Mega Man Anniversary Collection

Anyone who grew up in the late 80s or 90s with an NES will remember Mega Man, no questions asked. He's the fella that packed a punch; behind his cute face and bright blue helmet lurked a vast pool of powerful skills. His Mega Buster did well in battle, but he really soared as he acquired the weapons of his fallen enemies, and used them to more easily conquer other foes.

Mega Man is the robot creation of one Dr. Light, a kindly scientist who once created robots for completing tasks that humans didn't wish to do. When the mad Dr. Wily began to become jealous of Dr. Light's work, he was known to create batches of robots – usually eight at a time! - and set them off to take over the world. When this crazy doctor started to do this, Dr. Light countered by creating the beloved Mega Man. This Anniversary collection chronicles eight separate waves of Dr. Wily's minions in their complete, original glory, just as they were so many years ago.

The first six games were exclusive to the Nintendo Entertainment System, while Mega Man 7 debuted on the Super Nintendo and Mega Man 8 was exclusive to the PlayStation. It is interesting to note just how good each of these games has held up over the years – the graphics of all were quite impressive for their time and look good today still, especially the latter two entries; the music in a number of the games is downright excellent, and the gameplay is perfectly classic.

Jumping into a game, for those of you not familiar with the process, leads to a a selection screen. Although this varies from game to game, most featured eight robot heads with names such as Cut Man, Guts Man, Heat Man, Top Man, Snake Man, and Bubble Man. Picking a level launches that robot's level, which must be traversed successfully before finishing off the robot that rules over that area. Those of you who have played Mega Man games will also recall a nifty secret: certain weapons work on certain bosses far better than other ones. The Mega Man games are in general rather difficult, but by playing the levels in the proper order, they become a whole lot easier. 

Capcom did take the liberty of implementing a few helpful features for gamers who will undoubtedly have trouble, given the difficulty level of most games released today. They've added convenient weapon-switching with the left- and right-triggers, instead of a constant need to pause the game to change weapons. There have been maps created for each level; a nice novelty, despite their apparent lack of real necessity, as they are quite vague. Most importantly is the addition of a “Turbo”-esque button, which fires off three consecutive shots as opposed to one. Or if the game is still too challenging, players can up the number of their lives. What is nice, though, is that all of these features can be completely ignored if the player chooses – the games will still be just as tough as you remember. 

In addition to the main eight games, which are emulated exactly to a T, there are two bonus games that most Americans probably haven't played, and are actually arcade-style fighting games where you fight off various characters from the games. Other bonuses include producer interviews, an episode of an anime episode, remixed tunes, and concept art. As if playing through the games weren't fun enough, you actually get things for doing it!

The graphics in the games are definitely on par with others available at the time. The NES games are colorful and sport distinctive characters, creative locales, and quite simply feel very solid. The Super Nintendo game looks great, with details that the NES could only dream of producing, and the PlayStation title looks even better, with really fantastic animation. They all look good in their own ways, however, as the art is more than up to snuff and very original.

The sound found here is easily one of the best things about these games, though. While most tracks are at least somewhat catchy or fun, some of these tracks have reached nearly classical status over the years, with some bands doing their own renditions of whole game soundtracks. My personal favorite is Mega Man 2's, but perhaps that's because it was my first Mega Man game – the others, no doubt, carry great tunes. The music isn't quite as impressive in the latter two entries – perhaps that's the trade-off for good graphics – but they do feature voiceovers, which are only questionably good, but at least humorous. Hearing “I'm Clown Man!” at the start of a level isn't exactly immersive, but it certainly is funny.

What we've got in the end is one fantastic collection. Mega Man 1-8 are all good in their own right, some of them maybe even masterpieces, and always a good time. They're easily an important aspect of gaming history, and this collection more than does the games justice, not just for the young crowd but for those with fond memories, as well. Bring on a Mega Man X Collection, Capcom!

Gameplay: 9.0
As classic as ever, you traverse very well-designed levels and fight challenging bosses before gaining their weaponry to use in the following levels. Fun stuff.

Graphics: 8.0
Sure, Mega Man IV might not quite be on par with Half-Life 2, but at the time it looked quite good, and isn't that all that really matters? At least Capcom didn't go in and change the graphics to make it more appealing – it looks great just the way it always has been. 

Sound: 9.0
Even better than the graphics – there are a number of simply magical tracks tucked away in these eight games.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 9.0
Granted, these might all be nearly exact reproductions of classic games, but the manner in which its been put together, the sheer number of logical additions, and the total package costing a mere $20 is simply unprecedented. 

Multiplayer: 6.0
There's not much to do here but play the unlocked arcade games against a friend, which is entertaining to some degree but not terribly compelling.

 Overall: 9.0
There's practically no problems with this game. It's like a Greatest Hits collection of the finest, early Mega Man games, and both newbies and old players really need to check it out. It'll run you only 20 bucks, it's full of loads to do, and it's just as fun as it was so many years ago – this is one purchase you won't regret.