Mega Man Legends

Mega Man Legends series
File:Megamanlegends1.jpg
Developer(s)	Capcom Production Studio 2
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Platform(s)	PlayStation, PSP, PC, N64
Release	Mega Man Legends (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2005)"Mega Man Legends 2 (2000, 2005) The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (1999, 2000)
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player

The Mega Man Legends series (known as Rock Man DASH (ロックマンDASH, Rokku Man DASH) in Japan; DASH being an acronym for "Digouter's Adventure Story in Halcyon Days") was the third Mega Man franchise which debuted on December 18, 1997 in Japan in and September of 1998 in North America on the PlayStation. It is one of the spinoffs in the Mega Man series from Capcom.

Series overview

The Mega Man Legends series was, at first, regarded to be strange by fans of other Mega Man games; but some skeptics who played the games soon grew to love the characters and plot. The Legends series, while considered underrated, is said to have developed beyond anything seen in other Mega Man games.

This series has not been given a sequel since the year 2000 and many fans have been demanding one since the cliffhanger at the end of Mega Man Legends 2. Series creator Keiji Inafune once stated he would be interested in making a sequel once "the proper elements fall into place". He later recomfirmed this when asked on what sequel he wish to develop the most on in an 1UP interview on June 1, 2007 [1].

On the summer of 2006, according to a member of IntiCreates (developers of the Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX series) in a fan forum, when the company submitted a "project book" to series producer Keiji Inafune for possible development of a sequel, it was rejected . The reason for this is unknown. However, many speculate that such a project could be reserved for the game's original team.

During the interview mentioned earlier, Inafune gave an interesting quote:

"The Framework engine that we used for our next-gen titles, creating it was not easy -- it took talented individuals. One was the main programmer on Mega Man Legends. He said, while creating it, he was envisioning how Lost Planet would fit in it, and how Dead Rising would fit, and on top of that, now 'any time you want to make a Mega Man Legends game with Framework, it's ready. All I need is the go and we can slap Mega Man in there.'"

He claims that creating a Rockman game for the next generation consoles would cost around $15 million to fund and develop [2].

Ultimately, at this time, there are no current plans for a Rockman DASH 3/Mega Man Legends 3.

Plot

The player controls Mega Man Volnutt, a teenage digger and archaeologist of sorts who searches underground ruins mainly for Quantum Refractors, which are the civilization's primary source of energy. He was found as a baby on Nino Island at the bottom of the closed-off Nino Ruins and was raised by Professor Barrel Caskett along with his granddaughter, Roll Caskett.

Giving them trouble are the Bonnes, a group of pirates consisting of leader Teasel Bonne, his sister, Tron Bonne (who is also allegedly infatuated with Mega Man), the large "baby" robot, Bon Bonne (known primarily for his oft-repeated line, "Babu!", which has become a catch phrase among the series' fans) and the 40 Servbots (41 by Megaman Legends 2). More trouble is given to Mega Man by the Reaverbots, the techno-organic semi-intelligent residents of the underground ruins who serve to protect its contents.

There are only two main Mega Man Legends games at present, plus a spinoff PlayStation game, titled The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (or Tron ni Kobun in Japan), which is basically a prequel to the series.

Legends and the Mega Man Timeline

According to the sourcebook, Rockman Perfect Memories, the Legends series takes place after the X series (Or more accurately, the ZX series). Some have even speculated on such a connection based on comments in the X series; most notably, the use of the word "Elysium" (with a capital E, indicating it is a proper noun) in one of the endings of Mega Man X5. Other examples include the frequently-seen Reaverbot eye symbols that appear in Hyleg Ourobockle and Burble Hekelot's levels in Mega Man Zero 2 and Hanumachine's level in Mega Man Zero 3. There also appears to be a Quantum Refractor in the background of Cubit Foxtar's arena/boss room in Mega Man Zero 3. Another fact worth mentioning is that many enemies (almost exclusively the small flying enemies) bear a red eye that is extremely similar to the Reaverbots.

There has been some speculation that one of the main characters in Mega Man ZX named Girouette may be the Master from Mega Man Legends 2, although this is rather unlikely, as Giro dies during ZX. However, the character of Zero (and possibly, any incarnations thereof) is known for cheating death many times during the X series, so there might be a small chance of this being true. Another spectulated character is of Vent being the MegaMan from Legends. They have the same hair and eye color (though every MegaMan has green eyes except for the original), and we know that the MegaMan from Legends had lived for hundreds, if not thousands of years before the story of the games occurred. Meaning that the age setting from 24XX to the 5000's (or 8000's as most fans believe the time period to be) would 'seemingly' match up. This would also seem to explain the close relationship between the Legends MegaMan and the Master as this would make the both of them the last (biomechanincal) humans left.

Another speculation relating to the time period of the games has to do with the term "Halcyon Days." The Halcyon Days in Egyptian Mythology were calculated to take place sometime during 9th millennium A.D., which in Mega Man terms would be written as 8XXX.[3][4]

If you take a look at the Model W Core during any cutscene, anime or sprite, it is important to note that it is covered, in various places, by the eyes similar to the Reaverbots in the Legends series. The Model W Core also has what looks like a stitch-like mouth, also related to that of the Reaverbots.

Another is where, in Mega Man Legends, reploids have already increased greatly in population and that Mavericks still wreck the world, though not all of them are of the combat type.

Interestingly enough, Purifer Units in the Japanese versions are called Irregular Hunters (Maverick Hunter). However, the fact that the Irregular Hunters in the DASH, formally (but not necessarily) the Zero series and the X games are the same thing is speculation for now. Also, the world of Terra is called Earth in original Japanese version. (This was carried from Mega Man V for the Game Boy.) Even more interesting, Elysium in the Japanese version of Mega Man Legends 2 (Rockman DASH 2) is actually called "Heaven".

Notes

• Mega Man Legends is the first 3-dimensional Mega Man action game.

• Mega Man Legends was also released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000, retitled Mega Man 64. A port for the Sony PSP has also been released only in Japan.

• Extremely early in the North American localization of Rockman DASH, Mega Man Legends was originally going to be titled 'Mega Man Neo' [5].

Cameos

File:Sc 1 22b.jpg

Mega Man Trigger, Mega Man Juno and Roll Caskett in Namco x Capcom

• Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Sega Dreamcast, arcade 2000, PlayStation 2 2001, Xbox 2001): Tron Bonne is a playable character from the start, while a Servbot is an unlockable character.
• Auto Modellista (PlayStation 2): Servbots appear in the workshop.
• Mega Man Battle Network series (Game Boy Advance): The servbot can be seen as a doll in Mayl's house. There is also a reference made to a television series called "The Bonne Bunch" (probably a parody of The Brady Bunch) You can see data on the TV in Lan's room in the second, and you can spot a Roll action figure staring in the Saturday morning show "Caskett kids" in Mayl's room in MegaMan Battle Network 3: Blue. Also, in Battle Network 2, the poster in Lan's room is of Mega Man Volnutt on Forbiden Island from Megaman Legends 2.
• Namco X Capcom (PlayStation 2): Mega Man Volnutt, Roll Caskett, Kobun (Servbot), Tron Bonne, and even Mega Man Juno appear in the company crossover game released only in Japan. Mega Man/Roll and Tron/Servbots appear as playable duos in the game. Keiji Inafune was directly involved in the development of the game. Namco and Capcom did not announce plans to release this title outside of Japan.
• Dead Rising (Xbox 360): Servbot Masks can be used as a wearable article of clothing, or placed on zombies to blind them. Two versions of the Mega Buster appear; a toy that fires foam balls, and a real one that fires energy spheres. Megaman's helmet, boots, and armor are also available during the course of the game.
• Onimusha 3: On Jacques’ alternate outfit a servbot clutching on his arm is in place of the gauntlet.

Series Trivia

• Throughout the whole series, the Bonne Family not only uses various different German terms as names for their machines, in fact, many (or maybe even all) of them are based after German military vehicles, such as the Gesellschaft (society), Gustaff (common name), Maulwurf (mole) or Jagd Krabbe (hunter crab), to name only a few.

Name

In the original Japanese version, the main character is called "Rock Volnutt" (in the Japanese version of the Classic series, Dr. Thomas Light originally named his creation "Rock", instead of "Mega"). Each time the character is mentioned by name, he is always referred to as "Rock". In the North American versions, all mentions and/or references to his original name are replaced by "Mega Man". While this has been the case in the previous series, in the case of the DASH/Legends series, this may actually be a localization error; his weapon is referred to (in the dialogue) as the "Mega Man Buster" (in the menu screens, it is referred to as the more "correct" sounding "Mega Buster"), while his "full" name is constantly displayed (and heard) as "Mega Man Volnutt". Also, in the ending credits of Mega Man Legends 2, "Mega Man" is simply referred to as "Rock".

External links

• Mega Man Legends 3 Petition - The only petition running for Mega Man Legends 3