When it comes to Capcom’s recent run of game collections, it feels like accessibility is an important part of the package. The first Mega Man Legacy Collection had this great save system that made it easier to progress through the games. The Disney Afternoon Collection had both a save system and a rewind function that allowed you to pretend the bad things never happened. Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 has a few features that make Mega Man 7, 8, 9, and 10 slightly less imposing than before, but feel like the try to preserve the challenge of the original games. It still attempts to ease people into it with a few of its options, but in a way that doesn’t make many compromises.
Mega Man Legacy Collection had a standard save state system. With the press of a button, you could save at any time. It didn’t matter if you were at a specific point. In Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, there is a checkpoint system. This means you can only save at designated areas, with an option to turn on an autosave feature. (This works outside of games in the collection with actual save functionality, like Mega Man 8.)
In a way, this can feel rather a bit inconvenient. In a day and age where so many similar collections offer save state functionality, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 feels unnecessarily restrictive. Those who wished to play it the old fashioned way could take a screenshot at the password screen and use that to return to a specific state. Forcing people to only save at designated spots is limiting. On the other hand, it is offering some sort of save option, but isn’t allowing people to coast through these games. You can’t save at the start of a tricky spot and endlessly reload until you get it right. While I would personally prefer a save system identical to the first collection’s, this compilation’s is still a big help.
The Extra Armor option is another way in which Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 helps people out, without making things easier. It halves the damage Mega Man takes from enemies. This works wonders as a learning tool. It does not dumb down the games. It just helps you survive longer. You still get to experience all four Mega Man games as-is. It is easy to turn it on and off in the options menu as needed. A discrete shield icon is the only on-screen notation that you’re reducing the damage you take, which is also appreciated. It doesn’t distract or boast that you are using the easy option, but is there so you know if you do or don’t have it applied at a glance.
Mega Man Legacy Collection 2’s Challenge stages serve as another means of testing players. Perhaps after people have learned the proper way to play with Extra Armor or played through the games a bit to refresh their memories, they can find these challenges in each game’s menu. (People who want immediate access to the Mega Man 9 and 10 DLC will need to go to each game’s title screen and press up, down, left, right, left, right, down, up, up, then down to unlock them.) There are 10 Challenges for Mega Man 7 and 8, among them Stage Remixes, Sub-Boss and Boss Rushes, and Time Attacks. The Mega Man 9 and 10 Challenges are similar in contact, but there are far more due to additional characters and options. Mega Man 9 has 20, with Mega Man and Proto Man options. Mega Man 10 has 38, with Mega Man, Bass, and Proto Man all getting opportunities to represent themselves. These are all appropriately different, forcing people to do their best and step up their game.
It feels like Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 offers some accommodations for people who want some modern conveniences in the game. There is the Extra Armor option, to make things a bit easier for those who are intimidated by its difficulty or want help while they learn. There are Challenges that give more experienced folks extra trials to overcome. While the save system isn’t as comprehensive as the one in other collections Capcom has released, it does offer some kind of backup for people who want to pick up from a safe space. It does its best to offer some adequate extras for fans coming back to these four games.
Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 is available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
