Mega Man 9 is Hard. Really Fucking Hard.
Well…the two shows I played in Albany this past weekend were stellar and I’ll try to get some pictures and video online soon. But this isn’t about that. This is about the time between all the four hours drives back and forth from New York that I dedicated to playing Mega Man 9 with my room mate. And yes, I’m well aware this makes me a nerd. Be prepared for more entries like this.
The most recent entry in the series decided to revert back to the gameplay and 8 bit graphics of the NES games…and apparently, they decided to make it stupid hard while they were at it. But…to call this game “hard” is an understatement. It was clearly designed from the perspective of “How close can we make this to impossible without crossing the line?” This game is SO fucking hard that my roommate and I had to leave the apartment with hopes that a little fresh air would deter us from putting the controller through the drywall. It’s not even difficult for difficulty’s sake; every challenge is designed to be very much possible, but requires a kind of precision usually reserved for jewel cutting and neurosurgery. This is the type of frustration that makes you invent new swear words, but for some reason you’ll keep coming back for another serving of delicious irritation.
Aside from bringing out your inner masochist, though, it succeeds in reminding you what it was like to be 7 years old with a brand new game again. You realize that your adolescent self could have run through this game easily, but now you’re in your twenties stamping around your living room because you can’t get a robot in blue underpants to jump over a pit of spikes. Hours of mind boggling frustration later, we’ve nearly completed the game and the jubilant high fives that have connected under this roof are only surpassed by those seen in Capri Sun commercials in the mid 90’s. Best ten dollars I’ve spent in a long time.