
	Platform Xbox 360 Genre Platformer Publisher Capcom Developer Capcom ESRB E (Everyone) Released September 22, 2008

- Will no doubt remind you of Mega Man 2 - A real challenge (for those that like that kind of thing)

- Nostalgia is nearly killed by the hit-you-over-the head, kick-you-in-the-teeth difficulty

Review: Viewtiful Joe 2 (GC) Review: Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii) Review: Mega Man X (SNES)
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Mega Man 9

Score: 8.0 / 10

Do you have self esteem issues? Do you rock yourself to sleep every night wondering if tonight will be the night they decide to drop the bomb? Do you suffer from anxiety? Have you experienced panic attacks? Have you ever suffered bouts of nostalgia so strong you regain consciousness in the summer of 1989? If you suffer from any of these conditions, steer clear of Mega Man 9, which will likely produce panic attacks, a feeling of dread, and the wish that you could wake up in 1989 and

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- Xbox 360 Game Reviews
- Platformer Game Reviews
- Games Published by Capcom

punch your 12-year old self right in the nose as he plays Mega Man 2 so he doesn't remember the game with any kind of fondness.

One look at the screenshots will take you right back to the days of Mega Man 2 on the Nintendo Entertainment System. This is a "retro game" in the strongest sense of the term. It plays like Mega Man 2: lots of platform jumping, tricky shooting, and boss

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battles that need to be approached in a specific order to make the end fights easier.

And instant death. Lots and lots of instant death!

To put it as mildly as possible, Mega Man 9 is an extremely hard game. More accurately, it's as hard as diamonds dipped in adamantium and shellacked with liquid candy cane (which is still sugar coating it a bit). If you have a hankering for old school Mega Man, dig out a copy of the original game, because Mega Man 9 is geared for the hardest of the hardcore crowd, and that's not just because acquiring Achievements is akin to self flagellation with a short whip of razor wire. Mega Man 9 demands the kind of concentration typically reserved for fighter pilots and kindergarten teachers. Death is around every corner and often you won't know it until it hits you in the face.

It doesn't help any that when, by some miracle, you reach the boss battle at the end of each level, if you haven't figured out the correct order of the bosses to make your life relatively easier, it can turn into an even longer and more arduous process of trial and error.

All that and I can't stop playing it! Mega Man 9 rides the wave of nostalgia to land on my playlist but it has become more than that. It's a "cool down" game from the likes of Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway or the relentless dread of Dead Space. I may die a dozen times in as many minutes, but the simplicity of the controls and game mechanics and the great level design make for an experience that can be equally rewarding and damning.

- Aaron Simmer

(October 27, 2008)