If Mega Man 9 was a stunning return to form, this was demonstrative of the trap of making Mega Man. It’s good, it’s still very good, but when it’s so similar to MM9 it often feels like a needless sequel, more of the same, et cetera. The exact sort of accusations that got thrown at the later games in the original NES six!
I think what it does well it does VERY well. It’s precision-platforming with twitch reactions to myriad threats, capped off with a boss fight at the end of each section. The balance is a little different to MM9, in that the levels feel easier and the robot masters harder, putting them about level, but I much preferred MM9’s method of hard levels and robot masters as a twee little reward at the end. But then I often find what I want and what the developers and more general fanbase want to be at odds.
Which brings me to the story. It’s unobtrusive, which is all I ever want, but also daft as a bag of hammers. The threat of roboenza is the sort of Saturday morning cartoon stuff that the animé-oriented direction of many Mega Man games strives for, but… I dunno, I actually kind of like it. It’s that step beyond serious, into knowingly absurd. A flu for robots. A virus? But literally the sniffles. That’s brilliant, and being kept to the sidelines it was just a goofy little thing to smile about while my poor brain recovered from whatever challenges I’d just faced.
The Wily castle run is possibly an all-timer, held back only by those pods containing abilities from earlier robot masters. I know people hated Doc Robot (more fool them I loved it), but at least that had personality, and moved about and stuff! Watching orange squares slide about summoning tornadoes and doing mysterious slashes is just… nothing. But yes those aside it’s a delight, pushing me just enough to need to get up and walk around, or maybe squeeze my controller until the plastic creaks a little, but never enough to throw a great big wobbly. That’s the difficulty I want in video games.
I don’t know if I’d have been satisfied if this was it. If MM9 was the end it would feel like a triumphant retro celebration. If this was, it’d feel like getting a little more juice out of the lemon (ha), nothing more.
Good thing there’s one more game to go. Review 100 approaches. Mega Man 11 approaches.
I think what it does well it does VERY well. It’s precision-platforming with twitch reactions to myriad threats, capped off with a boss fight at the end of each section. The balance is a little different to MM9, in that the levels feel easier and the robot masters harder, putting them about level, but I much preferred MM9’s method of hard levels and robot masters as a twee little reward at the end. But then I often find what I want and what the developers and more general fanbase want to be at odds.
Which brings me to the story. It’s unobtrusive, which is all I ever want, but also daft as a bag of hammers. The threat of roboenza is the sort of Saturday morning cartoon stuff that the animé-oriented direction of many Mega Man games strives for, but… I dunno, I actually kind of like it. It’s that step beyond serious, into knowingly absurd. A flu for robots. A virus? But literally the sniffles. That’s brilliant, and being kept to the sidelines it was just a goofy little thing to smile about while my poor brain recovered from whatever challenges I’d just faced.
The Wily castle run is possibly an all-timer, held back only by those pods containing abilities from earlier robot masters. I know people hated Doc Robot (more fool them I loved it), but at least that had personality, and moved about and stuff! Watching orange squares slide about summoning tornadoes and doing mysterious slashes is just… nothing. But yes those aside it’s a delight, pushing me just enough to need to get up and walk around, or maybe squeeze my controller until the plastic creaks a little, but never enough to throw a great big wobbly. That’s the difficulty I want in video games.
I don’t know if I’d have been satisfied if this was it. If MM9 was the end it would feel like a triumphant retro celebration. If this was, it’d feel like getting a little more juice out of the lemon (ha), nothing more.
Good thing there’s one more game to go. Review 100 approaches. Mega Man 11 approaches.