(1) Playing games such as LEGO Batman and LEGO Indiana Jones with my girlfriend; and
(2) Mega Man 9
I'm a Mega Man fanboy like nobody's business, and having to wait to play the latest game was to me what waiting for both an Obama/Spider-Man crossover comic and a Neil Gaiman Batman comic were for Alex. At least.So at long last, I have played through Mega Man 9. There's downloadable content, a Time Attack mode, Achievements, and other nonsense that never would have made it into a Mega Man game of my day, but I've hardly begun to scratch the surface of those yet. I'm talking about the real meat of Mega Man 9, which is... uh... Mega Man 9.
You know what? I really enjoyed the game. Maybe even loved it. Sequels of long-dormant franchises are never this good. It feels like a modernized Mega Man 2 influenced most by Mega Man 3 and Mega Man 6, but there are moments, features, and even entire stages that bring back memories of basically every game in the classic series.
What I like about it:
- Extremely challenging but usually not unfairly difficult--the difficulty borders on "not fun" a few times, but the learning curve is excellent, so it's still usually your fault if you die. (Not my fault; your fault--you made me mess up!)- Music is really well done, and is a worthy addition to the soundtrack of a series defined by great music.
- An honest attempt was made to create an actual, sensical plot, complete with a good number of cutscenes (for a Mega Man game, anyhow).
- Nice variety of special weapons that all have a chance to shine. A+ for requiring the use of Rush Coil and Rush Jet as puzzle-solving tools!
- I actually laughed out loud on several occasions. Some of those laughs were from amusing cutscenes, some were from the little touches that show the game's polish, and some of those laughs were in appreciation of some truly diabolical puzzles and challenges. They tickled my little fiendish amateur game designer's heart.- The ending was very satisfying. Nothing ruins a game like a lame-o ending.
- A feeling of continuity throughout--that is, the game honestly felt like a Mega Man game, and not some other game with "Mega Man" in the title. Connections with previous games helped this.
- Probably some other stuff that's not coming to mind right now. Gosh, I loved that stuff.
What I'm not so fond of:
- Mega Man can neither slide nor charge up his primary weapon. I can survive without the fully-powered blaster as long as the special weapons make up for it (they do), but the inability to slide drastically reduces the Blue Bomber's maneuverability.- Most of Hornet Man's stage. It felt too much like Top Man's stage from Mega Man 3, and I really dislike Top Man's stage. And most of Mega Man 3.
- Some of the weapon names. Black Hole Bomb? Plug Ball? Tornado Blow? Please. This blog is probably going to be flagged for adult content just for writing those names.
- Although the weapon assortment is great, almost every weapon is similar or virtually identical to another weapon in the Mega Man franchise (most prominently from the X series), which is to be expected after dozens and dozens of games.
Behold, the 8-bit versions of the weapons of Spark Mandrill, Sting Chameleon, Crystal Snail (sorta), Gravity Beetle, and Blast Hornet! As for the remaining weapons, they're basically amalgams of previous boss weapons: a Wind Man/Tengu Man/Astro Man combo, a Wood Man/Star Man combo, and some sort of Fire Man/Yamato Man combo, minus the fire shield. It's a laser trident that fires straight through enemies, so there's really a lot of combinations you could propose.- A couple of songs are directly recycled from Mega Man 2. Not remixed, mind you--they're the exact same song. Not a major issue, but it feels more like an obvious attempt to capitalize on MM2's popularity rather than a tip-of-the-hat or an effort to feel more retro.
- A few of the bosses. I won't name names, but there were two or three that were too tedious or flat-out difficult for me to enjoy them.- While I like what they did with them, the end credits weren't entirely in the same style as other games in the classic series, which wasn't much of a bad thing but just felt a little strange to me.
- Probably some other stuff that's not coming to mind now. Gosh, I hated that stuff.
Bottom line: Mega Man 9 is absolutely worth your 1000 Wii points, or whatever method of payment your console uses (Cabbage, maybe? I don't know what XBox users use).
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to start practicing for some of those Achievements. I'll have absolutely no gamer cred at all if I can't beat the hardest game in the classic series without ever getting hit. At all.
(Oh, a protective barrier is hardly a new weapon, but we love Jewel Satellite anyway.)
Suggested additional reading: A review of Mega Man 9's downloadable content.
18 comments:
This is what I wanted to know most of all. Does it feel like a Mega Man game or just look like one? Yes just by giving it a classic look it will be Mega Man but I wanted to see some jumps over spikes that you can just barely make it over, Some blocks that appear and disappear over spikes, great music that to some people just sounds like really bad techno on an old machine, and I wanted to know what Mega Man would be able to do, as well as how hard it was. Now I see that with what he can do this would put Mega Man at 2.5 though I am not sure what you saw that seemed like Mega Man 6 influence so the number might be a bit higher. I am also disappointed in them reusing Mega Man 2 music but I guess I am also happy that they did not make you fight that clay eye guy that flew at you in cubes. Don't get me wrong he was an awesome boss and I enjoyed fighting him in new stronger forms with different patterns but I really wanted this game to stand on its own and have variety while using the other games the core of everything. You made it sound a bit easy but taking into consideration that you are a true gamer with a high callibur of skill you saying easy might be reasonable for a random average person. I personally like games so hard that the average person would run away crying and people like you or I would just get really frustrated and then immediately really happy with the challenge but I am sure I will enjoy this game either way. I can't believe how excited this game made me when I first saw pictures of it. I really like the way you study games. We need to sit around, drink tea, and giggle about video games sometime. I also need to read this blog more because it is awesome.
OH I almost forgot! Why do you hate Top Man's level and even more WHY DO YOU HATE MEGA MAN 3?!?! That game was a pivotal point in the development of Mega Man and I think it did a lot of great things. I think we need to have a fun debate about this sometime.
- Sam
Mega Man 9 feels more like a Mega Man game than 6, 7, and 8 did. There are some really absurd jumps (both distance-wise and height-wise; lots of low jumping required), one of the stages is about 2/3 disappearing bricks, and the music is spot-on.
Mega Man can jump and fire, but he can't slide, and he can't charge up. It's like playing MM2 again. He's got Rush Coil and will get Rush Jet, but that's it. You collect screws (Like in MM7 and Mega Man & Bass) to buy items from the shop, including extra lives, E-Tanks, an M-Tank, spike guards, etc.
I'd be inclined to say that it's one of the top 3 most difficult games in the classic series. On my first time through, I needed to use an E-Tank on maybe two or three of the regular bosses, and at least two E-Tanks on two of the Wily stage bosses, and then maybe three or four on the final boss.
On average, my Game Over ratio was usually once every 1-2 stages, and at least once with each Wily stage. The distribution of powerups and extra lives is just about a perfect balance, so that's something.
Practice really does make perfect, though, because I have been visibly improving basically every time I play, cutting back on the number of E-Tanks and lives I need, and also getting hit less. It's still not as hard as the Zero series or the later X games, though, but it does have its moments.
There were influences from basically every other game, really, but the Mega Man 6 influences I saw were mostly in the minibosses and two of the Wily stage bosses--their designs (and the fact that there were minibosses at all) reminded me of MM6. Also, some of the level designs or level graphics were reminiscent of MM6. This is more of a vibe that I got rather than something I can actually call out specifics for, though. I guess the best way to describe it is that, if you were to take any one of the levels and stick it in another Mega Man game, most of the time it would most likely flow the best in MM6 (or MM2 or MM3).
Oh, and don't count out that "clay eye guy," the Yellow Devil, quite yet. Let me assure you that all of the bosses, enemies and weapons--even if they're variations on things past--still feel pretty fresh, and there are a number of brand-new challenges that are unique that I've never seen in any other game.
In a nutshell, Mega Man 9 feels like more of a Mega Man game than some of the others do; it can be outrageously difficult but is at least a fair challenge, and it does a good job of balancing nostalgia with creativity. I'll need to play it a bit more before I make a final judgment, but I guarantee you that on the scale of favorite to least-favorite classic Mega Man games, this one ranks somewhere around the middle, with the potential for promotion.
What bugs me about MM3 is a series of (mostly) minor things. I still enjoy the game, but it's toward the bottom of my list. Here's why:
- Most worthless weapons in the entire Classic series: Spark Shock freezes enemies directly in your way but doesn't let walk through them unharmed or switch weapons to actually kill them; Gemini Laser is really great but just too slow; Shadow Blade is a pathetic excuse for a "better balanced" Metal Blade; Search Snake is great but not useful in enough situations (thankfully, it's indispensible in the Game Boy version) and Top Spin is a total liability.
- Menu system is a little clunky.
- No introductory story sequence after MM2 set that precedent? C'mon!
- Almost all of the enemies annoy me. The dragonflies. The hopping frogs. The penguin shaker (it looks like a penguin-shaped pepper grinder to me). Sniper Joes. The list goes on. And the very few enemies I really like usually only show up on two or three screens (such as those little ladder-climbing ladybug things, and the flying magnets).
The vast majority of the enemies in the game appear out of nowhere, require too much damage to kill, and/or can only be hit in a certain spot or at a certain time (or both!), which I might almost be able to tolerate if I had more effective special weapons to deal with them. All that patience and overly precise shooting all the time disrupts the flow of the game for me.
That's why I can't stand Top Man's stage: it's got the hard-to-hit hopping frogs, the blue bolts that fly in out of nowhere and sit invincibly in your way for a moment, the bulldozers that you can only hit in the head, and the cats that take forever to shoot up, whose yarn balls take forever to destroy and whose hopping fleas are also hard to hit.
- Kinda glitchy--for example, the rising platforms at the end of Snake Man's stage have glitched me into oblivion far too often. And the platforms that open up underneath you when you stand on them in Shadow Man's revisited stage and in Wily's fortress are inconsistent in allowing you to jump off of them in time, which I hate.
- Final boss is reasonably clever, but too much of a pushover.
- This is a really little thing, two of the songs in the game get cut off before they have a chance to finish! (Intro to Wily's fortress theme and the ending theme when the pictures of the past robot masters scroll by, specifically).
- Level design in a few places feels a little off somehow--strangely empty, or with any old random enemy thrown in, or with geography that doesn't flow with the rest of the titles in the series. I feel like there is a lot of wasted or strangely laid-out space, and some wasted potential.
Well, that's the long and short of it. The music and graphics are very good, I like a few of the bosses, the MM2 cameos are well done, and I love the additions of Rush, Proto Man, the ability to slide, and the second controller cheats, but there's just so much that bothers me about it.
Phew! So much for a "comment"! Let's do tea next time.
I wish this game was fun. I really do. It seems so enjoyable, so energetic, nostalgic, and awesome. Then you start to play the game.
Why is it so hard? I have beat all of the Mega Man up to this point and Mega Man 10 on normal, and in this game, it took me a very long while to get to Wily 1. There are too many cheap deaths:
enemies popping out of holes, falls where you don't know where you are going to land, and to many instant death pits/spikes! MM9 seems like MM2 when it comes to almost everything but game play, but the game play seems more like Super Meat Boy, I Wanna Be the Guy, or even Kaizo Mario World! The game was supposed to (other than brign nostalgia) bring new gamers into MM, right? Well, having the game set to Screen-Smashingly Hard with no easy mode, or any way to start off learning. It just throws you right into the burning pits of Game Over screens.
Galaxy Man's stage is the easiest, but still the super-quick enemies that zip down out of nowhere and drag into spikes are a pain.
Plug Man's stage has an invisible block puzzle for too long. (reminds me of Heat Man, yeesh!)
Splash Woman's stage is easy-ish, but there are a few moments where you have to fall down and you could land safe or on spikes, where ever you happen to fall.
Magma Man's stage is also pretty easy-ish, but the instant-kill lave falls and the dragon mini-boss have to taint it with difficulty.
Concrete Man's stage has three elephants you have to fight in a row. The first one is easy, you just stand on the ladder and shoot it. The second one has a pattern you have to learn, but once you do, it is still pretty easy. The third has bottomless pits that it sucks you into and you can't dodge the air flow. That's fair for first time players.
Hornet Man's stage has an annoying flower miniboss that can kill me very quickly even if I do the rest of the stage perfectly.
Jewel Man's stage, wow! There are tons of enemies that assault you nonstop in the opening hallway, and after that there are spider things that are hard to hit without losing half your life. Then there are these platforms that move when you run on them. They are okay to begin with, but then they put in this near impossible jump with literally one block you can land on (be sure to keep the platform at the right height while also dodging the spike wall, and still landing directly under it, kiddos!) Then the boulder miniboss is relentless. Then there are at least 4 crazy insane jumps. Then there is a room where I have no idea how to get past it without Spike Guard.
Tornado Man's stage is the hardest of the RM's, if not the hardest in the game. The rotating platforms are glitchy sometimes, and jumping doesn't give you enough momentum to land where you want. Then you try to go back and retry the jump but, whoops! the platform is going the other way. Plummeting to the bottomless pit you go. Then the rain pushes you back, making the rotation of the platforms plus the rain making your jump only go half the distance almost impossible to deal with. (you can't even use Rush Jet!)
And the bosses are also pretty much impossible without special weapons. Galaxy Man is the only exception I found where I can beat him with my Mega Buster. Concrete Man freezes you in place. Hornet man has annoying two-hit-kill (not one, which would have made sense) hornets. Jewel Man blocks your attacks. Plug Man has lots of Plug Balls shooting at once. Magma Man is hard to dodge. Tornado Man has a spiked ceiling. And Splash Woman (who is said to be the easiest in the game) takes a fourth of your life in one hit!
And once you learn the bosses pattern, you get a game over, and must do the whole stupid stage all over again before you can try again.
And you think E-tanks would help right? WRONG! E-tanks are rarely found throughout the game. So you just buy them right? WRONG! Screws in this game are less common than in MM8! (unless you sit there and farm for forty centuries) So getting E-tanks is hard and when you get enough, and use them to help you defeat the boss, the next one is even harder! More farming! Ain't that fun, newcomers?
Wily Fortress is so unforgiving. Level 1 has this puzzle that took me 30 mins to figure out. IT involved Magma Beams and Cement Shot. Once I figured it out, I then had to restart the stage because I had run out of Cement Shot. Ugh, what joy.
Then Wily 2 came along. There were dumb jumps with annoying enemies that made you fall down and down to the beginning of the stage. There were also invisible floors that you couldn't even tell the difference from the actual blocks. Oh boy, it's like MM2's Wily 4 all over again! I quit at this point, (If this is a recreation of Wily 4, I don't even want to know what the boss is like!) and went to play the much better game, MM10.
MM9 should have been awesome, but instead it became a ROMHack of MM2.
With all the bottomless pits, instant death spikes, crazy jumps, annoying enemies, insane bosses, even more insane mini-bosses,
trial and error, stupid puzzles, un-helpful weapons, few E-tanks, no slide or charge, unknown stage hazards, trial and error, too many game overs, confusing level design, pointless difficulty, annoying platforms, rain, unforgiving areas, and trial and error, MM9 is not an enjoyable experience if you are a newcomer to the series, you are used to MM1-8, or if you want to relax and have fun. There is just too much trial and error.
Did I mention there's a lot of trial and error? Well there is.
This game is evil.
Play MM10 instead.
Daftpirate: This is interesting, being on the receiving end of one of these rants, for a change. Let me try to address everything you've said, in order...
"Why is it so hard? ...There are too many cheap deaths: enemies popping out of holes, falls where you don't know where you are going to land, and to many instant death pits/spikes!"
I concede that MM9 is one of the hardest games in the series; there's a much greater emphasis on tricky platforming than usual, and there are a few more instant-death traps than usual. However, enemies popping out of holes is nothing new (MM4, ESPECIALLY MM10); same goes for not knowing where you are going to land (MM2, MM4, MM7).
“The game was supposed to (other than brign nostalgia) bring new gamers into MM, right?”
Actually, no. Based on the game’s blatant attempts to recreate MM2—the perennial fan favorite—MM9 is very clearly catering to existing fans.
"Galaxy Man's stage is the easiest, but still the super-quick enemies that zip down out of nowhere and drag into spikes are a pain."
You can completely avoid them if you walk slowly or use Jewel Satellite.
"Plug Man's stage has an invisible block puzzle for too long. (reminds me of Heat Man, yeesh!)"
Exactly--it's like Heat Man. You can bypass it with the jet utility. There's only one or two spots where you actually need to pay attention that way.
"Splash Woman's stage is easy-ish, but there are a few moments where you have to fall down and you could land safe or on spikes, where ever you happen to fall."
Again, see MM2 Wily 3, MM4 Dive Man and Wily 2, MM7 Wily 3.
"Magma Man's stage is also pretty easy-ish, but the instant-kill lave falls and the dragon mini-boss have to taint it with difficulty."
I was disappointed by how easy the lava flow section was; stand still and watch the top of the screen before you move. The dragon is a very reasonable difficulty with special weapons: Concrete Shot, Tornado Blow, and Black Hole Bomb are especially effective.
"Concrete Man's stage has three elephants you have to fight in a row. The first one is easy, you just stand on the ladder and shoot it. The second one has a pattern you have to learn, but once you do, it is still pretty easy. The third has bottomless pits that it sucks you into and you can't dodge the air flow. That's fair for first time players."
This is the most annoying part of the level, so I don't totally disagree. However, this again is nothing new (see: MMX1 Launch Octopus), and if first-time players are expecting to win everything on their first try, then they're playing the wrong series.
"Hornet Man's stage has an annoying flower miniboss that can kill me very quickly even if I do the rest of the stage perfectly."
Use special weapons. Concrete Shot and Tornado Blow make the battle very easy as long as you keep moving.
"Jewel Man's stage, wow! There are tons of enemies that assault you nonstop in the opening hallway...spider things that are hard to hit...platforms that move when you run on them. They are okay to begin with, but then they put in this near impossible jump with literally one block you can land on...Then the boulder miniboss is relentless. Then there are at least 4 crazy insane jumps. Then there is a room where I have no idea how to get past it without Spike Guard."
Special weapons, special weapons, special weapons. Black Hole Bomb and Magma Cannon do wonders against the stage enemies, and the miniboss, while challenging, can easily be taken down with Hornet Chaser, and probably other things I haven't tried. The spike wall just before the miniboss IS excessively difficult, as is the other jump that you can't make without a Spike Guard. Practice and timing are everything, but it can be a pain to get it right.
(Continued, Part 2): "Tornado Man's stage is the hardest of the RM's...The rotating platforms are glitchy sometimes, and jumping doesn't give you enough momentum to land where you want...Then the rain pushes you back, making the rotation of the platforms plus the rain making your jump only go half the distance almost impossible to deal with. (you can't even use Rush Jet!)"
Glitchy platforms? Not in the version I played. You need to pay close attention to where Mega Man is positioned when you jump--no different than the moving platforms in Guts Man's stage. Yes, it's tough, but it's entirely possible to use Rush Jet if you maneuver properly.
“And the bosses are also pretty much impossible without special weapons. Galaxy Man is the only exception I found where I can beat him with my Mega Buster. Concrete Man freezes you in place. Hornet man has annoying two-hit-kill (not one, which would have made sense) hornets. Jewel Man blocks your attacks. Plug Man has lots of Plug Balls shooting at once. Magma Man is hard to dodge. Tornado Man has a spiked ceiling. And Splash Woman (who is said to be the easiest in the game) takes a fourth of your life in one hit!”
Once again, nothing new. Yes, MM9’s boss lineup is especially difficult to break into (with a distinct lack of Top Mans and Toad Mans), but like everything else with this series, it’s a matter of practice and experimentation. Hornet Man is easier if you focus on killing him and not the hornets; you’ll live longer if you simply avoid them as best as you can. Jewel Man’s shield can be systematically dismantled, leaving him totally defenseless, if you take your time—he’s also got a very predictable pattern that you can exploit. Tornado Man’s spiked ceiling isn’t an issue if you don’t slam down on the jump button at full power. Splash Woman takes more damage from the regular blaster than anyone else, and can be taken down relatively quickly if you keep you keep moving and keep firing. The other bosses ARE jerks, though.
“And once you learn the bosses pattern, you get a game over, and must do the whole stupid stage all over again before you can try again.”
This is Mega Man 101. This is absolutely no different than any other Mega Man game you’ve ever played.
“E-tanks are rarely found throughout the game. So you just buy them right? WRONG! Screws in this game are less common than in MM8! (unless you sit there and farm for forty centuries)”
You’re right: E-Tanks are rare in this game, and grinding for powerups is obnoxious. However, Plug Man and Wily 1 have areas with infinitely respawning Tellys, and especially when you have Jewel Satellite, grinding requires no effort whatsoever. Alternately, instead of grinding, you could keep playing through the stages that are giving you trouble—not only can you snag any freebie Screws that are all over the place, but you can get the practice you need while also collecting whatever other Screws may drop.
“Wily Fortress is so unforgiving. Level 1 has this puzzle that took me 30 mins to figure out. IT involved Magma Beams and Cement Shot. Once I figured it out, I then had to restart the stage because I had run out of Cement Shot.”
I agree—that puzzle is difficult and forgiving. Still, nothing new. As you’re so keen to point out how difficult this game seems to be for newcomers, I’m sure you recall how equally painful MM2 Wily 1 is when trying to get from one ladder to the other ladder on the opposite side of the screen using your limited Item 1 ammo, or when you’re trying to beat the boss that requires perfect placement of your Crash Bombers.
(Continued , Part 3): “Then Wily 2 came along. There were dumb jumps with annoying enemies that made you fall down and down to the beginning of the stage. There were also invisible floors that you couldn't even tell the difference from the actual blocks. Oh boy, it's like MM2's Wily 4 all over again!”
All of those enemies can be destroyed, and you CAN tell the difference—you need to pay attention to the enemies that swoop in and create the fake floors, or kill them before they have a chance to do their dirty work. Special weapons, special weapons, special weapons. Rush Coil and especially Rush Jet make this a very workable challenge.
“With all the bottomless pits, instant death spikes, crazy jumps…”
Yes, as we’ve established, the game emphasizes tricky platforming more than most of the other games in the series. This is a fair point about the difficulty, if you’re more comfortable with fighting challenges.
“…annoying enemies, insane bosses, even more insane mini-bosses…”
Yes, as we’ve established, the foes are relentless. This is a fair point about the difficulty, unless you’ve played enough Mega Man games to realize how important it is to practice, try different tactics, and use special weapons.
“…trial and error, stupid puzzles…”
So it’s a little more puzzle-oriented than most of the other games in the series, and the puzzles are especially hard. This is a fair point if you’re not into puzzle games.
“…un-helpful weapons…”
I’m gonna call you out on this one, because it’s been made increasingly apparent that you are not using the weapons to their full potential.
“…few E-tanks…”
MM1 and MM8 have no E-Tanks. MM2 makes you lose all your E-Tanks when you get a Game Over. I refer you back to my previous comments about E-Tanks.
“… no slide or charge…”
Absolutely valid. The bosses SEEM like more of a challenge than they should be because they seem to have been designed with the more powerful and maneuverable hero of MM4-8 in mind.
“…unknown stage hazards, trial and error, too many game overs…”
EVERY stage has unknown hazards the first time you play. EVERY stage requires some degree of experimentation if you don’t succeed on the first try. There are freebie 1-Ups scattered about the stages, there’s a shop where you can buy more, and enemies randomly drop them—and especially when you’ve played so many other Mega Man games and understand how this series works, “too many game overs” doesn’t hold any water.
“…confusing level design…”
Nothing you’ve said strikes me as confusing, except the one puzzle in Wily 1. Unforgiving, demanding, annoying, maybe—but not confusing.
“…pointless difficulty…”
I’d say it was about time a Mega Man game once again lived up to its reputation of being incredibly difficult. Pointless difficulty might apply more to something like, say, The Little Mermaid for the NES, which I’m told is stupidly difficult for ostensibly being a game for little kids.
“annoying platforms, rain, unforgiving areas, and trial and error…”
Basically EVERY Mega Man game has annoying platforms, level hazards, and unforgiving areas. This game’s got a few more than usual. If you were griping about the entire series, I might give you this one, but you’re calling out MM9 specifically with little or no mention of similar difficult spots in other games, save for MM2.
(Continued, Part 4): “MM9 is not an enjoyable experience if you are a newcomer to the series, you are used to MM1-8, or if you want to relax and have fun. There is just too much trial and error.”
MM9 is not an enjoyable experience if you go in with the mindset that it’s supposed to be easy, assume you’ll be able to conquer it easily because you’ve beaten other games in the series, and immediately blame the game for difficult challenges that are common throughout the series and require any amount of patience or practice to overcome.
“Did I mention there's a lot of trial and error?”
Yes.
“This game is evil.”
Yes. But it’s also way more fair and forgiving than you’re giving it credit for. I can completely appreciate playing a game that just too hard to be any fun, but based solely on what you’ve identified as problems and what you’ve said (or haven’t said) about the other Mega Man games, I can say with a good degree of confidence that it’s more your approach than the game itself that’s made this experience so awful. Don’t give up on MM9 just yet; if you survived 1-8 and 10, you can handle this one.
Okay, I admit I may have been slightly overreacting/used sarcasm/been repetitive for some parts of my comment. I had just come back from a rage-session of MM9 and needed a place to let it all out. Of course, I chose the comment section.
"However, enemies popping out of holes are nothing new (MM4, ESPECIALLY MM10); same goes for not knowing where you are going to land (MM2, MM4, MM7)."
In MM4 (Cossack 1, I assume), the enemies that pop out in a very open area where if you don't see them, you can sometimes maneuver yourself back before they hit you. In MM9, most of the pop-out enemies are in tight jumps, or with other enemies surrounding them; mainly where you aren't expecting them. In MM10, I agree that the bomb parachutes are especially during Commando Man's Stage, and Wily 2. Those are my least favorite spots in MM10, which is my favorite in the series.
"Based on the games blatant attempts to recreate MM2, the perennial fan favorite-MM9 is very cleary catering to existing fans."
I know, that's why I said 'other than nostalgia'. But besides that, the fact that MM9 was released at a modern time where new gamers can discover a founding father of video games, makes the creation of a new, modern fan base a 'secondary' goal for MM9.
"You can completely avoid them if you walk slowly..."
I know, but if you forget or jump to early or late...
They are just a minor pain, not a major flaw.
"...or use Jewel Satellite."
To use Jewel Satellite you have to have beat Jewel Man. To beat Jewel Man you need some weapons (like Black Hole Bomb) to help you.
"It's like Heat Man. You can bypass it with the jet utility. There's only one or two spots where you actually need to pay attention that way."
Another reference to MM2... Heat Man's stage was easily bypass-able, too, with Item-2, which you specifically got from Air Man. But in MM9, they made it so that you don't get the jet from a boss (MM 2, MM3, MM4, MM5) or a mini-boss (kind of, MM8), but instead you must beat any four RM's first. And since you *need* the jet for Plug Man and Tornado Man's stage, and many RM's are hard to beat with just Mega Buster, it makes the game less playable and less fun.
"Again, see MM2 Wily 3, MM4 Dive Man and Wily 2, and MM7 Wily 3."
In MM2, you saw the spikes at the top of the pit and the hole leading straight down, plus when the screen moved, you got a small pause to see what you had to do: maneuver down a hallway lined with spikes. In Dive Man’s stage, it's the same thing, but it's not necessary to beat the stage. In Splash Woman's stage, you kill the octopuses and jump into a hole in the middle of the screen with no indication of spikes. When the screen scrolls down, the spikes don't appear until the last second because they are at the very bottom of the screen. If you jump in to the middle and don't automatically start holding left or right, you are dead.
"I was disappointed by how easy the lava flow section was; stand still and watch the top of the screen before you move. The dragon is a very reasonable difficulty with special weapons: Concrete Shot, Tornado Blow, and Black Hole Bomb are especially effective."
The lava flow section was quite easier than I made it out to be. But the dragon mini-boss moves low to the ground sometimes, making it hard to dodge the fireballs and the dragon at the same time. Plus, the fireballs take a lot of health away.
"This is the most annoying part of the level, so I don't totally disagree."
Me neither.
"However, this is nothing new (see: MMX1 Launch Octopus), and if first-time players are expecting to win everything on their first try, then they’re playing the wrong series."
Launch Octopus' stage is my least favorite in X1. The submarine mini-boss does pull you into to spikes there, but you a dash to fight the current and wall jump out of the pit if you get caught. This scenario seems as though it would have been easier with the slide.
And I didn't mean to get it on the first try and totally agree that you shouldn’t expect to blow the game without dying on the first try, but the last two elephants take a while (and a few Game Overs) before you figure out the pattern.
*Side Note: The dragon boss you fight to get the heart-tank in LO's stage also has an annoying feature: If you kill it while standing on it, when it explodes, you will fall and won't know if you will land on spikes or platform, as they are alternating on the floor.
"Use special weapons. Concrete Shot and Tornado Blow make the battle very easy as long as you keep moving."
I do use Concrete Shot when I can hit him. Sometimes he pops up under me or in a position where I can't get to him before he shoots all four petals. And sometimes he teleports at the top and I'm at the bottom, but I can't jump up or across because the spinning flowers are too close and I have no choice but to get hit.
"Special weapons, special weapons, special weapons. BHB and MC do wonders against the stage enemies..."
The Black Hole Bomb should be saved for Jewel Man himself. I find it easiest to use arm cannon on the Mets, but the falling green things are very small, and the buckets of rocks are another thing you have to dodge.
The spiders are easiest to take out with Black Hole Bomb, but if you die on the min-boss and keep replaying that part, you run out of Black Hole Bomb and have to use something else.
"...and the mini-boss, while challenging, can easily be taken down with Hornet Chaser, and probably other things I haven't tried. The spike wall just before the mini-boss IS excessively difficult, as is the other jump that you can't make without a Spike Guard. Practice and timing are everything, but it can be a pain to get it right."
I use Hornet Chaser to make the boss fall, and then Concrete Shot to finish him off easily, but sometimes when he falls, he paralyzes me while I’m jumping and takes out a third of my life.
The jumps are crazy.
"Glitchy platforms? Not in the version I played. You need to pay close attention to where Mega Man is positioned when you jump--no different than the moving platforms in Guts Man's stage. Yes, it's tough, but it's entirely possible to use Rush Jet if you maneuver properly."
I play the WiiWare version on my legal, not jailbroken Wii. By glitch platforms, I meant that sometimes when the platforms are going right, and I jump right, it doesn't let me jump to my full length, therefore making me fall into the pit. I know that if you jump while Mega Man is upside down you jump down, but in Guts Man's stage, there were only three platforms and no spikes or rain pushing you back. Or flying-robot-umbrellas.
You can use Rush Jet on the first section if you start at the very farthest point away that you can and hold up the whole time. On the rain section, though, there's no such luck.
"Once again, nothing new. Yes, MM9's boss lineup is especially difficult to break into (with a distinct lack of Top Mans and Toad Mans)..."
You forgot Flash Man, Bubble Man and Metal Man. (all from MM2, the direct inspiration for this game...)
"...but like everything else with this series, it's a matter of practice and experimentation. Hornet Man is easier if you focus on killing him and not the hornets; you'll live longer if you simply avoid them as best as you can."
I like to use Black Hole Bomb for the hornets, and then he jumps into it too. Then I either use Mega Buster or Plug Ball to hit him while he's running.
"Jewel Man's shield can be systematically dismantled, leaving him totally defenseless, if you take your time, he's also got a very predictable pattern that you can exploit."
I just spam Black Hole Bomb.
"Tornado Man's spiked ceiling isn't an issue if you don't slam down on the jump button at full power."
Or if you can somehow tell where his tornados are going to come up...
"Splash Woman takes more damage from the regular blaster than anyone else, and can be taken down relatively quickly if you keep you keep moving and keep firing."
I just can't seem to dodge her. The fish she calls plus her zooming back and forth to the top of the room are difficult to manage. I always end up dying while she is at very low health. Her tridents do massive damage too
"The other bosses ARE jerks, though."
I agree.
"This is Mega Man 101. This is absolutely no different than any other Mega Man game you've ever played."
The difficulty just makes the checkpoints seem further away, I guess.
"You're right: E-Tanks are rare in this game, and grinding for powerups is obnoxious. However, Plug Man and Wily 1 have areas with infinitely respawning Tellys, and especially when you have Jewel Satellite, grinding requires no effort whatsoever. Alternately, instead of grinding, you could keep playing through the stages that are giving you trouble, not only can you snag any freebie Screws that are all over the place, but you can get the practice you need while also collecting whatever other Screws may drop."
I don't mean to sound lazy or something, but standing there and waiting for 30+ screws is not what I play Mega Man games for.
"I agree that puzzle is difficult and forgiving. Still, nothing new. As you're so keen to point out how difficult this game seems to be for newcomers, I'm sure you recall how equally painful MM2 Wily 1 is when trying to get from one ladder to the other ladder on the opposite side of the screen using your limited Item 1 ammo, or when you're trying to beat the boss that requires perfect placement of your Crash Bombers."
That is why I also don't like MM2. But at least MM2 had an easy mode (mislabeled as 'Normal').
"All of those enemies can be destroyed, and you CAN tell the difference, you need to pay attention to the enemies that swoop in and create the fake floors, or kill them before they have a chance to do their dirty work. Special weapons, special weapons, special weapons. Rush Coil and especially Rush Jet make this a very workable challenge."
This section reminds me of Elec Man's stage: when you have to go up and up and up, but if the enemies hit you, you go down and down and down. And they can be destroyed too, it doesn't make them less annoying.
I know you can see the platforms be created, but they look the same afterwards, unlike the ones in Concrete Man's stage which at least had a slight difference. If you forget where the five fake platforms were placed, then it back to the beginning.
"Yes, as we've established, the game emphasizes tricky platforming more than most of the other games in the series. This is a fair point about the difficulty, if you're more comfortable with fighting challenges."
Sorry for the repetition.
"Yes, as we've established, the foes are relentless. This is a fair point about the difficulty, unless you've played enough Mega Man games to realize how important it is to practice, try different tactics, and use special weapons."
Again, sorry for the repetition. This paragraph was meant to be a sort of wrap-up summary of my rant.
"So it's a little more puzzle-oriented than most of the other games in the series, and the puzzles are especially hard. This is a fair point if you're not into puzzle games."
I like puzzles when I'm expecting them. Mega Man is more of an action game in my point of view.
"I'm gonna call you out on this one, because it's been made increasingly apparent that you are not using the weapons to their full potential."
Agreed. I just always run out of the weapon before the boss that I need it for, so then I try to conserve as much as possible and only used Mega Buster through the stage. If I am more familiar with the game (MM2, MM4, MM5, MM6) then I know when I can and can’t use the weapons and if or if not I need to save them.
Example: MM4 - Wily Final: If you use all your Pharaoh Shot, you can't beat the final boss, so you have to farm the worms until you get enough Pharaoh Shot. Now when I play MM4, I know that I have to conserve Pharaoh Shot in the Wily Castle.
“MM1 and MM8 have no E-Tanks. MM2 makes you lose all your E-Tanks when you get a Game Over. I refer you back to my previous comments about E-Tanks.”
MM8 had Rush Help and MM2 had easy mode. MM9 has neither.
"Absolutely valid. The bosses SEEM like more of a challenge than they should be because they seem to have been designed with the more powerful and maneuverable hero of MM4-8 in mind."
At least you can pay for Proto Man...oh wait...
"EVERY stage has unknown hazards the first time you play. EVERY stage requires some degree of experimentation if you don't succeed on the first try. There are freebie 1-Ups scattered about the stages, there's a shop where you can buy more, and enemies randomly drop them...and especially when you've played so many other Mega Man games and understand how this series works, 'too many game overs doesn’t hold any water."
Example of what I meant: Wave Man's stage, I mean Splash Woman's stage with the bubbles. If you mess up, you fall all the way down and must ride the slow bubbles all the way up again. And they trick you with the pattern. They make it exactly like Wave Man's stage in the beginning, but if you continue up using that pattern, you will either die, or fall all the way down again.
As for Game Overs, they just seem to happen right when I'm getting the hang of the stage.
"Nothing you've said strikes me as confusing, except the one puzzle in Wily 1. Unforgiving, demanding, annoying, maybe-but not confusing."
Got me there.
"I'd say it was about time a Mega Man game once again lived up to its reputation of being incredibly difficult. Pointless difficulty might apply more to something like, say, The Little Mermaid for the NES, which I'm told is stupidly difficult for ostensibly being a game for little kids."
I know Mega Man games are difficult, but this one just seemed to overload it with difficulty. And then there are two harder modes? WHAT?
They should have added an easy mode, a problem of many that would soon be fixed in MM10.
"Basically EVERY Mega Man game has annoying platforms, level hazards, and unforgiving areas. This game's got a few more than usual. If you were griping about the entire series, I might give you this one, but you're calling out MM9 specifically with little or no mention of similar difficult spots in other games, save for MM2."
Hardest Parts:
MM1-Boss Gauntlet
MM2-Wily 4
MM3-Shadow Man Doc Robot Stage
MM4-Ring Man
MM5-Gyro Man's stage
MM6-Wily 3
MM7-Final Boss
MM8-Jet Boarding
MM9-Tornado Man's Stage and Jewel Man's Stage tied (unless Wily 3, 4, and 5 are worse...)
MM10-Commando Man's stage
"MM9 is not an enjoyable experience if you go in with the mindset that it's supposed to be easy, assume you'll be able to conquer it easily because you've beaten other games in the series, and immediately blame the game for difficult challenges that are common throughout the series and require any amount of patience or practice to overcome."
I never expected to win instantly, but I do admit that I can sometimes not be patient when it comes to games.
"Yes."
Sorry, that was anger speaking.
"Yes. But it's also way more fair and forgiving than you're giving it credit for. I can completely appreciate playing a game that just too hard to be any fun, but based solely on what you've identified as problems and what you've said (or haven't said) about the other Mega Man games, I can say with a good degree of confidence that it's more your approach than the game itself that's made this experience so awful. Don't give up on MM9 just yet; if you survived 1-8 and 10, you can handle this one."
Okay, I'll try again...right after I get a new TV, Wii, and controller :)
I find this game dumb and on another note I think daftpirate is stupid and rather offensive hes very obviously a gaming noob that only plays first person shooters. I beat mega man 9 in about 4 hours with out problem.
Daftpirate: Lemme get back to you when I've got more time?
c3youngman: You seem to be an expert on being offensive, so I'll take your word for it.
I agree that Daftpirate very obviously plays only first-person shooters, after going into extreme detail about one particular platformer, and then following up with more detail about several other platformers.
Does exclusive playing of first-person shooters automatically qualify someone as dumb, or is it just spouting emotional reactions and labeling things and people without any real backup? I'm curious to know your thoughts.
I'm very glad you brought this up as I feel it needed to be addressed. Obviously Daftpirate has knowledge of the game his knowledge however seems very limited as does yours (I have a feeling youtube game videos are your main source.) As far as your comment about my labeling people with derogatory claims I agree that you have a point however, in Daftpirates case, I happen to know that he does very "noobish" things. He very often will go on Minecraft servers and basically TNT the map and leave. I do take back my comments on the game as in fact, I have never played the game.... I lied. I mainly was raging against Daft and just happened to use the game for my point.
P.S: Flashman85 your username give me the feeling that I might be exposed to your private square and any moment. I can't help but think of Jerry Sandusky every time I read your name.Hope this helped clear up my rage!
c3youngman: If you've got a personal grudge against Daftpirate, I would appreciate it if you found a different venue to confront your issues directly with him or her.
If you're annoyed at me for some reason--and I do apologize for my initially snippy response to you--tell me; don't try to insult me.
In case 8 pages' worth of comment responses weren't sufficient evidence to the contrary, I've been playing Mega Man for over two decades. I've beaten over 40 different Mega Man games--honestly, without cheats or save states. I've released about 50 Mega Man videos on YouTube, virtually all of which include enough informative commentary for someone who's never played a single Mega Man game to speak with some kind of confidence and authority on the matter.
As most people familiar with Mega Man might guess, my username is taken from one of the bosses in Mega Man 2. I can understand how you'd misinterpret my username; by the same token, I'm beginning to wonder if your username doesn't suggest a particular interest in the same demographic that got Jerry Sandusky in trouble.
If you'd like to have a meaningful discussion about Mega Man 9 or anything Daftpirate or I have said here, I welcome your comments. If you're going to continue lying and making poorly founded inflammatory statements, then I bid you a kind farewell.
Daftpirate: Strangely enough, I think there are a few sections that get EASIER in the higher difficulty modes, simply because the enemy placement feels more natural--as though those areas were designed with Hero or Superhero mode in mind.
I wouldn't be opposed to an easier mode--I think Powered Up did a good job with this--but an Easy Mode in the same vein as what MM10 had to offer would be a mistake; there's a difference between making something more feasible, and just handing people the game on a silver platter.
I agree with a lot of the most difficult challenges you pointed out for the other games in the series. All I was going for with my statement was that, instead of indicting the entire series for outrageous difficulty, you seemed to be targeting MM9 as though it was the only game in the series (aside from MM2) with sections that difficult.
I chuckled at your closing comment, so thanks for that. :)
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