Mega Man 9

"A blue beacon amidst an industry drowning in spectacle"

It has been a decade since the last numbered flagship Mega Man game. In that time, Mega Man has become a legend, a computer program, an alien, traveled to the future, further in the future, and still further in the future. Come September 2008, he suits up once more in the role gamers of all generations have come to love and spend fond times with: Mega Man. With the rise of retro gaming thanks to the trend of downloading old-school games, Keiji Inafune has finally seen it fit to give gamers their true ninth installment.

Story: 10/10

In the year 20XX, robotics has come a long way until fully functional robots are a part of every day life. Two scientists, Doctors Light and Wily, were at the forefront of the revolution until Wily had bigger plans and tries to seize the world with his groups of robot masters. Every time, Dr. Light's robot Mega Man has stepped up to retire the robot masters and stop Wily's plans. Along the way, other chracters have come to aide or hinder Mega Man.

After Wily's latest incarceration, a new problem arises in the form of rampaging robots! Eight robots have suddenly turned violent! Wily claims that this time, it's Dr. Light who is trying to take over the world and he himself had long given up that ambition. He even presents a tape to prove it! Light is promptly incriminated and Wily gains the trust and funds of the world. Mega Man, with the help of his sister Roll and the helpful robot Auto, must set out, retire the rampaging robots, and unravel the mystery behind what's going on!

Mega Man games never needed a huge story to be great. Why do I give it a full score? Because unlike a good amount of games out there, Mega Man 9's story doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. Mega Man goes out, he blasts everything in sight, grabs a power, rinses, repeats. The action is broken up occasionally by little sprite-based cutscenes. Even though they're short, the developers still manage to get a good amount of plot or charm into every segment. After a good smirk, you're ready to tackle the next master. That's a wrap. Cut, print, back to gameplay.

Graphics: 10/10

This game must have some impressive graphics to merit a full score, yes? And it does. Mega Man 9 proudly boasts the classic 8-bit graphics from the first six installments. Everything from characters to special effects is by sprites, and there isn't a lens flare to be seen.

In this day and age, every company is rubbing their photo-realistic settings and characters against each other in the race to get gamers to buy the shinier package. Mega Man 9 dares to think differently. The idea behind Mega Man 9 is that gaming is a medium that's growing every day, and not merely inching along, dropping as much mass as it gains. Long-time gamers do not regret the time they spent playing 'inferior' games. Just like the great games of today, games back in the NES era did the most with what they had. Instead of attempting to emulate real life, Mega Man 9's sprites have their own cartoony feel with lots of charm and style. Normally, an enemy's appearance is intimidating. In this game, they are intimidating by your previous experiences with them. You see that bright, smiling small guy with the propeller? He's hardcore. Oh, yeah.

Sometimes pixel art is used for scenes and they all look like something out of the NES as well. At the time it was revolutionary, but now it gives us nostalgia out our ears.

Sound: 10/10

Today's games have ambient sounds for backgrounds noise and sounds that were probably recorded from real life, and that's fine. Back in the NES era, however, sound artists had to mix using synthesizers to create music and sound effects. What resulted was soundtrack after soundtrack of unforgettable beats and rhythms, not to mention truly unique sound effects.

Mega Man is known for, among other things, the amazing song selections using mere blips, beeps and scratches. Mega Man 9 is no different. If you're one to notice music, you may just stop to listen or find yourself moving to the beat during a boss fight. The game even includes signature jingles from past games as pure fan service. The robot master introduction, the victory tune, even the password screen from Mega Man 2, it's all in there to culminate a great listening experience playing this game. Not only that, but the great sound effects are taken from past games as well. Somebody in the next room over just may think you're playing on the Virtual Console!

Control: 10/10

Camera, lengthy turn-around animations, glitching hit detection on a random rock, convoluted button combinations/settings, and other such banes of the third dimension in gaming do not apply to Mega Man 9. You run. You jump. You shoot. You pause to access menus. A great game doesn't need a million moves at your disposal at any given time, even though this has been done greatly in other games. The physics take some getting used to, and judging jump distances is no less a test of patience than it was in the 80s and 90s. The gameplay is intuitive, simple, and after a few dedicated hours you can find yourself pulling off some pretty cool moves to impress your friends with, even with the restriction to just running, jumping, and shooting. The only time when you'll find the controls to be unresponsive is in a few isolated incidents where you don't jump, and nine out of ten times, it's because of human error.

Gameplay: 10/10

The cornerstone of the Mega Man series is the simple yet addictive gameplay. You run around as Mega Man in classic platforming fashion, jump up, around, and mostly to the right until you reach the boss. When you defeat a boss, you gain a new weapon based on that boss. For instance, Concrete Man gives you the Concrete Shot which can trap enemies in concrete or create temporary platforms to make those daunting jumps slightly easier. Hornet Man gives you the Hornet Chaser, generating hornets which home in on enemies and even fetch items for you! This is one thing about Mega Man 9 which shows that Capcom didn't just upload the old engine and give it a paint job: everything from the Rush Coil to the L. (Splash?) Trident has something unique about it other than the design of the ammo you shoot out.

Speaking of weapons, the boss lineup is as creative as ever. It pales in comparison to past games, but that's only because the past games are big shoes to fill. Concrete Man can immobilize you and follow up with a stomp or charge. Tornado Man, reminiscent of Air Man, summons damaging tornadoes from the bottom of the screen and attempts full-body attacks. Plug Man sends torrents of ground-roaming sparks. Jewel Man subscribes to the shield-as-weapon philosophy of Wood Man and others, generating a rotating shield of jewels. Hornet Man releases hornets that pursue you relentlessly. Magma Man charges around and launches fire relentlessly, rather like Fire Man. Galaxy Man attempts to pull you in to contact damage with a black hole, similar to Magnet Man. Splash Woman (that's right, the first female robot master!), bound to be a fan favorite, launches trident beams and sings to summon fish for battle. Each are vicious foes, and its up to you to figure out which power is effective against which robot master. Doing so can give you the help needed to win an otherwise impossible boss fight.

Also imported over is the currency system in which you can purchase extra lives, energy tanks, even designs by collecting screws during stages. When the chips are stacked, these are your lifeline to victory... and you WILL need them, because this game is HARD. The last and most nostalgic aspect of the game is the difficulty. Enemies will swarm, do amazing amounts of damage, and do everything they can to push you down a bottomless pit. This is the type of game that puts the plot aside and gets in YOUR face. Every boss down is a great achievement, and you're left wondering just how this new weapon will change how you play. Perhaps moreso than ever, the order in which you tackle robot masters and your style of play will let your gameplay evolve in a way unique to you!

Okay, so you've beaten the game. Time to pack it up and move on, right? If you enjoyed the game, that isn't so! Following popular gaming trends, meta-gameplay is available through challenges and the worldwide rankings. As you play through the game, you'll notice messages pop up every so often telling you that you 'cleared' something. There are 50 challenges present that dare you to clear a stage while jumping less than fifty times, or beating the entire game once a day for three days straight! This sort of thing keeps the gameplay fresh and staleness away. Worldwide rankings on speed runs through the various stages will show you how you stack up against the world. Want to see your name up there? Better find all the ways to shave off precious seconds! This game makes hardcore gamers feel at home, and gives the more casual gamers the ideal look into what all the rage is about.

The icing on the cake (meaning it adds so much, but it isn't necessary) of this game is the promise of downloadable content. The menu is blank now, but as of this date, it has been confirmed that the ultra-cool Proto Man will soon be downloadable as an alternate player character! Even if the costs add up, the initial game is a measly $10 for a game that is easily five times that value on retail shelves.

Final Call: 10/10
Buy or Pass: Buy

If I sound like a frothing fanboy, well, that's because I am. I certainly won't blind myself to the steady decline of the Blue Bomber over the years. With all bias aside, Mega Man 9 is a great game with a lot of replay value. It will destroy you at first, but a persistent gamer will learn the subtleties of the game and shine all the way to the game's conclusion. You might even level up in your gaming ability by sharpening your skills on this game! I really do hope this game sells well so that we may see more titles, and eventually, the rise of contemporary retro gaming! I recognize that no one game is for everybody who plays games, but I honestly believe that any gamer, core or otherwise, worth their controller owes it to him or herself to experience this game that mixes modern ingenuity with old-school work ethic and design.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/08

Game Release: Mega Man 9 (US, 09/22/08)