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.

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 8 has improved graphics and sound over previous iterations in the series, as well as new full-motion video and voice acting.

Many reviewers appreciated the game's aesthetics and gameplay qualities when compared to its earlier counterparts, but several other critics were displeased by its lack of innovation 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 its voice acting, which was perceived by many as being comically poor-quality.

The player can run, jump, slide, shoot, swim, charge the Mega Buster, and change weapons.

For example, Mega Man can place a Tornado Hold, jump into it and swing the Flame Sword while rising with the air current.

The player can buy new abilities from Roll in Dr. Light's lab in exchange for special bolts found throughout the levels.

[4] However, due to a limited number of bolts[6] and powerup slots available, the player must carefully decide which power-ups to buy.

Taking place in the 21st century and after the events of Mega Man 7 (the ambiguous year 20XX), two alien robots engage in a battle in the depths of space.

Thanks to the timely intervention of his sister Roll, who was bringing a message from his creator Dr. Light, Mega Man manages to subdue Bass long enough to leave.

Once the remaining Robot Masters are defeated, Wily Tower's barrier is lifted and Mega Man makes his way through it, defeating the hordes of robotic henchmen inside, including Bass, who uses a piece of the Evil Energy to amplify his powers,[10] and ultimately, the evil doctor himself.

When it was decided that Duo would instead come from outer space, his appearance changed but still retained remnants of Russian traits, such as his ushanka.

[3][1] In Japan, numerous pieces of tie-in merchandise were released alongside the game, including action figures, gashapon toys, stationery, vinyl records, and furniture.

Capcom's president Bill Gardner later announced that the response they got from retailers was so overwhelming they had to allocate product based on orders being greater than anticipated.

[27][30][31] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot commented that the robots seem to be clones of enemies from earlier,[28] while Matt Rubenstein summarized his reviews, "this whole premise has been done seven times before and [...] it's starting to get old.

"[29] In contrast, Crispin Boyer of Electronic Gaming Monthly, while agreeing it did not add anything new, still gave praise for its controls and bosses.

[40][41][42] In 2010, IGN's Lucas M. Thomas took a similar look back on the franchise, calling Mega Man 8 the worst in the core Mega Man series because it took Capcom's iconic hero off of Nintendo consoles, utilized animated cutscenes with bad voice acting, and further changed the visual style.

[45] Ten years later, Capcom announced another follow-up, Mega Man 9, which changed the graphical style of the series back to its 8-bit appearance similar to the first six installments.

[46] Capcom did not replicate any of the gameplay gimmicks included in the eighth installment for this sequel,[43] save for the shop and bolt currency system.

In 2002, the PlayStation version of Mega Man 8 was re-released as part of Sony's Greatest Hits label of bestsellers, confirming that it had sold at least 350,000 units.

[47] In Japan, the game received budget re-releases as part of both the PlayStation the Best for Family and the Sega Saturn Collection.