Mega Man 8 Anniversary Collector's Edition

"It's the Blue Bomber... again. As fun as ever, if not getting a little old."

I just gotta wonder... what IS the warranty on Mega Man? For over ten years, he's been running, fighting evil in what has the be the most numerous amount of games of any mascot, ever. And with the exception of the occasional dud (Mega Man 6, Mega Man Soccer) has done it well. Mega Man 8 is no exception.

If you're going to buy a version of MM8, it's gotta be the Saturn version. With improved graphics, better control, and NO slowdown whatsoever, there is no excuse for settling for the PSX version if you own a Saturn. Especially since you can get if for dirt-cheap at any Saturn clearout or game resale store like Funcoland.

The game is Mega Man, with nothing really new all that new (save the one shooter-syle level), but that's ok. It's still the definition of well-done 2D platformer. If you've like the other 20 or so Mega Man games, then you'll like this one. The weapons are among the best the series has seen, the bosses have more-difficult to decipher patterns, and the stages are easily the best in the series. Besides MMX4, it's as good as Mega Man gets.

However, if you got sick of the platform-jumping, pellet-shooting, and boss-mashing someodd games ago, then you'll find no reason to like this game more than it's prequils other than some flashy new graphics. It still comes down to tackeling the first eight in the right order, then going and smacking Wily around in his castle.

The other new additions, the anime cutscenes and vocals for Mega Man, are not really that well. The cutscenes are poorly done, with the ultimate of "cheese dialogue." The terrible 6-year-old girl voice of Mega Man makes even StarFox 64's Slippy or Lunar's Nall tolerable. It's time that Capcom got over making their Blue-Killing-Machine so... cutsie. The X series does it well, but it doesn't mean the main Mega Man doesn't need to grow up a little too.

Mega Man's reached the peak of his game in MM8. It's just that he too sooo many games getting there, it's old hat by now. While it'd be a shame to see 2D Mega Man go away, if there's no radical innovation's soon, even the most die-hard fans won't be there when that innovation eventually happens.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99