Mega Man 9: So far so good...

[Viper821]

I gave it a second shot this weekend (as a huge fan of Megaman 2 and 3 I might add) and all I can say is this game is incredible. It's my second favourite PS3 game and I feel like a thief for only paying $10 for it. The creativity of the game oozes through in an era of flashy yet soulless games.

Yes, it's hard as nails, but it forces you to pay close attention and get totally focused on the game just like the NES days. My imagination was also starting to get carried away with the same feelings I had (and assumed I lost) as a child playing Nintendo. It's getting late into the evening and I've been glued to the TV just like we all were as kids in front of the NES. Unlike most modern 'hard' games where I usually just give up, I was close to throwing the controller while at same time eager to try again.

Capcom took a big gamble with this title and it's looking like it paid off. Mark my words, this will go down in videogame history as a huge milestone that changed the direction of gaming. The raw talents and immense respect for the series the game designers have is on display and it's something we need to see more often. Yes, we have already seen a rise in retro titles but this is the first time a developer took an established series and went "backwards" on purpose.

Sometimes in life less is more and it's better to go back to a simpler time. I can't think of a better example of this than Mega Man 9. It's primitive, it's simple and yet I'd rather have this game than over 99% of what's on the market. I just hope Mega Man 10 is coming soon!

[BanjoPickles1]

I'm not sure I can agree with your "changing gaming" standpoint, Viper. What does it "change?" I'm not being critical of the game, not in the slightest, but I think you may be overreaching here.

I've beaten the game three times now(that's how huge of a fan I am of this series). I do agree that it is an absolutely incredible game(more on that in a second), and I do hope that this inspires other developers to dust off some long-dormant franchises with a touch of retro-fitting. It doesn't really change anything, though. What it does is nail the aspect of a classic era that never should have been forgotten about(and, for most of us, hasn't). The entire time I played this game, I felt like a kid with steel-determination to see it through to the bitter end! Forget the FRUSTRATION of Dr. Wily's third stage(using the mega blaster to maneuver through spikes is now officially in the "top ten hardest Mega Man Moments Ever!), forget the fact that I'm going to have to play through this entire level again because I couldn't get that last hit on Plug Man! None of it matters because this game is FUN!

What makes the game incredible is that the developers seem as though they actually put their heart and soul into this project! I can't remember the last time that a Mega Man actually had "holy crap, that's awesome" moments but this game actually had them! Whether they were clever touches(the 1-Up's that were actually enemies in disguise caught me off guard), or "think outside the box" moments(using the concrete shot to block a laser you had to pass), this game absolutely astounded me!

But....a milestone? You really can't say that this is a milestone anymore than you could Contra 4? Both games are excellent reminders of what great game design is supposed to be and, as a result, join their respective franchises as high-water marks. Sure, Mega Man 9 is hella innovative, in many ways, but there is nothing in this game that you haven't done before. Once again, this isn't a knock. Street Fighter IV will probably be the same way but will it stop me from buying it on day one? Not on your life!

[Paul Campbell]

[QUOTE=BanjoPickles]
But....a milestone? You really can't say that this is a milestone anymore than you could Contra 4? Both games are excellent reminders of what great game design is supposed to be and, as a result, join their respective franchises as high-water marks. Sure, Mega Man 9 is hella innovative, in many ways, but there is nothing in this game that you haven't done before. Once again, this isn't a knock. Street Fighter IV will probably be the same way but will it stop me from buying it on day one? Not on your life!
[/QUOTE]

I think this game IS a milestone, but only in the sense that it truly went back to it's real roots and proved what we all knew all along.  Obviously it doesn't do much that we haven't seen before, but when we have seen it before, we were all sitting in front of our 13" "Color" TV in our pajamas playing a few quick games before it was time to get ready for school.

[Viper821]

[quote]But....a milestone? You really can't say that this is a milestone anymore than you could Contra 4? Both games are excellent reminders of what great game design is supposed to be and, as a result, join their respective franchises as high-water marks. Sure, Mega Man 9 is hella innovative, in many ways, but there is nothing in this game that you haven't done before. Once again, this isn't a knock. Street Fighter IV will probably be the same way but will it stop me from buying it on day one? Not on your life![/quote]

Contra 4 is also a trend setter, but it also runs on inferior hardware. Mega Man 9 is the first game where the developers went out of their way to simply everything to the 8 bit basics, using HD systems to make a Nintendo game for.

It's the same way how Super Mario Bros. is widely considered the first 'modern' platform game even though Pitfall came out years before. While it's not the first such example, Mega Man 9 has proven to the industry many gamers want more low cost, simple, fun games rather than 40 hour marathons that require an entire day to figure out the controls. Years later, this is the game we'll point to when showing how the industry started looking to the past.

[X-pert74]

Mega Man 9 is an awesome game, and is easily one of my favorite Mega Man games, both in the original series and in general. I think it's up there with games like Mega Man X3 and Mega Man Legends as one of my favorites. It's even made me go back and play the older Mega Man games again. I never owned 4 or 5, but I went through and beat Mega Man 2 on Difficult mode for the first time, and I'm also trying to beat Mega Man 3 for the first time.

I do wonder what direction Capcom will take the series after 9, however. Would it be a better idea to make an NES-styled Mega Man 10, or a more modern Mega Man 10, or maybe something else?

[feilong801]

I think it is a milestone too, but I don't think I'm disagreeing with Banjo in saying that. The game isn't "new" in any way... but that's where the innovation lies- Megaman 1-8 were created to take full advantage of the hardware that was provided them. Until now, this has been the paradigm for game development: maximize, or at least utilize, the specifications. This is as true for downloadable "retro" titles as it is for AAA games.

Even games like Symphony of the Night are not like Mega Man 9 because SOTN did in fact take full advantage of the PS1... but to make the most highly detailed, fully fleshed out 2D sidescrolling adventure available.

This was, in part, an artistic decision (and let's be honest, it was also to get the reaction of people like us, but I'm totally cool with that!), which sends I think a great message: sometimes, to make the best game, you have to go back to an archaic style.

But keep in mind that Mega Man 9 (at least what I've played so far) isn't entirely "retro": Many 2D games from the NES era had poor design, particularly cheap deaths and filler sequences that weren't very fun. Mega Man 9 brings a more mature, modern day design sensibility to the package, which is precisely why it somehow seems fresh to us.

-Rob

[snakeboy1]

Okay, now that I've gotten deeper into the game, my love-hate relationship has turned into just plain love. I have now beaten 6 bosses, and the game gets more fun with the more upgrades you get. I've gone from believing that the game was nearly impossible to believing it is definitely beatable. I like it so much, it caused me to pick up the Mega Man Anniversary Collection. Definitely an "A" game, and hopefully there will be more retro-games like this in the future.

[steer]

Okay, now that I've gotten deeper into the game, my love-hate relationship has turned into just plain love. I have now beaten 6 bosses, and the game gets more fun with the more upgrades you get. I've gone from believing that the game was nearly impossible to believing it is definitely beatable.

 
I  agree - you get better fast, also I figured out you can buy items to handicap yourself.

Ya know what?

The secret to better games is to make them smaller, instead of bigger bigger bigger ala Zelda or whatnot, name the franchise.

This game is amazing, how polished it is. It has a ton of variety, great level design, and you learn tricks to survive, for example the old skool Zelda 2 practice of keep killing enemies (those blob things that genrate) to build up your magic when you are low in life in a castle. In this game you can go back and forth, continue to reset and eliminate an enemy, and eventually get a powerup before the boss gate. Then you have a better chance against the big bad boss man.

3 bosses down, I am having a blast.

I remember Atari fever making a post once about examples of great graphics, and he posted some 2-d games and said something like (paraphrase):

'old scholl 2 -d games, where the sky was always blue until the last level, when it turned red'

Tornado man's level has stunning blue skies in the begining, man it looks fanatastic, I give the look of this game a 10 easy.

Capcom beat Nintendo at their own game, and thanks for that Capcom, bout time somone pushes Nintendo on a Nintendo platform, instead of playing copy-cat'

[voor]

I picked up the Anniversary Collection a couple of years back too.  Strangely, my notogia wore off after about 2 days.  Some complained about the backwards configuration of the buttons (as opposed to the NES).  I don't think it ruined the game, but definately was bizarre and seemed like an unncecessary learning curve.

[snakeboy1]

[QUOTE=voor]

I picked up the Anniversary Collection a couple of years back too.  Strangely, my notogia wore off after about 2 days.  Some complained about the backwards configuration of the buttons (as opposed to the NES).  I don't think it ruined the game, but definately was bizarre and seemed like an unncecessary learning curve.

[/QUOTE]

Actually, I got the Mega Man Collection for the PS2. I haven't played it yet, but if what I've heard is correct, the PS2 version doesn't have the backwards button configuration like the Gamecube version does.