Way back in 2008, long before I'd conceived the idea of Everything All of the Time or become nearly as obsessive about completing games I played, I embarked on the first of many gaming marathons. I've discussed at length on this blog my multiple endeavors to play through game series entry by entry, back to back. One of the very first times I ever did this was with the original Mega Man series--and not in the Anniversary Collection either--I played the original NES versions, starting with the very first game and progressing all the way to Mega Man 8 and even Rockman and Forte. I had a ton of fun playing through these games and within about a week's time I became a dedicated Mega Man fan. After a short break, I tackled Mega Man 9, then recently released for WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, and the PlayStation Network. After finishing so many Mega Man games in a row, you'd think I would have been prepared for whatever Mega Man 9 could throw at me, but I was sorely mistaken. I found myself struggling to defeat even a single robot master. Discouraged, I left the game to stagnate in my backlog for many years.
Fortunately, the day has finally come for me to absolve myself of the shame I felt as I have just today completed Mega Man 9 some 8 years after it originally released. I supposed this should come as no surprise since I didn't play the original Mega Man series until 20 years after they released. Comparatively, I'm really ahead of the curve here. I still can't help but feel a disconnect between Mega Man 9 and the rest of the series--even from the first six games which it most directly emulates, with its retro 8-bit graphics and gameplay. I still can't say if it's just my imagination, but Mega Man 9's difficulty level is absolutely off the charts. I say this despite remembering keenly the frustration I felt when I originally tackled Mega Man all those years ago. As a person with meager action/platforming experience to draw on, I found it fiendishly difficult, if not incredibly addictive and rewarding. After conquering that title (and particularly the hellishly challenging Yellow Devil from the final stages), the rest of the series honestly seemed like a cakewalk--until of course I finally reached Mega Man 9. No more could I charge my blaster, no more could I cheekily slide around. It was back to basics again, and the difficulty hit me like a ton of bricks.
Let's step back for a minute and talk about what the Mega Man series is and what traditions are inherent to the series. As established in the very first title, Mega Man is an adorable childlike robot with a blaster arm. His goal is to defeat 8 robot masters (6 in the first game) assembled by the nefarious Dr. Wily for questionable reasons. Each of these robot masters adheres to a certain theme and possesses a weapon that Mega Man may take for himself. The order in which the player defeats these robot masters is a principal element to the strategy of these games as each robot master is weak to the weapon of another. Fans generally come to a consensus on which robot master is best to tackle first as it is the one Mega Man will have to fight with only the use of his standard mega buster. This formula is very consistent in the first six games of the series and in MM9 as well, although a few new features and mechanics are sprinkled in here and there, such as the introduction of Mega Man's robotic dog Rush in Mega Man 3. His ability to transform into coils, submarines, and jetpacks add an extra layer of gameplay to platforming. The ability to charge the mega buster to higher levels of power was also introduced in Mega Man 4 and was used in subsequent Mega Man titles. The charging mechanic (and the ability to slide) are conspicuously absent for Mega Man 9, suggesting perhaps that Inti Creates, the company responsible for this retro reboot, were interested in returning as much to basics as possible.
It is arguable that the advancements to the series made over the years were for the better or not. Is Mega Man 9 successful because it is so stripped down or would it have been a better game if it had picked up where the PlayStation's Mega Man 8 had left off? Mega Man 2 is generally regarded as the best the series has to offer--and Mega Man 9 shares the most similarities with it. It is elegant in its simplicity and brutal difficulty. Progressing through the game's stages takes significant amounts of trial and error and rote memorization. It is extremely rewarding to reach the point where you've learned a stage well enough that segments that seemed impossible at first can be conquered within seconds. This is a testament to Inti Creates level design--no surprise considering the developer consists of many ex-Capcom staff members.
One could regard Mega Man 9 as a return to form but it could just as easily be dismissed for drawing too heavily on its roots. Personally, I'm a fan of the entire Mega Man series and enjoyed most advancements that were made along the way--even when it resulted in a nerf to the overall difficulty. I appreciate Mega Man 9 for what it is, but it is just so hard that I'm not surprised I put off finishing it for this long. I can't dismiss it for being unfair, though. If I put enough time in, I could beat the entire game without relying on chugging energy tanks of storing up extra lives--but it speaks to my level of patience that I can't bring myself to do that. I found defeating Wily for the 9th time to be ultimately rewarding even so.
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