Megaman 9 - a Long Time Coming

Megaman was originally released by Capcom in Japan for the Family Computer and North America in 1987 and has been a tremendous success. The game has spawned various sequels and could be enjoyed in various video game platforms. The game has been so popular that Megaman was included in his own cartoon series as well as a character in Captain N: The Game Master. His likeness could also be found in various merchandise such as comic books and action figures.

Megaman was a sidescrolling action/adventure game that lets you use Megaman, a futuristic robot which actually has emotions and free will much like we humans do. He was created by Dr. Thomas Light. The good doctor also created his elder brother Protoman, his sister Roll and the first six robot masters - Cutsman, Gutsman, Elecman, Bombman, Fireman and Iceman. Originally Dr. Albert W. Wily served as an assistant to Dr. Light but later became bent on world domination and reprogrammed the six robot masters to do his bidding. Megaman was actually a reconfigurated Rock (originally designed to be an assistant) and was built with titanium armor and a buster gun so he could combat the robot masters.

The game is a sidescrolling game which lets you use the protagonist Megaman. You can use your standard buster gun to eliminate opponents. What was unique was that after defeating each robot master, Megaman was able toacquire their powers but to a limited degree. He had to get ammo pellets to replenish them. In later games Megaman's powers increased. Megaman 3 marks the debut of Rush the robodog. Rush could transform to vehicles to aid Megaman. Megaman 3 also debuts the slide move which allows Megaman to move side to side quickly and go through small passages.Megaman 4 marks the debut of the charging Megabuster which does more damage to enemies. As the series went by Eddie (a small robot that brought energy goodies and lives) and Beat were subsequently added. The game worked in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. Certain weapons were effective against certain opponents. Also beginning Megaman 2, thenumber of robot masters increased to eight and has been the standard ever since.

The original series appeared to end back in 1996 with Megaman 8 but after twelve years waiting, Megaman comes back with a vengeance. Not to mention eight new robot masters including the first female robot master in the series. The robot masters were Concreteman, Jewelman, Hornetman, Tornadoman, Plugman, Galaxyman, Magmaman and Splashwoman. The game could rival the difficulty of Megaman 1. This is because Megaman 9 does not have the slide and the charged up Megebuster. The gameplay is however the same as the other games of the series. Defeat a robot master, get its powers then use it on another robot master. Afterwards, you go to Dr. Wily's castle and beat the eight robots again and face Dr. Wily. After you beat the evil doctor then he will again beg for forgiveness. This act was actually highlighted in the ending as Megaman had Rush replay these instances. This provided a comedic effect. The good thing however is that the eight vanquished robot masters are reprogrammed to be of service to the community. The ending is quite amusing as well. Magmaman heats water for Dr. Light.

The story is reminiscent of Megaman 4 to 6 where Capcom teases us with a new villain. This time it appears that Dr. Light himself join the darkside. Not so. In the end it was just a frameup by Dr. Wily.

I was very happy with the release of the game. The game provides for a very nostalgic feel. You actually feel like you are playing Megaman 2 or 3. I applaud Capcom for this bold move. With games becoming more sophisticated and coming in with better graphics and sound, it was nice to remember that games were meant to be fun. Sometimes simple games accomplish this. The game itself can be downloaded throught he Wii at a mere $10.00 worth of Wii points . Thats a steal if you ask me. Further enhancements such as the use of Protoman could be purchased for Wii points as well.

Even the video game critics were happy with this.IGN gave it an 8.6. Gamespot gave it an 8.5. EGM gave it B+. Lastly Nintendo Power gave it 90%