Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom
Released: January 10, 2001 Rated: E 7/10
It’s a little hard to find a starting point for how to assess Mega Man 64. With the PS1 original, you have a cult classic spinoff in a series that still has a lot of options for reinventing itself. Alongside Mega Man 8, X4-X6, and eventually followed up by a sequel and a prequel, Legends has hit the right spot for a lot of people over the years, and it’s no surprise that Mega Man Legends 3 is high up on lots of folks’ wish list over 20 years later. Mega Man 64, despite being a port of this same cult classic from 1997, feels really difficult to see the same way.
Getting only one Mega Man title on a Nintendo console already feels like a disappointment. One of the series that defined the NES, SNES, and even showed out consistently on the GameBoy, losing out on Mega Man entirely would have been quite the blow, but instead we get something more akin to the Castlevania situation. The Nintendo 64 does offer something new from a classic franchise, but the definitive nature of the title — “Mega Man 64” — doesn’t truly indicate how different from the norm this title really is.
Mega Man 64 is the overarching franchise’s of-the-time jump to 3D, but doesn’t take that approach so directly, trying to implement the same twitch platforming and shooting mechanics but in a 3D environment. Instead we maintain a similar approach to shooting and dodging while in combat, but implemented in a far-reaching adventure that resembles a dungeon-crawling RPG, rather than the classic individual levels with a wily robot master to snatch a themed weapon off at the end. Players taking control of this iteration of Mega Man, referred to as Mega Man Volnutt and boasting spiky anime hair instead of a round helmet, will spend as much time traversing towns, forests, and lakes and talking to NPCs as in boss fights. And while “the right weapon” has always been a key concept to progression in Mega Man games, this time around it’s a lot more about purchasing the right parts from shops and gearing up before heading into battle, rather than knowing strengths and weaknesses like a Pokémon battle.
There’s an awkwardness to the controls that I definitely imagine comes from the porting from a PS1 controller to that of the N64. Movement utilizes tank controls, which immediately raises some red flags given the series’ still-effective focus on action and speedy, reaction-heavy combat. The addition of a dodge-roll and strafing using the R and Z buttons gives some much needed options for mobility, but even in the most basic situations, it can feel like you’re fighting the controller for a good view and positioning on your foe, something that would be much more sinful if a lot of challenge weren’t made up by effective use of special weapons, like mines and lasers, and proper load outs. At its core, Mega Man 64 has a clunky but effective combat system, but the charm and appeal of the rest of the package often make up for it, even if individual mileage may still vary.
The story of Mega Man 64 focuses on Mega Man Volnutt and his group of comrades who are primarily focused on treasure hunting. Volnutt is a “digger,” and on the mostly flooded earth where the game is set, diggers and their crew explore underground ruins looking for quantum refractors, an energy source vital to powering their communities. Though the entire story of Mega Man 64 essentially takes place on a lone island in the middle of a vast, Waterworld-esque ocean, the varied locales and especially the characters create a decent narrative wherein it makes perfect sense for lots of folks to have latched onto something. Along with the orphan girl, Roll, her grandfather, Barrel, and an adorable monkey named Data, Volnutt ends up butting heads with a family of pirates who arrive to terrorize the citizens of Kattlelox Island, as both search for the fabled Mother Lode treasure horde that will bring them glory and riches along with such vast energy sources.
Although the story and dialogue pales in comparison to the leaps and bounds being made at the time by companies like Square and LucasArts, the characters are given a good amount of personality nonetheless, and a few are particularly charming. It’s absolutely no surprise that the bumbling little Lego-headed servbots have made an enduring impact on the overall franchise, while Tron Bonne was an immediate fan favorite who received a starring role in the obscure Legends prequel, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne. The voiceover work that managed to survive the transition to the N64 almost certainly plays a huge part in that as well. Though it’s far past the point where actual voice clips were still considered impressive, I’m glad that Capcom didn’t cheap out and remove them entirely.
This is also not to say that Mega Man 64 is technically impressive in any area, really. It’s not really an “enhanced” port, and, if anything, there’s negative tradeoff in areas like the graphics. Characters are enemies are still using their original jagged polygons of their PS1 models, while the N64’s weak draw distance becomes even more noticeable considering how small each individual area is, and the console is still not able to render anywhere near the entire field of view at a given time. It doesn’t hurt the gameplay, even in all its janky glory, but it makes the N64 port that much more odd without giving it any inherent advantages.
Lastly, and again, I think this really just contributes all the more to its overall charm and cult status, but Mega Man 64 is a game that makes weird choices. It’s so decidedly jank at so many points, it’s almost funny. Watching the animations of Volnutt not line up at all with his movements when you start strafing is jarring at first, but never stops feeling a little silly to look at. Choosing to give the player a rundown of exactly how to beat boss fights when they start, practically eliminating a huge part of the charm of old boss fights, is puzzling. Large stretches of exploration having only chirping birds and no background music is grating. Having almost every enemy attack able to no-clip through other enemies and environments, while Volnutt himself is susceptible to every type of hazard and friendly fire in the game will leave you feeling downright peeved at times.
But I’d be lying if I said that any of this broke me. It plays so close to the line of making you need to stop, but it pulls you back at the last second just about every time. Something silly, something charming, something weirdly satisfying about the gameplay will work, or something will just click and you’ll come out the other side of a scene that doesn’t seem to jive with the Mega Man brand at all, and you’ll keep going. Because at its core, this is an adventure game, and Mega Man 64 does succeed at keeping things unique and making you wonder how it’s going to approach the next scene. It’s hard not to just “get it,” even when things don’t feel like they’re supposed to work. And that’s kind of like what having this port is like – it doesn’t seem like it should even exist, but here it is, and if it’s there, you may as well enjoy it.
Continuing Legacy
People want Mega Man Legends 3 to happen. The other two games in the Legends trilogy had already released by the time Mega Man 64 came out, and then basically nothing happened with this subseries for a really long time outside of some mobile phone games. Legends 3 was announced for the Nintendo 3DS in 2010, only to be canceled within the next year, and no amount of fan organization or outcry has managed to sway Capcom in any way since. You have, however, probably seen a Servbot or a Servbot reference in another Capcom game, such as Dead Rising or Marvel Vs. Capcom, if only for Capcom to remind folks of what they will never have.
Additional Information
Saves: Cartridge (the box and manual both claim to require a Controller Pak but this is not true)
Compatible With: Expansion Pak, Rumble Pak
Players: 1
Print Guides: Prima (For Mega Man Legends)
Aggregate Critical Reception (GameRankings): 63.94%, based on 9 reviews
Other Releases: JP, November 22, 2000
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