It's quite rare that I get to enjoy something brand new that is well intentioned, exhilarating and (as far as I can sense) fucking flawless. And here I am to tell you that just such an object of beauty has blessed us: Capcom's return to the tried and true Megaman 9!
This next-gen multiplatform cause celibre' is a return to 8-bit styled graphics, music and gameplay...more specifically the exact style of the Nes Megaman classics that rank among the greatest games of all time. Playing this beast (I've been playing the PS3 version) presents an alternate reality where advances in programming on existing hardware is the goal of the industry. These are 8-bit style graphics, but they look as great as 8bit can, and the level and character designs are top notch. What if the NES was never abandoned and was still supported along side newer machines? Megaman 9 is that reality, I mean, as far as this man can tell. And I'm in awe because the look and more importantly, the FEEL of the game is perfect. There's even the option to apply flicker to the hectic parts....thank god that's only an option.
The game follows the format of the NES megaman games with strict adherence, with one exception which I'll get to in a minute. It's also a real throwback to the insanely difficult games of the NES era; I've been playing it on and off since it's release date and I just beat the damn thing last night. I have to say that, one of the elements of the game that brings the difficulty down to human levels is the aforementioned departure for a Megaman game. That is that you can access a "store" from the stage select screen and buy (with screws) a host of pretty nifty gadgets. A couple of items in the store, namely the hair style book and the costume are rather mysterious and I'm still unclear of their use. It's pretty cool and all, but I feel like I'm cheating when buying E tanks in bulk, even if I've "earned" it. It was my refusal to buy any of the items that hindered my progress in the game greatly and I had to eventually give in.
There are also an optional set of additional challenges that one can try and accomplish, giving the game some major post-conquer appeal. From what I understand this is more of a modern game feature, but I'm into it. Some of the challenges are pretty easy, but some (like beating the game without getting hit once) are clearly only for those who can only exceed at videogaming and nothing else. It's quite satisfying to be playing and have a display box show a completed challenge after performing some sick shit.
I could go on and on about totally rad enemies and weapons (for the first time in my life I LOVE HORNETS!) and levels etc, but it's all so good, the better thing to do is just encourage all to play it.
Oh, and the story sequences are really charming and most of the characters are back and and and....it's all so HAPPPY TO MEEEEEE!
Although it has been the talk of the gaming community, I have Seth to thank for getting me up to speed and buying the damn thing, cuz I'm so out of touch with all this modern crap. And pray to jezus, this inspires a flood of like-minded and well done continuations of the classics, or at least some kind of resurgence of the golden era. I'll be first in line with my money in hand...oh wait, you download these games?
2 comments:
This game looks awesome! My roommate has wii, maybe I'll look into snaggin me one o deez.
It's fucking awesome and you can download it for like 10 bux maybe? First game in FOREVER where I beat it and started playing it again the next day. sooooo great.
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