Mega Man Zero Collection (Capcom; DS; rated everyone)

The list of great 2-D platformers for the DS is surprisingly short, but it just grew by 4.

The Mega Man Zero Collection, released June 8, is four games for the price of one, and any one of those games, by itself, is easily better than 90 percent of the DS library, much of which blows.

To be clear, these games are ports—not new titles or updated classics. They’re presented as they were, on the Game Boy Advance, between 2002 and 2005. However, they still manage to come off looking like retail releases, which tells you something about the perpetual excellence of Mega Man. The Zero series has all the polish, depth, and weight it needs to justify its existence on the DS.

I think it’s interesting—and kind of rad—that in a handheld gamescape now propelled by RPGs and quirky touchscreen adventure/puzzle hybrids (many of which are great, don’t get me wrong) the platformer has found a way to hang on, in large part because of how skillfully Nintendo and Capcom build them.

Gameplay wise, you know how Mega Man works—learn the enemy attack patterns, determine the weapon to which the boss is vulnerable, don’t touch spikes, become a ninja at mid-air shooting (both at the apex, and near the end of your jumps). Repeat. Don’t suck. Yep, the classic platform game template that underpinned a generation of material still holds up, when the level design is good. And it’s Mega Man, so you know it is.

If you’re not crazy about the idea of buying old games, look at it this way. At 30 bucks for 4 games, that’s $7.50 per game. I appeal to you today: tell me how I might have more fun for $7.50?

Now, there’s no use trying to pretend the Mega Man Zero Collection can usurp Mario’s spot on the DS platformer throne; New Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi’s Island are still the gold standards. But if you have a DS and have already played those to death, and feel like some A-list old-timey side-scrolling, your choices are really Castlevania or Mega Man. And four-for-one Mega Man is better bang for the buck, by far.

Chris Vandergaag is a Vancouver-based freelancer. When he's not gaming, writing, or forwarding links of questionable moral repute, he's asleep.