Mega Man Legends
(Rockman Dash in Japan)
Systems: PlayStation, PC
Released 1998

The Basics
With Mega Man Legends, the Mega Man series took the leap many had been waiting for - the leap into 3D. Advocates of the original 2D games were disappointed, but those who eschewed 2D pleasures in favor of the polygonal landscape afforded by the PlayStation were excited to see the mascot of their youth in this format. This game took a strong thematic break from the series - the main character, Rock Volnut (absurdly named Megaman Volnut in the US version) was a human boy in a power suit who spent the game with his helmet off, his unkempt hair in view. The adopted sister of Roll Casket, he's a treasure hunter. This is more of an adventure title than a shoot-'em- up. Think Mega Raider, and you've got the idea, sort of. It was a whimsical romp through the ruins.

Gameplay
RockRaider, sorry, Mega Man Legends, was a 3D adventure title. While you still had the mega buster affixed to your arm and had to shoot enemies, you ran and jumped in all eight directions as you explored the depths of ruins searching for treasure and destroying bosses. There were some puzzle-solving elements, and the game was kind of set up like an RPG. You talked to some townspeople, gathered information, and then proceeded to a dungeon to explore its crevices and crannies while searching for goodies. While Capcom could've tried to make it a standard type of Mega Man game, it didn't - it was a decent 3D adventure, but it would've been good to see the stage/boss ideals of the earlier games upheld.

The Weapons and Bosses
Since the gameplay in Mega Man Legends was different from other Mega Man games, this wasn't going to be a simple list of boss names. This time around Mega Man could shoot, kick, and run. Instead of winning upgrades, Roll would cook up weaponry enhancements in her portable lab, which would become available as you progressed through the game. The bosses were more of the huge, mechanical variety and simply had to be taken out to beat the game.

Japanese Version
Capcom USA must've realized that the large quantity of voice in the game required semiprofessional acting this time around. The dubbing was OK, but it seemed to be marketed toward small children. The intro was especially patronizing. Naming the kid Mega Manmade the dialogue seem really silly - after all, in Mega Man IV they'd established that Mega Man's name was actually Rock - a nice way to seal up the continuity mistake. A few names were fudged, and the US ended up with the hilariously mistranslated "Feldinand." Finally, an instance of dog kicking from the Japanese version was replaced with "dog talking-to" in the States.

Final Thoughts
An entertaining game but not really a Mega Man title, Mega Man Legends was more of an adventure with RPG elements. Still, to bring the series into 3D and retain the aesthetics it had been famous for was a good move. Capcom tried its best to deliver a sense of the traditional Mega Man style to this game, if not the form itself. It will be interesting to see if it can keep the series closer to the original games when Mega Man Legends 2 arrives.