Capcom has been making countless iconic video games for almost 40 years. During their early days of developing games, theMega Manseries quickly rose to become one of their most iconic franchises.Mega Manwould stand alongside other series likeSuper Mario BrosandCastlevaniaas some of the 2D platformers that defined that generation of games. TheMega Manseries would continue to go strong withspinoff series likeMega Man X,Mega Man Legends, andMega Man Battle Network. However, as more Capcom franchises became prominent, the blue bomber would eventually be pushed to the sidelines in favor of other Capcom series.
In recent years, newMega Mantitles have been few and far between in comparison to how manyMega Mangames would release in the 90s and early 2000s. The amount of content starring the blue bomber was so scarce for a while that spiritual successors to the series, likeMighty No. 9, were being made already. Although, in recent years, Capcom would start to give theMega Manseries more recognition through theMega Man Legacy Collection. In addition to a new game in the series, the variousMega Man Legacy Collectiongames, are helping keep the franchise relevant.
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The Mega Man Legacy Collection Helps Preserve Older Titles
As games get older, they become less accessible and harder to get a hold of by official means. Some older games end up stuck on their original console due to the lack of any updated port or re-release. TheMega Manseries has had tons of collections of their games over the years that get released for each console generation. TheMega Man Legacy Collectiongames follow a continuing trend among developers of compiling their older titles into one collection on modern consoles. TheMega Man Legacy Collectionand other collections, like theCastlevania Anniversary CollectionandSonic Origins, make it easy to play these titles on modern consoles with updated features.
While the classicMega Mantitles have seen countless ports for nearly every console generation since their release, the otherMega Mancollections make other games in the series available on other consoles for the first time in years. No games in theMega Man Xseries have been ported to a console past the PlayStation 2, making theMega Man X Legacy Collectionthe first official way to play the games in almost 20 years. As for theBattle Networkgames, those have never seen any ports and would’ve been stuck on the Game Boy Advance if theMega Man Battle Network Legacy Collectionwere not announced.
The Mega Man Legacy Collections Help Get New Players Into The Series
The best way to get new players into a series is to make the games available on modern consoles. Old hardware is inaccessible due to them likely not being produced or sold anymore. If players want to play older titles, they would have to rely on resellers or emulation. A lot of players get turned off from trying the games in these cases because the retro game market can likely be overpriced andemulation is more trouble than it is worth.
This is why theMega Man Legacy Collectionis so valuable in keeping the series relevant. Capcom clearly does not have as much of a plan for newMega Mantitles in comparison to its other series. The last newfranchise entry wasMega Man 11which was nearly 4 years ago.Resident Evil,Street Fighter, andMonster Hunterall do much better thanMega MandespiteMega Manarguably being more iconic. This is why it is a good idea for Capcom to continuously release new legacy collections for theMega Manseries, so even if there is not a new game there is something for new fans of the series to enjoy.
The blue bomber has come a long way since its days on the NES.Mega Manhas seen countless mainline games and equally iconic spinoffs. After Capcom releases theMega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, there are still so many more games that could be re-released on modern consoles. There are many fans that have neverplayed theMega Man Legendsgamesor theStarforcegames. Capcom should consider releasing these games as a part of another collection in order to introduce new fans to the series and keep the blue bomber relevant.
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collectionreleases in 2023 on PC, PS4, and Switch.
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