Mega Man 9I liked the old Mega Man games, at least the first three - the first one for difficulty and the later two for better level designs - but other than that, the series was just another 8 bit series involving killer robots. The only other Mega Man games I liked were Mega Man X1-X3 (before the jump to 3D and all the mediocrity that followed) and Mega Man Legends (which took me by surprise that they could make a GOOD 3D Mega Man game). Everything else just felt like fuel for the fire. The series turned into a mediocre mess, and don't get me started on the Battle Network series. I don't know why I liked that sub-series in the first place. I guess it was because it was a turn based RPG where you could actually dodge (GASP!) and it was Mega Man, and I liked Mega Man NT Warrior, the anime that was inspired by the games, but now I can't stand to play any of those games anymore. Eh, weird person I must be.
Regardless, when I heard of Mega Man 9, I was... Well, I'll be honest - I didn't care. At face value, it looked like Mega Man 2, and that was my favorite game in the series. I thought "wow, what an awesome tribute to Mega Man 2!". Then I actually played it, and after seeing through the 8 bit graphics and such, I made a sudden realization - this is not as good as Mega Man 2. Not in the slightest. It annihilates Mega Mans 4-8, but that's not saying much when you put 2 and 2 together and play through the first 3 Mega Man games again. To make a long story short, I didn't necessarily mind Mega Man 9, but it's not that great of a game unless you're wearing rose tinted glasses. In this review, I'll take off the glasses and go on about why this is not that good of a game. It's good, I'll say that, but not as good as others say it is.
The story is a typical retro game story. It's blunt and to the point like AC/DC's music, taking out all these complex equations and side missions and plot enhancements and *insert other stuff here* and just getting to the point. What happens is that Dr Wily is out of prison once again and wants to side with Dr Light once again. This time around, robots are terrorizing the city and Dr Light gets blamed for it. It's up to Mega Man to prove Dr Light innocent and Dr Wily guilty as he blasts his way through 8 robot masters. Yeah, you know, blunt and to the point. That seems to be why people like 8 bit stories, and to frank, I thought it was a good idea. It took a backseat, making the gamer care more for the gameplay.
As far as gameplay goes, its simple enough. You have to guide Mega Man through each of the levels presented to you, and you have to then defeat the robot master at the end. When you win, you get their weapon to use on the next robot master. Rinse, lather and repeat until all 8 are defeated, then move on to Wily's Castle, and do the same thing, only the bosses are not necessarily robot masters, but just robots. If you've played through Mega Man 2, this will feel quite familiar to you. Realizing this, the developers included the store and Rush the robotic vehicular dog from games past Mega Man 3 just to make it seem a bit more modern, which is okay, but when you take out the sliding from Mega Man 3 and charged shot from Mega Man 4, it's not all that okay. Yes, Mega Man 2 is my favorite of the original 8 bit titles and one of the two quintessential 8 bit Mega Man titles (Mega Man 3 being the other), but Christ almighty, I was hoping for an 8 bit Mega Man 8 with enhancements, not Mega Man 2 with the dog and store. But one can only hope...
Segwaying now into the negative aspects of gameplay... As this is supposedly a tribute to Mega Man 2, shouldn't the level designs be... I don't know, good!? What I mean is that the level designs of the game are pretty average. Each level consists of gimmicks, which is fine to a degree, but cut us a break man! Gimmicky crap in EVERY ROOM!? Even if its little, there needs to be a gimmick! God forbid that a room has something that isn't precision jumping or 1 hit death; better yet, forget rooms where you just slaughter some enemies for some power ups and some platform jumping, just get through gimmicky rooms which repeat themselves but just get harder, until you get to the boss. I know that's a staple in the Mega Man series, but at least in those games, they gave you a bit of a break. In Mega Man 9, its overkill! Calm down on usage of tedious level designs!
All of that segways into my next complaint - too much trial and error. I don't mind trial and error, but only when sparingly used just to keep me on my toes. Mega Man 2 had some of this with Quick Man's infamous lasers of death. You had to check where those lasers are coming from and remember them well, lest ye want to be blasted through the chest. That annoyed a lot of gamers, myself included. That is trial and error there just to aggravate you and make you break the controller. Now, imagine every level having that. That's bullcrap. That's not fun, that's annoying! Even when you manage to finally memorize it... Is it even fun? Slightly. I mean, you're not even dying because of your own screw up. You're dying because the game wants to screw you. If you plan on playing this game, keep an eye on your virgin ass.
However, that's just my problem. People eat this up like tasty cakes, and to be fair, sure, why not? People have their own individual tastes! Me? No thank you. I like hard games, sure, but this isn't hard. It's tedius. I sure as hell don't remember too many good old games like Contra 3 being this anger inducing, and those games had you by the nutsack until you finally beat them, and the end result is a satisfying one. Mega Man 9? They don't give a crap if you manage to beat it, because it can send more bullcrap your way. Losing lives due to 1 hit bullcrap you can't avoid because the game said so is not my idea of fun. My idea of fun is learning from MY mistakes, not from the GAME'S mistakes. Get it? Mega Man 9 wants you dead, and it will get its wish. It's beatable, yeah, but only eventually after a couple of days of playing. Grab some Ritalin guys.
All of this, however, flows into the first of the game's praises. You know the shop from Mega Man 7? Yep. Mega Man 9 has it too! Finding various screws throughout each of the levels, you can use them to purchase items that restore your health, weapon power, save your life from stupid 1 hit death traps, etc etc You know, all that life saving stuff. If you're able to buy enough of these items, you can make your time playing this game easier, though you'll still experience tedium here and there. The shop really saves the game. Yeah, you can find the items throughout the levels, but if you just do it that way, you'll be getting constant game overs. Spend money to try and squeeze some fun out of this.
The next praiseworthy thing to point out gameplay-wise is that once you get through all the gimmicks and tedious levels, the bosses welcome you with open arms, and to be fair, the fights against them are fun. Yes, the developers managed to recapture what its like to fight the bosses. Each of them have their own weaknesses, but can kick your backside if you're not careful. Some, I feel, are a bit too easy, but others are at a respectable difficulty level of medium, allowing you to at least have a chance against them without the usage of items. Don't expect to beat them in your first couple of tries, though. They require a bit of memorization in attack/movement patters, but it's an improvement over the level designs.
Speaking of bosses, the weapons you gain from them aren't too shabby either. Far from the best out there, though Galaxy Man's weapon is kind of neat, and Concrete Man's is pretty nifty for stopping even upward flows. The rest, however, are standard - the usual stronger shooter, shield projector and what have you. Whenever you fire one of these, you use up weapon power, which you can regenerate by finding some colored power cells. At least the weapons are still like their usual selves - just weapons.
Overall, the gameplay is a mixed bag, but at least the controls are good. Awesome, even, due to its simplicity, which compliments the game's style of blunt and simple. This game might make you love the PS3's d-pad a bit more, as it moves so fluently while keeping to one direction at a time (unlike the 360's). All the controls are fluent though, but when you consider that all that's required are 4 directions, a fire button and a jump button, that's... kind of a given.
What's next to comment on? The graphics, that's what! Yeah, people actually care about this aspect, even in an 8 bit game. Honestly guys, that's sad, unless it *bleep* your eyes with blinding colors. But hey, I'll humor you guys. If you don't like 8 bit graphics, kindly avoid this game like the plague, because it is supposed to be a tribute to Mega Man 2, and there are no 1080p hi-def graphics to be seen here. As far as 8 bit graphics go, they look nice... Well, until you start comparing them to Mega Man 5's and 6's. Mega Man 9 has boring backgrounds when compared to the rest. And... Do I see some palette swapping? Concrete Man? Looks like Guts Man with an extra silver and yellow coat. Galaxy Man? Star Man must've made a deal with a small replica of Jupiter to destroy towns and take it from behind when Mega Man comes by. But I won't hold it too much against the game.
Honestly, though, you know what tends to stand out in Mega Man games? Level designs, and the soundtrack. The goddamn soundtrack. Yeah, about that... I can barely remember about half the songs due to the fact that they're 8 bit tunes you could hear on any game that Capcom have made. This make's Mega Man 9's soundtrack seem less appealing. Don't worry... it's not that great anyway. It's above average, actually. Not one of these songs can hold a candle against any from the first 3 games' songs in terms of memorability and how good they sound. It could've been much better.
I realize that all the fanboys are now about to look for my house and burn it down, but I'm sorry. I wasn't impressed by Mega Man 9. It's an improvement over what's been released lately, but that's like saying that pudding made of spray painted cream is better than that pudding made of the shit I took last night. This game had infinite potential, but with level designs that screw you unless you have a few items at the beginning of each level and tedious difficulty, Mega Man 9 is not as good as what everybody else says.
Stats:
Story: 5/5. It's a simple story, but it works. Not much depth, development or anything, but considering its an 8 bit tribute... I'll let it slide.
Gameplay: 3/5. Nice and simple running and shooting. Now if only it was less gimmicky and put less emphasis on precision jumping and 1 hit deaths. Not abolish...just lessen. Copious amounts of trial and error got on my nerves. Ruined it for me.
Controls: 5/5. Manages to respond well to button commands and the scheme is good too.
Graphics: 4/5. Nice enough to look at, but when compared to the older 8 bit Mega Man games, the backgrounds here seem boring and monotonous. Bit of lazy working in there, too.
Sound: 3.5/5. Sound effects are as good as the 8 bit games, but unfortunately, the soundtrack is only above average at best and none too memorable.
Overall: 3.5/5. It's an above average game, but overrated as well. When you take off those rose tinted glasses, you really see the game for what it is. Regardless, it's still worth $10, partially for nostalgia's sake. Heh, maybe you'll like it a lot.
Never really had much interest in the game anyway but it was interesting to read a detailed opinion that isn't declaring it as totally awesomeness.