Collection essentials #311: Mega Man 8 (Saturn)

The Blue Bomber continues into his third console generation!

Mega Man 7 on the SNES had been the only entry in the 16-bit generation, and kept the series’ basic gameplay premise but also changed some things that made it really stick out compared to the previous games, such as the graphics and size of the characters, the way progression words, and the addition of an in-game shop, among other things. 8 keeps a lot of these additions from 7, and it does feel like they tried to modernize it a little more despite sticking with 2D graphics (which are smooth and nice, by the way). They’ve now added voice acting, including voiced anime cutscenes. This being a mid-’90s release, the English voice acting is, errrr….in a world, atrocious. But in my opinion, it does kind of lean into “so bad it’s good” territory because of how cheesy and crappy it can be. Dr. Light’s voice is especially infamous, it really sounds like they just grabbed some random dude off the street with no experience and only had time to record all the lines in one take.

Mega Man 8 does try to get creative with its level design too, having level gimmicks not seen in previous Mega Man games. There are a couple stages where you have to ride a snowboard, which a lot of people don’t like due to those levels being tough and frustrating. There are also some segments that play like a shoot ‘em up where Mega Man flies on his robotic dog Rush. But the core of what makes it Mega Man is still here, with eight robot masters that grant a new weapon upon defeat, with each robot master having a particular weakness to one of those weapons.

There are a few versions of Mega Man 8 that exist, but the Saturn version to this day is considered the best one, even compared to the one that’s available on modern platforms in “Mega Man Legacy Collection 2”. The Saturn has two exclusive boss fights, which bring back two old foes from past Mega Man games. There’s also some exclusive music in this version as well. There are probably other minor differences, but the bonus bosses alone are enough to make this the best version. Of course people weren’t going to buy a Saturn to play a better version of Mega Man 8 when they could just get an adequate version on the much-more-popular console out at the time, so this game didn’t really do anything to help the struggling Saturn in North America. And even though the version on the more popular console sold well, this would be the last regular Mega Man title we would see for many years, for some reason. 

I got this copy of Mega Man 8 in 2005, early on in my Saturn days. Back then I had little experience with Mega Man, and I found it a lot more accessible for a non-fan than the older games in the series, and that was something I really appreciated. Mega Man fans tend to be mixed on 8, which I guess is understandable because it has a very different style and substance from the popular NES titles. But I think Mega Man 8 is really good, and this optimal version of it has earned its place as a collection essential.