Mega Man 8 Anniversary Edition

"One of the Best Megaman games ever made. Why? Click to find out."

Megaman 8 (PS)

I’m a big Megaman fan but I haven’t played it for some time. I recently, I bought this game and fell in love with it. You may seem that Megaman is repetitive (which it is) but Capcom surely made another hit on my list. It’s been over 5 years since this game was released but I found it to be a true classic. It was released in 1996 for the Megaman (or Rockman if you prefer the Japanese name) 10th Anniversary. It’s pretty close to the 15th Anniversary, so I will hope that more games like this for Megaman will be released.

Gameplay

The gameplay is pretty simple for a Megaman game. Jump, shoot, charge and fire, slide, run and swim (the only Megaman game in which you can swim…I think). The controls are easy to learn. Yet something so simple can be hard at times. Unlike the X, you can’t cling on to the walls (which would really help at times) but there are ways to get around it. Some stages are down right frustrating (example, Frostman’s Stage). For me, the more challenging the game the better it is. A good eye also helps since you need to be fast to dodge some of the bosses’ attacks. Sliding will help you for most of the game, so will jumping and shooting.

Story

The story is much like its predecessors but this game has some original material. The story (of course) revolves around Dr. Wily. Dr. Wily is a mad scientist that wants to take over the world and uses 8 robot masters to succeed in this task. One hero along with his sister Roll, his brother Protoman, his dog Rush, Eddie a “flip-flop”, Beat the Bird, and Auto the Mechanic Robot always manage to defeat him. And as always, Dr. Wily escapes and Megaman and Company goes after him to defeat him. In this game, a robot from space crash-landed on Earth along with an “Evil Form” after a huge battle. Megaman goes to investigate but Dr. Wily beats him to the mysterious “meteor”. He grabs the ultimate energy form and Megaman is left to help the injured robot. As the game goes on you find out more about the mysterious energy and of the Space Robot. It’s a bit redundant but original.

Graphics

This game out performs the other Megaman games at graphics. The 8-Bit NES and 16-Bit Super NES graphics don’t come close to this game. The exception though is the Super Famicom (Super NES in Japan) game Rockman and Forte (Megaman and Bass). But that’s another review that I’ll do later. Megaman still has a somewhat of a cartoony look but its more realistic. The lush backgrounds and vivid colors also help create an environment that no other Megaman game has ever been able to do. Everything (graphic wise of course) was remodeled to the best that the developers and programmers could. The buster shots, the way he jumps, runs, swims, slides, and shoots was changed. The enemies themselves also got the needed attention they deserved. Only the X4-X6 games and Rockman and Forte can measure up to the graphics of Megaman 8.

Sound

Well the sound is very soft and soothing. Its not the rock type of music you would expect on the X games and not as childish as those on Megaman 1-7, but those come pretty close to Megaman 8.The Boss Select music is catchy along with almost every other background music of the stages. Most of the sound effects are like the old ones just updated and more clearly. Some sound effects are new such as the swimming whoosh Megaman does when he stokes through the water. This si also the first Megaman game to feature voiceovers. I know Megaman has a girlish voice but he’s just a mer boy. Most of the other voices fit the characters (with the exceptions of Dr. Light, Aquaman, and so on). You’ll either like them or hate them, I liked them but Megaman’s voice gets annoying after some time with his “Power Shot”.

Replay

Beating this game should not take that long even for beginners. It took me about a couple of days to fully beat it and getting all the 40 bolts. Unlike Megaman 7 and Rockman and Forte, bolts here are not as easy to get since in those games the enemies have some probability to drop a small or large bolt. Here they’re 40 bolts to collect. The bolts are what make most Megaman 8 gamers continue to play it even if they beat Wily. About 20 of the Bolts are easy to get and are pretty obvious to locate. The rest are hidden well and will take some times to find. But after doing this and beating Wily for the 6th time, you might not want to play it anymore. I still play it for fun now and then but I’m mostly finished with it.

Overall

This game really evolved Megaman to the best Capcom could do back then. My opinions on this game might be different from those of other Megaman fans but many would agree that this was a major change for our Blue Friend. The Blue Bomber really does it all in this game so my rating for this game shall be a 9 out of 10. I gave it a 9 because even if it has Anime scenes and all the other wonderful additions to this game, there are some elements that brought its rate down. A 9 is still a very high score, and it deserves it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/21/02, Updated 03/21/02