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Mega Man 10 is deeply rooted in a by-gone era of video games, and with no knowledge of that time and place, a Mega Man 10 review is practically worthless.
So let me take you back in time for a bit.
In the 1980s, video games were simple, fun and more often than not, difficult. So much so that people would frequently brag about beating a particular video game.
It was a badge of honor to be able to say you had completed one of the most difficult games of the era.
If you wanted to see the credits roll at the end of a game you needed quick reflexes, pattern recognition/memorization skills and good hand-eye coordination.
This combination of simplicity and challenge is what made games so rewarding to play.
It never failed.
At some point, in almost every game, you encounter something that appears insurmountable: a chaotic screen full of enemy pixels swarming swiftly towards your character or a chasm-filled landscape too treacherous to traverse.
Then, you die. You failed.
But with a little time and frequent, heavy doses of failure, you improved.
You began to find order in what first seemed like chaos. You attained a feat you once thought impossible, and this gave you hope for future successes which inevitably followed.
And when you reached the finish you felt triumphant because it wasn’t easy.
The popular expression of the time was to declare a video game “conquered.”
This is what Mega Man 10 is all about.
In contrast, modern-day gamers don’t seem to get the same kind of joy from playing a difficult game.
Instead they find difficult games frustrating, cheap and unfair.
As technology has progressed, gamers are increasingly entertained by flashy graphics, immersive sound and involved stories told through cinematic cut-scenes.
Games have slowly become experiences meant to engage our eyes and our ears, not experiences meant to challenge us or test any particular skills.
Mega Man 10 forsakes this trend. Mega Man 10 is a 2D action/platformer that looks, sounds and plays like a game from 1988.
Almost every ounce of entertainment in Mega Man 10 is derived from running, jumping and shooting your way to the end of a stage.
The game is played with three buttons.
It is both simple and yet difficult to master because it’s chock-full of clever variations on a simple concept.
The amount of variety in Mega Man 10 is such that rarely do two stages look or feel the same, and many are filled with stage-specific enemies, obstacles and platforming contraptions that never reappear.
This keeps the game interesting and constantly surprising from beginning to end.
If you need all the visual, audio and cinematic bells and whistles of modern games, or if you’re easily frustrated when things don’t come easy, Mega Man 10 is not for you.
But, if want to play a shining example of an entertaining, old-school video game, buy this.
t’s a phenomenal testament to what made games so much fun back in the ’80s.
And the music kicks ass.
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