Mega Man 9's Got Bugs...Intentionally

[Psykoboy2]

In Capcom's ongoing efforts to give Mega Man 9 a true retro 8-bit feel, they've intentionally put bugs within the game.

From Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/05/mega-man-9-getting-intentional-bugs-flicker/): Hironobu Takeshita recently told Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3752/he_is_8bit_capcoms_hironobu_.php) that the download will have the look and feel of a NES-era release, and that things such as sprite flicker have even been included as a -- thankfully optional -- feature.

"Yeah, there were some things, like you couldn't have more than three enemies on the screen at once, so we had to make sure that that's how it stayed in our game. In the part with the dragon with the flame, [there should be] flickering, and whatnot," noted the game's producer. "In the options of this game, you can adjust that, unlike the old games."

I have to hand it to Capcom for going all out on something like this. Joystiq brought it up, but yeah, short of blowing into the cartridge, they are doing everything they can to evoke that early NES feeling of playing Mega Man.

[TrackZero]

They'd have made some nice cash on the side printing 1000 limited edition $500 NES cartridges for this title.

[jeffool]

They'd have made some nice cash on the side printing 1000 limited edition $500 NES cartridges for this title.That's pretty fuckin' genius of you, Tracklesworth.

[Abash Alarmist]

I'm still having issues figuring out what is wrong with the Capcom people.

[Variable Gear]

Capcom is really doing great work with Mega Man 9. This is how you do a retro revival, Square.

[Ancalagon]

They should put in a bug that simulates your 70kg dog walking into the room, bumping your console, and causing it to crash while you were battling one of Doctor Wily's creations in his last castle. I loved that one.

Seriously, this is getting retarded. Retro != outdated.

[Smoof]

They should put in a bug that simulates your 70kg dog walking into the room, bumping your console, and causing it to crash while you were battling one of Doctor Wily's creations in his last castle. I loved that one.

Seriously, this is getting retarded. Retro != outdated.

I still think it's kind of cool. I think it's kind of a fun throwback for people who have been gaming a bit longer. There's an entire generation (maybe two) of gamers who've never touched an NES and quite possibility even a Super NES or Genesis. Nothing wrong with reminding us "old timers" what gaming used to be like.

[mkelehan]

I'm going to turn it off and keep it off, but the fact that the option's there at all is really cool.

[Savok]

This pretty much seals a purchase from me. That level of attention to detail... just amazing.

[gojira]

short of blowing into the cartridge, they are doing everything they can to evoke that early NES feeling of playing Mega Man.[/i]

That's a cool idea actually. Zelda on the DS requires you to blow into the microphone to blow out some candles in the game. I wonder if the next step will be a game that won't play until you blow like heck on a little virtual console?

[divinechaos]

Love it! I want this game to have slowdown when theres more than 3 enemies on the screen at once. Day one purchase for me.

[Savok]

The Wii and DS can connect to each other.... just saying.

[Deepsleeper]

That's awesome. And I thought the emulated attribute clash in the 360 Jetpac was retro.

[Orz]

They should put in a bug that simulates your 70kg dog walking into the room, bumping your console, and causing it to crash while you were battling one of Doctor Wily's creations in his last castle. I loved that one.

Seriously, this is getting retarded. Retro != outdated.

My roommate has the same level of hate for the game. He expects that every retro-title should be given the Bionic Commando treatment. Myself, I'm pretty indifferent. Obviously there are some people who really like this approach. Accept that this game isn't for you, and lay off the vitriol.

[TrackZero]

I'm still having issues figuring out what is wrong with the Capcom people.

Capcom's actually paying attention to the North American market and listening to their fans instead of telling them what they should like. It's quite refreshing to see actually, they've quickly became my current favourite publisher over the last few years.

[menage]

My roommate has the same level of hate for the game. He expects that every retro-title should be given the Bionic Commando treatment. Myself, I'm pretty indifferent. Obviously there are some people who really like this approach. Accept that this game isn't for you, and lay off the vitriol.

I love this whole concept. For that's what it is, a concept. Which people fail to realize. It's not thta they couldn't give it the BC treatment, but they chose not to.

I already hated it when Capcom turned Megaman into X on the SNES. Adding some lame story about special forces, adding zero, etc.

MM2 is still one of the fondest gaming experiences I've ever had and I love how they try to recapture that experience from the ground up.

I can see why some people might not want this. But evolving something doesn't make it necessarily better. Just look at Sonic.

Can't wait to hear the 8bit tunes again. :)

[Rommel]

So they are emulating the gameplay, not just the graphics?! Three enemies a screen and less animation frames is disappointing.

[Esquilax1138]

Lets hope that some PC games start coming with things like this. Say having to edit your autoexec.bat and config files, your soundblaster support, and some memory managers. :p

[Talon-]

So they are emulating the gameplay, not just the graphics?! Three enemies a screen and less animation frames is disappointing.

Apparently it's even harder than the older games according to those who've played it.

[LongStepMantis]

The first NES game I bought was the original Mega Man.

I'm loving what they're trying to do. I still remember how excited I got when I found out Mega Man 2 was coming out, and even more so when I actually played it. So I can appreciate the nostalgia of this. For me, it's like stepping into the way-back machine.

[LongStepMantis]

So they are emulating the gameplay, not just the graphics?! Three enemies a screen and less animation frames is disappointing.

In the old Mega Man games, 3 enemies on the screen was more than enough. Those were much harder than the cakewalks that were X and afterwards.

[Vagabondllama]

Can't. Wait. For. This. Game.

[EvenStephen7]

I gotta agree, this is amazing. Not only are we getting a (gasp!) new sequel that stays true to the original, we're getting a perfect homage to aspects of the game that well in love with in the first place.
It's like the movie Grindhouse, with the "missing reels". Anyone whos been to a real ratty grindhouse theatre and seen B-movies totally appreciates that kind of attention to detail. Everyone else just dosen't get it.

But I'll take this over Sqenix re-releasing the same game with minimal changes ( any of the FFs on Game Boy, Chrono Trigger on DS this fall), or by completely changing what was important with the games to begin with ( Capcom's Megaman X, Sqenix's Chrono Cross).

[protocol_image]

I already hated it when Capcom turned Megaman into X on the SNES. Adding some lame story about special forces, adding zero, etc.

MM2 is still one of the fondest gaming experiences I've ever had and I love how they try to recapture that experience from the ground up.

I can see why some people might not want this. But evolving something doesn't make it necessarily better. Just look at Sonic.

Can't wait to hear the 8bit tunes again. :)

get out of my head!!!!

seriously, i've been asked many-a-time that if i were stuck with only ONE game to play for the rest of my life, which would i choose.........and i just can't top Megaman 2........hell, right now, out of the blue, i just got FlashMan's stage music in my head, cuz that is always the first level i would play

[LongStepMantis]

get out of my head!!!!

seriously, i've been asked many-a-time that if i were stuck with only ONE game to play for the rest of my life, which would i choose.........and i just can't top Megaman 2........hell, right now, out of the blue, i just got FlashMan's stage music in my head, cuz that is always the first level i would play

MegaMan 2 immediately makes me think of BubbleMan and the bs room you fight him in with the spiked balls on the ceiling. I remember vividly how pissed I got the first time I fought him and kept forgetting about that when I went to jump his shots.

After you were used to it, it wasn't bad, but insta-death traps in a boss room suck.

[Savok]

get out of my head!!!!

seriously, i've been asked many-a-time that if i were stuck with only ONE game to play for the rest of my life, which would i choose.........and i just can't top Megaman 2........hell, right now, out of the blue, i just got FlashMan's stage music in my head, cuz that is always the first level i would play
I have far too many FlashMan remixes...

[Rommel]

In the old Mega Man games, 3 enemies on the screen was more than enough. Those were much harder than the cakewalks that were X and afterwards.

I am not complaining out the difficulty. In fact, I have complained for years the overwhelming ease with which modern games are overcome. Still, reducing the number of mobs on screen at one time drastically changes the game you are playing - is it 3 pain in the ass enemies or fifty much weaker baddies to dodge and fight? It means Mega Man 9 is 1942 to Mega Man 8's Ikagura. Niether is a bad game, but despite being the same genre they are different gameplay experiences.

[LongStepMantis]

I am not complaining out the difficulty. In fact, I have complained for years the overwhelming ease with which modern games are overcome. Still, reducing the number of mobs on screen at one time drastically changes the game you are playing - is it 3 pain in the ass enemies or fifty much weaker baddies to dodge and fight? It means Mega Man 9 is 1942 to Mega Man 8's Ikagura. Niether is a bad game, but despite being the same genre they are different gameplay experiences.

I'm not saying your view is misguided in any way. I'm not the kind of person who wants everything to be slow and measured, the more things there are on the screen to destroy, the happier I am. :D

In the end, I'm just confident they'll do it right. Like you said, are the enemies a pushover, or killing machines? We don't know. Some will be, some won't and we just have to trust that they will be appropriately placed. I can't recall that many times when there were more than 2 or 3 enemies on screen in the early games anyways, to be honest. A few parts yeah, there were more.

[Kagger]

MegaMan 2 immediately makes me think of BubbleMan and the bs room you fight him in with the spiked balls on the ceiling. I remember vividly how pissed I got the first time I fought him and kept forgetting about that when I went to jump his shots.

After you were used to it, it wasn't bad, but insta-death traps in a boss room suck.

Oh come on LongStep, you should know that in the Bubbleman fight you never have to move. Just take out the metal blades, and follow him on his arc. He goes directly above you, maybe touches you once, but by then he should be dead.

[OrangePulp]

I am not complaining out the difficulty. In fact, I have complained for years the overwhelming ease with which modern games are overcome. Still, reducing the number of mobs on screen at one time drastically changes the game you are playing - is it 3 pain in the ass enemies or fifty much weaker baddies to dodge and fight? It means Mega Man 9 is 1942 to Mega Man 8's Ikagura. Niether is a bad game, but despite being the same genre they are different gameplay experiences.

But that's the point: they're emulating the old games. They don't want to make Ikaruga, they want to make 1942. If they could top MM2, it would be one of the greatest games ever made.

[Rommel]

But that's the point: they're emulating the old games. They don't want to make Ikaruga, they want to make 1942. If they could top MM2, it would be one of the greatest games ever made.

Hence the disappointment. I liked Mega Man 8

[LongStepMantis]

Oh come on LongStep, you should know that in the Bubbleman fight you never have to move. Just take out the metal blades, and follow him on his arc. He goes directly above you, maybe touches you once, but by then he should be dead.

Well, I played the game last when it came out. So maybe my memories are clouded by the fact it's been almost 20 years. :p

But I remember having lots of problems there, so I maybe I was just bad at it back then.

[dirtbag]

Lets hope that some PC games start coming with things like this. Say having to edit your autoexec.bat and config files, your soundblaster support, and some memory managers. :p

Hey, no one could possibly need to use more than 640k of RAM, right?

I remember running a multiboot with 5 options of autoexec.bat and config.sys, just to cover all of my bases. Yes, those were the "good old days"!

[Disgustipated]

Hey, no one could possibly need to use more than 640k of RAM, right?



Love that quote, because it's taken out of context and was never even said in that way. Heh.

[divinechaos]

Wait, wait. When this comes out for XBLA will it be in HD? Or will I need an RF receiver to play this game properly?

[Variable Gear]

Don't 360 games have to be in HD? I'm sure you'll be fine without the adapter.

[menage]

get out of my head!!!!

seriously, i've been asked many-a-time that if i were stuck with only ONE game to play for the rest of my life, which would i choose.........and i just can't top Megaman 2........hell, right now, out of the blue, i just got FlashMan's stage music in my head, cuz that is always the first level i would play

Haha, funny how I don't even remember Flashmans music, but could whistle Bubbleman's, Woodman's and Quickman's right now. I just downloaded the music for fucks sake:P

Game music was way better back then, it actually had music you remembered in the shower:), not some orchestral movie symphony which doesn't stick in your head.

[protocol_image]

Game music was way better back then, it actually had music you remembered in the shower:), not some orchestral movie symphony which doesn't stick in your head.

A while back, I went to zophar's domain and snagged every single NES game NSF music file he had......tried out a few NSF players until I found a WinAMP plugin that had the most authentic sound......and would play NES game music all day long on headphones while at work.

Since those songs were designed to loop and remain catchy, I'll find exactly what you said to be true. I'm in the shower and the first level from Batman kicks in. I'm in the grocery store, and out of nowhere I start humming Kid Icarus tracks. I wake up in the morning and I swear I hear Bloody Tears from Castlevania II.....oh wait, that because it is my wake-up alarm on my cellphone :D

[Darkmatter]

MM2 was my favorite MM game. It was a bit to easy which was a shame, but the fun factor and polish for the time was amazing. I would still gladly pull out my NES right now and fire up MM2....

Infact I'm gonna stop talking about it because if I don't I'm gonna have to spend the next 2 hours rummaging through my basement looking for all the right cords......

[menage]

Since those songs were designed to loop and remain catchy, I'll find exactly what you said to be true. I'm in the shower and the first level from Batman kicks in.

Holy christ. I loved that game and music:). It totally rocked.

[Furious Wang]

Its funny, I saw this on display at comic-con with the banner of "MegaMan9" but just assumed I was looking at a retro-Megaman unlockable from the main game. I wasn't aware that it actually was the main game. Very clever!