1997 · Shooter · Platform · PlayStation
With the whole cast assembled for Mega Man's 32-bit debut and an exclusive onscreen Mega Man 8 Japanese art collection, the 10th anniversary edition is the ultimate mega package, the Blue Bomber's back! The two versions of the game are not identical. The Saturn version has two added bosses from previous Mega Man games and a bonus mode with official and fan artwork, voice and music tests, and a secret animation test for the cutscenes. Music tracks slightly differ in arrangement between the versions, with two remixes being added for the extra bosses and the music for Tengu Man's stage being completely different. Mega Man 8: Anniversary Edition was published in North America on both the PlayStation and Saturn in March 1997. The PlayStation version was initially not going to be released in North America, as it was a 2D game at a time when Sony was pushing for games with 3D graphics. Upon learning the game would be released on a PlayStation competitor, Sony changed its mind, approving the game's release in North American on the condition it have content the Saturn version lacked. This resulted in the first editions, branded as the Anniversary Collector's Edition, being enclosed with a 12-page full-color anthology booklet commemorating Mega Man's tenth anniversary. In Europe, the game was to be published by Laguna Video Games, a German game publisher who released a majority of Capcom's SNES games in Europe, before Laguna's owner, Philips Multimedia BV, was acquired by Infogrames in July 1997. The game was released in October 1997 exclusively for the PlayStation.