Mega Man 9



Mega Man 9, known in Japan as Rockman 9: The Ambition's Revival!! (ロックマン９野望の復活！！), is the official 9th installment in the classic Mega Man series. The game was developed by Inti Creates and is confirmed to be released as a digital download on the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3.

This is the latest non side-story game in the classic series released since 1996/1997's Mega Man 8, and 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 Mega Man and Mega Man 2, Mega Man is unable to slide and will 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. According to Inafune, the game is "just as much a new Mega Man game as it is a new NES game." Interestingly, the game features the first female Robot Master since Roll, Splash Woman.

Release Dates
Wii (WiiWare)
 * North America: September 22, 2008
 * Japan: September 24, 2008
 * Europe: September 26, 2008

PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network)
 * North America: September 25, 2008
 * Europe: September 25, 2008

XBox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade)
 * North America: October 1, 2008
 * Europe: TBA (2008?)

Story
While both Capcom and Inafune have been tight-lipped about the smaller details about the game's story, the July 2008 issue of Nintendo Power featured an interview with Keiji Inafune in which he stated that Robot Masters were once again rampaging across the globe. However, Dr. Wily (once again on the loose after the events of R&F, R&F2, and RMS) insists on his innocence, blaming Dr. Light for the recent outbreak of violence. Once again, Mega Man is sent to deal with the situation, having to stop the Robot Masters and prove his creator's innocence. Mets and Sniper Joes will be present as always. Rush also made a return and Protoman will be available for downloadable content for $2 on October 6th.

Robot Masters
The following Robot Masters have been confirmed as bosses for Mega Man 9:


 * Concrete Man
 * Galaxy Man
 * Hornet Man
 * Jewel Man
 * Magma Man
 * Plug Man
 * Splash Woman
 * Tornado Man

Wily stage bosses
Unfortunately, there is no booklet for MM9 and the end credits of the game do not include names of any enemies, so at this point, all names must be guessed.

The First Wily Stage Bosses are known as "Spike Shooters". They are a series of small robots located at the ends of 4 "corridors". Each of these corridors contains a large spiked ball. Each robot will shoot a small bullet at the spiked balls, pushing them to the left of the screen gradually. Shooting the balls with Mega Man's normal shot will push the balls slightly toward the Spike Shooters. When the balls hit them, they are immediately destroyed and a new one will pop out from the wall. Blue Spike Shooters will fire a small shot semi regularly, while Red Spike Shooters will charge up shots and fire less frequently, but push the spiked ball much farther. If the Spike Shooters manage to make the spiked ball reach the far left of the screen, the spiked ball will retract slightly and the Spike Shooter will no longer shoot at it. Instead, they will fire a small wave of energy that is aimed at Mega Man.

There are several strategies for defeating the Spike Shooters, but one of the easiest is to focus on the bottom two corridors, alternating between the two paths. This will quickly lead to the top two Spike Shooters targeting Mega Man with their attacks, but these are relatively easy to avoid. After all of the Spike Shooters on the bottom two rows have been destroyed, you must destroy the last two robots on the top two rows. At this point, it shouldn't be difficult to push the balls and avoid their attacks.

The Second Wily Stage Boss is known as the "Shark Sub". Mega Man fights this boss in three stages. The first stage is the tail section. A launch pad will open and fire three homing rockets at Mega Man as it moves up and down on the far left of the screen. The rockets can be destroyed with any weapon, but to damage the tail, Mega Man must jump and shoot the launch pad when it opens. The Shark Sub Tail section is most vulnerable to the Laser Trident, with the added bonus that it can usually destroy one or two rockets on the way.

The second stage is the Shark Sub Fin. Mega Man stands directly under the boss as it moves up and down. The boss has damaging spikes all along its belly, with two bomb bays on either sides of the spikes. These bomb bays open intermittently to drop what appears to be lobster bots. These roll toward the center of the level. In order to damage the Shark Sub Fin, the two bomb bays must be damaged. This is difficult, as the spikes are located where Mega Man would need to jump to hit them with the Buster. However, with proper timing, it is possible to hit the bombers as the Sub falls. A much easier technique is to use the uncharged Magma Bazooka. Two shots will take out the lobsterbots and damage the bombays easily.

The third stage is the Shark Sub Head. This section is similar to the Tail section, except that it moves along the right side of the screen instead of the left. The mouth of the sub opens periodically and shoots a series of four lasers. The Head can only be damaged when it's mouth is opened. At its lowest, the lasers are nearly impossible to avoid, making some of the achievements difficult. The only way to avoid it is to use the B. Bomb to absorb the lasers or the Rush Coil to jump over them.

The Third Wily Stage Boss is known as the "Double Devil". Like its Devil counterparts, it is composed of several globs of jelly and a single eye. These globs of jelly move around the screen, damaging Megaman on contact. Unlike previous Devils, this is its only attack. However, the battle is made more difficult by the fact that the Double Devil is actually two separate entities, one purple sphere and one orange sphere. The sphere with the eye begins on the bottom right while the other begins in the top left. The globs break into 12 pieces and they switch places one by one, some moving high, some moving slow. After they have completely switched locations, the switch heights (the devil with the eye lowers and the devil without the eye rises). The only way to damage the Double Devil is to damage the electronic eye as it moves between the two devils. It is difficult to damage the eye, but the B. Bomb is extremely effective against the devil, and the nature of the weapon makes it very easy to hit.

This boss can be difficult to defeat, especially if you are attempting to only use the regular Buster. However, it does have a very predictable pattern. It makes the same 12 movements every time. Movements 1 and 2 are safe to stand still. 3 and 4 should be jumped near the middle. 5 is safe to stand still. 6 is safe to stand still, but this is the only time that the Double Devil can be damaged. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 always have the same pattern as well, but needs more information.

The Fourth Wily Stage Boss is the typical series of 8 Robot Master Fights, then the battle with Wily. The First Wily Boss is the Skull Rex. It appears as a large T-Rex Robot with a humanoid skull as its head. This is one of the easier Wily forms, and can be defeated without taking damage relatively simply. It's only attack is to drop an explosive egg out of its mouth while moving back and forth. The egg must be bounced back toward the Skull Rex by shooting it with Megaman's buster. On the first impact with the Rex, it will crack slightly, on the second, it will split down the middle, and on the third hit, it will explode. The third hit must impact the mouth of the Skull, or Wily will take no damage. This is easier than it sounds, as the Skull Rex will only fire off one egg at a time.

The Second Wily Boss is the Wily Rex. At this stage, the skull explodes to reveal Wily. The Wily Rex only has two attacks. The first has the Rex moving across the top of the screen and trying to land on Megaman. The second is more difficult to avoid. It shoots a large stream of flames from its mouth in an arc, swooping low, then moving up higher. The flame is very long and requires very precise timing to jump over it. Depending on where the Wily Rex is when it begins the flame, it will move at varying speeds from very slow if it is near the far left of the screen, to very fast if it is near the far right of the screen. Its weakness is the concrete shot.

The Third Wily Boss is the classic Wily Escape Capsule. It will appear and disappear throughout the sky. It has three attacks. The first is a fake out. It appears suddenly, then disappears just as suddenly. The primary purpose of this would seem to be to waste some weapons energy. The second attack is to appear, create four purple orbs, then shoot them toward Megaman. These are not very difficult to avoid with a well timed jump. Its third attack is to create 6 balls of electricity similar to Plug Man's power. Three of these will immediately fall to the ground and move toward Megaman, while the other three will move horizontally across the top of the screen, then drop one at a time, leaving a gap. Megaman must jump over the spark balls moving along on the floor, while aligning himself to avoid the falling spark balls. Most weapons seems to have the same effect on the Wily Capsule, however, the hornets, M. Bazooka, and Tornadoes will make it much easier to hit the capsule, and the B. Bomb and Tornado will also dissipate each of his attacks.

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
Bass never appears directly in the game, however in the games ending he makes a cameo appearance, in the background you can see his image on Wily's computer.