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15
Oct|08
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The blue bomber and I have had a pretty rough relationship over the years. In 1989, when I was just four years young, Mega Man burst onto the NES game market, and would be followed by 6 other incredibly difficult games. Me and my friend from the neighborhood would work our little fingers to the bone, bleeding and crying in agony, as we desperately struggled to complete Capcom‘s sick nightmare. Some of my fondest memories of playing the game involved us huddled over a small tube TV at his Grandmother’s kitchen table, covered in sweat, as he screamed obscenities at Dr. Willy and the Master Robots. What made the series all the more difficult was that there was no save feature. Yeah, there were passwords but not until later on. Plus, always having to blow on the cartridges every 2 hours. It was like some sick penance for not wanting to play sports as a little kid.
So, when I heard that Capcom would be releasing a new Mega Man game in its original 8-bit format I was both overjoyed and filled with dread. Over the years the Mega Man franchise branched off into a number of spin-offs such as the Mega Man X series, Battle Network, Legends, Etc. These games featured a significant number of upgrades to the gameplay that, in my opinion, made the game easier and slightly more enjoyable or entirely different. After coming home one night, filled with more coffee than should be safe for human consumption, I did the unthinkable and downloaded Mega Man 9. All of a sudden, at 3AM, here I was again back in my 8-bit purgatory. The sound of my friend screaming in my ear to “shut up!” as he faced off against Dr. Willy almost 20 years ago, filling my head.
Mega Man 9 is actually a really well put together game. All 8 gigantic bits of this gem look beautiful in high-def, and it looks and feels just like the original games. Of course, all jokes aside, Mega Man was always more about skill and repetition than just non-sense side-scrolling. Many of the levels forced players to memorize their enemies and patterns in order to successfully play through the game. The newest installment does the same. Its even complete with some of the glitches and nuances from the original games. To further emphasize the fact that Capcom expects 20 years worth of practice to mean there shouldn’t be a learning curve for this game what-so-ever, there is no Mega-Buster or Slide. At least from what I can tell so far. I had to shut it off eventually, after each new screen presented me with some incomprehensible robot nightmare. It was just too much to handle.
While there are plenty of reviews, tips, and walkthroughs to help you in your quest to defeat Dr. Willy in this steal of a game (a mere $10), feel free to practice with a time-honored Mega Man tradition from my childhood: When playing the game, turn off the sound completely. Make sure all other sound emitting electronic devices in the vicinity are also off, and take the phone off the hook, so as to not run the risk of being surprised and jumping into a spike pit. Inform everyone around you to be quiet, deter them from even breathing heavily or thinking too hard near you. Finally, turn off all the lights and then begin concentrating. Make sure to play the game with a partner, in order to blame them for breathing too hard when your turn doesn’t go in your favor.
Last edited: Feb 12, 2009 @ 10:52 PM, 400 days ago |
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