2025 saw the release of the 'main series spinoff' Pokemon Legends ZA, surprising everyone not only with the sudden return to Generation VI's Kalos (instead of any of the many other regions people were expecting for this generation's spinoff/remake game) but also the surprising real-time combat system. The game feels experimental in all the best ways, and while there were some mild complaints, I did find the main game of Legends ZA to be probably one of the better Pokemon gaming experiences I've had.
The same cannot be said for the gigantic grind-fest and excuse plot storyline that was the Mega Dimensions DLC. I think I've made my feelings towards that perfectly clear in my 'let's play' blog posts, so I won't repeat myself here.
But the most important part is that the game re-introduces Mega Evolution, the first time that one of the per-generation gimmicks got added to instead of it just being a one-time fad in a single generation. I really do think that Mega Evolution is the one that the design team puts the most effort into, and the fact that it results in new unique forms does make them a lot more 'hype' compared to something like the Terastral forms.
I had prepared a version of this article with the 25+ new Mega Evolutions from the base Legends ZA, but when the DLC introduced around 20 more, I decided to just wait until I've done most of the DLC, and then again for the official artwork to appear. The end result did end up taking a bit longer for me to finish writing these articles.
Again, as with my previous reviews for Mega Evolutions and Gigantamaxes, I'm also considering the fact that these are 'super' forms, and not just reviewing them as standalone designs, so just how much (or how little) they deviate from their original forms will matter in my evaluation.
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#026: Mega Raichu X / Y
To the relief of many, Pikachu didn't get a brand-new Mega Evolution. Which was definitely in the realm of possibility! But it is a relatively hard rule that the game has established of only fully-evolved Pokemon being able to Mega Evolve. So Raichu finally gets another chance to be in the spotlight now, getting two Mega Evolutions in the DLC, an honour previously only reserved to Charizard and Mewtwo.
Rather oddly, they decided to make the gimmick be to have Raichu physically resemble the letters of 'X' and 'Y', which... is an odd design choice, but okay. Both mega evolutions draw a bit from PIkachu, which unfortunately does mar them a bit. Some of the Mega Evolutions in Legends ZA do have the theme of bringing back features from the pre-evolved stage, but when your pre-evolved stage is the poster child Pikachu himself, it's hard not to feel disappointed that these mega forms aren't celebrating Raichu more than Pikachu.
Mega Raichu X has Pikachu's yellow-body-and-red-cheeks colour combination, as well as two gigantic Pikachu lightning-bolt tails that form an 'X' alongside the ears. The gimmick for Mega Raichu X is actually quite clever, though, because Mega Raichu X flies, horizontally, like Superman. The Pokedex flavours this as Mega Raichu X unleashing electricity through its ears and tail like electromagnetism or something, and that little detail makes Mega Raichu X really fun and feel like the more memorable Mega Raichu to me.
In addition, Mega Raichu X fights by punching people, since its tails and ears are there to help it keep itself afloat. Having a Raichu fly around thunder-punching people like Superman isn't on my radar, but here we are. Lastly, a feature on both Mega Raichus is that they've got tiny little vampire fangs that people think are a reference to the 'lost' Gorochu evolution. Not sure if it's intentional, but it does give the two Mega Raichus a slightly different face from the rest of the family.
Mega Raichu Y has regular Raichu's orange-body-and-yellow-cheeks colouration, and part of Raichu's whip-tail... but probably is the one that feels a lot more like Pikachu to me. It doesn't help that the general design feels like someone slapped a couple too many accessories, with the two pairs of ears being particularly ugly and messy to me. Mega Raichu Y has a pair of bunny-like Pikachu ears, and two pairs of flattened ones that resemble an exaggeration of Raichu's. That just looks really unnatural, and if we had just kept the Raichu ears, it would've done the dual job at making this form feel a lot more distinctly Raichu and make the 'Y' silhouette better.
Mega Raichu Y doesn't really have much of an interesting gimmick other than that, basically being an electric rat that shoots lightning bolts. They form the letter Y, which isn't actually depicted in-game by either a move or a unique animation. With Mega Raichu X flying around, this makes Y a bit more forgettable to me. They could've done something more interesting by giving the two of them additional types. Even if Y remained a pure-Electric and X became Electric/Flying, it would have made the two forms feel a bit more unique.
As it is, while they are all right, inoffensive designs, and I'm happy that Raichu is getting something... I can't say I'm particularly enthused with these two.
3/6.___________________________________________________
#036: Mega Clefable
Clefable, the Fairy Pokemon, has been representing the Fairy type five generations before the type was even introduced. And so it is appropriate as we return to Kalos, the generation that introduced Fairy-types and Mega Evolutions, that we give Clefable some attention. I've always felt like Clefable needed to be part-Flying as well, since her design has some prominent spiky wings, so in one of the few typing changes in this batch of Mega Evolutions, Mega Clefable becomes a Fairy/Flying Pokemon! I like that a lot.
Now, design-wise? I think I had a very strong reaction to Mega Clefable and how she ended up looking. The wings are okay, even if they do look like stiff plastic pieces stuck onto Mega Clefable's back. Not pictured in the artwork is an aura of glitter that surrounds Mega Clefable in the game model. But they changed Mega Clefable's pointy ears into a set of... odd details. She's now got a mound of flesh that resembles a hat, and those ears now droop down and become... pipes? The end result elicits an 'uhhh' reaction from me. It is a bit oddly irrational, I know, but that initial reaction to Mega Clefable hasn't really subsided, and I still find that new head shape odd.
I still like the fairy wings, and I like the dex entry noting that Mega Clefable's flight is actually using moonlight to 'control gravity' within a radius around it. That's quite cool, but I just can't bring myself to like this one.
2/6.___________________________________________________
#071: Mega Victreebel
It has been almost 30 years since Victreebel originally debuted in Pokemon Red/Blue, and while its counterpart Vileplume had gotten an alternate evolution since then, poor Victreebel is just left, for a while, as one of the first-generation Pokemon to not have any kind of alternate form or super mode of some sort. As a huge Victreebel fan, I was simultaneously excited and confused to see this Mega Evolution.
The concept is that upon Mega Evolution, Mega Victreebel's acid is now so corrosive, powerful and numerous that Mega Victreebel needs to use his vines to wrap its own 'neck' to avoid the poison from spilling out. Didn't quite realize it until much later, but this does make it resemble an actual pitcher or gourd. During attack animations, the vines actually loosen up and Mega Victreebel belches and shrinks down as it shoots out its acid, which is cool. The leaves around him change as well, with the 'hand' leaves shrinking down and the 'head' leaf blossoming into a very pleasant trio of crown-like autumnal leaves.
I really don't like the puffy lips, though. I find regular Victreebel's yawning mouth with the two little vampire fangs to look so cool, and they kind of warped that feature into a air of unpleasant chubby baby lips. That does bother me quite a bit. Still, while this more comedic bent isn't what I had expected for Mega Victreebel, I still can't really bring myself to dislike it. More comedic Megas are okay, and I find him okay.
4/6.___________________________________________________
#121: Mega Starmie
Ah, yes. The poster child of the 'why' Mega Evolutions. Mega Starmie became a very fast meme for derision and mockery, as the design really is just them stretching the front star of Starmie into a ridiculous, human-like proportions with long legs. It looks silly, it looks goofy, I daresay it even looks stupid. I do agree on those points, especially since Starmie's original design intent has it be sharp and angular.
But then the game comes out, and Mega Starmie is one of the mandatory boss fights... and people get to see just how ridiculous this thing is. Mega Starmie is designed to be running around like a tokusatsu suit actor, which is... most certainly a choice, but they really committed into making Mega Starmie the most ridiculous animation ever. The attack animations in the boss fight also involves Mega Starmie launching really high kicks, or charging at you with exaggerated running. I do feel like that sheer ridiculousness in animation does save Mega Starmie a fair bit, making it a lot more lovable-goofy instead of stupid-goofy.
I am also a fan of its dex entry, in a sea of bland new mega evolution dex entries. "Its movements have become more humanlike. Whether it's simply trying to communicate or wants to supplant humanity is unclear." Supplant humanity? Hello? Starmie has always been characterized as 'maybe an alien' all the way back in Generation I, and that's a nod to the classic Japanese 50's sci-fi movie Warning from Space. Which features star-shaped aliens with a single eye in the middle... but while I agree that this is a nice lever to push for Starmie's mega evolution, I wished they had done more with it.
That's neat. Judging Mega Starmie on its own merit, I don't think I agree with the masses that it's the stupidest mega out of this game -- it's nowhere that bad. I still don't like it, though, and any time I try to be a bit kinder to Mega Starmie, I take a look at a design like the excellent Mega Falinks as a 'joke' mega that still works as a proper design and exaggeration of the original concept. Sorry, Mega Starmie.
2/6. ___________________________________________________
#149: Mega Dragonite
Dragonite getting some sort of super or alternate form is a matter of when, not if, considering that he's the original pseudo-legendary. And the design they gave Dragonite for his Mega Evolution is... interesting. Infamous for the jarring leap from the serpentine Dratini and Dragonair into the huge, chubby mascot-like Dragonite, this Mega Evolution tries to marry Dragonite's regular anatomy and attach some traits of Dragonair into it. Most relevant to this silhouette is extending Dragonite's tail and placing one of the dragon orbs at the end. Most prominent, however, are the two gigantic angel wings that sprout from Mega Dragonite's head.
There are other smaller, more subtle features. Dragonite's regular wings have degenerated into an adorable pair of tiny devil-wings, coloured blue. Mega Dragonite also has a bunch of additional feathers on his shoulders and at the back of his knees. I generally appreciate that the designers tried their best to combine features from Dragonair and Dragonite, not upsetting either one. The head-wings... are weird. They do most certainly stand out, and are a bit less boring than if they sprouted from the shoulderblades, but I'm not sure if the subversion works for Mega Dragonite.
I really like the hilariously contrarian pokedex entry, noting that Mega Evolution has powered up Dragonite's feelings of kindness... leading it to finish off its opponents with mercy in its heart. Mega Dragonite's going around mercy-killing its enemies with Hyper Beams!
4/6.___________________________________________________
#154: Mega Meganium
As with its predecessor, Legends ZA has three starters plucked from older generations, and to the surprise of no one, all three of these starters got Mega Evolutions for their final forms. What is surprising, I think, is the fact that two of the three starters came from Generation II!
I always have a bit of a soft spot for Mega Meganium, who was my starter in Legends ZA, and, to be honest, the first time in 25+ years that I have truly, properly appreciated Meganium. In that aspect, Mega Meganium does the Mega Venusaur mentality of just making the flower bigger. Meganium gets a four-layered flower, all of which are coloured slightly different, and has some additional changes as well. She's got little 'flare' pants made up of leaves for her legs, and the antennae are more curled up. It's not the most elaborate design, but I appreciate it for its simplicity.
One of the most important parts, however, is that Mega Meganium becomes a Grass/FAIRY type, a much-needed buff to the mono-typed Meganium. The dex doesn't acknowledge this in any way, instead just talking about her Solar Beam attacks... but I really like it! I genuinely don't have much to say here beyond the fact that Mega Meganium is a simple and nice upgrade to the base Meganium design.
5/6, could be 4. ___________________________________________________
#160: Mega Feraligatr
TBA
Mega Feraligatr is another one that received a lot of scorn during the release dates similar to Mega Starmie, but the sentiment towards Feraligatr has died down a fair bit more as people began to appreciate its animations. Which... which doesn't make Mega Feraligatr's default pose (in both the art and game) any less stupid. People have unfavourably -- but understandably -- copmared that giant hood to a toilet seat, and it does look like one.
The main gimmick here is that Mega Feraligatr will swing that giant fang down and it's actually the upper half of a fake large Totodile head. Feraligator then interlocks his arms together, and those red spikes on his arms form the lower jaw's 'teeth'. It's something that looks a lot better when animated smoothly, but ends up just looking very goofy in a static, non-transformed image. I'm not sure if this is something that's practical in terms of speculative biology, but apparently it gives Mega Feraligatr 10 times the biting strength. The Totodile head is also apparently an organ to dissipate excess Mega Evolution energy? ...sure?
I do really like the general tightening up of the details on Feraligatr's body. The addition of a bunch of red and dark blue really does make the design feel like it's a lot less bland. Most importantly, though, just like his Johto friend, Mega Feraligatr gets a secondary typing -- Dragon. Which... crocodiles are kinda draconic? Again, the dex entry is frustratingly unhelpful with explaining any of these, but I am very happy that the Johto starters got some spotlight, and it just took them two sets of spinoff games to get alternate forms. This does mean that poor Typhlosion is missing out on the new power surge of having a Mega Evolution as opposed to a differently-typed regional form, but that's what he gets for debuting before his two siblings.
3/6.___________________________________________________
#227: Mega Skarmory
Mega Skarmory! Skarmory is always a Pokemon that I felt was super cool despite its relatively simple concept. It's just a steel bird whose feathers are metal blades! Mega Skarmory takes this concept and makes it even cooler, by gilding Skarmory up in bright gold. The gold and black colour scheme looks genuinely impressive, and Mega Skarmory has gotten a bit more feather-blades jutting out from the back of his head.
Mega Skarmory's most prominent features, however, are his talons, which has extended a lot. There are actually birds like the Jacana who have super-long talons disproportionate to the rest of their legs, but they are waterfowls while Skarmory is meant to be mostly based on birds of prey. I can't say I dislike it, though! The fact that it's not just a lengthening of its regular talons, but also adding a second set under it? It's weird enough but also makes sense, I feel, because this is a temporary super-form meant to quickly take down an enemy before Mega Skarmory reverts back to its original form.
This one grew on me a lot, particularly the talons. There is also a 'Gold and Silver' joke there somewhere, too, considering those were the games that Skarmory originally debuted in.
5/6.___________________________________________________
#358: Mega Chimecho
Mega Chimecho is another one that debuted in the DLC, and it's... an interesting one. The main body of Chimecho is still retained, but the little golden metal part on Chimecho's head has expanded into a massive frame -- essentially having the look of a Chingling. The golden frame looks like the Chingling's body, and we even get the two giant ribbons on top. And hanging from the golden frame are six smaller wind-chimes that look like smaller Chimecho. It's an interesting look, and alongside Mega Raichu, Mega Feraligatr and Mega Dragonite, we're starting to see a bunch of mega evolutions that are visually referencing their pre-evolved forms. That is interesting.
Mega Chimecho is a Psychic/Steel dual-type now, which makes a lot of sense considering the giant metal frame around it. Very happy to see more type changes. Mega Chimecho has the ability to vibrate its whole body to attack in multiple directions using sound waves, and the sound waves confuses anyone who hears it so much that they get amnesia. It's a cool little ability, and apparently based on the legends around the shakujo staffs whose ringing noises can ward off evil spirits. Adding to the slight creepy vibes around Mega Chimecho, the mini-Chimechos will move around even if there isn't wind.
Did not expect Chimecho to get a mega evolution, but very happy that it did! I wasn't feeling this mega too much, but it has definitely grown on me.
4/6.___________________________________________________
#358: Mega Absol Z
Oh yeah. You know, I like my subversions... but sometimes, you have to call a spade a spade. And you have to call a cool, sick-ass design a cool, sick-ass design. Mega Absol gets a Z Mega Evolution, which is a small group of alternate mega evolutions introduced in the DLC that has a shorter duration but a higher increase in stats. I'm not sure how this will be translated to the mainline games, but I definitely like it.
And Absol, of all Pokemon, ends up being the first Z-Mega we get... and probably the only Z-Mega you get for the majority of the playthrough. While regular Mega Absol is a nice subversion of the emo, edgy vibe of regular Absol and goes for a more angelic look, Mega Absol Z dispenses with all pretenses and turns itself jet-black, has his head-horn turn jagged, his hair all shaggy and emo, and his claws all pointy. Most importantly, instead of two angelic wings, Mega Absol Z has a gigantic, single wing with its tips ending up in red, and the wing looks like a claw and acts like a claw. Of course. To top it off, Mega Absol Z gets to become Dark/Ghost.
It's so edgy. It's so cool in all the best ways, and I think Mega Absol Z is explicitly enhanced because regular Mega Absol exists. The contrast is cool! Mega Absol Z's giant wing-claw is noted to be sharp, twisted fur similar to Grimmsnarl, which I thought was interesting. I really love the dex entry having a very emo final line about how Mega Absol Z's strikes are 'acts of kindness to keep [foes] from suffering'. I unironically like this.
6/6.___________________________________________________
#398: Mega Staraptor
Oh, okay! Staraptor gets a mega evolution in the DLC, and I also appreciate that they embraced everything about regular Staraptor and enhanced it. Its pompadour has become even more pronounced, which is expected, but I think the vibe of Staraptor is particularly enhanced by the plumage around his head and 'beard', as well as his chest. Honestly, regular Staraptor suffered a bit from the Gen III-IV art style favouring a lot of sharp, angular shapes, and Mega Staraptor's more natural-looking feathers really does make it look much more imposing. A huge fan of the detailing around its talons and tail as well. Mega Staraptor's main colours also change from a darker gray to a light gray, which works very well? I'm not sure why, but I think it's just because it works better with the red hair accents, the white secondary colours, and the random bits of yellow it gets.
Mega Staraptor also gets a type change, going into Flying/FIGHTING, which is a type change that is undoubtedly because Staraptor was notorious in its debut generation for working particularly well with Close Combat. The general design of Mega Staraptor is still essentially just a bird and doesn't 'scream' Fighting-type to me, so this typing is a bit more because of the fandom reputation more than anything. Not the biggest fan of that, but I guess the pompadour kind of gives the impression of a scrapper?
Mega Staraptor is a top-class flier. It can easily soar through the sky while gripping a Steelix that weighs more than 880 lbs.
4/6.___________________________________________________
#445: Mega Garchomp Z
Garchomp also gets a Z-Mega-Evolution, which at the time of writing is only available from limited-season online play (which is a whole rant I won't get into here) and it feels like Mega Charizard Y in that parts of the design evokes the regular Garchomp a lot more than how regular Mega Garchomp looks. Mostly, it's the head. Mega Garchomp Z gains a pair of jet-wings, but otherwise keeps the silhouette of the head. Mega Garchomp Z's arms have also turned into a pair of scythe-blades, but these look a lot more aerodynamic, with tooth-like spikes on the outer side of the wings. There are also a bunch of minor differences in yellow highlights and the positioning of the smaller fins, but otherwise it's a neat little variation.
Most importantly, Mega Garchomp Z actually becomes a pure Dragon-type, which again feels more of a gameplay thing than a flavour thing. The game communicates this -- barely -- by having Mega Garchomp Z constantly floating above the ground in all its animations. Nothing in Mega Garchomp Z's anatomy would indicate why this is happening, and it's not like Mega Garchomp Z has gained the Flying ability. It's a very gameplay-driven change (both Dragon/Ground and Dragon/Flying would have a 4x weakness to Ice) and unlike Mega Staraptor, I find there to be a less in-universe justification to this choice.
I don't have much to say about it because at the end of the day it's just a variation on the Garchomp design, but the Garchomp design is really cool so I can't really complain.
4/6.___________________________________________________
#448: Mega Lucario Z
Yeah, I don't like him. I'm not the biggest Lucario fan, but I really do find that Mega Lucario fixes a lot of the visual aspects of regular Lucario that I'm not the biggest fan of. Due to the Lucario-using Korrina being a major character in Mega Dimensions, we get a Z-Mega-Evolution for Lucario... and it's a lot.
Using the shiny colours is neat, and having a 'graceful dancer' version to conceptually contrast the 'bloodstained berserker' of regular Mega Lucario is neat. But the execution... I'm not a huge fan of. There's just so much going on here that the design looks messy, and a lot of it has to do with how many things sprouting out of Mega Lucario Z's head. He's got his regular ears, two long hair-fringes, and two giant ponytails that have three colours, are shaped like odd blobs, and with a zigzag pattern... I really don't get what they're going for with the larger ponytails, I really don't. And that's without adding the extra bit of yellow 'skirt' fur, and Mega Lucario Z's tail becoming a shark tail randomly?
I don't know. I don't like this one all that much.
1/6.___________________________________________________
#478: Mega Froslass
Glalie got a Mega Evolution all the way back in Generation VI. It took more than a decade, but his sister Froslass joins him in getting a Mega Evolution, and it's a very cool design. Still remaining Ice/Ghost, Mega Froslass goes full-in on the yuki-onna theme, extending its original body and arms down to form a proper slender body and long, tapering arms. I love how slender the arms are as well, and how they extend from the 'monster head'. Mega Froslass also has extended part of its head to form a huge chunk that resemble hair, and tops off the bibe with a pair of icy devil horns.
I like this design quite a bit, and particularly the simple but effective kimono-like details on the bottom of her skirt. Also love the mass of snow that sprouts out from under that 'dress'. Lest we forget, regular Froslass's 'body' doesn't actually contain anything humanoid under it, so presumably all that slender body is just filled with snow. Mega Froslass's ghostly ice powers have grown so powerful that she can freeze even insubstantial things like flame or wind... which is something a lot of Pokemon are shown doing in the anime or manga due to, well, anime logic. But Mega Froslass has it as a special ability, apparently.
Pretty neat design! No real notes from me, it's a great expansion of the yuki-onna inspiration for sure while still keeping it distinctly feeling like a Pokemon.
5/6___________________________________________________
#485: Mega Heatran
A lot of people don't like Mega Heatran because it's 'ugly', but for me, this fixes one of the major problems with what's easily the most boring legendary Pokemon from Generation IV. Spotlighted quite heavily in the DLC due to an in-joke thanks to an urban legend about Heatran being available in Lumiose City in Pokemon XY, this mega evolution of Heatran is a well-executed design, looking like Heatran has finally cut loose and become a primal elemental being that is out of control.
The original Heatran design was unimpressive to me due to the odd, teardrop-shaped body and the random rice-crispies-like details that are the DS spriting team's attempt to depict different colours of slag. Mega Heatran does away with all of that, giving us a body that is entirely made up of molten metal slag, and a giant over-bloated frog-like throat sac. Mega Heatran's mouth is now expanded into an always-open cannon with the teeth of its lower jaw bordering this hole. Metal vents on his back eject smoke, and Mega Heatran's two remaining legs drag it around the battlefield.
This design really feels like a legendary Pokemon unshackled, its sheer power actually melting its body with how hot it is... but it's still functional and moving around. An out-of-control legendary walking volcano is a lot more impressive than the original Heatran, that's for sure.
6/6.___________________________________________________
#491: Mega Darkrai
Acting as the final villain of the DLC story is Mega Darkrai, who was exposed to a particularly high concentration of mega energy and ended up causing a massive dream-dimension that is... very poorly handwaved and explained by the game script. But suffice to say that Mega Darkrai is powerful enough to warp reality itself.
Its design is... an odd choice, and not one that I'm sure I like. The main silhouette isn't a spectral ghost-man anymore, but a huge... spaceship? With tendrils trailing behind, and two on either side as 'wings'. When Mega Darkrai first transforms, we actually get a really cool eyeball marking made with bright pink colours, but then Darkrai's regular head glorps out of the eye, with its normal form's collar acting almost like a 'bud'. This is... most certainly a choice. I don't dislike it, it looks creepy and weird in all the ways that a nightmare should be. And a lot of Mega Darkrai's animations revolve around the creepiness of this head, which can retract and extend like a turtle's head. Only more... fleshier. It's a neat feature.
I respect what they are doing here, trying to make Mega Darkrai a weird boss fight the same way they did with Eternamax Eternatus. But I'm a lot less a big of a fan about this weird shadow-blob spaceship. Maybe if it was more obviously wraith-like, or more tentacle-like, or if they committed and made Mega Darkrai a proper eyeball monster? I don't know. They most certainly tried with this one, and I don't dislike it... but I don't think I like it either.
3/6.___________________________________________________
#500: Mega Emboar
I think I've gone on record on saying that I don't hate Emboar's design, but it is one of those designs that looks very... toy-etic to me, like it doesn't look like a proper organic living creature but more of a bunch of cylinders connected together. Mega Emboar fixes this a bit, by giving it more 'regular' animal-man proportions, but it also does make the design of Mega Emboar a bit too busy.
I do like the head and the giant shoulder-chest cape of fire, as well as the fire 'rake' -- it looks a bit terrible in the artwork due to having a different shading compared to the chest fire, but it looks good in its in-game model. The general vibe is to make Mega Emboar a bit closer to its Zhu Bajie inspiration, which I appreciate. This translates a bit to Mega Emboar's personality, where it's a lot more hotheaded thanks to the excess mega energy, but it's still ultimately duty-bound.
However, I think the aspect of Mega Emboar that makes me not like it as much is the random pinkish shade of red that appears on his 'pants', and on the rings around both his arms and legs. That's just one neon detail that I really didn't like at all and makes the whole design look a bit too messy. I get that the colour was there on the original Emboar, but it was more subdued and less... messy. At the end of the day, I'm not sure I like it more than regular Emboar, which looks a bit less natural to me but more cohesive, if that makes sense?
3/6.___________________________________________________
#530: Mega Excadrill
I get what they're going for here. Excadrill was a mole with metal parts that can transform into a spinning drill, so Mega Excadrill turns into a bigger drill. I like the spirit of the concept, even, changing the metal parts of Excadrill's arms and head into one-thirds of the drill shape. The animations are even kind of neat any time Mega Excadrill clamps together and spins around at the enemy. I even like the rusty/bloody red rings around the larger drill structure.
In execution, though, Mega Excadrill... doesn't really work all that well for me. I'm not sure which parts bother me the most. Is it the fact that he's lost his fingers, and only has a half-melded thumb 'sculpted' into the inner side of his hands? Is it the random triangle on his chest? No, I think what bothers me the most is how Mega Excadrill's face just looks a lot more goofier and 'detached' from the large drill-horn, compared to the original Excadrill. The shortened neck and posture doesn't really help, either.
Ultimately, though, I like the spirit of what they are going for here, and had the details and execution been a bit better I'd love this one, but as it is, Mega Excadrill just looks awkward to me.
3/6, leaning on 2.___________________________________________________
#545: Mega Scolipede
Ohh? OHHH!!!! Look at how cool my boy is now. Scolipede always had a 'centaur centipede' vibe to it, and they leaned on that concept by giving the 'knight' part of Scolipede a set of armour. And not just a set of armour, it's a set of armour based on its armoured pre-evolution, Whirlipede. It's a lot more subtle than the more blatant Mega Feraligatr and Mega Chimecho, woo, which is much appreciated. We've got the colours and the more rounded features of Whirlipede acting as a 'breastplate' and a set of almost plate-like coverings. I like that this even covers Mega Scolipede's head section, and the additional black and teal markings make it look cool.
But that's not all, because unlike Mega Meganium, Mega Scolipede's main body als changes There are teal neon lines running around both the armour and the inner body, but most vivid are the fact that the two 'antennae' on both ends have been transformed into really mean-looking dagger-like blades, with purple markings and two bright-green extensions on the front horns.
This wasn't what I expected from a Mega Scolipede, but I was very happy with the result. Maybe the teal highlights making Scolipede a bit more 'Tron'-y than I would've liked is one minor avenue of complaint, but it's such a cool palette at the end of the day that I can't really be actually mad at it. The dex notes that the teal glow is actually caused by the deadliness of Mega Scolipede's poison. Because everyone knows, the deadlier poison is, the more it glows. This poison also affects Mega Scolipede's mind, making it even more vicious.
6/6.___________________________________________________
#560: Mega Scrafty
On paper, I like this design. White contrasts very nicely against Scrafty's orange and red details, as well as compared to regular Scrafty's yellow 'hoodie'. Being deathly white with actual tears and eyeholes makes it a lot more obvious that Mega Scrafty is wearing its own shed skin.
That said... it really doesn't look like a mega evolution, does it? It doesn't even look like an evolution, but rather just an alternate form. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was introduced to me as an alternate regional form of Scrafty, or something similar to the various Wormadam or Castform forms. So while I do like this design -- and I like it more than regular Scrafty -- it gets some points deducted in my heart for not changing much.
4/6.___________________________________________________
#604: Mega Eelektross
Eelektross is a personal favourite from Generation V, being a badass floating electric-eel-lamprey. And its mega evolution is... interesting, I'll give you that. Eelektross's main body has gotten a bit more extra details to freshen it up, but the most important part are the two arms, which end in additional ghostly-white Eelektrik. Mega Eelektross's tail is also covered in the same white, ghostly substance. And... well, trying to avoid the obvious crude jokes, the dex notes that the 'false Eelektrik' are made of mucus. Which means that we're adapting the defense mechanism of a completely different eel-like fish, the hagfish. Hagfishes are relatives of the lamprey that Eelektross is based on, which eject mucus to gunk up predator gills as a self-defense mechanism.
And that's cool, even if a bit unexpected. Not seen in the static image is that the jaws of the false Eelektrik actually alternate between a 'plus' and 'minus' symbol, a neat nod to electrical currents... but it's also a nice bonus that both jaw formations also resemble actual proper jaws. The promotional website calls these two false heads 'Eeleftrik' and 'Eerightrik'. Okay. Eelektross is a Pokemon that has alternately been depicted as floating above the ground or waddling on the floor with its ventral fins as feet, but in its mega form, it can hover above the ground essentially indefinitely.
There's also an additional reference of the koinobori, the koi-shaped windsocks, especially with how Mega Eelektross will spin around and move with all three eel-bodies arranged vertically in some of its attack animations. The end result is a rather creative design that I was a bit iffy about, but have definitely warmed up to a lot across playing the game.
5/6, could be 4/6.___________________________________________________
#609: Mega Chandelure
I am a huge, huge Chandelure fan. And Mega Chandelure going into a more elaborate chandelier is... expected. What else could he mega-evolve into? We get a second layer of those curled-up candles; a crown-like upper piece, and a hanging crystal below Mega Chandelure. It's just over-the-top enough and still retains the essence of what Chandelure's original design is. Not the most clever, and kind of safe, but compared to some of the more experimental megas, I was happy to get a simple one for Mega Chandelure here.
There is interesting lore, though, which pushes Mega Chandelure's place in my heart. Interesting lore in dex entries is such a rarity in modern games with their minimalistic dex entries. Pointing out something that could be handwaved as just shading, the dex notes that Mega Chandelure has two different eyes. Mega Chandelure's right eye is yellow like the regular specimen, but the right eye has glossed over and turned transparent, showing the flames inside. This eye 'is a window linking our world with the afterlife', and it allows Mega Chandelure to draw in hatred and convert it into power. That's simple, but that's cool!
Again, it is a bit of a bias since I really do like Chandelure quite a bit, but I feel the combination of the visual exaggeration and the edgy 'my hidden eye is the gateway to hell' vibes from the dex entry makes me like this form quite a bit.
5/6.___________________________________________________
#623: Mega Golurk
We open up with Mega Golurk, a personal favourite as well as it actually builds up on lore from Golurk's Pokedex entry about how it has mysterious power sealed within it that the band-aid-like seal is holding within. With Mega Evolution, all that energy leaks out, and you can actually see the position of the band-aid seal having moved to the center. The dex notes that 'the Pokemon could explode at any moment'. Scary!
The design keeps almost all of Golurk's regular golem anatomy intact, but swirling glowing energy constructs surround Golurk like an anime power-up. In the game engine, it's actually translucent and glowing, which is normally not an effect I'm overly fond of, but it most certainly fits the idea of energy pouring out of the Pokemon's body. The energy most vividly takes the form of a swirling 'X' around Mega Golurk's torso, and two gigantic butterfly wings. I like that it curls up into more sinister purple spiky energy at the top. Also a bit more subtly, the bands around Golurk's arms and legs are glowing with the same yellow energy, and the runes, in fact, do not glow. It's like the energy has moved from being stored within Golurk's body to outside of it, enhancing its attacking powers.
I really like this one! I've heard people not really being taken with Mega Golurk because perhaps they expected a bit more out of it, but I see Mega Golurk as being similar to Mega Banette, a nice little payoff to creepy dex entries translated into a super form.
6/6.
