An Overview Of The Various Mega Man Subseries Part 2

Here is my continuation of “An Overview Of The Various Mega Man Subseries Part 1“.

Mega Man ZX

The two Mega Man ZX games were originally released for the Nintendo DS between 2006 and 2007 and takes place a few hundred years after Mega Man Zero where, after living peacefully for a long time, reploids are going Maverick. Interestingly, you’re given the option between playing a male or female protagonist who can use abilities by transforming into heroes from the Megaman X and Zero series. Mega Man ZX also introduces an explorable world similar to a metroidvania.

Mega Man Legends

Set many thousands of years after Mega Man ZX, Earth has become flooded and energy has become exceedingly rare. Mega Man Volnutt, the protagonist, works as a Digger, people who find energy in ancient ruins, along with a Spotter, people who help guide the Digger through the ruins, called Roll Caskett. The gameplay is extraordinarily different to the previous Mega Man games in that the world is rendered in 3D and functions as a third-person shooter rather than a platformer. Mega Man Legends 1 and 2 were released for the original PlayStation as well as a spin-off called “The Misadventures of Tron Bonne” while Mega Man Legends 3 was announced for the 3DS before Capcom ended up cancelling it.

Mega Man Battle Network

In contrast to the previous Mega Man subseries, Mega Man Battle Network is set in an alternate timeline where, rather than the development of robotics, the internet has been highly developed and is integrated in almost every aspect of life. NetNavis, short for Internet Navigators, are stored on devices called PETs, short for Personal Terminals, that help people to interact with the internet. In contrast to the original Mega Man subseries’, Mega Man Battle Network is an RPG series where you navigate the world, both real and online, enter into random encounters, gather battle chips which are used in combat to execute special abilities etc. The six main Battle Network games were released for Game Boy Advance from 2001 to 2005 and, similarly to the Pokémon series, Battle Network 3-6 were released in double editions where exclusive content was restricted to each version of the game. There were also several spin-offs released ranging from an anime series to a platformer that was released for the Nintendo GameCube.

Mega Man Star Force

The last Mega Man subseries is set 200 years after the events of Mega Man Battle Network and is called Mega Man Star Force. Communication is predominantly handled via EM waves rather than the internet, which still exists but whose importance has lessened. The gameplay is similar to Battle Network but combat is now rendered in 3D with a viewpoint from behind your character. Mega Man Star Force also received an anime adaptation but it made the particularly stunning decision to release three different editions of the first game although the second and third went back to two editions. These were released from 2006 to 2008 for the Nintendo DS.

The various subseries of the Mega Man franchise can be quite confusing but hopefully this overview has helped as I’ve found myself becoming quite a fan of Mega Man and would like to see others develop an interest as well. Let me know your thoughts on my overview of the various Mega Man subseries, which subseries is your favourite, what you think about the Mega Man franchise overall and any additional information you might have on the topic.

Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.