The only bad thing about Mega Man 9 is that Capcom passed the opportunity to expand on the series.

User Rating: 8 | Mega Man 9 X360
By uncanny_doom | Review Date:
When I first heard rumor that a new classic Mega Man game would be in the works, I got all giddy with delight. I was extremely excited, as I have always enjoyed the Mega Man series and have played the majority of games (even some of the modern handheld crap Capcom spews out) brandishing the famed blue bomber on it's cover. Mega Man 9 however, is not the modern rebirth of the series like many would have imagined. For the ninth iteration, Capcom has made a strong push to retain the old-school, retro feel of the series. Despite Mega Man 7 and 8 using clean sprites for their graphics, 9 uses the old, 8-bit models of the NES era. How far has Capcom gone to make this game feel like it didn't come out this year? Well, you get the old NES sounds and bleeps for your music and effects, those weird 80's cutscenes, lots and lots of text, and there is no charge shot or slide move.

On paper, Mega Man 9 sounds like a huge step backwards for the series. In some ways, it is. Capcom has perhaps gone too far behind with some things, like mere menu navigation (in the shop), the poor dialogue, and the fact that the game doesn't HAVE to look like this. Sure, it's interesting that it does, and that's surely their intention. But there was never anything about 8-bit sprites that meant they had style or something like that. They were used because that's the best we could do at the time, and I'm not sold at all that Mega Man 9 has any purpose with the low grade visual that it sports.

Luckily, the gameplay is very much intact. The developing team states a true fact in reference to removing the charge shot and slide abilities. The charge shot gives you one free kill and has the player running around endlessly holding a button, which can be annoying. I agree there. The slide was also seldom used for anything but entering boss doors like a badass. What Mega Man 9 pulls off very well is the level design, pacing, and classic Mega Man elements. Not so much the graphics, but you should be very big on some of the little puzzles in the levels, figuring out the boss order (that's not as much fun with Google nowadays), and the modes of the game.

Aside from going through the game in it's normal state, you have access to the Time Attack Mode, two locked modes I haven't gotten yet, Achievements (for 360 users), downloadable modes, and a list of challenges for those that truly enjoy being tested for 100% game completion. The Challenge List in particular seems more of a joke than a challenge. I'm sure tons of Mega Man veterans (err...gods?) can do stuff like beat the game without dying, continuing, or being hit at all, but as far as I know the only Challenges I'm headed for are the ones for beating each boss, beating the game itself, and firing lots of missed Mega Buster shots.

Mega Man 9 is certainly a return to form for the series. It's on every system, so there's no excuse not to check it out.

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