Gaming Mega Man Anniversary Collection

[BlueYoshi]

[color=teal]This is basically a compilation of the original Mega Man games that were released for the NES, SNES, and PlayStation in gratification of Mega Man's 15th anniversary. The games included range from Mega Man 1 to 8, plus two more arcade titles that supposedly never hit the US.

The games aren't just revamps of the original though, as each one has new features and attachments to the gameplay that all happened to get positive reviews, you know, in a modern meets retro kind of way. Also, there's a load of extra anime footage and bonus extras on the disc, however, they depend entirely upon which console version you choose to get.

I'm mostly interested in Mega Man 8. I've never had the chance to play it before, like many others, and it looks absolutely stunning; real sharp and colourful, even more so than Metal Slug Advance. Though I'd prefer it to be on the GBA much more, but whatever.

There's also an anniversary release for the GBA too, which consists of all five of the original GameBoy Mega Man games, but I'm not keen on that one since I already have Dr. Wiley's Revenge, which to me is the best of the lot in that department.[/color]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]I remember reading about this in last month's issue of Nintendo Official Magazine UK and I have to say I was fairly impressed, I've never actually played a Megaman game and I think this is a really great way for those who've never experienced the cult series to get a good settling-in point.

The fact that each of the 8 games are not just a port of the original versions are great as it means there's something in it for old veterans of the series, and newbies who'll scream at the game's incredible difficulty level. The added bonus of two new games that have never seen the U.S. or Europe will be a welcome addition for any Megaman fanatic.

I've just been looking over the screen shots and although they only detail Megaman I, II and III, I do agree with you that the graphics as nice as they'd look on a Gamecube might be more suited to the GBA though I've not seen the graphics for the rest so I might be mistaken.[/SIZE]

[Guest Mana]

yeah, I played it and it's fun, but it's very hard. I think it's as hard as MegaMan Zero, and that is HARD. I have only beaten one level so far. I think it's a great game though. It added two new games that I want to play also. I can't wait to beat the game, but it's just so hard. I don't play it that much, though. It's one of my favorites though.

[BlueYoshi]

[quote name='Kane][SIZE=1']I've just been looking over the screen shots and although they only detail Megaman I, II and III, I do agree with you that the graphics as nice as they'd look on a Gamecube might be more suited to the GBA though I've not seen the graphics for the rest so I might be mistaken.[/SIZE][/quote]

It's not so much of which system would suit the graphics best for me, it's just that I'd much rather play it on a handheld system because the Mega Man games are the type in which you can get use to in less than an instant... and is something that most of the GBA games attribute quite successfully.

[Gavin]

[quote name='Wingnut Ninja']It's not so much of which system would suit the graphics best for me, it's just that I'd much rather play it on a handheld system because the Mega Man games are the type in which you can get use to in less than an instant... and is something that most of the GBA games attribute quite successfully.[/quote]

[SIZE=1]Ah my mistake, by your previous statement I thought that the Megaman games all had, to a varying degree of quality 2D graphics and as such would suit the GBA. I hadn't actually considered the fact that the GBA is a more pcik-up-and-play kind of games device than it's bigger brother the Gamecube although I suppose that would also depend on the game in question.[/SIZE]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]The GBA would be able to handle the graphics for 1-7 just fine, but I wonder how well Mega Man 8's graphics would translate, since it was on the PS1 and looked quite a bit better than 7. That, and there could be the issue of not having space on a GBA cartridge for all the extra stuff they're including.

I'm not really interested in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, though. I've played various Mega Man games on the NES and SNES, and I prefer the Metroid series (the two series' gameplay is pretty similar) by quite a lot.

One of the main reasons is, yes, the difficulty level of most Mega Man games. I don't know, other people may enjoy the games being enough of a challenge that you end up having to play through levels and fight bosses five, ten, fifteen times until you can perfect the required pattern ... but I just find that boring. The Metroid games are much more forgiving of little mistakes; you don't instantly die because you missed a jump by a tiny bit, you just take some damage and then jump out of the spikes or lava or whatever and move on, instead of having to start the level over. Basically, the penalty for screwing up a little and screwing up bad isn't nearly as close as in Mega Man. You miss a jump by a large amount in Metroid and you take a lot of damage instead of just a little, whereas the penalty is the same in Mega Man no matter how much you miss it by.

So yeah, I'd rather only have to fight a boss two, three, maybe four times in order to get good enough to beat it instead of sitting there, doing the same exact thing over and over again. When it starts to get so that I have to fight something upwards of ten times before I can beat it, it stops being fun and I ask myself "What's the point?" before turning the game off to play something else. I like difficult games, but not difficulty to the point of taking fun away from the game.

Also, I think you just get much cooler abilities in the Metroid games. The Screw Attack beats anything you get in any Mega Man game, heh. :p[/color]

[BlueYoshi]

Well, the GBA version of this has a few portfolio extras, but the games that will feature on it aren't so much for graphics, so maybe you're right. Personally, I can do without all the fancy crap because I'm 100% into the games.

Anyway, I respect your opinions on which game you prefer, as that's entirely opinionated, but I just thought I'd get into it a bit more. You have to remember that the Metroid games are unique because of their styles. As said in that other thread, Metroid is mainly focused around the exploration aspect and tends to keep combat to a minimum.

While I love the Metroid games (I won't deny that), I always found them to be slow and somewhat tedious at times, especially with all the backtracking involved. But Mega Man, on the other hand, totally differs. You'll find yourself doing the exact opposite, as in there is only one way to go, being forward.

From what I remember, the way you acquire weapons in Mega Man is to kill the end-of-level boss and frisk him. Hence, you're rewarded for it each time, and as the levels become harder, you'll start to notice that the weapons you previously obtained will help you to a certain extent.

In Metroid, you get your weapons when you need them. The purpose of many of the weapons in the Metroid games is for them to aid you to get passed a certain obstacle, as do the accessories. It's only that they can also be used to kill things as well.

There's the deal on puzzles too. Metroid isn't big on puzzles, but then again I don't think they exist in Mega Man. The way I see it, the Morph Ball has very little value in terms of combat, and is just there to help you penetrate those puzzles. Plus, the Grapple Hook. You use the grapple hook to get from one place to another, and sometimes you'll need to repeatedly swing over a pit of whatever to avoid dieing or getting hurt while you're confronted with aliens at the same time.

So when you compare the two, they are kind of alike. Mega Man is difficult in the respect that you'll have to do things over and over to get them right, but at the same time, Metroid has some challenging puzzles. It's generally up to preferences, really.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Yeah, the two series do have somewhat different focuses, but you can still play Metroid in a very run-and-gun fashion if you don't want to take the time to scour every area. (After all, my first course of action for solving problems in Metroid games is "Blast it," heh.) Though it helps if you've played the game before and already know where to go next, etc. I guess that's one reason why I tend to play through Metroid games multiple times in a row; first time for taking it slow and finding everything, second time for running through and just having fun blasting all the baddies. ^_^

And yeah, you get different weapons by beating the bosses and taking their weapons in Mega Man. The thing I don't like about that, however, is that you really have to do the bosses in a set order if you don't want to sit there for even longer trying to beat the bosses with the wrong weapons. And of course, without a walkthrough or a lot of trial and error, you have almost no way of knowing what that order is, short of a few things like using a fire weapon against an ice boss or vice versa. So again, it comes back to being more annoyingly repetitive than fun for me.

And while yes, a lot of the weapons/upgrades you get in Metroid are used for exploring new areas, almost every one of them also has a combat application. Morph Ball? While by itself it can't be used as a weapon, when combined with bombs, it can be pretty useful against some enemies. Such as freezing something with the Ice Beam and then planting a load of bombs on it -- that's especially useful in the original Metroid. Grappling Beam? Short of something like a Super Missile, it's the only thing that can kill some enemies in Super Metroid. (Remember those green, floaty things mainly found in the Wrecked Ship that only get knocked back by your normal beams? The Grappling Beam takes 'em out in one hit.) And that's something I really like about Metroid; your abilities are very versatile.

As for puzzles though, I think the kind of "puzzles" you find in Metroid and Mega Man, what few there are, are similar in nature. At least in Metroid, and the few I've seen in Mega Man games, they seem to revolve around using your platforming skills to try and get to some sort of power-up. And most of them are completely optional in the Metroid games anyway, usually just containing an extra energy tank or missile tank. But my problem with them in the Mega Man games is that for half of them that I've seen, if you miss on your first try and ... instant death! (Or at least, you don't get another chance at it without restarting the level.) And I think we've already established that that pisses me off, heh.

In the end, it is just a personal preference, but I think I have some decent reasons behind it. I wouldn't want to let my opinions sour anyone else to the Mega Man games, but for me, the negatives of the series far outweigh the positives.[/color]

[BlueYoshi]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082'] Morph Ball? While by itself it can't be used as a weapon, when combined with bombs, it can be pretty useful against some enemies. Such as freezing something with the Ice Beam and then planting a load of bombs on it -- that's especially useful in the original Metroid. Grappling Beam? Short of something like a Super Missile, it's the only thing that can kill some enemies in Super Metroid. (Remember those green, floaty things mainly found in the Wrecked Ship that only get knocked back by your normal beams? The Grappling Beam takes 'em out in one hit.) And that's something I really like about Metroid; your abilities are very versatile.[/color][/quote]

Damn. I'm rusty. :(

[quote][color=#4B0082]But my problem with them in the Mega Man games is that for half of them that I've seen, if you miss on your first try and ... instant death! (Or at least, you don't get another chance at it without restarting the level.) And I think we've already established that that pisses me off, heh.[/color][/QUOTE]

Again, this is down to preference, but I really don't think that this is a bad thing. Sure, it'll piss you off to the point that you'd start getting physical with your controller or what have you, but it's this sense of difficulty that gives Mega Man its reputation and charm.

I've played a few Mega Man games, and I know just how irritating they can get, but I always reassured myself with the fact that I'd be even more irritated with them had they not been the way they are. Mario, aside from shooting everything that appears on-screen, is very similar to the outer-layer of most Mega Man games. If you're big, and fall into some spikes or a Petey Piranha, then you get a second chance. If you're small, however, you die on the spot. Mega Man incorporates the latter. Knowing that you'll have that second chance to fall back on is all well and dandy, but it really does make a difference as far as difficulty goes.

The Hammer Bros. in SMB3. They were real ball-breakers. When I can't beat them, I just flip to the item select menu and use a Mushroom (if I don't have a star :p) so as I will be 100% sure to beat the bastard/s due to the brief moment of invulnerability you get after losing it. It works, but I feel bad about it afterwards lol. So to speak, to go lightly on the difficulty levels in Mega Man would probably slaughter the kicks that some would get out of it, but it doesn't really give you the choice anyway, heh.

Um, so yeah, that's generally why I think that aspiring difficulty can be a good thing.

[JCBaggee]

[color=darkred][size=1]Mmeh, I have to say I'm kinda disappointed. Since I own a GBA and not a GameCube (not all of us are home enough to bother with a console), I'd much rather have a collection of classic Mega Man games for the GBA. C'mon, surely they can make most of them fit. I've never played the GB titles, but please...tell me they're being graphically revamped!

Anyways, I heard a rumor at school that the next NES Classics line-up would feature Mega Man 1. *Crosses fingers*

--Chris[/color][/size]