Mega Man 9 (XBLA) Review

Posted by Joe Roche on 10.13.2008

It's the return of a classic character but does going retro help or hurt Mega Man?



Title: Mega Man 9
Publisher: Capcom
Players: 1
Type: Platformer

Let me take you on a little trip down memory lane. The year is 1987, a tiny band from Ireland is starting to make waves in the United States with a little song called “With or Without You”, karaoke bars and college parties have been given one of the great anthems of all time from some hair band from New Jersey, and Frank Viola is going to be named the MVP of the World Series. While the music released in 1987 is interested, for the purpose of this column the thing to note is that this also marked the debut of Capcom’s Mega Man on the NES.

If you’re a video game fan, you’ve undoubtedly played a game in the Mega Man series. However, unless you still break out the NES (or a mod on your computer) you might have missed the best that Mega Man has to offer. Which is why the more frustrated I got with Mega Man 9, the more I enjoyed myself.

Story:

The story takes place in 20XX and Dr. Light is in jail. Wait, what? That’s right, Dr. Light’s robots have gone crazy and never one to miss an opportunity Dr. Wily frames the situation to cast some doubt on Dr. Light. Obviously there is some foul play afoot and it’s up to the worlds oldest nine year old, Mega Man to clear Dr. Light’s name.

Gameplay:

Capcom went back to their roots with this game. Side scrolling, 8-bit, platforming goodness at it’s best. If you’ve missed trying to time your jump across disappearing blocks then you’re going to love Mega Man 9. If you don’t think there is enough free falling down a column of spikes in your diet then you need to pick up this game.

For the two of you who have never played a Mega Man game, the gameplay is relatively simply. You start at a selection scene where you choose which robot you’re going to subdue first. You are then taken to a boss themed area – if you’re going after Magma Man you can expect fire, and so on and so forth. You will then engage in some old fashioned puzzle solving, disappearing floors, weird creatures falling from off screen, helmet wearing face’s that shoot pellets at you and the rest of the standard Mega Man offering.

Once you complete the platforming bits of each level you walk through a set of doors and into a boss battle. Each boss has their own weapon of choice, and if you can overcome them you will inherit said weapon for the rest of the game. Some of the weapons are more useful then others, but I’ll let you decide that on your own.

I really do appreciate that Capcom went through so much trouble to create a classic rendition of Mega Man. It all feels very authentic, and plays just like I remember (even if it took me awhile to get the hang of things). All of this nostalgia comes with a bit of a warning though because Mega Man was always seen as a very difficult game and this is no exception. Admittedly once you get a feel for the obstacles, things will become simpler. But expect to die frequently when you fire this game up.

The difficulty isn’t a negative thing though. As a matter of fact it makes the game wildly enjoyable as you fight to stay sane as you fall from the same ledge and die for the fifth time. Hopefully people will not be discouraged by the idea of this game challenging them, it is worth the aggravation, trust me.

Graphics:

This rating could go one of two ways. On the one hand I could say that this looks like an 8 bit game, and seems a bit flat at points. On the other hand I could say that this looks exactly as Capcom wanted it to look and the graphics just add to the feeling of nostalgia that you get from the game. While Capcom wanted to make a game that look and felt like the original classic Mega Man from my youth, this version still looks better then those ever did. The colors are much sharper, and the graphics are cleaner. That’s not to say that you will be blown away by how this game looks, because it is after all an 8 bit, side scrolling platformer on the Xbox Live Arcade.

There are cut scenes which looks how you’d expect them to look. I haven’t done any side by side comparisons like my friend Jacob Lopez did for the Wii version of this game, but I trust the same things hold true graphically on the souped up 360. The lines are cleaner, and that makes everything look a bit sharper then I remember from my childhood. This game looks nice, and that’s what Capcom was going for, so while you won’t be floored by the graphics you have a library full of games that can do that.

Sound:

Horrible.

Is that not in depth enough?

I have always hated the games of my youth for their horrendous sound. White noise is not a soundtrack. I’d rather listen to elevator music while on hold with my credit card company then listen to this game. You hear beeps, and buzzing but not much else. I understand that I’m giving the rest of this game high marks for its retro feel but the sound just bugged me for whatever reason. I found myself enjoying the game more after I muted the sound and listened to a Sports Guy podcast.

Lasting Appeal:

I’m almost certain one of the achievements for this game is awarded for finishing the entire thing in less than thirty minutes. That should tell you all you need to know about the lasting appeal of Mega Man 9. The game is great fun at first, when you’re struggling and trying to learn the ropes. The longer you play, the easier things will seem and once you’ve completed each stage there really isn’t much hope of going back for any reason. Sure there is some DLC that will open up Proto Man but I’m boycotting that as items that should have been included in the original release.

The 411:

If I had to sum this game up for a quote on the box, I’d say it was perfectly fun retro gaming. Capcom did a good job of recreating a vibe that they had lost in recent years with Mega Man, and who knows maybe we’ve finally found a way to revitalize the Blue Bomber.

Graphics	8.0	Graphically this game looks retro while being cleaner then anything you saw on the NES
Gameplay	9.0	If you're a fan of the classic Mega Man you will have a lot of fun with this game. Difficult yet addictive.
Sound	6.5	I had hoped to have put this type of soundtrack behind me.
Lasting Appeal	7.0	It won't take you long to play through this game.
Fun Factor	8.0	Sometimes going retro just works, and that is the case here.
Overall	8.0   [ Very Good ]

Screenshots
All 14 Mega Man 9 Screenshots