Mega Man Anniversary Collection for GameCube

The Mega Man series has been a staple in the history of Video Games. He ranks up with the likes of Sonic The Hedgehog, Pac Man, and of course Mario. The overall themes of the games are simple. Get through to the end of the level, defeat the boss, and gain his skills, move on to the next stage, repeat... But why are we drawn to Mega Man? Why would I want to buy this collection of "old school" games when I could pick up thousands of new games? Well the answer is....simple is sometimes better. Some of the best games are the basic side-scrolling action/shooters.

When Mega Man hit the market in the mid to late 80's, it was an instant hit. The game had a basic storyline. Defeat an evil scientist named Dr. Wily and his powerful robots with names like CutMan, FireMan, GutsMan, etc. The downfall of the game was the fact that you couldn't save your progress as you completed a level. But with the re-release of the game in this collection, now you can save your progress at the end of each boss encounter.

Mega Man 2 is probably at the top of my list of favorites. With the addition of 2 more bosses, Mega Man has to fight through larger levels, fight more mechanical baddies, and obtain more powerful weapons. I say it's my favorite, because it's actually the very first game I played in the series. The graphics were updated a bit from the first, and had a smoother feel to it. The game also featured a password feature that allowed you to start off exactly where you left off at. So the replay value was a little more. You could play through a level or two, and then turn the game off and pick it up later. So it allowed gamers to get a little more sleep than they would have. But to tell you the truth....I stayed up until after midnight most the time playing through all the levels over and over again...

Capcom really capitalized on the popularity of the second game, and released a third installment....you guess it, Mega Man 3. The gameplay was the same, and the graphics were almost identical, other than the fact that there were new levels added, etc. Also the addition of a robo-canine sidekick named Rush was added for good measure.

The series is further developed with the introduction of several new allies and enemies in the later installments (Mega Man 4 through 6) Some of the most memorable characters are FlipTop (the short squatty robot who "flips open" his head to give you random items), Beat (a little mechanical bird reminiscent of the mechanical owl form the movie, Clash of the Titans) and Protoman (who we later, learn is Mega Man's "brother"). In Mega Man 4 we were introduced to Mega Man's female counterpart, Roll (Mega Man in Japan is called Rock....and she's called Roll...Get it....Rock ‘n' Roll...)

As the series progressed, the graphics continued to get a little better, as well as the music in the game. The intro theme to each of the robots was a staple in the series.

The series really evolved when it hit the Super Nintendo (SNES). When Mega Man 7 hit the console, it featured some added elements that were crucial to the continuation of the series. The graphics got an overhaul. The graphics were much more detailed, and had a "cartoon" element to it. The character designs were crisp. Capcom also added dialogue during the opening and ending of a level, as well as important events during the game. The game also included a shop, where you could buy upgrades from the "bolts" you collected in the game, as well as a future ally Bass, and his robotic-wolf named, Treble (do you see a pattern here....Rock and Roll...Bass and Treble?)

Mega Man 8 is one of the best games in the series, along with my personal favorites, Mega Man 2. The graphics of this game are awesome. Super colors, detailed animations, and crisp backgrounds and characters made this game a pleasure to watch. Mega Man was also reanimated to take on a sleeker look, which we have all grown to love (check out Marvel vs Capcom 2, for the Sega Dreamcast if you haven't played MM8) Also, the game took advantage of the power of the Sony PlayStation (and the Sega Saturn) and included an Anime-movie intro at the beginning of the game. The sound effects were much better too. And it was the first in the series to have voice-overs during the stage intro's, and the bosses also taunted you at the beginning of (and during) your one-on-one battle with them. It was also one of the first Mega Man games to be released on a Sega console. A couple "remixed" versions of the first couple Mega Man games appeared on the Sega Genesis in Japan, this was the first in North America.

In this collection, two unreleased games from the arcades of Japan are included. Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters were originally only found in the arcade. The games took a real turn in the series. The games featured side-scrolling fighting against famous bosses in the series. It also featured some RPG elements as well (a small amount) Each time you defeated a boss, you gained their abilities just like in the original games. MM2: The Power Fighters, also took a turn and allowed you to go through a "story" like mode and take part in three different storylines (Stop Wily, Rescue Roll, or Find Parts) And you don't have to just play as Mega Man. You also have the choice of playing as Bass, Duo (the fat robot from MM8), Protoman, and of course Mega Man. The graphics were very pleasing to the eyes, and they are exactly like the ones seen in Mega Man 7 for the SNES.

This is a must have collection. If you don't have a console to play this collection on....go out and buy one of the platforms it appears on. The collection offers a bit of history in the video game world. Mega Man Anniversary Collection offers a lot of replay value and features 8 classic games, 2 more un-lockable games, and a documentary of the series, art gallery, soundtrack library, and more.  The development team did a great job in porting these classics to the Nintendo GameCube.

The only downfall of the collection is the fact that you have to get used to the button configurations. They felt natural on the original controllers, but now it feels kind of odd. It would have been nice to have an option to change the controller settings but it is really a minor problem.

ORIGINAL PLATFORMS THESE GAMES APPEARED ON...


Mega Man (1987)
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Mega Man 2 (1989)
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Mega Man 3 (1990)
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Mega Man 4 (1991)
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Mega Man 5 (1992)
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Mega Man 6 (1993)
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Mega Man 7 (1995)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

Mega Man 8 (1999)
Sony PlayStation
&
Sega Saturn

Mega Man: The Power Battle (1995)
Arcade...Japan only

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (1996)
Arcade...Japan only

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[TITLE]
Mega Man Anniversary Collection

[PLATFORM]
Nintendo GameCube

[DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER]
Atomic Planet Entertainment/Capcom

[YEAR of RELEASE]
2004

[GENRE]
Action/Adventure/Platform Adventure

[ESRB RATING]
E for Everyone
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© COPYRIGHT 2009 Chris_Billings