Mega Man Anniversary Collection
“Fight, Mega Man! For everlasting peace!”
Tags: Mega Man Anniversary Collection Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Ludwig on May 6th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mega Man Anniversary Collection (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Platformer | No | ||
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The year is 1987. A man looks up at the wobbling ceiling fan, noting the slight squeaking sound that accompanies each turn. He shifts his chair back slightly, as if to get away from the decidedly drab mounds of paperwork that currently share the desk with a thin veil of dust. The office is entirely devoid of life, the bustle of Capcom employees having subsided along with the appearance of fresh ideas. Suddenly, the door bursts open, as if to signal the arrival of something new, as well as the arrival of a person…and the point of this elaborate opening paragraph.
“Sir! I have it!”
“A penchant for bothering me?”
“We’ve only got some rough code in place, but this game is going to capture the imaginations of people everywhere!”
“What about the contents of their wallets?”
“Well, that too.”
“Excellent. I’m listening.”
“We’re calling it MEGA MAN.”
“A good, strong name. What’s it about?”
“It’s about this boy robot that -”
“Wait a second…boy robot?”
“Yes.”
“I thought it would be about a man…a mega man.”
“No, Mega Man is a boy robot.”
“Wait, so you’re saying Mega Man is not even a man? He’s a robot?”
“See, he has to fight evil robots, like Cut Man, Spark Man or -”
“So…he’s fighting other men?”
“No, other robots.”
“Then why isn’t it Cutbot or Sparkbot?”
“Anyway, he has to steal their powers from them.”
“Steal? Is this something we want children exposed to? Rampant klemptomania?”
“Well, that’s just how Mega Man is.”
“But he’s not Mega Man…he’s Kleptomaniac Robot Boy!”
“The other name we had in mind was Rockman.”
“So…he’s made of rock now? He wields a guitar? What?”
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Regardless of his mildly misleading moniker, there’s no doubt that Capcom’s beloved Blue Bomber has brazenly blasted his way into the hallowed halls of gaming history. Having a cannon for an arm is certainly advantageous in that regard, but it’s really the long-running series’ trademark gameplay that has ensured its platforming permanence. At long last, Xbox owners get to sample Mega Man Anniversary Collection, a terrifically emulated compilation of the boy robot’s classic adventures. They’re as exciting and addictive as ever, though whether that indicates Mega Man’s inherent quality or the lack of it in modern titles is up for some debate.
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There’s no argument to be had regarding the difficulty level of these games. If you’re coming back into the fray with nothing but nostalgia and a belief that years of experience have molded you into a better gamer, there’s a nasty surprise in wait for you, the kind of surprise that appears in a sinister and constantly ticking package. Precarious platforms and razor-sharp spikes are deviously placed throughout the levels, with enemy patterns designed to foil your every move and bosses empowered to crush reckless players with ease. Things get easier once you leave the realms of the NES games (Mega Man 1 through 6), but frustration and senseless yelling at the TV will be commonplace until you graduate to Mega Man’s later outings. And that’s just the way we like it.
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Of course, if you don’t feel quite up to those pixel-perfect jumps and titanic boss battles, the Anniversary Collection’s general options menu allows you to bump up Mega Man’s original tally of lives from 3 to 5. Purists are undoubtedly tearing out their hair in outrage at the mention of such a feature, but for those who have already wrenched out every last follicle following the infamous Iceman stage will no doubt appreciate it. A further split between hardcore fans and more casual ones is sure to be created by Navi Mode, a neat little enhancement that places optional hints throughout the games, as well as remixes to most of the music tracks. The hints are rather poorly translated and vary wildly between helpful and useless (“Fireman is a tough opponent. You’re probably going to take a lot of damage.”), but the series’ energetic and catchy soundtrack is definitely improved by superior sound quality (though your mileage may vary). Navi Mode is entirely optional, however, and so it provides a nice update to the games without being overbearing. The collection also features quite an intelligent save system that keeps track of your progress in each seperate title, bypassing the need to hastily scribble down passwords in-between levels.
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The most important part of a collection such as this one is how well the gameplay has been preserved. In this area, Mega Man Anniversary Collection is about as good as it gets without busting out the ‘ole NES and hyperventilating into the cartridges. The many gameplay concepts, from the timed platform hopping to claiming the abilities of an absurdly named boss as your own are still as relevant and enjoyable as when the games first saw release, with many of them still filtering through to modern titles. At only $20, it’s painfully obvious how great of a bargain this collection of 10 Mega Man games is. Okay, so Mega Man 7 brings about more nausea than nostalgia and the bonus oddities of Mega Man Power Battles and Mega Man Power Fighters aren’t exactly stellar, but the first 6 Mega Man titles more than make up for it.
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Graphically speaking, Mega Man Anniversary Collection is absolutely stunning. Your optical nerves are sure to be assaulted by the 8 simultaneous on-screen colors, not to mention Mega Man’s impossibly fluid animations…assuming you live in 1987, of course. While they’re bereft of bump mapping, real-time lighting and bloom effects, the graphics are almost perfectly emulated on the Xbox – the “almost” part being attributed to some minor flickering and interlacing issues here and there, most obvious with the use of Mega Man’s Magnetic Beam. The controls also translate perfectly to the Xbox pad (with weapons switching relegated to the triggers for all the games) and boast multiple configurations, something which is certainly a step up from the GameCube version’s offensive swapping of the jump and fire buttons.
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This edition of Mega Man Anniversary Collection additionally trumps the Playstation 2 and GameCube variants by containing both a developer interview and an episode from the Mega Man anime series, along with some other unlockable goodies. Nothing too grand or exciting, but fans are sure to appreciate it regardless. That being said, Mega Man Anniversary Collection can be enjoyed by seasoned veterans of the Blue Bomber’s exploits and newcomers to the series alike. A good dose of nostalgia comes with the deal, but it isn’t necessary to realize that this is a comprehensive and superbly put together package with some truly classic gameplay at its core.
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“…and that’s why he’s called Gutsman.”
“Ah, I see. What about the others?”
“Well, there’s Fireman.”
“Wait…doesn’t he put out fires? Why does Mega Man have to fight him? Aren’t we sending the wrong message here?”
“No, Fireman creates fires. Like Cut Man…he cuts things.”
“I suppose that makes sense in some twisted kind of way. Are those all the villains?”
“There are some we couldn’t fit in due to time constraints. Like WMD Man, who has the power of invisibility, or Mail Man, who harnesses the power of radioactive stamps.”
“Hey, we have to keep something for the sequel, you know.”
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Classic and always challenging Mega Man gameplay. + Nearly flawless emulation. + Navi Mode contributes some cool music remixes. + Intelligent save system. + Multiple control schemes. + Only $20. Bargain. |
8.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Usefulness of in-game hints fluctuates wildly. - A few flickering and interlacing graphical errors. - He’s not a man, he’s a robot! |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| The best way to instantly add a bunch of truly classic games to your Xbox collection. | |
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Tags: Mega Man Anniversary Collection
Posted by Ludwig on May 6th, 2005 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
