Mega Man 9 Through 10

Okay, so Mega Man 10 just got announced in the newest Nintendo Power. Absolutely sweet! It sounds great already! But... then I read the internet and it occurred to me that Capcom almost certainly won't improve the problems with Mega Man 9. Why? Because most people are blinded by sheer nostalgia and don't see those problems. I, however, am immune to nostalgia, having not played the Mega Man games until getting them this year in Mega Man Anniversary Collection, and thus... well frankly, I'm worried.

Mega Man 9 is a beautifully presented game. The 8-bit style coupled with the current-age presentation makes it leaps and bounds above any previous Mega Man game in this category. However, its greatest strength and weakness lie in its association with a certain other Mega Man game: Mega Man 2. Mega Man 2 is typically universally praised, and often even considered the classic Mega Man game. Why? Well, mostly because it was so much better than Mega Man 1. Its controls and overall gameplay were refined to being downright amazing, not to mention Mega Man 2's great soundtrack. Simply put, it was a very good game by perspective. But, contrary to popular belief, the Mega Man series didn't stop evolving after that. And therein lies Mega Man 9's problem...

Mega Man 2 had a glaring weakness, and that was artificial difficulty. For example, in Heat Man's stage there is a long disappearing block puzzle, a staple of the series. Very near to the end, there is a situation where a block appears above you mere moments before the block you're standing on disappears. Well, you're almost definitely dead now because you didn't know it was coming, timed your premeditated jump wrong, or tried jumping from the side and failed due to the imprecise physics (they got better in later Mega Man games, meaning the same puzzle in Mega Man 9 is a good amount easier). Does anyone else but me see the problem here?

But, as you may have heard in a certain song, having a certain Item 2 makes it much easier to make it through that level. Item 2 is guarded by Air Man, who also has a bit of a cheap tactic. Now, Air Man isn't a hard Robot Master at all, really, especially if you have the Leaf Shield weapon. But the trick is... well, one of his attacks is literally impossible to dodge. Literally. No joke. Completely impossible! And the rest are quite hard as well. Does... anyone else see the problem?

And finally we come to the infamous Quick Man. His stage was entirely about memorization because the primary hazard were large speedy lasers that kill you instantly if you touch them. You had to memorize where they came out and dodge accordingly, and it was nearly impossible to get through on your first time unless you were incredibly lucky. Am I... really the only one who notices these things and realizes it shows lazy level design?

Mega Man 9 is heavily inspired by Mega Man 2, which makes sense. However, 9 fails to remedy 2's problems and, instead, builds upon them! For example, 9 has a HUGE amount of instant-kill spikes in each and every stage, a hazard classically used only occasionally or in water-based stages. Also, it introduces fast-moving streams of lava that kill you upon contact that are rather reminiscent of Quick Man's lasers. A huge quantity of the game becomes frustrating due to constant and unfair deaths, and Capcom gets away with it. Why? Quite simply because most people playing Mega Man 9 now played previous Mega Man games in the past, when they were, say, five or six. Thus they weren't quiiiite so good at video games and misremember the games as harder than they actually were. Mega Man 9 is easily the hardest of the classic Mega Man series to date, with the possible exception of Mega Man 1, but no one notices that because they remember the past games as harder than they were.

Level design ruined for me what would have otherwise easily been the best Mega Man classic game yet. I very much hope to see Mega Man 10 evolve past 2 and see that Mega Mans 3-6 were just as good, if not better, and to pull away from artificial difficulty. If so, Mega Man 10 could very easily be the best in the series and even pull in brand new fans to play previous Mega Man titles. After all, they're on the Virtual Console!

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Just for kicks, here's some more things I would like to see in Mega Man 10:
-better menu music
-Roll as playable, and actually competent unlike in Powered Up
-a "Dr. Wily was behind it" that actually feels somewhat surprising (haha, as if)
-less DLC that should've been included in the first place
-Mega Man with his abilities past Mega Man 2 (Mega Buster and slide)
-the other playable characters having very distinct playing styles, like Vile and X in Maverick Hunter X
-maybe some kind of collectibles like the cards in Mega Man & Bass?
-Bass
-Robot Masters from previous games?!
-Co-op
-Proto Man being really cool
-stuff from previous games, like maybe an unlockable Break Man costume??
-another amazing disappearing block puzzle like Spark Man's