First off, I'd like to point out that this review is for the Xbox 360 version of the game. As far as I know, there are no differences between the three versions aside from achievements.
It's been a good many years since a straightforward, classically styled Mega Man game was released, but you wouldn't know it from playing Mega Man 9. The first thing you notice when you boot up the game is that it appears authentic; everything, from the blocky graphics to the midi stage tunes, feels like it was ported from an NES cartridge, and depending on your point of view, this can be a positive and a negative. In this age of photo-realistic graphics and impossibly high polygon counts, a game as visually primitive as Mega Man 9 might be seen as unimpressive, perhaps even downright unpleasant. There's something incredibly charming, though, about the simple 8-bit graphics, and it doesn't hurt that everything onscreen animates and moves with the calm fluidity of a well-oiled machine. Overall, it comes down to your preferences. If you can't play a game that isn't visually top of the line, you will find Mega Man 9 disappointing, and maybe even a little insulting, given the strides Capcom is making with Street Fighter IV. If you don't mind taking a brief trip back to the days of the NES, though, read on.
The storyline is typical Capcom fare. After Dr. Wily's defeat at the hands of Mega Man, the world seems to finally be at peace. Soon, though, a new group of Robot Masters goes berserk, threatening the Earth once again. The catch? This time, it seems that the culprit isn't Dr. Wily... But kindly old Dr. Light, the constructor of Mega Man himself! It's up to you to defeat the new Robot Masters and clear Dr. Light's name.
Shakespeare, it ain't, but all things considered, it could be a lot worse. It's an interesting twist on the classic "Light-Good, Wily-Bad" theme, and the fact that the Robot Master's rooms bear the emblem of an "L" instead of the traditional "W" is a nice touch. I'll be honest, I've never played a Mega Man game for it's innovative storyline, so I think it's best I move on to the game itself.
The controls are still as buttery smooth as many of you will remember. The game mimics Mega Man 2's playstyle, meaning Mega Man lacks the ability to charge his buster gun and slide, but these omissions are cosmetic at best. The running, jumping and gunning are all still incredibly responsive, a trait that lends itself very well to the game's tendency to throw you into situations requiring lightning quick reflexes and split-second decisions.
Speaking of difficulty, a return to a retro playstyle often means a return to a steep, unforgiving difficulty level, and Mega Man 9 pulls no punches. Everything that made you curse, cringe and cry in the classic platforming games of the late 1980's and early 1990's is back with a vengeance, and unless you've been playing NES platformers near religiously up until now, you had best be prepared to die multiple times. Spiked floors are prevalent, the dreaded "disappearing block" puzzles are back, and Mega Man still has an annoying tendency to leap back when hit, making cheap deaths via plummeting backwards off a platform an all-too-common occurrence. This game will test your patience to the very limit, but as with most challenges, the difficulty makes victory all the more sweet... And you will find that defeating your first Robot Master, after hours of grueling trial and error, is immensely satisfying. You will feel like you really earned that boss's weapon, and you'll feel more confident going into the next stage.
The game isn't all that long, clocking in at around two, perhaps three hours. However, the replayability factor is there, for those of you who like a challenge. A new leaderboard system encourages players to blaze through stages as quickly as possible in Time Attack mode, to compete with other gamers around the world for the top spot. Also, the Xbox 360 version sports some achievements that range from the moderately tough Jitterbug (Complete the game in under 60 minutes) to the downright masochistic Invincible (Complete the game without dying.)
At the end of the day, Mega Man 9 is a game for fans of the franchise. If you've been playing Mega Man since the days of the NES, or even if you're just a casual fan of the Mega Man games, chances are my review didn't do much to change your opinion of it; you've already played it, loved it and shelved it, along with Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Those of you new to the series, though, might want to reconsider rushing off to the digital market to buy it, because it's probably not at all what you're expecting it to be. I would recommend giving the original Mega Man a try first, to see if you can die multiple times and not become too frustrated to continue, before paying to die multiple times and become too frustrated to continue.
