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January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

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Quick Facts:
In 2008, Mega Man godfather Keiji Inafune and Inti Creates returned the series to its 8-bit roots with a throwback title lauded for its old-school aesthetics and notorious for its abhorrent difficulty. Sales impressed enough for a sequel, which continued the 8-bit aesthetic but included an “Easy Mode” to make it more accessible. Alongside the returning Proto Man, Mega Man 10 added rival robot Bass in additional updates alongside new stages based on the Game Boy titles, and this downloadable content (DLC) was included in the second Legacy Collection. Mega Man 10 was well received and praised for its gameplay and accessibility, stage design and music, and how it improved on the previous game, though it was criticised for being too familiar and too short by some.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Like its predecessor, Mega Man 10 is a throwback to the 8-bit glory days of the Blue Bomber, though without all the distracting sprite flickering and slowdown. You battle eight initial stages and their “Robot Masters”, acquiring their “Special Weapons” before tackling Doctor Albert Wily’s latest death trap lair. Mega Man still sports a very stripped back arsenal, unable to slide, charge his shot, or gain additional armour as these abilities are divided between the other playable characters. All three have the same basic controls which, by default, see you firing your currently equipped weapon with X, unleashing a rapid-fire attack with B, and jumping with X or Y. Jumps are noticeably floaty when underwater or in space and players still replenish health and Special Weapon ammo by collecting capsules. While you can switch between Mega Man’s Special Weapons from the “View” menu, the Left and Right Bumpers allow for quick switching again and you can now save and visit the shop at Doctor Thomas Light’s lab from the stage select screen and after clearing every level (even Dr. Wily’s stages). You spend the screws you’ve collected on special items, such as restorative Tanks, 1-ups (both also found in stages) and helpers like Beat and Eddie (who save you from bottomless pits or dish out goodies, respectively). You also grab single-use items that protect you from spikes or double the damage you take, and an item that automatically refills whichever Special Weapon has the least ammo. The shop is much cheaper than in Mega Man 9 (though I was playing on “Easy Mode”) but also somewhat redundant as Mega Man 10 is noticeably easier. When in the “View” menu, you can activate your Tanks to refill your health and/or ammo and call upon Mega Man’s robotic canine companion Rush to spring you to higher ground or carry you across pits (until you hit a wall or the meter runs dry).

You can pick between Mega Man, Proto Man, and Bass from the start. Proto Man reflects projectiles with his shield, has a charged shot, and slides to avoid damage while Bass fires in all directions (when standing still), dashes, and combines with his robot dog, Treble, to don powerful armour. Bass is the weakest, however, and only Mega Man uses the returning Special Weapons from the Game Boy-inspired games. Special Weapons have little functionality outside of boss battles (I mainly used the Commando Bomb to destroy certain walls) but they make fighting Robot Masters a joke if you attack with the right ones. As ever, their abilities will be familiar to long-time players: the Chill Spike fires a freezing shot that leaves icicles on the ground for a short time, the Wheel Cutter sends buzzsaws travelling across every surface, and the Commando Bomb explodes and sends shockwaves on impact. The Triple Blade is a useful three-way shot, the Rebound Striker bounces about hitting anything in its path, and the Water Shield protects you and fires in a spiral spread. The Thunder Wool was probably the most troublesome Special Weapon as the thundercloud can be easily dissipated by enemies before it fires its lightning bolt. Some Special Weapons drain faster than others, though “Easy Mode” features a handy additional power-ups that fully restores your health and ammo. “Easy Mode” also reduces the damage you take and adds floating platforms over pits and some spike beds, greatly reducing the difficulty. Blade Man’s stage features see-saw-like platforms that carry you over spikes and pits, the time bomb platforms from Mega Man 6 (Capcom, 1993) return to help (and hinder if you linger too long), and you’ll run on treadmills in Sheep Man’s stage to temporarily activate platforms.

All the usual hazards return, including insta-death spikes, pits, flames, and slippery surfaces. Conveyor belts push you towards spiked walls in Solar Man’s stage, giant bubbles carry you to the same hazard in Pump Man’s stage, and shifting sand threatens to consume you in Commando Man’s stage. You must dodge or hop to speeding, kamikaze trucks in Nitro Man’s stage, drop down a few spike-lined shafts, and be sure not to linger when on Chill Man’s destructible ice cubes. Disappearing and reappearing blocks also show up (though you can usually use Rush Jet to bypass them), as do ladders and moving platforms. Sheep Man’s cyberspace-like stage features tetrominoes that disappear when you touch them (often dropping you to spikes or pits), Commando Man’s stage also features a unique sandstorm that pushes you along (and to your death if you’re not careful), and Pump Man’s stage sees you traversing pipes, having your jumps screwed up by falling water, and struggling against the flow of the murky underwater sections. Solar Man’s garish stage is more vertical, introducing fireball hazards from the walls and ceilings, and Dr. Wily’s fortress recycles most gimmicks to test everything you’ve learned. Dr. Wily’s tetrominoes and destructible blocks often lead to goodies, if you dare take the risk, and his third stage features a unique rising platform section where you must hop to pressure pads on either side to navigate insta-death spike fields. The see-saw platforms are underwater, where your jumps are floatier and you’re at greater risk of hitting insta-death spikes. When you climb ladders in his lair, enemies and hazards are placed to knock you off, though there are no horizontal autoscrollers or anxiety-inducing chase sequences to worry about here. Even the Legacy Collection 2’s janky-ass “save state” feature (which simply saves everything you’ve collected and returns you to your last checkpoint) is tolerable as Mega Man 10 is so much easier than the last game, meaning things are challenging but not frustrating and I enjoyed the chance to “get good” at the trickier sections. Die-hards can make things harder for themselves with “Normal Mode” or using Bass or Proto Man, but I’ll take a more relaxed “Easy Mode” any day over being needlessly stressed.

Presentation:
Like Mega Man 9, Mega Man 10 continues to ape the old-school 8-bit aesthetic of the NES games, though it seems the developers took more inspiration from the lauded Mega Man 2 (Capcom, 1988) this time. The sprites, especially in cutscenes, seem more basic than Mega Man 9’s and far closer to Mega Man 2’s. This doesn’t stop Mega Man 10 including nice, chunky, partially animated sprite art alongside its sprite-based cutscenes, though, with the story depicting Mega Man’s “sister”, Roll, getting sick and Dr. Wily first helping, then betraying, the heroes (only to be in their debt when he also gets sick). Mega Man’s sprite is otherwise unchanged from before, only blinking when idle and changing colour with Special Weapons, and still dramatically exploding upon death. He demonstrates each Special Weapon more thoroughly, however, the stage intros are a bit more detailed than before, and Proto Man even appears on the title screen. Mega Man 10 continues to showcase some super catchy chip tunes, nicely translates Bass from a 16-bit character to a chibi 8-bit anti-hero, and recreates the limitations of the NES even when it doesn’t have to (like placing larger bosses against a plain background, for example). Mega Man 10 is one of the rare Mega Man games to include five stages to Dr. Wily’s fortress rather than the usual four, thankfully separating the final battle against him to a unique area, one set about his ominous space station. Dr. Wily’s fortress is also bigger and more impressive than ever, the weapon select screen has been overhauled from the last game, and stages seem to be more detailed and varied compared to Mega Man 8, while still very much staying true to the simplicity of the NES titles.

Chill Man’s stage is full of gleaming, slippery surfaces and features looming, frozen pyramids in the background, which turns to night and is beset by a thick snowstorm. Nitro Man’s stage boasts the twinkling night sky and a futuristic city background and is apparently set on a bustling highway as aggressive trucks speed from both sides. Commando Man’s stage initially echoes Pharaoh Man’s stage from Mega Man 4 (Capcom, 1991), starting as a scorching desert, though it quickly becomes clear the sand is littered with mines and plagued by sandstorms. Blade Man’s stage is a medieval castle, with cannons visible on the outer walls and banners, columns, and gaping windows set into the brickwork. Strike Man’s stage was the most impressive and unique as it’s set in a football stadium. You start on the pitch, with empty seats in the background, and battle past the surprisingly aggressive lockers, hop to basketball hoop platforms, and blast rocket-powered footballs to reach higher ground (or pass under them when they sport spikes). Sheep Man’s stage was a bit of a mess with its constantly shifting, cyberspace-like foreground, but I enjoyed the PC desktop theme seen throughout, especially in the Pointan enemies. Pump Man’s stage seems to be a cistern or dank sewer, featuring murky water and lots of pipes to jump to. Haiker N’s clog some of these and the underwater current can mess with your movements. Solar Man’s stage was by far the most garish, featuring a vivid and ugly red backdrop to a mechanical foreground beset by spinning gears, glowing pipes, and lava. The exterior to Dr. Wily’s fortress is drenched by an all-too-brief downpour and the inside is a mechanical hellhole that features previous gimmicks. As ever, these are the last visually interesting stages as it’s all just a mess of mechanical bits and bobs and unnecessarily loud colours, but stage five does feature a unique layout where the entire background is upside down due to the gravity. Oddly, there’s no gravity based gimmick here, though your jumps are floaty and the final battle does see the Earth hanging upside down for a fun visual.

Enemies and Bosses:
The hard-hat-wearing Metalls return with three variants: the regular spread shot Metall, ones that fly using propeller hats, and Numetall variants that spit sticky goo. The machine gun-wielding Sniper Joe from Mega Man 9 returns, still hiding behind his shield and jumping to fake you out, as do the jet-powered Shield Attackers. The floating Suzys are also back, as are Mega Man 2’s Molmoles (both are great for “farming” resources), Shrimparages, and annoying Sprinklans (which reflect your regular shot). New enemies include a fireball spitting robotic antlion hidden in Commando Man’s desert, a sound wave-firing totem pole found in Sheep Man’s stages and baseball throwing Mecha Pitchans in Strike Man’s stake. Sentient axes try to hack you in Blade Man’s stage, snowman-like Kaoa Geenos toss their heads in Chill Man’s stage, and heavily armoured Oshitsu Osarettsus await in Nitro Man’s stage. We’ve got weird robotic brains that link to turrets or little tanks, searchlight robots that screw with the direction of conveyor belts, floating and stationary cannons, mechanical flowers than unleash a charged laser blast, and relatively harmless cubes that multiply when hit. There are four mini bosses to encounter here, with two being recycled in Dr. Wily’s fortress. You battle a mechanical goalpost twice in Strike Man’s stage, riding its heavy fists to blast its head while avoiding being electrocuted, and hop to Tricastle’s spiked platforms to blast its eyes in Blade Man’s stage. Fenix and Suzak appear twice and are fought in tandem, with the robo-birds taking turns spitting flames and darting from side to side, as does the Octobulb. This is a pretty unique fight as you must run on a treadmill to power-up blocks to hop to so you can blast its lightbulb-like head, though you must be wary of its minions and the sparks it sends around the arena when the power runs out.

As always, Mega Man 10 can be made more challenging depending on the order you fight the Robot Masters, though many are so ridiculously easy that you can decimate them in a few hits with the right Special Weapon (on “Easy Mode”, anyway). I fought Chill Man first, who is weak to Solar Blaze, but your regular Mega Buster will do just fine. He leaps about firing his Chill Spike, which either freezes you or forms spikes if it misses. While this Special Weapons doesn’t travel too far, it’s more than enough to cool down Nitro Man, who races back and forth on his motorcycle and tosses his gear-like Wheel Cutter, which travels across the floor and up walls. This makes short work of Commando Man, a bulky sprite who stomps around firing his Commando Bomb at the walls or floor to cause a shockwave. While Blade Man impresses by clinging to surfaces, flinging his Triple Blade and darting at you like a missile, the Commando Bomb is all-but-guaranteed to hit him no matter how nimble he is. The Triple Shot is so overpowered against Strike Man that he barely got a chance to move, let along toss his ricocheting Rebound Striker shot! And good thing, too, as these balls can be troublesome to avoid as they careen off every surface, a mechanic that’s perfect for the bizarre Sheep Man. Sheep Man transforms into four storm clouds to fire lightning bolts and bursts with electricity when on the ground, but you won’t have to worry about picking which cloud hides the real Sheep Man if you toss a few Rebound Strikers. Although Pump Man is weak to the Thunder Wool, his Water Sheild and large hit box mean the attack can be dispelled before it can properly fire. Luckily, Pump Man simply hops about and fires an easily avoided spiral in mid-air, meaning you can just unload with the Mega Buster’s autofire mode. Like Strike Man, Solar Man was a joke with the Water Shield, which shreds him before he can even think about unleashing Solar Blaze. As always, each Robot Master is fought again in Dr. Wily’s castle.

Dr. Wily’s stage also features three simulators that unleash drone mimics of nine former Robot Masters to try your new Special Weapons on, alongside a new version of the Yellow Devil. The “Block Devil” slowly assembles from the blocks surrounding you, which can be tricky to dodge and are immune to all damage. Once formed, it floats up and down and fires a big plasma shot from its central core, which must be hit with either Rebound Striker or Thunder Wool. This battle is more tedious than challenging since it involves a lot of waiting around for the Block Devil to assemble and disassemble. The Crab Puncher prior to it is much more interesting, being a big, cartoonish robot crab that shields its vulnerable eyestalks with its pincers (which can also be destroyed) and spits froth-like projectiles. The Commando Bomb and Thunder Wool work well here but you can also use the floating, spiked platforms to blast its weak spots. When you reach Dr. Wily’s fourth stage, you face a two-phase battle against his large, intimidating, skull-faced pirate ship-like craft. Though it sports a large hit box and fires homing missiles from its back, you can hop to the gigantic missiles that fire from its mouth to unload on the skull-like face with Solar Blaze. After enough hits, Dr. Wily’s cockpit is exposed and the ship regenerates its health, now flying overhead and firing spiral projectiles and devastating lightning bolts. These are easily avoided, however, and the Water Shield deals big damage to the cockpit (though Triple Blade also works). After beating it, you stock up on resources and head to Dr. Wily’s space station for the final showdown, thankfully one of the easiest of any Mega Man game I’ve played! The feverish Dr. Wily attacks in his UFO-like capsule alongside an obvious decoy, both firing plasma orbs, sending shockwaves across the ground, or firing a larger projectile between them. Though they teleport away pretty quickly, the lower gravity gives you the edge you need to get high enough to attack with the Chill Spike.

Additional Features:
In the original release of Mega Man 10, there were twelve Achievements up for grabs, but Legacy Collection 2 features only three (with you earning one for beating the game with each character). You get additional Achievements by taking on Legacy Collection 2’s “Challenges”, however, which remix stages and hazards from the four games and present time trials and boss rushes that I had no interest in trying to beat. Legacy Collection 2 also includes borders, filters, a music player, sound test, and extra armour to reduce the damage you take. There are additional challenges in Mega Man 10 as well, from simple stuff like running ahead, climbing ladders, and defeating bosses to trickier objectives like avoiding damage, dying, or playing without your helmet. You can make the game harder with “Normal Mode”, tackle it as either Bass or Proto Man, and play three “Special Stages” based on three of the Game Boy games. These act as a coda to the main game, charting Mega Man’s escape from Dr. Wily’s exploding space station, and see you acquiring Special Weapons from those games (the explosive Ballade Cracker, the Mirror Buster energy shield, and the arcing Screw Crusher) and using them against the so-called “Mega Man Killers”, Enker, Punk, and Ballade.

Final Thoughts:
Given how much I struggled with Mega Man 9, I wasn’t optimistic about Mega Man 10. Even when I saw the “Easy Mode”, I had my doubts as Capcom’s definition of “easy” differs greatly from mine. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mega Man 10 is challenging, but not impossible, and vastly more enjoyable as a result. Every complaint I had about Mega Man 9 has been addressed, with the game offering more chances to save, use the shop (which is much cheaper), and being much fairer with its obstacles. Things can get rough, of course, thanks to the knock back and many bottomless pits and insta-death spikes, but it never had me tearing my hair out even if there weren’t any “Easy Mode” safety nets nearby. Although the Special Weapons continue to find their most use against Robot Masters and once again fail to be very imaginative, I liked that Mega Man, Proto Man, and Bass all played differently (though it might’ve been nice to swap between them at will). Mega Man 10 looked, played, and “felt” far more akin to Mega Man 2, rivalling that game with its soundtrack and level variety at times. While Solar Man’s stage is an eyesore, I liked Strike Man’s stadium-themed stage and Blade Man’s medieval castle. I was happy to see Rush Jet once again be a viable way to bypass obstacles, and that some stages featured alternative paths, and that the final boss was split into separate sections to make it less aggravating. The Robot Masters were as colourful and lively as ever, if far weaker than usual, though Dr. Wily’s defenders left a lost to be desired. Still, I had a lot more fun with Mega Man 10 than I was expecting as the difficulty curve is far more manageable this time around, making it a worthy successor to the NES classics.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Do you agree that Mega Man 10 is superior to its predecessor, or did you find it too easy? Which character was your favourite to play as and what did you think of Mega Man’s new Special Weapons? Were you also glad to see the save function and shop be more accessible? Did you ever beat the game on “Normal Mode” and best the returning Game Boy bosses? Which sci-fi videogames are you playing this month? Use the comments section below to talk to me about Mega Man 10 and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest more Mega Man content for the site.

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January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

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Quick Facts:
Mega Man struggled to make a mark in the 32-bit era, with the likes of Mega Man 8 (Capcom, 1996) and Mega Man 64 (Capcom Production Studio 2, 2001) proving frustrating and disappointing releases. After almost ten years without a mainline entry, Mega Man returned to his celebrated 8-bit roots for this throwback title. Keiji Inafune closely mimicked the graphics and mechanics of yesteryear, including options to emulate the poor performance of 8-bit hardware, and designed the first female Robot Master, Splash Woman. Mega Man 9 was widely praised for its old-school aesthetics and challenge, though its difficulty curve and poor stage design was questioned. Bolstered by additional downloadable content (DLC), Mega Man 9 was followed by a similar, equally praised sequel two years later and eventually made widely available as part of the Blue Bomber’s second Legacy Collection.

The Review:
Mega Man 9 is a throwback to the Blue Bomber’s glory days on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), perfectly mirroring the controls, abilities, and presentation from that era. Accordingly, the plot is as basic as you could ask for (Doctor Thomas Light has been set up by the devious Doctor Albert Wily, whose new Robot Masters are causing chaos) and everything is exactly like the NES days. This means you can freely choose from eight initial stages, blast enemies with Mega Man’s “Mega Buster”, and defeat Robot Masters to gain new “Special Weapons”. These occasionally aid you in traversing stages and will make battling Robot Masters easier, since each is weak to a special weapon. As with every game in Mega Man: Legacy Collection 2, players can enable an armour mode to reduce the damage they take, apply borders and filters, listen to the game’s soundtrack, and check out some concept art. Inputting a code or beating the game unlocks three extra modes: two harder difficulties and one where you play as Mega Man’s “brother”, Proto Man, which snags you another Achievement. While you can save your game after clearing each stage and the game features checkpoints, this version doesn’t include rewind functionality. The “save state” feature is a joke, too, simply saving any collectibles you’ve found but returning you to the last checkpoint, making Mega Man 9 an extremely challenging experience without the convenience of being able to undo stupid mistakes. Players can enable a rapid-fire mode but must equip Special Weapons or summon Mega Man’s robotic canine, Rush, from the in-game menu. This is also where you use helpful items like Energy-Tanks, Beat (who saves you from pits), and Eddie (who drops items). These are purchased from Mega Man’s “sister”, Roll, by spending bolts at Dr. Light’s lab, though some are single-use items.

By default, Mega Man fires his currently equipped weapon with X and jumps with A or Y, but his armour upgrades are missing. Proto Man has the slide and weapon charge, and enemies respawn the moment you edge offscreen. As ever, Mega Man’s new Special Weapons are a mixed bag, with their functionality mirroring previous Special Weapons. The Jewel Satellite is a reskinned Leaf Shield, for example, and the Plug Ball is just a more versatile Search Snake since it travels across surfaces. While the Concrete Shot creates temporary blocks, I found them pretty unreliable (especially if you buy the Shock Guard to resist insta-death spikes). The Laser Trident destroys special blocks to access shortcuts, goodies, and navigate Dr. Wily’s hazardous fortress, and the Hornet Chaser snags faraway items. The Tornado Blow whisks away all onscreen enemies and activates special propeller platforms, but its energy drains very quickly so you’ll want to use it sparingly to have ammo for the Magma Dragons and Magma Man. Magma Bazooka fires a three-way spread and the Black Hole Bomb creates a vortex that pulls in enemies and projectiles, but it’s best to save Special Weapons for the bosses as there’s rarely a need to expend them in stages. You whip out Rush Coil and Rush Jet a fair bit, especially to bypass tricky platforming with the latter and reach goodies like 1-ups and extra health with the former. Rush has no special underwater form this time, unfortunately, or any autoscrolling sections. In fact, I didn’t encounter any autoscrolling sections in my playthrough, just the usual hazards like insta-death pits and various spikes, a floaty jump when underwater, and having to quickly (and I mean quickly) bypass molten metal hazards. You can further increase Mega Man’s defences with the Guard Power Up item (or dramatically decrease it for an additional challenge with the Book of Hairstyles) and ensure that whichever Special Weapon is at its lowest ammo gets replenished with the Energy Balancer. You don’t need to worry about collecting letters or other items here, just snagging screws to buy stuff if you need them.

Visually, Mega Man 9 really scratches that itch if you’ve been missing the 8-bit aesthetic of the classic games. The story is told using large, partially animated, anime-like sprite art, text, and in-game sprites, with Mega Man again changing colour with each Special Weapon and simply blinking when idle. The presentation mirrors an NES title, though sprite flickering and slowdown have been eliminated (unless you activate them), and the music is perhaps the best since Mega Man 2 (Capcom, 1988). Mirroring the NES visuals means mirroring the gameplay style, meaning Mega Man is as clunky and limited as he was back in the day, which makes platforming difficult as it’s easy to slip off platforms (even when they’re not frozen) or drop down pits because you fell just short on your jump. Rush Jet helps and is usually a better option as those damn disappearing/reappearing platforms are back and Tornado Man’s stage tosses in moving platforms that spin you around, screwing up your jumps if you’re timing’s off. This stage also features ice, a rainstorm (complete with a minor wind effect), and storm clouds as additional platforms. Dr. Wily’s second stage sees Illusians creating fake blocks to trick you, Splash Woman’s stage has you hopping to fast-moving platforms that fly out of the walls, Magma Man’s stage is full of insta-kill lava, Galaxy Man’s stage debuts teleports that fling you about. Jewel Man’s stage was probably the most visually impressive as it’s set in a sparkling diamond mine, but I liked Galaxy Man’s space station setting and that Plug Man’s stage is a power plant with dials in the background and electrical hazards on platforms. This stage also plunges into darkness near the end and sees fake doubles of Mega Man spawn from television screens, Hornet Man’s stage is largely set in a lush rose garden full of unique flower-based enemies, and Splash Woman’s stage recycles the bubble gimmick from Mega Man 5 (Capcom, 1992).

Similarly, many of Mega Man’s usual enemies also return, including Metall, a new Sniper Joe variant with a machine gun, and that Shield Attacker. The Green and Yellow Devil live on in eye-like globs that split when shot, little propeller robots fly around roasting you with their flames, robotic octopi stain you with ink projectiles, sentient coal rolls around in minecarts, and pincer-like robots fly you into spikes if you’re not careful. Four stages include large mini bosses, such as the aforementioned Fire Dragon and a robotic elephant. Three of these are fought in quick succession, with each tossing a giant ball in different ways and suck it (and you) in to repeat their attack. The Hanabiran can be tricky as the robotic flower sprouts from different platforms to fire its petals at you while a rotating flower bar keeps you on the move and a spike pit spells certain doom if you slip. The Stone Head caught me off-guard in Jewel Man’s stage, but you can predict where it will drop if you watch the boulders overhead, so you just need to avoid them when they fall and not get stunned when it crashes down. Mega Man 9 will be harder if you tackle the stages in the wrong order so it’s best to start with Splash Woman. While the trident projectiles she fires can be as tricky to dodge as her downward thrust, she’s easy to beat with the Mega Buster and her Laser Trident is very effective against Concrete Man, whose biggest danger is stunning you with his big ground pound. His otherwise useless Concrete Shot crushes Galaxy Man, whose Black Hole Bomb is enough to stay away from and easily makes short work of Jewel Man, who simply flings his gems while hopping about. The Jewel Satellite makes mincemeat of Tornado Man, whose Tornado Blow is easy enough to either avoid or tank (especially as the overheard spikes are no threat) and will cut through Magma Man in no time (he was probably the easiest of the Robot Masters!) The Magma Bazooka can then take care of Hornet Man, who just fires swarms of hornets and is barely a threat.

Once all eight Robot Masters are defeated, Mega Man proves that Dr. Wily is behind everything (…shocker…) and four new stages become available. As ever, Dr. Wily’s mechanical obstacle courses remix enemies, gimmicks, and even mini bosses from previous stages alongside new ones, like those propeller platforms. Each is also guarded by a unique boss, with these four Spike Pushers waiting in the first stage. You must quickly blast their spiked balls back at them, avoiding their projectiles, before they can instantly kill you, which is more aggravating than challenging. Sadly, my run ended at the second Dr. Wily stage. While it was taxing enough to quickly spawn Rush Coil and get past the insta-kill molten metal hazards in the first stage, the tight hallways, floaty underwater mechanics, and tricky jumps ended me in a very specific, spike-filled room. It would probably be much easier if I had the Shock Guard, but you must buy this before entering the stage as exiting it means replaying the first Dr. Wily stage, which is just despicable. Looking ahead, there’s a giant mechanical, shark-like submarine, two “Devil” like globs, and the standard gauntlet against the previous Robot Masters. Dr. Wily also pilots a pretty awesome-looking dinosaur mech in the endgame before again resorting to his capsule, teleporting around, and firing electrical projectiles. Had the developers allowed players to create real save states, at least, or respawn in the same area after being killed, this difficulty curve would be much more tolerable. Instead, you’re sent back to or must reload your last checkpoint, getting more frustrated each time (or potentially getting better, that happened to me in a couple of sections) and slowly realising that you entered the stage underequipped since you had no idea that you’d need E-Tanks or special items. The “Hero” and “Superhero” modes only increase the challenge and, while Proto Man boasts a shield and unique abilities, he also receives double damage and greater knockback. Legacy Collection 2 also offers a handful of extra challenges, both based on your gameplay and from the main menu, where you can tackle remixed gimmicks and stages, time trials, and boss rushes for additional Achievements.

Final Thoughts:
I have to admit, a big ol’ goofy smile came to my face when I booted up Mega Man 9. I had no idea how much I missed the classic 8-bit art style and NES chip tunes until I started this game, which brilliantly recreates the visuals, gameplay, and challenge of the Blue Bomber’s glory days on the NES. Each level is beautifully basic, featuring simplistic backgrounds that nonetheless pop with colour and have a lot of variety while also being very familiar for long-time franchise fans. While it’s a shame that Mega Man is missing some of his later abilities, such as the charge shot and slide, it’s fun returning to that limited, somewhat awkward gameplay style. Mega Man’s new Special Weapons may lack originality or be somewhat forgettable, but I found myself using them a bit more than in the previous games and it remained as satisfying as ever to whittle down a Robot Master. I really liked seeing new enemies mixed in with some familiar faces, alongside new mini bosses and unique Robot Masters. The siren-like Splash Woman and bizarre UFO-like Galaxy Man were two standouts, as was the Fire Dragon (whose skeleton is revealed as you deal damage!) Sadly, as great as the game looks and sounds, Mega Man 9 is handicapped by the same issues that dogged the NES games. Namely, tricky platforming, unforgiving level design, annoying enemy placement, and insta-death traps galore. Unlike in the remasters of the NES games, there’s no rewind function to save you here and the “save state” system is a cruel joke working in conjunction with a fastidiously old-school difficulty that was sadly too much for me to overcome. It feels unfair to knock the game’s rating down for this, but it did impact my enjoyment of Mega Man 9, which strips back your options and abilities to artificially augment the already steep difficulty curve. Had the game been a little more lenient with its lives and checkpoints (especially considering the two even harder DLC modes!), this would be a solid recommendation. However, as it is, you’re better off picking up the remastered versions of the original games and playing those. They give you everything this game has, and more, and are much more satisfying as a result.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

What did you think to this throwback to Mega Man’s glory days? Did you find it jarring to go back to this visual style and challenge or did you welcome it? Which of the new Special Weapons and Robot Masters was your favourite? Were you shocked to learn Dr. Wily was behind everything? Did you ever beat the game (and, if so…how?!)? How are you celebrating sci-fi genre this month? Let me know what you think about Mega Man 9 in the comment, check out my other Mega Man reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest more Mega Man content.