MegaMan X Legacy Collection

Release: 2018
Developer/Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Action, Platformer
Gameplay Stats: 100% completion on all 5 games, 52/52 Steam achievements

I have really fond memories of these games! I played 1-3 back in the 90s on the SNES, renting them from Blockbuster. I just dated the hell out of myself, I know. I got this in a Humble Bundle and decided to give it a revisit since I'm working from home due to the Corona Virus epidemic. The game includes MM X1-4 and a collection of double boss fights.

MM X: This game is still really pretty. It's got some fairly basic pixel art by today's standards, but it is enjoyable to look at for sure. The sounds are still on point and I can hear the majority of them in my mind as I'm typing. The plot is whatever, that's not why anyone is here. The gameplay is really good! Solid platforming and action. My only quibble is with getting the Hadoken, the super move in this game. I have no idea how anyone was supposed to figure out that nonsense. I guess it was a way to push strategy guide sales? Definitely worth your revisit, just hit the Penguin stage first. The game feels weird without a dash.

MM X2: Another really good game! Quite possibly the best in the series! The pixel art is a little bit better than the previous and the action has been honed a bit as well. Way fewer situations that feel unfair. Less memorization necessary to make it through the stages unscathed. The plot is still meh. Once again, I think my only qualm is with getting the Shoryuken, this game's super weapon. I can only assume it was included to push more guides as well. I think this game is really where the MMX series hits it's stride, at least as far as the games included in this bundle.

MM X3: This game is ambitious. It's definitely the best looking in the bundle. It's got really high density pixel art. The background has a lot going on as well as some really interesting level gimmicks. The thing is, it feels like they over-reached the capabilities of their engine or the SNES in general. I'm not sure if the issues I experienced were unique to the PC port or if they were present in the original, but I had some serious issues with input getting eaten. Not a huge issue in many cases, but I definitely died a few times because of it, especially in the Sigma stages. This game has pretty notable lag as well. It looks the best in the collection, but it doesn't play the best.

MM X4: I don't super like the changes that were made in this game as far as the graphics are concerned. By the end I didn't dislike them as much as I thought I would, but I think this is the worst looking game in the collection. I guess that's normal? PS1 and N64 games really do look bad in 2020. The game plays fine! It may be the easiest in the collection, but they were able to do some cool stuff with the PS1 that they wouldn't have been able to do on the SNES like collapsing stages and more layers of parallax. The environments and levels feel more alive in this game than they have in the previous games which is pretty cool, but also a little weird since they are populated with robots. They tried to add more plot, but it wasn't compelling. I do like they they added little anime cutscenes! The most notable thing about this game is that you can play the entire campaign as Zero as well as the titular Mega Man. Other than that though, it's a pretty solid game, graphics aside.

MM X Collection: This mode exists entirely of double boss fights. There are 9 stages with 3 fights, each with 2 bosses. The mode was pretty interesting! You can choose up to 3 weapons per stage and you get expanded ammunition with them. The part that I didn't like was how much this mode borrowed bosses from outside of this X Collection. There were so many bosses from MM X6 in particular that I have never seen in my life. I had no idea what half of the weapons were (although they're pretty self explanatory once you try them) and no idea which ones to pick as each boss's weakness. I really, really wish they had stuck to bosses and weapons from MM X1-4 for this mode, but otherwise it was pretty fun. A nice inclusion!

Overall I really liked this collection of games. It was a good time to play through, even if getting some of the achievements was a little bit of a grind (looking at you X Collection achievements). If you are feeling nostalgic for these games of old, I would recommend this collection. I was pretty deep in nostalgia territory so I'm not sure if these games would hold up well if this was your first play through. [7/10]