State of Mega Man

The sad truth, as it stands. We’ve become victims of our own popularity. Sort of. Erdrick wrote:Quote:I don’t care how many polygons are tossed onto the screen, the underlying gameplay of X8 is beyond old, it’s dead. Mega Man should advance. Since it has not, I find myself wondering what makes this iteration any better […]

David Oxford

December 4, 2004

The sad truth, as it stands. We’ve become victims of our own popularity. Sort of.

Erdrick wrote:Quote:I don’t care how many polygons are tossed onto the screen, the underlying gameplay of X8 is beyond old, it’s dead. Mega Man should advance. Since it has not, I find myself wondering what makes this iteration any better than the 40 or 50 that have been released since the series’ conception so long ago. The answer is absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing makes this game better than 40 or 50 other Mega Man titles, so why bother?:Unquote

I echo this man’s sentiments exactly in regards to the Mega Man games.

The NES-bashing and retro-bashing part of his review, I do not care about. It’s that last part that I can emphasize with. To others who have mentioned about Nintendo rehashing stuff like SSBM and Zelda:WW…

Keep in mind, they have not released like… 50 of those games over the past 15 years. Each and every one has had some evolvement or change that at least makes it feel new, while keeping the spirit intact.

Granted, since Nintendo cannot afford to hoarde their IP’s anymore like the days in the 8-bit of yore, they are pumping out more Zelda, Mario, Metroid et al with more frequency, so in some respects, they are following Capcom’s example.

But even Four Swords, on the GC, while at it’s heart is a game that came to North America in 1992, the inclusion of the GBA and a hell of a multiplayer aspect makes it easier to deal with.

I reiterate something though:

I feel this way for Zelda, Mario and the other Nintendo franchises because I have not been run over, backed up over again and generally bludgeoned to death with sequel after sequel with minimal innovation and stagnant gameplay.

I used to love Mega Man… But since 1990 I realized, with the exception of the first MMX game and the MML’s…

They are ALL THE DAMNED SAME GAMES. The only difference is some contrived plot thrown together in about 15 seconds, some tired boss characters and another cliched level here or there.

Capcom has saturated the MM series to the point that I simply do not give a damn about them anymore. There is such a thing as overkill, and Capcom has done more than that…

In homage to Capcom, I will make this analogy:

It’s as if they pulled off M. Bison’s Psycho Crusher move that the CPU uses at the end of SFA3.

If you remember how much that hurt, well, that is a small example of how they drained the life out of that series for me.

Now, I know Mega Man has his fans, still, and I can understand that. I mean, after all, my favorite games are the Dragon Quest/Warrior ones, and they are just as stuck in traditional gameplay styles as any Mega Man game.

Except Enix (S-E now, I suppose.) has released 8 games in that series. Add the remixes and dungeon/monsters spinoffs, and you have maybe 8 more.

That is over the span of nearly 20 years. Mega Man has about… Hell, I lost count years ago. Too many for my liking.

I want Capcom to take a break with Mega Man. Not retire, but just leave it be for a few years. Take some time to reflect on the past games. (That may take a long while, considering.) After such time that fans outside of the hardcore fanbase (Which may be the only ones left soon.) may actually anticipate a new MM game.

What should they do to regain some interest?

I have no idea. I’m no game designer. But what I DO know, is I want them to stop this hyperdrive assault of MM that is so relentlessly unending that it has dulled my interest in a series that I once anticipated on the same level that I still anticipate a new Dragon Quest release.

I own the MM Anniversary Collection on the PS2 and I have played MM1-3. The others, I have not touched, and likely never will. I really want to like Mega Man again, Capcom is just not co-operating with me.

No offense to any Mega Man fans out there. It’s just how I feel for the series at this point in time. I do not begrudge anyone else for liking the MM games.

I don’t really want them to stop with Mega Man games, I just want them to stop with the ones they’ve really been hammering the past few years(X, Battle Network, and maybe, MAYBE Zero), give them a bit of a break and some room to breathe, and give us what many of us have been wanting… a new game in the original series, and a new game in the Legends series. Still get our MM fix, but in a different way.

Frankly, I find the way you bring your opinion to the table much more respectable, though at the same time, I pose the same question to you that I pose to those in the fandom who pick up every new game, only to complain: why do you keep on? If you don’t like it, stop feeding the machine. One guy says it’s because he cares that he complains, though his stuff is more in tune to story or what X’s armor looks like this game, than anything else.

And incidently, I’d be more than willing to go without the over-abundance of Mega Man for a bit, if it meant we might see a new, say, Bionic Commando or something.

Frankly, I think the problem is Battle Network. It’s red hot, and with NT Warrior, it’s bringing in more “n00b” fans who are only just realizing that Mega Man is a video game, and no doubt Capcom is capitalizing on that every way they can, including more X and Zero games, in addition to the BN load.

And I’m not entirely sure I can blame them. I don’t think Capcom’s had a property this red-hot since Street Fighter 2 first came out, so they’re going to ride it as far as they can. And as series creator Inafune once said, the more it makes, the more money he can put into his other stuff when it’s said and done… which seems to imply another Legends, or another original series game.

So it’s a vicious circle right now, and an ironic one. Many compare Battle Network to Pokemon, though the only real comparison is perhaps the business model. And even then, Nintendo doesn’t seem to release as many Pokemon games as Capcom does Battle Network games. CPS2 is responsible for BN, Legends, Classic Mega Man, and I think Zero to some small degree, tho maybe it’s only Inafune there who does anything. So as long as BN is coming down the lines, the only other games there are time for are Zero(by Inticreates) and X(by CPS3).

As much as I like Battle Network, I’d say that fans of other Mega Man games have become victims of the game’s popularity, and all we really can do is ride it out, and deal with what comes in between.

Granted, Inafune could probably farm out the original and Legends series to other teams, but I get the feeling those two are a bit too close to his heart for him to turn it over to others the way he has X(which wasn’t even much his call) and, to some degree, Zero.

LBD “Nytetrayn”

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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