Topic: Mega Man 9 (WiiWare)

[KDR_11k]

With a real NES game you can clearly say where the limits are and what it can and cannot do, with a pseudo-NES game you can't. Either use the system's capabilities as a guide or just give every game a 10 because it might be looking exactly like it was meant to.

[BeautifulShy]

For those interested the Megaman live stream will start at 2:00. They are going to play Megaman 8.

Megaman live stream

It is starting!

[EasyCure]

how much is this going to be again? i hope i have enough wiipoints!

[BeautifulShy]

1000 points and 200 points for Protoman.

[NWR_Lindy]

I just have beef with the 3.0 graphics score because it's not TRYING to look like Bionic Commando: Rearmed.  It's probably using the same NES engine as the old games, for crying out loud.  Scoring it against today's 2D graphics doesn't make any sense.

[EasyCure]

1000 points and 200 points for Protoman.

sweeeeeeeet i have enough :-D

I just have beef with the 3.0 graphics score because it's not TRYING to look like Bionic Commando: Rearmed.  It's probably using the same NES engine as the old games, for crying out loud.  Scoring it against today's 2D graphics doesn't make any sense.

i agree with this.

you're supposed to score a game for what it is, not for where it stands among its peers. If you're gonna give a game thats supposed to look like it was made in 86 a 3.0 score for graphics, you might as well go back and edit reviews for older games every time a new console generation comes and makes those games look like ass.

Mega Man 9 doesnt deserve a 3.0 because other 2d games out now do it better, it should get a higher score for replicating the old school style its going for well. If Capcom decided to make an 8bit megaman game and gave it new sprites that looked nothing like Megaman, then sure give them a 3.0 because they screwed up the art style they tried to recreate. But because "it looks dated"? please

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

lol game journalism

[vudu]

Who cares about IGN's graphics score?  It doesn't affect the overall score, so it's a rather meaningless number.  It's not even worth discussing.

[EasyCure]

lol game journalism

this is why its worth discussing though.

you might not care becuase it doesnt affect the overall score, or if you dont base your purchases on reviews of a product, but some people (sadly..) do and **** like this misguides them.

[Morari]

I just have beef with the 3.0 graphics score because it's not TRYING to look like Bionic Commando: Rearmed.  It's probably using the same NES engine as the old games, for crying out loud.  Scoring it against today's 2D graphics doesn't make any sense.

It does deserve that score, because using ancient graphics within the game was a dumb idea!

[EasyCure]

what is it that people don't get about this game being complete fan service?

This game was made specifically for the people that grew up playing the Original Mega Man games on the NES and in celebration of 20 years of Mega Man awesomeness. If Capcom wanted to make a more beautiful 2d MM game they'd dish out another Starforce or whatever spin off they have now. This is capcom going back to and honoring Mega Mans roots, so if you're not a fan of it why bother trashing it?

[Flames_of_chaos]

lol game journalism

I LOL at IGNorant Game Journalism.

[EasyCure]

so THATS what it stands for

[KDR_11k]

It's probably using the same NES engine as the old games, for crying out loud.

That makes no sense, NES games work via direct memory access to the various sprite, sound, control, etc addresses.

Scoring it against today's 2D graphics doesn't make any sense.

The problem is what you score it against instead then and what you'll do with other games. MM9 had a crapton of hype beforehand so it was certain that they explicitely went for NES graphics but what about other games? If another game with ugly sprite graphics popped up you'd have to research whether it's a deliberate change or just a failure. If you set the rule that your scoring is measured according to the system's capabilities you avoid all the trouble that is having different standards for different games. Wouldn't all ports be eligible for considering their old system constraints rather than the new system?

[NWR_Lindy]

I'm not talking about a system's capabilities, I'm talking about scoring the game based on the way it was intended to look.  If Capcom had said, "We want MM9 to look like Bionic Commando: Rearmed", and then delivered the game with NES graphics, then by all means give it a 3.0.  But when Capcom openly says, "We're going to go retro and make this look and play exactly like the NES originals", why not reset your baseline and compare its graphics to the NES originals that it's designed to emulate?

Mega Man 9 is essentially a new NES game.  That's what it was intended to be all along, no more, no less.  I think it should be held to the highest standards among NES games, not the highest standards of the current generation of consoles.  Mega Man 9 is an interesting case, though; it's likely the first brand-new game released on a current hardware platform that's deliberately designed to look like it's on an early platform.  It's a "dream scenario" kind of product that hasn't required classification before.

[KDR_11k]

But how do you really know how it was intended to look? Would you have to give Animal Crossing high marks because it was intended to look like an N64 game back when it was made for the N64? It's just too ambiguous and means you'll always face complaints on future games because you called something bad that the fans think of as intentional, better to not allow any such special standards so there's no argument about the baseline to use on a game.

On Polycount the rule used to be that stylization is a bad idea when you want critique because any and all errors could have been intentional and noone can tell whether they are.

[BeautifulShy]

In about 30mins this game is going to be released to the masses.I heard if this game is successful Capcom will do different games in this style.See Who is getting this?

[NWR_Lindy]

But how do you really know how it was intended to look?

Maybe because the Nintendo press release states:

"Mega Man™ 9 (CAPCOM, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Mega Man fans, the wait is over! The classic Blue Bomber that debuted in 1987 is back with the ninth installment in the classic series. It's a new adventure for Mega Man done in an 8-bit style-graphics, music and gameplay are all like you remember them."

I think that pretty much states their intent.

[Spak-Spang]

I think you must look at each individual game, interview the designer/publishers and ask about their graphical intent, and then judge how successful they were after knowing their art direction.  After all we are talking about art.

Animal Crossing is a game that has very simplistic graphics, but it is because the simple style helps people feel more connected to their character...so although the graphics don't look like Halo 3 or Metal Gear Solid 4, it is still a nice looking game.  But, some could argue if it actually achieves its goal.

Looking at Mega Man 9, I see their intentions, and I see the style, and it looks fantastic.  The art direction is stunning...and it always was, even by today's standards I love the art direction of the old Mega Man games, and Mega Man 9 captures it perfectly.

The game deserves much better reviews for graphics then the review gives it.

[Nick DiMola]

Yeah, I think their intentions are pretty obvious with the game, hell they've even come out explicitly saying it. The fact that it wound up 8-Bit style was expected; they even went as far as including slowdown and flicker.

The measuring stick in this case is different from normal. Since we know their intention was to emulate Mega Man 2, bust that one out and do side-by-sides, did they hit the style? If yes, then a high score is in order.

[KDR_11k]

Or score it by NES standards which would still not give it a very high score...

See why I say the style must be ignored to avoid discussions like that?

[Nick DiMola]

Or score it by NES standards which would still not give it a very high score...

See why I say the style must be ignored to avoid discussions like that?

I think scoring it by NES standards is too broad reaching in this case. It isn't trying to emulate NES games as a whole, it's trying to emulate its predecessor in particular. They have said that it's a spiritual successor to MM2, so why not use that as the measuring stick?

[EasyCure]

Or score it by NES standards which would still not give it a very high score...

See why I say the style must be ignored to avoid discussions like that?

I think scoring it by NES standards is too broad reaching in this case. It isn't trying to emulate NES games as a whole, it's trying to emulate its predecessor in particular. They have said that it's a spiritual successor to MM2, so why not use that as the measuring stick?

cuz it makes it harder to complain about a new game in a long lived franchise to not be graphically superior to all of its predecessors..

[vudu]

I think scoring it by NES standards is too broad reaching in this case. It isn't trying to emulate NES games as a whole, it's trying to emulate its predecessor in particular. They have said that it's a spiritual successor to MM2, so why not use that as the measuring stick?

Because MM6 (the last NES MM game) looks a lot better than MM 2.

[Nick DiMola]

But it wasn't trying to look like MM6, it was trying to look like MM2, so what does that matter?