Mega Man 8

About Mega Man 8

Mega Man 8 (1996) is the series' first 32-bit game, a PlayStation and Saturn platformer with anime cutscenes, the alien robot Duo and some of the most mocked English voice acting in games.

Mega Man 8 in Depth

The formula is that of the earlier games: Mega Man runs, jumps, slides, swims and charges his Mega Buster through side-scrolling stages, and each Robot Master he beats gives him its weapon, with weaknesses that reward choosing the order. As in Mega Man 7, an introductory stage leads to four Robot Masters, Tengu Man, Frost Man, Grenade Man and Clown Man, and four more, Aqua Man, Sword Man, Search Man and Astro Man, open after an intermission stage. New are the ability to use several weapons on screen at once, such as jumping into a Tornado Hold and swinging the Flame Sword while rising on its current, and to fire the Mega Buster even with a special weapon equipped. Bolts found in the stages buy upgrades from Roll in Dr. Light's lab, limited by the bolts and slots available, and mid-stage bosses award Rush items such as the Rush Bike.

Two alien robots crash to Earth after a battle in space. Dr. Wily steals a purple orb of "Evil Energy" from the crash site, while Dr. Light repairs the other robot, Duo, who has travelled the universe destroying that energy. Bass returns as a rival, empowered by Evil Energy.

Making Mega Man 8

With Tokuro Fujiwara gone from Capcom, longtime series artist Keiji Inafune became producer and handed much of the work to director Hayato Kaji, an artist he considered his student, describing the approach as "seeing Mega Man from a distance". The team was often overwhelmed by releasing on two new systems and by anime cutscenes, made with the studio Xebec, which Inafune had wanted since the first game. Shusaku Uchiyama composed the score, his first lead project at Capcom.

It was released on the PlayStation in Japan on 17 December 1996 and on the Saturn in January 1997, reaching North America on both in March 1997. Retailers reported selling more than half their stock in three days, and the PlayStation version later sold at least 350,000 copies. Reviews were moderately positive: critics liked its looks but found little new and said it did not use 32-bit hardware fully, and EGM, IGN and others called its English dub among the worst in games. Mega Man & Bass reused its assets in 1998, and Mega Man 9 returned to 8-bit style in 2008.