[crops55]

In regard's to the Maelstrom arguments (I don't even know who this guy is so I don't know why I care but....), I think he is overlooking quite a few things in his comparisons.

"But the reason why I think we can conclude it is bad design is because of the total lack of enemies. Mega Man has a health bar for a reason. Many older stages were designed around no holes or spikes at all. The player would just be destroyed by all the enemies in that stage. But there is none of that in Mega Man 9."

I'm no game developer, but I don't understand how using spikes or holes to increase difficulty is any lazier than just adding more enemies. In fact, I think intentionally combining pits and spikes with a an enemy or two can potentially strike a better balance of well thought out design and challenge for the player. I don't know about anyone else, but I love the platforming of MM games just as much as the action if not more especially when they work well together. I can understand some of the frustration with instant kill areas; however, in most cases I find these areas alot less frustrating than then some of the enemy placement in MM2 (which is his primary comparison).

Let's take Crash Man's stage as an example. Malstrom points out that their are no instant kill areas in this level. Well, that is true, but it does have an obstacle that is truly more frustrating: The birds. Malstrom wants more enemies, well here ya go buddy. Climbing up ladders while birds are vertically dropping eggs that break and unleash around 6 targets that attack me at annoying angles. The only solution (at least that I know of) is to use metal blades or air man's weapon, and even then they are not always guarantees. If I don't have either or I'm not on the ladder that causes the eggs to just fall off the screen, I'm in for incredible amounts of frustration because I can't fucking jump and the mega buster just shoots in a straight line. I would much rather be killed instantly, and learn my lesson for the most part, than be completely be uncertain of how many times I will be knocked off the screen even though I have pretty much perfected all of the "troublesome" instant death areas in the other levels. So what is better design? An area that boils down to random variables the majority of the time, or one that the player can recognize patterns, and condition their timing and hand-eye coordination (which is pretty much the foundation for all MM games, right?)?

He also goes on to complain about the disappearing block section in Plug Man's stage. As most of you have already stated in this thread, this section is cake compared to MM1's and Heat Man's stage in MM2. The pattern in the former is much more complex, and the timing leaves little room for error than that of Plug Man's IMO.

And sure, you can pretty much plow your way through a good portion the enemies and not die at all some of MM9's stages. But what do you do about the robot masters when you only have 1/5th of your life left. There is a good chance you're still gonna die. Besides, you can do this in the majority of MM games. I'm really not buying this whole "lack of enemies" argument at all. Either count them or don't use it for your argument's convenience. And leave Tornado Man's level alone, it's fucking awesome regardless of how many enemies are there.

Also, look at all the unique platforming sequences there are in MM9. You have the portals in Galaxy man's stage, the swinging platforms in Jewel Man's, the gravity shaft in Wily 3, the extending platforms in Hornet Man's stage, and the rotating cylinders in Tornado Man's just to name a few. The level design of MM9 seems to be more well thought out than the previous iterations. It's not always flawless in execution, but you can tell the game isn't just a copy and paste MM formula.

Malstrom also complains about the cool weapons and not having anything to shoot them at. Well, I guess thats a purely subjective statement but the weapons are put to greater use than ever before IMO. Every weapon has more than just one use and it's not always just shoot enemies, but rather environmental uses as well. I don't need to list the examples, because most people already know and have expressed the same opinion, but the diversity and application of the weapons in relation to the entire range of levels is amazing. Being able to tackle any given situation with multiple solutions is a testament to this game's level design; something that isn't nearly as strong or even present in the 1-6 (I haven't played much of 4-6 so this could be argued). Also, even though MM2 is just barely my favorite still, the overpowered metal blades kills what I believe to be it's intentional design (I wouldn't have it any other way though). Also, in MM9, situations that solely depend on how much energy you have for a particular weapon are close to zero. Compare that to earlier installments and then talk to me about cheap design. You could debate what game has stronger or tighter level design, but it all boils down to which one provides the most fun. Even though I still can't decide if MM9 has taken the top spot over MM2 and 3, it is currently the one I find the most enjoyable to play.

"But let me ask you this: are there ANY memorable bosses in Wily’s castle? In Mega Man 1, you had Yellow Devil."...."People have shouted in ‘horror’ and ‘glee’ about the Wily 3 boss of the blobby Yellow Devils, but are blobs really that memorable? The boss was more annoying than anything. Yellow Devil was actually fun."

Okay, I can see your point with the lack of original and memorable bosses in Wily's Castle, but using the Yellow Devil is a horrible contrasting example. Now, I have only played the MM:Powered Up iteration of MM1 (the original version of MM1, not the remake). I have mostly mastered the pattern and can consistently beat the yellow devil without taking a hit. I'm not sure if there is a way around this or it's different than the NES MM1, but I can only hit the yellow devil once every cycle. This is tedious as all hell and at least I can beat the Wily 3 boss in under a couple minutes. The yellow devil is not fucking fun.

MM9 isn't perfect, and it definitely isn't without it's shortcomings, but I firmly believe the level and enemy design is not anywhere near the top of most people's lists.