by:	March 18, 2005

You remember back in the day when you would sit down and start playing Megaman on your Nintendo Entertainment System? Well now you can have all that fun again with Capcom's recollection of all the 'old' Megaman games bundled into one, dubbed Megaman Anniversary Collection. Sure these are old games and seem like they would be fun, which they are, but you must also be aware at how hard these games are now in the present. So something you may not realize is that video games have gotten easier over the ages, after but an hour you start getting mad and wondering how you ever beat this game when you were a kid in the first place.

Story
Almost all Megaman games have the same story, you’re a little robot boy fighting to get to the boss. Basically the story consists of you controlling Megaman through a series of levels that you get to choose with a unique and interesting boss waiting at the end of each stage. With the help of Dr. Light, Megaman is able to gain upgrades and what not to progress through these levels and ultimately stop the evil villian known as Dr. Willy, the creator of all the robot bosses. Of course Willy has the same intention that evey evil doctor has...taking over the world and having absolute power. This is where Megaman comes in to save the world over and over again. With Capcom's still innovative way of choosing which level you’re going to play, Megaman was the first game where you could actually chose what level you wanted to play.

Gameplay
More aggravating then you remember, but still tons of fun to play. Although it’s very basic looking, there are still lots of possibilities, like changing weapons, jumping, charge shots (only in later Megaman games). With the surprisingly long levels you could spend days on each Megaman game. This is mostly true because of the level of difficulty that comes with these older types of games. Megaman only has a certain amount of life points and when he takes damage, he takes alot of it. Sure there are health replenishers throughout each level, but with Megaman's lack of great moving abilites, he is limited to certain moves and evasive attacks that make it easier to get hit. Along side of all the Megaman games included, also along with the game are quite a few extras that can be viewed immediately and some waiting to be unlocked. Anniversary Collection packages in alot of extras including: the first episode of Megaman NT Warrior, an interview with the creator of Megaman and much more.



Graphics
Well you obvioulsy can't say much about the graphcis being too good nowadays but you need to consider that these were cutting-edge graphics when these games were originally released. The very first few Megamans have, of course, very outdated graphics and can sometimes get rather boring to look at, but as time progressed through the Megaman saga, you can see the graphics getting much better and more fluent. Each Megaman game has very bright colorful environments that very nicely fit the game's mood and energy coming from this older child's type game. There are no slow downs in the graphic speed at all, and why would there be? This is complete classic gaming at its best where lag and slow processing was a thing of the future.

Sound
While it's no spectacular symphony as you see in most games today, the 8 bit music from the classic Megaman games is back and is better than ever. Each getting it's own theme can easily get those quirky little tunes stuck in your head if you play for too long and especially on the bosses. The sound effects fit nicely even though they are the same effects over and over (jump, charge, shoot, etc.) they still sound very clean and I'm sure when you here the sound of Megaman charging his gun again, you'll get butterfiles all over again.

Megaman Anniversary Collection also includes some 2 player capabilities allowing this game can be fun for you and one of your friends for hours, days, or weeks. Capcom took something good and bundled 10 of them together in one compact disk to make something wonderful. And if you have never played a Megaman game then go out and get this game now!

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Capcom took 10 great games and put them all on one disc. Although it is fun it's an old game, and old games get old fast, because now you are use to the graphics of this generation. Even though Megaman Anniversary Collection is a bunch of old games all stuck together in one, collectively it brings back all the fun and challenge you had when these games were state of the art. MegaMan AC is definently a must for any MegaMan fan and if you're not than give this bundle a try to see what you've been missing.

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