Mega Man 8 Anniversary Edition

"Megaman should seek some retirement"

Talk about milking a series for all it's worth. Megaman has been on nearly every system that has ever been popular. Has more sequels then you can count on 2 hands. He even has his own sports game (Mega Man Soccer on the SNES). This guy is the Michael Jordan of Video Games.

- The Story -
The game begins with Megaman (MM) fighting his arch rival Bass in the city, when he gets a call from Dr. Light. Seems there has been a meteor strike and he wants MM to go check it out. Faster then you can say ''sure why the heck not'' MM teleports over to the island. Once MM learns the new Mega Ball move, he discovers the remains of a 2 robots, but Dr. Wily finds one of them first and gets away with it. Anyway Dr. Light and MM talk about the battle and the robot. Of course Dr. Wily has 8 robots for you to battle. It it just me is Capcom not even trying anymore?

- The Gameplay -
Despite the new moves (Mega Ball, and being able to swim) everything feels just a little tired. In Tengu Man's stage MM has to ride his dog rush through the level (I miss the old days when Rush came in different forms). But mostly it's your basic 2-D side scroller action that has been the trade mark of the Megaman series. New to the game is the fact Bolts are limited making them much more valuable then previous games. Gone are the energy tanks that players use to rely on. But that is not a big problem considering this game is probably the easiest in the series.

- The Graphics -
For some reason Capcom has decided to insult our intelligence and make everything ''kiddie''. Clown Man is the worst when it comes to this. It's like only 6 year olds should be playing this thing. Graphics are at best average.

- Audio/Video -
Why did they have to give everyone voices? The other 7 games didnt worry about it. Megaman sounds like a poor girl and Dr. Light sounds like Elmer Fudd. Worst still are the fact the bosses talk. Once in a while it's comical to hear the pathetic excuse for a voice but usually its annoying to hear them talk. Some of the stage level music is pretty good but nothing like the old days. The Video has FMV and it reminds me of the old Megaman cartoon that was actually pretty good. Why couldnt they use the voice actors from that too?

- Replay -
After beating it a couple times you really are going to find something else to play. Having the Bolts hidden is suppose to be part of the replay but I honestly couldnt care.

Buy or rent?
Rent if your a casual Megaman player. Buy it if your a Huge fan of MM and simply must have everything with MM on it. Burn it if you think Capcom is a bunch of lazy morons who simply enjoy milking something for all it's worth.

The Final Tally:

Story : 5 (It's raining robots)
Gameplay : 5 (It seems to be getting worse with every game, Just too easy)
Graphics : 6 (Probably the best in the series, that's not saying much)
Audio/Video : 6 (Some good tracks, but why does everyone need to talk?)
Replay : 4 (You won't be playing this a lot)
Buy/Rent : Maybe (Im sure the MM fans already own this but honestly there isn't a lot here)
Overall : 6 (This game is missing soo many things)

I stopped really carrying about MM around Mega Man 5. From there it just got worse and worse and Mega Man 8 didnt improve anything (It took more out). I think Capcom abandoned the Mega Man series and this is what were left with. Mega Man X series is better.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/01, Updated 08/16/01