StarSoldier1's Full Review: Mega Man Anniversary Collection for PlayStation 2
Imagine this: instead of digging up some dusty old consoles and paying big bucks on eBay for the games themselves (and believe me, they can be pretty expensive), Capcom has put together eight games (plus two hidden) in the series in one set complete with bonus extras. Here we have Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the Playstation2. Sure, these games may be on the old side but look at what you are getting here!
In Mega Man Anniversary Collection you get all six of the Nintendo Entertainment System games, Mega Man 7 from the Super Nintendo, and Mega Man 8 from the original Playstation (it was also released on the Sega Saturn but who really cares, eh?). All the games are run and gun pure action games where you control the powerful little blue robot called Mega Man. What makes these Mega Man games so popular over the years is that you have the option to pick the stage and once you defeat the robot guardian you can steal their weapons and use them in future battles. Stealing is fun!
If you are not super old like me here is a breakdown of the games here: in the very first game, Mega Man must stop six of Dr. Light’s robots have gone berserk and are taking over the city. Although it sucks that Mega Man doesn’t have all the abilities found in the sequels and the graphics remind unchanged from the 8-bit era (in other words they sure suck compared to something like Splinter Cell), Mega Man 1 is one well crafted adventure with unforgettable characters and challenging game play. The first time I played this in 1987 I knew it was going to be a hit.
In the highly anticipated sequel Mega Man 2, the evil Dr. Wily created 8 of his own robots to conquer the world. The graphics have been beefed up (again don’t expect to be too impressed PS2 owners) and Capcom got rid of the Score system so they focus more on the action. Mega Man 2 is a bit on the easy side but the game is still one of the best in the series.
Mega Man 3 still follows the basic formula of the last games; you must fight off 8 robots and get their weapons blah blah blah. The big difference now is you have a new robo dog called Rush to help you out plus Mega Man can do a useful slide move too. The first three games in the collection are definitely classics, unfortunately the sequels Mega Man’s 4, 5 and 6 were just more of the same and even the story lines seem way too similar (i.e. robots lend by a evil mastermind who is not Dr. Wily but in the end it is just Dr. Wily anyway). Mega Man 7 and 8 are major improvements over the tired NES titles thanks to longer stages and new bolt power up system plus since they done on 16 and 32-bit consoles they look way better.
Although you can play Mega Man 1 through 8 right off the bat, you still have to unlock the other two Arcade only games. So are they worth unlocking? What makes these two odd games so unique is that you are only fighting the boss characters plus you can even have a friend join in because both games are two-player compatible. The games are way too short compared to the other titles on here but it was cool to see the graphical and sound upgrades of old characters and their stages.
Games are not the only things you can unlock here. You can see cool stuff like bonus artwork, hear exclusive music, and you can even watch an bonus anime episode of Mega Man just by beating certain bosses or collecting ideas in the games. There is also another thing that MMAC can do that your older NES carts could not. The game will now save your data simply after finishing a stage so you can forget about writing down any annoying passwords the time.
The graphics in MMAC are sure a mixed bag. All the NES games may have looked fine for the day but they still look like something your dog did on the rug! Mega Man 8 and the two Arcade games are very colourful and all but other 2D games like Alien Hominid blow it out of the water. Overall it’s a Thumbs down for the visuals in the collection. The music and sound effects are also non-changed and the cute robotic stuff won’t be for everyone but a lot of people still like it and the stuff in Mega Man 2 is so good it's hard to get out my head. It sucks that Mega Man sounds like a freakin' girl in part 8 though.
It’s a shame that Mega Man Anniversary Collection didn’t have the other popular games out there like the Mega Man X series, the 3D Legend games or several others but you still get a lot of games for the buck. All the titles here may be familiar in design but when it comes to action games, few games have been able to test of time in the game play department like the original Mega Man series have. After playing the Cube version of this game, the PS2 controls a lot better and the button placement feel fairly comfortable this time. This collection of old Mega Man games may appear ancient but you can't go wrong with ten fun action games in one at a cheap price. "So Capcom, why did you screw up the Cube version?"
Mega Man Anniversary Collection overall rating: 85/100
For 1 or 2 players
Rated (E) for Everyone
visuals: 4/10
audio: 6/10
gameplay: 8/10
features: 9/10
replay: 8/10
Collects 10 Mega Man games -- Mega Man 1 through 8, and two more that were never released in the U.S. Also includes great footage from the original Me...More at Amazon Marketplace
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