Released: March 1, 2010 (Wii), March 11, 2010 (PS3), March 31 (360)
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Sidescroller-Action
Multiplayer: Leaderboards Only
After playing Mega Man 10, I eagerly sat in wait for this game. I didn't know when, but I knew this game was going. Soon it was announced, and now it's here (or almost here. Sorry Xbox owners). I purchased it day 1 and begin to dwindle my life away fighting robot masters who don't exist. If you've seen my Mega Man 9 review, you'll probably know what I'm going to say. For those who don't know or care, I guess I'll have to say it again.
As with most NES style titles, the story hardly matters at all. In this instance, we are introduce to a robot virus called Roboenza. Roll, Mega Man's sister, gets caught with it, as do most of the robots of the world. Dr. Wily is attacked and says he created a prototype cure and will use it to help the robots if Mega Man can find it. Naturally, Mega Man ignores the fact that Dr. Wily has tried to kill him 10+ times before, and rushes off battling robot masters and being a sucker. Naturally, Dr. Wily turns out to be the evil guy and it's up to Mega Man to put him down. There is no need to have played the previous 9 games to know what's going on. Each game is a separate story. But this game isn't story driven, so oh well?
And like I said before, Mega Man 10 plays like 9 and all the ones before it. You run from left to right, shooting mobs and trying to stay alive. However, Mega Man 10 has less tricky moments. In 9, you would fall down a pit, only to be killed by surprise spikes. After you die, you have to remember "There are spikes here!" and fall to a side to avoid them. You barely have a second notice as soon as you fall. In 10, this never happens. When I was playing through, I kept hugging the walls whenever I feel because I expected to die. It doesn't neither. No swings with spikes on the walls, nothing evil like that.
There are still sticky situations like that, but they are never as devilish and are always caused by enemies themselves, which you can get rid of. As with the other games, Mega Man travels under water, up ladders, and through several environments like a city, a factory, a baseball field, ect, ect. The challenge of Mega Man 10 is in the enemies. Almost every level has a mini-boss now instead of a rare few as in 9. Then of course, after fighting through hordes of enemies, you reach the robot master boss. Here we are treated to Sheep Man, Chill Man, Pump Man, Nitro Man, Strike Man, and others.
When the boss dies, Mega Man gains their power. When you get deeper into the game, you start to have a pretty impressive arsenal of guns. Each one corresponds to something the robot master used. For example, Chill Man puts on a water shield and it creates small water balls to act as a shield around him. Defeat him, and you get the water shield weapon, which does the exact same thing. Screws can also be found just laying around in levels. Pick them up, as they are money to be used in the store. There you can buy health, power-ups, and all that good stuff you'll be needing to save for Dr. Wily's levels. You can't just horde them and use them and use a cheap method through the game. You can only hold a limited amount.
Again, as with 9, we're treated to NES style visuals, gameplay, and music. Legacy Mode is gone (where if on, the screen will flicker when too many objects are on the screen like on the NES) but it's not too big a deal. Everything else is the same. Mega Man has the same silly jumping sprite. A few enemies were carried over from 9, they were changed very little though. Each one is clever and devastating in their own way. If it's a guy who fires and hides again, he can kill you. If it's a pipe that fires balls at you, he can kill you. Anything that has eyes can kill you (although there are a rare few enemies with no eyes).
The music is outstanding. I honestly can't decide if I like this one's soundtrack or Mega Man 9's better. Each song perfectly matches the level. It's done in a 8-bit fashion just like the previous games were. Mega Man 10 even has it's own main menu song, while 9 did not. As with 9, each song is memorable and will bring a tear of joy once heard. Mega Man 10 also has an easy mode, when 9 didn't. Thing about the easy mode, it might be *too* easy. I played one game on normal, and one game on easy. 30 minutes in, I check on my progress. On the normal game, I had only beaten one robot master. On the easy game, I was one or two robot masters away from Dr. Wily's end stages. It's crazy how simple it is. I went through an entire level without firing a single shot. However, this might be a good thing, as it does broaden the interest to those who considered the game too hard before, now they have a beginning place to work with.
Proto Man is also playable from the beginning. He has the option of sliding and charging up a shot when Mega Man does not. He also has a shield that can delete light attacks. However, he fires a tad slower and only shoots two energy bullets instead of three. He also takes more damage.
People argue whether Mega Man 10 is harder or easier than 9. To me, it's about the same. The difficulty is balanced, but by different things, 9 with evil death traps, and 10 with the difficult mini-bosses and enemies. However, after the game has been beaten, the stages will be a cakewalk. That does not make them any less fun, as harder difficulties can be unlocked later on, and it's sometimes nice to take it easy. There are also individual challenges you can do. Some are in-game trophies/achievements, while others are actual mini-games (such as boss challenges).
Again, as with 9, I can't really think of anything negative to say about this game. I suppose I could always bash how they planned out DLC from day 1. Bass and Endless Mode (the player goes through a series of screens without end) are planned to be released in a month, and there is a giant "??????????????" on the title screen as space for Endless Mode, but it isn't that big of a deal. I guess the difficulty is a downer if you aren't used to it. I was extremely rusty at first and had to get back my Mega Man brain since I had played 9 so much that it was just a mindless task playing through it.
Mega Man 10 is a brilliant sequel to an already awesome game. The quality hasn't diminished one bit. Again, I would recommend this game to join it's brother in your collection.
+ Awesome Music
+ Basic, simple fun
+ Different Items and Weapons are earned
+ Good for both old and new fans
+ Memorable
+/- Difficult/Easy Mode
- DLC was planned day 1
Mega Man 10 gets a 4.5 for all three platforms. *THIS MAY CHANGE IN THE NEAR FUTURE*. I don't really like to give them both the exact same score, surely one must be a tad bit better or more original? I'll wait a week or so, see how I feel, then revisit this score and Mega Man 9's score.
"This or Mega Man 2?"
That comes down to opinion. Before, I said I liked 9 more. This time...I'm not sure. It's just up to you to flip a coin.
"This or Mega Man 9?"
That is a hard bitch to tackle. For now, I will say 9 just as a plain biased answer. This may change in the future as well. But I would say to get both of them eventually.
"Do I buy this one or Mega Man 9 first?"
It really doesn't matter. Flip a coin.
