Mega Man Anniversary Collection

A Tribute to Mega Man

NA release: 22nd June 2004
JP release: N/A
EU release: N/A
Developer: Atomic Planet Entertainment
Publisher: Capcom
NGC Magazine: N/A
Mods Used: None

I’ve never played any of the classic Mega Man games, so this seems like the perfect opportunity to do so. It’s a collection of Mega Man 1 to 8 along with two arcade fighting games. These versions are ports that are based on the Japanese only “Complete Works” versions for the PS1, and include a few extra features. While the first six games were NES games, with only two buttons, these ports add a turbo function on Y and allow you to swap between powers on the fly with the shoulder buttons.

There’s also a “Navi mode” which adds some hints when you pause the game and points out some suggested routes. On top of this, the menus themselves are really nice, with you controlling Mega Man and accessing things via doors. It’s a really nice package, and a collection like this seems like it would have been amazing at the time.

Mega Man

The original Mega Man, and it starts off extremely well. And very difficult (without save states, I would not get far). You can choose any level (other than the final level) to start off on and can play them in any order. Controls are nice and simple: jump and shoot, but it feels extremely precise and like every single hit is your fault. The levels are short and sweet, but there’s also plenty of variety.

Whenever you defeat a boss, you gain their power. This can make specific bosses much easier, or can let you find hidden secrets in other levels. I did encounter a dastardly trick when I reached the final level: a section where you have to jump much higher than you typically can. Turns out that there’s a secret bonus power hidden in one level. Thankfully, you can replay levels (you just have to get a game over before you return to the level select), although you have to defeat the boss again to keep your items.

For the first in the series, it’s already immensely smooth and solid, and a brilliant start.

Mega Man 2

Starting this up, and the first thing that hits you is the music. The first game had good music, but this is fantastic. It also comes across as more cinematic, with an opening scene and some text between levels. I also realised that I had played this at some point in the past, although probably not for long.

It features the same level of letting you choose which order you take the levels, with bosses having specific weaknesses. The levels feel even more diverse than last time, such as one with extremely difficult laser traps or an underwater one where you can jump higher (and don’t need to worry about oxygen). As you complete levels, you’ll also get a few special weapons that create new platforms.

This also has a trap for players. In the final section of levels, you’ll encounter a boss that requires bombs to destroy. You only have a certain number of bombs and need to use every single one perfectly to defeat it – miss one and you have to die and try again. The game also puts lots of collectables behind walls you have to blow up just before here – so you’ll likely not have full ammo when you reach the boss for the first time. Still a great game despite this.

Mega Man 3

Mega Man 3 adds a simple movement mechanic that is a ton of fun to use: a slide. Originally done by pressing down and jump, but in these versions it’s also mapped to X, which is great. It can be used to go under gaps, help dodging or just doing because its fun.

You’ll also encounter bosses from the previous games by playing remixed versions of stages once you complete the main ones, which add a bit more to play before the final gauntlet of levels.

This also introduces Rush, a robotic dog that transforms for Mega Man, providing a spring, moving platform or helping him move in water. There’s typically ways to get ammo before these sections, so there’s no traps. The only let down is that the levels felt a but more generic with no stand out mechanics. Still, a ton of fun.

Mega Man 4

This felt like Capcom had started struggling with ideas. The level gimmicks here felt like bottom of the barrel ideas that are much more frustrating: things like autoscroller sections, ice physics and wind that makes your jump shorter.

It also doesn’t feel all that unique, either. The movement abilities with Rush are exactly the same and aren’t needed to progress as much and overall it just feels like a low point.

Mega Man 5

While 4’s levels felt quite bad, Capcom bounced back with 5 as it features some of my favourite level gimmicks like a speeder bike, anti-gravity and plenty of obstacles that are just fun to figure out and get past.

I did find the powers a bit more difficult to use, as they felt more like items than weapons, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was a bad thing as you just need to think more about using them.

Really, the levels are so stand out that it doesn’t matter that Mega Man 5 doesn’t do much new because I found it so much fun that this one was my favourite in this collection,

Mega Man 6

This finally decides to shake up the abilities of Rush. Now he can form armour and encase Mega Man, giving him two new forms. One gives Mega Man a jetpack, which lasts for a short time and recharges on its own. The other is a power suit that lets you perform a strong punch that can break through new blocks.

While the levels lacked notable gimmicks, the new platforming as a result of the jetpack (the game can use it a lot as you can’t run out of ammo and get stuck) adds plenty of freshness to the game. This was the last mainline Mega Man game on the NES, and a really solid end.

Mega Man 7

A new generation for Mega Man as he jumps from the NES to the SNES. This brings us some really lovely graphics, text based dialogue in cutscenes and a bit more structure with some “cinematic” levels for the story as you have to defeat two sets of four robots instead of having access to all of them from the start.

While the game is nice to look at, the larger sprites makes it more claustrophobic. The screen fits in less stuff and you can’t see as far. To account for this, the game feels much slower and the jumps are extremely sluggish. The movement and shooting is not satisfying at all.

It’s a shame, because those are things that the series completely nailed from the very start. For the collection, this one omits the new slide button as the original game uses more buttons.

Mega Man 8

As Capcom started with a new series of Mega Man games on the SNES (which also got a collection on GameCube, so I’ll be covering them as well), it took a bit more time for the right game, which ended up on the PlayStation and the Saturn. The Saturn version had a bunch of enhancements, but this version doesn’t include them and is based on the PlayStation version.

This brings us new graphics with some absolutely gorgeous animations. It also goes for a more 3D look for the platforms, which I found to make it difficult to judge distances. The shooting and movement feels better than the SNES game, but still not as good as 1 to 6 on the NES.

It’s an enjoyable game, with some great weapons and level gimmicks, but I can fully understand why Capcom went back to the NES style later on with Mega Man 9 and 10.

Mega Man: The Power Battle

When I read about this, it sounded like a typical arcade fighting game, but it’s more of a boss rush recreating battles from the previous Mega Man games. It plays just like Mega Man, with the exception of hidden combos for special moves, and not only does it look fantastic, but the movement is great. This would have been a brilliant game to base a full Mega Man on.

You can choose between three courses featuring different bosses to fight. A few levels are shared for similarly themed bosses, but some are unique. And they all look lovely. You still gain new abilities when you defeat bosses, although choosing the order is based on stopping a moving cursor. Really good fun.

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters

The sequel to the previous arcade game. It has very similar gameplay – Mega Man style with hidden combos for special attacks. This time you can pick which order you fight the robots in and your enemies drop health.

You can also gain power ups, such as Mega Man’s dog, Rush. These are actually really annoying as you can only use Mega Man’s default blaster until they go away, so can make things worse. Apart from this one issue, it’s very enjoyable.

This is a really wonderful collection. The first six are enhanced with new features and better controls and I’m glad I played this version of the games over the later collections.

Fave

Make no two bones about it, Mega Man Anniversary Collection is one of the better anthology sets we’ve seen. Throw in the fact that is has a suggested retail price of less than $30, a decent amount of bonus content, and the right dose of enhancements to an already strong lineup of games, and it’s hard to imagine our libraries without it.
Jeremy Dunham, IGN

Remake or remaster?

The Legacy Collection has higher quality emulation and a mission mode but lacks the navi mode and control improvements. It would be nice to have an update for that.

Official Ways to get the game

Mega Man 1-8 are available in the Legacy Collection 1 & 2 while the arcade games are available in Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium.