Mega Man Legacy Collection for the Nintendo 3DS puts the original 8-bit games in your hands in a package that is hard to ignore.

Since these games are all faithful recreations of the classic titles, it is no surprise that all six games look and feel just like their late 80's to early 90's originals. Each of the characters, from Mega Man himself to each of the Robot Masters and the various villains in-between, all look like their iconic selves. Even the various worlds that Mega Man will have to fight his way through brings back nostalgia of the days when memory size dominated all design choices and repetitive tiles and level sections were the best way to manage that space.

While the visuals of Mega Man are iconic and present, many long-time fans of the series will also recall the music that filled these games, and those, too, have been reproduced faithfully. What's more, the Mega Man Legacy Collection also contains a music player that those classic tunes, along with some remixes, can be played at any point to the player's delight.

Mega Man Legacy Collection's primary selling point is that it contains all six of the original games, and it does its best to keep the feel of those games true to the Blue Bomber's original release. Every detail has been faithfully reproduced, and this includes limitations that were a part of the original hardware. Specifically, the fact that the game would tend to slow down when there were too many enemies on the screen. I had actually forgotten this detail until the first time I experienced it on the 3DS.

For those not really familiar with Mega Man, the concept isn't all that difficult to pick up. You control the titular character as he works his way through various themed levels that each contain a boss that properly fits that theme. Once defeated, you are granted access to that boss's special ability. That idea alone was rather novel at the time, but what made Mega Man really stand out was the fact that you could take on these levels in any order you wanted.

If the Mega Man Legacy Collection only contained these first six games in a neat little package, then it would already be enough incentive for some fans of the series to pick up, but that isn't everything it offers. Each game is accompanied with an extensive database featuring information about the various characters found in the game, as well as the ability to tackle the boss fights without having to go through the levels. Each game also includes a Museum option that lets you flip through an extensive collection of art assets that includes a ton of materials from the past.

Mega Man Legacy Collection has one more option for those that feel they have to truly master Mega Man. This Challenge Mode adds more complex one-off battles for you to play through, and each one is noticeably harder than the previous, so even those fans who have memorized the best approaches to each level will have something new to take on with this release.

Mega Man isn't really known for being an easier series of games. While it is far from killing you after one hit, your health tends to be really limited and each level will take several playthroughs in order to figure out what will pop up and hit you when you are least expecting it.

Given that Mega Man Legacy Collection contains six of these games, it should be no surprise to hear that this entire package is a challenging experience. At least the Mega Man Legacy Collection offers the ability to save anywhere you want, so you don't always have to start over from the beginning of a level when you've taken too many hits. That doesn't really make the game easier, just a little more forgiving. Of course, the addition of the new Challenge Mode re-ups the difficulty level of the overall experience, so that tends to tilt the scale back in the other direction.

The games contained in Mega Man Legacy Collection went a long way in not only establishing Mega Man as an icon, but it also introduced a new gameplay dynamic. While open world games like The Legend of Zelda were already out, Mega Man gave players a different type of non-linear gameplay. With the ability to go after the Robot Masters in any order, you weren't just going through a set series of battles and could actually get a fairly wide range of gameplay experiences based on what order you decided to tackle the levels. Of course, this led to people determining the "best" order to take on the bosses since some enemies were easier to defeat with specific weapons. It also added a type of exploration and replayability that wasn't often found in the standard side-scrolling platformer of the day.

Mega Man Legacy Collection is a great deal for any Mega Man fan. Even if you've already played through some of these games on the Nintendo Virtual Console, Mega Man Legacy Collection offers enough extras to intrigue anyone with a passing interest in the classic character.