Mega Man 8 Anniversary Edition

"For a Mega Man game, it may be worth it..."

I'm a die-hard Mega Man fan and I could say that this particlular installment had lots of cool elements and other stuff... but...

Graphics- 10/10
I believe that the graphics are the only thing which is worth playing the game for... All of the sprites, backgrounds and effects are in 3D with lush backgrounds, fluent animation and lots of cute elements.

Sound- 6/10
You know, sometimes, I think that this game was intended for the younger generation of gamers... sure, it is also something a fan would love to play but look at what they did with the music?! I don't think that the music suits the game... Mega Man 7 had cooler tunes than most of the tracks here... Though, there are also quite some scores worth listening to... and besides, there's the whole X series jam-packed with hard rock tunes!

Story- 5/10
It's your average Mega Man vs. Dr. Wily thing... except this time around, Wily's got a new and devastating power source which could put everything in danger. The story is quite interesting but in a way "boring" since nothing really "Special" happens, let's just stick to what's above; It's your usual Wily wants to take over the world" thing.


Replay Value- 7/10
Well, the game is quite easy to finish... so, you'll eventually end up playing it again anyway... Though, despite lots of 'flaws' in it, I found myself playing over and over again... Why? Maybe it's because of the graphics, and yeah, the game HAS the traditional 'Mega Man "feel"' in it..., so fans of the series won't really pass this one up.
But also, I don't think new gamers would really find anything special to it since it's a usual side-scroll action adventure. And yeah, you can also give our old friend Mega Man different sets of equipment or "Parts". These give him new ablities like the option to change your Charge Shot's attack. That's quite cool too... You'll be wanting to get a different set of parts since there is only a limited amount of money you can use to buy them. So, go ahead and experiment!


Gameplay/Controls- 9/10
Wow... I actually gave a high score again..., Mega Man retains Capcom's responsive control system which was used in all of the Mega Man games. It's quite easy to jump around and the Mega Buster charging time has been quite fixed so that it isn't that fast OR slow. Also, you have an "improved" subscreen which more or less, looks better. And yeah, one nice feature added to the Mega Man series is an Configuration Menu were you can change the button layout of your controller. So, you could actually use your NES controller layout by simply re-configuring your controller!



Innovation- 5/10
Why? There isn't really anthing new to see in this installment... like all of the PSX Mega Man (Rockman, for you purists out there) games, there are Anime cut scenes, voices (but I warn you, you won't like them that much), and cool visuals... The only thing cool is that CAPCOM gave more graphic power to it, letting it have more of the 3D animation and background layouts. And also, there are more tidbits and some "old" stuff back which will make the true Mega Man fan and the newbie interested in it.



Is is worth it?
Ok, if you're a collector, grab it. The game comes with a cool minibook about our favorite Blue Hero... For the die- hard Mega Man fan (Like Me), also get it... simply for the reason of it being the next game in the series, do it. And finally, for the newbie/side-scroller fan..., *gasp*, also get it. The graphics and gameplay are worth it... as well as the other cool and cute stuff you can get.


Cress' overall rating- 6
Mega Man fans won't be dissapointed... almost every thing "Megaman-ish" is here... as usual, new characters, bosses and items... Though, since it also "lacks" lots of stuff, the game becomes weak in the sense of "Innovation". And side-scroller fans would also like the game, if they don't get turned off by the games flaws... and other problems.

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