[M+Z+A=MX]

Hello fellow Mega Man fans, this forum was created to discuss a flaw in the Mega Man series. And the flaw is the lack of innovation in the gameplay of the series. The main criticism of the series has been that the gameplay in every game is the same thing, and they're right. Capcom has made no major changes in the gameplay and I fear that is the reason why there's been a lack of new megaman games lately. Heck, that might have been one of the reasons why they cancelled Legends 3. So state your ideas to help improve what might be a dying series.

[Revolver]

M+Z+A=MX, on 28 April 2012 - 03:09 PM, said:

Hello fellow Mega Man fans, this forum was created to discuss a flaw in the Mega Man series. And the flaw is the lack of innovation in the gameplay of the series. The main criticism of the series has been that the gameplay in every game is the same thing, and they're right. Capcom has made no major changes in the gameplay and I fear that is the reason why there's been a lack of new megaman games lately. Heck, that might have been one of the reasons why they cancelled Legends 3. So state your ideas to help improve what might be a dying series.

With all of these fans, I'm not exactly sure if the majority complain about the overall gameplay, but I can see where this is going, but I'm not sure if there's anything major that caused the lack of new games. As far as I can see, Capcom probably just ran out of ideas, but then again, with all of this fan support, I'm not really sure how that's possible...that or they probably want to do something different/spectacular while trying to keep the game intact....I don't know.huh,wow, tough mystery indeed...

[M+Z+A=MX]

Maybe, but you never know what's going on in the heads of video game designers.

P.S. What do you think of a FPS for the Mega Man series?

[Solren]

The Megaman series have always been a case of "Why fix what's not broken?", and its also common to see one series to stick to a single gameplay style except for side games (Power Fighters, Command Mission, Battle Chip Challenge, etc.).
Innovation can be nice, but trying to innovate its a double edged weapon. If you try "too hard" the results can be disastrous, but try too little and it'll get boring. Its a constant conflict between people who see change as "improvement" and people who see change as "corruption" of a franchise.

As for what I would like to see, its a platformer game with exploration elements ala Metroid. With a HUGE map, unlockable stuff, hidden rooms and lots of stuff to do. Or maybe a co-op game with classic mechanics like the ones you see in Contra games or in Gunstar Heroes, because the Megaman series could definitely use some more multiplayer games.

M+Z+A=MX, on 28 April 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

P.S. What do you think of a FPS for the Mega Man series?

As long as its Legends, I'm ok with that.

[Princess Luna]

The MegaMan series thrives on it's hard-^As-nails single player, and though multiplayer sounds good, I can't see it being implemented well.
^As for FPS, ^No thanks.
It would make the game too reliant on the 'shooting' side, rather than the innovative stage design.
Open ended gameplay is also a double edged sword, ^As Egoraptor said, it causes the developers to rethink level design ^As gamers aren't going to want to backtrack through excrusiantinly difficult parts more than once.
The greatness of MegaMan's liner gameplay is that the developers can plan around specific senario's to give a level of thought and depth.
Take the ZX series, it was good, but very few times going through the places did I feel challenged by obsticales or enemy placements, like I did in the Classic, X and Zero series. (though at least the bosses kept their difficutly.)

[M+Z+A=MX]

Yeah, you guys do have good points, but the fact that the unchanging gameplay is the megaman series most criticized aspect still stands. For hardcore fans like us, that's not our problem, but the reviewers' problem. A series can only use the exact same thing multiple times before it's get old to some people. That's one of the pokemon series main problems, (the other is storyline) but that series only has like, 14 mainstream games,(megaman has like 25) not to mention it's also an RPG and has multi-player, so that series can also focus on exploration and not all the enemies you can fight are controlled by A.I. The megaman games, basically more of a shoot-them up sort of game. Sure some megaman games added new features like the map system in ZX, but that didn't work so well did it? ( I am not trying to say pokemon is better then megaman but that megaman has always been more focused on the fighting part of the game, which is basically the whole thing, but hasn't done much to change it.)

[Yllisos Zanon]

That is where the gimmicks of levels is about. I have imagined on numerous occasions, what ifs.

What If, there was a Mega Man game that played like, Metal Gear Slug games?

What If, the X series, had a Soccer Game?

What If, in the X series, that was a level, that has Sniper Windows? Let me explain, lets say X walks up to a gun that points to the background. While pressing up, he gains control of the gun, and needs to shoot mavericks as they get closer. Finish the scenario, in order to proceed into the stage, or unlock a Dr. Light Capsule.

As far as gameplay ideas, possibilities are endless.

[Sigma Zero X]

M+Z+A=MX, on 28 April 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

Maybe, but you never know what's going on in the heads of video game designers.

P.S. What do you think of a FPS for the Mega Man series?

If the next Megaman X game played like the Mass Effect games, then the FPS concept might work for a Megaman game. Since X is a robot who can make decisions on his own accord, the next Megaman X game shoud give players exactly that ability with X in a FPS like game.

But if the FPS game played or feels like Call of Duty, hell no to that.

[TheDoctor]

The thing about innovating in this series is that they have a good formula. They tried to mess with the formula in X7 and X8, and many fans complained. Granted, I like that they tried in X7, but the X8 metal system just wasn't the same as finding heart tanks and extra lives and e-tanks in the levels themselves (I mean, I know you still have to find rare metals, but finding them should be enough. Should I really have to farm metals to pay for what I've found?).

[volt-kid]

First off, I'll add that there are some serious updates that need to be added in the classic series. While riding on Rush Jet, he is automatically gone after you open the weapon screen. I can understand that it would create a lack of a challenge by switching weapons while riding on him, so just temporarily have all of the weapons be locked until you get off him. That or at least have a popup message saying, "Switching weapons at this time cannot be done."

When there's too much on the screen, everything slows down. It was logically a problem back when 1-6 were made, but CAPCOM could've balanced it out with the new technology in making 9 and 10. Why follow the EXACT formula when there are still errors that need to be fixed?

Now getting into new gameplay ideas, one that I think would be great would to be given shortcuts to use special weapons. That way, you will not always have to open up the weapon screen, then open it again and so on. I love how Zero can use different weapons in the X series with a simple combination of commands. Why not Mega Man?

Another idea is to have extra features in the games. How about mini games and extras? Mega Man 7 had a fighting mini game if a code was typed it, SO BRING IN MORE! And by extras, have collectables hidden in the levels to add to a gallery or song list.

A last idea that I will suggest is co-op. I really thought that Mega Man 10 was going to do that when I saw that Proto Man was then playable. I would've loved that. Even if it doesn't work, at least add something to show that improvement is trying to be made.