Big N, M$, Sony: Mega Man 9

If you read my 8-bit All-Stars feature you know I love me some Mega Man 2. There was just something sublimely perfect about that game with its polished level design and great boss battles.

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a real sequel to a Mega Man game. The last canonical MM game was MM 8 for the PSX in 1997, with the X series taking over with about eight installments that have also stopped coming out.

Imagine the world’s surprise when Mega Man 9 all of a sudden showed up on an ESRB classification website. Could the beloved franchise be making a return in all of the splendor of the current generation’s technological advances? And then we saw the first screenshots and trailer…

Cue some controversy. I’d say that a large number of dedicated MM fanatics were happy with this new direction, but many were perplexed by Capcom’s choice to go way old school with this new installment. Personally, I’m a fan of the new direction. When you look at the disappointments that have been the more recent MM games, it seems clear that a conscious effort to get back to the roots is just what the series NEEDS. Not to mention the fact that old school, 8-bit Mega Man music is great.

It’s not exactly a straight NES-style game though, it does have some technological advances. If you look closely you’ll see that the game does have some fancy-pants effects that weren’t possible on the NES. Personally, I’ll be happy if the game manages to not drop framerate when a bunch of enemies appear onscreen.

Another neat little change in the Mega Man conventions is that MM 9 will feature the first female robot. Splash Woman is the first non Man robot in series history. Some purists are very anti-Splash Woman, but I’m pro-female evil robot rights.

If I’m not mistaken, Mega Man 9 is slated for a Fall release on WiiWare, Xbox Live, and PSN.


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4 responses to “Big N, M$, Sony: Mega Man 9”

  1. Eric Avatar

    On the one hand, the 80s kid in me loves that they’ve gone back to their roots. However, I think what I might have preferred was a fusion of “old skool” graphics and updated music.

  2. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    The more times I see that trailer, the more satisfied I am with the game. I’ll have to see how it comes out later on this year.

  3. Eric Avatar

    I stopped paying full attention near the end – is this going to be a Wiiware game or something?

  4. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, and Playstation Network. Yeah, it’ll be a downloadable, probably $10 game.

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