As a Rockman fan, I have recently been asking myself if I should really consider myself much of a fan anymore. Well, that's not really an acurate statement... I mean I grew up playing the original, X and Legends series all these years and I still enjoy these titles and go back to play them every so often and have made a point to purchase the music I know I want, but really beyond these series none of the newer series (like the Zero, Battle Network series) seem to stick in my my mind as a "must have" or "memorable" even if I get to play them as I don't make it a point to anymore.

Part of me thinks it's because Capcom never really "wraps up" any of the series they begin while they create 2 or 3 to take it's place... there is no real "concrete" ending to the original series (then again I don't think their really needs to be), the X series leaves more questions than answers, and the Legends series series is more or less an anbandoned idea.... Why should I really play any of the newer ones when I feel I'm just gonna get dragged along sequel to sequel with no real conclusion...

Another part of me thinks I'm just getting older. I'm not saying older people shouldn't play games, but with less time to go around I'm much more picky about what I play and now I think I expect a little more when it comes to playing a game than I did in the past. I'm not trying to sound like an over-sophistcated, ego-manic, and not to say simpler games like earlier MM games weren't good, but really the Rockman series has never been the head of the game are far as evolution is concerned, this isn't to say it's old or tired either...

Yet another part of me feels the games have gotten a little too difficult for their own good. I'm not saying challange is a bad thing, but the Rockman Zero series is a prefect example. There are simply so many factors intertwinded in the gameplay it makes it very difficult to do or obtain everything. I just don't see how obtaining and maintaining a Rank A or S rank just to get the EX skills is suppost to be fun (I have to kill how many enemies and beat the level in how much time without using any cyber elves?)... the gameplay in the original and X series is kind of easy in comparison after the game/levels/bosses became routine for you, but it was still fun.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else felt the same way. I really don't plan on keeping tabs on any of the series new incarnations (except outside the music). I guess I'm just stuck in the past... yeah I know, I sound like an old coot again.

I love the core gameplay, but Capcom hasn't made a truly great game in ages. X5 was probably the last great Megaman game I can remember (and that was only after I changed my opinion on it after a second playthrough). X6 was junk, X7 was about 3 steps below that and X8 was...well, at least it was 2D, but it was still awful (I almost died laughing at the jetbike stage). I originally defended the GC game, but that was before I got to the second boss...Difficulty is one thing, cheap bullshit is another. ZX is good and the mechanics are far better than the console counterparts, but like the Metrovanias, it tends to overcomplicate a beautifully simple formula (although I really appreciate that it incorporates lives and pitfalls...*AHEM IGARASHI*). I loved Legends 1, but I think I quit Legends 2 somewhere in the middle...I forget why and or where I was. I beat the original Zero (and loved it), but I mutually parted ways with Zero 2 midway through the game and haven't really looked at 3 or 4.

Megaman will always be my favorite videogame character, if nothing else for the main series of games (1-8...The X series was never more than a side-venture for me, albeit a fun one). At his height in the NES days, I always thought he was superior to Mario in a lot of ways and seeing Megaman 7 in all of its' upgraded glory blew my mind when the game came out. I've had a hankering to replay 8 for awhile now...I really think that one was the sleeper hit of the entire series. But it's time for the series to regain a bit of focus.

At least the music hasn't taken a hit over the years. The Inticreates games always have fantastic music, X8 was some good synth-rock and the remake soundtracks were a good diversion, if nothing mindblowing (Powered Up was a nice re-interpretation of the overly simple MM1 score though probably not an improvement and the Maverick Hunter tracks can go either way, depending on which piece is in question). I'd really like to see the classic MM tracks get the premium arrange treatment...They definitely deserve it far more than the likes of Dark Chronicle or Rogue Galaxy.

I will always cherish the originals (mainly the NES/FC ones, kind of snub Mega Man 8) including the Game Boy ones and the early X series. I think they've gone too far outer space for me. I just can't adapt to the EXE, Zero or whatever they've got peddled for today's youth.

Still, I think they need to get simple and return the roots of the Famicom titles but put some imaginative new spin on it while keeping the old-school elements in tact kind of like Konami did when they released Shin Contra.

I really didn't think much of X5 until X6-X8 came out... if the story would have ended at X5 (like it was originally planned) it would have had so much more closure... Zero's death would have had some meaning to it instead of seeming like a sorry plot device.

this is what I was trying to say in the mammoth post I wrote above, but you really summed it up in a hell of a lot less words...

Seconded. I was going to type something just like this, but quoting is way easier.

When it comes to Megaman, I definitely prefer the NES games (aside from VI, which was junk). I only played X1-3 (which were okay) and then stopped with the series after that.

You're playing Rockman games for the story?  Let me tell you the whole story of the MM series:  Dr. Wily is bad.  Mega Man is good.  Wily often hides behind a puppet villian.  You shoot a bunch of robots.  Wily escapes.  Mega walks off into the sunset.  For the X series, replace Wily with Sigma and add some extra drama.  For the Z/ZX series, replace Sigma with various Neo Arcadians and add a lot more drama.  For the record, I would consider these three the "true" MM series where Dash and EXE/Ryusei are more spin-off series in my mind.

Anyway, I think the first two games in the Zero series are well worth the time and maddening difficulty (they both have reverse difficulty curves -- the hardest stuff is at the beginning and the easiest part is the last boss).  Once I got the hang of them, they became incredibly rewarding.  The second two Zero games are too easy (assuming you don't care about getting A and S ranks), if you can believe that, and I haven't spent enough time with ZX yet to judge it (the lack of a good in-game mapping function turned me off).   I'm hoping ZX Advent will fix this issue.

I loved the first three games in the X series.  X4, while not bad, really pissed me off with the cheap as satan set of final bosses, but I did finish it.  After that, I couldn't bring myself to do much with X5, and I pretty much stopped playing the series after that.  I have X5-X8, so maybe I'll try to go back to them some day, or at least back to X5 and X6, but I don't know.  I never bought Command Mission, the RPG entry in the X series, but if you do care about the story in the X series, you may need that.

As for Dash and EXE/Ryusei series, I thought the former was a great idea ruined by horrible play mechanics and the latter is just a Pokemon rip-off cash cow for the kiddies.  I tried both and passed.

I'm dying to play my copies of Powered Up and Irregular Hunter X, but I'm still waiting on the PSP remodel.

Ashely, I've been thinking about my fandom, too. I grew up on, and absolutely adored the originals, undeniably loved X (unlike some, I thought X series up to X5 was far superior to original generation), and thoroughly enjoyed Legends series (although Legends 2 would've been far, far better with dungeon designs at least on par with the first). I've felt that everything else afterwards wasn't interesting enough to hold me, although I will freely admit that the darker turn in the story for Zero was fascinating.

I've felt my interest overall to be very waning (waneful?). I looked at X6, 7, 8 and Command Mission and shrugged. All those new characters look like they belong in a fan fiction. I've always felt that Megaman, as a whole, functions best when it's at it's simplest, and part of my lack of continuing interest stems from this oversaturation of not only new characters, but superficial storyline extensions. Did we really need Battle Network or ZX (you can argue about which game subseries are unnecessary, but I definitely feel it is these two)?.

I don't know. All I do know is that I miss the old school charm that the Megamans (Megamen?) of yore had.

Actually, you have a point and I won't deny it... still what little story there was in the X series was pretty good (up till X5) and I was actually drawn in more when X4 revealed a lot about Zero's past and X5 put the finishing touches on the ideas alluded to way back in X2 and X3's endings. Of course, now with X8 I'm dying to know what's up with ending, but I doubt we'll know anytime soon...

As far as Mega Man Legends, I personally like what was presented there... I think there was a little more to it than shoot this robot as I thought the characters were pretty well developed, it's pretty underappreciated...

But like you said, is really adding more drama to the story really the way to pull in players... I honestly don't remember play any MM game for drama... that's what mom's soap operas are for.

Legends has a really cool stylized look to it that was unlike any other game and it was like actually playing a cartoon. I think its' brand of storytelling was really effective, even at some basic expense of 3rd person blasting issues. The game needed more stuff to do though on the overworlds. Really, they could have made an entire anime series using just the game engine. One of the few PS1 games that doesn't look like crap nowadays.

X4 and MM7 both had fine storylines for their type of game...Not too much, but their rivals are introduced and enough is built up between them to make their fights meaningful (and in X4's case, VERY meaningful for Zero...Iris would have been a great recurring character). Basic shonen fun. I always liked Bass/Forte's design and I wish they would have expanded his role in the series a bit more. His second form in 7 was a bitch to defeat and he was only the mid-boss for his level...

X5 was probably too much storyline (and it wasn't even that much added) and I don't recall a thing from X7 or X8's storyline except X's voice actors both annoyed the hell out of me. Sorry, you shouldn't need more than "Megaman, while you were away, Wily ran off with Gamma" or "DON'T HURT MY FATHER!" for a classic or X MM game. The Zero/ZX games have a bit too much talking between blasting as well, but the whole idea of hunting down X in the original was a cool twist at least.

Actually, the story in Command Mission really has no bearing on the main X storyline so you can really get away without playing it and not missing a thing. Still, I waited until the game dropped down to $20 before I bought it (I did the same with X8). CM was a nice 20-30 hr. distraction (and the fact Sigma wasn't the main villian was REALLY refreshing) but the dungeon design was piss poor and any and all story twists you could honestly see coming a mile away - they even employ the "cover villian" idea you alluded to, but that's classic Capcom.

I am after all these years still an undoubting Mega Man fan.
Sure there has  been a lot of junk (X5-7, MM8, Rockman & Forte) but I still enjoy the new games a lot. The Zero series is great, and I am absolutely completely addicted to the EXE series.
That said, I didn't care in the least for Megaman ZX, and Starforce was only okay, so the very recent outings have not been satisfactory.

Still, I will keep playing every consecutive game they release, cos I'm a Capcom Whore.

And let's not forget the large font, five words per text box nonsense of those PS-era Rockman X games. The most painful aspect wasn't that you had to listen to the crap story and dialogue as it was tapping the damn "x" button 100 times just for seeing Magma Dragoon misbehave.

Nothing can quite match the unsettling bustling of outlasting screens of "quick beams"...

Hmm, just curious...What was wrong with X5 and MM8 to be labeled junk? True, neither will ever compete with the best games in the series, but they don't border on "unplayable" like some X6 levels and much of X7 does and seemed like solid entries to me. I thought both offered some quality level designs and boss fights.

Then again, I never got why the majority public considers MM5 and MM6 to be junk...

MMX5's downfalls are the obnoxious time limit and constant interruptions of Alia.  There's also way too much emphasis on all the freaking armors.  These things turned me off the game immediately.  Like I said earlier, maybe I'll go back someday and force my way through it, but it was really offputting.

MM8 is junk for a number of reasons, not the least of which are the idiotic set of robot bosses, terrible cartoony story (original MM series was best when it was minimalist), and the completely pointless soccer ball weapon.

I wouldn't call MM6 junk, but it gets a lot of flack because it's really clear that the developers we're running on fumes for this one.  The temporary bad guy is named Mr. X, afterall.  Capcom didn't event want to bother releasing it in the U.S., so Nintendo ended up doing it.  Still, it's not that bad.

Now, I have to completely disagree with popular opinion on MM5, since I love MM5.  I really didn't care for MM4... the feel of it was different, and it was kinda dull, I don't know.  Anyway, when I started MM5, it felt refreshing, like MM was back to the 2-3 glory days.  Like I said, I love MM5, but maybe I'm the only one.

Good, I feel better about skipping it now. :-)

Yeah, Alia was annoying, but I never paid much attention to either the armors (a weak addition to the series) or the time limit (I played through it twice...It didn't affect the ending, just a couple ingame events). I just treat X5 like I do X4, except the final boss is slightly less infuriating. It's second to X4 in terms of favorites (followed by X1, then X2, then the other 4 just kind of stew below them in equal capacity).

Just curious: Did you get to the 3rd Dr. Wily boss in MM8? That was one of the best boss battles in the series (IMO) and it revolved around using the soccer ball. I found it a pretty decent weapon in choice spots, but they were stretching for ideas with using a soccer ball. Works good in the Marvel vs Capcom games at least...

And yeah, I liked MM6. The only problem I had were the weak Rush applications this time around.

Hmm, weird, I didn't find no "unplayable" levels from X6, but in the other hand, it's the best Playstation-era Megaman game for me. And I didn't much like X5 at the start, but thankfully it got way better after I decided to force myself to play it through.

I myself enjoyed MM6, I thought it was a great finish to the NES MM titles... but yeah, some of the ideas behind the robot masters where kind of weak (Plant Man???) but then it could have been a lot worse than it was... I know a lot of people feel MM3 is the best NES title but I've just never felt that way, I'd go with MM2 then MM6. MM5 was good but I never finished it on on the cart.

I've always found X6 to be a very messy game outside a few areas: Akemi Kimura's soundtrack (I love the music for Blaze Heatnix's Stage, so I was glad when Kimura was chosen for X8) and I thought the ninja armor was pretty cool. Playing X4 through X6 you can just see the quality slide despite the fact they use the same engine.

MM6 suffers for me because it came after MM5 (a game I consider one of the best in the series, with some of the best music and level designs). MM6 is just rehash, rehash, rehash. I played through it but I never felt the game came to life.

I loved MM6 actually, but MM5 is probably the second worst to MM8 IMHO. I never cared for the bosses and stages in MM5 for some reason. 2, 3, 4 and 7 are my all-time favorites.

MMX5 sucked because of all the reasons mentioned above, and I hated the fact that you had to collect all parts of an armor to be able to use it, instead of just getting to use each part as soon as you find it, like they did in the first 4 games.
MMX6 was pure sadism, and MMX7 frustrated the Hell out of me because recieving a hard blow would actually knock you off your feet, which is something I hate in any game. MMX8 did a great deal to bring some quality back to the series.

I was thinking about this, and the Battle Network series IS actually neatly wrapped up with BN6, to make place for MM Starforce.
They tried to wrap up the X series neatly, but then decided that it would benefit from several more sequels.

If you have to beat him to beat the game, then yes, I did.  But I haven't played MM8 since 1997, so my recollection is really blurry.