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