The Blue Bomber in all his glory.
The nostalgia I have for the Mega Man series is vast. I played the living crap out of Mega Man 3 when I was a kid and played the subsequent ones as well. Mega Man is one of those classic “Nintendo Hard” games where memorization and dedication was needed to complete them. They were fun, had a lot of charm, and really set the stage for 2D platfomers that would come in later years. Now, I can relive those times on my 3DS with the Mega Man Legacy Collection.
For those who have been living under a rock for the past, oh, 20 years, let me explain the concept of Mega Man. Mega Man is a little robot boy created by Dr. Light who has the ability to fire projectiles out of his Mega Buster arm cannon. He can also absorb the powers of other enemy robot masters. Certain robot masters are weak to certain abilities, and Mega Man must use these powers to his advantage in order to stop the evil Dr. Wily from taking over the world in the year 20XX. Mega Man also has a robot dog; yeah…that about sums it up.
Platforms: 3DS
MSRP: $29.99
Price I’d pay: $29.99
The collection has Mega Man 1-6 playable in all their 8-bit glory. Stand outs for me and many others would be Mega Man 2, 3, and 4. I always enjoyed 5 and 6, but never as much as the previous ones. Mega Man 1 was actually a game I didn’t play up until the early 2000’s. Being the first game, I was a bit too young to play it at the time, but I eventually did play and complete it later on in life. It’s a brutal game to say the least. It still is.
Along with the original games, it also comes with the original feel to them. Along with actually feeling like the original NES titles, this collection keeps a lot of the glitches and bugs that were present in the NES versions. It makes it feel authentic, but at times, the slow down and hiccups here and there hindered me just like they did back in the day. Granted, for the purists, this is a must to make it feel just right. I can take it or leave it. It does help out when fighting bosses I can still pause and unpause the game to do multiple hits with my shots. Yeah, I’m a cheater. So, what?
Along with all these games, the collection has a museum to check out artwork and profiles of enemies. It even allows players to try out boss fights right then and there. Of course, there’s a full soundtrack player that allowed me to listen to every game’s amazing and catchy soundtrack as well as a really cool look at what the game cartridges even looked like. It actually has it all in a nice little package.
There are also challenges players can attempt much like NES Remix did that range from beating bosses to finishing sections of certain levels in an allotted time. It adds a little replay value to it after completing all six games.
If there is one issue I have with the collection is that the 3DS, while a nice portable experience, may be a bit too small for my liking. The game doesn’t utilize the widescreen of the 3DS and everything is in boxed form with borders on the left and right of the screen. I get why this is, but on a small 3DS screen, it can make for a difficult time seeing everything without having to squint. Maybe I’m just getting old. Or maybe I need to upgrade to a 3DS XL.
The 3DS version also supports amiibos and the collector’s edition actually comes with a gold Mega Man amiibo. I unfortunately wasn’t able to check out their functionality, but from I can gather, they can be scanned in to generate more challenge levels.
While I can compare the console versions of this collection to the 3DS one, I can say for certain it adds portability to the entire package. While the screen size may be an issue for some, it doesn’t stop this Capcom classic from being a pretty great package overall. The museum is a great distraction, and the challenges add a bit more to the play time. Even then, if you’re not a master at these games, they can very well take you some time to complete. Mega Man has never been known as a walk in the park when it came to difficulty and this port tries its best to stay true to the original feel. Fans new and old should most certainly check out this collection. I highly recommend it.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.