I admit it. I am getting up there in years as a gamer. My childhood was spent playing on those ancient-looking Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. It was back in this day that games were *hard.* And very few of them were accessible to the average player. It took patience, time and skill to progress forward. One of the major companies back in those days was Capcom, a tour-de-force of old school-difficulty. The company also is one of the biggest offenders of selling the same game over and over again. In other words, Capcom prostituted its characters to make a profit. This is easily seen in the majority of the Resident Evil series, Mega Man series, Mega Man X series, Ghost ’n’ Goblins series, Street Fighter series, Devil May Cry series and so forth. Ironically, Capcom also is one of the best innovators in the game industry, which is best seen in the following games: Okami, Resident Evil 4, Onimusha and, of course, the original three Mega Man games. Now, gamers of all ages have the opportunity to see the best and worst of all eight Mega Man games in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection.

Unless you started playing video games after 1995, you probably know how the Mega Man series works. If not, here is a quick summary: choose robot, destroy and steal powers. Lather, rinse and repeat until Doctor Wily is back in jail. It is that simple. No complex plotlines or character development. Mega Man 7 was the first to truly attempt to have a plot, but it ultimately fails for a wide variety of reasons. And the rest of those games’ plots were almost as bad.

Anyway, back in the Blue Bomber’s heyday, he was something special: Players could choose the order to tackle the bosses. Then players could use those weapons against their enemies! And it worked because of the tight and responsive controls. If you couldn’t make it over that pit, it was your own fault for jumping too quickly or not properly perceiving the pattern of the flashing blocks fast enough (which I hate). Out of all of the games in the collection, the original is the loosest, and with each additional game, they get tighter. As cool as it was back then, it is horridly clichéd now, because this collection proves that it is the same game eight times over. Certain games have cool weapons, such as metal blade gears, a shuriken, heat blasts and tornados. Others are just remixes or toned-down versions of previous weapons: circling shields of any type, freeze-frame attacks and all-screen attacks.

With each installment, some things were subtly changed — whether it was the addition of items (or a dog) that helped you progress across long pits, charging shots (Mega Man 4 and onward), the much needed for dodging technique of sliding (Mega Man 3 and onward), combining with Rush the robot dog (Mega Man 6). On the one hand, it helped keep things fresh. Now, looking back, it is clearly seen as it is: padding things as an excuse to make more games. On the whole, these games will definitely keep people busy for awhile. However, once you know what you are doing, they also can be beaten in an afternoon.

It is important to note for those old-school gamers who still have them, their old Mega Man passwords can still be used. Have a password that lets you start the game with X number of energy tanks? Beaten certain bosses? Start a new game and input it. Capcom was decent enough to include those old bugs that gamers used to exploit, such as the flying birds when selecting a certain stage in the second game or the unlimited energy trick in Mega Man 3 by falling into a pit and pressing buttons on the second controller (I never mastered this trick as an old friend of mine showed it to me eons ago). This also means that the items/Rush skills are mapped to the L2 and R2 buttons and the regular weapons to the L1 and R1 buttons (respectively). While the regular weapon shifting always works, the previously mentioned item switching doesn’t always work in each game. This means, for reliability sake, one must go through the usual item screen and select the desired item. Thankfully, the triangle button acts as a turbo button; just hold it down, and it will consistently shoot three bullets at time. It makes destroying all things on screen easier.

Graphically, this collection will appear dated to modern gamers. Those of us who grew up on Sega Genesis and NES will be taken back to their childhood days of playing 8-bit games. In other words, this is the highlight of 8-bit graphics. However, this does not mean the games were poorly animated for their time. Most of the time, the games run smoothly. The last two games are best looking because of the improvements in hardware at the time — they were released on the SNES and PlayStation (respectively). It is amazing that nearly almost 20 years ago, Capcom was able to make a character despicable just by having the antagonist raise his eyebrows.

Sound wise, everything is adequate. This is the stereotypical synth music of yesteryear. Nothing really stands out, nor is it offensive to the ears. All of the proper jumping sounds, shots and explosions are intact. The PS2 version has remixed music, which makes it a little more of a treat to hear. The only and most horrendous offender is Mega Man 8, which makes the Blue Bomber sound like a Japanese school girl. (This also includes the anime episode included on the disc.)

Individually, certain games have aged better than others. The original game is adequate and a nice place to start. Many gamers believe that the next installment, Mega Man 2, is the best. This has to do with the tight controls and level design and awesome weapons. I believe that the third game is the best because of the great weapons, level design, length and proper degree of challenge. It also has the much needed slide function and a cute dog! (So? I love dogs.)

Games four thru six are essentially the same game remixed. Four has a higher degree of difficulty than most of the other games. Five is more of the same. Six has Mega Man combining with his dog and has to find the “real” robots. They all share the same average level design and even crappier weapons. When compared to the earlier games, it certainly feels like Capcom should have stopped due to the mediocrity of it all.

Seven has the Blue Bomber looking disenfranchised — bored. The levels are even shorter, the weapons are useless and the level design, while it does include “changeable” levels, is far too recycled from previous games. This is even truer with the eighth installment. The levels were horridly designed and boring. Weapons are cliché. Story elements are stale. All of the improvements that made the gameplay move forward in Mega Man X are absent: high octane action, awesome weapons and improvements in character motivations. The only cool part is in Mega Man 7 is that one of the bosses looks like a vampire.

And then there are the two unlockable games. These are arcade versions of the games. Sadly, the game just does not translate very well into arcade form. It feels muggy. It just does not feel right and is only good for a quick diversion. GameCube owners probably get the longer end of the stick because they get interviews with people involved in the games instead of the remixed music.

All in all, this truly is a really decent collection. Not everyone will like or appreciate this collection. It is the best in hardcore old-school gaming. It also showcases the worst of old-school gaming. Out of the eight games in the collection, Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 are the best and should definitely be played — or at least seen on Youtube. Only the hardcore who have worked their way through newer hardcore games such as Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal need apply. If you’re interested, rent it. If you’re already familiar with this series, you already know if this belongs in your library. There are worse games to play — especially when it comes to old-school gaming.

With the ninth installment released, I wonder if we truly need another game? Sure, as anyone who has played Mega Man knows that there is a lot of fun to experience. There also is a lot of frustration and recycled ad nausuem gameplay. The Blue Boy is starting to look tired due to the exploitation of going through the same events over and over again. As nice as the collection is, it shows that the series needs a major shot in the arm to keep it relevant. Despite the fact that Mega Man 9 is released, I am still not convinced that the series still has life in it. From what little I have seen, it still looks and plays the game of yesteryear and is banking on nostalgia more than genuine innovation. Let’s stop playing Mega Man now; that way, there will not be another anniversary collection 15 years from now with games 9 thru 18. There will always be a place in my heart for you, M; just stop now before you’re forced to do something you might regret.