Ah, Mega Man and Dr. Wily. Capcom’s contribution to video game rivalries have battled through numerous episodes in the 8‑bit, 16-bit and first PlayStation era. These infamous icons have taken their battle of good vs. evil to another battlefield: next-generation consoles. Like many fans of the Blue Bomber, I wondered how Capcom would present Mega Man and company to a new audience while keeping dedicated fans like myself invested in new adventures. Mega Man 9 hit the spot.
Mega Man 9 is exactly like previous Mega Man games of the 8‑bit era: Easy to play. Using the PS3’s d‑pad made me feel that I was playing on the NES with simplified controls. When Mega Man defeats a Robot Master, he acquires that boss’ weapon which — along with his Mega Buster — make up the meat of his controls. I have only two issues with this feature: You cannot use a charged Mega Buster blast like in Mega Man 4; and, you must acquire weapon power-ups to keep the special weapons running properly. Mega Man does have help in his latest adventure with his helpful canine, Rush, and allies Eddie, Beat and Roll, who supply special gadgets in exchange for screws via their shop between stages. Saving all collected screws when purchasing certain items is a smart move.
The graphics in Mega Man 9 are 8‑bit quality and nostalgic, which I commend Capcom for doing. It looks like Mega Man of yesteryear, which is always a good thing. The music was also a win since it stayed with each stage’s design.
I felt that as an older gamer, Mega Man 9 was not only simple, but also fun. I didn’t have to worry about time limits or other frivolous things that would induce rage quitting. Everything was Mega Man oriented, just as it should be.
Mega Man 9 is a game for not only Mega Man fans, but also for those who want to experience 8‑bit gaming on a next generation console. Whoever said that gaming classics can’t keep attention like newer triple‑A titles obviously have not played a classic series like Mega Man and certainly haven’t run into Mega Man 9. Carry on, Blue Bomber. Carry on.
Don’t call it a comeback: SFV cleans up after launch
I’m going to be intensely personal for a minute: My life by the time of my mid-30s was not fun. It was a time of change, reboots in nearly every area (partner, career, school again), loss and learning from the mistakes of my 20s. I’m good now, but it wasn’t without struggle and pain. And the oldest entry in the fight game can commiserate with me because they know what that time is like. Street Fighter V is sitting at the bar with me, drowning its sorrows because it and the series, too, went through it in its mid-30s and like me is doing much better than one could expect after the struggle. SFV didn’t start out as magical as it has become. The launch was mired in problems and things just weren’t where they should be. The game’s story mode didn’t launch alongside the actual game and the netcode was terrible. But what a difference time makes.
The story, while still not as engrossing as past entries, has improved. It moves the SF world mythos along and makes sense if you know the series’ past. Taking place between Ultra SFIV and SF3: 3rd Strike, Charlie wakes up in a tomb and is guided to steal an item from Guile, which would help him defeat M. Bison. Third Strike boss Gill drives the plot overall, tying up the loose ends between SFII and the endgame of 3rd Strike, which is the known end of the series storyline-wise. I love that Gill is tied into this as it always seemed like he was out of place as the end of SF lore. I never fully understood why he was the boss of that trilogy of games except as something new for Capcom to try because everyone was sick of M. Bison by that point.
While I’m impressed with the story, I’m more impressed with the presentation. Much like its predecessors, SFV looks gorgeous. The backgrounds are beautiful as are most of the character designs. Even the menus look good. Sometimes, when I start the game, I take a second just to marvel at the main menu and how the modes are presented. And let’s talk about the soundtrack for a second. The music is all-around amazing. Every time I get in-game, I discover another track that I feel like I haven’t previously heard, and I fall in love all over again. It’s so good that it’s worth tracking down and adding to your music collection.
While I love the game, there is a big section I don’t care for: the play style. I’m an Alpha purist, specifically SF Alpha 3. That’s my Street Fighter style and has been for years. However, SFV plays kind of stiff — a lot like SFIV — and that’s hard for me to grasp. It’s playable, obviously, but it’s not my style of Street Fighter play. And that’s OK. It really doesn’t detract from the game’s ability to shine or be Street Fighter, but it’s not my personal preference to play. It is a lot of fun to watch being played professionally, though.
Street Fighter V has come a long way as the most current entry in the series. Game elements have gotten a lot of polish, whether it’s fixing the netcode or expanding the roster with old favorites and skins alluding to long-dormant characters. It’s now the flagship game it should have been, and it’s still ruling the fight game roost while everyone waits for the announced Street Fighter 6.
Sometimes, with the struggle comes the rewards and SFV has more than earned its life fight money.
The Punisher makes good in digital crime cleanup
Before Marvel vs. Capcom became a relevant name to gamers, the companies collaborated on other games. Those games became essential classics to develop gamers who specialized in single-combat titles. In 1994, Capcom and Marvel brought a Final Fight-style game to the Genesis that starred comics’ most infamous anti-hero: Frank Castle aka The Punisher. The game follows the storyline of the classic Marvel comics series. Frank Castle, a decorated veteran Marine, was enjoying a day in the park with his family when they unwittingly became witnesses to a mob shooting. As a result, Castle and his family were massacred, him being the only survivor. Castle became determined to get payback by any means necessary. With fellow warrior Nick Fury (of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Castle begins his war on crime against mob boss Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin, who caused the death of his family and many other innocents. The game plays similarly to “Final Fight” and “Captain Commando.” You can choose to play as either Castle or Fury and can team up in multiplayer. You start off with the basics, progressing to combos and various weapons such as handguns, automatic rifles and katanas. There was liberal food and other power-ups such as cash, gold bars and diamonds that increased my score and restored health since the amount of enemies coming at me was nonstop. The graphics were pleasant enough, although they attempted to copy arcade cabinet-quality with little success. I will give Capcom credit for making the graphics comicbook-like. it was like reading an actual issue of the comics including captions “BLAM!” “KRAK” and “BOOM!” instead of playing a rushed paint job of a popular comic series video game. The music of each stage was also decent as Capcom’s sound team delivered, keeping things close to what the Punisher feels like. With the work Capcom put in, the attention to detail made me want to pick it up to play as a returning comic book fan who knew about Castle and Fury but wanted to learn more about the Kingpin and other Marvel villains such as Bushwhacker and Bonebreaker. The Punisher is the first successful paring of Capcom’s know-how with Marvel’s legendary vigilante who wastes no time dispensing his brand of justice on criminals. Playing through this isn’t exactly punishment.
Marvel vs. Capcom now infinitely frustrating series
The Marvel fighting game scene is well known by now and well worn. Pretty much, anyone who’s anyone in the Marvel comic universe and movies has been in a Marvel Versus game. This is nothing new by now. You’ve seen these people before and, if you’re a Capcom fan, you have seen their side of the roster in other games before you got here. So, what exactly are you getting out of playing the latest iteration in the long-running Marvel Versus Capcom series? Not much, but Capcom already knew that. They just hoped you wouldn’t notice.
If you’re invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but don’t know anything about the comics, MvC: Infinite serves as a starting point for understanding the comics side of things in preparation for Avengers Endgame. Oh, yeah, there’s some Capcom story set up, too, as an afterthought. Really, this is several stories mashed together: From Marvel, you get the Infinity Saga and Age of Ultron story; from Capcom comes Sigma and Mega Man X’s story and some of Vampire Savior/Darkstalker’s 3 arc dealing with Jedah Dohma. The story kind of makes sense in a mashed-up way. It’s not half bad, given that the previous efforts of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 to give a cinematic team up was decent and miles ahead of any other title in the series to date. Mostly, the Marvel Versus series has followed an established comic book arc — Marvel vs. Street Fighter was mostly Apocalypse and the first Marvel vs. Capcom focused on Onslaught — and this is no different. Where it falters is oversimplification.
The Infinity Saga is never truly finished in the comics because Marvel constantly returns to it over the years to explain a lot of things. Also, thinking critically about what this is really based on, the story of the Infinity Saga really took about 18 of the 22 MCU movies to tell its story. You cannot tell this story in two games — Marvel Super Heroes being the first to tell this arc. Infinite tries to and winds up half accomplishing it with some weird, forced Capcom story side foolishness thrown in for good measure, because hey, Capcom is also in the name.
You get the sense that if Capcom’s angle of things was removed, this would be just fine, and Infinite would be OK without it. That does not help Capcom at all here. Immediately, it destroys the need for a new team-up game and renders Capcom’s side of the roster unnecessary. I do not feel Ryu or Chun Li are useful in any of the situations presented in the story mode.
The roster is actually not bad, but with the few new additions locked behind a DLC paywall, you’re kind of left to wonder would Infinite be just a tad bit better if the more noteworthy characters were available from the start. The base group is basically a retread roster from MvC3, and the new additions should have been in the series; the fact that we’re just now getting Black Widow, Black Panther, Jedah and the Winter Soldier is a crime that only Capcom seems to like committing.
In addition to the generic oversimplification of the story, the presentation is just as generic and bland. The Marvel Versus series has always had strong presentation, and to be frank, this ain’t it, as the kids say these days. The backgrounds are good, but some of the character designs have an oof level the size of Ultron Sigma’s final form. They are, quite frankly, terrible a lot of the time. There seems to be an attempt at realism but not, at the same time, because some of the Marvel characters look like their MCU counterparts, but then when you look closer, there’s a detail that keeps them from looking exactly like the actor or actress that plays the character.
For example, look at Captain America and Captain Marvel. Captain America, from far away, looks exactly like MCU Winter Soldier-era Captain America as portrayed by real-world Captain America stalwart Chris Evans. Up close, however, Cap looks just enough different for you to realize that Evans probably didn’t consent to his likeness for the game. Same for Captain Marvel and actress Brie Larson. It’s a small but noticeable quibble I have here. And, some of these Capcom characters look atrocious. Ryu’s face on the title screen is horrific. The sprites look terrible here but in game, he looks fine. It’s a shame because every other game in the series has been OK in terms of the graphics. Sure, they weren’t award-winning, but they reflected the series’ growth. Infinite looks like it took about 10 steps back in a lot of respects.
The music is just as bland. Each iteration of the Versus series has had some bangers on the soundtrack — even the much-maligned Marvel vs. Capcom 2’s soundtrack was memorable if not catchy. Here, there is absolutely nothing noteworthy. It’s the first Versus game where I don’t have something from the soundtrack saved, which is not good at all. As I played through the story mode, I kept waiting for something to jump out at me, and I got nothing. I was not impressed.
The controls didn’t impress, either. There has been a noted trend, since MvC3 was released, to simplify the game system for the Versus games to make them more accessible.
While I’m always a fan of drawing in the casual fan for these types of games, I’m not a fan of ruining a good thing. MvC2 was still accessible to even the most casual fighting game player, and this is even worse than the toning down of the controls between MvC2 and MvC3. There is no depth to the combo system now, and that doesn’t help Infinite in any way.
I’m underwhelmed when it comes to Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. Nothing plays in its favor, nothing makes any sense, and the team-up crossover event is showing its age in every facet of the game. There’s nothing new here to make me say wow or push me to play as I did the other games in the series. If Capcom were to lose the Marvel license again, it wouldn’t be a shocker or unwarranted.
It’s time to admit that the series is not an infinite source of amusement. Unfortunately, at this point, it’s merely a finite source of fighting game goodness.
As a child of the early ’90s, Final Fight not only increased my addiction to arcade games, but also introduced me further to Capcom’s skyrocketing rise as a game developer. I dived into Final Fight 2 to relive my arcade glory days.
In Final Fight 2, time has passed since Mike Haggar, Cody Travers and Cody’s friend Guy defeated the Mad Gear gang, restored peace to the streets of Metro City and rescued Haggar’s daughter Jessica from the Mad Gear’s leader, Belger. That peace is short-lived when the remnants of Mad Gear return under a new leader and kidnap Guy’s fiancée, Rena, and Guy’s sensei, Genryusai.
With Cody away on a trip with Jessica and Guy away on secret training, Haggar is joined by Rena’s sister, Maki, and Haggar’s friend Carlos Miyamoto on a worldwide quest to crush the Mad Gear and rescue Rena and Genryusai. FF2 has a lot going for it; it’s a direct sequel never released in arcades with a lot of new material despite no new general mechanics.
FF2 has an expanded battlefield with Haggar, Maki and Carlos starting their journey in Hong Kong and ending that journey in Japan. The main protagonists make their way through several locales in Europe in their search for Rena, all the while surrounded by improved graphics over the first game. The backgrounds are high quality, and the sprites are well-drawn and crisp for each character with a lot of attention to detail.
The attention to detail also shows up in the controls. Overall, control is simple even though each character has a unique fighting style. Haggar still has his pro wrestling moves, Maki makes use of Ninjitsu and Carlos practices martial arts and sword skills. Though they are generic in execution, it’s fun to see how each character operates during the fight.
Power-ups are still obtained via smashing various objects and range from steamed Chinese buns to a pair of shoes that can increase health or score points. Finding either a Genryusai or Guy doll will give an extra life or invincibility. As for the music, it is arcade perfect just like its predecessor. It’s a nice soundtrack of early Capcom brawler, and it fits the action perfectly in each of the game’s locations.
As much as I enjoyed FF2, the game does have some flaws. While each character has their own awesome special moves, using them does cost health. That’s annoying when you’re trying to use more powerful moves to defeat bosses and trying not to die at the same time. Also, during the timed bonus stages, control is hit or miss when striking objects; if it’s not done perfectly, you lose the bonus points. I also got frustrated when I couldn’t take the weapons I found into other areas. That cheapens the use of the weapon and makes it useless shortly after picking it up. And, the challenge level is ridiculous. I needed a cheat code just to get to the real ending in expert mode. It’s too easy to die and taking hits from off-screen enemies is terrible.
Final Fight 2 placed the series in the ranks of Capcom’s top-tier franchises. While it hasn’t seen the level of push of say, Street Fighter or Resident Evil, the beat-’em-up is fondly remembered as one of Capcom’s crowning achievements.
In a previous issue, I reviewed Disney’s Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers for the NES. I reviewed the game as a nod to the times of the late ’80s and early ’90s where you knew the ins and outs of your favorite shows, including the opening and ending theme songs. With the arrival of Disney+ and Capcom’s re-release of Disney Afternoon-themed games for current consoles, I heard that Disney’s dynamic duo had another game for the NES. I reviewed Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 to see if it would jump start my carefree kid memories.
Rescue Rangers 2 starts off with our furry heroes and their comrades enjoying a well-deserved rest after stopping their notorious arch nemesis, Fat Cat, in the first game. However, like most great villains, Fat Cat was able to mastermind his escape from prison and acquire the legendary Urn of the Pharaoh to re-launch his fiendish plans. With Fat Cat on the loose and having evil spirits at his disposal, the Rescue Rangers are the only ones standing between Fat Cat and world peace.
Rescue Rangers 2’s gameplay is exactly like the original; you can choose either Chip or Dale to battle through several levels to do battle against Fat Cat’s legions of henchmen who are determined to stop our heroes from saving the day. Chip and Dale can jump, duck and used pint-sized boxes to throw either horizontally or vertically to defeat enemies. These boxes have various power-ups, such as acorns, to replenish health, extra lives or Rescue Rangers plaques that can earn Ranger icons. These icons will give the character of your choice an extra heart.
The controls also remain the same from the first game. Rescue Rangers veterans will be familiar with the control layout, but newcomers will go through trial and error until they are comfortable.
All the levels and backgrounds were done with great care, making me believe that I was playing an actual episode of Rescue Rangers. I commend Capcom for letting Disney animators work their magic on heroes and boss characters, ensuring that the bosses provided a challenge without losing Disney elements.
As much as I enjoyed Rescue Rangers 2, it’s not without some flaws. I stated earlier that controlling either Chip or Dale would take practice; that is important since during stages, you cannot go back to a lower level to pick up items without losing a life. That makes things unnecessarily tough. Also, the Rescue Rangers’ roles were drastically from the first game. The first game incorporated Monterey Jack, Gadget and Zipper into finding hidden paths, scouting for enemies, and backup and reach support; they’re now reduced to background scenery with little screen time.
Audio-wise, the music sounds dialed-in like the music from “1945,” showing that Capcom’s development starts strong but becomes weak in certain areas. Finally, the challenge level is high, but I advise players to have special cheat codes enabled if they want to finish this game. You shouldn’t have to use them, but they are a must here.
Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 has delivered, keeping intact all the elements that made it a Disney favorite but, unfortunately, keeps some of Capcom’s bad habits as well. The Disney Afternoon lives on in this small but solid sequel.
“Devil may cry.” To some, it sounds like the latest quote from one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars. To me, it’s one of Capcom’s biggest franchises that does not involve “Street Fighter” and “Resident Evil” that is a labor of love to play. Nero and Dante are back along with some new faces to raise more demonic hell across next gen gaming consoles with the hack and slash style of gaming that put it on the map. I waited five years to play the fifth installment of this series and the kick-ass promotional song “Devil Trigger” helped move that wait right along. In April 2019, me and EIC Lyndsey were on a spur-of-the-moment gaming shopping spree and not only did we pick up a PlayStation 4 Pro, but also we picked up a bounty of games including DMC5. Could it surpass previous successes that defined the series?
In DMC5, years after the events in DMC4, Nero has gotten Dante’s blessing to jump in the demon-hunting business but one May night, Nero is accosted by a familiar foe who has not only taken the demon sword Yamato, but also Nero’s demonic arm. Vowing vengeance, Nero pursues the foe to Redwood City where he is introduced to a new evil known as Urizen. He, Dante and fellow demon hunters Trish and Lady are swatted instantly by Urizen. Now having a HUGE chip on his shoulder, Nero returns with a new arm and partner in crime, Nico, and sets out on his second adventure filled with old and new allies and enemies while making his name as a master demon hunter to surpass his infamous uncle.
Gameplay in DMC5 follows the same high-speed action formula found in previous games in the series. Controlling Nero, Dante and the newest character V is perfect. Nero still has his trusty sword Red Queen and revolver Blue Rose, but instead of his Devil Bringer he uses a prosthetic arm called a Devil Breaker, which was developed by Nico. It has extra punch than the Devil Bringer and can be upgraded after battles with various bosses.
Dante has his dual pistols Ebony and Ivory as well as his usual swords Rebellion and Sparta, but also has five additions: Cavilare (a motorcycle that when separated, becomes a buzzsaw-like weapon); Balrog (yes, THAT Balrog), gauntlets and boots that increases Dante’s melee power tenfold; KalinaAnn2, a modified version of the KalinaAnn used in DMC3; and, Dr. Faust, a hat that shoots out red orbs when worn.
V has some tricks up his sleeve with his familiars Griffon, a demon hawk capable of firing lightning bolts and projectiles; Shadow, a panther-like familiar that is melee combat oriented, using its body to form blade and needle weapons; and, finally Nightmare, a golem-familiar that moves slowly, but packs a MAJOR punch against giant enemies. I should also note that Nightmare can change his height to titan-level and use a huge laser beam to destroy enemy bosses, which allows V to use his Royal Fork cane and its copies to land the finish blow.
Another feature I liked in DMC5 was the training session that allows you to learn and practice available skills before purchasing them, allowing you to decide whether to buy or hold off.
The RE5 engine brings every detail to life, complementing Dolby Atmos sound’s abilities, which made me think I was playing a 3D movie instead of a video game. The voice cast is a mix of well-known and new voice actors led by Reuben Langdon, Johnny Yong Bosch and Daniel Southworth reprising their roles as Dante, Nero and Vergil, respectively. Stephanie Sheh returns as Kyrie but in voice form only. I also give kudos to Brian Hanford for voicing V and Faye Kingslee as Nico. Brad Venable as Griffon stole the show, and Kate Higgins (Bleach, Code Geass) and Wendee Lee were excellent as Lady and Trish.
The only negative thing I have about the game is the camera control. It has improved GREATLY, but it still takes some time to masterfully plan a character’s next move. The power-up situation that occurred in DMC4 was fixed, but you still need to conserve your red orbs, especially if you use Dr. Faust.
DMC5 is worthy of replay because of its excellent blend of action, drama and environment. Capcom is doing this series right again and while I don’t agree that milking a franchise is the best business decision, DMC fans can begin to forgive Capcom for its lack of judgement for DMC: Devil May Cry. Let the healing begin.
Fun facts
Reuben Langdon, Johnny Yong Bosch and Daniel Southworth have a connection to the Power Rangers franchise. Bosch was the second Black Ranger in Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and the Green Ranger in Power Rangers ZEO and Power Rangers Turbo, while Langdon did stunt work and Southworth played the Quantum Ranger in Power Rangers: Time Force. All have provided voice and motion capture work for the DMC series.
Southworth and Wendee Lee had dual roles as Urizen and Eva, Dante’s and Vergil’s mother.
If Redwood City looks like London, you are correct. Capcom sent the DMC5 development team to London — specifically Midhurst in West Sussex, Rochester, Kent, Canterbury and Leeds Castle in Kent — for inspiration in designing locations in the game. Various models and clothes were acquired and scanned in London and Serbia.
In addition to the RE5 engine, Capcom used Microsoft’s Simplygon graphic software to assist with graphics and the intermission graphics.
The most notable song of the game, “Devil Trigger,” by Casey and Ali Edwards, has had more than 2.8 million views on Capcom Japan’s YouTube channel. Ali Edwards was also the lyricist and vocalist for the game’s ending theme “Legacy,” with composition by Kota Suzuki.
Though I play a lot of fighting game series, I keep coming back to Street Fighter. I don’t know if it’s out of habit or because I’m comfortable with the series’ systems, but I find myself intimately familiar with the Capcom creation. It started with Street Fighter II for SNES, not the arcade. As the series moved along incrementally, so did I and I discovered the upgrade. The home port of Super Street Fighter II for SNES was one of the best and that accolade still stands after nearly 30 years.
Though Capcom still hadn’t learned to count to three and Super Street Fighter II reeks of milking the franchise for all it was worth, it’s technically a good port. This is the best version of the arcade experience before Super Turbo, and the SNES, despite its problems with censorship, is the best version you’re going to get. Super is where you’re introduced to the four new challengers, who add some interesting elements. Each of their fighting styles are already represented in the game with other stalwarts, but they’re fun to play, nevertheless.
The music has hit its peak here, too. It’s the same as the original Street Fighter II and Hyper Fighting, but it’s Street Fighter at peak Street Fighter. That also applies to the controls. It’s the Street Fighter that you know and love but cleaned up just a tad.
My main gripe with the game is the fact that it’s not Street Fighter III, which it would have been if not for the insistence of Capcom not counting ahead. Capcom knew it had a winner on its hands but repeatedly milked the franchise until there was nothing else to wring from it. Super would absolutely have been great if not for the fact that Super Turbo came a year later and there had already been two other incremental iterations of the game previously. That cheapens Super to a degree all around. However, given that Super Turbo did not come home from the arcades for the SNES, Super gets a boost in nostalgic factor.
What you need to take away from SSFII is the refinement of the Street Fighter II experience, and this is where it shines. Everything about Street Fighter II was at peak condition and refined to a tee with this iteration. Yes, this is pre-Turbo super moves and specials but in a way that makes it the last true unspoiled Street Fighter II experience. It was so good that later Street Fighter games attempt to replicate this version with modes that play like Super with no super moves and most, if not all, of its mechanics. That’s how you know it’s a defining moment in a series’ lifespan. It’s a super fighting game for a super system that still holds up.
Collections come a dime a dozen these days. Everyone wants to have a package of their best fighting games and then upsell them for the next couple of generations since the current console might not have backward compatibility. Capcom is no stranger to this, having released several Street Fighter collections over the years. The final game series to get this treatment was Darkstalkers aka Vampire in Japan with the Vampire Collection. For those who are uninitiated, Capcom does make fighting games beyond Street Fighter: Vampire doesn’t get as much due and press as Street Fighter but is just as good. But let’s get into the meat and potatoes of why you’re here: Is the collection any good? I can resoundingly answer yes. It’s everything you’d want of the Vampire series, including games that never made it to the U.S.
Making up the collection are Vampire/Darkstalkers, Vampire Hunter/Darkstalkers 2, Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers 3, Vampire Hunter 2, Vampire Savior 2 and what Capcom calls a hyper version of Savior 2, which pits all versions of the characters against each other. In those five games is a deep fighting game engine with great mechanics and an interesting storyline that invokes monsters of mythology.
The gameplay style didn’t change too much between games but it’s unique and has character enough to encourage even the most hardened street fighter to come back and learn more. There are advanced techniques such as Dark Force and chains to learn as well as movesets that require some controller gymnastics to master. The character design in each of the collection’s games is a bit wonky from the age of Capcom’s overstylized cartoonish era of hand-drawn sprites but it doesn’t look terrible.
The best thing about the series — other than the gameplay — is the soundtrack. Hunter 2 and Savior 2 never made it to the U.S., and Darkstalkers in general didn’t do as well as Capcom would have liked. And that’s why this collection is a must-buy item. You won’t see this in America, and it should be. The games are presented in their original form with all versions available. This package is worth finding and importing.
I’m a huge Mega Man fan. If allowed to, I would decorate GI headquarters in every room with gear resembling Capcom’s infamous Blue Bomber. After Mega Man’s last adventure on the NES, I found that during the transition from 8‑bit to 16-bit gaming a new character known as Mega Man X would appear, giving the Mega Man series a new chapter set years after the original. While I played a few MMX games when it was on SNES and PSOne, I realized that I liked the X series but wondered if Capcom would do a collection for the PlayStation 2. My wish was granted in Mega Man X Collection.
MMX Collection is simply as advertised: A collection of the first Mega Man X games released. It consists of MMX and MMX2 from their SNES debut; MMX3 — another SNES game that was ported to PSOne; and MMX 4, 5 and 6, which were released for PSOne. There is also an unlockable game, “Mega Man Battle and Chase,” an exclusive never released outside of Japan.
In each MMX game, you take control of “X,” a new version of the Blue Bomber created by Dr. Light years after the original Mega Man. X is a more powerful version of our blue titan but with free will. 100 years later, after Dr. Light’s death, X was found by Dr. Cain, a robotics expert who developed robots based on X’s design known as “reploids.” However, this began a rise of rebellious reploids, known as mavericks, which led to the formation of a group known as maverick hunters to stop them. Alas, the maverick hunter’s leader Sigma became a maverick (and the series’ main villain), forcing X to team up with another maverick hunter named Zero to stop Sigma’s plan for global domination.
Control of X is simple as any regular side-scrolling game, especially with the option of switching between the analog sticks or directional buttons. X’s main weapon, the X‑Buster, and other weapons he acquires from a level boss can be powered up in addition to finding upgraded boots, helmet and armor via secret areas in each level. Using a sub screen, I appreciated that it was understandable and simple in organizing items and weapons since, in other side scrolling games, looking for needed items is time consuming and morale-draining. Zero is also playable in MMX 4, 5 and 6 where controlling him is a guaranteed good time as he is not only equipped with his own Buster weapon, but also his signature Z‑Saber cuts enemies down to size.
The graphics have been refreshed, ensuring that a thoughtful balance of action-adventure and anime-styles elements are intact. Capcom’s music department did an awesome job remixing each game’s soundtracks. With the amount of detail put into this game, the replay value is high, especially if you’re wanting to get deeper into the Mega Man lore.
The Mega Man X Collection is the perfect answer for a devoted fanbase of the Blue Bomber. While the MMX series may be in question, I hope Capcom hears Mega Man’s fans’ calls to continue his legendary return to gaming as the MMX collection is a great way to continue Mega Man X’s hunt.