Hearkening back to the days when stories were relegated to a manual page and the intro movie, and plots were reused as long as the formula kept up, Mega Man Collection contains massive amounts of old-school gameplay at a bargain bin price. If you're considering Mega Man Collection, it's only for one of two reasons. Fond memories, or experiencing a gaming icon. For either of these reasons, you can't possibly go wrong. For the most part, everything is exactly as you would remember, or as you'd experience on the NES. The auto-save system does decrease the difficulty on some games (especially the first) but for the most part the games are as challenging as ever. The sprites are blocky but sharp, as if you were playing them on the NES, and controls are as precise as the originals. The game features an optional upgraded soundtrack, and an optional interface upgrade. Neither detract from the gameplay of the originals in any way if you turn them on, and the audio especially benefits from the upgrade. Mega Man 1, 2, and 3 are the real stars here - when you can play them all at once, it's fairly obvious that the originality of the series began to flounder past this point (at least until revived by the onset of the Mega Man X series, which itself has now run on far too long), but every game is still worth playing. Progressing enough in the original titles will unlock two additional games, neither of which appeared stateside - they're also nice for a diversion, but don't quite measure up to the rest. The only major gripe about this release are the control changes, which will undoubtedly throw anyone who devoted serious time to the NES versions for a loop. Jump and shoot have been reversed on the GameCube controller, and there is no support for reconfiguring the buttons. After a few hours of play you'll get used to the new layout, but prepare to be humbled until you have time to adapt. Once you do, it's classic platforming action at its best, and even those of you who missed the original releases will see why the Mega Man franchise is held in the same esteem as Mario and Zelda.
Other Helpful Reviews for Mega Man Anniversary Collection
A nice compilation bundle. Would cost a fortune in time and money to put together separatey. Hello, a trip down memory lane, all megaman collection at the fingertips is just too sweet. In the compilation a few of ... Read Full Review
Mega Man has come a long way from his origins. We've seen a plethora of series' about the Blue Bomber, all evolving into something that is just too complex and too difficult to be any good. That's why fans of Mega Man cr... Read Full Review
