Of all of the generations I personally lived through, the fifth generation and its emphasis on 3D over 2D was easily the most awkward transition period for established franchises. Every time a new generation of platforms would launch with massive technological leaps over even their direct predecessors – less true today than it was in the olden days – they would still manage to look to the past and revitalize beloved franchises with new entries that would attempt to serve two masters: balancing the need to please die-hard fans with the new entry’s need to serve as an introduction to a whole new audience. They would be joined by the Nintendo 64 the following year in a move that would properly cement the ascent of proper 3D video games and decline of their 2D ancestors.ĭespite this massive paradigm shift, some things never change. However, in 1995 – exactly halfway through the decade – the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation would launch in North America, both effectively acting as harbingers of a new dimension to the masses and the beginning of the end of what I would consider my gaming childhood for a multitude of reasons. Two-dimensional games that had been refined over the first four generations were no longer impressive to the masses and the half-hearted attempt at bringing experiences with more depth to the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis paled in comparison to what was possible on arcade hardware by the mid-1990s and on prohibitively expensive systems like the 3DO. The fifth generation of video game consoles were a time of massive upheaval in the industry. Hopefully, by 2021, I’ll have enough material to do a retrospective on the games that have come out since my first MegaMan retrospective. I’ll be wrapping up the original timeline with Legends, the Zero tetralogy and the ZX duology this year and next year, I’ll be jacking into cyberspace with Battle Network and Star Force to round out my look at these old games. Instead, I’ve decided to take a third option, opting to my favorite aspects of both choices.
#20xx melee glitches slowdown series
It should be obvious that I’ve already decided against this option: Legends is at the far end of the original MegaMan timeline, with at least one series (though most would argue two) taking place between the MegaMan X games and Legends. The other obvious option would be to cover the remaining games in the order they’re supposed to take place in-universe, wrapping up the original timeline before covering the alternate universe covered in Battle Network and its own successor. Of course, many people assumed that the Legends games were also blazing their own trail as well, until years later, it would be made clear that it was simply a far-flung future from the original franchise, so far removed from the classic 20XX era that it could easily be mistaken from something completely distinct from its progenitors.
However, the fourth series of MegaMan games – MegaMan Battle Network – ended up creating its own separate timeline, completely distinct from the narrative that started back in 1987. And if you haven’t guessed by now, as Legends was the third iteration of the franchise to release, it may seem that I’m taking that path. The obvious path would be to continue covering the remaining series in the order they were released. While the original incarnation of the Blue Bomber and his futuristic little brother are clear counterparts to one another and make for a clear and concise timeline, the remainder of variations on Akira Kitamura’s most famous creation aren’t quite as straight-forward as the first two. However, I’ve now reached an impasse: the next step in these retrospectives isn’t quite as obvious as one might expect. I’ve already covered my beloved Classic series two years ago and last year, the X games got their due. That’s right, as a tribute to December 17 th, 1987 – the very beginning of a franchise that has endured through ups and downs for over 30 years now – I began dedicating Decembers on Retronaissance to the MegaMan franchise. It’s December again and you know what that means? It’s time for another retrospective based around what may not be your favorite video game franchise of all time, but certainly is mine.
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