Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 Gameplay and Additional Details


Capcom TV played an hour or so of Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 (Rockman Classics Collection 2) this morning on stream (15:16 mark). We get a pretty good look at MM7 and MM8, menus and Museum Mode. Overall the games look as good as you remember - however, there is some subtle motion blur going on. I believe it's due to the quality of the stream, not MMLC2 itself. As you'll see, the subsequent Monster Hunter gameplay is just as blurry.

That aside, some additional details were discussed on stream, too. You'll find those points - and a couple more observations - after the jump!


  • You can fight any Robot Master from MM7-MM10 straight from Museum Mode for practice.
  • Each game has four different borders (can be turned off), wide screen support and an optional smooth filter.
  • "Challenges" includes over 70 remixed stages across all four games.
  •  All games include a special mode to cut damage in half. Enemies won't be weaker, but the damage they deal to Mega Man has been decreased 50%. 
  • All games are in stereo by default - you can no longer toggle mono/stereo on MM7's title screen, for example.
  •  Mega Man 8 is indeed the PlayStation version. FMVs remain compressed. The opening animation uses the borders on the left and right for widescreen magnification.
  •  "Game Information" has been removed from MM8. This was previously a Japanese-exclusive feature containing a trailer for Battle & Chase.

Further, a Capcom rep relayed the following information to me:

  • For Mega Man 8, the team felt it important to use the initial release version of the game, so the PS1 version is included in this collection.  
  • Versus mode from Mega Man 7 is included.
  •  There are no plans for a Nintendo Switch version at this time. Right now Capcom are focused on developing the game for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

I have a few more questions I'm waiting to hear back on, too. Stay tuned!

57 comments:

  1. "The team felt it important to use the initial release version of the game, so the PS1 version is included in this collection."
    I feel that's a very poor excuse, would you say that the initial release of something is better that the one that came after and was improved?

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    1. Right? I'm never going to be able to fight Cut Man & Wood Man. :(

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    2. I gave up and just emulated Saturn MM8, since Capcom seems to not care about that version at all.

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    3. Have you played SotN for Saturn? That thing is horrible. Load times everywhere and variable transparencies are replaced with dithered 0/1 transparency.

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  2. I'm sad that they have no interest in supporting the Switch, but as with all Mega Man releases for consoles, I'll take what I can get.

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  3. one question will have the jap op or the lame english version op if it has the english i wont buy it sorry the english its lame

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    1. 1. Jap is offensive. Don't use that word.

      2. If it's anything like the Megaman Anniversary Collection, it probably will be the English version.

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  4. So I still won't be able to fight the special bosses in MM8?

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  5. "There are no plans for a Nintendo Switch version at this time"
    Not even 3DS? If so...that sucks.

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    1. Then there is no plan for me to buy it at this time.

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    2. This! I mean just 4 games? PS1 Mega Man 8? Look I dont care about Challenges, All I wanted was to play MM9-10 on the go...so no 3DS/Swich = No buy.

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  6. "There are no plans for a Nintendo Switch version at this time"
    Not 3DS either?...That just sucks.

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  7. It's a shame they went with the PSX version of MM8. Also, what does remixed stages mean? Remixed music or remixed level design/enemy placement?

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    1. They didn't show it, but it's presumed stages. All four games.

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    2. The Sega Saturn is notoriously difficult to emulate and given their adamant stance on using vanilla ROM copies in the past with the original Mega Man Legacy Collection, inserting additional content into the PlayStation version of Mega Man 8 is entirely out of the question. A shame, but certainly not a shock. A proper localization of MM8.5 would have been great too.

      Given my limited investigation into the engine of MM8 for the PSone, however, it is certainly possible to modify it to contain the additional content that the Sega Saturn version received. The only difficulty I ran into was texture conversion (from SS->PSX), with the remainder of run-time data being an exact 1:1 match on each system (excluding endian/byte order and BGM sound data, of course). Make of that what you will.

      My only personal gripe is the omission of Mega Man Wily Wars :P

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    3. They didn't show one in action, but it was literally one of the first things they showed in the challenges menu. And seeing how they were called the exact same thing in the first Legacy Collection (e.g., MM2 Remix 1), and there were 3 top records shown, I don't see why it'd be anything different.

      Just short segments of various stages connected together with warp points linking them, and your goal is to beat them as quickly as possible. The remixes are just more organized by game in this one, rather one one giant list, it appears. And I'd think you could safely say the 70+ total probably includes the boss rushes in that same menu, too.

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    4. Yeah, my personal gripe is no Mega Man and Bass, it doesn't even have that much text. Not being included in this anthology only perpetuates the misconception that it is not a proper Mega Man entry due to not having a number in its title. It's just as valid as Code Veronica is to the rest of the RE series (originally Nemesis WAS the 'spin-off' but Sony refused).

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  8. any chase of using Japanese audio for 8 in the us release?

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  9. "the team felt it important to use the initial release version of the game"

    Why?

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    1. well the reason they would give would probably be "nostalgia" as this is a nostalgia thing to make compilation.
      of course, real reason might be that for one or another reason it was easier to go with that. or that for a reason or another they could'nt.

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  10. And there my hopes for the collection went. No buy.

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  11. I hope they add the option to choose between the US and JP versions, like thet did in the first Legacy Collection.

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  12. It's a shame capcom can never just be honest. Just say it man. "saturn emulation is hard and it would take extra work, this is a cash in title we don't feel like doing extra work" Keiji's still alive and well in that company even if he has moved on to stealing money with the promise of nostalgia. Any chance we see that piece of shit at e3?

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    1. That'd be kind of like American third party developers saying "porting our games to Nintendo systems requires extra time and money, and since all our games are cheap trash to begin with we'll simply decide not to support Nintendo at all".

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  13. I suppose this just means there will be a 3rd and 4th collection down the road with Megaman & Bass, Power Fighters 1 and 2, Wily Wars, Battle & Chase, Wily & Right no RockBoard: That's Paradise, Super Adventure Rockman, Megaman I, Megaman II, Megaman III, Megaman IV, Megaman V, and what ever else they want to throw a bone our way... Assuming they actually care enough too.

    To be honest, I wanted more in this collect for 2. I was hoping for it to at least finish off up to the MegaMan Anniversary Collection standards with both the Power Fighters added in. Heck an addition of Battle & Chase as well would have been nice... Certainly Megaman & Bass too for crying out loud, especially since it takes place before 9 and 10. I don't know I guess I feel this collection feel's stingy and half hearted after the previous one had 6 games in it. While honestly too all these 'extra features' like the remix stuff and time trials don't interest me in the least. It just comes out feeling like cheap unnecessary stuff in the end to try and make a quick buck or two.

    I'll probably pass on this collection and hold out for the possible but not probable Collection 3 which will likely contain any number of... 2 to 6 games from the above list. Unless they are in the mind done with this all and are thinking like Bass in MM8, "Today is the day we finish this!" In which case... "I must stahp Doktah Waiwee!" ... wait that's not right... I mean, I won't be giving them my money for this or much else in the future.

    More than likely if my hunch is right after this they will go on to flip over to the X series thinking to make money that way with out finishing off all the obscure Classic MM games...

    tldr; meh 4 games, not enough good stuff, meh features, PS1 MM 8, not interested. Won't be getting my money.

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    1. Why no love for Rockman & Forte: Challenger from the Future? ;3

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  14. Oh geesh! 70 remixed stages sounds super cool to me. I'm curious how good those stages are, but regardless I'm pretty hype as I never got to play 9 & 10.

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  15. While it is perfectly within one's right to not buy this,don't go pining for a new Mega Man game when you won't even support the current offerings. That's not how it works.

    Plus we aren't talking several hundred bucks or even sixty,but twenty bucks. Come on now. $20 for MM 9 and 10 on a physical disc (with all DLC included) makes this absolutely worth it for me.

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    1. Okay, but... can't you already play the Inti Creates games on the XB1/PS4 with some sort of "backwards compatibility" or "transference" thing-a-ma-doodle? I know the Wii U has something like that... though I'm not sure the Switch has that feature.

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    2. I shouldn't have to rebuy old Mega Man games that I already own in order to feel entitled to new Mega Man games. THAT is not how it works.

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    3. Dude, MM9 and MM10 with DLC..... IN PC!!!! I don't need anymore plugins in my crashed emulators.

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    4. Joseph Collins: i'm not sure, but nearly, that hte ps4 does'nt have backward compatibility, as they ported some ps3 games on ps4 when the console was making it's debut.

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  16. No this isn't happening! There's no reason for me to go on! Wha- WHAT AM I OWNING A NINTENDO SWITCH FOOOOOOOORRRRRR?!

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    1. Zelda Mario maybe Pokeman... If that doesn't sound appealing then you should feel right about asking that question.

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    2. i have it for splatoon, mario, and because there's Sonic coming.
      would be nice to have megaman in it, though.

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  17. Pierrot Bolneze?! What are you doing hanging around Capcom?!

    - There are over 70 remixed stages.
    Some context for this would be extremely helpful, here. Like... how is that possible for Mega Man 8? Most of the stages aren't really designed with "place anywhere" tiles in mind.

    - All games include a special mode to cut damage in half. Enemies won't be weaker, but the damage they deal to Mega Man has been decreased 50%.
    So, if you play Protoman Mode in Mega Man 9 with that on, it would be about the same as playing a much harder version of Mega Man 4, then? ;P

    - For Mega Man 8, the team felt it important to use the initial release version of the game, so the PS1 version is included in this collection.
    I call "PR bull-honkey" on this one. We all know the story with Sony and Capcom back in the PS1 days. Why would Capcom not pick the superior version of the game unless they couldn't?

    And that's all I've got, for now.

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    1. how is that possible for Mega Man 8? Most of the stages aren't really designed with "place anywhere" tiles in mind.

      Actually, they are. When I discovered that Mega Man 8/US for PlayStation had an unused debug menu, I was quickly bummed by the fact that a level jump option wasn't included...

      ...so I developed one instead, in less than 200 lines of MIPS R3000A assembly code. To my shock, the game was already built with predetermined jump points for each stage (Start, Mid-point 1, Mid-point 2, Boss) so I didn't have to program that feature in. With very minimal tweaks, you'd be able to jump anywhere on the map at any given stage.

      http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=17158.0
      http://www.rockman-corner.com/2014/03/mega-man-8-debug-project-finished-and.html

      Added the fact that MM8 will presumably be ran under an emulation wrapper, as seen in the previous Legacy Collection with the NES titles, the developers have total control of the machine code being emulated. Thus, machine-code accurate jump points isn't out of the realm of possibility at all. Think of it like a savestate that can be loaded at any given time.

      Why would Capcom not pick the superior version of the game unless they couldn't?

      Because they couldn't, most likely.

      I'd be willing to bet that they simply didn't want to mess with building a Sega Saturn emulator. Frankly, I don't blame them, as the machine architecture is quite complex.

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    2. No no... When I said "place anywhere" tiles, I meant that the level tile sets -- the actual level graphics -- weren't designed to be rearranged and shuffled. Which, upon giving Searchman's stage a glance, couldn't be any more wrong. Those tiles look like they can be reconfigured into different geometry easily enough.

      So... yeah. Never mind, ha hah.

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  18. Who the heck is that middle-age Japanese guy with Mega Man helmet showing up in every Japanese Mega Man announcement videos? He look completely out of place for being franchise ambassador, I honestly find it strange and jarring that Capcom is still having him keep his role. Is he a big deal in Japan or anything?

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    1. That's Ucchy. He's the social media/PR guy for Rockman Unity.

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  19. I've got a question regarding the widescreen borders. Are the borders from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of Mega Man 10 included? I'm asking because they weren't in the WiiWare version.

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  20. I bought a Japanese Saturn just to play the best version of Rockman 8 (for Saturn additions and non-comical voices) so i'll be fine. Imma get the collection but it's still a shame.

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  21. No Switch version? Capcom blows!

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    1. Well their commitment to furthering the series is questionable, and their lack of interest in the Switch frustrating, but I'm actually pretty happy with the number of products they've licensed recently between card games, board games, plush figures and statues. I wouldn't say they "blow" just that their position on the Switch is shortsighted given its rapid platform base growth.

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    2. The first collection sold better on the 3DS than Ps4/Xbox one they even have a Megaman Amiibo...so I don't get why they keep ignoring Nintendo.

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  22. Too much whining for Japanese audio. Stop please. Ai Orikasa and her studio would sue your little butts in an instant for that.

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  23. Is it actual expanded play area widescreen, or just some kind of bad Aspect Ratio stretching?

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  24. Why do people want this? It's a compilation, bastly inferior than the Gamecube/PS2 one. I want a new game, Capcom. God damnit.

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    1. I recall the PS2 collections having dithering on SNES games.

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    2. Because not everyone have the Mega Man Anniversary Collection or the Virtual Console digital releases, in the case of MM9 and MM10 you have to buy a 7th gen console to download them and this is the first time those games (the 4 of them) are avaliable officially for PC. Another reason is because I want a new Mega Man game, and if this game (what despite not having Mega Man & Bass, looks like a nice compilation with a fair price) don't have at least decent sales, that's another 5 years until the next time Capcom try to do something with the franchise again.

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    3. since this is a Megaman news site, i can rather safely assume that the majority of the peoples out there are core Megaman Fans. for this reason what i'm about to say might sound like a heresy, but at the risk of surprising you... i have never played the classic Serie! (aside from Megaman and Bass).
      i only got into megaman when my big brother had me play MMZero collection a few years ago, i have played ZX, Starforce, and battle network easely since i had a DS lite and it have retrocompatibility for gba games. and i have also played the X series.
      now i don't have the gamecube or the ps2. I recently got the first classic collection for 3ds as a present, and will play it when i got some free time. (which is probably next week).
      So yes, i'm interested in that new release (and by that Megaman Thermos). would be better if i could get it on 3ds, though, but i'll just go for the PC version.
      P.S: YES, i know that emulator exist, but if you'll allow me, i'll spend some money in games i like.
      thanks for reading and a good day to you all.

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  25. Now, I really hope this version of Mega Man 7 includes the original ending sequence in full, as opposed to what happened in Mega Man Anniversary Collection.

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  26. Man. At least 7 doesn't seem to have all the awful tearing and flicker from the last collection. Looks like some effort was made.

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  27. Look, I bought the last collection as a way to say "I'm still interested in Mega Man." I guess they took that as "I'm still interested in shitty Mega Man compilations." I'm not even gonna bother with this one unless I get it as a gift or something. I want a new game, not a collection of 4 games I already fucking have. Jesus Christ. Capcom is such an inept company. They give us literally everything except the one fucking thing we want. I've held out hope for a new game since MML3 got cancelled and tried defending Capcom since then, so you know what, I have the right to be fucking pissed.

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    1. There is a company making new "Megaman" titles. It's just not Capcom and we've been told by the internet the games are bad. If you really want new Megaman games, check out Inti Creates.
      https://www.gamefaqs.com/company/12895-inti-creates?platform=0&year=0&region=0&devpub=1
      They can't be worse than Challenger From The Future.

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