Mega Man 9

Mega Man 9, known in Japan as Rockman 9: Yabou no Fukkatsu!! (ロックマン９ 野望の復活！！), is the ninth numbered installment in the classic Mega Man series. The game was developed by Capcom and Inti Creates, and was published by Capcom in 2008 as a digital download for the Nintendo Wii (WiiWare), Microsoft Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade) and the Sony PlayStation 3 (PSN).

Mega Man 9 is one of the latest non side-story games in the classic series released since 1996/1997's Mega Man 8, and one of the latest non-licensed game released in the classic series (not counting remakes and collections) since 1998/2002's Mega Man & Bass.

According to Capcom's own Keiji Inafune, who was working closely with Inti Creates on the project, the game was developed using an 8-bit graphics and music engine to bring back the nostalgia of the NES-era Mega Man games. Like in Mega Man and Mega Man 2, Mega Man is unable to slide and does not have a chargeable Mega Buster; this was done to make the game's challenge and handling more in-line with the first two games in the series. While cutscenes are used to tell the story, they are 8-bit in nature and similar to the ones in previous titles such as Mega Man 4. According to Inafune, the game is "just as much a new Mega Man game as it is a new NES game". The game features the first female Robot Master in the series, Splash Woman.

Story
It is the year 20XX. Since Dr. Wily's last defeat, the Blue Bomber has seen peace return.

Just when people forgot all about Dr. Wily, robots all over the world began going crazy. It soon became apparent that these robots were those created by Dr. Light. As phone calls came pouring into Light Labs, Dr. Wily interrupted all television programs to announce that these robotic riots were not his doing. He then continued to show video evidence that proved Dr. Light's involvement in the recent violent outbreaks. To make matters worse, Wily gave the account number to his personal bank account and announced that he would accept donations to build his own robot army to counter that of Light's. Mega Man quickly volunteered to clear Light's name and was sent out to investigate the source of the problem.

Before long, the police came to Light Labs to arrest the good doctor, but Light went along quietly to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Mega Man went after the Robot Masters and, after he defeated a few of them, discovered that they were scheduled to be decommissioned and sent to the junkyard because they had reached the expiration date assigned to them by the government. Once the final Robot Master had been taken down, Mega Man brought back one of the robot's internal memory units to Auto for investigation. As it turned out, Dr. Wily had reprogrammed the robots, who were scheduled for demolition, to rise up against their human masters rather than be destroyed. All the robots wanted to do was have a purpose, and they certainly did not want to be sent to the scrap heap.

After they had viewed the video, Dr. Wily burst into their lab and stole the memory circuit and then withdrew to his newly constructed Skull Castle. Mega Man made his way through the fortress, fighting powerful robots built with the money Wily received from donations from those concerned with the robot uprisings. In the end, Mega Man defeated Wily once again, and showed him footage of every single defeat he had dealt Wily. Although Wily seemed contrite and apologetic, he tricked Mega Man into thinking that Dr. Light was, in fact, imprisoned in a jail cell in the next room. Although Proto Man warned him that it was a trap, Mega Man went to investigate the cell and was electrocuted by the Dr. Light decoy that was in the cell instead. As Wily's lab self-destructed, Proto Man returned and teleported Mega Man out of the lab just in time.

In the end, Light was released from prison. He then found useful purposes for all of the Robot Masters he had designed, which had reached their expiration dates.

Although the ending states that Dr. Wily was nowhere to be found after the destruction of his base, the credits show Concrete Man chasing him.

Fortress Bosses
Wily Castle:
 * 1) Spike Pushers
 * 2) Mega Mech Shark
 * 3) Twin Devil
 * 4) Rematch with the Robot Masters
 * 5) Wily Machine 9 and Wily Capsule

Special Stage boss:
 * Fake Man

Reception
Mega Man 9 has received highly positive critical reception. IGN gave the game an 8.6 and awarded it with an Editor's Choice award. It was praised for "having some of the best level design in the series". GamesRadar & WiiWare World gave the game 9/10. GameSpot gave the Wii and PS3 versions 8.5 out of 10.

Trivia

 * Dr. Wily's appearance on the "virtual box art" is reminiscent of the Borg from Star Trek. This design and Mega Man's later appeared in Archie Mega Man #55's Short Circuits, where they are described as "Intentionally Bad Box Art" and "Ultrasound Synthesis Foes" but appear to be quite friendly, much to the normal Dr. Wily's outrage.


 * The mobile phone version of the game includes all downloadable content plus a new Rookie Mode.


 * Each boss's weakness has a detrimental effect besides causing more damage (e.g.: Jewel Satellite negates all of the boss's projectiles, Tornado Blow cripples the boss's weaponry), a first for an 8-bit installment. However, Mega Man 7 was the first to introduce such an idea to the gameplay.


 * All but one of Mega Man 9's Robot Masters, Magma Man, underwent redesign/renaming during development of the game.


 * Bass does not appear directly in the game; however, in the game's endings he makes a cameo appearance. In the background, his blueprints can be seen on Dr. Wily's computer. Despite this, Treble was absent from the game entirely. This may have been an indication of his appearance as a playable character in the next game, Mega Man 10.
 * Every Robot Master has a main character in their endings, Splash Woman, Concrete Man, Galaxy Man, Tornado Man, Plug Man, Magma Man, Hornet Man, and Jewel Man are seen with Auto, Dr. Wily, Proto Man, Mega Man, Rush, Dr. Light, Beat, and Roll, respectively.


 * The song that plays in the ending is a remix of the stage select theme from Mega Man 2.


 * The number to Dr. Wily's "Swiss bank account" shown in the intro is actually the release date for the first Mega Man game in Japan.


 * This is the first numbered console game in the Mega Man series to feature Proto Man as a playable character.


 * In the opening scene, the news reporter bears a resemblance to Chun-Li, a character from Capcom's Street Fighter series. This is a reference to the live-action Street Fighter movie where Chun-Li is a news reporter.


 * This is the second Mega Man game with downloadable content, the first being Mega Man Powered Up.


 * This is the first original series Mega Man game to have two harder difficulty settings, although the feature was earlier used in Mega Man Legends 2.


 * The song that plays on the Main Menu is the music that plays on the Password screen in Mega Man 2.


 * The song that plays when Mega Man gains a weapon is similar to the theme from Mega Man 2.


 * The song that plays on the Wily Castle map is the music that plays on the Wily Castle map in Mega Man 2.


 * The game over theme from Mega Man 2 is reused for Mega Man 9's game over screen.


 * Roll wears her classic dress in this game. However, purchasing a certain item will make her wear her Mega Man 8 dress.


 * It is possible to harvest screws and extra lives in Plug Man's stage by using Jewel Satellite right under a Telly-producing pipe.


 * The weapons in this game are inspired by weapons from previous games, mostly Mega Man 2:
 * Concrete Shot: Similar to the Ice Burst from Mega Man X6, as both can shoot a block that can freeze enemies and be used as a temporarily platform.
 * Tornado Blow: Similar to the Air Shooter from Mega Man 2, an air-based weapon, and the Rain Flush from Mega Man 4, which can kill all enemies on the screen.
 * Laser Trident: Similar to the Metal Blade from Mega Man 2, also known for its high damage and low energy cost, and the Crash Bomber from Mega Man 2, as both can destroy certain types of walls.
 * Plug Ball: Similar to the Bubble Lead from Mega Man 2 and the Search Snake from Mega Man 3, a projectile that travels along the ground and wall.
 * Jewel Satellite: Based on some of the shields from previous games, such as the Skull Barrier from Mega Man 4 and the Scorch Wheel from Mega Man 7.
 * Hornet Chaser: Similar to the Search Snake from Mega Man 3, which also shoots an animal-based projectile.
 * Magma Bazooka: Similar to the Atomic Fire from Mega Man 2, a fire-based weapon which can be charged for higher damage.
 * Black Hole Bomb: Similar to both the Time Stopper from Mega Man 2, another time-based weapon, and the Black Hole from Mega Man V, a black hole which can suck in most enemies that are close to it.
 * Mega Man 9 was originally going to be released for the DS, with the Wii development simply being a template. However, because making an NES-style full-length game like Mega Man 9 proved to be an impossible task due to the DS's screen size, they instead decided to just release it on the Wii.
 * The cutscene where Auto examines the memory chip does not account for the Robot Master you just defeated (who the memory chip presumably comes from). If you defeat Splash Woman last, Roll will still say, "We can play back his memory to see why he went crazy!"
 * This could be a dialogue mismanagement as Splash Woman was supposed to be a male robot master, which could suggest that the dialogue was left unchanged before the design change.

Inline
Mega Man 9 Mega Man 9