Mega Man Legends (video game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mega Man Legends


This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It may be deleted after Saturday, 2 February 2008.
Developer(s) Capcom Production Studio 2
Publisher(s) Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Designer(s) Yoshinori Kawano
Platform(s) PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable
Release date PlayStation
JP December 18, 1997
NA August 31, 1998
PAL December 4, 1998
Nintendo 64
JP November 22, 2000
NA January 10, 2001
Windows
NA July 14, 2001
JP June 18, 2004
PlayStation Portable
JP August 4, 2005
Genre(s) Action-adventure/RPG
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone
Media

Mega Man Legends, known in Japan as Rockman DASH (ロックマンDASH Rokkuman Dasshu?), is the first game in the Mega Man Legends sub-series of Mega Man games from Capcom. It was released on the PlayStation in 1997, Nintendo 64 in 2000 under the title Mega Man 64, Microsoft Windows in 2001, and PlayStation Portable in 2005. It stars a different spiritual incarnation of Mega Man, with the personal name MegaMan (Rock in the Japanese version; explained further in the article) and the surname Volnutt. Apparently the series takes place many thousand years after the Zero series, according to Rockman Perfect Works Sourcebook.

Contents

[edit] Story

The Legends series take place in a flooded Earth; (which is referred to as Terra in the second game by Yuna) supposedly it is many thousands of years after the Mega Man X series (or more logically, the Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX series). 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, refractor shards found in ancient ruins are used. These refractor shards are valuable, they serve as an energy source, and 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). Those who assist information-wise from an outside location are called "Spotters".

The game begins with MegaMan Volnutt, a Digger 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, an airship which leaves the ruin. The Flutter doubles as a "home" for the Caskett family. This includes Roll, his Spotter, Barrel Caskett, their grandfather, and Data, a mysterious monkey that talks in gibberish only MegaMan himself can understand. However, the Flutter experiences some engine problems and crash lands on Kattelox Island. From there, the Caskett family tries to find a way to repair their ship. They also meet much antagonism from air pirates called the Bonnes. They consist of Teisel Bonne, the leader of the group. His sibling Tron, who is a mechanical genius and builds most of their robots used in their elegant schemes, and develops feelings for the main character. The last is Bon, who can only say one word—"Babu!" The Bonnes can understand him anyway. They too are seeking refractor crystals but they steal from others and only want to become rich. What first appears to be a straightforward task of repairing the Flutter becomes much more as these ruins are revealed to be related to the so called "Main Gate", a place feared by the residents of the island because of a legend that a mysterious being lurks within.

The Main Gate is actually revealed to be 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 MegaMan, Juno makes many strange revelations, calling him "Mega Man Trigger" and claiming how the island's population needs to be purged so that it becomes more controllable. He calls the residents of the island carbons, which will not be explored further until the events of the sequel. At one point Juno realizes that Mega Man Trigger is suffering from "memory loss" and electrically shocks him in order to "reinitialize" him. The Bonnes help him escape the electrical trap and sends him to confront Juno while rooting for him. After a struggle, Juno concedes defeat and dies, due to him being a "3rd class Bureaucratic Model", in comparison to Mega Man Trigger being a "1st class Purifer Model".

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 that he contains MegaMan's previous memories, of when he was Mega Man Trigger. Mega Man Trigger put his memories into Data as a way to prevent Eden from ever tampering with it. Data promises that he will restore MegaMan's memory when the time comes. The residents proclaim MegaMan as a hero and the Caskett family rides the repaired Flutter to new horizons.

[edit] Gameplay

Mega Man Legends differs greatly from the platforming gameplay of past Mega Man games, the main factor being the three-dimensional worlds, and three-dimensional movement therein. The camera is always behind MegaMan. By default he will move without changing direction, and the L1 and R1 buttons are used to turn (although turning can be reassigned to the left and right keys by pressing SELECT in the submenu). If desired, one can press Circle while MegaMan is running in a certain direction for the camera to immediately face that way. Pressing L2 allows the player to aim while standing still, and R2 allows the player to lock on to an enemy. However, MegaMan cannot move while locked on or aiming. Another primary difference is MegaMan Volnutt's Buster Gun. It cannot be charged but holding Square does auto-fire. The amount fired 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). Of course, no combination of parts makes all four stats perfect (except for the Buster Max), so it is up to the player to decide what combination of parts suits the situation best.

The player travels through a large world, with various dungeons that are explored in a certain order, as well as a town with NPCs to talk to. As such, the plot is revealed through cutscenes, many of which have voice acting to accompany the text.

Legends employs a money system. In the 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.

[edit] Special weapons

Special weapons are not obtained from bosses. Instead, Roll Caskett is 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, such as the Active Buster (a homing missile launcher). 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. Special weapons can be upgraded, and have five stats; Attack, Rapid, Range, Energy, and Special (an upgrade specific to each weapon). Not every weapon can be upgraded in all five categories.

[edit] Music

  • The theme for the Japanese version of the game is "Another Sun" by Reika Morishita and the ending theme is "Anata no Kaze ga Fuku kara", also by the same person.

[edit] Japanese/English version differences and errors

  • Purifier Units in the Japanese version are called Irregular Hunters, the same term used for Maverick Hunters in the X series. Also the world of Terra is called Earth in original Japanese version. (This was carried from Megaman V for the Game Boy, where a enemy named Terra was originally called Earth in the Japense version.) This is in contradiction with X series calling the world "Earth". The main character is called "Rock Volnutt" in the Japanese version. In the English version, all occurrences of "Rock" are replaced by "MegaMan".


[edit] References

[edit] External links

Languages