Megaman Legends Review

We all know Megaman (Rockman in Japan) as the little blue dude with an arm mounted gun who fights other robots in a 2D world. We also know about his successor X, another blue guy with several new armor with different color palates who also shoot down evil robots (Mavericks). Both are very successful franchise from the one and only Capcom but did you know that they made took another spin on the franchise? It was called Megaman Legends (Rockman Dash in Japan)a 3D take on the traditional 2D shooting mechanics of the series. New to this game are RPG and dungeon crawling mechanics

The story of the game revolves around the island of Kattelox and the legendary treasure hidden underneath it. You play as Megaman Volnutt, a digger (A person who explores the ruins of an advance civilization looking for lost technology and a mysterious and powerful power source called Refractors) who crash landed in Kattelox. You are accompanied by Roll Caskett, (your mechanic, spotter and chauffeur) Data (your robotic monkey pet that saves your game) and Roll's grandfather Barrell Caskett (Senior Digger). Through some weird coincidence a pirate family calling themselves "The Bonnes" just happend to be also in the island and forcing the mayor to hand them over the keys to the many ruins in the island in hopes of finding the legendary treasure for themselves. Megaman being the good guy and also because Gramps is a good friend of the mayor was tasked to defend the island against the pirates and get the treasure before they do.

Unlike the other Megaman games where go to a level, run through to the level boss, kill it, do it several time until you unlock the final boss, beat it to win the game and save the world, this one has some RPG elements in it, you find parts that upgrades your gun and develops special weapons, you also help out the island citizens of Kattelox with their problems including but not limited to pirate attacks. It also have exploration elements both in the over world, the beautiful island of Kattelox, and the intricate network of ruins underground.

Combat is similar with its predecessors, you jump, you shoot and use special weapons like in the other games but in 3D world. There's a good variety of enemies with their own set of mechanic. Speaking of enemies, the bosses are really amazing and have a sense of epicness in them especially the final boss and also all the battles with the Bonnes' robot.

The music is nice and appropriate with the locations. The sudden beep that plays every time there is an enemy nearby prepares you for the incoming enemy attack. This game also have a good set of voice overs during cutscenes considering this comes from a Playstation game. The voice acting is good enough that they add to the personality of the characters making them more lovable. Speaking of NPCs you will meet several of them that are actually interesting, the Pirates are one of the most lovable ones even if they try to kill you several times.

Unfortunately, I find the game really easy. Enemy attacks are easy to spot, their projectiles move slowly and are easy to dodge. Though this might be intentional as a form of progression. The longer you play the more skilled you become at predicting the enemy attack and firing your gun. This game has a hard mode but you must finish the game first before having the option to play in it. Some of you special weapons are also very cheesy, 2 of them I think are really over powered especially when you maxed their upgrades but it will take several hours of farming to do so.

The dungeon design is kinda lack luster, they are simply re-skins; however, the layout of the dungeons is amazing. at first you will see several seemingly individual dungeons but as you unlock more abilities like super jump and drilling, you will actually see that all the dungeons are connected in some way that even the final dungeon is connected to the very first dungeon you enter. This to me is really amazing work.

This game has a lot of interesting features and mechanics, it is enjoyable and entertaining enough that I played this game several times. It seriously requires a sequel which was given to us as Megaman Legends 2 which also requires a part 3 but that is another story.