Mega Man 9 Review (XBLA)
One of my favourite franchises to hit the Xbox Live Arcade was Mega Man. And while Capcom did a great job of making a HD remix with Super Street Fighter II they decided that for the return of the blue bomber that they wanted to keep it as close to the original as possible. So with this they decided that after years and years of waiting not only were they going to give us fans Mega Man 9, but they were going to do it in a style that would make it fit in with the other classic Mega Man games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System in the 80’s and 90’s.
I get that some younger gamers may be put off by the graphics of Mega Man 9. But I think that there decision to make Mega Man 9 seem like it is being played on a Nintendo Entertainment System was not only a brave one, but a great one as well. They did a great job of recreating that classic Mega Man look and all his robot bosses. And I think that the 8-bit graphics style actually makes this game stand out from the other games on the Xbox Live Arcade.
Now while I love the art style of the game I do have one slight criticism and that is the games levels. Now I am not talking about the level design, but the back grounds. I get that they are going for that 8-bit retro look, but the backgrounds in the level are very barren. Mega Man 1 and Mega Man 2 for example had much more detailed backgrounds than what are in Mega Man 9. I fully understand that this is a minor complaint, but I feel that in the backgrounds that they took the retro look perhaps a little bit to far.
Another thing that is pure retro is the games amazing sound track. The sound track from Mega Man 2 is permanently burnt into my brain, but the one in Mega Man 9 is pretty darn good as well. It is not just the 8-bit style of music that is great, but they way the sound effects can cause the music to pause in some places just like the original early Mega Man games did.
One thing that the Mega Man series is known for is being hard as nails and I am happy to say that Mega Man 9 does not disappoint. I personally think hat this is one of the hardest games on the Xbox Live Arcade. Like before it is pure run and gun platform action and you will need to beat the various robot bosses in order to get there weapon. Its classic Mega Man and the game play feels like it has never missed a beat.
The older Mega Man games lacked the save feature that many modern games had and required you to beat it in a single sitting. While Mega Man 9 can be beaten in a couple of hours in a single sitting there is a save option. And even then once you have beaten the game the challenge is not over yet. You see Mega Man 9 as some really fun, but really tough challenges for you to try and do in the games various levels as well. This adds a ton of replay value to the game.
Mega Man 9 is a fantastic game and for ling time Mega Man fans I am sure you will fall right in love with it, but if you have never played a Mega Man game before if I am honest 9 may not be the best place to start as the game is certainly one of the hardest in the series.
