibility that either something magical happened, or Zap was hallucinating, as he confirms his mother has been dead for quite some time. This can be inferred in the dub version as well, but only if you're catching the subtle hints left in from the original. Either way it's still a weird episode.
Another change goes into Gauss's character, particularly in the episode, "Working for Grave." In the dub, Gauss is shown to highly respect Dr. Wily, but in the original show, he's flat out obsessed with him, and a cross dresser.
As I said, most story changes to the show are pretty minor, and very few of them give different or new context to the situation at hand. In most cases when something is different, the dub will add tons of lines of dialog from characters speaking off screen. I've pointed out continuously that characters in the dub speak ridiculously fast about certain things, and this problem is absent in the original. In fact, sometimes the original doesn't have the characters speaking enough, leaving the situation more confusing than mysterious.A good number of cases I find the dub pulls off individual scenes better than the original, and other times, the original is just better. The shows are mostly identical, but the changes really do go scene to scene. I personally don't see a distinct winner here.
The Characters
The biggest change is not what the characters say, but how they say it, and Mega Man and Lan are quite different from Rockman and Netto. Well, actually, Lan is mostly the same, Brad Swailey's voice just isn't as convincing at being a young kid as Higa Kumiko, the Japanese voice actress. Netto's voice carries more innocence to it, and in a lot of ways makes the character more believable in some of the childish shit he pulls. If there was anything I wish the dub had done, it would be that it should have made an effort to make Lan sound his age.
When it comes to Rockman vs Mega Man, this call is a bit tougher. Frankly, Andrew Francis is a great Mega Man. His voice gives Mega Man a mature sound, without being too old. It feels right. Character wise, Mega Man's dialog has been altered to give him a bit of a bite to him, with a few cocky lines and a trash talking attitude, this Mega Man harks back to the Ruby-Spears character, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.Akiko Kimura's portrayal is a lot more traditional. Rockman is much more serious, earnest, and good natured. This is the Mega Man character you know from the Battle Network games, and if there is any reason to watch both versions of the show, this is it. This is the most significant change, the attitude of the titular character. I think it works both ways if you ask me, though Rockman's portrayal may be only significant to me because of the games I've played. Someone who is just watching the show could take either character as a preference I suppose.
Most of the characters are exactly the same, but the voice actors decided to add a little something to them in the dub. Masa's Texan behavior, and Mr. Match's Scottish accent come to mind, and while not everyone likes these traits, I always found them endearing. Masa's dub voice actor in particular adds so much great dialog to an already well written character, that I just have to prefer him over the original, and the same goes for Mr. Match. I have to say, there maybe some English speaking bias here, because I simply don't know enough Japanese to pick up the nuances and dialects like a native speaker. Perhaps those characters are just as endearing over there if you know what to listen for.
Although Count Zap in the original speaks a lot of really badly broken English, with his catchphrase being "GOAD DAM MIT!" I'm guessing he's supposed to be an American or British character, but he sounds to ridiculous for me in a bad way in the original. If you'll recall, Count Zap is one of my favorites in the dub.
The rest of the cast has such minor changes it's hardly worth bringing up, although Ice Man sounds like a little kid instead of a 40 year old chain smoker, and I prefer Chaud's dub voice actor to the original. This maybe influenced heavily by my speaking English, but I have to say on average, I enjoy the character from the dub a bit better.
The Music
Japan is huge on creating a certain type of theme songs for their shows, and Rockman.exe opens up with a big ballade about fighting with your friendly net navi to solve mysteries and stuff. It's a pretty catchy tune, and if you've played Network Transmission, you've heard it before.
NT Warrior goes with a techno beat as the main theme, and while not as lyrical, it fits the world of all these computer age situations. When either of the main themes start up, Mega Man is generally turning the battle around, and it's time to start cheering!
As for the rest of the tracks, neither show uses more than about 10 total, and many times I felt the original show's selection seemed off in a number of places. Music in editing is as much timing as it is the music, and I simply feel that the dub's timing is much better.
The Cut Content
I speculated a long time ago that many of the episodes that were cut for the dub were done so for the sake of censorship. Just watching the original show, there are lots of language censorship in just about every episode, at least according to the fan translation I watched.
However, I am comfortable in saying that my speculation was mostly wrong, and these episodes were cut because they are by far the most boring pieces of trash I've ever seen involving Mega Man. Every cut episode is awful, absolutely awful. The only thing you miss from any of the cut episodes is a line about how glad Lan is the have Mega Man back after he is resurrected. That's IT! These episodes are on the lowest rungs of the totem pole for quality, especially the episode involving the introduction to that abomination to 3D animation, Aki.
In a show that's already rimming with continuity errors, stilted animation, and absolutely retarded dialog, that was in the script long before they headed overseas, making episodes as bad as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," must of took an excruciating amount of effort. It's so awful. I find it hard to fault the dub for cutting some of the stuff they do, considering they didn't want the show to end up canceled.Final Thoughts
I've never been particularly kind to XEBEC for this show, but I think Rockman.exe gave them the experience they needed to make Star Force as good as it was. When the show was shipped to the US, I think only the most retarded of Japanophile fanboys could seriously make an argument about how the dub ruined the show. The dub isn't perfect, but the main show isn't all that special either. Just cause Mega Man is in it, doesn't mean it's as worthy of the admiration it has.
If you enjoyed the dub, check out the original show for a slightly different take on Mega Man himself. If you didn't enjoy it, Rockman.exe isn't going to convert you by any means.
