The History of Mega Man

If you're looking for a little light reading this evening you should take a look at GameSpot's Mega Man retrospective.  Although a little dated now (it only covers titles released through October 2003), it covers just about every iteration of the character from his original form to Mega Man X and beyond.  It's also a painful reminder that Mega Man games used to capture a simple purity in jump-and-shoot gameplay but have now devolved into a convoluted mess.  With the series approaching its one hundredth title, is there still any energy left in Mega Man's tank?