January 25, 2003
I just got finished updating the Previews section, and I think if I were an anime character I’d still be twitching on the floor. I did rant a little on the Previews page itself, so I figured I really ought to take it to the commentaries section where it belongs.
The good news is, Capcom’s decided to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Mega Man series by releasing six Mega Man games. And one of those six is actually an original series Mega Man game, it’s shocking. (Even if it is five years old.)
What are those six games? Let’s take a look...
Mega Man & Bass
This originally came out in Japanese on the SNES, but has been ported to Game Boy and is finally being translated. I won’t complain, though. Now, if Capcom’s press people could just stop confusing the poor consumers to death making everyone think Bass is a good guy, we might just get somewhere. (Not that Bass being a bad guy is bad. Actually, he’s often a very entertaining bad guy. But let’s not confuse the issue.)
Mega Man Network Transmission
I think the title loses something in translation. But oh well. The only thing in the press release for this game that made me fall over was the whole “Zero Virus” thing. Given Capcom’s track record, I guarantee that if they try to merge the X series with the Battle Network series somehow, they’ll shred what’s left of the plot of both.
Mega Man Battle Network 3: White and Blue
This counts as two games according to Capcom’s press people. Yes, it does. I’m still on the floor over this one. Now mind you, I rather enjoyed the first Pokémon. It was fairly unique. But now, we have cartoons, comics, and games using the same concepts coming out of the woodwork. If I see one more story where some kids have to fight in a tournament to win some prize and prove they are masters at whatever it is they are doing, I’m going to explode. The whole tournament concept was entertaining for maybe the first three times, but it’s starting to get dull now, give it a rest already. Even the EXE anime suffered a tournament in it, but so far the actual Battle Network games have been spared. So far...
Mega Man X7
Ironically (and rather astonishingly), there’s not a whole lot in this game that I can see so far to make one roll the eyes. The press release mentions some “new” character who will be important to the plot, but this may or may not mean anything; the X series is famous for bit characters who show up in one game and are never heard from again. (Mega Man X5 and Mega Man X6 broke this trend, but X6 is really just an extension of X5 anyway, so it barely counts.) Whether or not this new character will make a one-game stand, we will have to see. Whether or not he will have a personality that makes you even care if you ever see him again or not is more iffy.
Mega Man Zero 2
Nothing yet to fall on the floor with over this one. I don’t know anything about it as of this writing. I’m sure this won’t last though. Capcom doesn’t tend to disappoint!
Still, it’s nice that Capcom hasn’t given up on the Mega Man series(es). It would seem far from it. And even if they do butcher plots as only they know how, I still trust the actual games to be entertaining. So I suppose some might call me insane, but I’m looking forward to it. 
- The MegaMaster