1/5 ★ – Fatalinger's review of Mega Man 9.

I say this as a fan of the Blue Bomber - I did not enjoy Mega Man 9 much at all. This review will be longer than my other ones, only because I want to get my feelings out there. Said feelings are: I don't understand why this particular entry in the series is so beloved. The fact that this is the case, despite the gameplay and level design being such a step down from 8, leads me to believe that 9 got a pass simply because it was the next Mega Man title after a long hiatus. However, in an era of other, much better retro revivals and homages to 8-bit gaming, this game seems to have taken all of the worst aspects of the era in all but graphics and music. Let's start there: presentation-wise, Mega Man 9 is quite appealing. Cutscenes and stage themes adhere to NES limitations while also showing some marked improvements over other games of said era, which also goes for general gameplay animation. The music is also quite memorable in a lot of places, right up there with some of the classic tunes of old. While some of this could not be replicated on actual hardware, the effort to remain consistent and faithful is something I appreciate. What I don't appreciate is trying to remain faithful to the trial-and-error gameplay that marred those older titles. Mega Man 9, while gifted with a great "game feel" and responsive controls, is filled to bursting with punishing stage elements that the series had already left behind two entries ago. It provides a challenge that is not satisfying to overcome and instead is a relief to finally get over with. It feels like memorizing the answers to a test without understanding what they mean; what pits will enemies suddenly come out of? How will this stage hazard react to you or your weapons? Well, until you get hit, which will definitely happen on your first run, you'll never know. It might have to do with the developers intending to stick closer to the design philosophy of Mega Man 2, another entry in the Blue Bomber's franchise that I'm also not fond of for the exact same reasons. In particular, removing Mega Man's charge shot and slide, aside from taking away possible variety in stage design, really make 9 feel like a step backwards. Special weapons, aside from Jewel Satellite, are not much better than your normal buster. I especially disliked Concrete Shot when I tried to use it for anything outside of destroying enemies, in part because of how it would stick to every surface except the one I wanted to hit, and in part because of how necessary it is to progress in the final set of stages. You really don't want to run out of ammo and have to stay grinding for minutes on end. It's also part of the negative side of special weapons having multiple uses - have too much fun in the stages, and you'll be stuck with lemons on the boss fights. To me, Mega Man 9 was an exercise in frustration. If it wasn't because of the Legacy Collection's built-in savestate system, letting me retry the challenges immediately, I would have put off finishing this game indefinitely. At the very least, I can say that it made me appreciate the excellent design of other NES-styled games, like Shovel Knight and Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, even more than before - but I'm never coming back to this one.