Early Mega Man 9 Impressions

I've played the game for over half an hour now and have only defeated one boss.

That is definitely old-school difficulty. Not that I'm complaining, really. It's actually quite refreshing to see a game be so unforgiving.

More importantly, however, is how refreshing it is to see developers really think about what an old franchise means to its contemporaries. I don't dislike the post-NES Mega Man series, but it's certainly not nearly as well-loved and crafted as those NES installments. Even Mega Man 6 tickled my fancy, which can't be said for most.

Everything really is as I remember it on the NES -- save for achievements available for each console and forthcoming DLC (where you can play as Proto Man; color me aroused). The music is fantastically synthy and the visuals are spot on 1990 NES. It's quite lovely.

It is rather difficult, have I mentioned that? I mean fuck it's hard. I like this, mind you, but I'll be the first to admit I've played through many a Mega Man with cheats or a Game Genie.

As much as I admire Capcom returning to its Mega Man roots, I'm sad to see they've eliminated two Mega Man standard maneuvers from his repertoire: the slide and the charge shot. The slide has been there since Mega Man 3 and the charge shot has been there since the fourth installment. Most would say the two "classic" Mega Man games are the first and second, and they wouldn't be wrong, per se. But! I really think the series hit its gameplay stride, so to speak, on the third and fourth games. The inclusion of these two moves really opened up the games to more strategy and likeability. I'm disappointed the developers decided against putting these in the game, though I'm happy to read that Proto Man will be able to at least use the slide (I have yet to read if he'll be able to use the charge shot, but I remain hopeful). I don't think the slide and charge shot necessarily made the games easier, but they did make the games less frustrating. I like hard, but I'm not as fond of hair-pullingly frustrating.

Still, gripes aside, I'm very, very pleased with this newest old Mega Man.

The Redemption Process

With all of the fantastic DLC content out there for all three consoles, I think a better system needs to be put into place. Whether you're paying with LIVE Points, Wii Points, or just plain old Sony American Dollars, there should be a reward system for being a repeat customer.

I think you should be able to trade in an old DLC that you don't want anymore for a discount on the next purchase you make.

Example:

I bought Donkey Kong Jr. on my Wii the first week or so I had the system. It was a nostalgic little purchase -- I finished the game in half an hour or so and then promptly decided I'd never play it again. It was a mistake, more or less. I think I should be able to download Mega Man 9 for 900 points instead of 1000 if I trade in my Donkey Kong Jr. Nintendo should see that I'm a repeat customer and I should be rewarded if I want to trade in one of my shit games for a discount on a better one.

There are all sorts of economic reasons not to do this, I'm sure; none of which I would understand even if you explained them to me using flow charts and pie graphs.

I guess the one reason I would understand the most is how Nintendo would reconcile discounting a Capcom game because I bought a Nintendo game more than a year ago. They wouldn't, is what I'm saying.

I still think there's something to be done, though.

I'm just thankful every day that I didn't have to pay for that fucking Too Human demo.