Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Old-school"

The Blue Bomber makes a triumphant return to 2D in one of his most challenging, and enjoyable, games yet. Capcom, choosing to forgo shiny next-gen graphics and bloom effects, took a considerable risk in bringing Mega Man 9 (available for download on the Wii, PS3, and XBOX 360) to the masses. It seems to have paid off, however, as Capcom has delivered a game that ranks as one of the best in the series. The game is, essentially, an 8-bit nostalgia bomb; It's graphics, sound effects, music, and even it's difficulty hearken back to a time when games were simplistic, yet challenging. Though these may seem like welcome changes to the children of the NES era, those who were too young to witness Mega Man's rise to glory may ultimately write off the game due to the look.

The classic Mega Man "paper-rock-scissor" formula remains the same here. There are 8 Robot Masters, each waiting for you at the end of their particular stage. You must run, jump, dodge, and shoot your way through these stages, all the while navigating all the traps, gimmicks, and perils they offer. If you can survive the stage and aforementioned boss fight, you are rewarded with a new weapon based on the one the previous boss had used. This new weapon can (and will) be used in later levels to avoid obstacles, and may even serve as a weakness to a particular Robot Master. Discovering how these weapons work (and how they effect the bosses) add a bit strategy to the game and make later play-throughs far more enjoyable.

Much like it's 8-bit brethren (the original Mega Man comes to mind), Mega Man 9 is very difficult. Sometimes frustratingly difficult, or even control-breaking difficult. Levels are filled with tricky jumps, spikes, pitfalls, tough enemy placement, one hit kills, and tough bosses. Be forewarned; this game is not for the faint of heart. You will die. A lot. In an effort to cushion the blow, there is a store where you can exchange screws (the game's form of currency) for items (often at VERY high prices ) to aid you, but if you're careless or out of screws, these items may not help all that much. Memorization is your true friend here; multiple play-throughs reveal the placement of enemies, paths to take to avoid traps, or even just to work on your timing.

Graphic wise, the game emulates the old-school Mega Man look perfectly (perhaps even a little better), and, as a definite nostalgia nod, includes the NES flicker effect (which can be turned on or off). They aren't the most detailed of graphics, mind you, but as far as serving the purpose of old-school feel, they work. Sound effects, much like the graphics, are simple. They include your typical bleeps and bloops from the NES days, as well as some truly-inspired 8-bit music, even rivaling the music of Mega Man 2. It's surprising to me that everything just works so well with one another, it truly flows. It's an 8-bit throwback that works.

Capcom even went the extra mile to include online features like downloadable content or leader boards (how fast can YOU beat Concrete Man's stage?). In addition, there are 50 extra challenges that vary from easy (defeat a certain number of enemies) to masochistically hard ( beat the game with no damage?!?). These welcome bonuses bring in a lot more replay value than you'd expect from a typical Mega Man game.

In the end, it all comes back to nostalgia. If you fondly reminisce on the glory days of gaming, than this is the game for you. For everyone else, the threatening difficulty may shun some away, but I definitely think you should just give it try; who knows? Maybe you have a bit of an old-school gamer in you. Games like this don't come around everyday, so embrace it. You won't be disappointed.