Weapons, people. Weapons. Previously, we here on Team Unity told you some of our all-time favorite weapons from Capcom’s sordid history of violence, and then we asked you to tell us yours.
You guys responded in bulk, not only giving us plenty of fodder for this Part Two post, but also showing so much enthusiasm for the subject that I think we can claim that weapon video’s comments section the most negativity-free YouTube comments section in the history of YouTube comments sections. Good work. Now let’s have a look at some of those faves!
Mega Man fans came to call, as they do, and were surprisingly uniform in their response considering how many gosh-darn weapons the blue bomber has wielded over the course of his—GASP—129-game legacy. You may or may not be surprised to learn that the overwhelmingly most vocalized favorite weapon was actually the Z-Saber wielded by Zero in the Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero series—not even a Mega Man weapon at all! Of course, Mega Man (X) himself does come to wield the saber in Mega Man X6, so I guess even he couldn’t deny its coolness.
↑ Tenkuu very much!
↑ The MMZ design.
↑ By and by, even X would cave and “go Zero,” as the kids say.
In any case, don’t feel too bad, because plenty of people also vocalized their love for the ol’ standby, Mega Man’s buster cannon! Though, like Mega Man, it’s seen plenty of different iterations over the years, the buster is the one weapon that’s been with the blue boy since the very beginning. Yes, there’s just something about the buster that seems to appeal to mankind’s primal affinity for hands that are made of futuristic guns.
↑ “So then Rock’s like, ‘Buster? Damn near killed her!’ Hah. Then he found five zenny.” (Pictured above is the Super Mega Buster, introduced in Mega Man 5. )
↑ Famously, on the North American box art for Mega Man 2, the buster was depicted as what appears to be the Master System light gun (I’m joking– please don’t quote me to the press). A pretty memorable weapon in its own right.
↑ X sported a multi-colored variety of impressive buster types.
↑ Even net-confined cyber avatar MegaMan.EXE, whom I’ve endearingly nicknamed “MetaMan,” came armed with the iconic arm cannon.
↑ MegaMan Volnutt rocked (pun utterly intended) a buster that could be heavily customized throughout the course of his “digouter’s adventure.” Those were Halcyon days indeed.
Devil May Cry fans gave it up for Vergil’s Yamato, a Japanese sword that can slice through dimensions! It may not have the in-your-face panache of a guitar that shoots wads of electrified bats at you, but it’s undeniably efficient. Even Phoenix Wright is helpless before the cold, harsh indictment of that “Judgment Cut.” Guilty!
↑ The Yamato in action. Sure ain’t no butter knife!*
*Though it would probably work okay as a butter knife.
↑ Yamato awakens, Nero goes nuts.
Folks also tipped their hats to Dante’s Rebellion sword, which is about as quintessential as the Sakugarne pogo drill. Get it? Quintessential? Essential to Quint? Aha, ha, ha. Phew, diggin’ deep. Not one of you actually mentioned the Sakugarne, by the way.
↑ The “Quint-essential” Sakugarne drill of Mega Man V . Don’t let his stoic visage fool you; inside, he’s screaming. And no–there’s no topic I won’t derail for the sake of a terrible pun.
Anyway, as far as the Rebellion is concerned, I can’t disagree—Dante certainly has a vast array of creative and cool weapons, but I always find myself coming back to his classic sword, which itself has a pretty nifty bag of tricks. No wonder it replaced the Force Edge.
↑DMC3 Rebellion exhibition.
The Clover classic Okami is known more for its unique visual art style, world-altering paint brush techniques, vast, vivid world, and unconventionally lupine protagonist than it is its weaponry, but that didn’t stop many of you from paying due homage to Ammy’s various Divine Instruments, from her deadly rosary beads to her various reflectors. Survey says the Solar Flare, the strongest reflector in the game, is the fan favorite.
↑ An artist’s rendering of Ammy wielding the almighty Solar Flare. Note the solar flare. Turns out it’s not just a catchy name.
Thanks to the vast legions of die-hard Resident Evil fans, there was no shortage of RE entries. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with choice in some of the later games in the series, but there seems to be a pretty strong sentiment in the community that shotguns and magnums are generally good.
↑Shotgun Massacre
↑ Magnum vs. Lickers, RE5
↑ Extremely long magnum shot, RE5.
Makes sense!
The magnum also gives us one of the series’ most beloved classic moments .
Oh, Barry. We’d all be sandwiches without you.
Here’s a little-known Street Fighter fact: Most characters in the series don’t even use weapons. But that didn’t deter the Street Fighter community—never one to back down from a challenge—from answering our call to action. Many of you asserted that Ryu’s hands themselves were lethal weapons in their own right. It is true that martial artists of a certain level can in fact register their hands as lethal weapons, especially if their hands can do a shinkuu-hadouken. Hence, I’m going to allow it.
The Monster Hunter series boasts about as many different weapons as there are whiskers in a Goldbeard’s gold beard, and I remind you that that is a very full beard. Hence, getting two Monster Hunter players to agree on a favorite weapon is about as hard as getting any two people on earth to agree on a pizza topping. But I’ve got to wrap this feature up today, so let’s just say, I dunno…a Dios ax.
DIOS. AX.
Better.
Apparently someone even made their own real-life version, so it must be pretty beloved. Wonder where he got the slime.
Anyway, that covers a lot of our bigger brands as well as the most common suggestions. But we had tons of other suggestions as well, covering games both old and recent, obscure and well-known. Here are some!
↑ Sengoku BASARA: Samurai Heroes – Chain ball (Kuroda Kanbe’s weapon) and Dark hands (Oichi’s weapon) – Submitted by VegaMan
↑Chaos Legion – The Legions – Submitted by C.I.M.
↑Breath of Fire – Kaiser Dragon Transformation – Submitted by
NukaCola (Note: I know you said BoF II, but the BoF IV footage was gloriously flashy and easier to find ;3)
↑Ace Attorney series – Miles Edgeworth’s cunning logic – YouTube commenter
↑Viewtiful Joe – Slow and Mach Speed – YouTube commenter
↑Onimusha series – Samanosuke’s blades. All of them. – YouTube commenter
↑Capcom – Combo Fiend himself – Facebook commenter
Phew. That’s a whole lotta weapons. What manner of inventive combat utensil can we look forward to in Capcom’s future titles? Chainsaw katanas? Tuba guns? Dogs with bees in their mouths so when they bark they shoot bees at you? Only time will tell.
In closing, I just want to point out that we all very ironically forgot about Nilin’s Sensen from Remember Me, truly one of the most unique and satisfying weapons in gaming. Shame on all of us.
Meanwhile, if you’ve got more favorites or more awesome footage of these weapons in action, let it be known in the comments below! (We definitely missed some; please be gentle!)
