Mega Man 9 is currently kicking my ass and making me rethink my status as a gamer; after a little over an hour of play, I've only seen a few robot bosses and nearly beat Splash Woman. Needless to say, this is a time of crisis, and I need my friends more than ever. So before you lose all respect for me and never read any of my posts again, I have a few substantive things to say about the game. Thanks for your support.
I'd like to begin by saying that, thanks to a self-imposed media blackout, I knew practically nothing about Mega Man 9 before I sat down to play it. Only later, after I had my fill of cursing at spikes, I sat down to read 1UP scribe and Mega Man fanatic Jeremy Parish's excellent review; it was the first source to inform me that Mega Man's slide and charge shot--established from the third and fourth entries in the series, respectively--were both missing from 9. This came as a bit of a shock, since I'd played the game for a while and hadn't even noticed. Could this have been some very boring episode of The Twilight Zone?
The answer is actually simple: Mega Man 9 is a return to the mechanics that made Mega Man 2 such a fan favorite. I'll let Jeremy Parish explain more:
...MM9 apes a very specific slice of 8-bit design: namely, Mega Man 2. Though it employs only a moderate amount of sprite recycling (most of which is primarily seen in recurring characters and a handful of familiar enemies), the game is a determined effort to create the ultimate 1988-vintage run-and-gun, twenty years after the fact. It eschews a great many of the later technical innovations of its own series -- much ado has been made about Mega Man's lack of sliding and charged shots, but there are more subtle absences as well. Backgrounds are much less detailed than they were in, say, Mega Man 6, Rush has been downgraded to his Mega Man 3 forms, and the overall sense of animation is on par with NES games running on the MMC3 chip.
You'll have to excuse me for the freakout over old news, but this is making me rethink my choice in the dread battle of Mega Man 2 vs. Mega Man 3. Sure, Rush is in 9, but is my beloved Mega Man slide--which I claimed was one of the reasons I prefer 3 to 2--really all that beneficial if I never even tried to use it in the new game? This is a time of great thought and regret, and I think only the refreshing powers of several afternoon naps will get me through this Sophie's Choice of gaming. Please pray for me.
Related Links:
Mega Man 2 Vs. Mega Man 3: The Eternal Battle for Everlasting Peace
Mega Man 9 Goes Back To Your Roots. Way Back.
What I'm Playing This Weekend: Mega Man Anniversary Collection