Show Some Love

Posted on Sep 1st 2017 at 12:00:00 PM by (Crabmaster2000)
Posted under Mega Man, Rerelease, Collection, Legacy, Capcom, 8 bit, Nintendo, Wily, Light, Rush, Roll, Protoman



Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 was recently released very much to my delight. Beyond just loving me some classic Mega Man this has been the first opportunity to own Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 on a physical format. That for me was reason enough to pick it up right away. The first Mega Man Legacy Collection was a fantastic compilation where the passion of the team involved was plainly evident, so I had no hesitation picking up Legacy 2 after that experience. Turns out I should have maybe been a bit more skeptical.....



If you're not familiar the original collection, Mega Man Legacy Collection featured Mega Man 1-6 on it. It was stuffed to the brim with music and artwork for fans to explore and enjoy too. My favorite feature by far were the challenges included. There was a massive number of cool little trials meant to both challenge and captivate its players. There were remixed stages where players had to battle their way through specific sections of one of the games. There were challenges that saw players battling their way through mashed up stages across multiple games. There were vanishing block challenges, rush challenges , multi-game wily challenges, and multi-game master robot challenges. These were a blast to do, they were interesting and unique, and pure fan service to those of us who have played through these games so many times and wanted a fun new way to enjoy the Blue Bomber.

The only expectation I had for Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 was a hope for more of the same. I just wanted 7-10 to have the same care they put into 1-6. Turns out that was too much to hope for. While they still have all the artwork and music available to peruse, they dropped the ball HARD on the challenges this time around. There isn't a single mash up and only a measly two remix stages per game that feels very phoned in by comparison. There are no rush challenges or vanishing block trials. What you are given is very basic "beat these bosses", "ok now beat them with just buster", "ok now do those two things again, but with Protoman this time." It's quite sad and uninspired. Even the original challenges on Mega Man 9 and 10 that were included with the game, are in an annoying second menu that you have to leave each game and open a separate area to view, are not included as part of the challenge mode or even the trophy support. Speaking of trophy support, in the first game you have to gold medal every challenge in the game to get trophies, a sign of a true Mega Man Master if you ask me (something which I proudly achieved). In Legacy 2, you merely have to Gold Medal just over half of the sad selection of challenges to obtain all the trophies available.



Mega Man Legacy Collection is the home to 6 amazing games. It really didn't need to go beyond that with the extra content, but it did anyway. It is a prime example of how to remaster/re-release/fan-service a classic series. Legacy 2 is home to two amazing games and two mediocre games; as great as Mega Man 9 and 10 are, 7 and 8 are easily the weakest entries in the series by quite a far margin. Overall, Legacy 2 has far less content than the first collection.  If ever there was a time to step up and put in some extra elbow grease to prove to fans this is worth the purchase (especially after people being confused as to why 7-10 weren't included in the original Legacy Collection in the first place) this was that time, and Capcom missed that mark big time.

I'm very grateful to finally have a physical way to play Mega Man 9 and 10 and the fact that the original challenges for each of those games is included (even if it is in a clunky way) has me satisfied with my purchase. Unfortunately, I'm still left with that "this could have been so much more" feeling.


Permalink | Comments [11] | Digg This Article |


Recent Entries
The Top 5 Survival Horror Games for the Sega Dreamcast (2/20/2024)
Trombone Champ Is a Good Game (12/30/2023)
Exploring the Infinite Fusion Calculator (12/5/2023)
Thoughts on the Nintendo Switch OLED Model (11/21/2023)
Hypnospace Outlaw (10/30/2023)


Comments
 
Then there are some of us, that still struggle to beat Mega Man 2, on Normal difficulty.
 
^
This.
 
That's unfortunate they didn't go full kitchen sink mode with this collection. I still plan on buying this for the base compilation alone, but it's odd they kind of phoned things in with the bonus content this time. Maybe that's a commentary on the fact that by the last few games in the series, Capcom was kind of phoning it in making the games too.
 
Considering the level of detail Crystal Dynamics put in re-creating MM1-6 feeling like it did on the NES, I don't expect MMLC2 to be as good.  Kinda disappointing that Mega Man & Bass isn't included, but to FINALLY get physical versions of Mega Man 9 & 10 makes it worthwhile.
 
Digital Eclipse (Frank Cifaldi & Mike Mika) put together the first Mega Man Legacy Collection. Capcom put together the second Mega Man Legacy Collection. As your review states it's easy to see who was passionate about the source material. Frank Cifaldi has mentioned several times they have a new project in the works and hope to announce it soon. I'm excited to see what they do next.

http://www.digitaleclipse.com/
 
@Addicted: I remember hearing and interview with him on the retronauts podcast about all the time and care that went into making the first one so great.

I just assumed they would have been involved with the second one as well. Too bad they weren't.
 
Hmm, as unfortunate as the barebones nature of the package is, as you say, being the only physical format for MM9 and MM10, I still think it will be worth picking up.  Glad to know this is less of an overall compilation than the first, however, so thank you for your work in detailing that out for us.
 
@MaterialHandlerMike:  One of my favorite memories of the first RWX was being at Bil's house and quickly playing through Mega Man 2 by passing the controller among myself, Crabby, and Duke. Felt like being a kid again.
 
@singlebanana: That was such a blast. The lag was so real though!!!
 
I'm still kinda blown away that this nor the Disney Afternoon Collection saw release on the Nintendo Switch, what the hell is Capcom thinking?!?
 
If you don't own the first collection and have an Xbox One you really should:

https://www.amazon.com/Mega-Man-Legacy-Collection-Digital/dp/B01J8YBCHS/ref=sr_1_1_twi_sof_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505136380&sr=8-1&keywords=megaman+legacy+digital

 Login or register to comment
It appears as though you are not a member of our site, or are not logged in.
It appears as though you can not comment currently. Becoming able to comment though is easy! All you need to do is register for the site! Not only will you be able to access any other site features including the forum and collection tools. If you are a registered user and just need to login then you can do so here.

Comment! It's easy, thoughtful, and who knows you might just enjoy it!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
This is Crabmaster2000's Blog.
View Profile | RSS
Blog Navigation
Browse Bloggers | My Blog
Hot Entries
Hot Community Entries
Site content Copyright © rfgeneration.com unless otherwise noted. Oh, and keep it on channel three.