Mega man 8, ahh... A fantastic game sludged over by bad voice acting and nicely animated FMV cutscenes, but lets go in depth, shall we?

Mega Man 8 is a terribly underappreciated game. It was originally released in 1997 to celebrate Mega Man’s tenth anniversary, but gaming was changing at that time, and Mega Man 8 was seen as that old dog walking down the allyway. As the years have gone by its gained a small following, but still remains largely unplayed. Its reputation doesn’t begin to do it justice, as Mega Man 8 remains one of the series’ best entries
A pretty underrated game for the PS1. Well what are you waiting for? Lets get to the review already!

Mega Man 8 was released on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, so it goes without saying that this was the biggest leap in visuals for the series yet. Given that its sequels revived the 8-bit visuals of the NES games, Mega Man 8 is still the ‘newest’ looking title in the classic series (Oh and before we get to the true review, I just want to say the Saturn version sounds just a little better than the PS1 version, So if you get the chance play that one instead)

While a lot of PS1 and Saturn games have aged for the worse, time has been kind to Mega Man 8. The nicely animated character sprites and colorful visuals still look lively. It expands on the art direction of Mega Man 7 and makes the series feel way ahead for its time.

The game even featured fully animated cutscenes similar to an anime of the late 80s and early 90s. On the downside, the game’s English voice acting is so bad it ranks among the worst in any video game (Like I said above) (Dr. Light in particular sounds like Elmer Fudd btw, which is pretty bad for a Mega Man game). But you could also say the bad voice acting gives the cutscenes a YouTube poop worthy charm.

Mega Man 8 didn’t just overhaul the presentation however, as it made some meaningful (and largely overlooked) tweaks to gameplay and level design as well.

Similar to Mega Man 7, 8 separates the Robot Master stages into two halves. After an introduction stage, four levels open up, followed by an intermission stage (Like the Robot Museum in 7), then four more Robot Master levels, Ending with, of course, with Dr. Wily’s castle. (Did you think the villain was going to be different? HA HA no)

While the setup remains similar to Mega Man 7, Mega Man 8 built on its sense of exploration while also adding some variety to the gameplay, making its levels some of the deepest in the series. But the downside to that is that they go on for WAY longer than they should, Its also here where I should mention that the Anniversary edition for the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube has INPUT LAG, So the snowboarding sections are REALLY hard. 

Mega Man 8 includes Bolts similar to Mega Man 7, but they are no longer dropped by enemies. Instead they are hidden throughout each stage, with some making you to replay levels after gaining new weapons in order to reach them )Which I hate btw). The Bolts are used as currency in Dr. Light’s lab (Obviously), where Mega Man can purchase new upgrades to his Mega Buster, among other new power-ups. Finding the Bolts and acquiring these upgrades is completely optional, but those wanting a good challenge and full completion should have a nice time tracking them all down.

It’s in the levels themselves that Mega Man 8 differentiates itself from the other games. Although it’s classic Mega Man for the most part, various levels will suddenly throw the Blue Bomber into a rail shooter (where Rush, Beat, Eddie and Auto can help Mega Man blast away various objects into the face of your enemies) or he’ll be sledding through a stage at increasing speed, with a robot sign informing him of when to jump and when to slide to avoid obstacles (Again, input lag on those releases of the game). The levels themselves are some of the most fun in the series, but segments like these make Mega Man 8 one of the best (Or worse if you play those releases stated above) gameplay experiences in the franchise.


It’s easy to say that Mega Man 8 has some of the weaker Robot Masters in the series, with the likes of Clown Man and Aqua Man being downright stupid. But on the plus side, the powers Mega Man gains from them are among the more unique in the series. Mega Man gains weapons like a grappling hook (Bionic Commando PLAY IT), an ice shockwave, a mini tornado that sends Mega Man skyward, and a sword made out of fire!!! (Wow he probably met Kirby from Kirby 64!!!). The introductory stage even gives Mega Man a soccer ball power! (Its kinda useless unless you know what to do with it *COUGH COUGH MEGA MAN SOCCER*) Not all the powers are great, but they all come in handy throughout the game in either combat or exploration. This is also one of the only instances in which Mega Man 2’s Leaf Shield isn’t just remade and passed off as a new ability(I'm looking at you mega man 3!!!).

The fact that Mega Man 8 separates its Robot Master stages in two halves also means that the first four abilities are really emphasized in the latter four levels (Sword Man’s stage is built around them). Not everyone likes the change of halfing the levels, but it actually gave Capcom a means to better utilize the Robot Master abilities. It also gave them the opportunity to further emphasize the story (Which btw I don't think anybody really cares about, but its there, So I might as well tell you it).

In Mega Man 8, a strange meteor has crashed onto Earth, emitting a powerful, dark energy. Mega Man goes to investigate, but Dr. Wily has beat him to it, and is using this energy to power his new Robot Masters and a returning Bass in a plot to take over the world (Again, pretty much like Death in Castlevania SOTN, who if you remember is a real D-Bag). Mega Man, true to his nature, sets out to stop Wily’s plans, but also encounters a new robot called Duo, a robot from outer space.

It’s the usual simple plot of Mega Man, but it gets some appreciated extra attention. The animated sequences add to the stronger attempt at narrative, but are also undermined by the comically bad voice acting (Which we all know, have been made to create several YouTube poops, You know?, MY BOY).

Mega Man 8 ALSO ups the difficulty from Mega Man 7, and has one of the better difficulty curves in the series. The first four stages have their challenging moments, but shouldn't’t take too many attempts to complete (AGAIN, UNLESS YOU HAVE THE LATER RELEASES, WITH THAT DANG INPUT LAG!!!). The latter four stages turn things up a notch with some precise platforming and waves of enemies (INPUT LAG). Once Mega Man makes his way to Dr. Wily’s newest castle, things become reminiscent of Mega Man’s earliest entries. It’s never as hard as Mega Man 3 or 4, but Mega Man 8 is nonetheless satisfyingly difficult (UNLESS YOU HAVE THE NEWER RELEASES, THEN THE INPUT LAG MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!).

What isnt a plus is that Mega Man 8 has one of the worst soundtracks in the series, and that’s a pretty big feat considering the quality of Mega Man’s soundtracks. Its techno-inspired tunes aren't very catchy as the best Mega Man tracks, but I will say they each have a distinct personality to fit their respective stages, which is pretty sweet. But it can't be ranked alongside Mega Mans 2, 3 and 9 as being among the worst soundtracks in the series. But that's just my opinion, If you like it, then more power to ya.

As a whole, Mega Man 8 is one of the Blue Bomber’s most polished games. It has creative level design, cool powers, a good sense of depth and challenge, it has a bad soundtrack, but that's not the bulk of the game, and the visuals haven’t aged a day. It might not have the same level of excellence as Mega Man 2 or 3, and the voice acting almost seems to be making fun of itself. But Mega Man 8 has always been, secretly, one of Mega Man’s finest. If you have the chance to play this game, do it. It really is one of the best, and I highly recommend everybody play it at least once. See you in the next review, SNAZZ.

I'm pretty sure this is plagiarism 

https://wizarddojo.com/tag/capcom/

Local Mods : 

https://wizarddojo.com/2015/06/07/mega-man-8-review/comment-page-1/

You plagiarized again. [shakes head]. When will you learn?