If you are a Mega Man fan, love retro gaming, or just love action games, you owe it to yourself to check out Mega Man 9.
Over the past couple of years though, retro gaming has flourished with the emergence of services like XBox Live Arcade. Old games are being resurrected and repackaged with new achievements and sometimes new features, giving veterans a chance to experience their favorites in a new way and younger players a chance to experience classic games for the first time.
Capcom has taken the retro movement to a new level, first with their release of Bionic Commando: Rearmed, which consisted of the old NES version of the game Bionic Commando but given a face lift with fresh graphics, new bosses, and updated music, and now with Mega Man 9, which is a complete nod to the old school in every way -- a totally new retro game in the exact NES-style of the oldest entries in the Mega Man series.
The fact that Mega Man 9 even exists is fascinating. In an age where games seem to be pushing further and further for realistic graphics and gameplay approachable to the masses, along comes Mega Man 9, which proudly boasts about punishing, hardcore gameplay and ancient 8-bit graphics. Instead of making a Mega Man sequel that pushes the blue bomber into the current generation of gaming, Capcom decided to make a game that seemingly targets only a somewhat small niche audience.
As such, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if Mega Man 9 didn't catch on outside of that audience. The graphics hounds aren't going to be down with the retro look, while those not used to old-school style gameplay are going to be slapped in the face at the game's difficulty. But if you are part of the target audience, prepare for a treat.
Mega Man 9 stands up favorably with the best of the Mega Man series, boasting crazy challenge, thumping retro music, and best of all, all the action and fun that the best games in the series deliver. While not quite as complete of a package as Mega Man 2, MM9 delivers fast-paced enjoyment throughout and consistently challenges the player, both mentally and in terms of ability, with a catchy soundtrack to boot. If you're a veteran gamer who yearns for the days of the NES or just a fan of action games looking for an intense challenge, this game is most definitely for you.
Like the Mega Man games of old, Mega Man 9 features eight stages that serve as home to a robotic boss, and then a final series of stages through the bad guy's fortress. If you played a Mega Man game on the NES, you know exactly what to expect because Mega Man 9 is exactly the same -- you run, you jump, you shoot, you have fun. You can also buy items that will be very helpful in Mega Man's quest, and the game also consists of several extra challenges (in addition to XBox achievements) that will add a twist to the gameplay.
The game is not without a couple minor issues. First off, let's throw out any discussion about the graphics because quite frankly, if you have an issue with the graphics, then this game probably wasn't intended for you anyway. The graphics are just right for what the game intends on being. However, the game could have benefitted from a few conveniences that you might not find in old school games but can commonly find in games today, such as the ability to go back to the stage select screen whenever you want (as it stands now, if you select a stage and then decide you want to play another one instead, you have to either reload the game or kill yourself off). It also would have been nice to have the ability to save after buying items rather than having to clear an entire stage before saving.
Of course, the most talked about issue surrounding Mega Man 9 is difficulty. Even by old school standards, the game is a bit extreme the first time through. There are certainly some that will embrace the challenge, and for them, the difficulty won't be a problem but rather a positive. Other players will be put-off though, as this is a game that will kill you multiple times within your first few minutes of play. However, Mega Man 9 throws the exact same challenges at you every time, so it will get easier with repetition. Things that seem extreme or close to impossible may indeed come as a breeze to you after spending a few days with the game.
Length could also be an issue to some players. The game in itself is short, and even though it will take you a few hours to complete it the first time through, the game can be completed in less than an hour, and it might not take you more than a few days to get good enough to do that. Many of the achievements and challenges are hard and do add to the life of the game, but because the game is so short, even some of the toughest achievements and challenges can be captured in a few days, leaving a question as to how much long-term life the game has. Still, we're only talking ten bucks here, so if you play through it and go after a few achievements or challenges to boot, you should get your money's worth.
Whether Mega Man 9 is the first in a rush of NES-style rebirths or just a one-time blast from the past remains to be seen. Whatever happens from here though, Capcom can be happy knowing that they accomplished exactly what this game was intended on doing. Mega Man 9 is not just faithful to the Mega Man series and the 8-bit days -- it IS those things reincarnate. For that, old school gamers will rejoice, as Capcom has successfully resurrected the old days -- at least for this one time. Hopefully it's not the last.