With a few hours of Mega Man 9 under my belt I’ve got to admit, this game is FREAKING HARD. I’ve played many games since the original Mega Man series was released on the NES and later on the SNES and nothing compares to Mega Man 9 in terms of sheer difficulty. This new franchise title looks and acts like the original with all the glitches, colors, bleeps and effects of the original games.
This game is much like chasing your kids around the yard, you forget how “old you are.” Mega Man 9 challenges reflexes, hand-eye coordination, patience and persistence. You are constantly awarded with death upon death and level restarts. Just when you think you’re getting close to a leader you’re actually just encountering a harder portion of the stage.
Between the start of a stage and the final boss you’ll encounter larger single-screen microbosses who challenge your patience and skills. As it turns out, I’ve got very little of both attributes. Upon defeating a little boss I am handed another like boss which is a little tougher. Upon defeating this slightly tougher boss (after many level restarts) I’m rewarded with yet another more difficult microboss.
Mega Man traditionally allows you to wonder all of the selectable stages out of the gate but each one gets easier as you build your characters weaponry. The trick is finding that “easy” level to get you to a boss, defeat said boss and acquire a weapon of mass awesomeness. Alas, I’ve done none of these.
You can find online video walk-throughs on the Internet which can give you tips for getting around the stages but the end result is the same: patience, persistence and accuracy. Mega Man 9 teaches you that nobody is a game master without consistent practice.
The first time through a stage is a destructive mess of failure. As you restart the stage over and over you’ll learn some of the tricks to getting you through the initial enemies without taking damage. You’ll build up your arsenal of tricks for hitting enemies before they’re on the screen and mashing the fire button to freedom… until you hit your first spike.
Spikes are the bane of the Mega Man character. Mega Man isn’t a fan of little pointy objects which result in instant death. You can hit the jump button quickly for shorter jumps and longer for bigger jumps; jumping technique is required to move you through spike infested levels.
You learn quickly to never turn your back on an enemy. Turn around, ever so slightly, and walk back on the side-scrolling screen and forward again will result in the rebirth of all enemies you’ve killed. This includes bomb wielding birds, rock tossing baddies and hells fury in the form of red and green cannons.
If you’re looking to discover all the ways you can possibly lose in a game, feel your inner child emotionally crushed under the weight of 8-bit bad asses, Mega Man 9 is the game for you. The achievements will make you laugh and the difficulty will invoke that old controller tossing nostalgia.
Mega Man 9 is a challenge. If you wish to take on this challenge and prove your 8-bit weight in the world of high resolution graphic fairy tales this may be the title for you!
@The Old Republic of “warping kids” with pro-gay message:
… something tells me that being gay is not an acquired taste, so I have my doubts about “warping”.
@Rumor: Next Harmonix project being released on XBLA, PSN, and Facebook
You know what? I’m gonna call any game/genre that requires a new/dedicated controller a fad.
I don’t care about fads. Next!
@ extreme sports videogames back to prominence
Dunno. People who like extreme sports will just do the sports.
@SNK brings Neo*Geo back as a handheld
Emulators, people, emulators. Apply the right filtering and you can play it on pretty much on any resolution.
Paul, I’m not making names up. Worst case, I spell them badly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prypiat
If you can’t figure out a good question of the week, you can use this one: “What would be a good question of the week?” 😉
“You know what doesn’t exist in the Star Wars universe? God.”
touche Jonah!!
Actually, there’s a reason there’s no question of the week, and it’s not because I couldn’t think of one. You’ll see.
There’s a reason for no question of the week? I’m anxious to know what’s coming up in episode 250, I wonder what could be that special in a podcast.
@Vita: I’m just going to repeat last week’s comment which didn’t get posted: No surprise here to me. I knew that the PS Vita was going to have a rough launch no matter how good they say it is. It has to appeal to the masses and have good software for it to sell.
sup .i really missed 2 episodes and this new one, just came here to say that oliver lance and oliver are the same. @special 250th episode I really hope that you could get derrick and jennifer in the podcast coz I really miss em…still downloading this episode
Sup.
@=The Old Republic of “warping kids” with pro-gay message . I mostly disagree with lesbians and gays coz I am a christian myself and i have been wanting to punch gays on my class BUT its not Biowares fault coz its how you allow your kids its your parents fault if they allow you to play those “gaymes”
@PS Vita continues to struggle in Japan
Now this is what happens if you make a portable console then you smash all the good things together ,I MEAN wth its like a DS on steroids
BTW oliver and oliver lance are the same .I wish the special would be Derrick and Jennifer hosting the show