Mega Man Legends 2 (PS1, 2000)
Graphics-9 Sound-8 Control-7 Challenge-7/6** Story-6.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7/5.5* Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Underwater segments
**w/ fully upgraded buster and life tank+one of the better special weapons
+
Dual analog stick support and you can look around while moving here
Camera lock-on which can be automated for enemies and you can move while using it here (separate options for main weapons and sub/special weapons; Zelda: OoT). Can also switch targets by pressing the button again (though sometimes they're picked kind of randomly instead of in order of how close the enemies are)
Camera quick turn and default height buttons (circle and r2)
Can lift some objects while not having a special weapon equipped, Fast movement while carrying blocks, Can throw some enemies as well as throw them into other enemies (can also grab and throw some bombs and projectiles but not others),
Optional tutorial (you still get some tutorial messages during normal gameplay though and these pause gameplay)
Upgradeable weapons and special weapons (5 categories: attack, energy/ammo capacity, range, firing rate/rapid, special - different depending on the weapon but in general increases effectiveness) and health bar+health/energy tank and medicine tank (not the sub weapon energy (ammo)/hyper cartridge though)
Skippable cutscenes
Sometimes interactive dialogue (can ask about a few subjects at certain points but not make any real decisions relating to the story or main progression)
Can ask Data (save/recharge monkey) about what to do next
Great art direction overall (some cel shading or a proto-version of it on character faces?), Pretty nice cutscenes (great camera work and pretty good animation, decent overall pacing), Some nice environmental effects+the blob boss, Better visual variety in the dungeons and the enemies are themed after the climate you're in
Decent map system (2D auto-mapper, shows which door you exited last and your location+elevators and room connections, can switch between floors like in Zelda, can find an item marker in the main dungeons but not others, can find a map for each main dungeon (shows where you haven't been yet with darkened tiles))
Side roll dodge move w/ invincibility time (can't shoot while rolling and can't cancel it either though, no movement delay after using it here)
Voiced tips via radio during gameplay return (Burning Rangers) and Roll sometimes follows you around here though she doesn't fight alongside MM - the tips are a bit too obvious though and you can't turn them off (actually ruins some exploration aspects later on)
Diary and letter service features (roll's and barrell's rooms on your ship - no gameplay use though and the latter doesn't update over the course of the game, post office in first town for the letters - also no gameplay use)
Difficulty options (easy-very hard, easy lets you begin with some OP equipment and you can access all optional ruins+money value is 4x the normal amount, very hard or ss (can only be selected before beginning, not by taking a test) is even harder but money value is actually halved here so it's tedious to play this way). There are also additional adjustable difficulty options of sorts via the license tests however you're expected to take them at some point (B license/default (don't take the test) on Normal mode=normal enemy HP and money value, A license="normal" (get more money from enemies and they take more hits, access A license ruins), S=even tougher enemies in the early game (you're apparently expected to take it around mid-game where it becomes the same as normal in terms of how hard the enemies are?) and even more money gained from them) - can't lower the difficulty after raising it!
Some new enemies and hazards appear when backtracking through the main dungeons (none in the nino water dungeon however)
Can examine most objects in the environment in friendly areas (some that seem interactive aren't though including a big red button in one house)
Some large and detailed models
Some good humour (Tron Bonne using voice recordings of Roll to trick MM)
Some neutral creatures and NPCs in hostile areas (generally no gameplay use for them but there are exceptions such as the reaverbot fish which serves as a moving platform at one point (can also use an enemy for this to skip a box stacking room at one point in the same dungeon) or the truck driver during the desert city mission)
Teleports you out of finished dungeons after beating the boss (except for the water dungeon; Zelda 3)
Some missions outside of the dungeons (put out the fire - meh, protect the base - decent and makes use of the lift move, fortress attack - decent escape sequence but only ok otherwise (the stealth sequence doesn't really work as a stealth sequence), knock down the lava pillar with thrown enemies - decent but pretty easy, train fight - too easy up until the last segment which is just confusing)
Better VA overall
Various good bosses (about half of them up until the late-game - decent pattern variation with some escalation, they tend to break part of the environment which you can use as temporary cover during the fights (Space Invaders) and at some points they can destroy town buildings - MML1/Misadventures of Tron Bonne, very good: ice dungeon blob boss and second to final boss), Some mini-bosses
Some minor sequence breaking possibilities (can place a box in a way that lets you skip stacking them at one point in the calbania fortress mission, in the water dungeon you can skip placing the blocks to progress a couple of times, can skip getting help from the truck driver at one point with precise skate jumps, can skip part of a sidetracking segment in the ice dungeon by standing on top of a door and skate jumping; some more with glitches (blade arm jump?, box hit detection glitch underwater))
Grab and climb ledges (MML1, Tomb Raider)
A few decent puzzles (one decent platforming puzzle (nino water dungeon jet skate jump), lure enemies into holes to unlock doors in the ice dungeon)
A few shortcuts (ice dungeon, elysium)
Morality aspect which affects some NPCs, shop prices+roll's upgrade prices and side quests (MML1; generally better to be good - completionists need to do both though as only a bad Mega Man can trade with a shifty merchant for exclusive items, one of which is needed for a special weapon). Can donate to the church to regain a good reputation (buying gifts for Roll or additions to the ship makes her like you more but doesn't affect the rest of the world)
Some good environmental storytelling (finding the crashed plane and the frozen people once on board, the loneliness of the passed parents in the disheveled home of Shu and her trying to mother her siblings, the empty village of the lost humans on Elysium, statues coming alive and the boss harassing you in the desert ruins dungeon - decent horror element)
One interesting upgrade (normal armor and upgraded versions - don't get knocked down? doesn't seem to work reliably at all though)
+/-
Mostly linear structure (can take the digger license tests when you want to, can explore one optional dungeon per island after the first two areas (three of them in total) before or after continuing the main quest, adds a hub map where you can move around in the airship (but not interact in any other way?) and select locations to go to - like Space Hunter, some very straightforward areas like when you first get to the forbidden island, another optional dungeon on Nino island which can be fully explored after getting the drill, partially non-linear desert city mission and ice dungeon)
Save points at your current homebase (shows current location and time taken, 5 slots per card) and certain town houses+in some hostile areas via Data the monkey. He can also heal and recharge you
Can still manually shoot faster than the buster auto-fire (which is a bit slow until you get the best rapid fire upgrades - only the last one seems faster than using this trick) by tapping forward and fire at the same time
Enemy drops disappear after about 5 seconds - way too quick when underwater and often too quick above as well (made worse in that you can only carry one sub/special weapon or tool besides lift at a time)
Enemies encountered in the overworld tend to run away quickly and the encounter ends quickly if you run away from them
Pretty lighthearted and sometimes comedic tone with mostly cartoonish villains
Can lock onto enemies through walls
Bosses can kill you quite quickly with certain attacks
Can attack NPCs and shooting or lifting Roll or the ship a lot has an effect on story and gameplay (nothing happens if you kick human NPCs, can also knock away animals and the small lego-like pirate bots but not kill them)
Optional quiz mini-game (random pop culture and history questions rather than MML related+some questions are repeated for the four different rounds) - no other mini-games here
Status attacks and a healing item for them (medicine bottle) - some can be annoying like the one that makes you unable to attack or electrocution which makes you move really slowly (can defend against the latter with the hover boots though)
Mega Man is kind of a wimp story-wise
Don't get to keep any gear from the first game
Dungeon enemies generally respawn when re-entering the floor they were on (in some rooms there are frequently respawning smaller ones and in others there are smaller ones that respawn when re-entering the room they were in)
Partial nudity at one point
Cool how you can remove shields with homing missiles however those enemies become too easy when you do
Other enemies don't get damaged by the slow flying explosive enemies
Water level altering in one dungeon (however you don't get to see the water going up or down)
No HP refill after bosses
The main dungeons don't end up connecting to each other here
Can't move while using the fire extinguisher/aquablaster
Basic crafting of special weapons and some other items (combine two items - Roll does it for you so there's no customization here)
Can't manually jump while using the jet skates (you jump via hills in the ground (only seems to appear outside of dungeons) or when skating off a ledge) - ledge jumping is still useful in some spots
Only two slots for attaching upgrades/buster parts for the buster/main gun at first - can be increased to 3 with the adapter plug item (only one of these can be made)
Less detailed maps for non-dungeon areas - get the mini-map and a zoomed out one of the current area though
No message log (generally not needed thanks to Data)
Cutscenes all use in-game/in-engine graphics
Revisit the first area to progress at one point+the southeastern island at one point (no other backtracking to previous areas to progress)
Very little mandatory ability gating? (fire extinguisher/aquablaster for the first mission, lifter but it's a default ability, skate jumping helps with some platforming)
Jumping is slightly faster than running
Can skate or jump past a lot of enemies (but you generally don't want to since items are expensive)
Boss rush before the final one (the 4 main dungeon ones only)
Some overpowered special weapons/sub weapons (shining laser, ground crawler, homing missile)
The master (the blonde white woman) is voiced by a black guy and mega man is voiced by a woman - apparently the former is controlling someone else's body like Yuna is also doing
Can't move while shooting the shining laser
Can't move backwards while shooting - can move sideways and forward (there's also no backwards dash/roll)
No buster charge shot and no wall jump (MM/MMX)
-
Various control/interface issues (if you jump at the same time as you let go of the d-pad then it doesn't register, very short to non-existent invincibility time when hit by certain attacks such as the frogs means you can be hit several times in a row - makes some ranged combat against more than one enemy such as the tanks rather frustrating (you do get an armor later on that lets you roll out of a hit stun but it should've been a default ability), the game automatically switches lock-on targets if hit, can only switch special weapon (besides to lift) via Roll - annoying when you happen upon a breakable wall or other spot where you need a specific weapon, partial control config only - four different settings (only fourth one is good for dual shock since it maps shooting to the shoulder buttons - can't change these to the l2/r2 buttons though+it would've been good not to have camera quick turn and interact be mapped to the same button), can only side roll dodge if you're standing still (not while moving) - makes bosses much harder+it's awkward to use with the analog stick (should've just been mapped to a single button; also tricky to keep doing it repeatedly as if you press a little too soon then the action doesn't register), pressing l/r on the right stick also makes you side roll - gets in the way, can't change directions in mid-air, can't reverse the horizontal camera controls - only vertical (can be fixed in emulation though), stop moving if you use the camera quick turn button so you have to change the direction you're pressing the stick in each time, can't see past the room you're in on the mini-map - makes it look like you haven't opened a door when you have, the game is a bit picky about your positioning when interacting with room exits, start or select could've been used to switch special weapons instead of going into the menu+you can only quickly switch to the lift tool (not back to the special weapon), the way dungeon maps fill in "by tile" makes it fairly easy to miss certain paths - on floor 1 of the first ruins area the rest of the layout is shown but darkened (would've been best for exploration if the auto-mapper range was just extended a bit in lower floors, can find a map item only in the main dungeons), can browse but not zoom out while viewing the map screen - too zoomed in, the map doesn't mark found chests by default (can find an item for this in the main dungeons only) and doesn't mark the brown breakable walls and you can't place your own markers, very loose scrolling on the hub map, still need to use a special weapon (vacuum) as an item magnet rather than a passive ability and it takes a while before you get it (also can't move or shoot normally while using it) - also can't grab enemy drops before they fall down and spread out by standing where they died, slower camera rotation while moving, kinda slow turning while using the jet skates (very slow unless manually turning with the right stick)+holding circle while rotating the camera is awkward, can't simply place rather than throw boxes - makes stacking them a bit clunky, shop menu doesn't wrap around, can't aim straight up, sometimes can't be standing right next to a wall while firing the homing missile launcher as the missiles just hit the wall (sometimes even happens with the buster), each message during the tutorial pauses gameplay and there's an annoying prompt after each one asking if you want to repeat the message which defaults to "yes", contact damage even from knocked down enemies, Roll's voice messages get cut off if you enter a door and they sometimes happen right before opening one, annoying how if you stand a little too close then a melee blade attack is interrupted by contact damage+you can't properly combo most enemies as you'll move into them and get hit instead which sucks, sometimes you'll change targets mid-blade combo for no reason, can't equip parts nor compare parts via the shop menu, dialogue skipping gets screwed up during the final dungeon making you skip to the next line if you press the button, some delay before you can jump after using the shining laser)
Some tedious aspects (non-persistent block placements in dungeons - means you can't place a block then go change water levels and go back, overly slow movement while underwater (painfully slow when walking which you're supposed to do in one room to sneak past some larger enemies), enemies won't necessarily drop what you need at the moment (more ammo would've been useful since you can only carry one refill), more expensive sub weapon upgrades leads to a bunch more grinding unless you play on Easy - can use some tricks for faster money (gold bird robot in optional manda island ruin) but it still takes quite a while to get the best upgrades for just the buster and one special weapon - not needed on Normal though if you use the shining laser for the final boss, plenty of dead space and some backtracking (out of the optional ruins for example and out of the Nino water dungeon, from elysium to a shop if you run out of ammo), enemy drops can fall into walls or pits - again the vacuum should've been a passive ability, some spongy enemies early on if you get the A license (the shielded robots, the bird robots without legs, first tron bonne boss, some elysium/final dungeon enemies) and some later on as well (the "chicken" robots in the lava dungeon for example), the vacuum drains energy pretty quickly and enemies rarely drop it, pointless breakable wall in the manda island ruin since you can get to the other side of it no problem, pretty low selling prices at parts/junk shops, enemies can drop health even if you're at full health, not enough control over bomb throws makes the fortress attack part kinda tedious unless you upgraded your energy a bunch so you can use missiles against the bird planes and the tower guards throwing bombs, first part of the teisel fight in the desert city, have to use the hyper shell weapon to deactivate the fire jet obstacles in the lava dungeon (by shooting a switch on the other side) - would've made sense to either use the aquablaster or be able to shoot with the switch with multiple weapons)
Some difficulty spikes (the boss rush since you don't get a life or ammo refill in-between them, class S test, final boss if you get a bad pattern (frequent black holes+hard to dodge attacks), first Tron Bonne encounter if you took the A license and didn't upgrade your health bar or healing item - one unavoidable shot attack if you don't move far away from her, ) and dips (first redhead boss encounters, manda island boss, fairly easy dinosaur boss and tron bonne boss in the lava ruins, easy Bonne chase, fairly easy gold aircraft battle),
Some trial & error (have to shoot the part the turret is attached to during the last segment of the train fight - can't lock onto this part for some reason (would've made more sense if you could bounce back or destroy the bombs being thrown to damage it, also no warning that you can't use the blade here), for the last part of the protect the base mission on nino island you're supposed to have the aquablaster equipped though it's doable without it, supposed to have the drill sub weapon/tool for the nino water dungeon (really these walls should've been breakable by any heavy weapon and the drill could've let you dig in certain spots instead) and the aquablaster in the lava dungeon, some boss patterns (particularly the final boss), S class test, calbania island bird enemy that flies into you and then escapes, so-so directions to the main Nino ruins? - data doesn't tell you were the entrance is and I didn't notice anyone saying it was in the middle of the town, the doors in saul kada city that look breakable actually aren't, can't use the hover shoes to avoid being slowed by the sand during the fight against teisel in the desert city, confusing Energy attribute for the buster/main gun - actually affects how many shots can be on-screen at once, the dinosaur boss encounter in the lava ruins - you're supposed to ignore it and go unlock some doors before fighting it which isn't really hinted at besides its health bar not showing at that point, floor trap enemies in the lava ruins and elysium - reaction time is too short and it's weird how you can't use the jet skates to skip them)
Invisible walls near water and on the bridge if you try to explore the overworld near the first town (winter area)+around the pits in the forbidden island overworld area
Pretty long and slow paced intro overall
A bit odd how you can't hit enemies outside of a certain range even if your shots look like they hit (some enemies also stop chasing you at this point)
Sometimes destructible parts of boss arenas could've been further developed by letting the player lift or otherwise interact with them
Some meaningless dialogue choices
"Over here!" on repeat when exploring the overworld of Calbania island
No subtitles during cutscenes
Overall there's not enough puzzles in dungeons and the platforming is overly simplistic up until the lava ruins
Some pop-up and framerate drops
Repeated bosses in the optional ruins and some repeated room interiors (no boss in the optional saul kada/desert ruin)
Pretty cliché story in some ways (collect 4 mcguffin keys, obviously untrustworthy characters in geetz and sera) and the area themes are a bit generic. Also weird how you suddenly get help from the pirates at one point
A few too many cutscenes that don't move the main story along or contain plot-relevant exposition
Get the anti-slide shoes pretty far into the ice dungeon
Less NPC dialogue updates in some towns and most NPCs are pretty underdeveloped
The gravity changing mechanic in elysium feels underdeveloped and there's only one new enemy type there+the platforming goes back to overly simplistic
Story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger (MM stuck on the moon with the ancients)
The shield and grenade weapons kinda suck?
Notes:
-Use the non-HW core in retroarch to avoid graphical issues while underwater
-Overly large deadzone (retroarch issue?) - makes it so you're likely to stop briefly almost every time you change direction
-Farm money at manda island optional ruins w/ vacuum (golden bird, check when entering for when you can't lock onto an enemy upon entry - means you'll find it); alternate: reaverbots in one particular room in elysium?
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7/5.5* Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Underwater segments
**w/ fully upgraded buster and life tank+one of the better special weapons
+
Dual analog stick support and you can look around while moving here
Camera lock-on which can be automated for enemies and you can move while using it here (separate options for main weapons and sub/special weapons; Zelda: OoT). Can also switch targets by pressing the button again (though sometimes they're picked kind of randomly instead of in order of how close the enemies are)
Camera quick turn and default height buttons (circle and r2)
Can lift some objects while not having a special weapon equipped, Fast movement while carrying blocks, Can throw some enemies as well as throw them into other enemies (can also grab and throw some bombs and projectiles but not others),
Optional tutorial (you still get some tutorial messages during normal gameplay though and these pause gameplay)
Upgradeable weapons and special weapons (5 categories: attack, energy/ammo capacity, range, firing rate/rapid, special - different depending on the weapon but in general increases effectiveness) and health bar+health/energy tank and medicine tank (not the sub weapon energy (ammo)/hyper cartridge though)
Skippable cutscenes
Sometimes interactive dialogue (can ask about a few subjects at certain points but not make any real decisions relating to the story or main progression)
Can ask Data (save/recharge monkey) about what to do next
Great art direction overall (some cel shading or a proto-version of it on character faces?), Pretty nice cutscenes (great camera work and pretty good animation, decent overall pacing), Some nice environmental effects+the blob boss, Better visual variety in the dungeons and the enemies are themed after the climate you're in
Decent map system (2D auto-mapper, shows which door you exited last and your location+elevators and room connections, can switch between floors like in Zelda, can find an item marker in the main dungeons but not others, can find a map for each main dungeon (shows where you haven't been yet with darkened tiles))
Side roll dodge move w/ invincibility time (can't shoot while rolling and can't cancel it either though, no movement delay after using it here)
Voiced tips via radio during gameplay return (Burning Rangers) and Roll sometimes follows you around here though she doesn't fight alongside MM - the tips are a bit too obvious though and you can't turn them off (actually ruins some exploration aspects later on)
Diary and letter service features (roll's and barrell's rooms on your ship - no gameplay use though and the latter doesn't update over the course of the game, post office in first town for the letters - also no gameplay use)
Difficulty options (easy-very hard, easy lets you begin with some OP equipment and you can access all optional ruins+money value is 4x the normal amount, very hard or ss (can only be selected before beginning, not by taking a test) is even harder but money value is actually halved here so it's tedious to play this way). There are also additional adjustable difficulty options of sorts via the license tests however you're expected to take them at some point (B license/default (don't take the test) on Normal mode=normal enemy HP and money value, A license="normal" (get more money from enemies and they take more hits, access A license ruins), S=even tougher enemies in the early game (you're apparently expected to take it around mid-game where it becomes the same as normal in terms of how hard the enemies are?) and even more money gained from them) - can't lower the difficulty after raising it!
Some new enemies and hazards appear when backtracking through the main dungeons (none in the nino water dungeon however)
Can examine most objects in the environment in friendly areas (some that seem interactive aren't though including a big red button in one house)
Some large and detailed models
Some good humour (Tron Bonne using voice recordings of Roll to trick MM)
Some neutral creatures and NPCs in hostile areas (generally no gameplay use for them but there are exceptions such as the reaverbot fish which serves as a moving platform at one point (can also use an enemy for this to skip a box stacking room at one point in the same dungeon) or the truck driver during the desert city mission)
Teleports you out of finished dungeons after beating the boss (except for the water dungeon; Zelda 3)
Some missions outside of the dungeons (put out the fire - meh, protect the base - decent and makes use of the lift move, fortress attack - decent escape sequence but only ok otherwise (the stealth sequence doesn't really work as a stealth sequence), knock down the lava pillar with thrown enemies - decent but pretty easy, train fight - too easy up until the last segment which is just confusing)
Better VA overall
Various good bosses (about half of them up until the late-game - decent pattern variation with some escalation, they tend to break part of the environment which you can use as temporary cover during the fights (Space Invaders) and at some points they can destroy town buildings - MML1/Misadventures of Tron Bonne, very good: ice dungeon blob boss and second to final boss), Some mini-bosses
Some minor sequence breaking possibilities (can place a box in a way that lets you skip stacking them at one point in the calbania fortress mission, in the water dungeon you can skip placing the blocks to progress a couple of times, can skip getting help from the truck driver at one point with precise skate jumps, can skip part of a sidetracking segment in the ice dungeon by standing on top of a door and skate jumping; some more with glitches (blade arm jump?, box hit detection glitch underwater))
Grab and climb ledges (MML1, Tomb Raider)
A few decent puzzles (one decent platforming puzzle (nino water dungeon jet skate jump), lure enemies into holes to unlock doors in the ice dungeon)
A few shortcuts (ice dungeon, elysium)
Morality aspect which affects some NPCs, shop prices+roll's upgrade prices and side quests (MML1; generally better to be good - completionists need to do both though as only a bad Mega Man can trade with a shifty merchant for exclusive items, one of which is needed for a special weapon). Can donate to the church to regain a good reputation (buying gifts for Roll or additions to the ship makes her like you more but doesn't affect the rest of the world)
Some good environmental storytelling (finding the crashed plane and the frozen people once on board, the loneliness of the passed parents in the disheveled home of Shu and her trying to mother her siblings, the empty village of the lost humans on Elysium, statues coming alive and the boss harassing you in the desert ruins dungeon - decent horror element)
One interesting upgrade (normal armor and upgraded versions - don't get knocked down? doesn't seem to work reliably at all though)
+/-
Mostly linear structure (can take the digger license tests when you want to, can explore one optional dungeon per island after the first two areas (three of them in total) before or after continuing the main quest, adds a hub map where you can move around in the airship (but not interact in any other way?) and select locations to go to - like Space Hunter, some very straightforward areas like when you first get to the forbidden island, another optional dungeon on Nino island which can be fully explored after getting the drill, partially non-linear desert city mission and ice dungeon)
Save points at your current homebase (shows current location and time taken, 5 slots per card) and certain town houses+in some hostile areas via Data the monkey. He can also heal and recharge you
Can still manually shoot faster than the buster auto-fire (which is a bit slow until you get the best rapid fire upgrades - only the last one seems faster than using this trick) by tapping forward and fire at the same time
Enemy drops disappear after about 5 seconds - way too quick when underwater and often too quick above as well (made worse in that you can only carry one sub/special weapon or tool besides lift at a time)
Enemies encountered in the overworld tend to run away quickly and the encounter ends quickly if you run away from them
Pretty lighthearted and sometimes comedic tone with mostly cartoonish villains
Can lock onto enemies through walls
Bosses can kill you quite quickly with certain attacks
Can attack NPCs and shooting or lifting Roll or the ship a lot has an effect on story and gameplay (nothing happens if you kick human NPCs, can also knock away animals and the small lego-like pirate bots but not kill them)
Optional quiz mini-game (random pop culture and history questions rather than MML related+some questions are repeated for the four different rounds) - no other mini-games here
Status attacks and a healing item for them (medicine bottle) - some can be annoying like the one that makes you unable to attack or electrocution which makes you move really slowly (can defend against the latter with the hover boots though)
Mega Man is kind of a wimp story-wise
Don't get to keep any gear from the first game
Dungeon enemies generally respawn when re-entering the floor they were on (in some rooms there are frequently respawning smaller ones and in others there are smaller ones that respawn when re-entering the room they were in)
Partial nudity at one point
Cool how you can remove shields with homing missiles however those enemies become too easy when you do
Other enemies don't get damaged by the slow flying explosive enemies
Water level altering in one dungeon (however you don't get to see the water going up or down)
No HP refill after bosses
The main dungeons don't end up connecting to each other here
Can't move while using the fire extinguisher/aquablaster
Basic crafting of special weapons and some other items (combine two items - Roll does it for you so there's no customization here)
Can't manually jump while using the jet skates (you jump via hills in the ground (only seems to appear outside of dungeons) or when skating off a ledge) - ledge jumping is still useful in some spots
Only two slots for attaching upgrades/buster parts for the buster/main gun at first - can be increased to 3 with the adapter plug item (only one of these can be made)
Less detailed maps for non-dungeon areas - get the mini-map and a zoomed out one of the current area though
No message log (generally not needed thanks to Data)
Cutscenes all use in-game/in-engine graphics
Revisit the first area to progress at one point+the southeastern island at one point (no other backtracking to previous areas to progress)
Very little mandatory ability gating? (fire extinguisher/aquablaster for the first mission, lifter but it's a default ability, skate jumping helps with some platforming)
Jumping is slightly faster than running
Can skate or jump past a lot of enemies (but you generally don't want to since items are expensive)
Boss rush before the final one (the 4 main dungeon ones only)
Some overpowered special weapons/sub weapons (shining laser, ground crawler, homing missile)
The master (the blonde white woman) is voiced by a black guy and mega man is voiced by a woman - apparently the former is controlling someone else's body like Yuna is also doing
Can't move while shooting the shining laser
Can't move backwards while shooting - can move sideways and forward (there's also no backwards dash/roll)
No buster charge shot and no wall jump (MM/MMX)
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Various control/interface issues (if you jump at the same time as you let go of the d-pad then it doesn't register, very short to non-existent invincibility time when hit by certain attacks such as the frogs means you can be hit several times in a row - makes some ranged combat against more than one enemy such as the tanks rather frustrating (you do get an armor later on that lets you roll out of a hit stun but it should've been a default ability), the game automatically switches lock-on targets if hit, can only switch special weapon (besides to lift) via Roll - annoying when you happen upon a breakable wall or other spot where you need a specific weapon, partial control config only - four different settings (only fourth one is good for dual shock since it maps shooting to the shoulder buttons - can't change these to the l2/r2 buttons though+it would've been good not to have camera quick turn and interact be mapped to the same button), can only side roll dodge if you're standing still (not while moving) - makes bosses much harder+it's awkward to use with the analog stick (should've just been mapped to a single button; also tricky to keep doing it repeatedly as if you press a little too soon then the action doesn't register), pressing l/r on the right stick also makes you side roll - gets in the way, can't change directions in mid-air, can't reverse the horizontal camera controls - only vertical (can be fixed in emulation though), stop moving if you use the camera quick turn button so you have to change the direction you're pressing the stick in each time, can't see past the room you're in on the mini-map - makes it look like you haven't opened a door when you have, the game is a bit picky about your positioning when interacting with room exits, start or select could've been used to switch special weapons instead of going into the menu+you can only quickly switch to the lift tool (not back to the special weapon), the way dungeon maps fill in "by tile" makes it fairly easy to miss certain paths - on floor 1 of the first ruins area the rest of the layout is shown but darkened (would've been best for exploration if the auto-mapper range was just extended a bit in lower floors, can find a map item only in the main dungeons), can browse but not zoom out while viewing the map screen - too zoomed in, the map doesn't mark found chests by default (can find an item for this in the main dungeons only) and doesn't mark the brown breakable walls and you can't place your own markers, very loose scrolling on the hub map, still need to use a special weapon (vacuum) as an item magnet rather than a passive ability and it takes a while before you get it (also can't move or shoot normally while using it) - also can't grab enemy drops before they fall down and spread out by standing where they died, slower camera rotation while moving, kinda slow turning while using the jet skates (very slow unless manually turning with the right stick)+holding circle while rotating the camera is awkward, can't simply place rather than throw boxes - makes stacking them a bit clunky, shop menu doesn't wrap around, can't aim straight up, sometimes can't be standing right next to a wall while firing the homing missile launcher as the missiles just hit the wall (sometimes even happens with the buster), each message during the tutorial pauses gameplay and there's an annoying prompt after each one asking if you want to repeat the message which defaults to "yes", contact damage even from knocked down enemies, Roll's voice messages get cut off if you enter a door and they sometimes happen right before opening one, annoying how if you stand a little too close then a melee blade attack is interrupted by contact damage+you can't properly combo most enemies as you'll move into them and get hit instead which sucks, sometimes you'll change targets mid-blade combo for no reason, can't equip parts nor compare parts via the shop menu, dialogue skipping gets screwed up during the final dungeon making you skip to the next line if you press the button, some delay before you can jump after using the shining laser)
Some tedious aspects (non-persistent block placements in dungeons - means you can't place a block then go change water levels and go back, overly slow movement while underwater (painfully slow when walking which you're supposed to do in one room to sneak past some larger enemies), enemies won't necessarily drop what you need at the moment (more ammo would've been useful since you can only carry one refill), more expensive sub weapon upgrades leads to a bunch more grinding unless you play on Easy - can use some tricks for faster money (gold bird robot in optional manda island ruin) but it still takes quite a while to get the best upgrades for just the buster and one special weapon - not needed on Normal though if you use the shining laser for the final boss, plenty of dead space and some backtracking (out of the optional ruins for example and out of the Nino water dungeon, from elysium to a shop if you run out of ammo), enemy drops can fall into walls or pits - again the vacuum should've been a passive ability, some spongy enemies early on if you get the A license (the shielded robots, the bird robots without legs, first tron bonne boss, some elysium/final dungeon enemies) and some later on as well (the "chicken" robots in the lava dungeon for example), the vacuum drains energy pretty quickly and enemies rarely drop it, pointless breakable wall in the manda island ruin since you can get to the other side of it no problem, pretty low selling prices at parts/junk shops, enemies can drop health even if you're at full health, not enough control over bomb throws makes the fortress attack part kinda tedious unless you upgraded your energy a bunch so you can use missiles against the bird planes and the tower guards throwing bombs, first part of the teisel fight in the desert city, have to use the hyper shell weapon to deactivate the fire jet obstacles in the lava dungeon (by shooting a switch on the other side) - would've made sense to either use the aquablaster or be able to shoot with the switch with multiple weapons)
Some difficulty spikes (the boss rush since you don't get a life or ammo refill in-between them, class S test, final boss if you get a bad pattern (frequent black holes+hard to dodge attacks), first Tron Bonne encounter if you took the A license and didn't upgrade your health bar or healing item - one unavoidable shot attack if you don't move far away from her, ) and dips (first redhead boss encounters, manda island boss, fairly easy dinosaur boss and tron bonne boss in the lava ruins, easy Bonne chase, fairly easy gold aircraft battle),
Some trial & error (have to shoot the part the turret is attached to during the last segment of the train fight - can't lock onto this part for some reason (would've made more sense if you could bounce back or destroy the bombs being thrown to damage it, also no warning that you can't use the blade here), for the last part of the protect the base mission on nino island you're supposed to have the aquablaster equipped though it's doable without it, supposed to have the drill sub weapon/tool for the nino water dungeon (really these walls should've been breakable by any heavy weapon and the drill could've let you dig in certain spots instead) and the aquablaster in the lava dungeon, some boss patterns (particularly the final boss), S class test, calbania island bird enemy that flies into you and then escapes, so-so directions to the main Nino ruins? - data doesn't tell you were the entrance is and I didn't notice anyone saying it was in the middle of the town, the doors in saul kada city that look breakable actually aren't, can't use the hover shoes to avoid being slowed by the sand during the fight against teisel in the desert city, confusing Energy attribute for the buster/main gun - actually affects how many shots can be on-screen at once, the dinosaur boss encounter in the lava ruins - you're supposed to ignore it and go unlock some doors before fighting it which isn't really hinted at besides its health bar not showing at that point, floor trap enemies in the lava ruins and elysium - reaction time is too short and it's weird how you can't use the jet skates to skip them)
Invisible walls near water and on the bridge if you try to explore the overworld near the first town (winter area)+around the pits in the forbidden island overworld area
Pretty long and slow paced intro overall
A bit odd how you can't hit enemies outside of a certain range even if your shots look like they hit (some enemies also stop chasing you at this point)
Sometimes destructible parts of boss arenas could've been further developed by letting the player lift or otherwise interact with them
Some meaningless dialogue choices
"Over here!" on repeat when exploring the overworld of Calbania island
No subtitles during cutscenes
Overall there's not enough puzzles in dungeons and the platforming is overly simplistic up until the lava ruins
Some pop-up and framerate drops
Repeated bosses in the optional ruins and some repeated room interiors (no boss in the optional saul kada/desert ruin)
Pretty cliché story in some ways (collect 4 mcguffin keys, obviously untrustworthy characters in geetz and sera) and the area themes are a bit generic. Also weird how you suddenly get help from the pirates at one point
A few too many cutscenes that don't move the main story along or contain plot-relevant exposition
Get the anti-slide shoes pretty far into the ice dungeon
Less NPC dialogue updates in some towns and most NPCs are pretty underdeveloped
The gravity changing mechanic in elysium feels underdeveloped and there's only one new enemy type there+the platforming goes back to overly simplistic
Story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger (MM stuck on the moon with the ancients)
The shield and grenade weapons kinda suck?
Notes:
-Use the non-HW core in retroarch to avoid graphical issues while underwater
-Overly large deadzone (retroarch issue?) - makes it so you're likely to stop briefly almost every time you change direction
-Farm money at manda island optional ruins w/ vacuum (golden bird, check when entering for when you can't lock onto an enemy upon entry - means you'll find it); alternate: reaverbots in one particular room in elysium?