There is one thing that this game does perfectly, and it’s the weapon selection. Every weapon is useful in it’s own right, and they all have their niche. That means that when I go into a Robot Master stage, I need to know what the RM weakness is, and that means I’m free to use all other weapons throughout the stage. I get to consider the platforming and enemy challenges, and decide what to use from my toolkit to face it. I know that RM weapons are a fundamental part of MM, but it hasn’t been til this game that I actually used them like that. Like imagine using Bubble Lead outside of facing Heat Man? Even if you found a good niche for it, there’s like 50/50 chance it would just bounce off whatever stage enemy you faced. But in MM9, I’m itching to use Hornet Finder or Plug Ball wherever I can. This makes the Wily Stages in particular an absolute blast to play through. Same with the Fake Man bonus stage. MM9 has the best late game in the series, and it’s almost all due to the fact its weapon selection is head and shoulders above all the other classic series games’.
However, this game isn’t the best in the series. The main downside is that the graphical detail is more in line with 2 & 3 rather than 4-6; it’s especially bad when you compare Jewel Man’s stage to Crystal Man’s. (The music is right up there with 2 & 6 as some of the best in the series). Also, to use Jewel Man as an example again, there’s a weird mish mash with the difficulty. JM’s stage has a lot of hard platforming challenges, and they’re surrounded by instant death. These challenges are very interesting and they’re great in a vacuum, but JM’s stage also features a lot of meaty enemies and, in particular, a lengthy midboss fight. It combines two different types of challenge, but it just produces an effect of dying while trying to figure out how to traverse the pendulums and having to slog through the slow parts of the stage over and over again.
However, this game isn’t the best in the series. The main downside is that the graphical detail is more in line with 2 & 3 rather than 4-6; it’s especially bad when you compare Jewel Man’s stage to Crystal Man’s. (The music is right up there with 2 & 6 as some of the best in the series). Also, to use Jewel Man as an example again, there’s a weird mish mash with the difficulty. JM’s stage has a lot of hard platforming challenges, and they’re surrounded by instant death. These challenges are very interesting and they’re great in a vacuum, but JM’s stage also features a lot of meaty enemies and, in particular, a lengthy midboss fight. It combines two different types of challenge, but it just produces an effect of dying while trying to figure out how to traverse the pendulums and having to slog through the slow parts of the stage over and over again.