Mega Man 8 Anniversary Edition

"Mega Man returns good or bad?"

Well this is another installment to the Mega Man series. Is that good or bad? You'll have to be the judge on that on. Personally I'm a big fan of Mega Man, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give him praise all the time.

Story: The story is good even though Dr. Wily hasn't broken the habit of world domination. But in comparison to the Nintendo titles this story is one of the better ones.

Graphics: I think the graphics are very good for a Mega Man game. The backgrounds are crisp and detailed. The foreground has so many layers I was in awe when I saw them. The color is bright and vibrant. Now I've read reviews that say it's too ''kiddie'' like. Well what do you expect the series is targeted at a younger audience. I've been with Mega Man since the beginning and I must say the graphics have never been better.

Controls: Wow. The controls were easy to learn because they're similar to the Super Nintendo controls, and if you don't like the default configuration you can change it. Need I say more.

Gameplay: This is a big deal for many people. The gameplay is simple as you would expect from a Mega Man game, but the difficulty varies from easy to frustrating. But you have to keep your cool at the more difficult points otherwise you'll ruin the game for yourself. Gameplay isn't much different from previous Mega Man games although the beloved Rush has lost the ability to transform into Jet, Coil and what not he transforms into a motorcycle, a bomber and a nurse (sort of). Though E-tanks are no longer present a veteran player should be smart enough to dodge most attacks.
Now the weapons that Mega Man has at his disposal are among the best I've seen in a while. So this makes the game very entertaining.

Replay Value: Many gamers would say this game has little replay value, well they're about as dense as a tree. This game has more replay value than Mega Man 1-6 combined. The reason being is you get to alter Mega Man with different Buster configurations and body configurations. That's more than enough to keep you busy for a while. I forget how many times I played the game using different configurations, for example the Arrow Shot for the Buster Cannon. Quite possibly the coolest Buster in Mega Man history. So if someone told you this game has no replay, they gave up on the game to quickly.

Overall: Let me say that this game is good. Even if Mega Man sounds like a girl ( the voice actor in the Japanese version is a girl as well as the U.S. version ) this game is far better than the originals. Before I forget the voice acting was excellent ( that's right the bosses talk to Mega Man, how cool is that ) and it really makes the game come alive.

Buy or Rent: If your a fan this game is a MUST have, if your not, rent it and if you like it grab yourself a copy fast.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/01, Updated 08/28/01