Wow. This is not what I expected. Mega Man 9 is the hardest game in the series by far. The game seems to be Capcom’s way of telling their fans “Skrew y’all. You aint bad. You aint nothin!” It’s like a whole different animal. In past Mega Man games, even if I had barely ever played it, I could usually get to the Boss within a few tries. This time, it took an hour just to get to the checkpoint regularly. There are parts in the game that seem designed specifically to *edited* the player off. But it isn’t so frustrating that it made me hate it. I kept coming back to the game after a break. Most Mega Man games could be beaten in abour two lengthy sittings. With this game, unless you have played through it at least once and are seriously hardcore, it’s going to take a couple of days.
The game is awesome. All the sprites and graphics look totally appropriate. Not only do they look like they come from an 8-bit Mega Man game, but at times they are very pretty (Galaxy Man’s stage in particular). As far as fun gameplay goes, its up there with the first three Mega Man games. The bosses are creative and interesting (I LOVE SPLASH WOMAN). They aren’t just the same boss with a different attack each time; they have unique movement patterns and often use the environment to their advantage. Also, the soundtrack is pure sex. Personal favorite, Galaxy Man’s stage.
Ten dollars might seem pretty steep for an 8-bit sidescroller, but they throw in some extras to give you more for your money. There is some downloadble content, which I haven’t really checked out yet. The acheivments (yes, acheivments) are pretty neat, but don’t really do anything.
In summary, if you don’t mind a challenge, you will probably enjoy this game. It’s great.