Classical 8-bit gaming is still fun as ever.
Story starts right after Mega Man 8. Creator of Mega Man, Dr. Light, has also created numerous other robots and for some reason suddenly they all start to go berserk. Evil Dr. Wily appears on screen in public announcing that he has nothing to do with these robot incidents. Mega Man starts now his quest to clear Dr. Light's name and to bring Dr. Wily in front of justice once more. Story is classical 8-bit stuff and it's great.
Graphics are just like they were in 80's Mega Man games. Even the character models are identical and the use of colors is bright as ever. The final touch is that there is no widescreen support. Graphical presentation is classical 8-bit stuff and it's great.
Music was the best part in those old games in this series and it is also true in Mega Man 9. While there are old pieces thrown into the mix to make you feel like at home the soundtrack is mostly new, but heavily inspired by previous games. At first I just started the game, paused it and listened the music for a while. It's just that good. Sound effects are mostly recycled, but that's the way it should be in a game like this. Audio is classical 8-bit stuff and it's great.
Gameplay and structure of the game is simple and familiar. After a short intro you get to play eight different tough stages and fight a boss robot at the end of each one of them. Every stage has its own theme in terms of music and level design. After defeating all eight robots and gaining eight new weapons it's time to hunt down Dr. Wily. Levels in general are the best in series history, but they still contain lots of cheap death traps and some very demanding jumping. Expect to die many times over until you reach the end of the game.
Save system and the ability to shop items makes Mega Man 9 a little easier to handle. Thing is that you collect screws as you play and use it to buy things from the shop. What's great is that when you die, you get to keep all your collected screws and this keeps the game moving forward, although you may find yourself trying to beat those same stages over and over again. To make things more user-friendly you can save after every game over or successful boss battle.
After completing the game it's time to do a speed run, right? Well Mega Man 9 makes it easy by adding a Time Attack mode, in which you need to finish a level as fast as possible. Best times are downloaded to Leaderboards for everyone to see. There are also many different specific challenges to do, if you are up to the task. These challenges range from very easy "kill 1000 enemies" all the way to near impossible "complete the game without getting a single hit". These add-ons create some serious replay value, which is a good thing, since it will take an average player around two to three hours to complete the game for the first time.
So what is wrong about Mega Man 9, aside from the fact that it's a hard game for hardcore gamers? One minor issue is that the dialog in the shop is slow and for some reason you need to go through it over and over again. This can get annoying, but it's nothing you can't get over with. Worse thing is the promised downloadable content in the future. Thing is that these additions are all add-ons that should have been already in this original game. Now it just feels like a cheap way to get more money from dedicated gamers.
Mega Man 9 is a must-have for those who played these games on the NES and anyone who wishes to know how brutal games were in their difficulty back in the 80's. I hope that this is only the first game in Capcom's long series of old-new Mega man games.