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Mega Man Legends (video game)
Encyclopedia
Mega Man Legends, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game
released by Capcom
. It is the first game in the Mega Man Legends
sub-series of Mega Man games from Capcom, and the first major 3D
polygonal Mega Man title released in the franchise. It was released on the PlayStation in 1997 in Japan and in 1998 in North America. A Nintendo 64
port was released in 2000 with the same title, but it was renamed Mega Man 64 for the English release in 2001. Another port was released for Microsoft Windows
in 2001, and PlayStation Portable
in 2005, with the latter exclusively in Japan.
It stars a different spiritual incarnation of Mega Man
named Mega Man Volnutt, the game's playable character
. Mega Man Volnutt is a "Digger", a person in charge of investigating ruins from a flooded Earth. During his journey with his friends, their ship crashes in Kattelox Island, where Mega Man decides to confront pirates who are attacking it to obtain its hidden treasure. As an action roleplaying game, Mega Man Legendss gameplay is very different from the ones of the original series despite sharing a few elements.
The game was produced by Keiji Inafune
who remarks that he and the Capcom staff enjoyed designing the game. Since its original release Mega Man Legends has received positive critical response due the series jump from 2D graphics to 3D. Ports for the Nintendo 64 and Windows received negative comments for lacking updates from the PlayStation version whose graphics were considered outdated by the time the ports were released. Nevertheless, critics have praised Mega Man Legends as an enjoyable game in the Mega Man series. Mega Man Legends was followed by the prequel The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
and a sequel titled Mega Man Legends 2
.
games, the main factor being the three-dimensional worlds, and three-dimensional movement therein. Unlike the original Mega Man series which are platform game
s, Legends is an action roleplaying game. The player controls Mega Man Volnutt across the title, in which he has to complete different missions such as investigating ruins or fighting pirates. The player travels through a large world, with various dungeons that are explored in a certain order, as well as a town with non-player character
s to talk to. As such, the plot is revealed through cutscenes.
Although the only way to move in the game is on foot, once Roll Caskett repairs a support car, she is able to directly take Mega Man to specific areas. In Legends, large gems called Refractors are used as a power source. Small shards of them can be exchanged for money, and in the game, enemies that are destroyed will often drop these Refractor Shards. When shards are picked up, the equivalent amount of Zenny, the game's basic unit of currency, is added automatically. The health
of Mega Man can be increased through the game in the shops, while it can be recovered through packs bought at shops, obtaining red spheres from defeated opponents or by asking the character Data to recover Mega Man's health. Mega Man also has a Life Shield which reduces the damage that he can receive from enemies. The damage caused by enemies can also be reduced by obtaining upgrades to Mega Man's armor or his helmet. Mega Man's interactions with characters from the game can also affect the price of objects. If the player makes Mega Man be rude with characters, prices from objects will be increased and the dialogues with people will also change.
The power of Mega Man's main weapon - the Buster Gun - depends on Buster Parts equipped. Buster Parts can be equipped to upgrade four stats of the Buster Gun; Attack (how strong it is), Rapid (how fast it fires), Range (how far the shots go), and Energy (how many shots can be fired before stopping). Buster Parts can be retrieved from stores or from dungeons. Additionally, Roll is able to create Buster Parts from unusable objects found in the ruins. Roll is also able to make weapons for the player, using specific combinations of parts that can be found in dungeons or bought in shops. Many of these weapons supplement the Buster Gun. The only way to refill them in the field is an item that can be bought, but only one can be carried. Only one special weapon can be equipped at a time, and the only way to switch is to talk to Roll, unlike the original series. Special weapons can be upgraded, and have five stats; Attack, Rapid, Range, Energy, and Special. In order to upgrade them, the player must pay a specific amount of Zenny.
. Because of the flooding, only a few sparse islands exist and energy sources are rare. In order to satisfy this increasing demand for energy to power up machinery, quantum refractors found in ancient ruins are used. These refractors are valuable, they serve as an energy source, and their shards are used as currency. However, the main goal of every person is to find the Mother Lode, an item of supposed infinite power that can fill the need for the energy in one swoop. Those who try to excavate these ruins are called "Diggers" ("Digouters" in the Japanese version). The protagonist of the game is Mega Man Volnutt, a Digger living in a ship called Flutter. He lives there alongside Roll Caskett, his Spotter who is searching for her missing father, Barrel Caskett, Roll's grandfather, and Data, a mysterious monkey that talks in gibberish only Mega Man himself can understand. The game's antagonists are pirates known as the Bonnes who want to steal Kattelox's secret treasure in order to become rich. They consist of Teisel Bonne, the leader of the group. His sibling is Tron Bonne, who builds most of their robots used in their elaborate schemes (and develops feelings for Mega Man), and the youngest brother, Bon Bonne, who can only say one word—"Babu!" The Bonnes are accompanied by forty Servbots, robots under the care of Tron.
When Mega Man enters the Main Gate, he discovers it is actually a stasis chamber for the robot Mega Man Juno, a 3rd class bureaucratic unit from Eden, a space station
orbiting above the planet. When he is accidentally awakened from his sleep by Mega Man, Juno makes many strange revelations, among them referring to Mega Man as "Mega Man Trigger", and realizing that Mega Man is suffering from memory loss. Juno claims that the island's population needs to be purged so it will be more controllable confronts Mega Man when he tries to stop him. After a struggle, Juno is defeated and dies. Even with Juno's physical body gone, he transfers his backup data into the systems of Eden, and the Carbon Purification Process was still continuing its preparations. Data gives new commands to the system, stopping the Purification and also deleting Juno's backup data from Eden. Data then reveals to Mega Man that he contains all of his previous memories, when he was Mega Man Trigger. Mega Man had stored his memories into Data as a way to prevent Eden from ever tampering with it. Data promises that he will restore Mega Man's memory when the time comes. The residents proclaim Mega Man a hero and the Caskett family rides the repaired Flutter to continue their journey.
stated that while designing Mega Man Legends, he and the staff wanted it to be entertaining for gamers. He stated that the game did not sell well as it was too early released, but nevertheless, Inafune comments "If we made it at the present time in modern quality, I believe that it would have sold a lot better". Inafune stated his purpose was creating a new Mega Man which would be completely different from all the others. Wanting that game to entertain gamers from all the ages, Inafune decided to mix the action, RPG and adventure genres. He also wanted to add more animation to the game and let the voice actors do various scenes. However, while designing the title Inafune was still doubting whether Mega Man Legends would be an entertaining game. A demo of the game was originally included in the Japanese director's cut
version of Resident Evil
. In the demo, the game had the title of . The game was released in Japan on December 18, 1997, while a re-release with the label of "PlayStation the Best" was published on May 4, 1999. The Soundtrack was composed by Makoto Tomozawa whose purpose was to add various theme songs. The sound designers found challenging making the sounds for the game with Toshio Kijno having never worked in a Mega Man title or Kawakami Tomoyuki finding it thought to the cut-scene animations. The theme for the Japanese version of the game is "Another Sun" and the ending theme is , both by Reika Morishita. On February 21, 1998, Capcom published a CD of the game called . It contains a total of 40 tracks including the opening and ending themes. Tomozawa notes that the CD still lacks other tracks from the game due to the large number of tracks it had.
In December 1997, Capcom USA's President, Bill Gardner, told IGN
that Mega Man Legends would be ported to the Nintendo 64. Although the title at that time was "Mega Man Neo", Gardner stated the title was not decided. In January 1998 the game was renamed " Mega Man Nova" as the general consensus did not find the previous name appealing. The game was released abroad as Mega Man Legends, title which was confirmed in March 1998. By April 1998, the English adaptation of the game was finished, but Capcom decided to delay its release until September of the same year, believing it would fit better during the holiday seasons. The English localization removed an option from the original game in which Mega Man protects Tron from a dog chasing her; while in the Japanese version, Mega Man could either kick or calm the dog, in the English release he could only calm to the dog. Other changes to the English version were the renames of character such as the protagonist Mega Man Volnutt's whose original name is Rock Volnutt. The PC port of the game was first announced by Capcom in the Tokyo Game Show
from April 2000 alongside Dino Crisis
and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
. The PlayStation Portable
version of Mega Man Legends was released in Japan on August 4, 2005. It was re-released on December 21, 2006 and January 29, 2009, with the latter also including the PSP port of Mega Man Legends 2. Although a North American release of the port was planned, it was cancelled.
liked the variations of Mega Man's special weapons as "There is plenty of shoot-em-up action for fans of traditional Mega Man titles." The storyline of the game was also praised, being labelled as "solid" by Game Informer and "engrossing" by GamePro
, the latter praising the bosses characters as one of the best ones from the whole series. On the other hand, the game's difficulty received mixed reviews with focus on the boss battles, but praise in the addition of a tutorial mode later added to the Nintendo 64 port.
The N64 port, however, received criticism by Famitsu
for being too similar to the original port of the game. IGN
commented that the N64 port "was a poor experience" so "one has to wonder why Capcom has decided to make Nintendo 64 owners suffer through it unchanged?" GameSpot thought that the graphics were outdated and that apart from not having any update from the original game, some music and sound clips were lost during conversion. The PC version received a more negative review; GameSpot
gave it a "bad" 3.6 out of 10 stating gamers would find the PlayStation port more worthwhile. Similarly to Famitsus review of the Nintendo 64 port, GameSpot complained about the lack of additions to the PC port. The PC's conversions of the cutscenes during the game were found to have a mistake which makes a character start a dialogue while another one is still talking.
Game Rankings
had an average of 73.73% for the PS version. The PC and Nintendo 64 version had lower averages of 33.67% and 63.94%, respectively. Metacritic
had 59 favourable reviews out of 100 for the Nintendo 64 port.
In a 2007 retrospective of the Mega Man series, Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com
ranked Mega Man Legends as "Worth it!", with praise focused on the setting, the plot, the English voice acting and the boss battles. GamesRadar
shared similar opinions, stating "it was a complete overhaul in every way" and noting that its jump to 3D graphics "seems totally lost in this day and age..." On the other hand, ScrewAttack
placed Mega Man Legends fourth in their article, "Top Ten Worst 2D to 3D Games", with criticism focused in the game controls, the camera, and the main character's voice. Allgame
mentioned that while the game "had some significant problems that kept it from being anything more than a diversion" with its most notable one being the controls which were improved in the sequel. Mega Man's design was third in GamePros "The 8 Worst Game Character Makeovers Ever" in which the author Patrick Shaw commented that having Mega Man without a helmet "just doesn't work". GamesRadar's article "Gaming's most absurdly oversized limbs" featured the game as an example of games with characters' oversized arms. In 2008, Joystiq
's Wesley Fenlon listed Mega Man Legends as a potential game to be ported for the Wii
with comments focused in the game's and the console's controls. In December 1998, a Capcom representative stated that Mega Man Legends became a very popular game, and due to this, the staff decided to release the spin-off The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
.
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
released by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
. It is the first game in the Mega Man Legends
Mega Man Legends
Mega Man Legends may refer to:* Mega Man Legends series, a Mega Man series occurring after the Mega Man ZX series* Mega Man Legends , the first game in the series...
sub-series of Mega Man games from Capcom, and the first major 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
polygonal Mega Man title released in the franchise. It was released on the PlayStation in 1997 in Japan and in 1998 in North America. A Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
port was released in 2000 with the same title, but it was renamed Mega Man 64 for the English release in 2001. Another port was released for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
in 2001, and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
in 2005, with the latter exclusively in Japan.
It stars a different spiritual incarnation of Mega Man
Mega Man (character)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a cybernetic video game character, and the main protagonist of what has been referred to as the original Mega Man series developed by Capcom since 1987. The pixel art for the character was created by the designer of the original game in the series, credited under...
named Mega Man Volnutt, the game's playable character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
. Mega Man Volnutt is a "Digger", a person in charge of investigating ruins from a flooded Earth. During his journey with his friends, their ship crashes in Kattelox Island, where Mega Man decides to confront pirates who are attacking it to obtain its hidden treasure. As an action roleplaying game, Mega Man Legendss gameplay is very different from the ones of the original series despite sharing a few elements.
The game was produced by Keiji Inafune
Keiji Inafune
is a video game producer and illustrator. He was the former head of Research & Development and Online Business and Global Head of Production at Capcom, best known as the illustrator and co-designer of the character Mega Man, as well as the producer of the Onimusha and Dead Rising video game series...
who remarks that he and the Capcom staff enjoyed designing the game. Since its original release Mega Man Legends has received positive critical response due the series jump from 2D graphics to 3D. Ports for the Nintendo 64 and Windows received negative comments for lacking updates from the PlayStation version whose graphics were considered outdated by the time the ports were released. Nevertheless, critics have praised Mega Man Legends as an enjoyable game in the Mega Man series. Mega Man Legends was followed by the prequel The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, known in Japan as , is a video game that was developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. Released in Japan in 1999 and in North America and Europe in 2000, the game is part of the Mega Man Legends series and the prequel of the first Legends game...
and a sequel titled Mega Man Legends 2
Mega Man Legends 2
Mega Man Legends 2, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game released by Capcom in 2000, acting as a sequel to Mega Man Legends. It was released for the PlayStation in April 2000 in Japan, October 2000 in North America and August 2001 in Europe...
.
Gameplay
Mega Man Legends differs greatly from the platforming gameplay of past Mega ManMega Man
Mega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
games, the main factor being the three-dimensional worlds, and three-dimensional movement therein. Unlike the original Mega Man series which are platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
s, Legends is an action roleplaying game. The player controls Mega Man Volnutt across the title, in which he has to complete different missions such as investigating ruins or fighting pirates. The player travels through a large world, with various dungeons that are explored in a certain order, as well as a town with non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s to talk to. As such, the plot is revealed through cutscenes.
Although the only way to move in the game is on foot, once Roll Caskett repairs a support car, she is able to directly take Mega Man to specific areas. In Legends, large gems called Refractors are used as a power source. Small shards of them can be exchanged for money, and in the game, enemies that are destroyed will often drop these Refractor Shards. When shards are picked up, the equivalent amount of Zenny, the game's basic unit of currency, is added automatically. The health
Health (gaming)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
of Mega Man can be increased through the game in the shops, while it can be recovered through packs bought at shops, obtaining red spheres from defeated opponents or by asking the character Data to recover Mega Man's health. Mega Man also has a Life Shield which reduces the damage that he can receive from enemies. The damage caused by enemies can also be reduced by obtaining upgrades to Mega Man's armor or his helmet. Mega Man's interactions with characters from the game can also affect the price of objects. If the player makes Mega Man be rude with characters, prices from objects will be increased and the dialogues with people will also change.
The power of Mega Man's main weapon - the Buster Gun - depends on Buster Parts equipped. Buster Parts can be equipped to upgrade four stats of the Buster Gun; Attack (how strong it is), Rapid (how fast it fires), Range (how far the shots go), and Energy (how many shots can be fired before stopping). Buster Parts can be retrieved from stores or from dungeons. Additionally, Roll is able to create Buster Parts from unusable objects found in the ruins. Roll is also able to make weapons for the player, using specific combinations of parts that can be found in dungeons or bought in shops. Many of these weapons supplement the Buster Gun. The only way to refill them in the field is an item that can be bought, but only one can be carried. Only one special weapon can be equipped at a time, and the only way to switch is to talk to Roll, unlike the original series. Special weapons can be upgraded, and have five stats; Attack, Rapid, Range, Energy, and Special. In order to upgrade them, the player must pay a specific amount of Zenny.
Setting and characters
The Legends series takes place on a flooded EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Because of the flooding, only a few sparse islands exist and energy sources are rare. In order to satisfy this increasing demand for energy to power up machinery, quantum refractors found in ancient ruins are used. These refractors are valuable, they serve as an energy source, and their shards are used as currency. However, the main goal of every person is to find the Mother Lode, an item of supposed infinite power that can fill the need for the energy in one swoop. Those who try to excavate these ruins are called "Diggers" ("Digouters" in the Japanese version). The protagonist of the game is Mega Man Volnutt, a Digger living in a ship called Flutter. He lives there alongside Roll Caskett, his Spotter who is searching for her missing father, Barrel Caskett, Roll's grandfather, and Data, a mysterious monkey that talks in gibberish only Mega Man himself can understand. The game's antagonists are pirates known as the Bonnes who want to steal Kattelox's secret treasure in order to become rich. They consist of Teisel Bonne, the leader of the group. His sibling is Tron Bonne, who builds most of their robots used in their elaborate schemes (and develops feelings for Mega Man), and the youngest brother, Bon Bonne, who can only say one word—"Babu!" The Bonnes are accompanied by forty Servbots, robots under the care of Tron.
Story
The game begins with Mega Man Volnutt trying to exit a ruin after finding the refractor inside. After dealing with the Reaverbots blocking his way out, he makes his way to the Flutter, which leaves the ruin. However, the Flutter experiences some engine problems and crash lands on Kattelox Island. From there, the Casketts try to find a way to repair their ship. However, when the pirates the Bonnes attack Kattelox's city with giant mechanicals, Mega Man decides to stop them. Once Mega Man is able to defeat each member individually, Kattelox's mayor, Amelia, tells Mega Man the Bonnes are searching for the island's secret treasure and that it is said if somebody obtains it, a disaster will happen in the island. Amelia asks Mega Man to explore the island's ruins in order to investigate it. With a refractor found in a ruin, Roll and Mega Man are able to repair the Flutter, allowing them to find a cave to continue exploring the island. While exploring the cave, Mega Man activates the Main Gate, a dungeon where he should be able to find the reason why Reaverbots from the island are being activated. Before being able to enter into the Main Gate, Mega Man once again confronts the Bonnes who after being defeated once again, decide to let Mega Man enter the Main Gate and then take their chance to steal the treasure.When Mega Man enters the Main Gate, he discovers it is actually a stasis chamber for the robot Mega Man Juno, a 3rd class bureaucratic unit from Eden, a space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
orbiting above the planet. When he is accidentally awakened from his sleep by Mega Man, Juno makes many strange revelations, among them referring to Mega Man as "Mega Man Trigger", and realizing that Mega Man is suffering from memory loss. Juno claims that the island's population needs to be purged so it will be more controllable confronts Mega Man when he tries to stop him. After a struggle, Juno is defeated and dies. Even with Juno's physical body gone, he transfers his backup data into the systems of Eden, and the Carbon Purification Process was still continuing its preparations. Data gives new commands to the system, stopping the Purification and also deleting Juno's backup data from Eden. Data then reveals to Mega Man that he contains all of his previous memories, when he was Mega Man Trigger. Mega Man had stored his memories into Data as a way to prevent Eden from ever tampering with it. Data promises that he will restore Mega Man's memory when the time comes. The residents proclaim Mega Man a hero and the Caskett family rides the repaired Flutter to continue their journey.
Development and release
Producer Keiji InafuneKeiji Inafune
is a video game producer and illustrator. He was the former head of Research & Development and Online Business and Global Head of Production at Capcom, best known as the illustrator and co-designer of the character Mega Man, as well as the producer of the Onimusha and Dead Rising video game series...
stated that while designing Mega Man Legends, he and the staff wanted it to be entertaining for gamers. He stated that the game did not sell well as it was too early released, but nevertheless, Inafune comments "If we made it at the present time in modern quality, I believe that it would have sold a lot better". Inafune stated his purpose was creating a new Mega Man which would be completely different from all the others. Wanting that game to entertain gamers from all the ages, Inafune decided to mix the action, RPG and adventure genres. He also wanted to add more animation to the game and let the voice actors do various scenes. However, while designing the title Inafune was still doubting whether Mega Man Legends would be an entertaining game. A demo of the game was originally included in the Japanese director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
version of Resident Evil
Resident Evil (video game)
Resident Evil, known as in Japan, is a survival horror video game by Capcom. The first installment in the Resident Evil series, it was originally released in 1996 for the PlayStation and was subsequently ported to the Sega Saturn and PC. In 2002, a remake of the game was released for the Nintendo...
. In the demo, the game had the title of . The game was released in Japan on December 18, 1997, while a re-release with the label of "PlayStation the Best" was published on May 4, 1999. The Soundtrack was composed by Makoto Tomozawa whose purpose was to add various theme songs. The sound designers found challenging making the sounds for the game with Toshio Kijno having never worked in a Mega Man title or Kawakami Tomoyuki finding it thought to the cut-scene animations. The theme for the Japanese version of the game is "Another Sun" and the ending theme is , both by Reika Morishita. On February 21, 1998, Capcom published a CD of the game called . It contains a total of 40 tracks including the opening and ending themes. Tomozawa notes that the CD still lacks other tracks from the game due to the large number of tracks it had.
In December 1997, Capcom USA's President, Bill Gardner, told IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
that Mega Man Legends would be ported to the Nintendo 64. Although the title at that time was "Mega Man Neo", Gardner stated the title was not decided. In January 1998 the game was renamed " Mega Man Nova" as the general consensus did not find the previous name appealing. The game was released abroad as Mega Man Legends, title which was confirmed in March 1998. By April 1998, the English adaptation of the game was finished, but Capcom decided to delay its release until September of the same year, believing it would fit better during the holiday seasons. The English localization removed an option from the original game in which Mega Man protects Tron from a dog chasing her; while in the Japanese version, Mega Man could either kick or calm the dog, in the English release he could only calm to the dog. Other changes to the English version were the renames of character such as the protagonist Mega Man Volnutt's whose original name is Rock Volnutt. The PC port of the game was first announced by Capcom in the Tokyo Game Show
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
from April 2000 alongside Dino Crisis
Dino Crisis
is a survival horror video game by Capcom, originally released in 1999 for the PlayStation and later ported to Microsoft Windows and Dreamcast in 2000...
and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, released in Japan as is a survival horror video game and the sequel to Resident Evil 2, developed and published by Capcom. The game was released for the PlayStation, and was subsequently ported to the Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo GameCube...
. The PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
version of Mega Man Legends was released in Japan on August 4, 2005. It was re-released on December 21, 2006 and January 29, 2009, with the latter also including the PSP port of Mega Man Legends 2. Although a North American release of the port was planned, it was cancelled.
Reception
Since its release, Mega Man Legends has received positive critical response from video game publications although the ports for Nintendo 64 and PC received from mixed to negative comments. The jump from a 2D platform video game series to a 3D action role-playing game was well received, as reviewers compared it with other video game franchises whose changes were overall negative. Despite the change, critics liked how Legends shares various elements from the original Mega Man series. Game InformerGame Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
liked the variations of Mega Man's special weapons as "There is plenty of shoot-em-up action for fans of traditional Mega Man titles." The storyline of the game was also praised, being labelled as "solid" by Game Informer and "engrossing" by GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
, the latter praising the bosses characters as one of the best ones from the whole series. On the other hand, the game's difficulty received mixed reviews with focus on the boss battles, but praise in the addition of a tutorial mode later added to the Nintendo 64 port.
The N64 port, however, received criticism by Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
for being too similar to the original port of the game. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
commented that the N64 port "was a poor experience" so "one has to wonder why Capcom has decided to make Nintendo 64 owners suffer through it unchanged?" GameSpot thought that the graphics were outdated and that apart from not having any update from the original game, some music and sound clips were lost during conversion. The PC version received a more negative review; GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
gave it a "bad" 3.6 out of 10 stating gamers would find the PlayStation port more worthwhile. Similarly to Famitsus review of the Nintendo 64 port, GameSpot complained about the lack of additions to the PC port. The PC's conversions of the cutscenes during the game were found to have a mistake which makes a character start a dialogue while another one is still talking.
Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
had an average of 73.73% for the PS version. The PC and Nintendo 64 version had lower averages of 33.67% and 63.94%, respectively. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
had 59 favourable reviews out of 100 for the Nintendo 64 port.
In a 2007 retrospective of the Mega Man series, Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
ranked Mega Man Legends as "Worth it!", with praise focused on the setting, the plot, the English voice acting and the boss battles. GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
shared similar opinions, stating "it was a complete overhaul in every way" and noting that its jump to 3D graphics "seems totally lost in this day and age..." On the other hand, ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
placed Mega Man Legends fourth in their article, "Top Ten Worst 2D to 3D Games", with criticism focused in the game controls, the camera, and the main character's voice. Allgame
Allgame
Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....
mentioned that while the game "had some significant problems that kept it from being anything more than a diversion" with its most notable one being the controls which were improved in the sequel. Mega Man's design was third in GamePros "The 8 Worst Game Character Makeovers Ever" in which the author Patrick Shaw commented that having Mega Man without a helmet "just doesn't work". GamesRadar's article "Gaming's most absurdly oversized limbs" featured the game as an example of games with characters' oversized arms. In 2008, Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
's Wesley Fenlon listed Mega Man Legends as a potential game to be ported for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
with comments focused in the game's and the console's controls. In December 1998, a Capcom representative stated that Mega Man Legends became a very popular game, and due to this, the staff decided to release the spin-off The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, known in Japan as , is a video game that was developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. Released in Japan in 1999 and in North America and Europe in 2000, the game is part of the Mega Man Legends series and the prequel of the first Legends game...
.
External links
- Rockman Dash official website (N64)
- Rockman Dash official website (PSP)
- Mega Man Legends at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...