REVIEW: Mega Man 9 (360, PS3, Wii)

Scribbled on October 10th, 2008 by Jonathon Howard
Filed in Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Platformer, PlayStation Network, Reviews, Sony PlayStation 3, WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade

Mega Man 9 is really a gift for older gamers, gamers who remember just what a big deal the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was. Gamers who perhaps have been shaped largely by Nintendo’s original console. The developers of the game, Inti Creates, the folks who cut their teeth with Mega Man by creating the Zero series of games, have done a fantastic job re-creating the experience of playing a NES era Mega Man game, including screen flicker and slow down with too many enemies on the screen.

For those of you too young to know, Mega Man is an iconic franchise from Capcom that puts you in the role of a lone robot who must fight eight other themed robot bosses, absorbing their various powers and using them against the other robot bosses. After defeating the bosses, you’ll go after their creator and franchise arch-fiend, Dr. Wily, pursuing him through his castle, until you confront him in a multi-stage fight. The key to Mega Man games was using the various boss powers effectively; this is largely a trial-by-fire endeavor, as the logic for what beats what (Mega Man weapons operate on the rock-paper-scissor principle) isn’t very firm. Once you learned whose weapon defeats whom, you’re on your way to a much easier victory.

When I was a kid playing Mega Man 2 and 3, I didn’t have the Internet and this process was much harder than it now is. Hours after Mega Man 9 was released, a chart showing the weapon weaknesses had already appeared in GameFAQs.

The biggest issue I have with this game is the difficulty. It isn’t a complaint - it’s more a realization how far the medium has moved from its roots. This is not an easy platformer, and like all older platformers, the game demands precision control and enemy movement memorization. Today’s platformers are much more forgiving to the player, with looser controls and less demanding requirements. Mega Man 9 - even with the inclusion of several purchasable items that make the game easier like save points, and in level save points - is going to require you to spend time with it, and learn the game, which is a good thing, as the game is so enjoyable even as you die over and over you’ll keep playing it.

If you stick with Mega Man 9, you will become a master of it. Ask anyone who’s completed a previous Mega Man game: to this day they can pick that game up and beat it. Mega Man 9 rewards dedication a little more than current games do. I don’t see this being a big hit with younger gamers, as they have no context in which to treat the game. To them, it just seems unfairly punishing. Those of us who know what Capcom was trying to do, those who have a context, who remember how hard old games were will find themselves lost in nostalgia.