Mega Man Anniversary Collection for GameCube
- ESRB Descriptor: Animated Violence
- ESRB Rating: E - (Everyone)
- Publisher: Capcom
- Genre: Action Adventure
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Mega Nostalgia Mixed with an Unreleased Gem
Pros
<br>Power Battles <br>Complete Collection
Cons
<br>Games feel dated <br>No good bonus content
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Growing up on Megaman, I expected more from this title. Solid for its time, but dated for today's audience. Rent it.
Lets talk about the rock... Rock Man that is, or as he is known in the USA, Megaman. Megaman is a series that started as an experiment and lasted for ten installments and spawned a slue of spin-offs. The Megaman Anniversary Collection brings the series’ roots back.
The story behind all that is Megaman follows a simple and repetitive mode. Dr Light is sitting in his lab thinking all is well with the world. Dr Wily steals, infects, or converts something of Dr Light’s to use it for evil. Dr Light then builds (Megaman 1) or upgrades Rock (aka Megaman) and sends him out against eight evil robots (six in the first game). Blah, blah, blah. Players of this series never really cared about the story. The truth is, there really wasn’t much of a story until Megaman 4 which added minor dialog about a Dr. Cossack. At the end of every game, Dr Wily escapes, only to return in a later game.
Here’s where Megaman shines. The game is very simple. Run, jump, and shoot. Typical of platformers. The thing that separates Megaman from other platformers is that once you topple a robot master, you can then use his ability against other robot masters. Some robot masters are weak against other’s abilities. In Megaman 2, players should defeat Bubbleman before fighting Heatman. The “Lead Bubble” attack gained can defeat Heatman in four to five shots. This is a far cry better than hammering on him for ten minutes with your normal gun. With this added level of strategy, you immediately see that knowing the correct order to defeat bosses in becomes critical. Game guides are the best way to figure this out if you haven’t already played the games since enemies like Crashman seem to have no natural element that they should be weak against.
As the games progress, Megaman gets additional tools. The ability to slide comes in Megaman 3 along with a robot dog named Rush. Rush can turn into a submarine, springboard, hoverboard, or mobilesuit, depending on the game you are playing. While the dog aspect seemed good at the time, I find it annoying that some areas of the game require players to prioritize fueling Rush. In the Shadowman Revisited stage (Megaman 3), an empty Rush Marine means you have to forfeit the level since Megaman can’t swim.
The first six titles use the 8-bit graphics from the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Megaman 7 uses the Super Nintendo (SNES) graphics, while Megaman 8 uses Playstation (PSOne) graphics. The later progression makes the games seem slightly off balance. While I am not a fan of using the same sprites over and over, I think Capcom should have done so to keep consistency or upgraded everything at Megaman 2 and continued upgrading with new games. Either way, the progression of games seems severely off. If you take the games individually, The seventh and eighth installments look like great improvements over the previous.
As a bonus to the first eight Megaman games, Capcom included the Japanese only arcade game “Megaman Power Battles” (aka: Rockman Power Battles). These games play very different from the core series. Megaman, Protoman, or Bass can fight a random selection of robot masters from the first six games. Defeating them gives you their power. You then go after other robot masters. Instead of running through levels like the core series, these games skip straight to the boss fights. This game feels like it was supposed to use a fighting game format, but instead used action controls. Both of the Power Battles games can be completed under ten minutes. The draw is the crazy action that keeps players coming back for more. Grab a friend, and you’re in for a wild, co-op experience.
I have very few bones to pick with this title. First, I wish players could have brought weapons from the older games to later titles. So, if I beat Iceman in Megaman 1, I would have liked to be able to use it on Heatman in Megaman 2. The crossover of weapons would have been fun. Players must unlock the Power Battles games, and the Power Battles games do not benefit the player by unlocking any content. The unlockable content includes an interview with one of the creators that I just didn’t care to watch.
As a whole, the Megaman Anniversary Collection does what it should. It gathers the first eight games into a collection. Platformer fans may enjoy this title, but I found that my more modern gamer friends only likes Power Battles. In the end, this is more for nostalgia than it is a viable collection for players. I recommend renting it.
The story behind all that is Megaman follows a simple and repetitive mode. Dr Light is sitting in his lab thinking all is well with the world. Dr Wily steals, infects, or converts something of Dr Light’s to use it for evil. Dr Light then builds (Megaman 1) or upgrades Rock (aka Megaman) and sends him out against eight evil robots (six in the first game). Blah, blah, blah. Players of this series never really cared about the story. The truth is, there really wasn’t much of a story until Megaman 4 which added minor dialog about a Dr. Cossack. At the end of every game, Dr Wily escapes, only to return in a later game.
Here’s where Megaman shines. The game is very simple. Run, jump, and shoot. Typical of platformers. The thing that separates Megaman from other platformers is that once you topple a robot master, you can then use his ability against other robot masters. Some robot masters are weak against other’s abilities. In Megaman 2, players should defeat Bubbleman before fighting Heatman. The “Lead Bubble” attack gained can defeat Heatman in four to five shots. This is a far cry better than hammering on him for ten minutes with your normal gun. With this added level of strategy, you immediately see that knowing the correct order to defeat bosses in becomes critical. Game guides are the best way to figure this out if you haven’t already played the games since enemies like Crashman seem to have no natural element that they should be weak against.
As the games progress, Megaman gets additional tools. The ability to slide comes in Megaman 3 along with a robot dog named Rush. Rush can turn into a submarine, springboard, hoverboard, or mobilesuit, depending on the game you are playing. While the dog aspect seemed good at the time, I find it annoying that some areas of the game require players to prioritize fueling Rush. In the Shadowman Revisited stage (Megaman 3), an empty Rush Marine means you have to forfeit the level since Megaman can’t swim.
The first six titles use the 8-bit graphics from the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Megaman 7 uses the Super Nintendo (SNES) graphics, while Megaman 8 uses Playstation (PSOne) graphics. The later progression makes the games seem slightly off balance. While I am not a fan of using the same sprites over and over, I think Capcom should have done so to keep consistency or upgraded everything at Megaman 2 and continued upgrading with new games. Either way, the progression of games seems severely off. If you take the games individually, The seventh and eighth installments look like great improvements over the previous.
As a bonus to the first eight Megaman games, Capcom included the Japanese only arcade game “Megaman Power Battles” (aka: Rockman Power Battles). These games play very different from the core series. Megaman, Protoman, or Bass can fight a random selection of robot masters from the first six games. Defeating them gives you their power. You then go after other robot masters. Instead of running through levels like the core series, these games skip straight to the boss fights. This game feels like it was supposed to use a fighting game format, but instead used action controls. Both of the Power Battles games can be completed under ten minutes. The draw is the crazy action that keeps players coming back for more. Grab a friend, and you’re in for a wild, co-op experience.
I have very few bones to pick with this title. First, I wish players could have brought weapons from the older games to later titles. So, if I beat Iceman in Megaman 1, I would have liked to be able to use it on Heatman in Megaman 2. The crossover of weapons would have been fun. Players must unlock the Power Battles games, and the Power Battles games do not benefit the player by unlocking any content. The unlockable content includes an interview with one of the creators that I just didn’t care to watch.
As a whole, the Megaman Anniversary Collection does what it should. It gathers the first eight games into a collection. Platformer fans may enjoy this title, but I found that my more modern gamer friends only likes Power Battles. In the end, this is more for nostalgia than it is a viable collection for players. I recommend renting it.
