Mega Man Legends (1997, PlayStation) by Capcom

Current Any% Normal (PS1) Leaderboard (speedrun.com)

GAMES FROM THIS EPISODE OF AVGN:
–Mega Man Legends (PlayStation)
-Mega Man 64 (Nintendo 64)
-Mega Man 1-6 (NES)
-Mega Man X/X2/X3/X4/X5/X6/X7 (SNES, PlayStation, PS2)
-Mega Man (DOS)
-Mega Man 3 (DOS)
-Mega Man Soccer (SNES)

Boy, what a difference a few hundred speedruns can make.  I could totally see this game being one of those games that makes me infuriated and angry, unable to push myself to learn exactly how the game should be run.  Mega Man Legends, part of the AVGN “Mega Man Games” episode, was exactly that; the game is so difficult to grasp out of the gate.  Once you do figure the janky controls and weird movement out, however, the game becomes amazingly fun and responsive; beautiful and fun.  This is a speedrun that completely grabbed me and made me want to push it further!

Capcom’s 1997 masterpiece (yes, I said MASTERPIECE) stars Mega Man Volnutt, a young boy that travels with his guardian, Prof. Barrell Caskett, as well as his sister Roll, who is a beast at making things and tinkering.  This 3D Action-RPG is such a wonderful and unique gameplay experience, with tons of things to do casually, as well as an awesome display of skill and patience in the speedrun.  My experience here was unlike almost any other in the Trials, and as I got better and better, I wanted to play this more and more!  It was truly an awesome experience.

There’s some of my favorite speedtech I’ve ever learned in this game, including an out-of-bounds skip that is easy to learn and not extremely precise.  There’s also a wonderful boss skip that, while difficult to learn, becomes a fun trick to show off!  The Mega Man Legends community was amazing throughout the trial, and lots of people lent a hand to me as I pushed myself further and further.  The movement is smooth and takes skill and practice to get down, but is never not fun to execute.  The boss fights are, without a doubt, some of my favorite I’ve ever learned, and I cannot stress how fun this game is… once you get past the awful City Hall stage, which is this speedrun’s major roadblock.

This game totally took me by surprise, and I adored it from start to finish.  I missed out on a gem as a kid.  Mega Man Legends is one of the best speedruns I ever learned.  It will take some effort to get the things down, but once you do, this high-ceiling run will give you a LOT of satisfaction!