The Best 8-bit game of this century
Imagining the production of an 8-bit game during the 21st century was indeed a very farfetched thought. Being able to play a brand new game with pixelated scenarios and songs formed by "beeps" and other strange kind of sounds was an impossible dream until Capcom decided to make the biggest fanservice ever.
The Mega Man series has always been known for the outstanding quality of its titles, but every single installment of the series released after Mega Man 2 had to carry the huge burden of being always compared to that masterpiece that defined the series forever. After many attempts and failures the Capcom developers had the realization that a Mega Man game would only be as good as Mega Man 2 if they used every concept utilized on that installment and made some tiny improvements upon it. Mega Man 9 was born.
All you really need to know about this game has been mentioned on the paragraphs above, Mega Man 9 is old-school and it is the closest the series has ever gotten in terms of quality to the second adventure of the blue bomber. Everything about the game is simply a breeze from the past, starting with the "cutscenes" that show players the simple, yet interesting, story powering the game. Dr. Light's robots suddenly started attacking the city for some mysterious reason, at first the public thinks those robots belong to Dr. Wily but the evil scientist reveals on TV that the machines are Light's creations.
Dr. Light is therefore arrested and it is up to Mega Man to battle against Light's 8 creations and discover why they decided to suddenly bring all that havoc upon the world. In order to do so the Blue Bomber will have to go through eight different stages that are as challenging as you can possibly imagine and defeat the robot masters. Mega Man can shoot and jump, so by using this refreshingly short array of abilities you will need to face punishing traps and bosses that will sure make you frustrated. However, it won't matter how mad you are at dying once again after falling on one-hit kill spikes, you will want to keep on playing.
For those who are skilled enough to cruise through the title Capcom has made a very nice list of challenges that will keep players busy for hours after they completed the game for the first time. The challenges vary from beating each boss in less than 10 seconds to beating a stage without stopping. Some of the challenges are indeed insane like clearing the game without getting hit or beating it in less than 90 minutes. Those are a proof that Capcom developed this game exclusively for fans of the 8-bit era who love to be beat down by games.
Besides that there is also a Time Trial mode where skilled players can attempt to beat the stages in the less amount of time possible in order to try to make it to the top 10 online rankings. This obviously adds a lot to the replay value of the game and so does all the downloadable content that will be slowly released by Capcom. Some fans may complain that goodies like extra levels of difficulty or even an extra stage with a new robot master should already be included in the game but truth is Mega Man lovers won't be able to resist purchasing those extras.
Needless to say the graphics, sound and controls all come straight from the eighties. The fluidity of the gameplay is enhanced by the Wiimote that works just like an old NES controller. The D-pad is extremely responsive and incredible and so is the overall control scheme, players will also have an option to use other controls but anyone who doesn't use a Wiimote is basically not playing the game on the way it is supposed to be enjoyed.
The graphics and sound may be a letdown to some people who didn't game during the 8-bit era and as a fact Mega Man 9 is not even trying to attract new fans who like the "more FPS the better" approach of the modern industry. The tunes are surprisingly sophisticated and some of the stages possess unique songs that will forever stay on the minds of those who played the game, either due to the fact that you will eventually have to play the same stage over a hundred times before clearing it or because they are simply awesome and catchy.
In the end Mega Man 9 is everything Mega Man fans have been waiting for since Mega Man 2 was released. It is one of the finest installments of the series and it has quickly reached a masterpiece status within a week after its release. Anyone willing to be truly challenged by a game while having lots of fun, laughing at how your character was destroyed by some random enemy or simply enjoying the painfully extreme difficulty has to get it right now. If you don't then there has never been a better time to start enjoying it.
Actual Score: 9.3