Capcom has confirmed that all references to the hard rock band Guns N’ Roses have been removed from the Mega Man X Legacy Collection. Mega Man X5 is specifically the culprit of this localization loss, as spotted in a new trailer. In a statement to GameSpot, Capcom verifiably confirmed the changes, citing the need for unity across all regions.
“In our mission to make these collections an authentic Mega Man X experience, we took the opportunity to better align the naming of the Mega Man X5 Mavericks across all regions for better narrative cohesion across the series, making the names more aligned with the original Japanese version release. We hope that fans appreciate our intent to unify the Mega Man X Maverick-naming convention all these years later.”
Back when Mega Man X5 was localized circa 2001, translator/voice actress Alyson Court pitched the idea to change the boss names into one glorified string of Guns ‘N Roses references, a tribute to her husband’s musical tastes. So the characters went from their Japanese names of Burn Dinorex, Crescent Grizzly and Shining Firefly into Mattrex, Grizzly Slash, and Izzy Glow (lead singer Axl Rose was immortalized in Mega Man X5 as Axel the Red). Whether or not the name changes are partially to avoid any potential legal issues, Capcom’s not saying, though other video games have previously dealt with lawsuits from singers and name changes to avoid likeness infringements.
Both Mega Man X Legacy Collections 1 and 2 launch on July 24th on all major platforms, including Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.
