Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2

Genre: Compilation / Action-Platformer

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2 is a Compilation of two games that are, themselves, Compilations, containing the eight first numbered Action-Platformers in the Mega Man X series, with the first game originally released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993, and with the final game in this collection, Mega Man X8, originally releasing on the PlayStation 2 in 2004. I separately reviewed these compilations previously (here is my review of Mega Man X Legacy Collection, and here is my review of Mega Man Legacy Collection 2), but for the sake of comprehensiveness I’m reviewing this collection of collections together here as a whole as well. I should note that this package is only available in a physical retail package, and this is also the only way to get these games physically.

Here is what I thought of each game in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade
Mega Man X	Action-Platformer	1	A+
tl;dr The first game in the Mega Man X series is one I still believe is the best in the franchise, with phenomenal level design, a truly great soundtrack, and an excellent challenge level. An absolute must-play for fans of Action-Platformers.
Mega Man X2	Action-Platformer	1	A
tl;dr While not quite as excellent as the first game, Mega Man X2 is still a fantastic game with good action and a solid soundtrack. This game was a worthy follow-up effort that even added in a few interesting elements like limited use of vector graphics and multiple endings.
Mega Man X3	Action-Platformer	1	B+
tl;dr While still overall a good game, X3 starts to suffer from the feeling of “samey-ness” that plagued much of the original Mega Man series. On top of that, the challenge level here feels a bit too high, and the music isn’t as good or memorable as earlier games. This game added a limited ability to play as X’s sidekick Zero, but it was so limited that it makes one wonder why they even bothered. This game is still good, but not nearly as good as the first two.
Mega Man X4	Action-Platformer	1	A
tl;dr For the first time in the series, players can choose to play the entire game as X or Zero, and Zero plays differently enough that it’s almost like getting two games in one. On top of that, the level design in this game is excellent, and the game has pretty decent music too. Be aware that this game has a laughably bad English dub, although depending on who you ask, that only adds to its charm.
Mega Man X5	Action-Platformer	1	C
tl;dr While all the hallmarks of the Mega Man X series are still here, they’re buried under a pile of frustrations. Players can now only re-play levels a limited number of times, severely restricting the exploration the series is known for. Armor upgrades do nothing unless you collect all of them. The game keeps stopping you to read more of its terrible story… there’s a decent game buried under here, but there’s so much bloat and tedium you need to dig through to get to it that it’s hard to appreciate it.
Mega Man X6	Action-Platformer	1	C-
tl;dr This game thankfully does away with the previous game’s time limit, but it still bears many of the same problems that one had. On top of that, this game has some of the worst level design of the entire franchise, with stages absolutely filled with relentless enemies. While the previous game was a good game buried under a pile of frustrations, I can’t even really say there’s a good game here.
Mega Man X7	Action-Platformer / Third-Person Shooter	1	D
tl;dr The series’ controversial first steps into the world of 3D are a baffling collection of questionable choices. Much of the series’ signature exploration-heavy gameplay is gone here, replaced with terrible Third-Person Shooter corridor sections to accompany the mediocre 2D Action-Platformer areas. This game even replaces series protagonist X with annoying new character Axl for much of the game. If it wasn’t for the presence of Zero and X, this would be unrecognizable as a Mega Man X game.
Mega Man X8	Action-Platformer	1	B-
tl;dr This game has a lot of rough edges, but it’s actually a fairly decent Action-Platformer, even if the level layout here feels nothing like a Mega Man X game. On the bright side, this game makes good use of the character-swapping mechanic introduced in Mega Man X7, and all three playable characters feel like they’re contributing something worthwhile here. It’s still nowhere near as good as the earlier games in the series, but it’s worth playing, which puts it above the three games that preceded it.

It’s rare that you see such an uneven level of quality in the releases in a compilation, with the first Mega Man X Legacy Collection including the excellent first four games in the series, which are clearly the four best games in the series… and then there’s Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2, where the series plunged into mediocrity and then the outright bad Mega Man X7 before the actually decent Mega Man X8.

It bears mention that these games are not individually accessible on your Nintendo Switch’s menu screen, nor are they all included in one in-game menu. Rather, each is accessible within its own compilation, with games 1-4 in the first Mega Man X Legacy Collection, and 5-8 accessible in the second.

That makes this as good a time as any to mention one of the other great flaws in this collection – the physical version of Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+2 requires a 6.6GB download to play Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2, so bear that in mind when deciding which version of the game to get. Frankly, you may opt to get this collection for the hard copy of Mega Man X Legacy Collection and forget about the Legacy Collection 2 content. However, with the game currently selling for over $30, you’re basically paying $8 per every good game in this collection (or $4 per game total), so it’s up to you whether you want to buy the physical version of this game or just get the good stuff by buying the digital version of the first Legacy Collection.

Thankfully, there’s far, far more to this collection than just the games themselves. Firstly, players have multiple display settings, as well as the ability to play the Japanese versions of every game. There’s no rewind feature or save states like in the original Mega Man Legacy Collection, and although there are game saves in between levels, I can’t seem to find any way to actually load these saves. There’s also a “Rookie Hunter Mode” for an easier game difficulty.

Beyond this, the game offers a wealth of support content in the game’s menus, including a X-Challenge mode that has players taking on two bosses from the series at once, competing for the best times on leaderboards, a full music select menu, and a huge museum of production art and concept art (but no box art or manual art), and original trailers for the games. However, the most surprising inclusion here has to be The Day of Σ, a full half hour anime that acts as a prequel to the series, detailing events that led up to the first game.

Even more disappointing is the fact that this is far from a comprehensive collection of the Mega Man X series – it lacks the RPG Mega Man X Command Mission, the handheld Mega Man Xtreme games, and the PSP remake of the first game, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, all of which would have made for amazing extras to include in this bundle, and could have bolstered the value of its sub-par latter half.

All things considered, Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2 is an extremely mixed bag. It contains four games that I would argue are possibly the highlights of the entire Mega Man franchise… as well as four games I would argue are the worst. What’s more, the ability to purchase the digital versions of the first four games on the eShop, and the fact that only those games are included on the cartridge, muddy the waters further. If you absolutely must have the first four Mega Man X games on a physical cartridge, this bundle may be worth your while, but otherwise I’d say you’re better off just buying the first Mega Man X Legacy Collection on the eShop and forgetting about the other stuff here.

tl;dr – Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2 contains the first eight numbered games in the Mega Man X series in a physical release, and the result is an extremely uneven package. Not only are the first four games much better than the latter four, but the game requires a 6.6GB download to play the latter four games. At the very least, the bonus content here is quite good, but that’s hardly enough to justify buying such a broken package when you can just get the good stuff by buying Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 on the eShop. Unless you want the first four games on a cartridge, you should do that instead.

Grade: C

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