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[Storm Rider]

So, Capcom recently announced that Mega Man 9 is in development as a downloadable game. Nintendo Power had the story, so it's confirmed for Wii Ware at the very least, and rumored for the other two consoles' downladable services as well. Not only is this the first game in the original series since 1996, but the really crazy part is it also has 8-bit graphics (and presumably sound, although I'm not sure if that's been mentioned or not). So Capcom, a multimillion dollar video game publisher, is making a brand new 8-bit game. In 2008.

On the one hand, I kind of think it's cool that they're making this as an homage to the classic NES games in the series. On the other hand, on a certain level it's completely insane, and there's no real reason to make a game with 8-bit graphics except for nostalgia reason and the fact that it will cost them very little to make. Ultimately, if it's got solid level/boss design and they don't charge too much for it, which they shouldn't, because again 8-bit graphics are extremely cheap with modern technology.

It's also got a female robot master! How crazy can it get?

Kinda crappy magazine scans ahoy!

[Jackie Blue]

 

[Cartilage Head]

Hm.

[will: wanton sex god]

Considering how shitty the x series has gotten.  i mean megaman hasnt reached sonic proportions (shudder) but it's seen better days IMO.

[ackblom12]

It was a complete and total surprise when i heard about it, but I'm very very happy with the announcement. As long as they don't include some of the impossibly hard level design they used back in the earlier Mega Man's it should be pretty awesome.

[will: wanton sex god]

As long as they DO include some of the impossibly hard level design they used back in the earlier Mega Mans (that made Megaman Megaman, it should be pretty awesome.

c wut i did thur hurr hurr D:

[imagist42]

I don't see how any self-respecting Mega Man fan could see this news in a bad light. Especially since Inti Creates, the force behind the Mega Man Zero and ZX games (which were actually good, unlike the last few MMX games) will be behind this as well.

[Ozymandias]

Can I have Mega Man Powered Up 2 yet?

[ALoveSupreme]

That's pretty brilliant, and like you said it'll be cheap to make, the "nostalgia" (despite it technically being a new game) is enough to drive people to buy it.  They probably will barely have to advertise it, and will likely clean up in terms of sales revenue. 

Basically, totally awesome.

[Jackie Blue]

As long as they don't include some of the impossibly hard level design they used back in the earlier Mega Man's it should be pretty awesome.

I seriously don't understand how the current younger generation of gamers can like, play Guitar Hero on Expert and then turn around and say that Battletoads or early Mega Man games were really hard.

The first Mega Man, okay, kinda tough.  All the others?  Not so much.

[Plasticity]

I will buy this game, but I do wish it was slightly updated graphics wise. It could be a 2D platformer with updated graphics and I don't think anyone would mind.

[ackblom12]

I seriously don't understand how the current younger generation of gamers can like, play Guitar Hero on Expert and then turn around and say that Battletoads or early Mega Man games were really hard.

The first Mega Man, okay, kinda tough.  All the others?  Not so much.

Younger? I mean, I'm not Joe Hocking old, but I'm fairly certain I wouldn't count amongst the younger gen of gamers if you're going by when you started.

Frustrating might be the better word though. Older games were simply made to be very very difficult for stupid reasons with no difficulty option. There really was nothing more frustrating than having to start a level over because there was an almost impossible to avoid enemy, that you could have no idea was going to swoop down from the ceiling or sky, that knocked you into a pit. Or for that matter a boss that simply took half a billion hits to kill.

Current games usually try and stray away from things like that.

[Jackie Blue]

Well, my point really is just that I beat Battletoads when it came out without much trouble, and 15 or however many years later when I played it on an emulator I could still easily beat it, using a friggin' keyboard no less!

Whereas my mind boggles at the insanity of Guitar Hero/Rock Band once you get past Hard mode, let alone Expert or Hardcore.  It's a million times harder than actually playing guitar.

[Spluff]

Yeah, but the thing is, we have difficulty sliders. Back then, they had only one option - hard.

[ackblom12]

That and a large chunk of the generation that grew up with Battletoads would you call you a freak of nature for being able to get through the Speeder and the Snake Pit levels easily.

Jesus why did they even put those levels in that damn game, would have been so perfect without.

[ALoveSupreme]

Battletoads was quite difficult.  How the hell did you get through that jet level with the vertical fire things??  Never could do it.

[Jackie Blue]

That and a large chunk of the generation that grew up with Battletoads would you call you a freak of nature for being able to get through the Speeder and the Snake Pit levels easily.

I really don't think this is true.  I was never some kind of super-god of gaming and I found those levels fairly easy after a few tries.  It's much easier to get the hang of the Speeder Bike pattern than to get the hang of a Dragonforce song on Expert.

Back on topic, I eagerly await the announcement of "The Legend of Zelda 3".   

[Johnny C]

A LINK TO THE FUTURE...?

[0bsessions]

The Future?

[imagist42]

http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/14260822/mega-man-9/videos/mm9multidebu.html

Holy crap this looks like about twenty different kinds of awesome...

... twenty kajillion!

[Storm Rider]

I saw that trailer last night and it made me completely fucking giddy for this game. Everything is right: the music, the enemies, the levels, everything. The only thing I wish we had got to see was the actual sprites of the robot masters instead of just silhouettes of their concept art, but consider me officially stoked. That trailer also re-confirms that it's coming to XBLA and PSN, so now I have to decide between achievements or the better d-pad on the Wii remote.

Also, along with this Capcom announced that Mega Man 1 and 2 are coming to the Virtual Console in the near future. So, fuck yeah for that.

[carrotosaurus]

If Pac-Man is the medium's equivalent of Elvis and Mario is The Beatles, Mega Man is The Grateful Dead. He commands a relatively small but ferociously loyal cult following, rakes in millions each year with a steady stream of low-key releases, and has completely failed to move with the times.

I think that quote sums up my feelings on Mega Man...

[bicostp]

I wonder if it's going to be a ground-up new game, or if Capcom's just going to dust off the old NES Mega Man engine and build off it. My guess would be the latter, to get closer to the original games. (It would probably be cheaper, too. Especially now that the public has had almost 15 years to make level and graphics editors for NES games they could use.)

Whereas my mind boggles at the insanity of Guitar Hero/Rock Band once you get past Hard mode, let alone Expert or Hardcore.  It's a million times harder than actually playing guitar.

Really?

[sean]

Well, if we are talking about a person who plays decently, yes. The inverse is probably true to any non-player.

[Stranger Dan]

I can't believe that they are already up to 9 Mega Man games.

[ackblom12]

He has been a regular franchise character on and off for the last 20 years.

[bicostp]

I can't believe that they are already up to 9 Mega Man games.

Counting all the spinoff series, there's a lot more than that...

[Chesire Cat]

I think alot of you fail to realise just how frustrating the original 8 bit games were.  There were no dashes, double jumps or any other assisted moving except with your dog, Rush.  If some spikes or wall comes down and crushes the last pixel of your toe you completely explode and die.  There were alot of improvements to be had in the 16 bit and on games that the original nintendo simply didnt have.  If we are going to talk about Guitar Hero, lets compare Guitar Hero 1 to Guitar Hero III, one was very raw and unpolished compared to III's features like hammer ons (even if they are too easy compared to II).  Mega Man is the same way, how can you go back?

Now what *should* happen is Mega Man should make the jump to FPS, it would make an extremely solid first person shooter, with interesting movement mechanisms, the dashs and extremely vertical gameplay of the bosses fights would be very cool.  Think of the Aliens in Aliens Vs Predator games, for a fairly good showing of what wall walking and grabs, and dashing can do in an FPS.  Or even Gordon Freemans jumpkit thing towards the end of the first Half-Life. 

Obviously Ive been anxiously awaiting a real, and well done FPS mega man game (I think there was one for N64 that was balls so Im ignoring it), and have basically designed the entire game in my head.

[FireAarro]

I wouldn't mind seeing a return to 16-bit style Mega Man for the reasons Chesire Cat stated, but this is just as awesome. Nostalgia galore!

[Chesire Cat]

Fuck I wouldnt mind a return to 1994 period.  Awesome shit went down there, and people werent so hooked on the net and cells and Wars on Terror and Sub Prime Mortgages and yadda yadda yadda.  Punk wasnt even dead back then!

Ohhhhh nostalgia!  The only thing I would miss is Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and all these kick as funny animated shows.

[Storm Rider]

Bumping this to point out that the entire soundtrack has leaked on This guy's Youtube channel. Tornado Man's theme is fucking awesome, the rest of it is pretty good as well.

[Roivas]

Now what *should* happen is Mega Man should make the jump to FPS, it would make an extremely solid first person shooter, with interesting movement mechanisms, the dashs and extremely vertical gameplay of the bosses fights would be very cool.  Think of the Aliens in Aliens Vs Predator games, for a fairly good showing of what wall walking and grabs, and dashing can do in an FPS.  Or even Gordon Freemans jumpkit thing towards the end of the first Half-Life. 

Obviously Ive been anxiously awaiting a real, and well done FPS mega man game (I think there was one for N64 that was balls so Im ignoring it), and have basically designed the entire game in my head.

No, never speak of this again. I don't care if it is your opinion, your opinion is wrong in this case. Megaman should not try to go 3-D and definitely shouldn't try to get into the overcrowded FPS market. Megaman is a simple game based off of rock paper scissors and should try to remain that way. The Megaman aciton RPG didn't work, why would a first person shooter?

If you want to see a next gen Blue Bomber try thinking outside of conventional genres, because that's how you make a franchise live again. Not slapping an already popular character into a poorly created engine and waiting for the moeny to roll in.

[0bsessions]

Actually, Mega Man Legends was, while cheesy, pretty fucking great for its era.

[ackblom12]

Legends really was an awesome game. Kinda makes me sad they haven't touched it in so long.

[imagist42]

Sooo many fans still call for a Legends 3. But it will never happen.

Also, Mega Man 9 has release dates now. September 22 for North American Wii, and September 24th for Japanese Wii / North American 360 and PS3. I am pretty stoked.

[imagist42]

Guys, this is out now. For Wii, anyway.

I have yet to play it because I found my interest in Okami renewed this weekend, so I am finishing that first.

[reddragonflame]

I hope that if this goes well we'll see a return to many 2D platformers. Tell me you wouldn't want to see a gigantic 2D Sonic the Hedgehog game again. I know I sure would. It'd be interesting to see them mix in many of the new characters into a S&K style game... like last time you had Sonic, Knuckles, or Tails to choose from, here you could have Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, any of the Chaotix, Rouge, Silver, Chaos, erm... yeah. The list could go on.

[Storm Rider]

Except every Sonic character introduced after Knuckles is irredeemably shit and they shouldn't be in a new 2D game even if they made one.

[Johnny C]

Dude, have you forgotten Big The Cat?

HE'S A BIG CAT

[reddragonflame]

Except every Sonic character introduced after Knuckles is irredeemably shit and they shouldn't be in a new 2D game even if they made one.

Eh, I agree to an extent. Whilst I listed whichever came to my head I didn't mean I liked them

Besides, Shadow kicks ass and so does the Chaotix team.

But seriously, a 2D Sonic with either a HUGE character roster or an enormous extensive level listing would be epic. Heck,  both would be sweet. And by "enormous extensive level listing" I'm talking short levels like Green Hill Zone Act 1 mixed in with enormous "could spend over an hour exploring if you wanted" style levels.

[Ozymandias]

No.

Your opinions and ideas are terrible. Please stop talking about terrible things.

[imagist42]

Sonic is irredeemable. Sorry, fans.

[Chesire Cat]

The reason why Mega Man worked in sequels so well was it had a very transmutable gimmick.  Sonic... Not so much.  It was a point A to point B game.  Seriously, SMB3 was the fucking bomb, but if they didnt up the anti in Super Mario World it wouldnt have worked.  Just throwing a couple new characters in a 2D Sonic game doesnt equate more fun. 

[Ozymandias]

That's actually a fantastic point. The strength of Mario was always in concept and level design. There's only two Mario games where you can select from multiple characters(2, 64 DS) and neither is that great. Also, they're both just adaptations of other games(Doki Doki Panic, 64).

[carrotosaurus]

I think Mario 2 is awesome. Not quite as awesome as 3, but still awesome. The remake on GBA was pretty great, too.

And as long as there's talk of resurrecting 2D games and making them hella better, why not make a sequel to Symphony of the Night. That's something I'd actually want to play.

And, back on topic, I got the game on the Wii and it's actually a lot better than I thought it would be.

[Ozymandias]

Every single GBA/DS Castlevania game has been fantastic what are you talking about

[Chesire Cat]

I was too lazy to confirm there *has* been a steady supple of Castlevania games out, though it seems Symphony is still pick o' the litter

[carrotosaurus]

I haven't played them - I feel like my life has been one cruel joke now. I have to go buy a DS.

[imagist42]

Guys, this game... I've got two Robot Masters down and the rest of the stages are kicking my butt. A lot. But this game is so much fun. I mean I haven't had this much pure fun with a single-player game in a long time. At least since Mario Galaxy.

[Chesire Cat]

Im playing Mass Effect son, you can sit down with the other children and play, but Im going to play a man's game