I still think Mega Man 8 had the best style out of any Mega Man game

[SolVanderlyn]

It's been nothing but regression since then.

Mega Man 8 had:

-Big, colorful sprites

-Fantastic animations
-Voice acting (good in Japan, so bad it's good in the west)
-A really chill soundtrack


-Great character portraits

-An extra focus on story without going overboard or focusing on it outright
-Hints towards the X series (REALLY subtle hints with the evil energy Wily found - again, not front and center but there)
-Anime cutscenes

I just feel like graphically, and stylistically in general, Mega Man 8 had the right idea. I think other games in the series play better, but 8 still has the most swagger in its step.

Mega Man and Bass was incredibly impressive for re-using its assets on the Super Famicom, but it was still a step back regardless.

Mega Man 9 and 10 went for the nostalgia grab, and scaled back on detailed sprites, extra story, character portraits, etc.

Mega Man 11 is a step back in the right direction, but its psuedo 3D isn't quite as charming as 8's spritework, its story is a bit lackluster, and its soundtrack is a bit underwhelming.

I know Mega Man 8 is a black sheep, and not very well liked by many Classic fans, but it's still one of my favorite games in the series, and felt like a major step in a good direction - one that's been backpedaled on since.

 

[Phil32]

Mega Man 8 was the first Mega Man game I completed, so it holds a special place for me just from that alone. I also liked the modern touches with its graphical style, additional story, music, and such. It's why Mega Man 9 and 10 were a bit disappointing to me--and for many other reasons.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

The sprites of 8 are amazing. If somehow they can make a Mega Man 12 with 8's sprite work and artstyle again I would love it.

 

[Retromelon]

Were the hints really subtle or just vague

 

[Blackage]

Give me Megaman 8 graphics any day. Game is gorgeous(And has GOAT Stage Select theme, come at me bros!) :P

 

[Prophet Five]

I really like everything about Mega Man 11'a style other than his run animation. 8 was decent though.

I still think the retro throwback was a mistake to do. Especially twice in a row.

 

[henlo_birb]

I've never played 8, but thank you so much OP for introducing me to those tracks. Frost Man is amazing.

 

[SchrodingerC]

I honestly still like the soundtrack; it's pretty chill as you said OP. It gets seared into your brain in a good way.
Now I gotta post the stage select song:

 

[WrenchNinja]

Im with you OP. Mega Man 8 is my favourite of the classic series.

 

[Comic Obsessed]

Never liked it. The sprites didn't really look that much like the characters from the cutscenes from an artstyle perspective and just seemed off. I think 7 did a better job at it.

 

[Kyzer]

It's been nothing but regression since then.

Mega Man 8 had:

-Big, colorful sprites

-Fantastic animations
-Voice acting (good in Japan, so bad it's good in the west)
-A really chill soundtrack


-Great character portraits

-An extra focus on story without going overboard or focusing on it outright
-Hints towards the X series (REALLY subtle hints with the evil energy Wily found - again, not front and center but there)
-Anime cutscenes

I just feel like graphically, and stylistically in general, Mega Man 8 had the right idea. I think other games in the series play better, but 8 still has the most swagger in its step.

Mega Man and Bass was incredibly impressive for re-using its assets on the Super Famicom, but it was still a step back regardless.

Mega Man 9 and 10 went for the nostalgia grab, and scaled back on detailed sprites, extra story, character portraits, etc.

Mega Man 11 is a step back in the right direction, but its psuedo 3D isn't quite as charming as 8's spritework, its story is a bit lackluster, and its soundtrack is a bit underwhelming.

I know Mega Man 8 is a black sheep, and not very well liked by many Classic fans, but it's still one of my favorite games in the series, and felt like a major step in a good direction - one that's been backpedaled on since.

Click to shrink...

100%

This is the style they need to use for 12

 

[Claire Delune]

I liked 8, especially the secondary effect most (all?) of the weapons had. But I *really* hated the whole 4 bosses than 4 other bosses rather than having all 8 robot masters at once. Some of the powerup items you could buy were broken as fuck, the arrow mega buster in particular. Shoot a fully charged mega buster shot, and when it hits something, it turns into a spread of another five fully charged mega buster shots. I don't know if they balanced it so that the individual shots were less powerful, but given that anything that survived the first shot would almost certainly die eating the five additional shots, it hardly matters.

Also, pronouncing the w in Flame Sword. JFC, how does someone working on the English dub not know how "sword" is pronounced?

 

[Fukuzatsu]

My favourite of the classic series, and in my mind really defined a cool, modern style for Rockman (English voice-acting aside of course). It's a tragedy a complete version of the game (with the Wood Man and Cut Man fights from the Saturn version) has never been properly re-released.

I would really enjoy another soundtrack in 8's style, but I just don't think Capcom could do it today.

 

[jett]

I always though Mega Man looked weird in this game, didn't really like the proportions of the characters. It has some pretty pixel art, but the game often looks busy with a lot of crap on screen. MM8 is just off to me in general.

I honestly think MM11 is absolutely the best looking Mega Man ever made. Despite just looking good and having an abundant amount of detail, I love how clean and readable everything is. It's all designed to serve the gameplay.

Click to shrink...

 

[Sixfortyfive]

I think the only thing I liked from the bit of this game that I've played was Electrical Communication.

 

[Deleted member 6730]

It's not bad. I just think it looks off.

 

[Metalgus]

I played all 10 MM games for the first time this year and I felt 8 was the height of presentation quality. Going 'back in time' for 9 and 10 felt a bit underwhelming. I really like the style of 11 so far (about halfway done right now) but I think it's safe to assume that the budget for 8 was probably far greater than the budget for 11. That might explain a couple of choices presentation wise.

 

[Deleted member 2793]

You're right, OP. 8 has the best style and it's a shame they dropped it.

 

[Keldroc]

I always though Mega Man looked weird in this game, didn't really like the proportions of the characters. It has some pretty pixel art, but the game often looks busy with a lot of crap on screen. MM8 is just off to me in general.

I honestly think MM11 is absolutely the best looking Mega Man ever made. Despite just looking good and having an abundant amount of detail, I love how clean and readable everything is. It's all designed to serve the gameplay.

Click to shrink...

MM11's Megaman doesn't compare to MM8's. MM11's got an off-putting PTSD "I seen some shit, man" stare. Which, granted, isn't untrue, but it still looks weird.

 

[HeartlessNobody2134]

While I'll always prefer the X series over the Classic one, Mega Man 8 is pretty great and my favorite of the Classic series.

 

[supermarioworldE]

What I love about 8 is that it perfectly captured the tone of the classic series with as much detail as possible. And thankfully without the pre rendered stuff from the X series. It's vibrant, colorful, and lighthearted. And I definitely think the anime cutscenes blended perfectly with the game's graphics, giving the feel of playing a Saturday morning cartoon.

I just wish 8 was as impressive with the gameplay and music. Both nearly put me to sleep at times.

Still, it's a shame the sequels went in different directions, graphically, after 8 instead of improving on it.

 

[Gevurztraminer]

I agree, MM8's style is still really cool. But sometimes it's refreshing style made it seem/feel easier than it really way. As a kid I found Wily's stage to be near impossible, the hoverboard section especially.

 

[Deleted member 34949]

The sprite art is neat, but I feel like more often than not, the game screen looks pretty cluttered and the sprites have some weird proportions.

I think Megaman X4 made the 32-bit transition much smoother, from a visual perspective.

I honestly think MM11 is absolutely the best looking Mega Man ever made. Despite just looking good and having an abundant amount of detail, I love how clean and readable everything is. It's all designed to serve the gameplay.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, this is kind of where I am at, too.

 

[Azure J]

As much as I'm happy to see people appreciate that MM8 had some godlike aesthetic direction, MM11 is just too damn clean and perfectly tailored to both its franchise as a whole and the generation of games it came out in.

You can definitely give us Electrical Communication though. Love me some cheesy J-Pop openings.

 

[Xtortion]

I always though Mega Man looked weird in this game, didn't really like the proportions of the characters. It has some pretty pixel art, but the game often looks busy with a lot of crap on screen. MM8 is just off to me in general.

I honestly think MM11 is absolutely the best looking Mega Man ever made. Despite just looking good and having an abundant amount of detail, I love how clean and readable everything is. It's all designed to serve the gameplay.

Click to shrink...

This collection of screens kinda illustrates my issues with MM11's visuals. When it wants to look good, it looks great. Scenes like outside of Block Man's pyramid, in front of Torch Man's blazing forest or the shot with Fuse Man's powerlines in the background with the lightning storm are all nice to look at. But then the game will suddenly switch to dull, blocky screens with nothing happening in the background. The game has a huge problem with interiors imo and many of them are just sterile and boring to look at.

 

[julian]

I love 8 and am still surprised I've seen a decent amount of hate for it online. I choose to believe they all played the PS1 version and there's something horribly wrong with it.

 

[Crayolan]

Agreed, MM8 is the best looking game in the series IMO. Was disappointed MM11 went with 3D visuals rather than returning to MM8 style, I guess 3D is cheaper than sprites nowadays. If they can at least manage to go for a more convincing faux 2D look in 12 that might end up looking just as good though.

Also MM8 Roll is the best, I want that design back.

 

[Laxoon]

While it's a terrible game through and through the one silver lining was the art. A very eye catching style, it's not my favorite but I totally see why people love it.

If 8 was their best idea for the series at that time I find it very deserving for it to have been cut off there for more than a decade.

 

[Kcannon]

MM8's Robot Masters sucked ass.

Aqua Man and Clown Man are aberrations. Only Tengu Man was memorable.

 

[Maximum Spider]

I want a Mega Man game where he looks like his Smash Bros. incarnation. I genuinely think it's the best he's ever looked--


Perfect proportions and so much personality. That side eye.

 

[Kcannon]

I want a Mega Man game where he looks like his Smash Bros. incarnation. I genuinely think it's the best he's ever looked--


Perfect proportions and so much personality. That side eye.

Click to shrink...

SSB Mega Man doesn't have personality though. He's actually designed to be robotic and unfeeling.

 

[BrunOz]

Totally agree with you OP.

8 is my favorite classic Megaman, also the soundtrack is top tier:



Edit: Frostman stage theme already on the OP lol

 

[Maximum Spider]

SSB Mega Man doesn't have personality though. He's actually designed to be robotic and unfeeling.

Click to shrink...

Maybe personality is the wrong word but his design oozes character.

While I love a lot about MM8's art and pixel work , Mega Man's himself is kinda generic and forgettable.

 

[Waffle]

It's my favorite look for Megaman as well. I really wish we would have got a HD/3D version of that style.

 

[Ardiloso]

Agreed. Best art, aesthetics and design. I have isues with Megaman's idle stance, it's a little stupid but the rest is amazing and it's sad to see the soulless style they went with 11 after reaching this high.

 

[Reverse Giraffe]

Heck yeah

and definitely the best soundtrack
I used to listen to it in the car all the time

 

[TylersProphecy]

Man, seeing all this love for mega man 8 is weird. Some zelda cycle shenanigans at work here.

edit: it DOES have the best style though.

 

[RetroCCN]

I appreciated it in 1997, when sprite-based 2D games felt like an endangered species. But I don't re-visit it too often. So many boring stages that lack any forward momentum or challenge. And I never was fond of the way the game feels to control. And the music sucks. The best thing I'll say about it is that it's very pretty.

 

[BrunoArrais]

You are not wrong

 

[night814]

I liked 7 better personally but I'm super partial too the SNES. It really felt like Mega Man had gone "Super".

I also prefer X to the classic series too add to my partiality.

 

[m0therzer0]

I liked 8, especially the secondary effect most (all?) of the weapons had. But I *really* hated the whole 4 bosses than 4 other bosses rather than having all 8 robot masters at once.

Click to shrink...

This felt like such a pointless diversion from the classic series outside of the Gameboy games that i nearly dropped it as soon as I saw that piece of shit Clown Man.
I don't hate this game, but nothing about it felt like a real step up in design like we got from the X series after the original classics.

 

[BAN PUNCHER]

 

[cervanky]

I agree. Mega Man 11 is the better game for sure, but 8's style and soundtrack is the best.

There's a sort of nostalgic and wistful feel to the whole experience. It wasn't totally unlike the feeling I had playing Mega Man Legends, it's difficult to articulate. I would've liked to see them develop that aesthetic in future titles. As fun as 11 can be, it doesn't really stir up any other feelings in me while playing besides entertainment.

 

[trevofour]

Loved the artwork/anime, but Mega Man's sprite looked nothing like it. Might be my least favorite version of him in-game tbh. I always got a weird Disney vibe from Mega and Rush in 8. Tenguman was great though.

 

[Deleted member 3758]

. I

 

[PyroPaperPlanes]

I agree. Mega Man 11 is the better game for sure, but 8's style and soundtrack is the best.

There's a sort of nostalgic and wistful feel to the whole experience. It wasn't totally unlike the feeling I had playing Mega Man Legends, it's difficult to articulate. I would've liked to see them develop that aesthetic in future titles. As fun as 11 can be, it doesn't really stir up any other feelings in me while playing besides entertainment.

Click to shrink...

What's going on with Mega Man's face in the first gif? :S

 

[Chance Hale]

Jump jump slide slide

It does look great tho

 

[Hollywood Pescado]

Mega Man 8 is underrated.

Also, I hope the next Mega Man game has his voice from MM8. It's perfect for him.

 

[Zen Hero]

I honestly never liked Mega Man 8's sprite work. I recognize that it's technically impressive, but something about it I just never appealed to me. I've always liked Mega Man 7's cuter look far more.

 

[Septimus Prime]

It really sucks that 9 and 10 rolled back all that style. Thanks again, Inafune.