Mega Man X Legacy Collection Volume 1 Has The Better Games . . . So Why Is Volume 2 Selling Better?

By Sean Robbins (SeanBird) Host / Executive Producer of
The J-Pop Exchange

As of this writing, Mega Man X Legacy Collection Volume 2 is selling better than Volume 1 on the Nintendo Switch eshop. In terms of top download titles, Volume 1 ranks in 3rd place and Volume 2 ranks in 1st place. While it is true that these are respectable numbers for both collections, it may come as a shock to some that Volume 2 is outpacing Volume 1. Generally speaking, Mega Man X 1 through 4 (included on Volume 1) are generally seen as more solid titles when stacked against Mega Man X 5 through 8 (included on Volume 2).

Nevertheless, the numbers make total sense to me; in fact, while I do plan to pick-up Volume 1 eventually, at present, I decided to buy only Volume 2.

So why is this happening?

The core Mega Man X fan base began playing the series in early 1994 with the release of Mega Man X. As time went on, this core group of gamers likely had less time to play by the early 2000's. After all, the older you get, there are more priorities in life than simply playing video games.

This, however, is only part of the broader issue. For the most part, reviews for later Mega Man X titles became more negative with each release. Though there is some difference of opinion among fans of this franchisee, generally speaking, Mega Man X 5 is seen as the beginning of when the quality of game design began to slip. As a result of these less-than-stellar reviews, it is only natural that this would make gamers more adverse to spending their money on the franchise.

It is these factors that have caused fewer people to play successive Mega Man X titles over the years.

So, the release of Mega Man X Legacy Collections Volumes 1 and 2 indirectly raises an interesting question: for $20, would you rather spend your money on several great games that you have probably played before, or would you rather spend the same amount of money to play several games that you haven't played before, from a franchise that you likely enjoyed in the past?

When you look at it from this perspective, the sales figures make total sense. For only $20 you can have new memories from a franchise that you likely hold a nostalgic connection to and YOU (not a game reviewer) can decide if these games are really as mediocre as people make them out to be.

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