I really have a fondness for the first 3 games in the series. So what went wrong with the Megaman series where it lost traction with many of the gamers out there?
They never did. The franchises got stale (Megaman 4-6) and were outright horrible at times (Megaman X6-X7), but they always came back strong.
This. Mega Man 9 and 10 were among the best Mega Man games ever. The only game in the classic series I didn't care for was Mega Man and Bass.
Original Rock never did. X didn't jump the shark until the series creator said it was over and Capcom said otherwise. Ironically, this guy had something to do with that:
I was just thinking that. The series has always had some goofy boss names, but when you're up against "Metal Shark Player" in X6, "Snipe Anteater" in X7, or "Earthrock Trilobyte" in X8... perhaps it's time to rethink things. They really should have just ended the series when Inafune wanted to. X4 was really good, and X5 - while not quite as good - was still fun, and would have worked as a series capper. Instead they plowed forward and ran the whole thing into the ground. X7 in particular is just terrible. I dunno... 9 was decently well done (never played 10), but eh. I'd rather not see them putting time into going backwards, making Classic MM games that actually look/sound/feel like the old NES games. It doesn't have any value to me beyond nostalgia. But I always preferred X to Classic anyway. One thing that annoyed me was the seemingly arbitrary decision to not include things like the slide and charge shot in MM9. I mean, those things were introduced way back in 1990 and 1991, respectively, so why take em out? Made no sense to me. Not to impugn the game design skills of IntiCreates, the team behind MM9&10. Before doing those games, they made the Zero and ZX games, by far the best parts of the entire Mega Man franchise IMO.
Megaman doesn't really fit in with today's modern games, so going for an old school style is the best way to take the Blue Bomber. Sure, they could give us the same 2D gameplay with super fancy 3D graphics (ala. Klonoa), but that would just raise the cost for no reason. Anyone who wants to play a hard as nails 2D platformer will be fine with (or even prefer -- like me) the old 8 bit graphics.
Personally, I'm not "fine" with it. I'd much rather see a game that had modern (higher-res and not retro, but still 2D) graphics, and original gameplay. Or, alternatively, a new add-on to the ZX series (which plays a lot like the Zero series). I may be in the minority, but I think such a game could sell decently well. The Zero series was quite hard, but didn't have retro visuals or gameplay; it was fairly successful, so I think the audience for such games exists. Now, would it actually outsell MM9, thus making up for the increased cost of making a game that has modern, not retro, graphics and gameplay? Impossible to say. I think it could, if it was simply a good enough game and marketed well, but it's certainly not a sure thing. Still, as I said, this is just what I'd like to see personally, not what I think will get the best reception. Also, I'm not sure Mega Man "doesn't fit" with modern games. I think that statement is only true if you confine "modern games" to your well-known, mainstream PS3/360 games that are sold on disc at retail. If you broaden that out to include games that sell for 10 bucks on PSN or Live, as well as to DS games, the type of games you see are much more varied (and there are a lot of successful "niche" games, be they 2D or part of a less common genre or whatever, on those platforms). Though Mega Man 9 was extremely well received, 10 was "only" decently well received. From that, it's hard to say if the retro style has long term staying power, or if it was just a nostalgia kick that cannot be stretched out to more games. And I still say they should have included the slide & charge shot, mechanics that were introduced within the Classic Mega Man series. Those were options that opened up further possibilities in level design, boss patterns, and player strategy; why NOT include them? This all may be moot, anyway, since it seems Capcom's current plans for the entire Mega Man/Rockman franchise seem to be "Bury it beneath bad press and no games, and maybe people will forget it exists after a while."
Some of those boss names almost sound like they could be the name of Ubuntu releases. Maybe in Mega Man X9 we can face off against the likes of Jaunty Jackalope and Maverik Meerkat. I actually had no idea that the X series continued on for so long. I do have found memories of playing through the original X on SNES. I always found the NES games to be too difficult, whereas Mega Man X seemed more reasonable.
I could never get into the Zero or ZX series. I didn't like the Metroidvania style or equip-able cyber elves. And what's with the towns? It's Mega Man -- not an RPG. Mega Man is a game about jumping and shooting. Don't overcomplicate it. Legends was awesome, but that wasn't a 2D platformer.
Hm, well, I think we have come down to where we differ when it comes to Mega Man then. I love the Zero series for the great level design and MAD boss fights (and all done with "slashing and some shooting", rather than just "shooting", which I actually prefer). Also the fact that it actually has a pretty cool story, especially in Zero 3 where everything is revealed. Honestly, I didn't even use the Cyber-Elves all that much, as I found that I wanted to try and rise to the challenge of getting high rankings anyway. Some of them were kind of neat, but I didn't really miss them all that much when they didn't return in ZX. Loved the Metroidvania aspect in ZX, I just wish it didn't have such a crappy map. Overall, the world was more interesting than the open-world in Zero 1, which was the only Zero game to use a Metroidvania set up... except for the map. Sigh. The one really major flaw in the game for me. Other than that, I love it: just a different take on Zero's gameplay and design style which I already liked, and my favorite set of bosses in any MM game. Also, Aile is adorable. This is an important factor. So with ZX being my favorite MM game and the Zero games close behind, plus the fact that I thought Legends was mediocre at best... I think now that it's less than surprising that we don't agree on MM9's merits. But what we CAN agree on is that Capcom needs to stop trying to kill Mega Man! Stop taunting people with really awful iPhone ports of good games, put X in UMvC3 like everyone wants, and put out a new Mega Man title! Make MM11 if you must, or revive Legends 3, or do something entirely new, anything!
Yeah, we're definitely on opposite ends of the gaming spectrum. ZX is one of the few Mega Man games I've played that I outright hated. I've always hated Metroidvania games though, so that's to be expected. I've only played the first Zero game, but I felt it was a decent game with some terrible flaws. My favourite Mega Man games are either Mega Man X or Mega Man 2. What I love about platformers, and especially Mega Man, is the pickup and play factor. The Zero and ZX series seemed to ditch that in favour of more "depth" which I felt just added tedium and unnecessary length to the games. Story? Customization? Exploration? All just a waste of time that should be spent jumping and/or shooting. I would have bought a 3DS just for Legends 3.