Megaman 10 (WiiWare) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Having proven to be a huge hit critically and commercially last year, a sequel to Capcom's latest 8 bit style revival, Megaman 9, was inevitable. Following on from that title, Megaman 10 continues the current stream of retro style game revivals hitting consoles providing fans of the series with another selection of 8 robot masters to fight their way through while offering newcomers a chance to finally finish the game with the inclusion of some new settings. But is the 8 bit revival still worthy of the series name and credibility or is it beginning to lose its shine?

Gameplay

With the release of a robot only disease, robots around the world are beginning to quickly fall ill. After the disease, known as roboenza, begins to affect character Roll, Dr. Light enlists the help of Megaman to find a cure to save the robot race. To do so, Megaman must head to 8 different worlds and defeat the robot masters of each, in turn creating the cure that will save his friend Roll. Unfortunately, the story doesn't go quite as smoothly as it should and before long, Dr. Wily appears, stealing the cure and leaving Megaman in no fit state to continue the fight. With a little help from his friends who currently have access to a single dose of the cure, Megaman sets off to ultimately confront Dr. Wily and save robots everywhere.

From the beginning, you have access to two characters with which you can complete the game: Megaman, of course, and Protoman, who until now required unlocking through completion of the game to play as. Selecting your character, you'll head to an eight piece selection map where you can choose to take on one of 8 worlds and the respective robot master. There's no set path through which you have to play the levels to reach Dr. Wily's Castle but there are certain worlds which should be tackled before others so as to gain access to weapons which will help defeat the bosses in other worlds. Trial and error is the name of the game for selecting your route through to the end.

The trial and error elements extend to the gameplay itself though. Those who've had experiences in prior Megaman titles will instantly know the difficulty that they'll face as soon as they step into the game and although Capcom has included an Easy mode setting, included this time around so as to make the title slightly more accessible to newcomers by adding platforms to certain areas and decreasingly the difficulty of bosses, Megaman 10 is far from being a push over. Even on Easy mode, the game puts up a good challenge, especially as you near the end and as you increase the difficult to the Normal setting and beyond, the game really doesn't hold back in pushing your skills as a gamer to the limits by asking you to make inch perfect platform jumps and memorising the attack patterns of enemies and boss characters.

With the newly implemented Easy mode, Megaman 10's main story mode can be finished in just under the 2 hour mark, with that mark being easily doubled and extended further in the higher difficulty settings, although hardcore Megaman 10 fans will lavish the online leaderboards for level times and completion times which will push them to complete the game as quickly as possible through speed runs.

Outside of the story mode, there is a Challenge mode where 100 challenges, ranging from simple to extremely difficult, await you. These can be a simple linear level that needs to be navigated or something much more treacherous, requiring you to learn the level layouts and master the controls if you want to complete everything on offer, adding some serious playtime to the game's proceedings. Add to this the fact that Capcom will be supporting the game through downloadable content in the form of further challenge rooms and boss encounters, and Megaman 10 has a serious amount of content for you to sink your teeth into, all of which will take you hours and hours to complete fully.

Controls

Megaman 10 is compatible with either the Wii-mote on its own or the Classic Controller, with both setups working extremely well. In both cases, the d-pad is your mode of manoeuvrability and through it, the game controls just like the earlier Megaman titles on the NES meaning you'll have to make use of the d-pad for pin point accuracy for platforming sections and for taking out boss characters. Similarly, you have a button for jumping and a button for shooting, just as in the NES titles. The simplicity of the controls mean that the gamer can focus on the gameplay but as already mentioned, the game's difficulty can and will push your skills with the controller to the limit.

Perhaps the area where the two control setups are separated is when it comes to changing between the various weapon types you'll gain access to through the defeating of the game's robot masters. Capcom have now implemented an easy access system where you can switch weapons with the press of a button. This is done with a press of the B button on the Wii-mote and by using either the L or R shoulder buttons on the Classic Controller but because of the single button with the Wii-mote, you can only cycle through the weapons in a linear fashion so if you go passed the weapon you want, you'll have to do a complete cycle to get back to the one you want, something which is easily remedied through being able to cycle two ways through the weapons with the Classic Controller. It's a small inconvenience but ultimately makes the Classic Controller setup slightly better for playing.

Graphics

As with Megaman 9, Megaman 10 continues the 8 bit style of visuals. It's a look that not only manages to create a feeling of nostalgia with a brand new game but a style that is distinct and manages to look impressive today in an age where artists seem to be more interested in pushing as many polygons as possible. The pixel work is expertly done, using the art style of yesterday with the techniques of today to create 8 very unique worlds and several later stages within Wily's Castle. While some of the stages may not match up to some of the high standards set in earlier titles, there is enough variety in the design to make them standout.

Character and enemy designs follow a similar line of thought, bringing together styles and designs from the classic Megaman titles but remaking and renewing them for a new era of gaming, simultaneously making for a nostalgic and brand new identity. All models are animated extremely well, showing the advances which have been made over the decades of game design, and the 8 robot masters you'll encounter, and the many sub bosses you'll meet before hand, are supremely done with some even managing to mask and mirror earlier robot masters.

Sound

Continuing the 8 bit tradition, Capcom has created another fantastic retro soundtrack to accompany the gameplay. The new tracks created for the game sound fantastic, exemplifying each of the stages and their specific styles perfectly while being catchy enough to linger long in the memory after you've left the game. Most noticeably, the Nitro Man theme evokes memories of games past and is definitely the high point of the game's fantastic soundtrack.

Many of the trademark sounds from classic Megaman titles return in terms of sound effects, from the instantly recognisable sound of Megaman's blaster and the death chiptune. Even after all of these years it still sounds great and is sure to bring back some memories for those old enough to have played the early games.

Final comments

Megaman 10 builds upon the foundations laid before it not only by the early games in the series but also its predecessor Megaman 9 to create one of the best platforming, side scrolling action games on the WiiWare service. The retro gameplay and presentation still hold your attention as well as they did all those years ago and still feel remarkably fresh even today. The inclusion of an Easy mode is sure to bring in new gamers to the series and with the sheer amount of content already included in the download, and much more planned for the coming months in the form of DLC, for the princely sum of 1000 Nintendo Points, Megaman 10 is an absolute steal and an absolute must for any gamer.

Pro: Huge amount of content, 8 bit presentation is still as fantastic as it ever was, Easy mode is a godsend for the less gifted gamer, provides a very robust challenge
Con: Can at times be very challenging, levels can be trial and error until you learn the layout and master the controls
Final score: 8.8

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