''Mega Man 8'' is an

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and released by

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...

in 1996. It was directed by Hayato Kaji and produced by

Keiji Inafune is a Japanese video game producer, illustrator and businessman. Starting his career at Capcom in the late 1980s, his job was as an artist and illustrator. The first two games he worked on were the original ''Street Fighter'' and ''Mega Man'' in ...

, both of whom had previously worked on the series as artists. It is the eighth installment in the original ''Mega Man'' series, and was initially released in Japan on the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

in 1996. The following year, ''Mega Man 8'' saw a release on the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

and was localized for both consoles in North America and the PlayStation alone in

PAL region The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used i ...

s. ''Mega Man 8'' is the first game in the series made available on 32-bit consoles. The plot follows series protagonist

Mega Man ''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...

as he is called to investigate an energy reading coming from a recent meteor crash on an island. Mega Man discovers that his nemesis

Dr. Wily () is a video game character and the main antagonist of the original ''Mega Man'' series, as well as Mega Man's archenemy and is also the creator of Bass and Zero. He appeared in the first ''Mega Man'' video game and later in promotions and oth ...

has run off with the energy source, and sets off to stop Wily's evil plans to use the energy, and to discover the purpose of a mysterious alien robot found at the crash site. ''Mega Man 8'' features improved graphics and sound when compared to previous iterations in the series, as well as new animated full-motion videos (FMVs) and voice acting. Aside from a few minor conventions, the game utilizes the same 2D side-scrolling and platforming formula established by its predecessors on the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

and

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...

platforms. It received a moderately positive reception. Many reviewers appreciated the game's aesthetics and gameplay qualities when compared to its earlier counterparts, but several other critics were displeased by its lack of innovation and felt that it did not utilize the full potential of the 32-bit platforms. Additionally, the English-language version of the game received considerable criticism for its voice acting, which was perceived by many as being comically poor-quality. The game was a moderate commercial success and was re-released on best-seller lines in Japan and North America. ''Mega Man 8'' was followed by ''

Mega Man & Bass is an action- platform video game developed and published by Capcom. It is a spin-off game in the original ''Mega Man'' series and was originally released in Japan for the Super Famicom on April 24, 1998. It was later ported to the Game Boy ...

'', a 1998 spin-off game for the

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...

which reused several of the game's assets and characters. A true sequel to the game, ''

Mega Man 9 ''Mega Man 9'' is a 2008 Action game, action-Platform game, platform video game developed by Capcom and Inti Creates. It is the ninth numbered game in the Mega Man (original series), original ''Mega Man'' series (Or tenth game overall when inclu ...

'', would not be released until 2008, and would revert to the graphical and gameplay style of the early NES games.

Gameplay

The gameplay of ''Mega Man 8'' is similar to that of its predecessors. The player, as Mega Man, must complete various stages that contain side-scrolling

and platforming elements. The player can run, jump, slide, shoot, swim, charge the Mega Buster, and change weapons. Enemies can be destroyed to reveal items used to refill Mega Man's health and weapon power. Like ''

Mega Man 7 ''Mega Man 7'' (stylized as ''Mega Man VII'') is an action platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the seventh game in the original ''Mega Man'' series. The game was released in J ...

'', the player first completes an introductory stage and is then presented with four Robot Master stages (Tengu Man, Frost Man, Grenade Man, and Clown Man) to tackle in any order. At the end of each stage is a

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

battle with a Robot Master; defeating the Robot Master earns the player its Master Weapon. Most Robot Masters are weak to either the Mega Buster or one or more Master Weapon, allowing for some strategy in the order the stages are completed. An additional four Robot Masters (Aqua Man, Sword Man, Search Man, and Astro Man) become available once the first four are defeated and an intermission stage is completed. An addition to gameplay in ''Mega Man 8'' is the ability to display and use multiple weapons onscreen simultaneously. This change introduces a unique way of using weapons strategically. For example, Mega Man can place a Tornado Hold, jump into it and swing the Flame Sword while rising with the air current. The player also has the ability to use the Mega Buster at all times, even when equipped with a Master Weapon. The player can buy new abilities from Roll in Dr. Light's lab in exchange for special bolts found throughout the levels. However, due to a limited number of bolts and powerup slots available, the player must carefully decide which power-ups to buy. Power-ups utilizing Mega Man's dog Rush are won by fighting mid-stage minibosses. Such Rush items include Rush Question, giving the player a random pickup, Rush Charger, which makes pickups rain from the skies, and Rush Bike, used to cross large gaps.

Plot

Taking place in the 21st century (the ambiguous year 20XX), two alien robots engage in a battle in the depths of space. Ultimately, both of them plummet towards Earth, critically injured. On Earth, humanoid robot Mega Man and his robot canine companion Rush are caught in a skirmish with his rival Bass, who still wants to prove himself to be stronger than Mega Man. Thanks to the timely intervention of his sister Roll, who was bringing a message from his creator Dr. Light, Mega Man manages to subdue Bass long enough to leave. Bass swears that he will get back at Mega Man for his "cowardice". Dr. Light asks Mega Man to investigate strange energy readings on a nearby island. On the island, Mega Man finds

flying away with a strange purple orb. Before chasing him, he sees a damaged robot and asks for Dr. Light to pick it up and try to repair it. Dr. Wily then releases four new advanced and modern Robot Masters to combat Mega Man: Frost Man, Tengu Man, Clown Man, and Grenade Man. Each time he destroys one, he receives a purple orb like the one Dr. Wily captured. Each of the Robot Masters are empowered with a strange energy, and it seems that this power comes from the new energy cores that Wily has infused them with. After Mega Man defeats the four Robot Masters, he returns to the lab and brings Dr. Light the energy cores he retrieved; Dr. Light examines them and realizes that they are a powerful form of energy, which Dr. Wily must not have in his possession. After they leave the lab, the robot awakens and sees the energy cores, becoming enraged and flies off into the distance. Mega Man follows him to a mine shaft on the other side of the globe. After battling the robot,

Proto Man Proto Man, known in Japan as ,Duo. Duo explains to Mega Man that the purple orbs are "Evil Energy" and he has been traveling the universe, tracking down this energy and trying to destroy it before it engulfs the entire world. However, Wily Tower has a barrier around it that prevents him from taking out the source. Duo tells Mega Man to destroy the four other Robot Masters that hold the key to the barrier (Astro Man, Sword Man, Search Man, and Aqua Man), while he collects and extinguishes the rest of the world's Evil Energy. Once the remaining Robot Masters are defeated, Wily Tower's barrier is lifted and Mega Man makes his way through it, defeating the hordes of robotic henchmen inside, including Bass, who uses a piece of the Evil Energy to amplify his powers, and ultimately, the evil doctor himself. The "Evil Energy" is destroyed before it is allowed to spread throughout the world, but it manages to infect Mega Man before being destroyed, and Wily's newest compound is demolished with Mega Man inside, who is dying from the Evil Energy. Duo arrives, and seeing the goodness and justice in his heart, cures him of the evil energy, eradicating the last remnants of the Evil Energy on Earth. Proto Man catches up to him; Duo then says that his mission is done, and leaves, but not before asking Proto Man for a favor. Mega Man then wakes up in Dr. Light's Lab and is reunited with Light, Roll and the others who tell him that Duo saved him. He then walks outside and finds Proto Man, who gives him a message from Duo: "Thank You."

Development and release

Keiji Inafune - Japan Expo 13- 2012-0706- P1410048

''Mega Man 8'' was developed by

Tokuro Fujiwara , sometimes credited as Professor F or Arthur King, is a Japanese video game designer, involved in the development of many classic Capcom video games. He directed early Capcom titles such as the run-and-gun shooter ''Commando'' (1985), the platf ...

, who had been the producer for previous ''Mega Man'' titles, had left Capcom, so

, who had previously played the role of artist for many titles in the series, became a producer for ''Mega Man 8''. He handed off many of the main responsibilities to Hayato Kaji, an artist he often considered to be his student. Inafune recounted, "This allowed me to take a very different approach to creating a ''Mega Man'' game. 'Seeing ''Mega Man'' from a distance,' I guess you could say." Illustrators including Hideki Ishikawa and Shinsuke Komaki worked under the two veterans. Inafune recounted that the development team was often overwhelmed during the game's development because it involved some unfamiliar elements such as coordinating releases on two new systems and the use of

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

cutscenes. The team enlisted the help of animation studio

Xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a small, fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth ...

to produce the animated cutscenes for the game. Inafune had wanted to include animated cutscenes since the very first game in the series, and stated that he was pleased with the outcome. The character Duo was created specifically for ''Mega Man 8'', but was first made a playable character in the earlier 1996

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

fighting game '' Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters''. Kaji initially designed Duo as a robot invented by the ''

Mega Man 4 ''Mega Man 4'' is an action- platform game developed by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the fourth game in the original ''Mega Man'' series and was originally released in Japan in 1991. The game was localized in North Ame ...

'' character Dr. Cossack. When it was decided that Duo would instead come from outer space, his appearance changed but still retained remnants of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

traits, such as his

ushanka An ushanka ( rus, уша́нка, p=ʊˈʂankə, from , "ears"), also called an ''ushanka- hat'' ( rus, ша́пка-уша́нка, p=ˈʂapkə ʊˈʂankə), is a Russian fur cap with ear-covering flaps that can be tied up to the crown of the ...

. Like past games in the series, the Robot Masters were picked from design contests in Japan. Capcom received around 110,000 idea submissions. For the contest, Capcom prepared drawings showing basic shapes for entrants to base their designs on, such as a bipedal top-heavy base with two heads; three of the final designs (Sword Man, Clown Man, and Search Man) were based on these. Ishikawa recounted, "The submissions we'd get for the boss characters were absolutely brimming with the youthful imagination of kids. I still remember how everyone had permanent smiles painted on their faces as we looked at each and every one of the submissions that came through." Tengu Man and Astro Man had already been designed by Capcom prior to the contest. The musical score for ''Mega Man 8'' was composed by Shusaku Uchiyama. It was the first project at Capcom that Uchiyama led himself. The Japanese version of the game features the

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

vocal opening theme "Electrical Communication" and the ending theme "Brand New Way" by the group Ganasia. ''Mega Man 8'' was released in Japan on the

on December 17, 1996 and the

on January 17, 1997. Sony initially rejected the North American PlayStation release due to the push for 3D graphics on the market at the time, but seeing that their then-competitor Saturn was soon getting its own version of the game, Sony decided to approve it on the condition that it have exclusive content so as not to give an advantage to Sega, resulting in the first editions being enclosed with a collector's 12-page full-color anthology booklet to commemorate the series' 10th anniversary. The two versions of the game, however, are not identical. The Saturn version has two added bosses from previous ''Mega Man'' games and a bonus mode with official and fan artwork, voice and music tests, and a secret animation test for the cutscenes. Music tracks slightly differ in arrangement between the PlayStation and Saturn versions, two remixes were added for the extra bosses, and Tengu Man's stage music is completely different between versions. Numerous pieces of merchandise were made available for purchase in Japan alongside the game including

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually mark ...

gashapon , also called , is a trademark of Bandai. Among the variety of vending machine-dispensed capsule toys that originated in the 1960s, it became popular in Japan and elsewhere. "Gashapon" is onomatopoeic from the two sounds "gasha" (or "gacha") fo ...

toys, stationary, vinyl records, and furniture. A 43-track disc containing the instrumental music was released by Team Entertainment later in 2007. ''Mega Man 8'' was published in North America by Capcom on both the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, with the PlayStation version releasing in January 1997 and the Saturn release following two months later. In Europe, the game was supposed to be published by Laguna Video Games, a German game publisher who published a majority of Capcom's titles for the SNES in Europe, but in July 1997

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. ...

acquired Laguna's owner Philips Multimedia BV, and so they instead published the game in October 1997, exclusively for the PlayStation.

Reception and legacy

''Mega Man 8'' received moderately positive reviews from critics. One complaint involved the game having virtually nothing in terms of gameplay or features that had not already appeared in previous installments of the series, and very little change in the gameplay formula that had been used since the first ''Mega Man'' game appeared a decade ago. Jeff Gerstmann of ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' commented that the robots seem to be clones of enemies from earlier, while Matt Rubenstein summarized his reviews, "this whole premise has been done seven times before and ..it's starting to get old." In contrast, Crispin Boyer of ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'', while agreeing it did not add anything new, still gave praise for its controls and bosses. Some claimed that the game's graphics did not utilize the abilities of fifth generation consoles outside of the FMV cutscenes. The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-dubbing voice acting in ''Mega Man 8'' was considered some of the worst in video games by publications including ''EGM'', ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'', and the Australian television show '' Good Game''. In 2010, ''IGN''s Lucas M. Thomas took a similar look back on the franchise, calling ''Mega Man 8'' the worst in the core ''Mega Man'' series because it took Capcom's iconic hero off of Nintendo consoles, utilized animated cutscenes with bad voice acting, and further changed the visual style. '' GamesRadar'' named ''Mega Man 8'' the 23rd best

game of all time out of a list of 25. Initial sales of ''Mega Man 8'' were good. Major gaming retailers in North America including

Electronics Boutique EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique and EB World) is an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prussia mall ...

and

Babbage's GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates 4,5 ...

reported selling 55% of their stock within three days of the game's release. Electronics Boutique additionally noted having sold 75% of its stock within ten days, and many locations of Babbage's being sold out in similar period of time. Capcom's president Bill Gardner later announced that the response they got from retailers was so overwhelming they had to allocate product based on orders being greater than anticipated. In 2002, the PlayStation version of ''Mega Man 8'' was re-released as part of Sony's

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

label of bestsellers, confirming that it had sold at least 350,000 units. In Japan, the game received budget re-releases as part of both the PlayStation the Best for Family and the Sega Saturn Collection. The PlayStation version was ported to the North American ''

Mega Man Anniversary Collection ''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'' is a compilation of video games developed by Atomic Planet 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 '' ...

'' for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

in 2004 and the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

in 2005. The PlayStation version was later ported again and released as part of ''

Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 ''Mega Man Legacy Collection'' is a series of video game compilations based on Capcom's ''Mega Man'' franchise. Each compilation features several playable video games from one of the ''Mega Man'' sub-series and adds new gameplay features and bonus ...

'' on the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, and PC, with a later digital version released on the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

in May 2018. In 1998, Capcom released ''

'' on the

with many of the same sprites, animations, and backgrounds as taken from ''Mega Man 8''. Ten years later, Capcom announced another follow-up, ''

'', which changed the graphical style of the series back to its 8-bit appearance similar to the first six installments. Capcom did not replicate any of the gameplay gimmicks included in the eighth installment for this sequel, save for the shop and bolt currency system. The

version of ''Mega Man 8'' is one of the rarest Saturn games in existence, having a 91% Rarity rating on Rarity Guide.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mega Man 8 1996 video games Infogrames games Mega Man games PlayStation (console) games Sega Saturn games Side-scrolling video games Single-player video games Superhero video games Video game sequels Video games based on anime and manga Video games developed in Japan Video games set in amusement parks Video games set in Africa Video games set in Alaska Video games set in Argentina Video games set in Asia Video games set in Australia Video games set in Denver Video games set in Japan Video games set in Madagascar Video games set in the Middle East Video games set in Northern Europe Video games set in Oceania Xebec (studio)