Mega Man 9 Review
How many times does this happen...Ill answer that, not many at all. Mega Man 9 harks back to what i myself grew up with, the 8-Bit Era. This includes the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System. These two consoles are my favorite consoles of all time. When i was a kid, i didn't have much to concentrate on in life, I didn't play Music, I didn't make Movies or anything, heck, i didn't review like i do now. All you have, is friends, family, and Video Games mostly, and the first console i had was the Nintendo Entertainment System, with games such as Super Mario Brothers, Super Mario Brothers 3, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, and of course...The Mega Man Games.
Now this links us up to this game. Its been a long time...a very long time in fact since an 8-Bit Game was on the scene, Mega Man wasn't what it was before, as we could tell by games in the Original series such as Mega Man 8. Somewhere down the line we had to accept it, Mega Man had lost its charm, and EVERYBODY knew that Mega Man wasn't going to return in some kind of....oh i don't know, fan boys dream where he returns to 8-Bit awesomeness....oh wait.
Mega Man 9 is here people, this is what we have been waiting for since Mega Man 3, i can tell you that. Mega Man 9 is super awesome, super nostalgic, and super difficult...wait..what?. Super difficult? oh great, i can just see the bottomless pits now, why the heck don't you just go one step further and put Sonic the Hedgehog in there somewhere. But No, this is not THAT kind of difficult, this is the Nintendo Entertainment System difficult. Been so long you can't remember that kind of difficult? You know, the old "Were actually going to give you a challenge...like the old games" difficult.
Mega Man 9 was released in September Worldwide, excluding North America's X-Box Live Arcade, which got it on October 1st 2008. The game was widely anticipated before release by Retro Gamers and Fans of Video Gaming in general alike, and upon release was critically acclaimed, but what do I think of the Game?
Hell, no reason beating around the bush, Mega Man 9, Rocks. So many aspects about it bring me back to 8-Bit Platforming greatness, so many i probably couldn't fit them all in one review, from the Text-Story and how the sentences don't fit on the screen there supposed to fit on, just how difficult this game actually is, Finally being able to play a good Side-Scrolling game for the first time since New Super Mario Bros maybe, how it barely requires any Storyline, but for the first time in a while that's actually ok...OK ill elaborate a little.
The Graphics in Mega Man 9 are pretty awesome...I mean you can't say much about them because its just 8-Bit, and that's how they planned it to look, but to a seasoned veteran Gamer like me, it brings a tear to your eye...ok, I am not that sad, but still its a good feeling. The Sound is the best Ive heard since Mega Man 1, 2 and 3, heck i even had it on my MP3 Player for about a week before the game was released...well, actually two considering the whole...Europe thing. It just reeks of those 8-Bit bleeps and Bloops of Yore. Also a plus, this game is $10! Just $10! When i was a kid i would have paid maybe $40 for these games on the Nintendo! What an offer that's all i can say.
Now comes the big biter, the Gameplay. Now the Gameplay is two-fold. One, it is awesome, and Two, it is hard. This is absolutely not big deal to me, as i have played the Mega Man games of the past, and i know just how frustratingly fun this game is going to be, and yeah i said frustratingly fun. The simplicity of the game only contributes to the fun-factor of the game, just shoot, move and jump. Great. Now when you get into the game, your going to notice that the Password function has been replaced with Save slots, which i personally think is a great move. Sure, it's not as difficult anymore as i don't or wouldn't have to play through one sitting, but the Save function is great and it means i can go back to where i was before hand.
Another new function is the Achievements section. This section of the game i would say is for the more daring Mega Man fans, after...or heck, even in between the first time you complete the game, there are 50 Achievements that you can unlock by doing levels, or the whole game in a certain way. Some of these Achievements are practically impossible for the normal person and even I wouldn't advise these, Achievements like "Complete the Game without taking Damage once" is just beyond ridiculous and almost impossible, but right now i have completed 40% of the Achievements and i am not looking back now.
After all these great things Ive been saying about this game, you must be asking yourself "Come on, no game is this good, give me some downsides, i want a fair review" and that's exactly what i aim for when i make these reviews, but i really cannot give you many downsides to this game. One is that this game might actually be too hard for casual, or New Generation Gamers. Now i am not saying that New Generation Gamers wouldn't be able to play this, i am sure some of you are as competent as i am playing this game, but i am sure that some of you are just going to find this WAY to aggressively difficult to enjoy it, that's all...that aside, i really cannot think of another downside to this game...not saying that this game is perfection, not at all, but it does what it does right, and Capcom should be proud for that.
Well, its been a long time waiting, but Capcom have released a game that can stand up to the likes of Mega Man classics such as 1, 2 and 3. Mega Man 9 is exactly what i expected, a ridiculously hard, ridiculously enjoyable, and ridiculously Fan-Based, Nostalgic Mega Man experience. Thank you Capcom, you looked deep into the hearts of the Mega Man fans, and pulled it out of them, and thus: Mega Man 9.
