Your review does a good job of posing a serious question: would I still like this game if it were the first I had played in the series. My honest answer is "most likely."
I didn't fall in love with the Mega Man series because it was the hip thing to do. In fact, I didn't expect to like it and only ever played it when my grandmother bought me Mega Man 2 for Christmas one year (considerably ahead of Sonic the Hedgehog's rise to popularity, as I recall). Then I played it and loved every second of it in spite of my instincts. That was true for one simple reason: the gameplay in Mega Man games is good. Really good.
While I enjoy some of the other stuff you mentioned and consider it just as good in different ways, I don't agree with the apparent insinuation that games have 'evolved' to a point where Mega Man-style gameplay isn't fun. It was fun back in the day, it's fun now and it will be in the future.
Just my two cents. Even though I disagree with your apparent conclusion, I liked the review and feel that it makes for a thoughtful and unusual critique of Mega Man 9. You made me think. Good job!
I didn't fall in love with the Mega Man series because it was the hip thing to do. In fact, I didn't expect to like it and only ever played it when my grandmother bought me Mega Man 2 for Christmas one year (considerably ahead of Sonic the Hedgehog's rise to popularity, as I recall). Then I played it and loved every second of it in spite of my instincts. That was true for one simple reason: the gameplay in Mega Man games is good. Really good.
While I enjoy some of the other stuff you mentioned and consider it just as good in different ways, I don't agree with the apparent insinuation that games have 'evolved' to a point where Mega Man-style gameplay isn't fun. It was fun back in the day, it's fun now and it will be in the future.
Just my two cents. Even though I disagree with your apparent conclusion, I liked the review and feel that it makes for a thoughtful and unusual critique of Mega Man 9. You made me think. Good job!
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality
"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world
"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world
