''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'' is a compilation of

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, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

s developed by Atomic Planet and published by

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...

. It was released in North America on June 23, 2004 for the PlayStation 2 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 W ...

and on March 15, 2005 for 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 th ...

. 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 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 E ...

with the seventh game, and moved to 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 di ...

and

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 ...

with the eighth game. The plot follows the

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

ic 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 ...

in his continuing adventures battling the evil Dr. Wily and his army of Robot Masters. A similar set of compilations, '' Mega Man Legacy Collection'' and ''Mega Man Legacy Collection 2'', were released in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

Overview

Each game has a similar structure in which the player traverses a series of themed stages to face off against

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, a p ...

robots, gain new weapons and abilities, then defeat Dr. Wily in a final confrontation. For the first six titles, an extra feature is the "Navi Mode", originally introduced in the

('' Rockman Complete Works'') re-releases of the first six ''Mega Man'' games. Navi Mode adds helpers that provide game hints if the player is in need of help, revises the appearance of the health and weapon energy meters, and revises the weapon subscreens for the first three games. In addition to these eight games, the ''Anniversary Collection'' includes two unlockable arcade

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...

s ('' Mega Man: The Power Battle'' and '' Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters''), which had a limited release outside Japan. These two titles are similar in gameplay but a bit more streamlined. The battles cut straight to the bosses, who get progressively more difficult with each one defeated. Some of the games in the collection have minor differences compared to their original releases. Several of the NES games have remixed sound. In ''

Mega Man 6 ''Mega Man 6'', known in Japan as の戦, たたかい!!, Rokkuman Shikkusu: Shijō Saidai no Tatakai!!, group=lower-alpha, lead=yes, is an action- platform video game developed by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth ...

'', the arranged music is incorrectly mastered and suffers from extensive peaking. In ''

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 ...

'', an instance of the word "damn" was changed to "darn" in order to maintain an all-ages rating. In addition, the graphics of Mega Man walking away from Wily's Castle are absent from the credits sequence, as the developers were unable to port certain

SNES 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 E ...

graphical effects. In the compilation's version of ''

Mega Man 8 ''Mega Man 8'' is an action-platform video game developed and released by Capcom in 1996. It was directed by Hayato Kaji and produced by Keiji Inafune, both of whom had previously worked on the series as artists. It is the eighth installment ...

'', some of the Robot Masters' voice clips play at incorrect pitches. The PlayStation version of ''Mega Man 8'' is used, as opposed to the

version which included bonus features and additional boss battles. Other unlockable elements in the ''Anniversary Collection'' include original art, remixed music, and bonus videos: The PS2 version features the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other dist ...

of the

Ruby-Spears Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vet ...

''Mega Man'' TV series, while the

and Xbox versions feature the ''Mega Man'' episode of G4's ''

Icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

''. The

version also includes the first episode of '' Mega Man NT Warrior'' (based on the ''

Mega Man Battle Network is a tactical role-playing video game series created by Masahiro Yasuma and developed and published by Capcom as a spin-off of the ''Mega Man'' series; it premiered in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance and takes place in an alternate continuity whe ...

'' game series) and the ability to change the control scheme. The PS2 and Xbox versions include some arranged music for the first six games, also originally present in the ''Complete Works'' versions.

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

in Japan in late 1999. The six games were released individually, each disc containing a port of the original

Famicom 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 ...

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 The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

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 the five original

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same te ...

''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 computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comment (computer programming), comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a Computer program, p ...

. In January 2006, gamers contacting Capcom were told that the game had been placed on "indefinite hold". Capcom also began issuing refund checks to those who had ordered the game directly through their online store. Around the same time, several retailers, such as

GameStop 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 ...

, declared the game "cancelled" and issued refunds or store credits.

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. However, it was given a score of 8.0 (versus 8.5 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. ''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'' was a financial success. The PS2 and GameCube versions of ''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'' sold a combined total of over 500,000 copies in less than six months of release. Due to the popularity of ''Anniversary Collection'' among fans of the series, Capcom followed up with ''

Mega Man X Collection ''Mega Man X Collection'' is a compilation of video games developed by Capcom. Released on January 10, 2006, exclusively in North America for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 platforms, ''Mega Man X Collection'' contains the first six games in the ...

'', a similar compilation consisting of games in the ''

Mega Man X is a series of action platform video games released by Capcom. It is a sub-series of the ''Mega Man'' franchise. The first game was released on December 17, 1993 in Japan (January 1994 in North America) on the Super NES/Super Famicom; most o ...

'' series which was exclusively released in North America on January 10, 2006. Once again, Capcom followed up with ''

Mega Man Zero Collection is a compilation of all four '' Mega Man Zero'' video games, which were originally released for the Game Boy Advance between 2002 and 2005. It was developed by Inti Creates and published by Capcom, and was made available worldwide in June 2010 f ...

'', a compilation of all the games from the ''

Mega Man Zero is a series in Capcom's ''Mega Man'' video game franchise. It was developed by Inti Creates, with Co-Producer Keiji Inafune and Director Yoshinori Kawano. The series consists of four games that were first released on the Game Boy Advance and ...

'' series that was released in 2010 for the Nintendo DS. In 2015, Capcom released '' Mega Man Legacy Collection'', which featured the 6 original games on the NES with bonus features and improved quality. In 2017, ''Mega Man Legacy Collection 2'' was released and featured ''7'' and ''8'', plus '' 9'' and '' 10''.

References

External links

{{Capcom compilations 2004 video games Cancelled Game Boy Advance games GameCube games Mega Man games North America-exclusive video games PlayStation 2 games Capcom video game compilations Video games developed in the United Kingdom Xbox games Atomic Planet Entertainment games