Mega Man 8

Mega Man 8 is a 1996 platform game developed and published by Capcom. It was directed by Hayato Kaji and produced by Keiji Inafune, both of whom had previously worked on the series as artists. It is the eighth installment in the original Mega Man series, and was initially released in Japan on the PlayStation in 1996. The following year, Mega Man 8 saw a release on the Sega Saturn and was localized for both consoles in North America and the PlayStation alone in PAL regions. Mega Man 8 is the first game in the series made available on 32-bit consoles. The plot follows series protagonist Mega Man as he is called to investigate an energy reading coming from a recent meteor crash on an island. Mega Man discovers that his nemesis Dr. Wily has run off with the energy source, and sets off to stop Wily's evil plans to use the energy, and to discover the purpose of a mysterious alien robot found at the crash site.

Mega Man 8 has improved graphics and sound over previous iterations in the series, as well as new full-motion video and voice acting. Aside from a few minor conventions, the game has the same 2D side-scrolling and platform game formula established by its predecessors on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES platforms. It received a moderately positive reception. Many reviewers appreciated the game's aesthetics and gameplay qualities when compared to its earlier counterparts, but several other critics were displeased by the lack of innovation in its gameplay and felt that it did not utilize the full potential of the 32-bit platforms. Additionally, the English-language version of the game received considerable criticism for the notoriously poor quality of the voice acting. The game was a moderate commercial success and was re-released on best-seller lines in Japan and North America.

Mega Man 8 was followed by Mega Man & Bass, a 1998 spin-off game for the Super Famicom which reused several of the game's assets and characters. A true sequel to the game, Mega Man 9, would not be released until 2008, and would revert to the graphical and gameplay style of the early NES games.