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• Mega Man is a Dick

  From the good human being who brought us "BISOOOOON!" comes a video of Mega proportions: Mega Man 10: WTF? "WTF" is all you need to describe the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon that aired in the early '90s. No other cartoon licensed by Capcom or otherwise varied so wildly in quality. Yes, I am counting Street Fighter and Dark Stalkers. Neither of those had the dizzying high of Mega X (in which Mega Man X chases Vile and Spark Mandrill to the past and blasts the holy shit out of everything around him in spite of being a pacifist in the games) or the bowel-dropping low of Curse of the Lion Men (which simply has to be seen to be believed). Nevertheless, I followed the cartoon. I didn't often like what I saw, but "Day of Sigma" was still more than ten years over the horizon so I had to make do somehow. I would just kind of let my brain glaze over and jerk reflexively whenever I heard "Sizzling circuits!" But I never realised until seeing this video that Mega Man was an out-and-out dick to Roll so often. Read More... Posted Oct 07 2008, 12:30 AM by Nadia Oxford with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: street fighter, mega man, mega man 9, nadia oxford, saturday morning, ruby-spears, dark stalkers, mega man 10, mega man cartoon

• Let the Mega Man 9 Speed Runs Begin

  It took much longer than I thought, but intrepid 2D platform fans have finally started uploading the fruits of their labor; so now, those with skills outside the Mega Man domain (i.e., me) can stare in awe and wonder as puddles of drool develop at their feet.  What I've chosen to share with you today is--at the moment of this writing, anyway--the fastest Mega Man 9 speed run currently available on YouTube; though research tells me that the world record is a minute and change less than cordic's time of 23:16.  Follow the fun here, or watch below through the techno-wizardry known as embedding: I'm not one to call anyone's Mega Man skills into question, but cordic cheeses this run just a little bit; note the starting amount of 999 screws, and the fact that this run is segmented as opposed to being one straight shot. But there's a whole lot of raw talent here--and if this dude doesn't have a turbo controller, I am prepared to call him out as a robot foolishly trying to integrate himself into human society. We're onto you, robot. Read More... Posted Oct 06 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, wii, mega man, mega man 9, speed runs, bob mackey

• Too Many Crayons

  As I write this, I'm in a conversation that has me thinking about old games and how they were developed. The game that has prompted this moment of musing is Mega Man 9. I like what's been done with Mega Man 9 and the purposeful 8-bit approach, not because I care for the NES style but because I like the intentionally imposed restrictions. Sometimes, when the sky is the limit, sloppy design can result. I'd like to see more developers give their teams pet projects like this just to hone their skills and learn the value of efficiency. Read More... Posted Oct 01 2008, 10:00 AM by Amber Ahlborn with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: amber ahlborn, mega man 9, nostalgia, game design

• Darkwing Duck: Capcom's Secret Mega Man

  Since we've all got Mega Man 9 on the brain--and because XBox 360 owners won't even get to play the game until tomorrow--there's never been a more appropriate time to talk about Capcom's 2D legacy.  Tragically, a good chunk of Capcom's 8-bit output will never be seen or played again outside of illegal methods or flea market acquirements; the rights to various Disney franchises, once held by the company, are now elsewhere, leaving us with quite a few orphaned and homeless games dating from the late 80s to the early 90s.  It doesn't look like Capcom or Disney is interested in bringing these titles back to life--and Disney especially seems to be fond of completely ignoring most of their older television animation--so all we're only left with memories, and the magic of emulation. Surprisingly, playing Mega Man 9 over the past week has caused memories of Capcom's Darkwing Duck to start leaking from my brain, so I went back to the game to find out why. The shocking truth? Darkwing is shamelessly similar to Mega Man--he even makes that same little cricket-y noise when he lands on his feet. But Darkwing (the game) lacks many of the accoutrements that can lower the blood pressure of the frustrated Mega Man player; there're no boss weaknesses, energy tanks, or robotic dogs to help shield you from certain death.  Darkwing does have a few more moves than Mega Man, but being able to shield yourself from projectiles and hang from certain objects only facilitates more scenarios where you will die.  Repeatedly. Read More... Posted Sep 30 2008, 06:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: capcom, nes, disney, mega man 9, retro, bob mackey, darkwing duck

• The Mathematical Guide to Mega Man

  If you've even thought about getting all of Mega Man 9's in-game achievements, then you're either a robot, or just plain crazy; and I commend you, you magnificent bastard. Unfortunately, I lack the fortitude to push myself through these optional challenges--and the time it would take me to train for them could be better spent learning another language or painting tiny things on grains of rice. Since the achievements of Mega Man 9 are practically built for being filmed and upoloaded to the Internet, I'm anticipating the hundreds of speed/challenge runs that will inevitably end up on YouTube (if they're not already there).  And if you're interested in shaving hundredths of a second off of your final time, then boy have I got a website for you.  TASvideos, a tool-assisted speedrun page, has a special section on the NES Mega Man games that provides more information than you'd ever want to know.  Here's an example:  In many platform games, you don’t need to be exactly positioned to grab a ladder. You can stand about 10 pixels beside the ladder and when you press up (or down), you’ll immediately grab the ladder. In Mega Man games, this means that by walking or jumping past a ladder you can grab the ladder for 1 frame and immediately release it in order to gain extra movement very quickly. Walking across the ladder would take about 12 frames, but by grabbing it from distance and releasing it you can shorten it to about 8 frames. I'm not sure how much of this material is compatible with Mega Man 9, but some brave soul out there has to have the free time and social disorder necessary to find out. Let's wait and watch. Read More... Posted Sep 25 2008, 03:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: mega man, speedrun, wiiware, mega man 9, autism, bob mackey

• My Last Mega Man 9 Post, I Swear

  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? Read More... Posted Sep 23 2008, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: mega man 2, wiiware, mega man 9, mega man 3, mega man 4, bob mackey

• Nintendo Fred's Sweet Revenge

  I have no idea who specifically makes the decisions about when certain games are released on the Virtual Console and WiiWare. For the purposes of this blog play, I'll refer to this entity as "Nintendo Fred." Likewise, I have no idea who's in charge over at Bplus studios. For the purposes of this blog play, I'll refer to him as Bplus Phil, since "Phil" is a proud Austrian name. Earlier today when I was sniffing around the Wii Shop Channel for my birthright, Mega Man 9, a drama played out in my head. It went a little like this. Read More... Posted Sep 22 2008, 06:16 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, wiiware, mega man 9, nadia oxford, plattchen Twist n Paint, bplus

• The Mega Man Robot Club

  You'll have to forgive me, because I really can't think of anything but Mega Man today; I even had my students play some of Mega Man 3 under the tortured logic that they might learn something. Believe me when I say that this in-class experiment fully integrated the terms from our reading, and wasn't just an excuse to see the game projected on a massive screen. Mega Man was the size of my head. But with today's release of Mega Man 9, it isn't much of a surprise that I've been enveloped in Blue Bomber (please note that no one has ever sincerely called Mega Man that) nostalgia.  Fittingly, this nostalgia brings me back to my childhood, where for a few years my life was based on Mega Man's teachings.  Around the release of Mega Man 3, during recess I regularly met with schoolyard chums who, instead of running around and playing on the dangerous concrete-and-steel Nixon-era playground equipment, would go through page after page of loose-leaf paper coming up with Mega Man robot boss designs.  It was a great creative exercise that went beyond the little boy conceptual borders of Pee Man and Poop Man. Read More... Posted Sep 22 2008, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: mega man, mega man 9, retro, mega man 3, nostalgia, bob mackey

• Mega Man 9: IT'S OUT NOW

  Barring some sort of life-altering world crisis, Mega Man 9 should be available on the Wii's Shopping Channel at this very moment. That's right; a new official Mega Man game now exists in the universe. What did you do to deserve this? Probably nothing; but I'm sure you have 10 bucks, and that certainly makes up for all of the karma. If you don't own a Wii, you're going to have to wait a few excruciating and interminable days before you can download Mega Man 9 on your XBox 360 or PS3.  But if you really think about it, the Wii is the best platform for Mega Man 9--and this has absolutely nothing to do with the typical snide commentary about the comparatively lackluster graphics of Nintendo's console.  Out of the big three home systems, only the Wii has a controller befitting of Mega Man's 2-D legacy. Read More... Posted Sep 22 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 12 comment(s) Filed under: wii, mega man, wiiware, mega man 9, retro, bob mackey

• Mega Man 9 Review: Pay No Attention to the Numbers. For My Sanity and Yours.

  I don't get to review stuff too often in my writing "career." I'm far more thankful for this than you might imagine. I correct myself. I do actually review Japanese manga over at Mania.com and I'm pretty okay with receiving free manga. But reviewing manga is as easy as petting a dog. I read the story within an hour, write up my opinions and Bob's yer uncle, as my mom says (for some reason). Reviewing a game, on the other hand, is as treacherous as petting a wolf. You might get through it alive, but then again you might be missing your large intestine by the end of it. Writing a game review is such a nasty business because gamers decided at some point that they're allergic to reading. It all comes down to the numbers. Yes, numbers are the universal language, but come on. The world is so much larger than 8.8. Read More... Posted Sep 19 2008, 08:10 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: mega man 9, rant, nadia oxford, ign, reviews, 8.8

• What I'm Playing This Weekend: No Freakin' Clue, Boyo

  My husband and I downloaded a whack of Virtual Console games a couple of weeks ago, and it looks like we're through our backlog already. Last week I mentioned that we were going through Super Mario Bros 3 and of course, that's long since been done with. We travelled from the breezy plains of Grass Land to the twisted ruined mushroom villages in Dark Land. Also, I used a Hammer Bros music box at the end of Pipe Land and the lullaby music carried over to Dark Land. Tee hee. For someone who writes about games for a cursed living, I rarely get a chance to settle down and play what I want, except on weekends. Oh, cold irony. Looks like I'll have to opt out of gaming this weekend though because apparently some sort of last-minute miniature family reunion is going on involving cousins from Belfast. There will be drinking. Drinking is good, but it's best performed in conjunction with gaming. I guess I won't have that option unless I haul along Guitar Hero or something, but I'm a terribly lazy girl. However, Mega Man 9 is almost on us, so I guess this is as good an opportunity as any to practise my finger-bending exercises. I feel like a parent who's sending her kid out onto the stage. Please don't fall on your face, darling. You'll embarrass me and I'll have to move to the Yukon and pose as a sled dog. Bark bark! Read More... Posted Sep 19 2008, 07:00 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: super mario bros 3, 8-bit, mega man 9, retro, nadia oxford, familiy reunion, what i'm playing this weekend

• I Will Push Over Your Grandmothers For a Mega Man 9 Press Kit

  We're all friends here at 61 FPS and I believe in being straightforward with my friends. Therefore, I don't think I need to keep it a secret that I am willing to do some pretty reddish work at night to get my paws on this sexy, sexy Mega Man 9 press kit. I have a fish-scaling knife. I have Jethro Tull on my iPod. It's Go time. Threats of violence aside, I have to admire the firm grasp Capcom has on fan nostalgia. Sure, the company is teasing us like a kid holding a steak just out of the reach of a chained dog, but there aren't too many other companies out there that are willing to make fun of their past atrocities. Cover-ups seem preferred. Look at Konami's wretched attempt to erase "WHAT IS A MAN" away from the Internet lexicon with the re-translation of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the PSP. Read More... Posted Sep 16 2008, 07:09 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: capcom, 8-bit, mega man 9, nostalgia, nadia oxford, swag, press kit, captain commando

• Sweet, Sweet Energy: Drink a Mega Man E-Tank

  Is an evil scientist totally getting all up in your face? You know what you need: a can full of honeybee secretions. Old video games left a lot of blanks for our imaginations to fill in. I always figured Mega Man's energy-restoring E-Tanks were filled with gasoline, oil, or something else that would kill me in a quick fit of screaming torment. However, souvenir E-Tank "energy tanks" have hit the shelves in Japan and it would seem that Mega Man's source of energy is delicious, nutritious royal jelly. The Mega Man Network has a short, translated review of the drink: "The drink is clear, and 'flavor and ingredients are typical to that of any other sports drink, though it has a strong aftertaste of royal honey - the drinks primary flavoring constituent. Nevertheless, he felt that the beverage does deliver a spot of energy for those laggy days at work or right after giving your all in sport.'" Read More... Posted Sep 09 2008, 05:56 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: mega man, mega man 9, nadia oxford, energy drinks, ingredients, e-tank, royal jelly, nutrition

• For Love of the Game: Rockman 7 FC

  Most people agree that the Mega Man series went downhill around Mega Man IV. I'm with 'em. But Mega Man IV, V, and VI are pretty great all the same, which is more than you can say for Mega Man 7. Boy, do I hate Mega Man 7. Some people say Mega Man 7 is good, but they are charlatans with no taste. Everything got cutesy all of a sudden, the music sucks, and the feel is completely off, probably because the character sprites are so big that there's no room to maneuver. Luckily, some enterprising soul in Japan put his programming (and art and music) skills to the test, and came up with Rockman 7 FC, the greatest thing I've seen all week. Read More... Posted Jul 17 2008, 05:30 PM by Peter Smith with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, peter smith, for love of the game, mega man, mega man 9, mega man iv, mega man 7, ghouls n' ghosts, rockman 7 fc, fan projects, mega man 8, ghosts n' goblins, rockman 7

• New Mega Man 9 Trailer: I'm Drowning in My Childhood

  Don't throw me a lifejacket, though. I'm quite happy here. On its way to gearing up for E3, IGN posted a fresh new Mega Man 9 trailer. For starters, the trailer finally confirms that Mega Man 9 is in fact destined for PSN and XBLA as well as WiiWare. Game news outlets and even series creator Keiji Inafune have been back and forth about this. In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Inafune said "We haven’t announced a XBLA or PSN title yet. Do the fans want them?" I guess he was playing around, that sly dog. I revere him. The trailer includes a good deal of gameplay footage. Lots of pits, spikes, and those disappearing-reappearing blocks that used to haunt your childhood nightmares. I know a certain robot dog who will be fitted with his jet upgrade as soon as possible. What's really thrilling to see make a return are the big colourful animal robots that would block your progress in Mega Man 2 and beyond. A circus elephant with a big red ball will be joining the mechanimal stable, which includes notables like Hot Dog from Mega Man 2, those damnable orange cats from Mega Man 3 and of course, Dragon. You know what game Dragon is from, right? He made you crap your Alf underwear when he first appeared. Don't deny it. Read More... Posted Jul 10 2008, 08:18 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with no comments Filed under: mega man, wii ware, nintendo power, 8-bit, keiji inafune, playstation network, mega man 9, xbox live, retro, dr light, rush, roll

• The Ten Greatest Classic Mega Man Levels, Part 3

  Shadow Man As Pete said, Mega Man III started to strain the series' robot-masters-as-industrial-tool conceit. Silly as Top Man is, I have even more trouble getting my head around Shadow Man and his lair sitting at the bottom of a waterfall of lava. What was the civic-planning meeting like for this one? "Finally, we have used the remaining funds in 200X's robot-master budget to build a crazy-sweet ninja robot who lives in a rad fortress at the bottom of a lava flow. He will be protected by robot frogs and parachuting heads." "Madness! Why would you do such a thing?" "Because, sir. It is awesome." Know what? He's right. — JC Read More... Posted Jun 27 2008, 01:32 PM by Peter Smith with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, peter smith, street fighter, capcom, top ten, commando 3, bionic commando, list, mega man, keiji inafune, mega man 9, 1942 joint strike, top man, flame man, shadow man, toad man, elec man, metal man, mega man iii, mega man vi, gemini man, spark man, bubble man, crystal man, dr wily, street fighter iv, mega man iv, street fighter hd remix, mega man ii, tomahawk man, mega man v, the ten greatest classic mega man levels

• The Ten Greatest Classic Mega Man Levels, Part 2

  Metal Man More than your average Mega Man stage, Metal Man's feels collosal. Who knows why — maybe it's the giant screws and gears in the foreground, or the dense, heavily animated background (technically quite impressive) of pistons and cogs. Or maybe it's that Metal Man's stage actually has somewhat less variety than most of Mega Man II's stages, thereby suggesting a larger size. Whatever the reason, the scope seems massive. The stage itself is relatively short, but it feels like just a small part of a vast, rusted-out fortress of industry. — PS Read More... Posted Jun 27 2008, 01:31 PM by Peter Smith with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, peter smith, street fighter, capcom, top ten, commando 3, bionic commando, list, mega man, keiji inafune, mega man 9, 1942 joint strike, top man, flame man, shadow man, toad man, elec man, metal man, mega man iii, mega man vi, gemini man, spark man, bubble man, crystal man, dr wily, street fighter iv, mega man iv, street fighter hd remix, mega man ii, tomahawk man, mega man v, the ten greatest classic mega man levels

• The Ten Greatest Classic Mega Man Levels, Part 1

  Capcom, I don't really know how to say this. It's a little awkward, but damn it, it's the truth. We've known each other a long time, and you've always been a good friend to me, but this year, things have gotten more serious. With Street Fighter IV, HD Remix, Commando 3, 1942: Joint Strike and two versions of Bionic Commando, it's like you've gone out of your way lately to show me what I mean to you, and now that you've announced Mega Man 9, it's time for me to return the favor. Capcom, I. . . I love you. Jesus, I don't know what came over me there. But with Mega Man 9 just unveiled in all its eight-bit glory, my old-school-gaming glands are all swollen and red, and I think it's squeezing out the blood flow to my brain. The early Mega Man games are masterpieces of their era, and they feature some of the most unforgettable stages on the NES — a series of giant constructions that, high-tech though they may be, maintain a playground-like innocence. World-building obsessives that we are, we couldn't let this glorious day go by without commemorating the ten greatest classic Mega Man levels of all time. — Peter Smith Elec Man Keiji Inafune's first attempt at Mega Man was promising but ultimately half-baked. The play was there but the world itself was still confused, its six core stages shuffling back and forth between "gamey" abstraction and eerie pastoral. Elec Man's tower was one of the series' first real successes, an ascent that felt like a true structure and not a background for a sprite to jump about, a dangerous place pulsing with energy that could obliterate our diminutive hero using the very power that fueled his mechanical innards. — John Constantine Read More... Posted Jun 27 2008, 01:30 PM by Peter Smith with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, peter smith, street fighter, capcom, top ten, commando 3, bionic commando, list, mega man, keiji inafune, mega man 9, 1942 joint strike, top man, flame man, shadow man, toad man, elec man, metal man, mega man iii, mega man vi, gemini man, spark man, bubble man, crystal man, dr wily, street fighter iv, mega man iv, street fighter hd remix, mega man ii, tomahawk man, mega man v, the ten greatest classic mega man levels

• Don’t Call It Retro: Mega Man 9 and Design Resurrection

  As 61 Frames Per Second’s newest team member Nadia pointed out earlier today, Mega Man 9 is a reality. Revitalizations of long-dormant franchises have been a mainstay in the gaming business since the Playstation 1-era, trading on nostalgia and brand recognition to push new designs. But the past few years have seen a growing trend of proper numerical sequels releasing a decade or more after their predecessors. Games like WayForward and Konami’s Contra 4 and Taito’s Legend of Kage 2 are not only sequels in name; play in these games is built on the same archaic fundamentals as their ancestors. Both Kage 2 and Contra 4’s only real advancements are slight visual upgrades and mechanical tweaks (both games, being designed for the Nintendo DS, introduce skills that necessitate play on both the system’s screens.) Mega Man 9, however, is unique. It is being made using the exact same tools and in the same style as it was twenty years ago. The decision to build Mega Man 9 as an NES game is not mere retro pandering. Series creator Keiji Inafune has said numerous times that he’s kept making (and remaking) 2D Mega Man games (alongside teams like Inticreates, the team helming 9’s development) because it’s important to continue refining and rediscovering what made a simple design successful in the first place. With the freedom offered by digital distribution venues like WiiWare, creators like Inafune no longer need to ensure their games will be modern enough to succeed on store shelves. They can also utilize outmoded hardware, like the NES, to make their games. Read More... Posted Jun 26 2008, 02:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, nintendo, wii, capcom, nes, mega man, contra, genesis, keiji inafune, mega man 9, turbo-grafx, legend of kage

• Mega Man 9 Goes Back To Your Roots. Way Back.

  If you grew up playing the Nintendo Entertainment System, then you also grew up with a persistent blue scamp named Mega Man. The adventures of the little boy robot and his red dog take us back to long hours spent in chilled suburban basements, stuffing our gobs with pizza while eluding Dr Wily's robots. The Mega Man series has given birth to no less than six spin-off series over the past twenty years, taking us far away from those days of greasy control pads and cherry Kool-Aid. The last entry in the original series (as in, numerical sequels without any extra letters attatched to "Mega Man") was Mega Man 8, released over a decade ago. It was no surprise when recent whispers about Mega Man 9 were dismissed as rumour. But lo, the August issue of Nintendo Power talks to series creator Keiji Inafune about the phantom game, which is a phantom no more. The original Mega Man is back. Literally. Mega Man 9 will feature NES-style graphics and will be available for download on Xbox Live, Playstation Network and as a Wii Ware title. Read More... Posted Jun 26 2008, 01:00 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: capcom, mega man, wii ware, nintendo power, 8-bit, keiji inafune, playstation network, mega man 9, xbox live, retro