It’s hard to believe it’s been twelve years since the release of Mega Man X Collection for GameCube and PS2. Featuring Mega Man X 1-6 (plus Battle and Chase), it was a fully-priced game with a decent selection of bonus content (music and artwork specifically). Now that there are a full eight titles to digest, Capcom has split X Legacy Collection into two separate $20 titles—not a bad deal under any circumstances, but certainly more fiscally convenient for those who are only interested in owning a subset of the games (early or late).
Most people would probably argue that the four games included in the first of these two collections are the best of the bunch. Mega Man X 1-3 in particular (all originally released for the SNES) are widely cited as some of the best games of the Mega Man series as a whole, thanks in no small part to their streamlined gameplay and implementation of useful enhancements to the formula such as suit upgrades, L/R button weapon switching, and the ability to revisit completed stages.
The original, just how you remember it
Before we cover what’s new to Legacy Collection specifically, let’s quickly recap each of the four games in the spotlight here.
Mega Man X
It’s easy to see why so many still consider the very first Mega Man X peak 90s-era Capcom. Featuring a bevy of enhancements over the NES Mega Man games before it, Mega Man X truly did represent the next generation of the action/platforming sensation. In addition to the above-listed modifications, X also brought with it clever gameplay alterations—such as the dash/wall climbing abilities and the fact that some stages actually change depending on which other stages were completed prior to visiting them. Apart from the suit upgrades and the typical energy (“sub”) tanks, X also introduces hidden life expansions and even some deeper secrets for those so inclined. I’d also be remiss not to mention the positively stellar soundtrack which is absolutely the best of the entire X series. It’s a top-notch, highly-replayable action experience.
Mega Man X2
Thanks to a notable reduction in instrumentation/MIDI quality, X2’s soundtrack isn’t quite up to the standards of the original, but compositionally it’s still quite good. Meanwhile, the game itself is great, continuing the formula of its predecessor but adding in some additional complexity to shake things up a bit (such as the Zero parts collection subquest). There’s also gratuitous use of the Cx4 3-D chip throughout the game—and while some of it’s a bit cheesy, it’s nevertheless different. X2 is yet again one of the darlings of the series, and deservedly so.
Mega Man X3
Mega Man X3 is, yet again, more of the same fundamental design with a few extra changes tossed in. Among the notable changes is the fact that Zero is now playable at will, though he is restricted in his capabilities (cannot gather suit upgrades or powerups, can’t fight bosses) and once he’s dead, he’s dead for the rest of the game. There are a couple of pretty significant hidden bonuses in the game, as well, though both of them are practically impossible to stumble upon without first consulting a guide. The standard upgrades are nifty, with four additional so-called “chip” upgrades available (of which X can only use one permanently). While it’s still a good game (and quite complex!), there’s something about X3’s level design that seems… less properly balanced/paced than the first two games. Musically, X3 takes another dip into sometimes grating MIDI quality territory, which is a shame considering that some of the songs are still pretty entertaining from a melodic standpoint.
X3 is the first title in which Zero is playable.
Mega Man X4
X4 was the series’ first foray into 32-bit territory (barring the port of X3 for PC and PS1), and while it’s prettier and sounds better than X3, it’s also pretty clearly the weakest of the four games included in this collection. Forgiving the rather terrible anime cutscenes (and even worse voice acting), the game itself is a bit of a slog in terms of pacing and challenge, with some surprisingly large difficulty spikes occurring at unexpected junctures that may have you eventually reaching for your laptop to look up the (by now) well-known button sequence cheat codes just to be able to appreciate the game in its entirety. Apart from the odd pacing, level design is overall fairly good, with some truly bizarre ideas (such as Cyber Peacock’s level) separating it from its precursors.
Legacy Collection
In case the difficulty ever becomes unmanageable, Capcom has provided a Rookie Hunter Mode to significantly reduce the challenge so that the game can be enjoyed without the precision and repetition for which classic Mega Man games are known. This announcement was met with surprise and indignation by the fanbase, but the fact remains that whether or not you choose to use it is up to you.
As in 2006’s X Collection, progress no longer requires recording and reentering a password either—though the process by which games are loaded is a bit weird, since the password is displayed along with the loaded data, and it seems there’s only a single save slot available for each of the games.
Each game can be toggled between the American and Japanese version (Mega Man X or Rockman X), which is a neat touch. The soundtrack is untouched from the originals, as are the visuals, though two separate graphical filters are available to be used optionally to enhance/upscale the 640×480 source material.
Bonus material is now confined to the Museum menu, where you’ll find a vast assortment of many hundreds of artwork items, product photos, advertisements, the half-hour Day of Sigma film from the Maverick Hunter PSP game, and some other goodies. It’s far more than the original X Collection ever offered—and it’s really well-curated with lengthy accompanying descriptions for a huge number of the pieces, information on the year of release, whether it’s still in print, and more. Apart from this, the game features its own achievements system (referred to as Hunter Medals), of which there are 52 in total.
The new X Challenge mode
The biggest addition of all, however, is the new X Challenge mode, which pits X against two robot masters simultaneously in extremely difficult battles. Battles are completed in sets of three (“Stage 4-1” and so on), and for each set you’ll have the option of choosing three out of nine different power-ups (in addition to the X Buster) to use against the bosses. Three selectable difficulty levels help to temper the otherwise frustrating sequence of trial-and-error associated with this experience, and most players will likely enjoy the trip the first time through on Easy. The bosses aren’t limited to just the Reploids, by the way—they also include late-game Sigma and Doppler levels bosses, which makes things even more interesting.
By default, this mode features remixed versions of the boss battle themes from X1 though X6, as well as the surrounding songs and some bonus extras like the X1 password screen theme. We are ROCK-MEN’s Yasumasa Kitagawa is credited for the composition, so as you might expect, this is some top-notch rocktronica fare that’s sure to get your blood pumping. There are just under a couple dozen new songs in total for anyone that’s curious. Sadly, none of the stage themes made the remix rotation.
At $20, this is honestly a bargain, especially considering the appeal of the first three titles in particular. In terms of quality, I’d rank them (perhaps unsurprisingly) as such: X, X2, X3, and X4. But they’re all worth experiencing if you’ve never done so before, and with the terrific presentation, true-to-form gameplay, and extensive bonus content, Legacy Collection is certainly the best way to go about it.
