Okay, I will admit to my fanboysim. I think it’s about time that I just came out and said it: I am a huge….Megaman fanboy. I’ve done the 8 original MM games and most of the X games (I’ve still to do Command Mission and X7). I was too poor at the time to play the Game Boy MM games (and now I can’t find them or that Anniversary Collection of them ANYWHERE), and I’ve yet to commit to playing GBA games without the GameBoy player (I have a DS, but not used to playing them on that yet), so the GBA and DS MM games I’ve yet to play (I should get to it, though, if I want to keep my title). However, I loved everything about the series since I was a kid. Discovered the series through Mega Man 3, and then played MM2, and then MM (thus, went backwards). I loved all of them that I’ve ever played (even some many didn’t see as really good, such as MM4).

 

So I bought Megaman 9 the second I got the opportunity, and it was about the only thing I played until I beat it, and now I’m getting the DLC for it and I’m trying to get all the challenges done. Capcom has said that they wanted to release DLC for the month of October, including a special stage that could include Bass (just pure speculation based upon something at the end of the same, see if you notice it). However, November could be a good month for the game’s longevity, as well, if they do it right. Here’s some of the things I would add if I were running the show:

 

1. Optional Slide/Charge:
Yeah, a lot of people were caught off guard that Capcom decided to nix both the slide move (that was introduced in MM3), and that charge weapon (MM4). It made the game MUCH harder just because you didn’t have those additional options. However, while I’m not going to whine about that, there is something that I need to say about that point: It made the game not make much sense continuity-wise, because the game kept introducing new things that were kept in (the Auto screw store was still included, as was Rush and Beat). There wasn’t any in-story explanation as to why those two things weren’t in this game (just a quick line of “You haven’t done this in a while”, which didn’t really explain anything). No, I’m not expecting the Megaman series to hold too much continuity, but it has held some for some of the major things. It even brings up the new charge weapon (it’s the first time the English version of MM called it the “Mega Buster”) in Megaman 4 during the opening of that game as something Dr. Light gives him to use against Dr. Cossack (whatever happened to HIM, by the way? He was saved from his “job”, made Beat as a thank you to Mega, and then Capcom just forgot they MADE him). So, I’m proposing that Capcom adds an option for us to turn this on or off at our leisure. That way, everyone is happy because I know some people love that additional challenge, and some people would love to have those two extra things to use (remember that both things can backfire on you if you don’t use them right). It would only make sense, actually. However, with the charge weapon, they should do it the way they did it from Megaman 5 on (where you lost your charge if you got hit by something, whereas in MM4 you kept it).

 

2. PS3 Trophies
Hell, get to doing this NOW! I’m not sure WHY the hell they didn’t add trophies to this game, and there was no reason not to. We know the Wii has yet to even get a system in place (although why would it matter as Nintendo hasn’t gotten the INTERNET figured out yet), so challenges are good for emulating such, and we know Microsoft requires achievements for all of their games, so you are guaranteed to receive some of them from the 360 version. However, right now, anything with trophy support gets full praise from the PS3 crowd right now, since it’s still rather new for the system and PS3 owners want more and more of them (they become mandatory in 2009). Why Capcom didn’t capitalize on this, I’ll never know (I never heard anything saying that Capcom wasn’t planning on this, I may have missed that news in the sea of LBP, TGS, and GoW2 news that was flooding N4G). So here is a simple request: ADD THEM!! Use the challenges and make some up for us to win. You even got some challenges that could be warrant of some gold ones, as well. Hop to it, Capcom!

 

3. Doc Robot
If no one remembers what this thing was, it was this robot that is about the size of Concrete Man. His only appearance was on Megaman 3, but he had a very interesting aspect to him: He was given a certain robot master’s skill set. It was so he could emulate the Megaman 2 bosses (you had to replay four of the eight MM3 stages and fight two bosses in each of those stages). His appearance didn’t change once he had assumed the identity of that master, but he had as much quickness, power, whatever, as the master he was emulating. So why am I bringing this up here: Capcom can bring him back and use him to emulate some of the past robot masters, and make some special stages where we can fight him as a master from the past. Like, instead of fighting that boulder thing in Jewel Man’s stage, have Doc appear and take on the roll of Pharaoh Man or Stone Man to have us beat, or stick him into endless mode to make that MORE challenging (because you never know which master he’ll pick). The battles would be even harder because you need to compensate for his size (he is, again, a pretty hefty robot), and of what you have in your arsenal to fight him. Capcom made the Megaman 2 bosses weak to at least one of the MM3 weapons when they did this. I’m sure they can add Concrete weakness to Star Man, and they can DEFENITELY give that same to Cut Man or Quick Man (okay, I’ll admit, this is bringing back memories saying the names of some of these bosses, especially the bosses from the later games to see if people remember THEM). Hell, this would be a good chance to bring the MM7 and MM8 masters into the 8-bit world (Shade Man or the Clown Man battle, anyone?). Adding this would bring this game an entire realm of possibilities, if not a sense of nostalgia.

 

4. The Robot Staff Catalog
I was kind of dismayed that I didn’t see it in the credits in MM9. It’s kind of a stupid request, but it was in every Megaman game except the first one (and they did THAT catalog in MM3), and to see it NOT in MM9 is puzzling. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s when you beat any of the MM games (well, the classic series, anyway, although I know that some MMX games did this to some degree), the game displays the bosses one by one, giving their name, number in the catalog (apparently the order number, telling us how many robot masters Capcom has made in the series, the number includes Megaman, 2, and Roll, 1, and Protoman was 0), and the name of the staff member who designed him (or who had the biggest hand in it).They don’t HAVE to add this, but it would be cool to see the rundown of the bosses again.

 

5. Downloadable tracks from past MM games to use in MM9
Who can forget the awesome music that was used in Dr. Wily’ first stage in MM2, or Cut Man’s music? Or maybe you’re one of those 8-bit music geeks that remembers that really weird percussion sound Capcom used for all the MM6 music (go play MM6 again, you’ll know what I mean). I personally loved all of the MM music. In fact, MM has ALWAYS been known for having some of the best damn music ever in a platformer series, and Capcom should take firm ad
vantage of this. They already released the MM9 soundtrack in Japan. They could follow up by letting us buy a set of music that came from past MM games (in all their 8-bit glory) for us to add into the game in place of the original soundtrack (as awesome as it is).Trust me, Capcom, we Megaman fans would eat it up, because the music (after the intense difficulty, or course) is one of the reasons why the MM series is so awesome. Oh, and like what I said about the Doc Robot thing, you could scale down the MM7 and 8 musics, too.

 

I’m sure we can think of other things that Capcom can add to this game that is not on this list (this is just mine), but simple thing is that Capcom did a better job with MM9 than some were ready to give them credit for, and they seem ready to support it to the hilt. Good job on Capcom to try something daring. Let’s hope they continue to support it, and let’s hope they add some of this stuff in the future.