Hey everyone,
I've decided to take on a new series for review, though I'm changing up the format and website. I'll occasionally still post Mega Man stuff, but now I'll be doing so from my tumblr account. If you enjoyed any of my previous work, and you'd like to see my thoughts on different games and series, check it out at http://cycomatix.tumblr.com/
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Monday, December 17, 2012
Mega Man's 25th Anniversary: Street Fighter x Mega Man
Capcom USA is going to be watching this game closely, and Capcom USA Senior VP Christian Svensson promises there will be more to come this year. What that entails exactly is anyone's guess, but for now the only official Capcom game we have to tide us over is this one. This morning, I played through the entire game and I'd thought I'd post a quick review since today is a pretty special day for one of my favorite games.
Street Fighter x Mega Man was a interesting little fan game floating around as a demo in its early stages in 2010. I believe at the time it only had Chun Li's stage available, and in a very early form. It showed potential, but many fan games remain in limbo for such a long time you wonder if the project will ever come to fruition. However, Seow Zong Hui, the game's creator, managed to get Capcom's backing, giving this title the extra push most fan games would only dream to have. With the game getting published as a free release on Capcom's own website, Seow Zong Hui now is not only living that dream, he gets to be a part of legacy.
The game goes right into the roots of the classic 8-bit series with your jumping and shooting controls feeling right as home as if they were straight from the first six games themselves. I played on an X-box 360 game pad, and while some configuration was needed, and there was a lack of D-Pad support, the game controlled well, as if a direct continuation of the original six games. Sliding and charge shots also return, two things notably absent from Mega Man's arsenal since Mega Man 9, and you'll need them, since SFxMM's boss fights are some of the most action charged of the franchise.
Easily the best part of this game is getting to a boss and having a duel with your Mega Buster. The boss movements are quick, and most of their attacks flow without any significantly noticeable pattern. Combat against them feels great, and you'll be surprised how flexible the system is against them. Dodging is all reflex based, and since the bosses don't seem to have significantly noticeable patterns, and you'll find that sliding is your most powerful tool in this game. You get a lot more freedom with the slide than a typical Mega Man game, and it works a lot of the time it feels like it wouldn't in previous entries, such as sliding under Chun Li's spin kick. You'll be required to learn their attacks, and be ready to switch up your defense on the fly as most of the bosses pull out just about any move from any other move. Bosses will also build up special attack meters based on the damage you dish out to them, and when it fills up, they'll unleash a more devastating attack that you'll have to be on the ready for. Special weapons all require a bit of finesse to use against the bosses as well, as they usually require some thinking to make the most out of, such as a weapon you'll have to use to reflect Ryu's hadoken's back at him.
Each boss resembles a Mega Man version of themselves from their respective games, and range from silly looking to awful. Most of them just look like a modified Mega Man sprite, but a couple in particular, Urien and Rolento, are pretty rough around the edges. They animate well though, and it's pretty funny that Mega Man uses Dan as his weapons training test dummy.
The stages themselves need a bit more polish. There's a lot of branching paths in this game, but also weird dead ends that don't seem to go anywhere, and outside of a few levels having a special gimmick or two, aren't particularly memorable. The enemies are well thought out in placement though, and a lot of this game you'll have to stop and think about how you'll want to approach the enemies in the room, as each one of them will have different types of attacks you can't deal with by charging directly head on. That said, a few of them feel like they have a bit more health than necessary, which means sometimes the better option is just to take a hit and run through it.
The music is a blend of classic Mega Man themes and Street Fighter remixes. You'll hear the inspiration in each stage, and the original score gets the job done for the most part. There's nothing in here on the levels of Mega Man 2, X, ZX or Mega Man 9, but it works well enough.
The weapons are all pretty good as well, each having their own little utility. Some of them are a bit harder to figure out the proper use for, such as the weapon you obtain from Blanka, which is reminiscent of the Mega Ball from Mega Man 8. Each weapon has clearly designed utilities, and its easy to recognize when certain weapons will be effective in certain situations, which is something even most official Mega Man games have trouble with.
Overall the game is worth playing just to experience the boss fights, but lacks the total package polish of an official game. All of the game's story is packaged in less than a paragraph of text stashed away in the game's readme file, and the game lacks a proper intro or ending. And it ends abruptly too, with a final encounter with M. Bison in a field that feels pretty anti-climatic. It makes you wonder if anything was cut to make it out for the anniversary in time.
Capcom is throwing us a bone for now, and SFxMM satiates more than completely satisfies, but its well worth the price of admission. While the fight for everlasting peace, or at least the push for new games continues, we have to look back at the character's roots to understand his success. In its day, Mega Man 2 was an underdog that Capcom didn't believe in and almost never made it. It became one of Capcom's best selling games of all time. Mega Man X came at a time when the series stagnated on the NES. Mega Man 9 arrived during lackluster sales of Mega Man Star Force to become one of the highest downloaded digital distributed games of all time. And Legends 3, despite its cancellation, continues to garner support from the fans.
Mega Man has always been an underdog that his company never believed in, and here we are, 25 years later in the same shoes he was in after his first game. Uncertain of what the future holds, we'll just have to keep rooting for him to pull out one of those amazing successes he seems to have a habit of doing when he needs to.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Capcom is gamefaqs polls most hated gaming company in a matter of days
Although Blizzard is just barely behind, Capcom has pretty much gone from one of the most well loved gaming publishers to the most hated virtually overnight.
When Mega Man Universe was canceled, I was disappointed. It was okay though, Capcom's word was that the game wasn't shipping up too well, and the few that did play the game said the controls needed more polish. All well, better to not release a Mega Man game than to feed us a cruddy one (I'm looking at YOU X7!).
Then Legends was canceled. Incredibly irritating, and many fans were understandably frustrated. The backlash was predictable, because saying the game doesn't meet your criteria, when the complete wave of arbitrary bullshit that does is beyond comprehension doesn't exactly fly well. But THEN the European Cacpom twitter has the gall to tell fans it's their fault the game didn't get made.
When Mega Man Universe was canceled, I was disappointed. It was okay though, Capcom's word was that the game wasn't shipping up too well, and the few that did play the game said the controls needed more polish. All well, better to not release a Mega Man game than to feed us a cruddy one (I'm looking at YOU X7!).
Then Legends was canceled. Incredibly irritating, and many fans were understandably frustrated. The backlash was predictable, because saying the game doesn't meet your criteria, when the complete wave of arbitrary bullshit that does is beyond comprehension doesn't exactly fly well. But THEN the European Cacpom twitter has the gall to tell fans it's their fault the game didn't get made.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Death of a Legend(s3?)
So despite my earlier snarkyness, I am pretty disappointed that Mega Man Legends 3 is not getting released. I had my problems with this game from the beginning. The fan participation seemed, at the time, like either a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, or a dumb marketing gimmick. I was pleasantly surprised the former was handled with much care to prevent that from happening, and obviously the latter was ineffective or nonexistent. I also have problems with the series in general being basically Mega Man in name, and having very little to do with it's predecessors. I'm all for innovation, but Legends always felt like the apple that fell just a bit too far from the tree with me.
That said, I did enjoy Legends. The controls were terrible, the camera could be a pain, but overall these games were fun. Perhaps it was that intangible good feeling that's hard to get with a game, or perhaps it's how 1up.com's Jeremy Parish put it, that Legends was a game with heart. While I'm not taking the news as hard as some people, I do feel like this string of cancellations is a bitter pill to swallow, and Legends 3 was the closest thing to the series ever moving forward that there has been in a long time.
That said, I did enjoy Legends. The controls were terrible, the camera could be a pain, but overall these games were fun. Perhaps it was that intangible good feeling that's hard to get with a game, or perhaps it's how 1up.com's Jeremy Parish put it, that Legends was a game with heart. While I'm not taking the news as hard as some people, I do feel like this string of cancellations is a bitter pill to swallow, and Legends 3 was the closest thing to the series ever moving forward that there has been in a long time.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
What Makes it a Mega Man?
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| Rockman Day Wallpaper showing most incarnations of the series. |
In a recent presentation, series creator, and former Capcom Keiji Inafune, stated that Capcom had a policy in place setup to reject new Intellectual Properties. Here's a snippet from Joystiq:
In one anecdote, former Capcom exec Keiji Inafune illustrates how he got so high up in the company and the kind of behavior that likely led to his hasty exit. During a presentation at Kyoto's Ritsumeikan University, the Neptunia Mk-II weapon dished on the corporate culture at Capcom, and how he gamed it to get Lost Planet and Dead Rising made.Keeping that in mind and seeing all the incarnations of Mega Man as he is today, one has to ask themselves how many of these games would even exists if they did not bare the Mega Man label? Beyond profit motivations, and references to past games, what ties these games to the Mega Man property?
Before those games, he said, Capcom had a rule requiring 70-80 percent of the games produced at the company to be sequels, and the management rejected pitches for new titles even beyond that proportion. Inafune started up two new projects, Lost Planet and Dead Rising, and just kept them going even after the prototypes were rejected. Source Joystiq
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The Mega Man Fan Film
I figured what better way to start off the new year on my blog with a review, and this time I've finally gotten around to watching the Mega Man Fan Film by Eddie Lebron. Is it everything we could have hoped for in a Mega Man Movie or nothing more than a glorified Live Action Fan Fic? Well don't just take my opinion below, see it for yourself on Screwattack!
Plot Synopsis
The story of Mega Man is far from a complex tale, after all it fit into about a paragraph or so in the original game's instruction manual. Dr. Thomas Light, genius in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, constructs 8 new powerfully advanced robots with the assistance of his long time confidant and lab technician, Dr. Wily. After introducing his robots to the world, and being adored by the media, Dr. Light decides the next robot he'd like to create without Dr. Wily's assistance, due to a complication relating to their first prototype. This of course infuriates Dr. Wily, who hatches a nefarious plot for revenge and world domination!
The new Robot turns out to be Rock, programed and designed to be the most human like in both body and mind of all Dr. Light's robots. After only a day of being built, Rock goes through a mid life crisis, unable to find purpose with his existence. This goes on FOREVER until Dr. Wily finally kidnaps Dr. Light's robots and sends them loose on the city.
Knowing he is the only one who can stop Dr. Wily, Rock convinces Dr. Light to upgrade him into a super fighting robot, now known as Mega Man. Mega Man initially struggles to defeat each robot master but then is aided by the mysterious prototype robot who had fled from Dr. Light's lab. This robot, Blues, through a mistake in his core design, somehow managed to have free will, and for now, has decided to aid Mega Man in his quest against Dr. Wily.
Eventually Mega Man defeats all of Dr. Wily's robot masters, but is then trounced by Wily's war machine, The Yellow Devil. Blues destroys the monster and takes Mega Man back to Dr. Light where, broken and battered, he tries to recover.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wily has stolen Mega Man's schematics, and sent in a Copy Machine to kidnap Roll to use as a hostage. Roll is easily deceived by the Copy Machine and captured just as Mega Man recovers. Dr. Wily threatens to kill Roll if Mega Man doesn't come and surrender at his floating skull fortress of doom! Mega Man eventually beats the Copy Machine, defeats Wily, and saves Roll. Dr. Wily surrenders and begs Mega Man to not hurt him just as the police arrive.
Mega Man and Roll are then seen looking at the city from a park bench, with Mega Man stating that he now feels fulfilled. The two then spot Blues from a distance as they are leaving, while Mega Man gives an approving nod.
Critique
From the off-set this movie has many things going against it. First, being an independent film, it has some horrendous acting in it! Truly the most robotic performance here is that of Dr. Light. Edward X. Young has a great voice, but is so deadpan and emotionless that his character is so hard to care about. Most of the acting is stiff as it is, with Mega Man and Roll being particularly bad as well.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Dr. Wily gives a hilarious, if a bit hammy, performance that I think single-handedly saves the film! It's insane, it's over dramatic, but damn if I couldn't wait to see what the guy would say next!
The second problem with the film is that it is based on a franchise of which the auteur is, if anything, fellating, rather than adding to. There is a lot of tongue n' cheek references, humor, and camp added to this movie that not only feels unnecessary, but I think ultimately hurts the film. Much of the film has representations of Mega Man using his 8-bit sprite, and there is a particularly groan inducing sight gag (which you would only get if you had played the games) where Dr. Light suggests tracking the robots using the select screen from the first game. Of course this never comes up again, so it only serves as a pointless reference.
The robot masters themselves are also ripped straight out of Mega Man Powered Up, exhibiting the exact same personality traits, such as Ice Man's split personality, and Fire Man's BURNING JUSTICE! The characterization here though isn't done for the purposes of the story, but to nod and wink to all those fans that "got it."
That said, I love the direction they went with Proto Man, and the orchestral remix that was done with his theme is a huge highlight to the film. It really fits the mood, and Proto Man's dilemma between death and free will easily makes him the most interesting of all the characters. If the cast was as interesting as Proto Man, this could have been a much better film.
Next, working on a low budget means cruddy special effects, and bad fight choreography. While there isn't a lot an independent director can do about some of this stuff, the cheese factor is off the charts with the badly rendered 3D models of some of the robot masters. Perhaps if all the robot masters were 3D rendered, this wouldn't have looked as bad, but Mega Man vs. Guts Man for example, looks just so silly.
On top of this, the fights are extremely quick, incredibly anti-climatic, and lack creativity in the weapon usage. I grant the games don't give much wiggle room in say doing something like, using the Rolling Cutter to cut a tree down so it falls on somebody for instance, but this movie had every opportunity to keep the fights from being "Mega Man blasts robot, robot blasts Mega Man." Unfortunately for the majority of the fights, they decided the back and forth shooting was the route to go.
There was one really good use of the special effects, and that would be Ice Man's surfing freeze move, which was done quick and not focused on heavily enough to detract from the effect. Good movies disguise their faults, but this one seems to take no issue with it.
Finally there's the writing. There's a story in here about the humanity of man and what it really means to be alive... except it's really hamfisted in here and painfully delivered. So blatant are the characters emotions, the dialogue may as well be "Beep boop, I am sad." "Boop Beep, I am sad too."
There's a lot of milling around in this movie, especially at the beginning as the director tries to establish these characters for the audience, and they really eat up a portion of the movie. The characterization doesn't come off very well, as the cast redundantly goes over the same issues, from the same perspective, the same way. Scenes not dedicated to Mega Man's post-activation depression feel like the characters are quizzing each other on plot holes. A typical scene plays out like this:
Mega Man: Dr. Light! Why doesn't Dr. Wily do this?
Dr. Light: Oh Mega Man! Because of this technology thingie!
Mega Man: Well how bout I do this?
Dr. Light: Sorry Mega, you're stuck with this other technology babble thing!
By contrast, the actions sequences are incredibly brief, as if the director was feeling the need to rush through them to get back to the character scenes.
At the end of the day, this movie doesn't stand on it's own legs. It's made for Mega Man fans, and that's it. So absorbed is this movie in it's own franchise that it's really impossible to enjoy knowing nothing about Mega Man. Take that away and you've got a badly acted drama about robots with some fight scenes glossed over. The movie celebrates the franchise but brings nothing to it. This movie isn't going to bring new fans to the table, or bring back fans of the classics. While it's not the worst movie I've ever seen, at best, the enjoyment of the film comes at it's own expense (in the so bad it's good way) and at worst, it's a hero-worship title without any ambition to do the series any favors. Maybe worth watching if you're insatiability curios, but you won't miss anything by skipping it either.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Mega Man Turns 23!
It's December 17th, and 23 years ago today, a buggy, quirky, and 
excruciatingly hard game came out that started a franchise so overwhelmingly popular, that now even Capcom doesn't know how many damn games there are.
This year was pretty good for Mega Man. Mega Man 10 and Zero Collection came out, and Mega Man Universe, Mega Man Legends 3, and Rockman Online were all announced. This will be the first anniversary without Keiji Inafune, but his company is starting up, and I don't think the franchise is in any trouble without him either.
As for me, well I'm looking to establish some free time before I start another series of reviews. Believe it or not, working in the game industry is a REAL time sink. Sitting on my plate is Rockman.exe Beast, and the Mega Man movie, but there's no way I'm getting to any of that till next year.
excruciatingly hard game came out that started a franchise so overwhelmingly popular, that now even Capcom doesn't know how many damn games there are.This year was pretty good for Mega Man. Mega Man 10 and Zero Collection came out, and Mega Man Universe, Mega Man Legends 3, and Rockman Online were all announced. This will be the first anniversary without Keiji Inafune, but his company is starting up, and I don't think the franchise is in any trouble without him either.
As for me, well I'm looking to establish some free time before I start another series of reviews. Believe it or not, working in the game industry is a REAL time sink. Sitting on my plate is Rockman.exe Beast, and the Mega Man movie, but there's no way I'm getting to any of that till next year.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Alright, I'm Excited
While I'm having nagging doubts and worrisome thoughts about Legends 3, and I've yet to see anything from Universe that looks to satiate me, I gotta say, I'm god damned excited about Rockman Online.
I'm glad to see some company actually put some effort into the Mega Man Franchise. Inafune basically admitted he was sick of working at Capcom, Capcom themselves have half-assed the series for quite a while, and even when the good games do come out, they're usually just good instead of exceptional.
I ask you where is Mega Man's push to the next generation? It's starting in Korea.
Granted, it's another cutscene trailer, but it has a hell of a lot more imagination and effort in it then what we've seen in a long time. But hey, the game itself is shaping up pretty awesomely too! TOO BAD THERE'S NO PLANS FOR IT IN THE US YET! ARRG!
Even so, Capcom Unit, the official Capcom blog site, is hyped up for it, so who knows what the future may hold. Here's a hint though, the authors at Capcom Unity's pull around the company is JACK SHIT.
I'm glad to see some company actually put some effort into the Mega Man Franchise. Inafune basically admitted he was sick of working at Capcom, Capcom themselves have half-assed the series for quite a while, and even when the good games do come out, they're usually just good instead of exceptional.
I ask you where is Mega Man's push to the next generation? It's starting in Korea.
Granted, it's another cutscene trailer, but it has a hell of a lot more imagination and effort in it then what we've seen in a long time. But hey, the game itself is shaping up pretty awesomely too! TOO BAD THERE'S NO PLANS FOR IT IN THE US YET! ARRG!
Even so, Capcom Unit, the official Capcom blog site, is hyped up for it, so who knows what the future may hold. Here's a hint though, the authors at Capcom Unity's pull around the company is JACK SHIT.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Didn't See That One Coming
Kotaku is reporting that Inafune is out. At this point that takes the Mega Man franchise out of his hands for good at the end of the month. I gotta say I'm a bit surprised that he's calling it quits just as the one game he's been pushing to get made for years and years finally gets green-lighted.
Although the creator is being removed from the project, this may be a good thing in the end. If any franchise needs new blood in it, it's this one. This could be a chance for a young gun developer to take hold of the franchise and breath some new life into it.
I had my misgivings about Legends 3 ever since it was announced for a hand held. While that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be bad, or even not amazing, it seemed to me that Capcom was playing it safe trying to be the big game at the system launch amid the sea of crap that always hits at release date. It was as if they didn't trust that it was going to do well enough on its own.
Furthermore, this co-development by the fans thing is looking like a huge gimmick to me. I've always hated the "design by committee" approach to just about everything, because you either get an incredibly bland product, or a completely directionless product.
I guess it's okay so far, with just a series of contests between the developers with fans voting on the best works, but the more interaction the fans get, the more chances we could end up with Portal references or just flat out weird fan-fictiony interactions between the characters, particularly Mega Man, Roll and Tron.
With Inafune washing his hands of the franchise, and the reasons above, we could be up for a rocky start in the new era of Mega Man games. Something different and awesome could come out of this after a while though. Games are only good when the creator has a hold of them right?
Although the creator is being removed from the project, this may be a good thing in the end. If any franchise needs new blood in it, it's this one. This could be a chance for a young gun developer to take hold of the franchise and breath some new life into it.
I had my misgivings about Legends 3 ever since it was announced for a hand held. While that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be bad, or even not amazing, it seemed to me that Capcom was playing it safe trying to be the big game at the system launch amid the sea of crap that always hits at release date. It was as if they didn't trust that it was going to do well enough on its own.
Furthermore, this co-development by the fans thing is looking like a huge gimmick to me. I've always hated the "design by committee" approach to just about everything, because you either get an incredibly bland product, or a completely directionless product.
I guess it's okay so far, with just a series of contests between the developers with fans voting on the best works, but the more interaction the fans get, the more chances we could end up with Portal references or just flat out weird fan-fictiony interactions between the characters, particularly Mega Man, Roll and Tron.
With Inafune washing his hands of the franchise, and the reasons above, we could be up for a rocky start in the new era of Mega Man games. Something different and awesome could come out of this after a while though. Games are only good when the creator has a hold of them right?
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Legends 3 In Developement
So I gotta say, I'm incredibly disappointed 
Capcom is continuing this series on another hand-held. The 3DS to me, looks pretty much like a big gimmick in the making, with more games coming out that focus on the graphics than the gameplay. It also sounds like limiting yourself so much when you've got to design a game for this little tiny screen instead of something out there for the consoles. I find it so frustrating that the only damn Mega Man games that come out on the consoles are essentially Mega Man 2 remakes, while the franchise continues to advance slowly on the hand-helds.
That said, the announcement finally got me to look at the 3DS, and at least from the screenshots I've seen, it looks like we've got the power of a gamecube coming to our hands in the least, which should be more than enough for this game. Sure, I just complained about games based on graphics, but I'd at least like to see the game advance past the Playstation 1 days. I don't need to see the individual hairs on the monkey's ass here, but the 3DS should make Legends 3 a pretty game.
With all my complaints about the game being on a hand held, it's hard to watch Inafune come out like this and not get excited.
You can feel the enthusiasm in his voice. You can see the excitement in his eyes as he stumbles over his words. And you can see that the man has been humbled by an audience that has basically given him the mandate, support, and opportunity, to create this game that's been ten years in the making.
Right now I'm not worried that Legends 3 will be a bad game. Inafune looks to be really fired up over this. I mean, he decided to break the news over Youtube and through Capcom's website. This is a relatively big news story in the games industry. Capcom could have easily sold this story to a magazine like Nintendo Power, or a website like IGN or GameSpot, but I don't think he could have waited any longer to get out there and say, "Hey guys, it's finally happening!"
Legends isn't particularly one of my favorite series in the franchise, but it has always been a fun series to play through. Having never seen a 3DS in action, and seeing Inafune as fired up as he is, I think it's very possible that Inafune decided to release this game on the 3DS as soon as it was given the green light.
Let's keep in mind that the series was far from incredible though when it came out, so lets not hype the game out to its grave. If Inafune wants to make his Magum Opus here, he has to surpass everything he's done so far and pour it all into this. He's been green-lighted by the fans, and now finally Capcom itself is on board, so lets wish him luck, and hope Legends 3 will be the pinnacle of the entire Mega Man franchise.
Capcom is continuing this series on another hand-held. The 3DS to me, looks pretty much like a big gimmick in the making, with more games coming out that focus on the graphics than the gameplay. It also sounds like limiting yourself so much when you've got to design a game for this little tiny screen instead of something out there for the consoles. I find it so frustrating that the only damn Mega Man games that come out on the consoles are essentially Mega Man 2 remakes, while the franchise continues to advance slowly on the hand-helds.That said, the announcement finally got me to look at the 3DS, and at least from the screenshots I've seen, it looks like we've got the power of a gamecube coming to our hands in the least, which should be more than enough for this game. Sure, I just complained about games based on graphics, but I'd at least like to see the game advance past the Playstation 1 days. I don't need to see the individual hairs on the monkey's ass here, but the 3DS should make Legends 3 a pretty game.
With all my complaints about the game being on a hand held, it's hard to watch Inafune come out like this and not get excited.
You can feel the enthusiasm in his voice. You can see the excitement in his eyes as he stumbles over his words. And you can see that the man has been humbled by an audience that has basically given him the mandate, support, and opportunity, to create this game that's been ten years in the making.
Right now I'm not worried that Legends 3 will be a bad game. Inafune looks to be really fired up over this. I mean, he decided to break the news over Youtube and through Capcom's website. This is a relatively big news story in the games industry. Capcom could have easily sold this story to a magazine like Nintendo Power, or a website like IGN or GameSpot, but I don't think he could have waited any longer to get out there and say, "Hey guys, it's finally happening!"
Legends isn't particularly one of my favorite series in the franchise, but it has always been a fun series to play through. Having never seen a 3DS in action, and seeing Inafune as fired up as he is, I think it's very possible that Inafune decided to release this game on the 3DS as soon as it was given the green light.
Let's keep in mind that the series was far from incredible though when it came out, so lets not hype the game out to its grave. If Inafune wants to make his Magum Opus here, he has to surpass everything he's done so far and pour it all into this. He's been green-lighted by the fans, and now finally Capcom itself is on board, so lets wish him luck, and hope Legends 3 will be the pinnacle of the entire Mega Man franchise.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Universe is a Bit Calmer
As more details come out about Mega Man Universe, my fears are being eased, slowly. While I still think the trailer is incredibly disappointing to look at, just knowing that custom characters, levels, and the like are going to feature different styles of play has slightly picked my interests back up into the title.
I really hope Capcom pumps as much juice into this game as possible though, because they really have a chance to get lazy and rely on user generated content, which would be a huge mistake if you ask me. Aside from the fact that millions of fan made levels are pure shit (just try Little Big Planet, or even Mega Man Powered Up), they're usually limited to the tools the developers give us to play with.
I personally, also don't feel like making my own levels. I'm not looking at a set of Legos, I'm looking at playing a Mega Man game. So please Capcom, don't skimp out on the professional content here.
As more news for this game comes out, I have a feeling I'll personally be more pleased and interested in playing it. I really want to see some other Mega Man protagonists make the cut here, at the very least X. If Capcom is smart though, they're going to play this slow and make the fans anticipate whats coming next.
I really hope Capcom pumps as much juice into this game as possible though, because they really have a chance to get lazy and rely on user generated content, which would be a huge mistake if you ask me. Aside from the fact that millions of fan made levels are pure shit (just try Little Big Planet, or even Mega Man Powered Up), they're usually limited to the tools the developers give us to play with.
I personally, also don't feel like making my own levels. I'm not looking at a set of Legos, I'm looking at playing a Mega Man game. So please Capcom, don't skimp out on the professional content here.
As more news for this game comes out, I have a feeling I'll personally be more pleased and interested in playing it. I really want to see some other Mega Man protagonists make the cut here, at the very least X. If Capcom is smart though, they're going to play this slow and make the fans anticipate whats coming next.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Belated Zero Collections Review
There isn't a hell of a lot to add about this game 
that I haven't already said in my Zero 1, Zero 2, Zero 3, and Zero 4 reviews. The games for the most part are exactly the same, so I'm going to approach this review from a different angle. The question is, if you already own the entire Zero series, should you pick up Zero collections anyway?
If you look at the few things that are exclusive to Zero Collection, you won't really find much. The gameplay is exactly the same, the story is exactly the same (barring a few script alterations), and the games are for the most part the same. So what Zero collections has in its corner is Easy Mode, slightly customizable controls, and a gallery of new and old art. Inti Creates has also built in the E-Cards that were associated with Zero 3, but more on that in a moment.
Easy mode allows the player to venture through the series, one title after the other, playing with full upgrades for Zero. You get all the cyber elves, all the forms, and you take no penalties to your score for using them. This mode takes the challenge down from the Zero games to a very casual level, and it's not a bad way to spend an afternoon if you're not looking for too much of a challenge. Annoyingly, you can only have a single saved game of easy mode going on at a time, and you can't choose which title to start with. If you want to play Zero 3 on easy mode, but you haven't finished Zero 1 and 2, you're out of luck.
Aside from easy mode, the main games are all selectable from the start with very minor, if at all noticeable tweaks. The developers went out of their way to take any instance of the word "death" out of the script, and a few parts of the game have arranged music. I think there was a mini game or two removed (one of the multiplayer minigames unlocked after finishing one of the titles) and of course, you don't get the Z-Saber card for Battle Network 4.
In addition, the extra X and Y buttons are mappable to whatever other button on the controller you want them to emulate. This makes the game a bit more widely, compared to playing it on a Gameboy Advance, or through the GBA slot on a DS.
Lastly are the mod cards. In Japan for Rockman Zero 3, Capcom released cards for the e-reader peripheral. These cards add mostly aesthetic changes to Zero 3, with the occasional power up and new character, but they don't change anything too important. In Zero Collections, you can unlock a deck of these cards after you finish one of the four titles. You can apply these cards straight from the main menu.
There is also a gallery showing off various artwork on the bottom screen. You unlock these pictures through normal gameplay. A majority of them are old concept pictures that have been floating around forever, but it's still a nice touch.
With all the new features out of the way, I'll return to my original question. Should you buy this game if you already own the GBA series. It really depends on if any of the above additions appeal to you, or if you just want quick access to the whole series through your DS. However, if you don't own any single game of the series, collections is a must have for the Mega Man fan, and you should give it a shot if you thought the series was too hard to get into as well.
There really isn't any reason to hunt down the GBA copies over the collection either. Aside from maybe some idiotic puritanical devotion to seeing Harpuia say "kill me" instead of "finish me." But remember that what you see with Zero collections is what you get. Don't expect to unlock Misadventures of Tron Bonne or something if you finish all the games. Luckily in this collection's case, that's certainly more than enough.
that I haven't already said in my Zero 1, Zero 2, Zero 3, and Zero 4 reviews. The games for the most part are exactly the same, so I'm going to approach this review from a different angle. The question is, if you already own the entire Zero series, should you pick up Zero collections anyway?If you look at the few things that are exclusive to Zero Collection, you won't really find much. The gameplay is exactly the same, the story is exactly the same (barring a few script alterations), and the games are for the most part the same. So what Zero collections has in its corner is Easy Mode, slightly customizable controls, and a gallery of new and old art. Inti Creates has also built in the E-Cards that were associated with Zero 3, but more on that in a moment.
Easy mode allows the player to venture through the series, one title after the other, playing with full upgrades for Zero. You get all the cyber elves, all the forms, and you take no penalties to your score for using them. This mode takes the challenge down from the Zero games to a very casual level, and it's not a bad way to spend an afternoon if you're not looking for too much of a challenge. Annoyingly, you can only have a single saved game of easy mode going on at a time, and you can't choose which title to start with. If you want to play Zero 3 on easy mode, but you haven't finished Zero 1 and 2, you're out of luck.
Aside from easy mode, the main games are all selectable from the start with very minor, if at all noticeable tweaks. The developers went out of their way to take any instance of the word "death" out of the script, and a few parts of the game have arranged music. I think there was a mini game or two removed (one of the multiplayer minigames unlocked after finishing one of the titles) and of course, you don't get the Z-Saber card for Battle Network 4.
In addition, the extra X and Y buttons are mappable to whatever other button on the controller you want them to emulate. This makes the game a bit more widely, compared to playing it on a Gameboy Advance, or through the GBA slot on a DS.
Lastly are the mod cards. In Japan for Rockman Zero 3, Capcom released cards for the e-reader peripheral. These cards add mostly aesthetic changes to Zero 3, with the occasional power up and new character, but they don't change anything too important. In Zero Collections, you can unlock a deck of these cards after you finish one of the four titles. You can apply these cards straight from the main menu.
There is also a gallery showing off various artwork on the bottom screen. You unlock these pictures through normal gameplay. A majority of them are old concept pictures that have been floating around forever, but it's still a nice touch.
With all the new features out of the way, I'll return to my original question. Should you buy this game if you already own the GBA series. It really depends on if any of the above additions appeal to you, or if you just want quick access to the whole series through your DS. However, if you don't own any single game of the series, collections is a must have for the Mega Man fan, and you should give it a shot if you thought the series was too hard to get into as well.
There really isn't any reason to hunt down the GBA copies over the collection either. Aside from maybe some idiotic puritanical devotion to seeing Harpuia say "kill me" instead of "finish me." But remember that what you see with Zero collections is what you get. Don't expect to unlock Misadventures of Tron Bonne or something if you finish all the games. Luckily in this collection's case, that's certainly more than enough.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
My Mega Man Universe
For all we know, Mega Man Universe could still turn up awesome. It's a possibility anyway, but I can't say my hopes are up for the moment. Right now we know the biggest draw Capcom is pushing for this game is the ability to play as other characters, with enough footage of three different re-skinned Mega Mans, all sharing the same moves and abilities. But we've also got to assume some characters will play different at least, being as touted as Ryu is in all over the trailers. If we ignore the characters who are simply reskins, we could be possibly sitting on something here.
I'd like to share with you for a moment my vision of Mega Man Universe. You turn on the game and are presented with a few scenarios at the screen select. Story Mode, Custom Mode, Challenge Mode, and maybe a few others after some thought put into it.
I'll get to the others in a minute, but for now, lets go with custom mode. A character selection screen pops up, but instead of being robot masters, this time it's for characters the player can choose. In it exists a huge cast of Mega Man characters spanning nearly 25 years of games. We can choose a character, and then we're given the option to choose a game. One of the games from over the years, of any of the series.
Well it'd be ludicrous to have Capcom to recreate each game with new characters and jam pack it all into this game, so instead, this mode choose from some of the best moments of a given series. We set ourselves to a randomly assigned game and suddenly we end up with something like this...
Or how about we fiddle with the options a bit more, and get something like this?
Suddenly we've opened up a whole new world of possibilities! How would you like to relive some of the best Mega Man moments, with the character cards shuffled a bit? Wouldn't be awesome to go back to say... X5, and for the X versus Zero showdown, instead we're playing as say... Bass?
How about running a digger scenario from Legends with Geo and Sonia? Let's get real ridiculous and face the final boss of Zero 4 with a servbot! How about taking 8-bit classic Mega Man, and putting him in his level 7 and 8 games? How about we can walk into this thing, and have it randomly choose the characters and setup for us, so we can be surprised by the constant different gameplay.
Why stop there even? Why not celebrate all of Capcom with us? Have Dante show up in Mega Man Star Force, play as the bionic commando Mega Man 2, and since Frank West already has the X-Buster, why not let us play a level of Dead Rising as X?
Going through story mode should be something akin to the story mode of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. A big, nonsensical epic tale of Dr. Wily working with Sigma and Dr. Wiel to really screw up the space time continuum. All of our Mega characters work together, and the player unlocks new characters as we go along!
Challenge mode sets us up in preplanned unusual scenarios, like using Tron's Gustav to beat up Chill Penguin or something, or buster dueling Mega Man Juno with Mega Man classic. Completing these, and in fact, completing a large list of scenarios, unlocks more characters, more levels, and more modes.
Imagine a Wario-Ware style mode, where the player quickly shuffles through random setups and goals. I really see potential in celebrating the blue bomber this way, and I think going this route would encourage new fans to seek out some of the other games! Mega Man Powered Up proved to me that Mega Man can be fun as hell with new characters, so lets see Mega Man Universe really push the envelope with this, instead of being another rehashed Mega Man 2!
I'd like to share with you for a moment my vision of Mega Man Universe. You turn on the game and are presented with a few scenarios at the screen select. Story Mode, Custom Mode, Challenge Mode, and maybe a few others after some thought put into it.
I'll get to the others in a minute, but for now, lets go with custom mode. A character selection screen pops up, but instead of being robot masters, this time it's for characters the player can choose. In it exists a huge cast of Mega Man characters spanning nearly 25 years of games. We can choose a character, and then we're given the option to choose a game. One of the games from over the years, of any of the series.
Well it'd be ludicrous to have Capcom to recreate each game with new characters and jam pack it all into this game, so instead, this mode choose from some of the best moments of a given series. We set ourselves to a randomly assigned game and suddenly we end up with something like this...
Or how about we fiddle with the options a bit more, and get something like this?
Suddenly we've opened up a whole new world of possibilities! How would you like to relive some of the best Mega Man moments, with the character cards shuffled a bit? Wouldn't be awesome to go back to say... X5, and for the X versus Zero showdown, instead we're playing as say... Bass?How about running a digger scenario from Legends with Geo and Sonia? Let's get real ridiculous and face the final boss of Zero 4 with a servbot! How about taking 8-bit classic Mega Man, and putting him in his level 7 and 8 games? How about we can walk into this thing, and have it randomly choose the characters and setup for us, so we can be surprised by the constant different gameplay.
Why stop there even? Why not celebrate all of Capcom with us? Have Dante show up in Mega Man Star Force, play as the bionic commando Mega Man 2, and since Frank West already has the X-Buster, why not let us play a level of Dead Rising as X?Going through story mode should be something akin to the story mode of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. A big, nonsensical epic tale of Dr. Wily working with Sigma and Dr. Wiel to really screw up the space time continuum. All of our Mega characters work together, and the player unlocks new characters as we go along!
Challenge mode sets us up in preplanned unusual scenarios, like using Tron's Gustav to beat up Chill Penguin or something, or buster dueling Mega Man Juno with Mega Man classic. Completing these, and in fact, completing a large list of scenarios, unlocks more characters, more levels, and more modes.
Imagine a Wario-Ware style mode, where the player quickly shuffles through random setups and goals. I really see potential in celebrating the blue bomber this way, and I think going this route would encourage new fans to seek out some of the other games! Mega Man Powered Up proved to me that Mega Man can be fun as hell with new characters, so lets see Mega Man Universe really push the envelope with this, instead of being another rehashed Mega Man 2!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Mega Man Universe Trailer
Alright, so we got our first look at the new Mega Man Universe trailer. I think it's fair to be disappointed by the footage, and even skeptical of the upcoming title, and that's because what's in the trailer isn't innovation, it's just homage.
Let's get a few things straight. There's no way I could possibly argue that I'm not an over-interested fan in the series, to put it lightly. When the game comes out, I won't hesitate to buy it and play it no matter how bad it is. I've got a Mega Man collection that nearly includes every US released game, and at this point, what difference is $10-$50 going to make for a new one? I don't believe there's any special kind of integrity or wholesomeness that comes with sticking to the series, any more than being some sort of intellectual connoisseur that avoids mediocre to bad games. It's a stupid hobby, and I feel like continuing it because I get a satisfaction out of it, and more power to the people who skip this game if it turns out to be a big pile of rehashed shit that it's leading us to believe so far.
So Mega Man stars in another 2D platformer, but this time with modern ugly graphics, and extra playable characters that nobody really asked for. The trailer hovers around Mega Man 2 styled enemies and levels, and I get the impression this is the game Inafune wants to live up to Mega Man 2. To put it bluntly, I believe Inafune is jerking off to a fan fest of his Magum Opus.
I'd like to quote Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation, who I believe sums up my thoughts exactly.
We're reaching another stagnating point of Mega Man's career, and that frankly just sucks. Why can't we have a real new innovative Mega Man game? Why can't we have brand new graphics, an amazing new innovative gameplay, and maybe even an interesting story? Why isn't Mega Man coming out with new games like Mario Galaxy, or Metroid Prime, or other games that try to push the series forward? Even Sonic the Hedgehog, with his terrible array of shitty games is at least trying different things!
The biggest step towards anything different this series ever took was with Battle Network and Star Force, and now we've been reduced to re-releasing those games while we go re-hash a 22 year old formula to play it safe. Is this game going to suck? It's still to early to say, but which trailer excites you more?
This gameplay trailer of the same old shit
or this fully animated cutscene trailer of somewhere the series has never been?
I know next to nothing about either of these games, but I know my interest is at least sparked with Rockman Online.
Let's get a few things straight. There's no way I could possibly argue that I'm not an over-interested fan in the series, to put it lightly. When the game comes out, I won't hesitate to buy it and play it no matter how bad it is. I've got a Mega Man collection that nearly includes every US released game, and at this point, what difference is $10-$50 going to make for a new one? I don't believe there's any special kind of integrity or wholesomeness that comes with sticking to the series, any more than being some sort of intellectual connoisseur that avoids mediocre to bad games. It's a stupid hobby, and I feel like continuing it because I get a satisfaction out of it, and more power to the people who skip this game if it turns out to be a big pile of rehashed shit that it's leading us to believe so far.
So Mega Man stars in another 2D platformer, but this time with modern ugly graphics, and extra playable characters that nobody really asked for. The trailer hovers around Mega Man 2 styled enemies and levels, and I get the impression this is the game Inafune wants to live up to Mega Man 2. To put it bluntly, I believe Inafune is jerking off to a fan fest of his Magum Opus.
I'd like to quote Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation, who I believe sums up my thoughts exactly.
Fans create sequels that hold up the predecessors as something to live up to, rather than something to improve upon. And that's not the right mindset to take. If you're not going to try to be better, what's the point? To give something to all the other fans? They won't appreciate it. The more fan-oriented an installment becomes, the more holes they find to pick in it. Some kind of Un-fan-ny Valley effect, perhaps. But give it to someone who isn't a fan and they'll force it to change, and evolve. The fans will like it even less, but frankly, fuck 'em.Inafune is looking more and more like a fan of his own work everyday, and while there's still a chance something special is going to come out of this, the trailer doesn't get me excited. So the game looks like Mega Man 2... so what? I have Mega Man 2 and have played it already. So the game lets you play as Ryu and Arthur. So what? I didn't buy Street Fighter IV or Super Ghouls n Ghost because I didn't give two shits about playing either of those games, give me some better reasons to play these characters besides a big Capcom circle jerk.
We're reaching another stagnating point of Mega Man's career, and that frankly just sucks. Why can't we have a real new innovative Mega Man game? Why can't we have brand new graphics, an amazing new innovative gameplay, and maybe even an interesting story? Why isn't Mega Man coming out with new games like Mario Galaxy, or Metroid Prime, or other games that try to push the series forward? Even Sonic the Hedgehog, with his terrible array of shitty games is at least trying different things!
The biggest step towards anything different this series ever took was with Battle Network and Star Force, and now we've been reduced to re-releasing those games while we go re-hash a 22 year old formula to play it safe. Is this game going to suck? It's still to early to say, but which trailer excites you more?
This gameplay trailer of the same old shit
or this fully animated cutscene trailer of somewhere the series has never been?
I know next to nothing about either of these games, but I know my interest is at least sparked with Rockman Online.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Battle Network 5: Double Team DS Addendum
A little more than half a year ago, I reviewed 
Battle Network 5 for the Gameboy Advance. I had finished both Team Protoman and Team Colonel, but I pretty much phoned in Double Team DS. I had assumed the game was largely unchanged with a few graphical additions and some new music. While this is mostly true, the game does feature a few new gameplay additions as well, which I neglected to mention. There isn't enough there to review the entire game over again, as the story, graphics, and level design is mostly unchanged, but I felt like pointing out some of the changes and how they affect my impressions of the game.
The biggest change to Battle Network 5 is the addition of Team Navi's and the Party Customizer. Early on in the game, ProtoMan and Chaud (or Baryl and Colonel) hand you a new device hooked on to Lan's homepage that allows him to add another Navi to his PET. This allows you to call upon other navi's aid during combat, or switch to them altogether. Navis come in all shapes and sizes, and you'll unlock them as you progress normally. Your team members have special abilities, such as ProtoMan jumping in to attack with a wide sword every now and again, and Gyro man using the Fan chip during combat.
Most of the abilities are pretty useless, but you'll find something you want out of the available choices, and being able to switch to another navi with full HP when MegaMan's in a jam is really helpful, especially when fighting somebody like Bass. Occasionally they'll get in your way and screw up combos and what not, but you can turn them off at any time. This whole ability certainly pulls back some of the tedium of wandering around, but it doesn't work in dungeons or liberation missions.
In addition to this, you can also obtain an item from the NumberMan trader that allows you to switch two team navi's from the different versions in the middle of a liberation mission. That means if you'd rather have ShadowMan over GyroMan, or KnightMan over MagnetMan, it's as easy as selecting a menu option.
Other changes include a few extra character portraits, some shoe horned DS minigames, bonuses for slotting into the gameboy advance other Battle Network games, and a tie in with Boktai. None of these things are very interesting, though the extra portraits were appreciated.
All and all though, it does little to alleviate the major problem with Battle Network 5, the limited folder options. You're just plain stuck with a pretty bad folder the whole way through the game, without a hell of a lot you can do without sacrificing power or versatility. You really have to play any Battle Network game except 4 to understand how precious having a wide range of chips is to one of these games.
In addition to this, you can't even trade chips between versions on the same DS! Talk about killing a selling point! Double Team DS is certainly more enjoyable than the gameboy advance versions, but the game overall is still a big turd on the whole series.
Battle Network 5 for the Gameboy Advance. I had finished both Team Protoman and Team Colonel, but I pretty much phoned in Double Team DS. I had assumed the game was largely unchanged with a few graphical additions and some new music. While this is mostly true, the game does feature a few new gameplay additions as well, which I neglected to mention. There isn't enough there to review the entire game over again, as the story, graphics, and level design is mostly unchanged, but I felt like pointing out some of the changes and how they affect my impressions of the game.The biggest change to Battle Network 5 is the addition of Team Navi's and the Party Customizer. Early on in the game, ProtoMan and Chaud (or Baryl and Colonel) hand you a new device hooked on to Lan's homepage that allows him to add another Navi to his PET. This allows you to call upon other navi's aid during combat, or switch to them altogether. Navis come in all shapes and sizes, and you'll unlock them as you progress normally. Your team members have special abilities, such as ProtoMan jumping in to attack with a wide sword every now and again, and Gyro man using the Fan chip during combat.
Most of the abilities are pretty useless, but you'll find something you want out of the available choices, and being able to switch to another navi with full HP when MegaMan's in a jam is really helpful, especially when fighting somebody like Bass. Occasionally they'll get in your way and screw up combos and what not, but you can turn them off at any time. This whole ability certainly pulls back some of the tedium of wandering around, but it doesn't work in dungeons or liberation missions.
In addition to this, you can also obtain an item from the NumberMan trader that allows you to switch two team navi's from the different versions in the middle of a liberation mission. That means if you'd rather have ShadowMan over GyroMan, or KnightMan over MagnetMan, it's as easy as selecting a menu option.
Other changes include a few extra character portraits, some shoe horned DS minigames, bonuses for slotting into the gameboy advance other Battle Network games, and a tie in with Boktai. None of these things are very interesting, though the extra portraits were appreciated.
All and all though, it does little to alleviate the major problem with Battle Network 5, the limited folder options. You're just plain stuck with a pretty bad folder the whole way through the game, without a hell of a lot you can do without sacrificing power or versatility. You really have to play any Battle Network game except 4 to understand how precious having a wide range of chips is to one of these games.
In addition to this, you can't even trade chips between versions on the same DS! Talk about killing a selling point! Double Team DS is certainly more enjoyable than the gameboy advance versions, but the game overall is still a big turd on the whole series.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Mega Man NT Warrior vs. Rockman.exe
In various circles of "anime purists" I have consistently seen a meme spread among fans of Rockman.exe that the American Dub butchered the series. Is this what happened? Only by watching both shows can anyone really determine that, and having done just that myself, I'm going to have to remind folks that Rockman.exe wasn't that fine of a cut of beef to begin with.
Now to be fair, there are plenty of scenes in the show, and some other distinct changes that the dub made in strange ways, but a good portion of it comes down to nit-picking in my opinion. Far too many people have put the original show on a pedestal, when it just isn't that great a show in the original audio or the dub. So let's knock the original show down a few pegs, and maybe prop the dub up a little with a point by point comparison!
The Story
For what it's worth, each episode is nearly identical plot wise, with nearly no deviation. It does happen often enough to be noticeable if you've seen both shows though, in the form of a few cut scenes, changed dialog, or just different effects used. The biggest deviation I can think of that actually changes how the plot looks would be from the episode, "Don't Mess With Mama Zap!"
The episode in the original show has Count Zap in a drunken stupor, literally drinking out of the bottle, and ends with the possibility that either something magical happened, or Zap was hallucinating, as he confirms his mother has been dead for quite some time. This can be inferred in the dub version as well, but only if you're catching the subtle hints left in from the original. Either way it's still a weird episode.
Another change goes into Gauss's character, particularly in the episode, "Working for Grave." In the dub, Gauss is shown to highly respect Dr. Wily, but in the original show, he's flat out obsessed with him, and a cross dresser.
As I said, most story changes to the show are pretty minor, and very few of them give different or new context to the situation at hand. In most cases when something is different, the dub will add tons of lines of dialog from characters speaking off screen. I've pointed out continuously that characters in the dub speak ridiculously fast about certain things, and this problem is absent in the original. In fact, sometimes the original doesn't have the characters speaking enough, leaving the situation more confusing than mysterious.
A good number of cases I find the dub pulls off individual scenes better than the original, and other times, the original is just better. The shows are mostly identical, but the changes really do go scene to scene. I personally don't see a distinct winner here.
The Characters
The biggest change is not what the characters say, but how they say it, and Mega Man and Lan are quite different from Rockman and Netto. Well, actually, Lan is mostly the same, Brad Swailey's voice just isn't as convincing at being a young kid as Higa Kumiko, the Japanese voice actress. Netto's voice carries more innocence to it, and in a lot of ways makes the character more believable in some of the childish shit he pulls. If there was anything I wish the dub had done, it would be that it should have made an effort to make Lan sound his age.
When it comes to Rockman vs Mega Man, this call is a bit tougher. Frankly, Andrew Francis is a great Mega Man. His voice gives Mega Man a mature sound, without being too old. It feels right. Character wise, Mega Man's dialog has been altered to give him a bit of a bite to him, with a few cocky lines and a trash talking attitude, this Mega Man harks back to the Ruby-Spears character, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Akiko Kimura's portrayal is a lot more traditional. Rockman is much more serious, earnest, and good natured. This is the Mega Man character you know from the Battle Network games, and if there is any reason to watch both versions of the show, this is it. This is the most significant change, the attitude of the titular character. I think it works both ways if you ask me, though Rockman's portrayal may be only significant to me because of the games I've played. Someone who is just watching the show could take either character as a preference I suppose.
Most of the characters are exactly the same, but the voice actors decided to add a little something to them in the dub. Masa's Texan behavior, and Mr. Match's Scottish accent come to mind, and while not everyone likes these traits, I always found them endearing. Masa's dub voice actor in particular adds so much great dialog to an already well written character, that I just have to prefer him over the original, and the same goes for Mr. Match. I have to say, there maybe some English speaking bias here, because I simply don't know enough Japanese to pick up the nuances and dialects like a native speaker. Perhaps those characters are just as endearing over there if you know what to listen for.
Although Count Zap in the original speaks a lot of really badly broken English, with his catchphrase being "GOAD DAM MIT!" I'm guessing he's supposed to be an American or British character, but he sounds to ridiculous for me in a bad way in the original. If you'll recall, Count Zap is one of my favorites in the dub.
The rest of the cast has such minor changes it's hardly worth bringing up, although Ice Man sounds like a little kid instead of a 40 year old chain smoker, and I prefer Chaud's dub voice actor to the original. This maybe influenced heavily by my speaking English, but I have to say on average, I enjoy the character from the dub a bit better.
The Music
Japan is huge on creating a certain type of theme songs for their shows, and Rockman.exe opens up with a big ballade about fighting with your friendly net navi to solve mysteries and stuff. It's a pretty catchy tune, and if you've played Network Transmission, you've heard it before.
NT Warrior goes with a techno beat as the main theme, and while not as lyrical, it fits the world of all these computer age situations. When either of the main themes start up, Mega Man is generally turning the battle around, and it's time to start cheering!
As for the rest of the tracks, neither show uses more than about 10 total, and many times I felt the original show's selection seemed off in a number of places. Music in editing is as much timing as it is the music, and I simply feel that the dub's timing is much better.
The Cut Content
I speculated a long time ago that many of the episodes that were cut for the dub were done so for the sake of censorship. Just watching the original show, there are lots of language censorship in just about every episode, at least according to the fan translation I watched.
However, I am comfortable in saying that my speculation was mostly wrong, and these episodes were cut because they are by far the most boring pieces of trash I've ever seen involving Mega Man. Every cut episode is awful, absolutely awful. The only thing you miss from any of the cut episodes is a line about how glad Lan is the have Mega Man back after he is resurrected. That's IT! These episodes are on the lowest rungs of the totem pole for quality, especially the episode involving the introduction to that abomination to 3D animation, Aki.
In a show that's already rimming with continuity errors, stilted animation, and absolutely retarded dialog, that was in the script long before they headed overseas, making episodes as bad as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," must of took an excruciating amount of effort. It's so awful. I find it hard to fault the dub for cutting some of the stuff they do, considering they didn't want the show to end up canceled.
Final Thoughts
I've never been particularly kind to XEBEC for this show, but I think Rockman.exe gave them the experience they needed to make Star Force as good as it was. When the show was shipped to the US, I think only the most retarded of Japanophile fanboys could seriously make an argument about how the dub ruined the show. The dub isn't perfect, but the main show isn't all that special either. Just cause Mega Man is in it, doesn't mean it's as worthy of the admiration it has.
If you enjoyed the dub, check out the original show for a slightly different take on Mega Man himself. If you didn't enjoy it, Rockman.exe isn't going to convert you by any means.
Now to be fair, there are plenty of scenes in the show, and some other distinct changes that the dub made in strange ways, but a good portion of it comes down to nit-picking in my opinion. Far too many people have put the original show on a pedestal, when it just isn't that great a show in the original audio or the dub. So let's knock the original show down a few pegs, and maybe prop the dub up a little with a point by point comparison!
The Story
For what it's worth, each episode is nearly identical plot wise, with nearly no deviation. It does happen often enough to be noticeable if you've seen both shows though, in the form of a few cut scenes, changed dialog, or just different effects used. The biggest deviation I can think of that actually changes how the plot looks would be from the episode, "Don't Mess With Mama Zap!"
The episode in the original show has Count Zap in a drunken stupor, literally drinking out of the bottle, and ends with the possibility that either something magical happened, or Zap was hallucinating, as he confirms his mother has been dead for quite some time. This can be inferred in the dub version as well, but only if you're catching the subtle hints left in from the original. Either way it's still a weird episode.
Another change goes into Gauss's character, particularly in the episode, "Working for Grave." In the dub, Gauss is shown to highly respect Dr. Wily, but in the original show, he's flat out obsessed with him, and a cross dresser.
As I said, most story changes to the show are pretty minor, and very few of them give different or new context to the situation at hand. In most cases when something is different, the dub will add tons of lines of dialog from characters speaking off screen. I've pointed out continuously that characters in the dub speak ridiculously fast about certain things, and this problem is absent in the original. In fact, sometimes the original doesn't have the characters speaking enough, leaving the situation more confusing than mysterious.A good number of cases I find the dub pulls off individual scenes better than the original, and other times, the original is just better. The shows are mostly identical, but the changes really do go scene to scene. I personally don't see a distinct winner here.
The Characters
The biggest change is not what the characters say, but how they say it, and Mega Man and Lan are quite different from Rockman and Netto. Well, actually, Lan is mostly the same, Brad Swailey's voice just isn't as convincing at being a young kid as Higa Kumiko, the Japanese voice actress. Netto's voice carries more innocence to it, and in a lot of ways makes the character more believable in some of the childish shit he pulls. If there was anything I wish the dub had done, it would be that it should have made an effort to make Lan sound his age.
When it comes to Rockman vs Mega Man, this call is a bit tougher. Frankly, Andrew Francis is a great Mega Man. His voice gives Mega Man a mature sound, without being too old. It feels right. Character wise, Mega Man's dialog has been altered to give him a bit of a bite to him, with a few cocky lines and a trash talking attitude, this Mega Man harks back to the Ruby-Spears character, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.Akiko Kimura's portrayal is a lot more traditional. Rockman is much more serious, earnest, and good natured. This is the Mega Man character you know from the Battle Network games, and if there is any reason to watch both versions of the show, this is it. This is the most significant change, the attitude of the titular character. I think it works both ways if you ask me, though Rockman's portrayal may be only significant to me because of the games I've played. Someone who is just watching the show could take either character as a preference I suppose.
Most of the characters are exactly the same, but the voice actors decided to add a little something to them in the dub. Masa's Texan behavior, and Mr. Match's Scottish accent come to mind, and while not everyone likes these traits, I always found them endearing. Masa's dub voice actor in particular adds so much great dialog to an already well written character, that I just have to prefer him over the original, and the same goes for Mr. Match. I have to say, there maybe some English speaking bias here, because I simply don't know enough Japanese to pick up the nuances and dialects like a native speaker. Perhaps those characters are just as endearing over there if you know what to listen for.
Although Count Zap in the original speaks a lot of really badly broken English, with his catchphrase being "GOAD DAM MIT!" I'm guessing he's supposed to be an American or British character, but he sounds to ridiculous for me in a bad way in the original. If you'll recall, Count Zap is one of my favorites in the dub.
The rest of the cast has such minor changes it's hardly worth bringing up, although Ice Man sounds like a little kid instead of a 40 year old chain smoker, and I prefer Chaud's dub voice actor to the original. This maybe influenced heavily by my speaking English, but I have to say on average, I enjoy the character from the dub a bit better.
The Music
Japan is huge on creating a certain type of theme songs for their shows, and Rockman.exe opens up with a big ballade about fighting with your friendly net navi to solve mysteries and stuff. It's a pretty catchy tune, and if you've played Network Transmission, you've heard it before.
NT Warrior goes with a techno beat as the main theme, and while not as lyrical, it fits the world of all these computer age situations. When either of the main themes start up, Mega Man is generally turning the battle around, and it's time to start cheering!
As for the rest of the tracks, neither show uses more than about 10 total, and many times I felt the original show's selection seemed off in a number of places. Music in editing is as much timing as it is the music, and I simply feel that the dub's timing is much better.
The Cut Content
I speculated a long time ago that many of the episodes that were cut for the dub were done so for the sake of censorship. Just watching the original show, there are lots of language censorship in just about every episode, at least according to the fan translation I watched.
However, I am comfortable in saying that my speculation was mostly wrong, and these episodes were cut because they are by far the most boring pieces of trash I've ever seen involving Mega Man. Every cut episode is awful, absolutely awful. The only thing you miss from any of the cut episodes is a line about how glad Lan is the have Mega Man back after he is resurrected. That's IT! These episodes are on the lowest rungs of the totem pole for quality, especially the episode involving the introduction to that abomination to 3D animation, Aki.
In a show that's already rimming with continuity errors, stilted animation, and absolutely retarded dialog, that was in the script long before they headed overseas, making episodes as bad as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," must of took an excruciating amount of effort. It's so awful. I find it hard to fault the dub for cutting some of the stuff they do, considering they didn't want the show to end up canceled.Final Thoughts
I've never been particularly kind to XEBEC for this show, but I think Rockman.exe gave them the experience they needed to make Star Force as good as it was. When the show was shipped to the US, I think only the most retarded of Japanophile fanboys could seriously make an argument about how the dub ruined the show. The dub isn't perfect, but the main show isn't all that special either. Just cause Mega Man is in it, doesn't mean it's as worthy of the admiration it has.
If you enjoyed the dub, check out the original show for a slightly different take on Mega Man himself. If you didn't enjoy it, Rockman.exe isn't going to convert you by any means.
Catching Up
We'll I've been uncharacteristically swamped with work as of late, and unfortunately it just hasn't left me much time for Mega Man games and posts on this blog. Trust me, I have my eye on Mega Man Universe, whatever Inafune promised is coming around the corner, the Battle Network and Star Force books, and even the now fully translated Rockman.EXE Beast.
My time has just been swallowed up, but I'm pretty comfortable in allowing a decent time frame to pass before reviewing a new game like Mega Man Zero Collections anyway. My reviews are far from "The Last Word," on the subject before anyone makes a purchase, so I'll take my time with the game and enjoy it and give it time to find its place in my collection. A review is forthcoming, but since I haven't had much time to play the game, I'm not satisfied that I have enough knowledge of the game to review it just yet.
Over the past few weeks though, I did manage to catch some of the translated Rockman.exe every so often, and I now feel I have enough knowledge of the series to make a comparison to the dub, Mega Man NT Warrior. The review is on its way in just a few minutes.
My time has just been swallowed up, but I'm pretty comfortable in allowing a decent time frame to pass before reviewing a new game like Mega Man Zero Collections anyway. My reviews are far from "The Last Word," on the subject before anyone makes a purchase, so I'll take my time with the game and enjoy it and give it time to find its place in my collection. A review is forthcoming, but since I haven't had much time to play the game, I'm not satisfied that I have enough knowledge of the game to review it just yet.
Over the past few weeks though, I did manage to catch some of the translated Rockman.exe every so often, and I now feel I have enough knowledge of the series to make a comparison to the dub, Mega Man NT Warrior. The review is on its way in just a few minutes.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
On the chopping block
There's been a fair amount of Mega Man news lately and I 
think it's worth sharing my thoughts on some things.
First, Capcom community leader, Seth Killian leaks that there are some cool ideas heading our way in the Mega Man department. Speculation doesn't go on for very long before a patent hits the US Patent Office for Mega Man Universe.
The fans reactions vary all over the place with even more speculation, ranging from "I'll never buy this crap again," to, "I'm so excited I can't breathe anymore!" Without anything to go on, everyone begins digging hard to find out what's up with Mega Man Universe. Is it a new series? Is it a new type of game? Does it take place somewhere else? How does it tie into the rest of the franchise?
While this is going on, a Korean game surfaces, Mega Man Online. The details aren't very laid out just yet, but it appears to be a 2D Side Scrolling MMO, starring X and Zero. This game so far is only slated for Asian markets, excluding Japan. Is this Mega Man Universe? The words "Universe" and "MMO" certainly go together, but would Capcom file a US Patent for a game that currently has no plans to be released states side?
Capcom is asking about potential US interest in the title right now, but there aren't any plans yet. It has me wondering... could Mega Man Universe be something else? I guess they could be going with an early plan B and it could be, but you'd think if that was the case, they'd put "X" in the title at least. Interesting note, a few weeks before Mega Man Online surfaced, Inafune said X9 would not be the next X game. Was this cause he already knew this game was on the way.
While this rolls around, the Mega Man fan movie is finally completed, to mixed, but generally positive reviews among the fans. I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my todo list.
Udon meanwhile announces they'll be translating a Battle Network art book, similar to the Mega Man Complete Works, slated for November, which has me pretty excited!
And finally, released Tuesday was the Zero Collection for DS, which I have always considered the strongest series in the franchise.
What a hell of a lot of news huh?
We should get a lot of answers in a few days at the Japanese Summer World Hobby Fair, which has been a decent send off for new Mega Man games the past few years. My initial thoughts were that Mega Man Universe might be the name of the US release for Operation Shooting Star, but this idea isn't a new "rad concept" but more of the same, if anything. I'm also skeptical that Mega Man Online is Universe, for the reasons listed above, plus the fact that the game is being done by a team outside of Capcom, meaning that the Star Force/Battle Network team should be free to be working on something. But of course, that means if Mega Man Universe isn't Mega Man Online, then just what the hell is it? I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but I suspect we'll know in a week or two.
As for me, I've been doing a few things here and there. First off, I've been watching a Fan Sub of Rockman.exe, and have seen some notable difference of which I have a small post planned for in the future. In addition to this, I'm thinking about reviewing Battle Network 5 Double Team, as I recently played it a bit more extensively, and think it is different enough from the initial release of the game to cover more than I originally thought. Zero Collections is on my list of things to buy this week as well, so expect a review on that in the future, and possibly a review on the Mega Man fan movie.
think it's worth sharing my thoughts on some things.First, Capcom community leader, Seth Killian leaks that there are some cool ideas heading our way in the Mega Man department. Speculation doesn't go on for very long before a patent hits the US Patent Office for Mega Man Universe.
The fans reactions vary all over the place with even more speculation, ranging from "I'll never buy this crap again," to, "I'm so excited I can't breathe anymore!" Without anything to go on, everyone begins digging hard to find out what's up with Mega Man Universe. Is it a new series? Is it a new type of game? Does it take place somewhere else? How does it tie into the rest of the franchise?
While this is going on, a Korean game surfaces, Mega Man Online. The details aren't very laid out just yet, but it appears to be a 2D Side Scrolling MMO, starring X and Zero. This game so far is only slated for Asian markets, excluding Japan. Is this Mega Man Universe? The words "Universe" and "MMO" certainly go together, but would Capcom file a US Patent for a game that currently has no plans to be released states side?
Capcom is asking about potential US interest in the title right now, but there aren't any plans yet. It has me wondering... could Mega Man Universe be something else? I guess they could be going with an early plan B and it could be, but you'd think if that was the case, they'd put "X" in the title at least. Interesting note, a few weeks before Mega Man Online surfaced, Inafune said X9 would not be the next X game. Was this cause he already knew this game was on the way.
While this rolls around, the Mega Man fan movie is finally completed, to mixed, but generally positive reviews among the fans. I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my todo list.
Udon meanwhile announces they'll be translating a Battle Network art book, similar to the Mega Man Complete Works, slated for November, which has me pretty excited!
And finally, released Tuesday was the Zero Collection for DS, which I have always considered the strongest series in the franchise.
What a hell of a lot of news huh?We should get a lot of answers in a few days at the Japanese Summer World Hobby Fair, which has been a decent send off for new Mega Man games the past few years. My initial thoughts were that Mega Man Universe might be the name of the US release for Operation Shooting Star, but this idea isn't a new "rad concept" but more of the same, if anything. I'm also skeptical that Mega Man Online is Universe, for the reasons listed above, plus the fact that the game is being done by a team outside of Capcom, meaning that the Star Force/Battle Network team should be free to be working on something. But of course, that means if Mega Man Universe isn't Mega Man Online, then just what the hell is it? I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but I suspect we'll know in a week or two.
As for me, I've been doing a few things here and there. First off, I've been watching a Fan Sub of Rockman.exe, and have seen some notable difference of which I have a small post planned for in the future. In addition to this, I'm thinking about reviewing Battle Network 5 Double Team, as I recently played it a bit more extensively, and think it is different enough from the initial release of the game to cover more than I originally thought. Zero Collections is on my list of things to buy this week as well, so expect a review on that in the future, and possibly a review on the Mega Man fan movie.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
And I'm on break
While I will never tire of Mega Man, I am getting some pretty heavy fatigue with this whole writing thing. The last few reviews have taken forever to do, because I'm dividing my time up differently. It's just as well, because I don't really have much more to say about Mega Man for the time being.
I'm not a big fan of comic books or mangas (and they're expensive enough as it is to get a hold of them) so I won't be heading that direction with Mega Man reviews. I don't really collect toys either, and while I wouldn't mind having some cool Mega Man figures, what would I really say about them?
This isn't a news site, and I have no interest in tracking down every piece of merchandise with Mega Man's face on it. Fan content and games don't hold my interest either (although a few choice items stand out), so for now, I'm out of Mega Man stuff to review. We've got Zero collection slated for summer, and I'll be on that one for sure, but I don't have anything in the que, so to speak.
I've thought about some other projects, such as the Sonic series, Castlevania, or Maximum Doom, but I'm not quite ready to get back into the mood of daily posts, so for now, I'm on hiatus. I'll probably work on fixing up the posts so they look less retarded (no promises!), but I'll be doing that at my own leisurely pace.
I've been doing these reviews for myself, but I've always written as if an audience was reading. While I don't have many readers, checking my stats lately shows I've been getting more and more returning hits as of late that are actually looking at something other than my cache of screenshots, or my poor use of vulgar language stringed together with certain characters names (Christ, why is everyone so obsessed with what's under Mayl's skirt!? SHE'S 11 and a CARTOON!).
Anyway, if you're perusing the posts, feel free to leave a comment. I won't always respond if there isn't much content in your post, but I do read them all. Don't hesitate to post corrections, errors, or general feedback. And if you think the quality of any of the articles is poor, which you'd be right, don't hesitate to let me know.
Mega Man's been a whole hell of a lot of fun to me these past 22 years, and here's hoping he's still fun 50 more years from now!
I'm not a big fan of comic books or mangas (and they're expensive enough as it is to get a hold of them) so I won't be heading that direction with Mega Man reviews. I don't really collect toys either, and while I wouldn't mind having some cool Mega Man figures, what would I really say about them?
This isn't a news site, and I have no interest in tracking down every piece of merchandise with Mega Man's face on it. Fan content and games don't hold my interest either (although a few choice items stand out), so for now, I'm out of Mega Man stuff to review. We've got Zero collection slated for summer, and I'll be on that one for sure, but I don't have anything in the que, so to speak.
I've thought about some other projects, such as the Sonic series, Castlevania, or Maximum Doom, but I'm not quite ready to get back into the mood of daily posts, so for now, I'm on hiatus. I'll probably work on fixing up the posts so they look less retarded (no promises!), but I'll be doing that at my own leisurely pace.
I've been doing these reviews for myself, but I've always written as if an audience was reading. While I don't have many readers, checking my stats lately shows I've been getting more and more returning hits as of late that are actually looking at something other than my cache of screenshots, or my poor use of vulgar language stringed together with certain characters names (Christ, why is everyone so obsessed with what's under Mayl's skirt!? SHE'S 11 and a CARTOON!).
Anyway, if you're perusing the posts, feel free to leave a comment. I won't always respond if there isn't much content in your post, but I do read them all. Don't hesitate to post corrections, errors, or general feedback. And if you think the quality of any of the articles is poor, which you'd be right, don't hesitate to let me know.
Mega Man's been a whole hell of a lot of fun to me these past 22 years, and here's hoping he's still fun 50 more years from now!
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