Spring Break
The retro return of the 'Blue Bomber'
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Focus
It has been 12 years since the release of "Mega Man 8" and now the Blue Bomber is back with a vengeance and he's never looked so good in high-definition graphics.
In a tribute to the "Mega Man" games of old, Capcom decided to invoke a retro-era feel to the game. This retro-revival features 8-bit graphics, simplistic music, a straightforward plot featuring series' villain Dr. Wily, and merciless platforming, all hearkening back to the "Mega Man 2" era. To further the nostalgia, there is even an option to turn on the sprite flicker glitch that bugged the series before, causing slowed game play when multiple enemies were onscreen.
The set-up remains the same: choose a level, beat a boss, gain their power, discover the strategy with which to beat all eight bosses by figuring out their weaknesses, then go on to a stretch of levels that ends with beating these eight bosses again followed by the final boss.
The classic rock-papers-scissors formula that the "Mega Man" series follows is so ingrained now that the joy of a "Mega Man" title is that of discovery. The eight bosses of the game include "Concrete Man," "Jewel Man," "Hornet Man," "Tornado Man," "Plug Man," "Galaxy Man," "Magma Man" and "Splash Woman." The archetypes for bosses remain since the initial "Mega Man": "Concrete Man" is the new "Guts Man," "Plug Man" is the new "Elec Man," and "Magma Man" is clearly the new "Fire Man." This doesn't simplify the mechanics, since certain powers don't necessarily make sense. Logically, whatever "Splash Woman" gives should work against "Magma Man," but this isn't the case. Given that this is the ninth iteration of the franchise, some ideas of what to do with the weapons seem farfetched. Since when did concrete freeze magma? How can a hornet be the new boomerang?
Also featured prominently in the game is an unforgiving difficulty level. Just like in the original Nintendo days, there is no option of which difficulty to set when starting a new game. Most stages are laden with instant death pits, spikes and magma, alongside the occasional disappearing block, and each requires skill to complete. When creating the game, producer Hironobu Takeshita was quoted as saying, "'Mega Man 9' is very hard. We didn't want to do 'Mega Man' but easy."
In a tribute to the "Mega Man" games of old, Capcom decided to invoke a retro-era feel to the game. This retro-revival features 8-bit graphics, simplistic music, a straightforward plot featuring series' villain Dr. Wily, and merciless platforming, all hearkening back to the "Mega Man 2" era. To further the nostalgia, there is even an option to turn on the sprite flicker glitch that bugged the series before, causing slowed game play when multiple enemies were onscreen.
The set-up remains the same: choose a level, beat a boss, gain their power, discover the strategy with which to beat all eight bosses by figuring out their weaknesses, then go on to a stretch of levels that ends with beating these eight bosses again followed by the final boss.
The classic rock-papers-scissors formula that the "Mega Man" series follows is so ingrained now that the joy of a "Mega Man" title is that of discovery. The eight bosses of the game include "Concrete Man," "Jewel Man," "Hornet Man," "Tornado Man," "Plug Man," "Galaxy Man," "Magma Man" and "Splash Woman." The archetypes for bosses remain since the initial "Mega Man": "Concrete Man" is the new "Guts Man," "Plug Man" is the new "Elec Man," and "Magma Man" is clearly the new "Fire Man." This doesn't simplify the mechanics, since certain powers don't necessarily make sense. Logically, whatever "Splash Woman" gives should work against "Magma Man," but this isn't the case. Given that this is the ninth iteration of the franchise, some ideas of what to do with the weapons seem farfetched. Since when did concrete freeze magma? How can a hornet be the new boomerang?
Also featured prominently in the game is an unforgiving difficulty level. Just like in the original Nintendo days, there is no option of which difficulty to set when starting a new game. Most stages are laden with instant death pits, spikes and magma, alongside the occasional disappearing block, and each requires skill to complete. When creating the game, producer Hironobu Takeshita was quoted as saying, "'Mega Man 9' is very hard. We didn't want to do 'Mega Man' but easy."
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