I finally made it into the next/current generation of console gaming with my purchase of the XBox 360 pro today. Good times! I set up a Gold Account and many of my friends have added me and you should too! I currently have Call of Duty 4, Soul Calibur IV, and the game that helped me get into the next generation of gaming…

Mega Man 9!!!

That’s right! Nothing like jumping into a new generation of hardware than with a 8-bit game leading the charge! I LOVE this game! The challenge is great, but it encourages you to think how to do with the various obstacles you deal with when going through levels and boss battles. It is important that the brain is challenged when playing a game and Mega Man 9 gets the job done. There are many challenges in this game, lots of frustrating battles, and plenty of traps in the game for you to respond to quickly. Capcom has put some serious thought into how the levels and boss battles are designed, how the weapons powers are useful to the player, and making the game an overall experience.

Some people find this game brutally hard on its normal difficulty but I haven’t had too much trouble yet. I find myself to use different weapons when going through the levels in creative ways to help me succeed. If enemies are shooting at me from places I can’t reach, I take them out with Black Hole Bomb or Tornado Blow. If I want to cross lava pits, I can use Concrete Shot. The problem with some of the later Mega Man games in the original series, particularly the fifth and sixth enrties, is that a lot of the powers you received from bosses were useless and you might as well just beat those games using just the Mega Buster. In Mega Man 9, unless you want to be a true gangster, the levels and obstacles in them will most have you use a few of Mega Man’s acquired powers in order to progress to their completion.

Mega Man 9 is more than just a revival; it is also a reminder of what the essence of games should be: fun and challenging. I’m not talking batshit Ninja Gaiden II difficult, I am referring to offering the player a means to use the various abilities they have in the game to succeed in interesting and creative ways, regardless of what is thrown at them. I plan to talk more about this game in the future, but I hope to see Mega Man 9 get some accolades when the year is over. I don’t see why this game can’t win awards from the press. The game is brilliant.