Mega Man 10 Video Game Review (About In Description)
0The Blue Bomber returns in another 8-bit adventure that will delight his old-school fans.
One of the most common themes in discussions and arguments among gaming aficionados is the idea of endless industry progression. Games are supposed to become more and more beautiful as time goes on. Accompanying soundtracks are supposed to become increasingly epic. Storytelling should become more seamless and enthralling. Ingenious methods of gameplay are expected to push us into the great unknown of the medium. And that's fine. For the most part, such notions are what keep our beloved industry trucking forward, dropping jaws and bloodying thumbs in the process. But when you play a game like Mega Man 10, delivered by Capcom to its old-school fans as yet another offering following the 2008 release of Mega Man 9, you realize that stagnation and regression can be good things, too.
Mega Man 10 is a game for the core Mega Man franchise's many fans, and its appeal inherently sits with its backwards-looking approach. There's nothing new about Mega Man 10's tech, delivery or gameplay. The title looks, sounds, feels and plays like the very first Mega Man game released twenty-three years ago on the NES. While Mega Man 7 (SNES) and 8 (PSX/SAT) deviated from the 8-bit path, and ended up disappointing many an ardent fan as a result, Mega Man 9 returned to the series' roots, and Mega Man 10 stays firmly on that same path. And that's a good thing, because the 8-bit world is where Mega Man truly belongs.
For those gamers unfamiliar with the premise of the core Mega Man series, it goes a bit like this. A group of powerful robots are created by Doctors Light and Wily to help humanity in various mundane tasks. Dr. Wily turns on Light and reprograms most of these robots to do his bidding, but one of these robots, Mega Man, quickly throws the kibosh on Dr. Wily's nefarious plans (as played-out in the original Mega Man game). In each of the next eight games, from Mega Man 2 through 9, Dr. Wily returns in one fashion or another, this time with robots he's engineered or corrupted, in endless attempts to take over the world, and to kill Mega Man in the process. He never succeeds, which is what makes Wily one of the more persistent and humorous foils in the realm of gaming. But he keeps on trying nonetheless.
Mega Man 10's story attempts to turn things on its head yet again, with Dr. Wily appearing to not be behind the robotic attacks at the center of the plot (and we won't spoil whether or not that's actually the case, but we're pretty sure you've got a good idea if you played, say, Mega Man 4, 5, 6 or 9). Instead, a robotic virus known as Roboenza has wreaked havoc, and some of these corrupted robots are attempting to take over. But no matter which direction the story dashes towards, Mega Man's gameplay and aesthetics remain the same as they've been for a long time. And for a title like Mega Man 10, gameplay is king.
Veterans of the franchise will know precisely what to expect, and will immediately feel at home with everything Mega Man 10 has to offer (especially if you played Mega Man 9, and witnessed some of the subtle changes and additions developer Inti-Creates threw into the game). The game is a 2D side-scrolling action game. The Blue Bomber is still equipped with his trusty arm cannon, and he'll once again be able to choose his path through a majority of the game by selecting the order to defeat eight levels, and those stages' boss enemy, known as Robot Masters. As always, going in a certain order is always the best idea, since each weapon you earn from a downed Robot Master is another's weakness. Exploiting these foes' weaknesses will make the game far more manageable, and for fans of the series, figuring out this order is part of what makes these games so fun. And following those stages are the ruthlessly-difficult end levels, with a more linear approach leading up to the game's conclusion.
But just because Mega Man 10 looks backwards in so many ways doesn't mean the entire package is a throwback. While the classic Mega Man gameplay shines through in the game's main campaign, there are plenty of extras that will keep gamers busy as well. For instance, Time Attack mode makes its return in Mega Man 10 (having first been seen in Mega Man 9), allowing gamers to work their way through unlocked stages as quickly as they can. Times for each stage are kept on an internet high score board for all to view, so there's plenty of incentive to master these stages (and indeed, beating the game will also put that time on an scoreboard accessible via Xbox Live.)
An even more major addition to Mega Man 10 is something not seen even in Mega Man 9, and it's called Challenges Mode. Mega Man 9 had Challenges that were, in essence, the equivalent of Achievements or Trophies. But this time, these Challenges are a bit more clear-cut to earn,