Mega Man 9

 


  A couple weeks ago I read about a new game that came out called Demon’s Souls. The game is for the PS3 and is developed by Atlus, one of my favorite RPG developers. The game is receiving amazing reviews with most being either a 90 or a 100, but some people are still complaining about it. Why are they complaining about it? Because it’s too hard. The game is making headlines throughout the internet because of it’s brutally hard difficulty. Before I get to that though, the premise of the game…Basically you play a guy who died and you’re trying to get back to the world of the living. It’s a hack and slash type game where you pick up loot, defeat monsters, level up, etc. Each level culminates into a big boss battle that is supposed to be pretty damn epic. Sounds awesome, right? Well, how do you feel about death traps? Traps set up to insta-kill you the moment you step near them like the spikes in old Mega Man games? What about no save points, save for one at the beginning of each level…no where else though? How about enemies that jump you at importune moments with a bunch of their buddies leaving you unable to do anything but die miserably? How about losing all your currency whenever you die, and then given the option to go back to you body to retrieve it, but if you die a second time, it’s gone forever. These are the things that Demon’s Souls is being applauded for and also chastised. In my opinion, I find it refreshing.
  
 
  We, as a society of gamers, have sort of de-evolved. Games nowadays are just way too easy to beat. Recharging hitpoints, save sports around each corner, you name it, we got it nowadays . I’m going to go back to the Mega Man series of my childhood because that was a game that caused me to break a couple different sets of NES controllers. Mega Man was a badass, but he could only take one “bullet” and he was destroyed. Knowing this made you calculate each jump, each shot, and each forward motion with t he utmost care to make sure you wouldn’t be replaying the exact same level 30 times. Sure, we had anger issues, but we were damn go od at video games. Somewhere around the time when the PS1 came out, this all went away. We traded hard games with feelings of accomplishment for safe games that we could finish in a weekend. The RPG genre continued down the same path as games before instead removing the hard factor and replacing it with the time investment factor. Recently though, even RPGs can be beaten in a weekend or so.

So, who do we blame for this or do we blame anyone at all? I think it’s due to the general surge in video game popularity that games are becoming so “mild.” Developers know that if they make a game so hard, people won’t play it. Honestly, I’m probably guilty of that too. I work 50 hours a week and in my time off, I don’t want to spend it tirelessly chipping away at a game. I want something fun that I can jump into, get about 2 hours of playtime in, and then jump out. On the weekends, I might have a 5 hour gaming marathon from time to time, but not always. Home duties, family, and other things always seem to poke their nose in and remove any semblance of free time I may have. So, that’s me, what about others though? What’s their excuse? Kids nowadays think FPS games are hard. Honestly, FPS games like Call of Duty and Killzone are probably one of the easiest. Sure, they are amazing fun to play, but your health recharges and you get enough firepower to take out a third world country. That’s not hard. Jumping from ledges as a little blue man in a metal suit while dodging balls of light flying at your damn face is hard. Don’t believe me? Go download that new Mega Man demo on XBLA or PSN. You’ll see.  
 
  Going back to the Demon’s Souls game, I’m honestly thinking about picking it up when it drops in price. Why would I do that when I just said I don’t have time to spend on hard games? Call it nostalgia. I miss tough games. I miss spending time on games. Most of all though, I miss the feeling of accomplishment you get from finishing a really hard level. I don’t subscribe to the theory that achievements and trophies are hard. Sure, some of them are, but most require only time (multiple playthroughs) and luck (kill 5 enemies at the same time with this weapon, etc.). That’s not hard. Clearing a dungeon full of skeletons that block, dodge, and regroup all while avoiding insta-death pits with no save spots is hard.

So, what do you guys think? I think they should bring back more of these games. Maybe have a resurgence of hard games. As the scores on metacritic show, people (well, game reviewers at least) like the hard games. Put out a few more and see how the people react to them. If the game you make is well designed and flawlessly executed, you’ll sell a shit ton of games regardless of how hard it is.

I recently installed Mixcraft 4, and was eager to try my hand at a bit of videogame music remixing. Here's the first track I've done so far:

 Not exactly a Part 2, but here are some additional notes:

1. To justify the gaming failures of my poor, self-esteem-less self, I must say that part of the reason I fail to complete games is that I do things all the time.  From trips with my family to school to sports to other summer activities, I don't have time to be constantly playing games.  I know nobody does, and I'm sure some people wish they had the time to play games even as much as I do, but I'm talking personally.
2. I also play WoW.  I'm trying to quit and I hope this will help me.  'Nuff said.
3. I buy games like Mega Man 9 and Ikaruga because of reviews or having missed out on previous games in the series.  I have a good amount of impossible (or so it seems) games, so I guess I don't understand enough what I deem as "fun".  Because dying a lot is not fun, but I still get the games.
4. I'm just bad at games.  Never been good at them.  I still love 'em.

 Also:

1. I have decided to change my goal of 100G a week to 200G, thus letting me reach 20,000 in approximately 50 weeks, or about 350 days.  So under a year.
2. If I do manage the momentous feat of beating a game, I will try and review it.  I have beaten Call of Duty 4, and a few other games, though not gotten 1000G i them.  But if I can force my feeble mind into completing reviews, I will do it.  I wish that I could be a video game journalist when I grow up, as it combines writing a video games, two things I love.  So I'll need practice.

 And finally, noob question:  How do I make a list?  I see no "create a new list button" or anything allowing me to do that.  Sorry I'm so dumb.
 
 Gallum galla gilla ma!

This here's a companion music video I made for the song that s-kill featured on the main Capcom Unity blog a few days back.  Hey Keiji Dragon, you know you got skillz when you're getting me up off my ass.  Enjoy. :D

And yes, the intro sequence is from the Spanish version of the game. *Laughs* 
 
  

  

Those of you who know me for any amount of time may know that I'm not white. My parents come from small Caribbean country called Cuba, and most of us from this country tend to speak a language called Spanish*.

(*:Just so we're sure, this is sarcasm)

Now, many Spanish-speaking people from places like Cuba, Mexico and South America also play video games. I quite enjoy them, myself. However, the increased trend toward multi-lingual games - a necessity for bringing games outside of pathetic mini-game compilations to people who don't necessarily speak English very well.

Now why am I talking about this? Very simple. For some reason, I've noticed that there are several games of varying profile that are still without multilingual features. The most egregious of these is Call of Duty. Now, I understand that Activision is an evil company who probably laughs at people in the Americas who might want to play a game in another language and probably wouldn't even dub their games for European audiences if there was any way they could get away with it, but is it really that hard to put in some extra dialogue options in games that everyone knows aren't using the full disc (this isn't exactly Final Fantasy XIII we're talking about here). 

However, the problem isn't magically excused by lack of disc space. There have been separate discs with separate languages for games released on this continent before. The most obvious example is the Halo series, which only has audio for the country the game is being sold in (though they at least have multiple sub tracks). Is there any reason for these Spanish versions not to be released in communities where they would be welcomed (IE, Florida, Texas, California, et al)? And while we're at it, why not French versions for Canada? I'm sure there's lots of folks north of the border who'd like to play more of their games in French.

However, the worst of it is when we get to digital content. Is there any reason I have to have a Spaniard account and import Spaniard PSN cards to play Final Fantasy VII in Spanish, othat than perhaps a prevailing, poisonous attitude that "if they come here, they should learn English"? Come to think of it, why the hell does the PS3 version of Megaman 9 not have Spanish while the Xbox 360 version does? There's absolutely no excuse for any digital release not to be multilingual.

Gaming has come a long way since the days of the NES, and has become the staple of men (and women) all around the world. It's high time that game companies started catering to the more diverse pockets of society, especially here in the US. "Dumb it down" shouldn't be the only way to make a game accessible.    

When it comes to video games, most people consider the 16-bit era the "Golden Age" of video games. Classic Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario Bros., Zelda, Metroid etc. arguably reached their peak on the SNES while Sonic was doing his thing on Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis. Not to mention the Neo Geo and the TurboGrafx-16.

As we approach the end of the decade talk has already begun on next-gen consoles. Will Microsoft and Sony follow Nintendo's lead? Already we've seen them play catch-up with Project Natal and ball-on-a-stick respectively. Will Nintendo simply release Wii HD? Or will newcomer OnLive change gaming as we know it? Who knows? All we can do is speculate, but some things are certain. Namely, price. Gaming will continue to remain expensive and consumers will respond accordingly, opting for the cheaper alternative such as the Wii. Where am I going with this?

Well, I have a dream.

Wouldn't it be cool if one of the big three, say, Nintendo, turned back the clock and released a 8 or 16-bit console? It would be:

1. Affordable

   Cheap to produce, cheap to develop for and most importantly, cheap to buy.
   

2. Easy

   Developers are no doubt familiar with the existing technology, so surely devoloping games for it wouldn't prove to be that difficult, right? Perhaps they could even make it open platform and let us develop games?
   

3. Reliable

   How many of you have a working Nintendo 64? On the other hand, how many of you have sent in your 360 to be repaired? Since the introduction of the CD, it seems consoles have become less reliable.
   

But EVO, Nintendo are already doing this with the Virtual Console! Sure, but what would you rather:










This raises the whole digital vs. physical debate, which is a whole different story. But personally, I think you're a little dead inside if you wouldn't wanna physical copy of Mega Man 9 in your hands.

So, would you welcome this idea?

Mega Man 9 hates you, and isn't afraid to let you know. Here's news for you Mega Man 9. I hate you back. Please let me have one more E-Tank.

It's just as hard as everyone says. Most games of the Mega Man 2 era require memorization, but this game, ostentiably a throw back to MM2, takes it to the next level. We'll give you a blind jump to a landing block that isn't there yet, sure, but this time, let's put it over some spikes.

Do you know what else needs some spikes? The ceiling. And another in front of the place you want to jump. And, what the hell, how about an unblockable laser beam. Fine. No, good. You do that, Mega Man 9. I *want* you to do that, because I've been playing too many games that make me feel competent and are fun to play. This constant failure is making me humble, and...

Goddamit! Fucking spikes!

The end result is a game that requires a level of OCD that should probably be treated by medical professionals, not encouraged by winning a boss fight. The achievements (on the Xbox Live Arcade Version) are further tuned for the obsessive compulsive. You want twenty points? Beat the game in an hour. You want twenty more? Beat it five times in a single day. The last five points? I'll get the rubber glove on. Now, turn to the left and cough. You might feel slight pressure.

Between the precision and difficulty, there's little room for improvisation. There's a set way to do most things, and you will do it that way or else. Using the special items or special weapons certainly can make things easier, but for each clever trick there's a choke point of spikes that can't be out-smarted.

MM9 takes some small amount of pity on you by offering a store in which you can exchange bolts found in-game for useful items like E-Tanks, M-Tanks, and most of all Shock Guards that protect you once per purchase from those bastard spikes. These extra items are a great help, particularly in Dr. Wily's castle, but the game seems to resent their presence, and so makes the user interface for purchasing them astoundingly wordy and difficult to use.

Ha ha! You have to click a button six times to buy an Energy Tank. Isn't that funny? Just like in 1988? Do you get it?

I get it, Mega Man 9. You hate me. You feel I should suffer for my sins of assisted aiming in console FPS games, or quick saving before every decision point in an RPG. Well, I hate you back Mega Man 9. As soon as I can, I'm going to sin again just to spite you.

This game is too difficult to be fun, to fussy to be exciting. If you enjoy it, please, for your own health and safety, see a doctor.

I want this summer to be productive

I have waaaaay too many XBLA games I haven't started nonetheless completed so I've decided to dedicate my Summer to finishing these games.
I've already gotten 200/200 in Castle Crashers & Dash of Destruction. So now I've picked eight of my XBLA to S-Rank.
BC: Rearmed, Braid, DOOM, Mega Man 9, Pac-Man C.E., Space Invaders Extreme, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, & The Maw.
I'm going to start with The Maw which I'm already knee-deep in and loving it. I think after I finish that I'm going to move onto Braid. I'm really excited to delve into this because of how interesting the story sounds. I haven't planned out the rest of my venture so I'm just going to wing it. I'll keep this blog updated with little twitter-esque updates and my Wall-O-Achievements.


EDIT: After starting my official Wall-O-Achievements I've purchased & decided to S-Rank Schizoid so I'm just going to add its own counter  @ the bottom.

Schizoid: 85/200

Updates:

05/28/09: 415/1600

Starting my quest, I have some basic achievements.

05/01/09: 565/1600

Finished all of The Maw achievements.

05/02/09: 645/1600

Almost S-Rank'ed Space Invaders Extreme, two more to go.

05/03/09: 730/1600

Got another Space Invaders achievement & S-Rank'ed Pac-Man C.E.

Honorable Mention:

Alien Hominid, TMNT 1989 Arcade, SuperStreetFighter2THD, Streets of Rage 2, Marathon: Durandel, Duke Nukem 3D, Small Arms, Schizoid, Undertow, & Yaris.