Eddy Fettig, Editor
When the announcement for Mega Man 9 came out, gamers were flabbergasted -- split into two groups, but flabbergasted, nonetheless. A complete change in direction for the Mega Man series, Mega Man 9 set out to recapture the glory of the 80's in its design and presentation. At face value, many would say it does just that -- some would say for better, others for worse. I am of the former of those two opinions, and while I may be a big fan of Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3, it is not simply because Mega Man invokes memories of these classics. Mega Man 9 is a very solid game all around.
I will spare you details on the story, because it's rather simplistic and silly (as it should be, of course), and the presentation you likely already know about, as well: Mega Man 9, by design, was built from scratch to look, sound, feel, and play like its 8-bit counterparts (Mega Man 2, specifically). Many bitter skeptics have been railing against the game, calling it a "ROM-hack" and some such, but the fact of the matter is that Mega Man 9 borrows some very small amount of spritework from its older brethren, but most of the sound and art on display here is entirely new: it is just intentionally retro. It's got added sprite tearing and slowdown if you want it (you can turn these off), it has a soundtrack that is chiptune heaven, and man And whether you're a fan of the older Mega Man games or not, you will easily find yourself lost in this 8-bit game because of what really matters: the gameplay.
Let's strip away the excellently executed 80's presentation here and dig into the meat of Mega Man 9. Like Mega Man 2 before it, this spiritual successor sets Mega Man down with only his Mega Buster and his jump to start out with. No sliding and no charging. His Rush Coil is back from Mega Man 3, and later the (gimped) Rush Jet, both used for overcoming (or bypassing) obstacles. These serve their purposes well, though the much more limited Rush Jet can take some getting used to. Aside from these, Mega Man can purchase items that save him from instant death, protect him from damage, heal his energy or...change Roll's outfit? This is an element borrowed from Mega Man 8, in which Mega Man can collect Bolts in the levels to use for purchasing these trinkets. Some players will ignore these, and others will accumulate them: this lends itself to aiding less experienced players or just giving everyone some convenience.
What really makes Mega Man what it is, though, are two main things: action-packed platforming and slick boss battles. Mega Man 9 really delivers with both of these. Though some brief segments feel like homages to older levels (Splash Woman's bubbles are very directly copied from an older Mega Man level), most of what is on display here is brand new territory for our 8-bit protagonist, ranging from the unique design of Galaxy Man's level to some of the intriguing aspects of Wily's Castle later on. There are definitely some traps that will blind-side players the first time through: fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, as they say. Any of these few traps that are very easy to fall for the first time are actually very easy to avoid if you pay attention. This is the heart of Mega Man 9: a mountaintop to scale, but adequate equipment to scale it.
Mega Man 9's stage design is very sharp and in many cases, demanding. Even if you are a hardened veteran of the classics, you will die -- probably many times. But this game isn't difficult just for the sake of it. The developers give you, the player, all of the tools you need and a set of tasks to accomplish, and they make them fairly challenging, but in such a way that even when you die, you are tempted to try again because you know you can do it. Mega Man 9 is just as challenging as its classic brothers, and it's in all of the right ways. Mega Man 9 doesn't have segments as frustrating as some at the end of Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3, either, in which it was very easy to run out of weapon energy and have to restart all over again. Mega Man 9 was built to intentionally facilitate speed running, more so than the older titles. Each and every one of the powerups Mega Man obtains has a proper use at a proper time if you choose to figure it out.
Naturally, each of the Robot Masters gives you a power, and each of these bosses has a weakness to one of the other robot's powers. While this has always been a staple of the franchise, never before in any of the Mega Man games have I seen such a balanced array of abilities and levels so cleverly designed as to make such harmonious use of them. It is extremely rewarding to breeze through a level by swapping out the right powers at the right time and using them with precision. And Time Attacks are worth it this time -- not only because these levels are so well-crafted that they deserve multiple replays but also because there are online leaderboards. And with this feature comes along another new-aged feature: achievements. There is a long list of achievements to claim -- some as tricky as beating the whole game without getting hit, and others as bizarre as getting through a level to the boss room without firing a shot. In either case, these in and of themselves encourage lots of replay value to the dedicated core gamer, and they will encourage players to go back through these levels and bosses again and again and master how they all work, which is essentially what this style of game is about in the first place.
My Final Verdict: 9
