Mega Man 9
 Stumble it!
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The Blue Bomber is back for the current generation of consoles after an absense of 12 years, has it been too long? Read our Mega Man 9 review to find out.
Dr.Wily, your main arch-enemy in previous Mega Man titles has finally called it a day and hung up his hopes of taking over the world. But peace has not spread throughout the world before a new breed of enemy begins their campaign for world domination, and once again it’s Mega Man who has to stop them in their tracks. This time round it’s a band of eight robot masters.
These new robotic enemies have apparently been created by the maker of Mega Man himself, Doctor Light, and naturally Mega Man refuses to believe his creator could turn to the darker side of life and originally assumes they are the responsibility of Doctor Wily once again - but when faced with video evidence from Doctor Wily which proves his innocence, Mega Man set’s out to discover the truth.
Although Mega Man 9 is available on the Playstation 3, XBox 360 and Nintendo Wii, you would not guess this from seeing the visuals for the first time, as developers Inti and Capcom have stuck with the classic two-dimensional graphics of previous titles in an attempt to appeal to fans of the series, rather than to today’s new breed of gamer. Unfortunately, I do not think they fully thought it through, as the game fails to deliver any kind of thrill level that today’s gamers have now become accustomed to.
That fact alone will ultimately see Mega Man 9 bypass many gamers, even fans of the series, without notice. Only the hardcore classic game lovers out there will sit-up and take a closer look at this title, and even then I am not convinced they will be blown away by the latest offering from the apparently legendary series. In fact Mega Man 9 is even more basic than some of the previous titles, which seems a bizarre decision.
Controlling Mega Man could not be simpler, as all he can really do is run, jump and shoot. Think you can manage? Using these basic moves you battle your way through the various levels put in front of you by the eight robot masters. The difficulty level is, as you would expect, relatively easy to begin with but steadily becomes harder as the game progresses - to the point where you can spend hours on a single level if you are not in the right frame of mind to play - which can be frustrating.
You will of course have to face each boss during the game, each of which has their own unique pattern of moves - again something taken from the platform games of days gone by - but it will not take you long to work out where they are going next and battling your way around them.
The only real twist in Mega Man 9 is the presence of online leader boards, allowing you to see how you compare as the blue bomber with other players from across the world. This can serve as an incentive to play again a few times to try and move up the rankings, but unfortunately it adds no long-term replayability to the game.
Fans of the series may find themselves enjoying Mega Man 9 despite the title offering nothing new worth pointing out, but for others, even fans of platformers, this will struggle to excite you. The next Mega Man title, if there is one, will need a next-generation make over if it’s to succeed again in future.
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