Challenge: What did you expect? An easy game? Not to be outdone by the retro graphics and sound, the challenge level of Mega Man 9 is old-school as well. This game can be very challenging at times and has brought grown gamers to their knees! Many video game fans have even claimed that Mega Man 9 is the most challenging game that they have ever played! Now that's quite the profound statement if I do say so myself.

So...are you intimidated yet? Well, if you do happen to be scared silly and out of your mind right now, you can rest easy because I honestly feel that the ninth Mega Man game has a great balance in this regard. While it is one of the more challenging games in the series, I really don't think it is as brutal as the first Mega Man game and there certainly isn't a boss battle as evil as the Wily fight in Mega Man 7. So I would say that not only is MM9 not the toughest game ever made; it's probably the third hardest game in its own series! Apparently, some gamers have not played the rest of the Mega Man series or many games from the NES/SNES era that tended to really test a gamer's mettle. While MM9 is a tough cookie, I can think of a lot of games that are more challenging than this.

With that being said, however, you do need to be prepared to really work for everything in Mega Man 9. There are a lot of endless chasms and dreaded spikes that you'll have to navigate in this game...along with countless enemies, often placed in just the right spots to wreck havoc (some of the mets are truly evil in MM9). Even the elements can be a factor like in Tornado Man's stage where you have to meticulously jump from tiny platform to tiny platform...with the rain/wind affecting your jumping abilities and spinning umbrellas trying to ambush you from behind the clouds. You get the idea.

Some of the new gimmicks like the hanging platforms in Jewel Man's stage that you can only move by running left or right on them (oftentimes with spikes and near-impossible jumps lurking near them) along with the spinning red and blue "capsules" in Tornado Man's domain can be a bit tricky at first, but you get a feel for them in time. The boss battles can be very tough as well; especially if you try to fight them straight up (i.e. with your regular blaster). Shots from your default gun cause only one section of life to disappear from your enemies' life bar which means you have to be a true ace to beat them.

The saving grace is that there is a shop in MM9 where you can purchase valuable commodities like energy tanks which can prove to be the difference in the game's more difficult stages. Basically, if you are patient enough and meticulous enough, you stand a very good chance at doing well in this game. If you're stuck and need help, take the time to fight enemies for bolts so that you can purchase items as you need them. And if you can't make a super-hard jump or beat a mini-boss, remember that practice makes perfect! Keep trying until you get it (or until your controller finds a permanent home in your living room wall; whichever happens first).

One really cool aspect of Mega Man 9's challenge level is that it never really ends...even after beating the game! The game has fifty built-in challenges (e.g. defeating a certain number of enemies or beating the game without continuing) and you have to accomplish some pretty crazy stuff to even sniff the lofty 100% ranking! One challenge in particular is so over-the-top (beating the game without getting hit) that I seriously doubt I will ever complete all of the challenges. Still, it's a lot of fun to really challenge yourself to completely master this game inside and out.

In addition, there's the DLC to consider. Aside from the main game itself, Mega Man 9 offers a Special Stage, the Endless Challenge, Protoman mode, and even higher difficulty options such as the Hero and Superhero modes! The Special Stage is basically a timed challenge where you try to make it past a really cool stage set in the city which contains enemies and mini-bosses from throughout the main game. And if you're able to make it past all of that in one piece, you get to take on a fairly tough special boss!

And the Endless Challenge. Wow...the Endless Challenge. I have spent many hours playing what is essentially exactly what its name suggests. With all of your special weapons in tow, you simply play through a random assortment of areas (fighting bosses along the way) until you lose a life. The game keeps track of your progress by using screens as a measuring stick and as you make it through more and more screens, the challenge level slowly increases. You'll start to take more and more damage from enemy attacks until one or two hits is enough to wipe you out! It is actually a lot of fun and surprisingly addictive! I actually had the game of a lifetime shortly after the Endless Challenge became available in late 2008. Not that I want to put a shameless plug in my review of Mega Man 9, but if you would like to actually see my journey into the Top 10 Leaderboard, click here! This is the first of a whole slew of short videos I posted on YouTube! I was just having such an incredible run that I wanted to chronicle it somehow. So there you go. :)

Shameless plugs aside, having the opportunity to play the game as Protoman was another really cool option! Unlike Mega Man, Protoman has the ability to slide and charge up his shot which was pretty cool. He can even use his shield to deflect bullets! Unfortunately, he isn't able to take many hits at all due to his lousy defense (You would think someone with a shield could take more hits but what do I know?) which definitely balances things out. If you consider yourself a true Mega Man pro, try to beat the game with Protoman. It's a lot harder than it looks!

Storyline: It isn't epic, revolutionary, or totally gripping but at least Mega Man 9's story gave us a brand new Mega Man game. What more can be said than that? Like with most Mega Man games, Capcom didn't really put much of an emphasis on this game's story. However, there are actually more cut scenes in MM9 than most of the classic NES games which was pretty cool. Granted, it isn't exactly Xenosaga material but remember, this is basically an NES game that we are talking about. For what it was, I thought that Capcom did an okay job.

Basically, all you need to know is that sometime after the events that transpired in Mega Man 8, eight of Dr. Light's newest robotic creations suddenly go crazy and start attacking the city! This is surprising considered the fact that these are indeed Dr. Light's robots and not your typical Dr. Wily creations. And while Mega Man and Dr. Light are trying to make some sense out of this, Dr. Wily suddenly makes a worldwide broadcast and claims that he had nothing to do with this situation (yeah...sure). Wily even goes so far as to show a secret video he took in which Dr. Light reveals his plans to take over the world with Wily of all people saying he wants no part of that! How crazy is that?!

What follows is even more insane. Dr. Wily actually has the gall to ask for donations so that he can build robots to fight Dr. Light's creations. Personally, I think that Wily was just trying to get out of debt with all of his multi-million dollar Skull Castles crumbling to the ground from MM2-MM8 but that's just me. In any case, the world quickly turns on Dr. Light (absolutely ridiculous considering that Light's greatest creation has saved the world eight times...you would think that they might suspect Wily but no...stupid world) forcing Mega Man to clear the good doctor's name.

So there you go. All I can say is that this story allows us to play a ninth Mega Man game. And for that, I am truly grateful. Just don't expect anything epic or different than the norm and you'll be okay. I will say this though. The ending to MM9 is absolutely fantastic which kind of makes up for a pretty average story. Not to give anything away for those of you who might not have played this game yet, but I got such a kick out of the part where Mega Man says "And this time! ...and this time!" ;)

Funfactor: Mega Man 9 just isn't a very fun game. I was actually very disappointed that the gameplay was so uninspired and unoriginal and just came away from this experience with an utterly flat taste in my mouth. You would have expected more...especially coming from Capcom.

...JUST KIDDING!!! I am so sorry but I simply could not resist! After gushing about the classic Mega Man series over the previous eight reviews, I had to mix things up at least for a paragraph, eh? ;) In all seriousness and with all joking aside, Mega Man 9 is everything that I could have possibly hoped for and so much more! The gameplay really cooks in this game and, like the other top-tier games in the series, MM9 is a game that I find myself playing over and over again while still enjoying it as much as ever! And speaking of top-tier, I truly believe that the ninth Mega Man game is one of the very best games in the series. It has everything you could possibly want! Wonderful 8-bit graphics, an outstanding soundtrack, virtually perfect controls, and a challenge that will never, ever quit. The replay value is absolutely through the roof as well thanks to the plethora of game options, challenges lists, and Wi-Fi options such as the Time Attack and Endless Challenge modes where you can test your mettle against the rest of the world! Mega Man 9 honestly has no significant flaws. It is, without a doubt, the perfect example of a vintage Golden Classic!

Negatives: Like with most Mega Man games, the story has to be the weak link in Mega Man 9 as well. I wouldn't call it a bad story by any stretch but it just never really draws you in or gets all that intriguing or exciting. Perhaps the somewhat epic story in MM8 (along with those beautiful anime-style FMVs...less the voice acting of course) kind of spoiled me in this regard. At least Capcom placed a greater emphasis on the story in MM9 versus most previous games (they did include a nice amount of cut-scenes between stages after all).

Also, while the graphics in Mega Man 9 are very impressive for what they are, I thought that the background graphics in particular were pretty drab at times. Some of them are actually very good (the Tornado Man and Galaxy Man stages in particular) but you'll be seeing a lot of background colors like black and blue without much else (or anything else) accompanying them in many cases. And perhaps this was done on purpose by Capcom. Inafune really wanted to create a genuine, NES-style experience with MM9, so that could be the reason for this. However, do keep in mind that even the oldest Mega Man games featured some fantastic background graphics (the Metal Man stage from MM2 is a perfect example).

Ratings:

Graphics: 4.2
Music: 4.9 
Play Control: 4.9 
Challenge: 4.8   
Storyline: 3.8    
Funfactor: 4.9    

Overall Score: 27.5 out of 30.0 
Overall Rating: Golden Classic!!

Back to Wii Wonders