Mega Man 10: A Brand New Blast From The Past

Many gamers who've been playing since the '80s have fond memories of the original Mega Man series, which follows the titular robot hero's battles against the evil and ridiculously persistent Dr. Wily and his army of robot masters. I definitely have fond memories of those games. Actually, I have pretty high opinions of all of the MM games, even the newer spin-offs, but most people will tell you that the classic 8-bit series was what they loved.

After developer Capcom decided to move into 16- and 32-bit territory with Mega Man 7 and Mega Man 8, players decided to move on because those games didn't play like the NES titles. Well, Capcom realized that was the case, and in 2008, released Mega Man 9, a true 8-bit action platformer that looked, sounded, and played just like it would have if it were made in 1988. It was made available for download on WiiWare, Playstation Network, and Xbox Live for the bargain price of $10, and old fans rejoiced. Following the success of that game, we've been graced with another old-school download, Mega Man 10. It is awesome!

Photo Courtesy IGN

In Mega Man 10, you are battling robots that have been infected with the strange "Roboenza" virus, which causes robots to go berserk and attack humans. Mega Man's robot sister, Roll, has been infected, so he sets out to find a cure for the virus and stop the rebellion that has taken hold of the world. Some would ask, "How is this antiquated game with this silly story worth playing?" Well, Mega Man 10 takes the very essence of gaming and makes it its focus. Well-designed stages, somewhat intelligent enemies, and a brutal challenge are, in my opinion, what video games should be about, and MM10 delivers this in spades. Lots of people complained about MM9's difficulty, citing its abundance of one-hit kills and tricky jumps. MM10's normal mode doesn't do much to change this, but an easy mode has been added that I hear makes the game more manageable. I haven't tried it yet, so I can't attest to it, but it appears to be easier since there are platforms to cover up spikes and pits. However, if you're from the old school and are used to the type of difficulty that MM10 offers, you'll be in heaven. Yeah, it's hard, but not unfairly so. If you die, you die because you messed up or your skills aren't up to par. Sorry. Keep trying. That's what it's all about.


"Modern" games inundate you with tutorials and hold your hand throughout. You'll get none of that with MM10, which may frustrate gamers who aren't used to that. However, there's a lot of fun to be had in this game, and you don't need to be an 8-bit gamer to enjoy it. Plus, there are some new additions that most people will be familiar with. The new Challenge stages are the equivalent of a list of Xbox Achievements or PSN Trophies that you have to beat, involving everything from running across a room to beating one of the game's eight main bosses without taking damage. You can also play with Mega Man's brother, Proto Man, from the start. There's a Time Attack mode, and there will also be more stages and another character made available as Downloadable Content in the next month or so. It's a great package overall, and I'm very pleased with it.

Obviously, I like Mega Man 10 a lot, and I think everyone should play it. Rather than write my own closing statement, I'll end with this great paragraph from IGN's review of the game:

"..when you're talking about the classic Mega Man series, the world of 8-bit is precisely where it belongs. And because of that refusal to take a big jump forward, Mega Man 10 delivers. This might be quite the statement for many, but I stand behind it 100%: in terms of pure gameplay, Mega Man 10 is easily a better game than 90% of what we play on a yearly basis. And you can take that to the bank."

Love it!

Anticipation Nears An End...

It arrived. In the mail. In all it's glorious vinyl goodness. What wondrous item arrived? The new full-length from one of my favorite indie artists, The Winter of Mixed Drinks by Frightened Rabbit.

Courtesy: Fat Cat Records

It's been such a busy week that I haven't had time to listen to the album, and it's just about to drive me crazy. I decided to use this blog as a means to ensure I'll listen to the album, in its entirety, tonight. At least twice. How is this blog post going to ensure I do so? I'm PROMISING that I'll give a review of the disc tomorrow.

Until then, I'll leave you with a video I posted a while back, but that I'll post again...simply to whet your appetite for the album review. Happy Thursday!

Netflix...more than renting movies

Gamers and movie buffs alike have (probably) been rejoicing ever since the movie-rental-by-mail service Netflix became available for Xbox Live and Playstation Network. Apparently I'm the only person in the world who hadn't taken advantage of this feature before now. I recently decided to check it out and see what I've been missing, and I must admit, it's pretty cool.

For those who aren't familiar with Netflix, it's an online service that allows you to rent movies from the comfort of your home computer. You search their large library of movies, which includes new releases, classics, documentaries, and indie films, and add the ones that you'd like to see to a queue. Depending on the type of account that you have, they'll send you one or two DVDs that you've selected and you can send them back after you watch them. There aren't any late fees, you just won't get any more DVDs until you send back what you already have. You can also stream certain movies immediately right there on your computer without having to wait for a DVD to arrive in the mail. That's nice, but who wants to sit in front of a monitor and watch a movie? That's where Xbox Live and PSN come in.

Courtesy: Netflix

With your Xbox 360 or PS3, you can login to your Netflix account, select a movie to stream, and watch it right there on your TV screen. If you have a good big screen TV, it can be quite pleasurable compared to watching movies on a monitor. There's no limit to how many movies you can stream from your console, so you can watch one after the other.

Now, I haven't had a Netflix account for very long, so I'm new to this, but my brother has been partaking in this service for quite some time and he says there are a lot of benefits to streaming from your console. He's a major movie buff, so he's on every night watching movies that he normally would not have been able to find in stores and probably would have paid a lot to order. He likes the fact that there's lots of stuff for his kids to watch, something that has been an issue for him in the past. My brother feels that Netflix on Xbox has saved him hundreds, maybe even thousands. Good for him!

If you're like my brother, you should probably give this a try. I'm not as big of a movie fan as he is (or most people for that matter), but there are movies that I'm interested in, and being able to stream them from my Xbox is a convenient way to check them out. As I said, it's available for Xbox Live and Playstation Network, but it's also coming to Wii soon (it will require some sort of "instant streaming disc"), so Wii owners won't be left out. Do any of you stream Netflix movies from your consoles already? Leave some comments about your experiences.

Thursday Trivia Challenge #1

I thought we'd do something a little different this Thursday. Though we're all "working for the weekend" (BTW - who sang that song, we'll make it Question #1)...it's not yet Friday. I thought a little entertainment trivia challenge would make for a fun blog and might get a few of you who read but don't comment to interact with us.

So, here are the questions:

1. 80's MUSIC TRIVIA: What band released "Working For The Weekend" in the early 80's?

2. SEINFELD TRIVIA: What food item did Jerry say Newman wouldn't eat even if it was deep fried in chocolate sauce?

3. COMIC BOOK TRIVIA: What is Clark Kent's middle name?

4. MOVIE TRIVIA: What 2009 comedy does this quote come from? "Well there won't be any berries in the fruit salad now, so we all lose."

5. VIDEO GAME TRIVIA: In 'WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008' (PS2), how much does 'The Rock' cost in the shop?

Simply post your answers in a comment. There's no prize, just the satisfaction of testing your wits against other Scene 13 blog readers. If we get enough interest and answer submissions, I'll see what we can do to create a trivia contest with prizes.

I'll post the correct answers tomorrow morning. Good luck and have a great day!