Mega Man 10 Review

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.

Rating Description out of 10:

5.0 Presentation
Mega Man 10's many menus are admittedly low-key and entirely text-based, but the game's presentation isn't what's important. It's what's underneath the surface that matters.

8.0 Graphics
Mega Man's graphics should be scored based upon the specific look they were going for, and as you know, the Mega Man titles on the NES were some of the console's prettiest.

8.5 Sound
Mega Man MIDIs remain some of the most famous and well-loved musical tracks in gaming history. There are some real gems on Mega Man 10's soundtrack that continue that proud tradition.

9.0 Gameplay
Gameplay is king, and Mega Man 10 has it down to a tee. Everything about it feels like an NES Mega Man game, and that's exactly what Inti-Creates was going for.

8.0 Lasting Appeal
Assuming you can even beat it on normal difficulty, there's hard to worry about. And playing as Proto Man. And all of the Challenges and Time Attack stages. Whew!

8.5
Great OVERALL
(out of 10)