Ah...its finally here.... Megaman 8. In case some of you were wondering
whether or not to pick this up, here's some info to help you out.

First, If you were looking forward to that "special 10th anniversary
portfolio", dont hold your breath. It's about the size of those "Powered
by Namco" ad books in Namco games. It is crammed with cool art (mostly pix
of the bosses) from all the games, but its REALLY tiny. Oh well... its not
like it cost anything... on to the game itself.

Intro: It's really good looking hand drawn anime. Luckily the voices dont
show up untill intro part two (after you hit start). Megaman sounds like
he was voiced by a grade school aged girl. It sorta fits, but it's kinda
weird at the same time. Dr Light has a slight accent and sounds 1) like he
doesnt give a damn and 2) he's drunk. But Bass' voice is kinda cool, and
the quality of the art is outstanding. It really gets you primed for the
game.

Graphics: Dear God. This is hand drawn, old school heaven. The PSX handles
this just fine, with TONS of sprites on screen, and more frames of
animation per character than i thought possible. Wait to you get to the
first "mid-boss", the crab thingy. Everything moves, things in the
foreground, background, everything. It's really beautiful and uses a good
color pallette as well. It's cool to play a Megaman with no flicker or
slowdown. The screens both scroll and screen advance. I think it's almost
worth the price of admission just to see all the art. The Boss robots are
really outstanding, both in design, and in frames of animation/movement.
One small downside: there's not much parralax scrolling, but it makes the
uses of it really noticable and they stand out well.

Gameplay: It's still here. you run, jump, slide, and shoot. Kill a boss
robot, get their weapon, go wreak some havoc with it. On the way you'll
face the craziest assortment of baddies to grace a side scroller. Alot of
the old bad guys are back too. It's not very innovative, but it's fun in a
very old-school gaming kind of way. And yes, memorizing boss patterns is
still essential. The new weapons are all really cool (my fave is the
Tornado Hold), and there is a new "shop" system. Hidden in the levels are
a number of bolts. Find them, and you can go to Dr Lights shop and get
upgrades like better charge weapons, longer slides, etc. Rush, your trusty
robo-dog also gets powered up as the game continues. He can be a sled, a
bomb-dropper, a random power up, and i dont know what else. 
  One potential down side on the gameplay: it seems a little easy. I've
played for about 2.5 hours, and ive already downed three (of the eight
robots). I'm not too worried though, as i know the second set of four are
supposed to be much tougher than the first four, and i have the in between
stage, plus the traditonally super-super-long Dr Wily stage on top of
that. Also, i know i've missed bolts here and there, so Capcom has
desinged a reason to go back and play the levels youve already beat (other
than to look at the art). So far my favorite stage is Clown Man. Its just
crazy... there is so much going on on screen you'll freak. The coolest
part of this level is where this guy in the backgound comes out on a track
and hammers a bell, and when he hits it it affects what boxes pop in the
foreground.

Sound: Apart from some weird voiceovers (which rarely show up while you're
actually playing), the sound is good. Nice explosions, weapon sounds, all
the robot bosses talk as they fight (and they're pretty good), various
sounds as you interact with things, they're all great. The music is also
pretty good, and very upbeat (fitting with the bright, cartoony feel).
It's kind of a mix between old Megaman music and Night Warriors stuff.
Upbeat, jazzy techno, kinda....

Overall: I love it. I would reccomend this game not only to any Megaman
fan, but to anyone who loves great hand drawn art, traditional (oldest of
the old school) gameplay, and isn't a hater of 2D. However, keep in mind
this is a day one review. But, I also remind myself that i sometimes fire
up my NES and throw in Megaman 2 or 3, so i think it's got tons of replay
value. And hey, it's Megaman.


Hope this helps at least somebody. Hey, at least it's something other than
"My N64 rocks!" "No you loser! PSX Rules!" "Hey, what about my Saturn!" =)


Adam
"please feel the love in that soft boiled egg"
             -Hikaru, Kimagure Orange Road