Megaman Legends Review

After seeing all the fans encouraging Capcom to go through with Megaman Legends 3, I thought I'd go ahead and review the first of the series!


Info
Title:          Megaman Legends
System:     Playstation, Nintendo 64
Rating:       E

Note: Though technically referred to as the Legends series, it was released on the N64 under the title "Megaman 64". Very clever name, I know.

Story
In this incarnation of the Megaman story, our titular character is a treasure hunter. He, along with his team, search old ruins for valuable antiques and power-generating crystals known as refractors. However, after crash landing on Kattleox Island, Megaman finds that the island is under siege by a group of pirates. The pirates believe that the legendary "Mother Lode" is located under the island, and will stop at nothing to get it. As Megaman protects the island, he'll stumble upon it's dangerous secrets...

 

Characters
(There's a lot, so bear with me)
Personally, I really liked most of the characters in MML. Megaman is depicted as a generally nice guy. He tends to go out of his way to help others, and is pretty well liked wherever he goes. His sidekick/foster-sister/love interest Roll Casket is an energetic girl, and something of a mechanical genius. She serves to fix things, build and upgrade Megaman's weapons, and be generally pleasant. She and Megaman interact often, and it's generally interesting to watch them together. Barrel "Gramps" Casket is...really old. Back in "the day", he was a world reknowned Digger, which is presumably where he lost half of his face.

Wonder what the medical bill for THAT surgery looked like

He doesn't do a whole lot in the game. He tends to provide some backstory once in a while, and generally not be helpful. Then, there's also the pirates: the Bonne family. This consists of the siblings Tron, Teisel, and Bon. The Bonne's are an interesting mix of threatening, eccentric, and...well not the worst people.

See the big one in the back? Basically a giant robot baby thing. Weird.

I mean yeah, they're pirates, and pirates tend to make other people's lives suck. But when you come right down to it, they're pretty decent people. They only really attack Megaman when he directly tries to stop them, and actually tried to search for the Mother Lode through legal means at first. They even help Megaman once or twice. If nothing else, they're an interesting bunch.

Graphics
Oh the graphics. They're blocky, have a low polygon count, and...I like them. Granted, they do have their faults.

For the love of God, stop staring at me!

  The world above ground is quite vibrant, colorful, and generally looks very peaceful, while everything belowground tends to be dark and creepy. Back when I first played through this, there were actually a few times I got more than a little creeped out while exploring the various underground ruins. There are some glitches however, though they aren't bad. It's generally just camera issues: the occasional wall disappearing and that type of thing.

Sound
Megaman Legends had a pretty good soundtrack. Not a lot of real standouts, but it all added to the different moods very well. The city had a pleasant little track, while boss battles always sounded so hectic, making you feel a little stressed. Naturally, the ruin's had a weird sound. There wasn't really music, just this constant humming noise; kinda like a large generator vibrating throughout the ruins. It really added to the already weird feeling that persists throughout the ruins, and tends to give nightmares to small children.

Gameplay
 For the very first 3D Megaman title, I think they did a pretty good job with the gameplay. You can target a single enemy, focusing your camera on it, or just kinda shoot willy-nilly and hope for the best. It was always really exciting to find items underground, because you could take them to Roll, and she would try to make weapons or upgrades out of them! There were a ton of secondary weapons, including a grenade launcher, a vacuum to suck up items dropped by enemies, and a sword. However, two of my favorite upgrades were both mobility based. About halfway through the game, you can get the Jump Springs to make you jump stupidly high, and a foot upgrade that's like a set of badass roller skates (jet powered of course). There were also a lot of side quests you could do for the townspeople. These could range from helping some kids build a "secret base", to stopping a mad bomber.

Conclusion
While it had some issues, this game is pretty great overall. It had good replay value, tough boss fights, and a cool storyline. I did, however have one big problem: the sequel was only released on Playstation! By the end of the game, a LOT of questions are created, and the only way to get the answers is to play Megaman Legends 2. However, this really left the player hanging if they had the N64 version. Other than that, it's a great classic, and I suggest you play it! Chances are, if you like the blue-bomber, you'll enjoy this game.