This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

Fans of the Blue Bomber have come to expect no less than a smattering of sequels in each of the Mega Man franchises. The original Mega Man saw eight games total that spanned the NES generation to the PlayStation era. Capcom gave those hardcore fans an opportunity to relive those past glory days with the recent release of Mega Man Anniversary Collection, which not only included the eight primary games, but also some extras like two fighting games featuring characters from the Mega Man universe.
The Mega Man X franchise was launched in 1993 to reel in an older audience with its darker and more serious tone. Just last year, X caught up with the original Blue Bomber in sequels after the release of Mega Man X8 in late 2004. However, ask fans of the series and they’ll tell you that every installment after X4 has been one disappointment after another. Capcom even experimented with a 3D Mega Man X, which firstly was blasphemous to the most hardcore, and secondly was poorly executed.
Those who have lost faith in the series might not have much to look forward to, but Capcom may have found a way to alleviate some of the pain caused from the last couple of X’s. In the same vein as the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, the publisher is releasing the Mega Man X Collection for the PS2 and GameCube this fall. Judging by some of the movies and screenshots they’ve released, it appears that not all of the Mega Man X games will be present. But, that should suit the fans just fine as the games that are included – Mega Man X, X2, X3, and X4 – are regarded as the series’ finest.
If this is anything like the anniversary collection then you can expect faithful representations of the original games in all of their 16-bit glory (or 32-bit glory in X4’s case). That said, don’t look for anything new in the four core games. The biggest surprise is the inclusion of Mega Man Battle and Chase on the roster. This Mario Kart-like game featuring the X characters never saw a stateside release, so for fans this is the proverbial icing on an already sweet cake. There’s no word on any other extras like artwork, interviews, or even another episode of the animated Mega Man series, but there’s still plenty of time between now and its release. We’ll let you know if there is anything new to report on that front.
Mega Man X Collection won’t blow away the average consumer, but for fans of the X series this will be a must-buy. Having the four best X games in one package already makes this a great value, but by including the first US release of Battle and Chase they may have snagged a couple of those borderline buyers. This could be Capcom’s way of saying sorry for the last few entries and as long as they serve up faithful ports of the originals, I’m sure the majority of us will forgive them.