Mega Man Anniversay Collection

Written by John Scalzo  on March 18, 2004

First Impressions: A remake of 2D platforming at its finest, its that simple

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Fifteen years. Capcom's blue bomber has become an iconic part of the video game business. While never as popular as Mario or other mascot titles, Mega Man has carved a very loyal fanbase for himself and his legacy currently stands as a starring in over forty games spread out over four different series'. So what better way to celebrate fifteen years than going back to the very beginning, the original series, all eight classic games.

The story of the Mega Man games is part of the consciousness of the video game world. Eight deadly "Robot Masters" are dispatched throughout the world by Dr. Wily. Mega Man then takes on each Robot Master and when he defeats them, he takes their weapons to take on the next Robot Master. Until finally you enter Wily's castle and take on the mad doctor yourself. But he always comes back.

The original eight Mega Man adventures covered a wide variety of systems and features. The first six were released for the NES. Number seven was a Super NES exclusive. Number eight, which was actually built for the series' tenth anniversary, was the only game to appear on the Saturn and the Playstation. Little changes would mark the series as it progressed. The second game removed the point system (and is widely considered the series' high point). Mega Man was given the slide ability, a robotic companion named Rush and he met his brother Proto Man in number 3, which is my favorite of the original eight. The Mega Buster super cannon was introduced in part 4. The fifth entry gave fans the opportunity to design the Robot Masters (and if you can find the issue of Nintendo Power showing the runner-ups I highly recommend it). The seventh game introduced the blue man's nemesis Bass. And the eighth game, since it was the first one that was disc based, eliminated the famous Mega Man password system.

But with all of these changes the Mega Man series was always about the platforming action it provided. And the series does that better than anyone else. The eight games will all sport their original 8, 16, or 32-bit graphics depending upon which game you play. While it might feel weird playing these looking games on your PS2, I wouldn't have it any other way. Capcom is also developing an Anniversary Collection of the blue bomber's Game Boy adventures as well and are adding color and cleaning up the graphics for the GBA's wide screen. But nothing from Capcom has suggested that they will change any of the graphics in the PS2 collection or even offer an "enhanced" mode. There's also no word on whether the password system will make the jump to the collection or if saving will fall back to the PS2 standby of Memory Cards that was utilized in Mega Man 8.

While the games' graphics will be unchanged, Capcom plans to pack this disc to the seams with bonus material to make every fan happy. Right now the current list stands to include 30 minutes of footage from the Mega Man anime, interviews with the producers and creators, original television commercials, a history of the series, artwork, remixed music, and two arcade games never before released in America.

Mega Man Power Battle and Mega Man 2: Power Fighters are two brawlers that take more than a few cues from the Street Fighter series. The games feature Mega Man, Proto Man, Bass, and many of the Robot Masters going at in straight one-on-one combat. No levels to cross, no platforms to jump, no ladders to climb, just the boss battles.