Mega Man 9 (Wii) Preview

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 09.05.2008

Hands-on: Beware of extremely tough game.



Though graphics get better and better with every generation, gamers still yearn for the games of old. Capcom has heard the please and their latest title Mega Man 9 brings a little, or rather a lot of old school with it. I had a chance to play the game this week at a small press event held by Nyko and Capcom. I was able to check out the new wireless Classic Controller which I'll preview separately but the big game on display was Mega Man 9.

For starters, the game look just the Mega Man titles of old on the NES. We're talking 8-bit goodness here with absolutely zero graphical enhancements – regardless of whether it's the Wii, PSN or XBLA version. There's even a way to see those graphical glitches we used to see when going from one screen to another. Yes, it's intentional and we love it. Why you ask? Because it's 8-bit goodness dammit! The sound is also a throwback with a mono, midi file giving you simplistic sounds. There is a feature that allows you to change the audio to stereo as well as having the game fit the screen without black bars for 16:9 widescreen TV's, by the way.

So what about the gameplay? Well the game controls just like any old MM game, utilizing only two buttons to shoot and jump while the D-pad allows you to move left or right. Let me warn you that this game is unforgiving. Not Clint Eastwood unforgiving, but Mega Man unforgiving. This game is HARD. Sure it's just a 2-level demo but from what we're told, these are the easier ones. Before I jumped on the game myself I witnessed various journalists nearly pull their hairs out in frustration of getting their asses handed to them. I thought, pfff..these guys probably suck. Well I must suck too because I was getting destroyed. It shouldn't discourage players though as some of the early games were tough as hell too so it'll feel right, in a sadistic sort of way. I played two different levels as I mentioned already but was not told what the names of the bosses were, though one of them looked like Concrete Man and the other looked like a power adapter. It didn't really matter ‘cause I was never even remotely close to facing them. The Capcom representative thought it was pretty funny as he chuckled every time we'd die. (He couldn't beat it either!)

The game which is scheduled for a fall release is set after the events of Mega Man 8 for those keeping track of the storyline. Mega Man 9 will also feature online leaderboard rankings though the Capcom rep wasn't 100% sure if it would be included in the Wii version. With various titles on the Wii already having leaderboards, I'm fully expecting that it will have it. It will simultaneously be released on Nintendo's WiiWare service as well as on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. No price point has yet been announced.

Mega Man 9 looks solid and even though it seems hard as hell, I think gamers will welcome it with open arms. Stay tuned for our full review when the game releases later this year.

Screenshots
All 14 Mega Man 9 Screenshots