One summer I escaped the physical and verbal abuse of my childhood into MegaMan 64 and I will never forget how calm and free it was and how grateful I was for the escape.
I'm playing Legends 1 and 2 on my Vita at the moment. I love the fact theres tons of cigarette smoking in these games, and its rated E. Now I havent completed either, but I read that 2 gets pretty messed up. Like extremely dark. Is that true?
@@azforu29 Yep, you can hit roll, shoot some animals, kill some human helpers in nino island, destroy the flutter, etc. Both games are insanely good, I prefer MML2 because has a lot of improvements about MML.
I'm still mad part of their reasoning was a lack of fans giving ideas for the game or whatever. It's been a long time but I distinctly remember (an article quoted my Twitter post without permission) being mad and saying something along the lines of "fans don't want to make the game, we want to play it."
@bigevilworldwide1 the tweet saying the reason was lack of fan interest was debunked as being a troll at capcom. The real reason was that the game development hadn't got the green light at the time Inafune and his team started working on the prototype, and he hoped to get capcom permission to start full development at it when the demo obtained enough attention. In the background, capcom and inafune we're not in good sides already, so his parting from the company just consolidated the death of the third game.
@bigevilworldwide1 Except, that's a stupid way to gauge costumer interest. If you asked anyone, "Would you like a zombie game that focuses on a man who adopts a girl in a post apocalyptic world?" Most people in 2013 would say "No." The zombie genre was already drenched in games and movies by that time. A game called "The Last Of Us" would have never been released with that type of research. The issue is that Capcom, along with other corporate developers, only want Blockbuster Hits. They want "AAA Games" or no games at all. They forget that small budget and middle budget games can lead to more variety and AAA hits if the market gets a chance to play those titles.
T. P. Your not the only one I’m still seething in angry trying to wrap my head around the lost potential and the waste that Capcom put the franchise through over hundreds of thousands of guaranteed sales lost for what? as of late with RE2 and DMC5 and the release of the classic, X, and Zero collections they’re making much better decisions when compared to back then I’m hoping for a legends collection or maybe holding out hope they’ll resume development for legends 3 to make for that mistake almost over a decade ago.
Being a fan since its original US release in 1998 (and learning of the game when it was covered on the #100 issue of EGM as Mega Man Neo), this game is so close to my heart. It never gets enough attention even today. I was pleasantly surprised to see you did an episode on Legends, Jeremy. I think it should be mentioned that several key talent who worked on Legends would later work on bigger endeavors outside and inside of Capcom. The biggest example being the co-director of the Resident Evil 2 Remake, Kazunori Kadoi, was the responsible for Legends 1's game engine, game design, and 3D model animation. twitter.com/OKeijiDragon/status/1108304723231150080 I've researched on the various, hidden development connections between the Mega Man Legends series and the first two Resident Evil games (including the scrapped 1.5) on an admittedly thrown together Twitter thread ( twitter.com/i/moments/1108862157662228480 ). As I wrote in the thread, both series' had their starts supporting each other from the beginning. I strongly believe because of the special era in Capcom's history these games were made in that such links are worth uncovering and delineating to gain a more thorough understanding behind these games' developments. There's also an amazingly crafty transparency effect in character facial textures that use the PlayStation's alpha-blending to see past sides of open mouths through transparency. I'll just leave this here for people to read the details: tcrf.net/Notes:Mega_Man_Legends
Nice man! That egm was iconic for me. I was so hyped for the game! I took on "Neo" as my screen name, as I was just getting online during that time. Years later, people assumed I was a huge matrix fan. No, I was a huge MegaMan fan!
The game's graphics are timeless imo. If I were to make a 3D game, it would be like the underground sections of this game but with more of a Metroid approach to it
When i was younger, i used to think these graphics were childish and too simple, but ironically, all the other games from the same time that i used to play have aged badly, while this one kept it just as good as it was. It really has a timeless charm to it.
Yeah, you can say that about several generations of games. The ones that got mocked for being cartoony and stylised have frequently aged so much better than the ones that went for 'realistic'. I'd argue this is also a major factor in why 16 bit games aged so much better than early 3d games. 16 bit games might not be the absolute pinnacle of 2d graphics capabilities, but they get close enough for most purposes. And the nature of such 2d art means you're forced to use a stylised approach by default. as a result many of these games look better than the 3d games that came after them...
@@Rihcterwilker Halo 2, still feels okay. Though not as "amazing" graphically today, it's okay. COD4 however, feels clunky, looks very brown--most of the COD games didn't age as well as people would have hoped. But COD4 was the fresh game that made the Halo franchise lose a lot of steam; to the point that they even added "classes" and "perks" in later games--things that were very anti-halo gameplay. Yet, today, fans can't yell loud enough for the classic feel of Halo dynamics. *shrugs shoulders*
I just loved how fun and light hearted this game is. I also loved the banter between the bonne family. It felt like I was playing a super fun mecha anime 😄😄
Wasn't that version a butchered port of the PS1 one? I can't remember much except apparently the controls were terrible on it. Nothing like the smooth intuitive controls of mario. Wasn't it changed to all tank controls or something?
@@duffman18 Legends 1 basically was tank controls already. Nearly all N64 ports of games on other platforms were in some way neutered, though, so you're still not wrong.
I maintain that the Legends series is one of the best of all time as far as Megaman is concerned. Great story, great art direction for the low poly counts of the time, full voice acting, action RPG elements, preceding OoT. Sank so many hours into replaying these three games over and over as a kid.
I wrote two entire blogs worth of information on this game and it's sequel because I love it so much, I'll always thank anyone else making sure someone else takes another look at it. Thanks, Jeremy!
Much like the 90s edgy-teen X series, this was Capcom taking the property in a new direction that could have failed for a million reasons, but totally sticking the landing and making something truly special. This game, and Square's Brave Fencer Musashi, are both better 3D updates of the Zelda formula than Ocarina of Time managed. And the expressive flat-shaded style, while obviously not as timeless as Wind Waker's, has definitely aged much better than attempts at realism from that era. It was a gem then and is still a joy to play.
Totally agree, I've always thought Legends (along with something like say, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon) was a more interesting evolutionary path for the adventure game genre Zelda was a part of, being before OoT really laid down the rules everyone decided they'd have to follow, not the least of which being almost every other Zelda game since. Not say those games are bad, but the bolder and more experimental efforts of other games trying to break into 3D (and even post-ALttP 2D games like Landstalker and Beyond Oasis) always resonated with me more.
I love that when you go in the book store and find the "Naughty" books Megaman says "It WOULD be fun to look at these but so many people are around I would be caught" (or something like that but im 99% sure he says it would be fun. Motivating kids all over to join gangs and stop doing spirograph... :)
I remember him using the words "dirty magazines" and as a kid all I thought of was "why would it be fun to look at dirty magazines instead of clean ones? Are they on sale?"
This and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne are the my favorite PS1 games ever. That tone, cartoony style, and the comedy villians interleaved with the serious villains were so well done.
*[Will Include Mega Man Legends 1 & 2 Spoilers]* Mega Man Legends was always meant even back then to be in the far future of the series timeline with many direct references to both the classic series and the X series, the reasoning for a Mega Man to just so happen to know a Roll has the simple meaning of a fated encounter, the Wily we see is clearly shown as more friendly to show that this isn't the people you once saw but more of part of destiny with Earth seemingly resetting to a more primitive but yet advanced technology after the extinction of the humans, the world being covered by sea and other factors at play. Mega Man Legends is the most fitting name for a series that surrounds itself in mystery of both the past and the current future.
Awesome you cover this. I used to read your articles about this series in 1up. This is my all time favorite series of games. Everything has a personality that I can't find in any other games, from the music to the characters. 1 and 2 are complementary, the first has a better world, the 2nd has a better gameplay, expanded narrative and darker... Love them to death
Oh geez, I remember getting that issue of EGM. I didn’t realize it was the first. My folks got me a subscription shortly after and I kept it for many years. Wild.
I still remember renting this game every weekend when I first found out about it. Took me such a long time to actually beat it and the larger plot went completely over my head. I was totally enamored by the charm of the island and the Bonnes. I still get the same enjoyment out of playing these games to this day.
This is surprisingly decent on PC. I've got it running on my retro pc. Still controls a little wonky, but, runs like a dream. Looks better than the other versions as well.
The N64 version is by far the worst. My best friend had the N64 release and I had the Playstation version and it’s pretty crazy how much better my version was. We were just kids but we could pick out how much lower quality the voice work was and the iffy texture quality.
Oh my god.... Thank you for making this video. Megaman Legends is my all time favorite video game. It's amazing to know that there's someone out there that both appreciates what it did and how it was a product of its time. Highlighted what it did right and didn't linger on its poorly aged aspects for too long. THIS is the video we needed for the Get Me Off the Moon campaign...
I love, love, love this game. Everything about it is so fresh and rewarding and pure. Nothing better than junking around underground with roll on the walkie looking for scrap and treasure chests to haul up and see what roll can macguyver in her badass roving 70s retro mini tour van, and then using those new weapons and abilities to get deeper in to trouble. Wonderful music, sound effects, and voice acting. A true "mother lode" to dig into
@@-perceptivefeliscatus-1314 There is a legit PC version (oh God it's got anti-aliasing and better polygons!), but you may have to resort to torrents if you can't find physical or digital versions for sale at this point.
@@-perceptivefeliscatus-1314 it's actually been awhile since I got mine, so I think the torrent I used is long dead. However, I'm sure with the abandonware-esque state that this release is currently in, im sure a simple search will bring up places where you can get it.
It makes me happy seeing anyone talks about Mega Man Legends series in 2020, it's so underrated man I still have hope that Capcom will do something with this series, if not Legends 3 it's okay I just want to see more of this world.
MSX Castlevania next episode, wooooo! I absolutely ADORE that game. And I have a story about my time with it that I'd like you to indulge me to tell here in the comments of this mostly unrelated video, if I may. ;) So in stage 5 of MSX Castlevania, just before the boss, there's that tower you have to navigate, where each floor consists of two horizontally looping screens. You're supposed to climb to the top, then drop down to get the key... so, I did precisely that. I climbed to the top of the tower, walked one screen to the right, dropped down the pit... and died. ...Because the top floor of the tower is THREE screens wide -- non-looping -- unlike every floor leading up to it. If you go to the right and drop down, you are no longer above the tower, so you fall into a bottomless pit and die. You have to go LEFT and drop down in order to get the key. This error on my part, however, did not upset me... but rather, it impressed me. It impressed me because there are SO MANY context clues for this little trap -- for instance, you can tell by the fact that there's a solid wall on the right side of the bottomless pit screen, whereas the screen to the left of it was a wide-open corridor with exits on BOTH sides of the screen, that something is amiss. Or, if you bothered to use the map you were given at the bottom of the tower (in a spot where almost everyone casually playing the game is sure to find it), you'd instantly see that the top floor is three screens wide. But I wasn't paying close enough attention, and I didn't bother using the map. And so, I fell into the level designers' trap. And I kind of loved it. That kind of sneaky, vaguely player-hostile (but not really) level design is part of the reason I adore MSX Castlevania. It shows a thoughtfulness, and a level of challenge, that makes the game an absolute joy to experience (and you can see a lot of inspiration from design choices like this in La-Mulana, along with all the obvious Maze of Galious inspirations). It makes you feel SO CLEVER and SO SKILLED every time you progress a little bit farther. It makes you memorize where to buy the best items, where there are black bibles and hidden candle enemies to be avoided, etc., so you can best plan for your route through the game next time around. In short, it makes you STRATEGIZE. Which is just amazingly fun for me, and adds a whole new dimension to Castlevania that I didn't realize I wanted, but I was SO HAPPY to have. I look forward to your video on the game, as I feel it gets a bit of a bum rap from players nowadays -- but I think in your hands, it might just finally get the fair shake I believe it deserves. Feel free to reference or just flat-out use this story in your review, if it's not already done, and if you so desire. ;)
I've heard a lot about Mega Man Legends yet never saw it in action. And I must say, the visuals are fantastic! It isn't far from my idea of my dream video game on that point.
I didn’t grow up playing this like most, I actually first played it last summer on my PS Vita, I’m playing through it properly now on my PS3 though and I must say it’s one of my favorite games of all time
Replayed this last year and it still holds up nicely. I remembering picking it up for £10 ($13) new a few months after it launched because it sold so poorly. Just had a look at how much it sells for now - wow!
I played MegaMan 64, and after Ocarina, but I still loved it. Its interconnected labyrinth and hidden weapons and quests set it apart. And the ending blew my mind!
YES!! I'm so, so happy that you covered this game! Legends is one of my all-time favorites, this game is simply sheer joy! Though, the idea of Halo taking ideas from Legends seems wild, as those games feel like they're a universe apart from one another, but it reality, there's a mere four years between the two, which really shows you how incredibly fast gaming was moving in the late 90s and early 2000s. I actually love the second Legends just as much as the original, even though they provide truly different experiences. I could honestly gush about these games all day
To be clear, I'm not literally saying Bungie played this game and said, "Let's do THIS"! I just think it's remarkable how many elements that hadn't yet become common in games appeared together in this one largely overlooked 1997/98 release and would go on to become standards a few years later. The designers had great intuition about how to integrate story and a bit of forgiveness into a 3D action game.
@@JeremyParish Oh yeah, I definitely know what you meant! But it's simply wild to me how ahead of the curve the game really was, and I never really thought about the ripple effects Legends really had.
I had no idea Legends was such an interesting game! Back in the day, I just wrote it off as one of the myriad failed attempts to bring 2D games into 3D.
Another awesome Gaiden. I love the direction you're going in here! It would be great to look at less covered franchises or companies. Your episode on Zanac reminded me just how good of a run Compile had. They deserve way more videos around their games, especially Puyo Puyo. It that contributed as much puzzlers as Tetris, if not arguably more so, and it's a shame it never took off in the West like in Japan.
This is why I love this channel. By the very nature of the project he HAS to cover a ton of games that nobody else does. Because he's reviewing every single official release ever, for multiple consoles. Nobody else is doing such a comprehensive sweep of gaming, that's why I support him on patreon. If I'm ever wondering what to play I watch some of these videos and find some...I loathe this term... _HIDDEN_ _GEM_ .... But yeah seriously I end up finding some lost NES games that nobody ever talks about and is actually great. This channel is great to binge for this very reason
I just played/beat Mega Man Legends for the first time last year and this is a perfect summation of what I felt. Not what I had expected coming, but thoroughly enjoyable. I bought the Tron Bonne and Legends 2 the next time they were on sale. And your point about remapping PS1 controls onto the Vita's right analog is spot on. Vita is by far my favorite way to play PS1 games
This is a great game, just poorly executed at the wrong time in gaming. With a fresh coat of HD cell shaded paint and updated controls, I bet this would be a sweet game today with how it looks.
If they added all the things the team couldn't add back then, I bet it would be a bigger hit too. Capcom is on a Roll lately with remakes and updating old franchises, I hope they get around MM: Legends, it certainly deserves a big chance.
God that lounge Jazz. I adored this series as a kid. I went from a casual megaman fan (pre-x games and the cartoon) to a fanboy of the Blue Bomber. And who doesn't love servbots.
A long time ago I watched a Let's Play of the first game and thought it looked quite hilarious, but never considered playing it. I'm pausing this video at about the 10min mark to go and play this series! I don't know why I didn't see it before, but this looks so up my alley it's ridiculous!
I like how this game is cute but not Saccharine. It takes a lot of restraint and intuition to manage a balance like that and it really goes a long way to capturing the same feel as Ghibli's pastoral aesthetic.
Excellent essay! Audio mixing could've been better in some sections but overall a stellar look into this classic. I hadn't realized the Ghibli influences as a kid, so I have a new perspective for the next time I play it.
Thank you for this very tasteful review of why Megaman Legends is so fondly loved and focusing on its many strengths rather then its major glaring flaws like most do, Legends is proof positive that "Charm" goes a very long way to making something enjoyable to experience even long after its past its time ^^ with Keji Inafune shitting the bed with Mighty Number 9 and the the Legends "spiritual successor" Red Ash in radio silence, im not sure if we even should try to get Legends 3 now, but I wouldn't say no if Capcom gave the go ahead for passionate dev's to try and recapture that magic :D
This game is just amazing. It's easily one of the best looking games on the PS1, along with it's sequel and spin-off. Better yet, the gameplay and story is solid. I ended up finding a Doom mod that recreated Kattelox, and I remembered every single location. That speaks volumes to how memorable the island is, and how much Legends makes you care about it. I can't think of anything I don't like about this game. To this day, the Bonne Family is my favorite group of villains in any game. All three, as well as the 40 Servbots, are just so charming and surprisingly wholesome, but still very maniacal and evil when they want to. They even manage to make off with the treasure they came to Kattelox for in the very end.
All in for Vampire Killer next week. :D (hope the X6800 Sharp Castlevania gets a look one day too!) The Ghibli influence seems so obvious in hindsight that I’m embarrassed I never caught on back then. It’s something I’d love to see return to the series, Legends-specific or otherwise. It’s sad to see the series held in limbo for so long especially considering the affection for it that seems to run through the rest of Capcom, what with the guest spots in VS games and cameos in Dead Rising.
There's a more than a little bit of Time Bokan/Yatterman in Megaman's DNA too and it's very overt depending on how you look at it... and I'd say it's actually still more subtle than all the Miyazaki feel you bring up. I've seen a blog post highlight the parallels, but in a video already as crowded as this one, it's a fact that I can understand being omitted for time already. Still, considering it was the mid 90s, it's understandable that the devs would put a look and feel to animation they themselves grew up with then some 20 years prior. After all, this is the reason Cyberbots character Devilot is the way she is-- one designer was making a Dragon Quest reference and nobody else on the team caught it and just put on their own reference instead! It's nice to see a look like this at Megaman Legends though. Back then especially, the game felt how I wanted Zelda to jump to 3D, with its dangerous and enemy filled catacombs that snaked around under the earth and linked up ways that rewarded exploration. For as game changing and groundbreaking as OoT was, Legends really is the the 3D Zelda I wanted.
I’m sorry to say I passed on Legends, not for the reasons most people did, because I didn’t like Mega-Man was missing his iconic helmet! All promotional material and screenshots at the time showed Mega-Man with hair (a young version of me didn’t like that look) it said this isn’t the Mega-Man you want. Later I learned you could get the helmet but by then I moved on. I’d like to try the MML series eventually, who knows maybe one day we could get a remake, remaster or even the Legendary scrapped third game!?
There is something to be said for strong art direction. This is one of the best looking PS1 games, almost completely sidestepping typical hardware's shortcomings.
This is my favourite Mega Man game by far (apart from Mega Man Legends 2). I do appreciate the classic Mega Man games and also Mega Man Battle Network quite a lot. The only Mega Man series that never clicked with me is X.
A bit bold to bring up Tiesel's VA specifically given his future infamy. All the English voice work was remarkably great for the time, but I think Corey Sevier's Canadian Megaman stands out the most. I played Legends, MM8, and MMX4 around the same time and he was far and away the best protagonist voice of the era.
Yeah, I've heard about that infamy, but I can't find any confirmation that THIS actor was the same Rob Smith who got into trouble-there appear to be several Canadian actors who performed under that name around this time, and in researching for this episode I was not able to dig up a definitive confirmation that this was the one who was arrested. His work really does elevate the game, so it seems only fair to give him props and not jump to the conclusion that he's The Bad Rob Smith....
It's especially impressive considering it was less than a year after Mega Man 8 and X4 came out with some of the worst voice acting in video game history. Not only were the voices in Legends incredibly fitting, but everyone performed their roles spectacularly. Rob Smith's performance as Tiesel has elevated the character into one of if not my favorite Mega Man character of all time.
thinking of the Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki influences on the game. I suppose that's why Dr. Wily reminds me of Dr. Briac Lao (Lana's grandfather) from Future Boy Conan.
I need to give this game another shot sometime. When I played it back then (through Mega Man 64), I was too hung up on it "not being Mega Man" to fully enjoy it. I did finish it, and I remember liking the Bonnes, but I couldn't shake my disappointment with it not being what I wanted out of a 3D Mega Man game. These days, I like to think I'm better at taking games as they are, so maybe I'll like it much more now.
My friend always told me the Servbots were the original Minions.
They're certainly more likeable.
@@matthewkoester1640 Rabbids are the most Minion-ful. Like...Minions are straight up reskinned Rabbids.
@@GELTONZ Yup, Minions are just Rabbids with less screaming.
I always thought they were Lego guys
One summer I escaped the physical and verbal abuse of my childhood into MegaMan 64 and I will never forget how calm and free it was and how grateful I was for the escape.
I named my island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons as "Kattelox" and its flag is the Bonne emblem. That's how much I love the Legends franchise. ❤
Omg I named my AC island Kattelox too!!!
same, with the bonne flag as well lol
Did the same thing lol
Yay! Kattelox buddies!
Well done for mixing things up with titles, it's good to aim for topics you have passion for, otherwise you'll end up hating what you do.
Mega Man Legends is one of those "life-changing" games that went under everyone's radar at launch
That just makes both the cliffhanger and the cancellation of the third game all the more heartbreaking.
I'm playing Legends 1 and 2 on my Vita at the moment. I love the fact theres tons of cigarette smoking in these games, and its rated E. Now I havent completed either, but I read that 2 gets pretty messed up. Like extremely dark. Is that true?
@@azforu29 Not too dark, but definitely not as ghibli-ish of a game MML1 was
@@azforu29 Not really. It gets more serious, but it still has that wackiness.
@@azforu29 Yep, you can hit roll, shoot some animals, kill some human helpers in nino island, destroy the flutter, etc.
Both games are insanely good, I prefer MML2 because has a lot of improvements about MML.
I'm still disappointed that capcom cancelled MegaMan Legends 3. 😢
I'm still mad part of their reasoning was a lack of fans giving ideas for the game or whatever. It's been a long time but I distinctly remember (an article quoted my Twitter post without permission) being mad and saying something along the lines of "fans don't want to make the game, we want to play it."
@bigevilworldwide1 the tweet saying the reason was lack of fan interest was debunked as being a troll at capcom. The real reason was that the game development hadn't got the green light at the time Inafune and his team started working on the prototype, and he hoped to get capcom permission to start full development at it when the demo obtained enough attention. In the background, capcom and inafune we're not in good sides already, so his parting from the company just consolidated the death of the third game.
@bigevilworldwide1 Except, that's a stupid way to gauge costumer interest. If you asked anyone, "Would you like a zombie game that focuses on a man who adopts a girl in a post apocalyptic world?" Most people in 2013 would say "No." The zombie genre was already drenched in games and movies by that time. A game called "The Last Of Us" would have never been released with that type of research.
The issue is that Capcom, along with other corporate developers, only want Blockbuster Hits. They want "AAA Games" or no games at all. They forget that small budget and middle budget games can lead to more variety and AAA hits if the market gets a chance to play those titles.
T. P. Your not the only one I’m still seething in angry trying to wrap my head around the lost potential and the waste that Capcom put the franchise through over hundreds of thousands of guaranteed sales lost for what? as of late with RE2 and DMC5 and the release of the classic, X, and Zero collections they’re making much better decisions when compared to back then I’m hoping for a legends collection or maybe holding out hope they’ll resume development for legends 3 to make for that mistake almost over a decade ago.
Being a fan since its original US release in 1998 (and learning of the game when it was covered on the #100 issue of EGM as Mega Man Neo), this game is so close to my heart. It never gets enough attention even today. I was pleasantly surprised to see you did an episode on Legends, Jeremy.
I think it should be mentioned that several key talent who worked on Legends would later work on bigger endeavors outside and inside of Capcom. The biggest example being the co-director of the Resident Evil 2 Remake, Kazunori Kadoi, was the responsible for Legends 1's game engine, game design, and 3D model animation. twitter.com/OKeijiDragon/status/1108304723231150080
I've researched on the various, hidden development connections between the Mega Man Legends series and the first two Resident Evil games (including the scrapped 1.5) on an admittedly thrown together Twitter thread ( twitter.com/i/moments/1108862157662228480 ). As I wrote in the thread, both series' had their starts supporting each other from the beginning. I strongly believe because of the special era in Capcom's history these games were made in that such links are worth uncovering and delineating to gain a more thorough understanding behind these games' developments.
There's also an amazingly crafty transparency effect in character facial textures that use the PlayStation's alpha-blending to see past sides of open mouths through transparency. I'll just leave this here for people to read the details: tcrf.net/Notes:Mega_Man_Legends
Nice man! That egm was iconic for me. I was so hyped for the game! I took on "Neo" as my screen name, as I was just getting online during that time. Years later, people assumed I was a huge matrix fan. No, I was a huge MegaMan fan!
Somehow, I never tire of people playing or discussing Mega Man Legends. That game was really onto something.
The game's graphics are timeless imo. If I were to make a 3D game, it would be like the underground sections of this game but with more of a Metroid approach to it
When i was younger, i used to think these graphics were childish and too simple, but ironically, all the other games from the same time that i used to play have aged badly, while this one kept it just as good as it was. It really has a timeless charm to it.
Yeah, you can say that about several generations of games.
The ones that got mocked for being cartoony and stylised have frequently aged so much better than the ones that went for 'realistic'.
I'd argue this is also a major factor in why 16 bit games aged so much better than early 3d games.
16 bit games might not be the absolute pinnacle of 2d graphics capabilities, but they get close enough for most purposes.
And the nature of such 2d art means you're forced to use a stylised approach by default.
as a result many of these games look better than the 3d games that came after them...
@@Rihcterwilker Halo 2, still feels okay. Though not as "amazing" graphically today, it's okay. COD4 however, feels clunky, looks very brown--most of the COD games didn't age as well as people would have hoped. But COD4 was the fresh game that made the Halo franchise lose a lot of steam; to the point that they even added "classes" and "perks" in later games--things that were very anti-halo gameplay.
Yet, today, fans can't yell loud enough for the classic feel of Halo dynamics.
*shrugs shoulders*
You're on a roll Jeremy, great stuff thanks!
The biggest cliffhanger in videogames. I seriously check once a month for a mml3 announcement. That's how I found this video.
I just loved how fun and light hearted this game is. I also loved the banter between the bonne family. It felt like I was playing a super fun mecha anime 😄😄
I mean, in a way, you did start N64 works with this episode lol
I was thinking the same thing. This is more like N64 Works Gaiden
well he WILL eventually have to talk about MegaMan 64...
Wasn't that version a butchered port of the PS1 one? I can't remember much except apparently the controls were terrible on it. Nothing like the smooth intuitive controls of mario. Wasn't it changed to all tank controls or something?
@@duffman18 Legends 1 basically was tank controls already.
Nearly all N64 ports of games on other platforms were in some way neutered, though, so you're still not wrong.
@@duffman18 graphics looked a little nicer, but the audio was horrible
I remember beating this game back in the day, it's truly an often overlooked classic.
I never fail to marvel at how those early covers belied what flawless games were packaged inside.
Man, this game is beautiful. The texture work and animations are incredible.
My body is ready for a Video Works episode on Elevator Action Returns.
I've been eyeing those JP Saturn copies for years, but I just can't justify it.
Same Name, Different Game I just need to get my hands on the packaging somehow
@@JeremyParish Steve Lin must have a copy!
@@JeremyParish I'm glad you've played it before. It's seriously one of the best games ever
I maintain that the Legends series is one of the best of all time as far as Megaman is concerned. Great story, great art direction for the low poly counts of the time, full voice acting, action RPG elements, preceding OoT. Sank so many hours into replaying these three games over and over as a kid.
I wrote two entire blogs worth of information on this game and it's sequel because I love it so much, I'll always thank anyone else making sure someone else takes another look at it. Thanks, Jeremy!
Much like the 90s edgy-teen X series, this was Capcom taking the property in a new direction that could have failed for a million reasons, but totally sticking the landing and making something truly special. This game, and Square's Brave Fencer Musashi, are both better 3D updates of the Zelda formula than Ocarina of Time managed. And the expressive flat-shaded style, while obviously not as timeless as Wind Waker's, has definitely aged much better than attempts at realism from that era. It was a gem then and is still a joy to play.
Totally agree, I've always thought Legends (along with something like say, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon) was a more interesting evolutionary path for the adventure game genre Zelda was a part of, being before OoT really laid down the rules everyone decided they'd have to follow, not the least of which being almost every other Zelda game since. Not say those games are bad, but the bolder and more experimental efforts of other games trying to break into 3D (and even post-ALttP 2D games like Landstalker and Beyond Oasis) always resonated with me more.
_"Eek! What do you think you're doing!?"_
**fist pump and fanfare plays**
I love that when you go in the book store and find the "Naughty" books Megaman says "It WOULD be fun to look at these but so many people are around I would be caught" (or something like that but im 99% sure he says it would be fun. Motivating kids all over to join gangs and stop doing spirograph... :)
I remember him using the words "dirty magazines" and as a kid all I thought of was "why would it be fun to look at dirty magazines instead of clean ones? Are they on sale?"
Jeremy Abbott lol!!! Oh we were good kids!!!
This was awesome to watch from start to finish. This video made me want to dust off my PS1 and play it again!
I dig this loose "Jeremy talks about his favorite games" approach. Keep it up!
This and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne are the my favorite PS1 games ever. That tone, cartoony style, and the comedy villians interleaved with the serious villains were so well done.
Now this is the retrospective my all time favorite video game deserves! Liked!
Thanks for your part in keeping the memory alive for this franchise. Great video.
Seeing my top two favorite games side by side at 00:45 seconds in...Megaman Legends and FFVII.
It's a beautiful thing.
*[Will Include Mega Man Legends 1 & 2 Spoilers]*
Mega Man Legends was always meant even back then to be in the far future of the series timeline with many direct references to both the classic series and the X series, the reasoning for a Mega Man to just so happen to know a Roll has the simple meaning of a fated encounter, the Wily we see is clearly shown as more friendly to show that this isn't the people you once saw but more of part of destiny with Earth seemingly resetting to a more primitive but yet advanced technology after the extinction of the humans, the world being covered by sea and other factors at play. Mega Man Legends is the most fitting name for a series that surrounds itself in mystery of both the past and the current future.
Awesome you cover this. I used to read your articles about this series in 1up. This is my all time favorite series of games. Everything has a personality that I can't find in any other games, from the music to the characters. 1 and 2 are complementary, the first has a better world, the 2nd has a better gameplay, expanded narrative and darker... Love them to death
Oh geez, I remember getting that issue of EGM. I didn’t realize it was the first. My folks got me a subscription shortly after and I kept it for many years. Wild.
I am delighted to hear that this game has such a warm place in your heart ♥
I still remember renting this game every weekend when I first found out about it. Took me such a long time to actually beat it and the larger plot went completely over my head. I was totally enamored by the charm of the island and the Bonnes. I still get the same enjoyment out of playing these games to this day.
I was 20 years old when this game came out. I played it from start to finish. Love everything about it.
Kudos to another fantastic video!
Remember when there was gonna be a Megaman Legends 3?
Good times.
This is surprisingly decent on PC. I've got it running on my retro pc. Still controls a little wonky, but, runs like a dream. Looks better than the other versions as well.
Where can I download the PC version ?
Do you play with Mouse and Keyboard? I can see this game working better with those controls than a standard plug-in controller.
The N64 version is by far the worst. My best friend had the N64 release and I had the Playstation version and it’s pretty crazy how much better my version was. We were just kids but we could pick out how much lower quality the voice work was and the iffy texture quality.
Oh my god.... Thank you for making this video. Megaman Legends is my all time favorite video game. It's amazing to know that there's someone out there that both appreciates what it did and how it was a product of its time. Highlighted what it did right and didn't linger on its poorly aged aspects for too long. THIS is the video we needed for the Get Me Off the Moon campaign...
Something about the crusty retro anime aesthetic is just sooooooooo good.
I love, love, love this game. Everything about it is so fresh and rewarding and pure.
Nothing better than junking around underground with roll on the walkie looking for scrap and treasure chests to haul up and see what roll can macguyver in her badass roving 70s retro mini tour van, and then using those new weapons and abilities to get deeper in to trouble.
Wonderful music, sound effects, and voice acting. A true "mother lode" to dig into
What a nice coincidence, I’ve started playing megaman legends 1 and 2. This video came at a perfect time.
is it available in PC? if it is then where can you download it? omg the memories for this game came back so hard on me dam miss this game
@@-perceptivefeliscatus-1314 There is a legit PC version (oh God it's got anti-aliasing and better polygons!), but you may have to resort to torrents if you can't find physical or digital versions for sale at this point.
@@Mageman17 oh “noice”! Do you have any suggested torrents that are likely to get me to download Megaman legends?
@@-perceptivefeliscatus-1314 it's actually been awhile since I got mine, so I think the torrent I used is long dead. However, I'm sure with the abandonware-esque state that this release is currently in, im sure a simple search will bring up places where you can get it.
I cant get over the graphics of these games, especially the 2nd game. They are stunning.
It makes me happy seeing anyone talks about Mega Man Legends series in 2020, it's so underrated man I still have hope that Capcom will do something with this series, if not Legends 3 it's okay I just want to see more of this world.
I'd be happy with a crash/spyro style remake of MML1+2 and misadventures of tron bonne
@@baddabaddabaddaswing same
@@baddabaddabaddaswing That would be amazing
MSX Castlevania next episode, wooooo! I absolutely ADORE that game. And I have a story about my time with it that I'd like you to indulge me to tell here in the comments of this mostly unrelated video, if I may. ;)
So in stage 5 of MSX Castlevania, just before the boss, there's that tower you have to navigate, where each floor consists of two horizontally looping screens. You're supposed to climb to the top, then drop down to get the key... so, I did precisely that. I climbed to the top of the tower, walked one screen to the right, dropped down the pit... and died.
...Because the top floor of the tower is THREE screens wide -- non-looping -- unlike every floor leading up to it. If you go to the right and drop down, you are no longer above the tower, so you fall into a bottomless pit and die. You have to go LEFT and drop down in order to get the key.
This error on my part, however, did not upset me... but rather, it impressed me. It impressed me because there are SO MANY context clues for this little trap -- for instance, you can tell by the fact that there's a solid wall on the right side of the bottomless pit screen, whereas the screen to the left of it was a wide-open corridor with exits on BOTH sides of the screen, that something is amiss. Or, if you bothered to use the map you were given at the bottom of the tower (in a spot where almost everyone casually playing the game is sure to find it), you'd instantly see that the top floor is three screens wide.
But I wasn't paying close enough attention, and I didn't bother using the map. And so, I fell into the level designers' trap. And I kind of loved it.
That kind of sneaky, vaguely player-hostile (but not really) level design is part of the reason I adore MSX Castlevania. It shows a thoughtfulness, and a level of challenge, that makes the game an absolute joy to experience (and you can see a lot of inspiration from design choices like this in La-Mulana, along with all the obvious Maze of Galious inspirations). It makes you feel SO CLEVER and SO SKILLED every time you progress a little bit farther. It makes you memorize where to buy the best items, where there are black bibles and hidden candle enemies to be avoided, etc., so you can best plan for your route through the game next time around.
In short, it makes you STRATEGIZE. Which is just amazingly fun for me, and adds a whole new dimension to Castlevania that I didn't realize I wanted, but I was SO HAPPY to have.
I look forward to your video on the game, as I feel it gets a bit of a bum rap from players nowadays -- but I think in your hands, it might just finally get the fair shake I believe it deserves.
Feel free to reference or just flat-out use this story in your review, if it's not already done, and if you so desire. ;)
Played this game and the sequel all the time when I was like nine years old and had the biggest crush on Roll.
God this game still looks so incredible. This is how you do good PS1-style graphics!
It's always good to see someone giving love to the Legends series, it's a game that i grew up playing and still love.
Awesome video, man!
Thanks for keeping the quality content coming during the pandemic. Really enjoy Retronauts too!
I've heard a lot about Mega Man Legends yet never saw it in action. And I must say, the visuals are fantastic! It isn't far from my idea of my dream video game on that point.
I didn’t grow up playing this like most, I actually first played it last summer on my PS Vita, I’m playing through it properly now on my PS3 though and I must say it’s one of my favorite games of all time
This is my favorite game of all time. Funny that you released this video on my birthday! Thanks Jeremy.
Replayed this last year and it still holds up nicely. I remembering picking it up for £10 ($13) new a few months after it launched because it sold so poorly. Just had a look at how much it sells for now - wow!
I played MegaMan 64, and after Ocarina, but I still loved it. Its interconnected labyrinth and hidden weapons and quests set it apart. And the ending blew my mind!
You were supposed to work your way up to Mega Man 64, you changed the rules Parish!! (loved the video, thank you King)
YES!! I'm so, so happy that you covered this game! Legends is one of my all-time favorites, this game is simply sheer joy!
Though, the idea of Halo taking ideas from Legends seems wild, as those games feel like they're a universe apart from one another, but it reality, there's a mere four years between the two, which really shows you how incredibly fast gaming was moving in the late 90s and early 2000s.
I actually love the second Legends just as much as the original, even though they provide truly different experiences. I could honestly gush about these games all day
To be clear, I'm not literally saying Bungie played this game and said, "Let's do THIS"! I just think it's remarkable how many elements that hadn't yet become common in games appeared together in this one largely overlooked 1997/98 release and would go on to become standards a few years later. The designers had great intuition about how to integrate story and a bit of forgiveness into a 3D action game.
@@JeremyParish Oh yeah, I definitely know what you meant! But it's simply wild to me how ahead of the curve the game really was, and I never really thought about the ripple effects Legends really had.
Hey man been a retronauts fan since the 1up days. After all these years you're still kicking out quality projects. Keep up the good work!
Love the Yes reference in the title, I’ll have to play Legends, sounds like I really missed out.
I had no idea Legends was such an interesting game! Back in the day, I just wrote it off as one of the myriad failed attempts to bring 2D games into 3D.
Another awesome Gaiden. I love the direction you're going in here!
It would be great to look at less covered franchises or companies. Your episode on Zanac reminded me just how good of a run Compile had. They deserve way more videos around their games, especially Puyo Puyo. It that contributed as much puzzlers as Tetris, if not arguably more so, and it's a shame it never took off in the West like in Japan.
This is why I love this channel. By the very nature of the project he HAS to cover a ton of games that nobody else does. Because he's reviewing every single official release ever, for multiple consoles. Nobody else is doing such a comprehensive sweep of gaming, that's why I support him on patreon. If I'm ever wondering what to play I watch some of these videos and find some...I loathe this term... _HIDDEN_ _GEM_ ....
But yeah seriously I end up finding some lost NES games that nobody ever talks about and is actually great. This channel is great to binge for this very reason
I just played/beat Mega Man Legends for the first time last year and this is a perfect summation of what I felt. Not what I had expected coming, but thoroughly enjoyable. I bought the Tron Bonne and Legends 2 the next time they were on sale.
And your point about remapping PS1 controls onto the Vita's right analog is spot on. Vita is by far my favorite way to play PS1 games
I loved Legends and the marvelous misadventures of tron bonne, I bought the 3ds specifically for legends 3..... oh man
This is a great game, just poorly executed at the wrong time in gaming. With a fresh coat of HD cell shaded paint and updated controls, I bet this would be a sweet game today with how it looks.
If they added all the things the team couldn't add back then, I bet it would be a bigger hit too. Capcom is on a Roll lately with remakes and updating old franchises, I hope they get around MM: Legends, it certainly deserves a big chance.
@@jamjox9922 I see what you did there.
It was a precious 10th Anniversary Celebration baby... and then they killed it.
I MISS THIS SERIES SO MUCH
God that lounge Jazz. I adored this series as a kid. I went from a casual megaman fan (pre-x games and the cartoon) to a fanboy of the Blue Bomber. And who doesn't love servbots.
A long time ago I watched a Let's Play of the first game and thought it looked quite hilarious, but never considered playing it. I'm pausing this video at about the 10min mark to go and play this series! I don't know why I didn't see it before, but this looks so up my alley it's ridiculous!
15:31 This part used to scare the shit out of me as a kid, especially when that thing was coming right at you. 😂
This is just my favorite game of all time.
The nursery joke had me cracking up. That was gold.
Rpg and megaman....who doesn't love this.....oe of my favorites
This is actually my favorite game out of the whole series. I was waiting for ML3 to come out but that never happened 😞
Jeremy your reviews are the best.
I like how this game is cute but not Saccharine. It takes a lot of restraint and intuition to manage a balance like that and it really goes a long way to capturing the same feel as Ghibli's pastoral aesthetic.
Excellent essay! Audio mixing could've been better in some sections but overall a stellar look into this classic. I hadn't realized the Ghibli influences as a kid, so I have a new perspective for the next time I play it.
Nicely done review, love this series! But never say never, they may still be hope one day we could still get
a legends 3!
I loved this game when I was young. Part 2 was great also.
Yes, I loooooooooooove Mega Man Legends so much. It's one of my favorite games ever
Thank you for this very tasteful review of why Megaman Legends is so fondly loved and focusing on its many strengths rather then its major glaring flaws like most do, Legends is proof positive that "Charm" goes a very long way to making something enjoyable to experience even long after its past its time ^^ with Keji Inafune shitting the bed with Mighty Number 9 and the the Legends "spiritual successor" Red Ash in radio silence, im not sure if we even should try to get Legends 3 now, but I wouldn't say no if Capcom gave the go ahead for passionate dev's to try and recapture that magic :D
"that will never be completed"
oof
Never forget, never forgive.
This game is just amazing. It's easily one of the best looking games on the PS1, along with it's sequel and spin-off. Better yet, the gameplay and story is solid. I ended up finding a Doom mod that recreated Kattelox, and I remembered every single location. That speaks volumes to how memorable the island is, and how much Legends makes you care about it. I can't think of anything I don't like about this game. To this day, the Bonne Family is my favorite group of villains in any game. All three, as well as the 40 Servbots, are just so charming and surprisingly wholesome, but still very maniacal and evil when they want to. They even manage to make off with the treasure they came to Kattelox for in the very end.
All in for Vampire Killer next week. :D (hope the X6800 Sharp Castlevania gets a look one day too!)
The Ghibli influence seems so obvious in hindsight that I’m embarrassed I never caught on back then. It’s something I’d love to see return to the series, Legends-specific or otherwise.
It’s sad to see the series held in limbo for so long especially considering the affection for it that seems to run through the rest of Capcom, what with the guest spots in VS games and cameos in Dead Rising.
Vampire Killer is part of the next NES Works Gaiden episode, but it won't be next week. Or next month.
All in for Vampire Killer at some point in the future! :)
I remember renting this from a place called Rhino Video Games when i was a kid. Shit blew my mind.
I'll always have a soft spot for this sub series.
I love this series so much!
This was the first mega man game I played. Tbh, I never understood it nor was I capable of beating it at the time. Still, seems super interesting.
Fricking love this game! Played it on the 64.
I think this works nicely. I also love MML. So good.
There's a more than a little bit of Time Bokan/Yatterman in Megaman's DNA too and it's very overt depending on how you look at it... and I'd say it's actually still more subtle than all the Miyazaki feel you bring up. I've seen a blog post highlight the parallels, but in a video already as crowded as this one, it's a fact that I can understand being omitted for time already. Still, considering it was the mid 90s, it's understandable that the devs would put a look and feel to animation they themselves grew up with then some 20 years prior. After all, this is the reason Cyberbots character Devilot is the way she is-- one designer was making a Dragon Quest reference and nobody else on the team caught it and just put on their own reference instead!
It's nice to see a look like this at Megaman Legends though. Back then especially, the game felt how I wanted Zelda to jump to 3D, with its dangerous and enemy filled catacombs that snaked around under the earth and linked up ways that rewarded exploration. For as game changing and groundbreaking as OoT was, Legends really is the the 3D Zelda I wanted.
2:18 Now that's a hoopy frood that knows where his towel is!
18:44 I think I'll steal "Grim and Gritty, Gore and TItty"
Legends is my favorite Megaman series.
I’m sorry to say I passed on Legends, not for the reasons most people did, because I didn’t like Mega-Man was missing his iconic helmet! All promotional material and screenshots at the time showed Mega-Man with hair (a young version of me didn’t like that look) it said this isn’t the Mega-Man you want. Later I learned you could get the helmet but by then I moved on.
I’d like to try the MML series eventually, who knows maybe one day we could get a remake, remaster or even the Legendary scrapped third game!?
"...grim & gritty, gore and titty..." Jeremy, you never disappoint.
I would so love this gamer to get a rerelease, even if there are no more sequels. I think this game is underrated these days.
There is something to be said for strong art direction. This is one of the best looking PS1 games, almost completely sidestepping typical hardware's shortcomings.
This is my favourite Mega Man game by far (apart from Mega Man Legends 2). I do appreciate the classic Mega Man games and also Mega Man Battle Network quite a lot. The only Mega Man series that never clicked with me is X.
A bit bold to bring up Tiesel's VA specifically given his future infamy.
All the English voice work was remarkably great for the time, but I think Corey Sevier's Canadian Megaman stands out the most. I played Legends, MM8, and MMX4 around the same time and he was far and away the best protagonist voice of the era.
Yeah, I've heard about that infamy, but I can't find any confirmation that THIS actor was the same Rob Smith who got into trouble-there appear to be several Canadian actors who performed under that name around this time, and in researching for this episode I was not able to dig up a definitive confirmation that this was the one who was arrested. His work really does elevate the game, so it seems only fair to give him props and not jump to the conclusion that he's The Bad Rob Smith....
@@JeremyParish Oh, that's even more interesting! I suppose it makes sense that it would be a common name.
It's especially impressive considering it was less than a year after Mega Man 8 and X4 came out with some of the worst voice acting in video game history. Not only were the voices in Legends incredibly fitting, but everyone performed their roles spectacularly. Rob Smith's performance as Tiesel has elevated the character into one of if not my favorite Mega Man character of all time.
thinking of the Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki influences on the game. I suppose that's why Dr. Wily reminds me of Dr. Briac Lao (Lana's grandfather) from Future Boy Conan.
I have yet to play this games in the series. I have played every one but for some reason this one never caught my eye...I may revisit it.
Jeremy I love your work but I feel compelled to point out Despicable Me and its sequels were not made by dreamworks, but Illumination.
That’s what the Man wants you to believe
This game still looks pretty good.
Still love this game. 2 as well. Sad we never got 3...
I need to give this game another shot sometime. When I played it back then (through Mega Man 64), I was too hung up on it "not being Mega Man" to fully enjoy it. I did finish it, and I remember liking the Bonnes, but I couldn't shake my disappointment with it not being what I wanted out of a 3D Mega Man game. These days, I like to think I'm better at taking games as they are, so maybe I'll like it much more now.