Mega Man Legends

Mega Man Legends, known as Rockman DASH (ロックマンDASH, Rokkuman Dasshu) in Japan, is a series in the Mega Man franchise. The DASH acronym in the Japanese title stands for Digouter's Adventure Story in Halcyon Days.^[1] While the main series is well known for its 2D side-scrolling platformer gameplay with very little story, this series instead features 3D action-adventure gameplay and a robust story.

Plot overview

According to the sourcebook, Rockman Perfect Memories, the Legends series takes place thousands of years after the ZX series. By this time, the planet Earth is mostly ocean, leaving some islands left for civilization to prosper on. Based on in-game dialogue, the series takes place at least in the year 80XX.

The player controls MegaMan 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 Teisel Bonne, his sister (though the booklet says daughter) Tron Bonne (who is also allegedly infatuated with Mega Man), their baby brother Bon Bonne who somehow can drive a large mechasuit (known primarily for his repeated line, "Babu!", which has become a catch phrase among the series' fans), and the 41 Servbots (one of which is only in The Misadventures of Tron Bonne). 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.

Characters

• MegaMan Volnutt (ロック・ヴォルナット, Rock Volnutt in the original version) is the main character of the series. He is found sealed within a crystal along with Data during an excavation of Nino Island by Barrell Caskett, who brings him in and raises him. He is named after Roll's favorite video game character and soon grows up to be a Digger, searching for adventure, providing for his makeshift family, and protecting them all from the Bonnes and other dangers. It is eventually revealed that he was once as a First Class Purifier Unit named Mega Man Trigger charged with the protection of Elysium. After being told to destroy the Master System by the Master, he battled and defeated Sera. However his damage was so extensive that he was forced to have his memory removed and placed within Data and was reset to the default configuration of a newborn baby. He was then sealed within the crystal by Yuna. Volnutt also appears as a playable character in Namco X Capcom and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars, and as a part of Mega Man's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
• Roll Caskett is Mega Man's adopted sister and Digging partner. She often aids MegaMan as a Spotter during his dungeon adventures by keeping in radio contact and warning him of dangers and hidden caches. She also makes weapons for him and transports him around the city using the Caskets' van that she fixed. Her parents (Barrell's daughter and her husband) were diggers who mysteriously disappeared on a dig of Forbidden Island. She appears in Namco X Capcom as MegaMan's partner character. She also appears as one of the action figures in Mayl Sakurai's room in Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue.
• Professor Barrell Caskett is Roll's grandfather, and MegaMan's adoptive grandfather. Barrell is a famous Digger and the author of various books on the subject. He discovers MegaMan while on Nino Island without permission, and takes in Roll after her parents disappear.
• Data is a small robot monkey found with MegaMan. He accompanies Roll as a pet, and he can communicate with MegaMan, though others eventually learn to understand him. He holds all of MegaMan's memories, and MegaMan is the only person able to retrieve them.
• The Bonne Family are the leaders of the Servbots, who often create difficulties for Mega Man and Roll as they continue on their adventures. Tron Bonne is the genius of the trio, and the creator of the Servbots and various fighting machines. She harbors a crush on MegaMan. Bon Bonne is essentially a baby, encased in a large, mechanical fighting suit and he is only able to say "Babu." Teisel Bonne is the tactician of the group, though most of his plans are very extravagant. Tron Bonne is a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Namco X Capcom, and Project X Zone, with Servbots as a partner character; she has also starred in her own spinoff game, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne.
• Servbots (コブン, Kobun) are a group of forty-one small, indestructible robots created by Tron Bonne to do her bidding. Each Servbot has an ability from cooking to cleaning to battle, and they do various chores on board the Bonne family airship, the Gesellschaft. They behave like children and love and adore Tron like a mother, however strict she may be with them. They greatly resemble Lego minifigures. Despite their small size, they can be quite powerful fighters and are vital to the Bonnes' success as pirates. Servbots accompany Tron in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes and Namco x Capcom during several of her special moves, and one is also a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. They also cameo in Dead Rising as a toy helmet that can be worn or placed on zombies (which is also implemented as one of Frank West's hyper combos in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars), the Mega Man Battle Network series as merchandise found throughout the games, and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege as a weapon. They are voiced by Chisa Yokoyama.
• Mistress Sera and Mistress Yuna are "Mother Units" specifically designed to watch over Elysium and Terra. Sera, jealous of the attention MegaMan receives from the Master, the final living human and overseer of Elysium, does battle with MegaMan after he is ordered by the Master to destroy the System Library. She is defeated and sealed on Forbidden Island by Yuna, and Yuna also takes care of MegaMan. Yuna inhabits the body of Matilda, Roll's mother, because she used her own body to repair Matilda's dying body. They are served by Gatz and Geetz, who have the ability to change from humanoid forms to large bird forms.
• MegaMan Juno is the master of all the ruins on Kattelox Island. He is awakened by Volnutt, and he attempts to reinitialize the island's systems, which have the potential to kill the island's inhabitants.
• Lex Loath is a loan shark, who wishes to awaken the Sleeping Colossus, a giant Reaverbot. His main henchman is Glyde, the leader of the "Birdbots", small bird-like robots.
• Bola and Klaymoor are two veteran pirates, who search for the keys to the Mother Lode, though only Klaymoor really cares. Bola wields a claw and a sword, while Klaymoor has a machine gun as a replacement for his arm.

Games

Main series

Mega Man Legends, first released for PlayStation on December 18, 1997, is the first video game in the series.

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, the prequel of MegaMan Legends and starring the Bonnes rather than MegaMan (who only makes a cameo appearance as his NES version), was released in 1999 exclusively for the PlayStation.

Mega Man Legends 2 released in 2000 exclusively for the PlayStation, features Mega Man Volnutt's quest to find four keys hidden in the planet in order to aid in the search of the Mother Lode, a legendary treasure thought to be an infinite energy source.

Other

On September 23, 2007, at the Tokyo Game Show, Capcom unveiled Rockman DASH Great Five-Island Adventure (ロックマンDASH 5つの島の大冒険！, Rokkuman DASH Itsutsu no Shima no Daibōken!) for mobile phones, and subsequently released it in early 2008.^[2]

Mega Man Legends 3, known as Rockman DASH 3 (ロックマンDASH 3, Rokkuman Dasshu Surī) in Japan, is a cancelled video game set to be the sequel to Mega Man Legends 2 and was going to be the fourth game in the series.

Development

At one point Capcom had planned to release 1997's Mega Man Legends in the US under the domesticated title Mega Man Neo,^[3] and then Mega Man Nova.^[4]

Series creator Keiji Inafune has consistently expressed interest in making a third installment.^[5][6] He claims that creating a Rockman game for the next generation consoles would cost around $15 million to fund and develop.^[7] Mega Man Legends 3 was announced for the Nintendo 3DS on September 29, 2010, during a Nintendo press conference for the 3DS, nearly ten years after the American release of Mega Man Legends 2.^[8] In September 2007, Keiji Inafune commented that he was asked by several fans if Mega Man Legends 3 would be made; although Inafune expressed a desire to make such a game, he stated that he could not do it at that time.^[9] Detailed information about the game was announced at the New York Comic Con in October 2010.^[8] Although Inafune left Capcom in November 2010, the team working for Mega Man Legends 3 stated that the game would continue development.^[10] Capcom intended to release Mega Man Legends 3: Prototype Version in 2011 for the 3DS eShop, featuring 10 missions, and a new playable character, Barrett.^[11] The Prototype Version was going to act as a prologue to the forthcoming main game.^[12] On July 18, 2011, it was announced that production on Mega Man Legends 3 was being cancelled, and that neither a full game, nor Mega Man Legends 3: Prototype Version would be released, and that there were currently no plans to resume production.^[13]

A fan campaign meant to persuade Capcom to continue development on Mega Man Legends 3 started shortly after its cancellation. 100,000 Strong for Bringing Back Mega Man Legends 3, also known as Get Me Off the Moon, includes sending as many physical letters and e-mails as well as giving as many phone calls to Capcom's headquarters as possible, in addition to posting messages on the branch's Facebook and Twitter accounts, requesting for a release of the game. The group also advocates using Tanomi.com, a Japanese site that allows people to request a product.^[14] 100,000 Strong for Bringing Back Mega Man Legends 3 has been covered by Digital Trends,^[15] Destructoid,^[16] GamePro,^[17] Eurogamer,^[18] and the Portuguese gaming website Eurogamer,^[19] In addition, Mega Man Legends 3 Project's programming director Yoshiyuki Fujikawa has responded favorably to the campaign and "encourages fans to fight for the game to be released."^[20] Capcom themselves has taken notice of the project and the Facebook page and have confirmed that "they were aware of the Facebook group but they would not be changing their plans", stating, "While Capcom has a built a strong relationship with its community and values their feedback, Mega Man Legends 3 development has officially ceased without plans to resume development."^[21]

References