Mega Man Mania

Bundle / compilation

For 15 years, Mega Man games have appeared on consoles, and now you can play ten of them on one disc. Mega Man Anniversary Collection includes the first eight Mega Man games plus two that were never-before-released in the U.S. See how Mega Man has crossed into other media by watching unlockable bonus features, including footage from the original Mega Man TV Series, over 30 original artwork selections, and remixed music tracks inspired by the series.

Released: 23 June 2004
Platforms: GameCube PlayStation 2 Xbox
Genres: Action Adventure Platformer Role-playing
Developers: Atomic Planet Entertainment
Publishers: Capcom
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action
Country: United Kingdom
Age ratings: ESRB E
Languages: English, Japanese

About

Mega Man Anniversary Collection is a compilation of video games developed by Atomic Planet Entertainment and published by Capcom. It was released in North America on June 23, 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube and on March 15, 2005 for the Xbox. The Anniversary Collection contains the first eight games in the original Mega Man series, which debuted on the NES with the first six games, moved to the Super NES with the seventh game, and moved to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn with the eighth game, plus two bonus arcade games. The plot follows the robotic protagonist Mega Man in his continuing adventures battling the evil Dr. Wily and his army of Robot Masters.

Keywords

compilation
multiple endings
blocks
high score
boss fight
power glove
bink video
fictional currencies
xbox 360 backwards compatibility

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

Mega Man Anniversary Collection shares qualities with Rockman Complete Works, a lineup of remakes of the first six games in the original Mega Man series, released for the PlayStation in Japan between August and December 1999. The six games were released individually, each disc containing a port of the original Famicom version as the game's "Original Mode" and several extras. A "Navi Mode" was included, featuring a hint system in which a supporting character in each title gives tips to the player via a communicator, as well an updated HUD, an arranged soundtrack, and other optional game modes.

A Game Boy Advance version of Mega Man Anniversary Collection was also in development and was originally due to be released concurrently with the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox incarnations. The game, originally announced as Mega Man Mania, was to feature color versions of the five original Game Boy Mega Man games, as well as a history section and artwork gallery. The game had its release date pushed back several times, with the delay rumored to be caused by Capcom lacking the games' original source code. In January 2006, gamers contacting Capcom were told that the game had been placed on "indefinite hold".

Reception

The collection received mostly positive reviews. The collection was slightly criticized for lacking somewhat in the extras department, and the GameCube version was criticized slightly more for not including the remixed audio for Mega Man 1-6. More controversial was the change in the GameCube edition's controls, which saw its fire and jumping buttons reversed from their original NES configuration with no option to arrange them back, making level progression much trickier as a result. Conversely, the exclusive extra in the PS2 and GameCube versions were both praised, with the GameCube version's interview being favored.

The Xbox version rated slightly better than the other two versions, because of its added exclusive content as well as the exclusive bonuses from the PS2 and GameCube versions. 5 for the other two versions) from IGN for arriving late, in addition to occasional graphical glitches depending on screen settings, which become more apparent when played on an Xbox 360.