Ahh....Mega Man.  For some gamers this name echoes not just their past but their entire life.  Just think for one minute about how many Mega Man games have been released.  Now try to guess when the first Mega Man game was released.  The answer may shock and surprise gamers that have only being playing games since the Playstation was first introduced.  The first Mega Man game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987.  It’s hard to believe a gaming franchise continuing for almost two decades, but Mega Man has survived. 

Mega Man Anniversary Collection is a compilation of the original Mega Man series with some additional bonuses included.  The collection starts with the first Mega Man for NES and includes the entire series of Mega Man games released for the NES.  Mega Man 7 for Super Nintendo and Mega Man 8 for Playstation 1 round out the collection.  For one low price you get eight different games and the entire series of games based on the original Mega Man.  This, my GameZone readers, is what I call “Gaming Goodness.”  Instead of hunting down copies on eBay or visiting your local game store, Capcom has given us the opportunity to have all of the games on one collection.  Some gamers get to relive their roots with the first few Mega Man games, while new fans get an opportunity to understand why Mega Man is so important to videogames.

The premise behind the Mega Man series is simple: good versus evil.  Dr. Light has created robots designed to help mankind in their everyday tasks.  One of the first robots created was Mega Man and Dr. Light was impressed with the success of Mega Man.   Dr. Light decides to build 6 additional robots but his assistant, Dr. Wily betrays Dr. Light and reprograms the robots.  The robots were reprogrammed for destruction so Dr. Wily can take over the world.  Dr. Light determines the only way to stop Dr. Wily is to send Mega Man after Dr. Wily and the 6 robots.   One way or another all of the Mega Man games revolves around the Mega Man trying to defeat Dr. Wily and his robots.  It’s a classic confrontation that spawns eight different games. 

The games included within the collection are based on their original versions.  There have been no graphic overhauls or face lifts for the early Mega Man games.  Modern gamers might have a problem getting use to the graphics of the first six Mega Man games (originally released for NES).  However Mega Man 7 and 8 stands out with their cartoon like graphics & polished presentation.   All of the games play similar to each other, which could create a sense of endless repetition for some gamers.  You control Mega Man and you have to defeat all of the robots before you get to face Dr. Wily.  You start off and try to find the weakest robot to defeat and then fight through all of the other robots.  Then you get to fight the robots again before you finally get the chance to take on Dr. Wily.  You will get a sense of deja vu after you get through the first two or three games.   

Mega Man Anniversary Collection is an import piece of gaming history that continues the trend of old becoming new again.  Whether you’ve never tried a Mega Man game before or you’re a season veteran, Mega Man Anniversary Collection is a must have for all gamers.  The game even includes two unlockable Mega Man-s that were never released on a console system in America.  Both of the games are based on the Mega Man arcade games, which can best be described as Mega Man meets Street Fighter.  The additional bonuses included such as character art and videos were a nice touch as well.  It would have been nice if a large amount of bonus content would have been available for viewing right away.  Instead you unlock the content after you beat the games.  One bonus that I wish was included is the Playstation remakes that were released over in Japan several years ago.  Capcom re-released the first 6 Mega Man games for Playstation years ago with improved graphics and updated music/sound effects.  This would have been a great way for modern gamers to appreciate Mega Man without looking down on the 8-Bit NES graphics and sound.  But maybe Capcom has another Mega Man collection in the works?

Gameplay 8.5 

Classic gameplay at its finest, is one way to describe Mega Man.  The game is a platform game where you run around the level, shoot the enemies, and then fight the boss.  But the reason why Mega Man has lasted so long is the game controls and plays wonderfully.  The controls on all of the games were very tight and responsive.  Mega Man would always immediatelydo all of the commands issued by the controller.  The first Mega Man game starts off with just the basics, shooting and jumping.  You run around, shoot the enemy and jump to different platforms or areas.  Not until the third Mega Man game did you get the ability to slide below the enemy.  The fourth Mega Man game included the ability to charge your weapon for a stronger blast. 

Each of the games had the same strategy for defeating the enemy robots, which was finding the weakness of a particular robot.  For example one robot might have a weakness to fire, while another robot’s weapon is based on fire.  So you defeat fire robot to easily defeat the robot with the fire weakness.  There was usually a pattern that you can follow as to which robot you should fight first, second, third and so on.  Once you determined the pattern, then it was usually smooth sailing until you had to fight Dr. Wily.  Dr. Wily would try to throw everything at you on his stages. 

There are a couple of issues that lowered the score for gameplay.  One is what I refer too as 8-bitness (and I didn’t coin the phrase).  This is where you defeat an enemy on a stage but then back track just a few steps to have the same enemy appear again.  A common example of this would occur when you defeat one enemy but have another enemy push you backwards because the enemy hit you.  Once you’ve moved forward, both enemies appear at the same time, with usually the enemy you just destroyed showing up over and over again.  It was a common issue with all of the first 6 Mega Man games.  The second issue was the repetitiveness of the gameplay.  There isn’t much variety to the games or the premise.  You destroy the enemy robots and then defeat Dr. Wily.  But these are minor issues compared to the overall gameplay.

Graphics 7.7 

Now the graphics are where modern gamers will probably have the biggest issue with the Mega Man Anniversary Collection.  As I mentioned earlier all of the games included are based on their original versions released.  So a game released in 1987 will look like a game released in 1987.  The games did not get an overhaul in the graphics department and Mega Man 1 is the prime example of looking like a game from 1987.  The game lacks detail and most of the stages are downright boring to look at.  The difference between the first Mega Man game and the second is a huge difference.  Starting with the second game the developers used bigger and more detailed sprites for the enemies.  I always considered Capcom to be one of the best developers for the NES and Mega Man 2 through 6 proves this with the graphics.  The stages all have their own unique look and are very detailed with some excellent graphics being used for the mid level bosses you fight.  However there didn’t seem to be a huge improvement after Mega Man 3 with the graphics.  It seemed as if Capcom did all they could do with Mega Man 3 and started using the same graphics for some of the stages and enemies.  This isn’t to say this is something terribly wrong it just seems as if they reached the limits of the NES hardware after Mega Man 3.

Mega Man 7 and 8 are the champions in the graphic category for the entire series.  Mega Man 7 looks fantastic even today considering it’s a Super Nintendo game.  I was blown away with how detailed the graphics looked for Mega Man 7.  The 2D graphics are great, with an impressive amount of detail for all of the sprites.  The Super Nintendo was considered the slower system during the 16-bit era but Mega Man 7 moves at a nice pace.  The one item I did notice in Mega Man 7 are the graphics seemed too big compared to the previous versions.  Mega Man was bigger and the stages were bigger but the stages didn’t seem bigger, in fact they seemed cramped. 

Mega Man 8 is where the game became almost a playable cartoon.  The game is still presented in a 2D side scrolling layout (as are all of the games) but with a touch of 3D effects thrown in.  Instead of just looking at the characters from the side, the characters now appeared to be more rounded and viewable.  All of the characters were animated beautifully during the game.  In fact it seemed as if Capcom wasn't able to do too much with the graphics and some of the stages would become filled with enemies and items.  The game even included animated cut scenes that look good, but are a little grainy.  I’m sure this is just a problem because of the original video compression used in the original game.

Sound 7.4 

Some reviewers might not enjoy the sound effects of the first six Mega Man games.  I, on the other hand, found them enjoyable and easy on the ears.  Granted we’ve evolved tremendously in the sound department from the NES to today’s consoles but that shouldn’t fault the games included in this collection.  If you play the game consistently you will find that most of the tunes (in the early games) are very catchy and will have you humming them over and over again.  In fact I’m humming one of the tunes right now as I’m typing this review.  This is what the music was designed to do in the NES days; provide additional enjoyment to the game. However with Mega Man 7 and 8 I found that my enjoyment of the music did diminish.  The classic music was being remixed and it just didn’t seem to work.  The sound effects of your weapon firing, energy filling up, and enemies blowing up are all classic sounds.  The sound effects come across loud and clear through out the game.  The voice acting on Mega Man 8 is definitely something that can be over looked.  You will probably cringe once you’ve heard Mega Man’s voice for the first time.  But for the picky gamer that just can’t stomach the good old days of NES music, there is an option to turn the music and sound effects down. 

Difficulty Medium to Hard 

The difficulty meter for Mega Man Anniversary Collection is higher than most of the new games released today.  The game is all about skill.  Make a precise jump at the right moment.  Blasting the enemy from a ledge to conserve every bit of energy you have left to defeat the boss.  Not using a special weapon during the stage in order to prepare for the boss battle.  It’s all about timing and patience.  The game saves for you after every level so you never have to worry about entering a password or finishing a game in one setting.  But you will have to play some of the stages over again before you finish them.  You will have to try and find the weakness of a boss in order to determine which weapon is more efficient.  For players that need a little bit of help, Capcom included a Navi mode, which provides you helpful hints during the first six Mega Man games.  The hints can range from the correct path to follow to the weakness of a particular boss.  But even with the Navi mode turned on it’s still up to you, the player, to finish the level.  So if you miss that one jump by just a hair or you ran out of weapon energy while fighting a boss, be prepared to play the game over and over again.

Concept 8.5 

All of the games included in one package are a great idea. But to include all of the games at the price of $29.99 is an amazing idea.  Mega Man Anniversary Collection is one of the best compilation titles ever released for any system.  All of the games included are classics and should be treasured by all gamers.  It would have been nice to have the bonus features unlocked right away and reward the players with a few additional games as the bonus.  The arcade Mega Man games are unlockable and maybe Capcom could have included the very rare Genesis Mega Man that was only available on the Sega Channel.  There are so many additional features that could have been included that would probably go over the head of most gamers.  Capcom did a wonderful job of putting this package together.

Multiplayer 8.2 

The multiplayer version is limited to the arcade games, called Power Battles.  Up to two players can face off in a one on one battle using the different characters in the game.  But it’s hard to really rate the Multiplayer versions since they are unlockable content.  Most gamers will probably care less about the Power Battle games and the other games.  All of the standard Mega Man games are one-player games. 

Overall  8.2 

Mega Man Anniversary Collection is a great title that is a must have for all gamers.  Every game owes it to themselves to at least say they’ve played Mega Man 1, 2 and 3.  If you can’t make it through the games it doesn’t matter, since you have a total of 8 games that you play right away.  This is a classic gamer’s fantasy to have all of these games included on one disc.  The tight controls, great graphics and entertaining music will provide gamers years of fond memories.  However the repetitive gameplay and locked bonus content might leave some gamers with a sour taste in their mouth.  As I mentioned earlier I wish Capcom had included the updated Playstation versions of Mega Man 1 – 6 in this collection as an alternative to gamers.  I think this could have attracted even more gamers to the collection since the players could choose which version they want to play.  The omission of the Mega Man X series is another minor complaint that I’m sure will be addressed later on.  The Mega Man X series on the Super Nintendo while the original Mega Man series was still being released on the NES.  But even with these small issues, Mega Man Anniversary Collection is a must own piece of gaming history for everyone.