Review: Wily was a punk.
Games, toys, cartoons, more games...Mega Man has done it all. All the way back to his early roots on the NES, Mega Man has always been our boy in blue. Each successive release may follow the same formula but they always manage to deliver a solid gaming experience. The series has evolved over the years but, with few exceptions, has maintained a level of quality that we can only expect from Capcom. With more than 20 years of games behind him, it is no surprise that Capcom is bringing Mega Man's early adventures back, compilation style. Last year saw the Mega Man Anniversary Collection. This time around we are treated to Mega Man X Collection.
For your gaming pleasure, Capcom has crammed the first six Mega Man X adventures into one package. Originally released in the 16 and 32-bit days, the Mega Man X series continued the Mega-tradition of difficult (yet achievable) side scrolling action. Each game is presented in all of their original glory, right down to the password screens of the earlier games. (Don't worry, though. Capcom was nice enough to enable a save feature on all of the titles.) In addition to the games, there are several pieces of unlockable Mega-memorabilia including images, original music and an entire seventh game. That's right, the previously import-only Mega Man: Battle & Chase racing game is hidden away in the package.
For all seven of you that have never played a single Mega Man game, here is a brief overview of how each Mega Man X title works. You take control of Mega Man X and, in games X3-X6, Zero as they set out to save the world from evil Maverick Reploids. Each game is broken up into several levels that are each capped off with a unique boss. After defeating a boss character you acquire their weapon and can use it throughout the rest of the game. The whole game is then capped off with a final level that thrusts you back into combat with each boss character and culminates in a confrontation with the mastermind behind all of the evil in the world. This is really a simple formula that has worked for the Mega Man franchise from day one and the key to success here is that the original gameplay is kept in tact for this new edition. The controls on the system are as tight and responsive as ever and the action...oh, the sweet action...still delivers.
