Retronauts Blog Returns with a DASH of Mega Man

TMMN Staff

July 17, 2011

I have mixed titles just to make a catchy headline, and for that, I apologize.
With that out of the way, the newly-crowned 1UP Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Parish has at last resurrected the long-dormant Retronauts classic gaming blog, and has done so by posting an article about one classic game near and dear to many of us: Mega Man Legends.

“Halcyon Days: Mega Man Legends and the Lost Art of Sincerity” takes a look at the first game of the series and the “heart” is possesses, a quality its author feels is lacking in many of the contemporary games of today:

And don’t bother complaining about how nebulous a term “heart” is. Even the lousiest video game is a creative work, an artistic endeavor by people who aspire to express themselves, and such things can’t entirely be dissected into quantitative elements. You can break a game down into its components — its graphics, its sound, its mechanics, its story — but in the end, you still have to go with your gut. That’s what heart is. It’s when a game grabs you by the innards, inspires you, and leaves you thinking to yourself, “These guys, they get it.”

The article also notes how history has short-changed the game by almost ignoring things which subsequent games from other companies did second, but also arguably did better. Things such as the in-game cut-scenes of Metal Gear Solid, or the lock-on targeting popularized by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which while perhaps not performing these feats as well as its peers, managed to make up for it in other ways.

Though it does not go so far as to vouch for the need or desire for the game’s Nintendo 3DS sequel, it does position the game as one which is arguably even more enjoyable in retrospect now than it was upon its release. Hopefully, Capcom– Capcom USA, specifically– will find a way to make it available to everyone in the West once again so they can more easily find out for themselves.