Review: Mega Man 10

The Mega Man franchise is one of the most recognized names in gaming. Since the character’s creation in 1987, there have been over fifty titles bearing the Mega Man name with sales exceeding the population of Malaysia. It is also one of my personal favorite series. I celebrated when Capcom released Mega Man 9, but I remained skeptical of their ability to bottle lightning a second time. Did the latest entry live up to its lineage? Find out after the jump.

 Mega Man 10 follows the same essential formula of Mega Man 9: continue the Mega Man series where Mega Man 2 left off, mechanically. While this effectively removes the sliding and weapon charging mechanics (added in Mega Man 3 and 4, respectively), the addition of Protoman as a playable character did wonders to resolve that issue. Though 9 added Protoman after release as DLC, 10 gives you the option right from the start, with the promise of Bass (of Mega Man 7 and Mega Man & Bass fame) as a third playable character next month. The tremendous differences between these two characters essentially doubles the length of Mega Man 10 and constitutes a huge boon to its replay value. Add to that the new easy mode for the uninitiated, and Mega Man 10 is easily the largest of the 'classic' series.

It's all about Protoman.

The ultimate worth of a Mega Man game, however, comes down to its gameplay. Mega Man 9 had the punishing difficulty of an early NES game, and Mega Man 10 follows in its footsteps. 10’s normal mode ranks a step below 9 in difficulty – there are fewer infuriating mini-bosses and the bosses deal less damage on the whole. As an NES veteran, I was constantly expecting the other shoe to drop (and squash me), but it wasn’t until Wily’s Fortress that the difficulty really ramped up. That’s not to say that I did not enjoy the difficulty, only that the game was slightly less exciting than its predecessor. The new easy setting eliminates the vast majority of the game’s pitfalls (literally), which might be a nice way to learn the game if you had absolutely no experience with the series, but to a veteran the simplicity makes the whole experience an agonizing slog. In contrast, hard mode is a nightmare where the game throws the kitchen sink at you with no remorse.

The robot master powers are diverse and fun – the best being Wheel Cutter, a hand-held saw blade that can be used to fly up vertical surfaces. The powers lack the subtle utility of Mega Man 9’s, but they also feel more balanced. There are a few great standouts, but no real stinkers, like top spin.

Ah, spikes. We meet again. And again. And again.

All things considered, Mega Man 10 is a strong addition to the series. Like all non-RPG Mega Man games, your first play-through will only take you a few hours, and subsequent games will go much quicker. While it never quite hits that magic spot that its direct predecessor did, but if you like Mega Man games the combination of two playable characters, great difficulty potential, and some excellent challenge missions make Mega Man 10 an excellent addition to your download library.

Mega Man 10 was released for WiiWare on Monday for 1000 Wii points. It drops on PSN March 11, and XBLA at the end of the month.

MSRP: $10.00

CASRP: $15.00

CouchAthletics.com doesn't rate games with stars of percentages; we tell you what the game is worth to us.  We paid for the game just like you will, or won't.  We're telling you what we paid, and how much we feel the game is worth.