Mega Man Anniversary Collection

Mega Man is certainly no stranger to handheld gaming. Over the years, he's appeared in a number of adventures for the original Game Boy, Game Gear, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance, chronicling his ongoing battle with the evil Dr. Wily and his handful of robot cronies. Now he's back, and he's celebrating his anniversary in gaming (nearing 20 years!) with the forthcoming release of Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the Game Boy Advance. It may not be as tremendous as the GameCube and PS2 editions, but it's still got a lot of portable bang for its buck.

The collection will feature five of Mega Man's greatest adventures, all stemming from his days on the NES system. Mega Man, Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3, Mega Man 4, and Mega Man 5 will all be featured, taking you back to the good ol' days of 2-D side-scrolling shooting action. In each game, Mega Man has to face off against particular bosses in order to proceed, but does have one cool quirk about him. After he defeats the boss at hand, he acquires their weapon and can use it later in the game. Sometimes, the weapons come in handy in spots to access one-ups and other hidden items.

Mega Man also has the assistance of Dr. Light, who advises him upon the dangers that wait for him in each level, and, in later games, his robotic dog Rush, who provides him with a springboard to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. Mega Man's traditional weapon can either shoot regular shots or can be charged up for a super blast, and he can also use a slide to get into hard-to-reach places.

All the classic games look to be finely emulated, and gamers will even have the option to switch between colorized versions of the games or go back to black-and-white form, just like the good ol' Game Boy games. It's pretty much an option many few will take, but it's still nice to have. The game will also include a wide assortment of artwork featured in the Mega Man museum, and it looks like it'll be a pretty nice collection.

Mega Man Anniversary Collection appears to be growing into a nice little repackaging of some of Mega Man's best stuff, and should make for another big hit for Capcom when it arrives later this year. Look for more details and a review soon.