I know that I said music next time, but it will be next time for sure. But I previewed the RPG-ish Mega Man last time, and now I'll preview the latest sidescroller Mega Man.
Set some time after the events of the last game, Mega Man 9 shows a return to the NES gameplay that started the franchise. With 8-bit graphics and 8-bit sounds and music, it looks like the style is being faithfully recreated. But no less is expected from developer Inticreates, who previously worked on the Mega Man Zero series for the Game Boy Advance and the Mega Man ZX games on the Nintendo DS. Real proof of their skill with 8-Bit is in the Mega Man a (antique) mode, in which the main character turns 8-Bit. There is also a minigame where everything is 8-bit, and it is done flawlessly.
The game starts out with a story interlude, which shows Dr. Light's robots attacking the city and Wily showing footage of Light saying he's going to take over the world. And Wily made robots to stop Light's robots, but he needs donations to his Swiss Bank account (which every evil villain has). Then Mega Man decides to go and clear his creator's name. From there, it's classic Mega Man, with 8 stages to choose from, and each with their own hazards.
The stages are themed for each boss, as usual. Concrete Man's stage appears to be a dam, which makes sense since he was created to construct a dam. Magma Man's stage is in a geothermal power plant, which he is the safety control robot at. Tornado Man's stage is at the Weather Manipulation Office, which serves to prevent devastating storms all over the world. And with each boss comes special weapons. Concrete Man gives you the Concrete Shot, which creates a temporary step and stops enemies from moving. The Magma Bazooka shoots three fireballs out in a spread shot, and can be charged up. And the Tornado Blow creates a massive windstorm that affects the entire screen, and blows lighter enemies (such as the infamous Mettaur) off the screen and damages heavier ones.
Stages are full of tricky jumps, be it across the classic disappearing blocks or in a narrow spike-filled passageway. The classic difficulty is making a return and it looks great. Now for screens, and a lot of them, too.
Just so you know, the title of this article is actually the subtitle for the Japanese version. Also, it looks ggod. It appears we also have shots from Splash Woman's stage, Galaxy Man's stage, and Jewel Man's stage. This comes out on XBox Live Arcade, The Playstation Network, and WiiWare this fall, and it will cost 10 bucks, so be sure to buy it! This little sidestory is just that, so next time really will be music and stuff. Until then, game on!
Sources:
This Topic,
IGN,
RPM MM9 Info page