Mega Man's back, and moving onto the 32-bit scene. While Megaman 8 does a commendable job advancing the Capcom franchise ahead, don't expect anything more than the NES versions -- Capcom's taking the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach with their hero.

Don't worry though, Capcom's added a few nips and tucks to the graphics, including smoother animation and a more colorful palette. You'll be in for a huge let-down if you're anticipating 32-bit style features; apart from the standard FMV introduction and the occasional rendered sprite, this game could have easily been done on lesser systems.

Legacy graphics aside, the game excels in the gameplay department. Mega Man fans will definitely find themselves comfortably at home, for the game doesn't stray far from the original formula. For those new to the series, here's the deal: run, jump and blast through side-scrolling levels until you reach the boss. Destroy him, and receive his special power. Continue this pattern (some of the levels have some seriously cool variations, including snowboarding and Thunderforce-style action) until you reach, and ultimately destroy, the ever-nefarious Dr. Wily.

Games can be saved directly to the system, which is much more convenient than what they did in the past. One of the huge annoyances in the Mega Man universe was the vast password system to continue games in progress, and thanks to the always-handy internal memory, you'll never have to see or enter a password in Mega Man 8.

Functional control is the only gaping problem in this fine continuation of the Mega Man series. As with others in the series, Mega Man can't duck or shoot skywards, features which are standard fare in other platform-style games. Many will intially find this a large short-coming, and it certainly is; but these abilities were given to Mega Man X, not Mega Man. It's all in the continuity.

Although graphically it's a little disappointing, Mega Man comes through on its tried-and-true gameplay. You'd be missing a great game if you pass this up.