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What I'm Playing This Weekend: Mega Man Anniversary Collection

Posted by Nadia Oxford

I am a rotten Mega Man fan. I only acquired the Mega Man Anniversary Collection last week. But wait! Put down the cat o' nine tails!I have an excuse!

Um...

See, when the Gamecube and Playstation 2 crouched at the starting line for Big Shiny Console Love Race!! 2000, we bet on the Gamecube. Nintendo's purple lunchbox proved to be the wrong choice for anyone who wanted to pick up Mega Man Anniversary Collection, because the developers at Atomic Planet decided to reverse Mega Man's jump and shoot buttons--"A" being shoot and "B" being jump. Anyone weaned on the Blue Bomber might understandably be traumatised at this nonsensical reversal, especially since Atomic Planet thoughtfully excluded the ability to change controller settings.

So here we are now, a little less poor than in previous years (holy cow, not by much) and able to afford a Playstation 2. A friend gave us the superior PS2 adaptation of Mega Man Anniversary Collection and now my husband and I are taking turns appreciating the classics instead of engaging in social interaction with our human peers.

Presentation-wise, Mega Man Anniversary Collection could certainly stand a tweak or three. Parts of the game is based on the Japan-exclusive Rockman Complete Works, meaning Atomic Planet had to translate a lot of tips and bonuses from moon language to something resembling English, but not quite. Pint-sized Russian hostage Kalinka offers tips throughout Mega Man 4, for example, and someone didn't check context before translating the poor girl. As a result, when I stand before a yawning spike pit she'll tell me, "Good thing I have Rush Jet." That's great. Er, can I have him back?

...Wait, scratch this post. While I was typing it, my husband got his review code for Bionic Command Rearmed (he kissed the cat in celebration), so Mega Man might be taking the weekend off.

Then again, does justice ever take a weekend off?

Related Links:

Mega Man 9 Goes Back To Your Roots. Way Back.
The Ten Greatest Classic Mega Man Levels, Part 1
For the Love of the Game: Rockman 7 FC


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

Henry said:

I've been playing the Mega Man Anniversary Collection myself.  And I hate the boss in Mega Man 4 used in the pic for this post.  He's just plain cheap, it makes me sad.

August 15, 2008 7:27 PM

Nadia Oxford said:

Ring Boomerang, my friend. Ring Boomerang.

August 15, 2008 7:46 PM

Roto13 said:

I picked up the Game Cube version a few years ago. The controls were kind of annoying at first, but you can get used to them if you try. It didn't really take me very long. I managed to beat every game and unlock everything. B)

But it was definitely really stupid of them to switch the controls. Why the hell would that do that in the first place? What possible reason could there be? The only explanation I can think of is an intense hatred of the Game Cube. I just checked Wikipedia and I don't see an answer there, either. According to Metacritic, the Xbox version (which I didn't even know existed until just now) had customizable controls.

It's amazing how much research I'm willing to do for the sake of a comment. You guys should totally hire me.

Luckily, Wiibrew allows me to just play the roms on my Game Cube. Whoo hoo!

August 15, 2008 8:02 PM

Roto13 said:

Why did I say Game Cube when I obviously meant my Wii? Only the shadow knows....

August 15, 2008 10:14 PM

Peter Smith said:

That simple fact has kept me from picking up said collection for years. Non-customizable, fucked-up controls are the scourge of Nintendo products. See also "Virtual Console NES games w/ classic controller."

August 16, 2008 2:55 PM

Derrick Sanskrit said:

Pete, VC NES games? Just turn your friggin' Wii remote sideways. Hell, get some black, grey, and red paint and make your Wii remote look like an NES conroller if it bothers you so much.

August 16, 2008 7:36 PM

Peter Smith said:

Hmm, I don't know, man... just doesn't feel quite right to me, though I know I'm in the minority as usual. The sideways Wii-mote is a lot bulkier than a NES controller, and I find it distracting when I'm trying to achieve various feats of NESly valor.

August 17, 2008 2:36 PM

Derrick Sanskrit said:

I certainly do feel the difference. The d-pad feels much slimmer and has none of the texture of the NES controller's, so moving about can be uncomfortable, but its not TOO bad. I didn't even touch the classic controller until I got some N64 games (some of the fight mechanics in Paper Mario are super-awkward with it).

From what I've heard, the Thrustmaster T-Wireless NW is a good third-party alternative. It's technically a Gamecube controller, but it's fashioned like the classic, has firmer buttons, stiffer analog sticks, and rumble - which the classic and wavebird lack.

August 18, 2008 10:37 AM

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about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia's prized possession is a certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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