Looking Back: Mega Man 10
As part of our celebration of the Mega Man series hitting its 25th anniversary, we are featuring a look back at many of the games of the Classic series. For this entry, I’ll be looking Mega Man 10, a great game that came after a really great game.
It is hard to define what elements guarantee a universally loved Mega Man game, but I tend to argue that it usually revolves the interaction between two important elements. The first element is each game’s earned weapons that make the player go from weak and feeble to strong and powerful. The second element is level design. The real genius of the best installments comes when these two elements are synthesized to create a really great game.
Obviously, some folks will differ from this analysis, but keeping to this framework can explain why Mega Man 10 was great, why its new elements help alleviate some of its shortcomings, but in the end comes up feeling a bit less accomplished than its predecessor.
The weapon selection in Mega Man 10 is sort of bizarre; many of the weapons are difficult to use for precise hits (Commando Bomb, Chill Spike, Thunder Wool), while others are hard to completely control in a predictable manner (Rebound Striker, Water Shield). The Triple Blade is pretty good and the Wheel Cutter is a great upgrade to Item-3 and is halfway decent in attacking ground and wall-bound enemies. To round it off, the three Mega Man Killer weapons are fun but are far more useful and powerful than anything else available to the Blue Bomber, and due to their DLC Time Attack-exclusive nature, their presence disrupts the usual process of making the player stronger over the course of the game. While the weapon rosters tread around average across the original series, it unfortunately came after Mega Man 9 and its arsenal of versatile and multi-purpose weapons.
Despite the missteps of the weapon roster, Mega Man 10 is still a joy to play because of its remarkable level design. The various gimmicks utilized in each level follow the dogma set by its best predecessors, introducing new concepts in a low-threat environment (like Blade Man’s see-saws) before reintroducing it with flying enemies, spiked floors, and bottomless pits. Additionally, gimmicks like the flying fire orbs in Solar Man’s level, sandstorms in Commando Man’s base, and speeding trucks in Nitro Man’s highway are some of the most well thought-out design innovations in the series.
The pacing of many levels is also tends to be geared toward more substantial mini-boss fights (carrying over a concept originating in Mega Man 8 and followed to some degree in MM9), leading to an absolutely fantastic showdown with the Wily Archive bosses at the beginning of Skull Castle. These bosses are made even more enjoyable by the inclusion of fighting them again on various difficulty levels in the challenges mode, the new inclusion that gave players another way to experience Mega Man.
Great bosses aside, MM10 gets around the weapon roster shortcomings by giving players opportunity to play through the game with Proto Man and Bass. While Mega Man’s brother and nemesis are not exactly radically different in gameplay, they are each distinct enough to make going through the levels and their ingenious design feel new and different enough.
While the typical formula for a good Mega Man game is proper synergy between weapons and level design, Mega Man 10 turns that idea on its head at least in part. Despite a kind of bizarre and less-than-helpful weapon roster, the level designs and more complicated bosses make MM10 a fantastic experience that is enriched by additional characters and the new challenges mode, respectively.
This is the last in my series of looking back on the main installments of the Mega Man Classic series. While it has been my absolute pleasure to review some of my favorite games and it has been a lot of fun working as the occasional news editor-turned-editorialist, I am unfortunately going to be taking a leave of absence until next Fall due to professional obligations that has me taking some substantial time away from regular internet (among other things). Thank you for reading!
Screenshot Credits: GameFAQs/Gamespot
James is TMMN’s Features Contributor and world traveler. He is currently in a faraway land, but he occasionally sends messages in a bottle. If you require more of his love, he left behind a sentient Tumblr account that updates all on its own.
The views expressed here reflect the views of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mega Man Network.
Tags: 25th anniversary, editorial, Mega Man 10, Mega Man Classic
Filed under: Editorials
Good job and thanks for the reviews!
I think MM10 turned out how MM9 was meant to be like.
The latter lazily borrowed too many elements from MM2, while MM10 managed to keep the formula fresh again.
Also, thanks for the reviews. Hopefully you can tackle the GB series someday.
Agreed! Mega Man 10 seemed to have a lot more work and oomph put into it than 9. I loved using the Wheel Cutter to climb walls: An absolute joy of an ability to have. Weapons that assist Mega Man’s mobility are extremely rare, and thus, wild and wacky. But yes, by the same token, other aspects didn’t seem quite as polished as they could have been.
Well, in Mega Man games, you always find something you like and something you don’t.
-Erico
No mention of music?…
The weird thing for me is, I feel like I should be enjoying 9 more than 10, because its weapon roster was perfect, the story is a little better (the ending also has a better payoff, credits sequence included)… and that’s about it?
I guess because it came after such a long hiatus, when MM9 was announced, I was all over it. I bought both the regular soundtrack and the image soundtrack, and loved them both (yes, I thought going for stylistic variety in the image soundtrack was a good idea). I loved the design of Galaxy Man, especially being based off of Astro Man, one of my favorites, and the idea of having a female robot master was progressive. Fake Man as an extra was a delight. The story was pretty sympathetic too.
It hasn’t even been that long, but I can’t remember any of the music from MM9 (save for Galaxy Fantasy and whatever the endless mode’s song is called. And even then I still prefer the cosmic mood of Star Man and Astro Man R&F songs to Galaxy F.), the image soundtrack didn’t hold up in the long run (except the endless mode, which turned out BETTER in this iteration), and overall design decisions give me a bad feeling I can’t shake. And that’s how MM9 feels like a rom hack or a fan game that tries to hard to be classic. I just can’t play it anymore, awesome weapons be darned.
MM10, on the other hand, felt like it actually came from Capcom and not the internet. The weapons are underwhelming but only because 9 is a tough act to follow. But branching paths make a comeback, the boss battles are actually better, and it seems some elements from Powered Up/8 are used, like the challenges and the bosses having a critical phase in the hard mode.
The chiptune music wasn’t as technologically impressive as nine’s, and I think the sprite animations were slightly fuller in nine as well, but I was actually happy that, slide and charge functionality being stripped aside, MM10 seemed to actually embrace continuing the series by using standards found in later games as opposed to rebooting it as if nothing happened after 3.
The music stands out in my head better too, I guess because it’s a little less ambitious, so it’s easier to remember. I definately appreciate having composers from old games come back to compose a Robot Master’s song, and I really liked hearing what the composers from 7 to R&F were able to bring to the table. Chill Man is like half 8′s Ice Stage, half Ice Stage beta and it has this strange but fitting and chilling sensation of isolation. One of my favorites. I also feel that Farewell to Ballade is one of the best chiptune songs across the entire series.
The image soundtrack was overall better, too. Less experimental, but I think it helped keep it memorable. Again, it must’ve help to be a little conservative. My favorite song there is still Close to the End, just because it made Wily 4 an amazing song somehow. The rest of the soundtrack’s great, but I have to give that one in particular extra credit just for transforming a song into something extraordinary. I guess it helps to know the composer also worked on Vampire Savior’s Fetus of God and the music in Power Fighters, so he seemed to have a handle on adding a techno dance feel to it.
So yeah. Guess that’s it. 10 > 9, mostly because the hype for 9 died out for me, and 10 feels like a succesor and not a predecessor (or unofficial).
I liked this game a bit better than MM9. The difficulty seems a bit more balanced, and playing as 8-bit Bass is fun. Though I’m not crazy on how some of the weapons are hard to use (Thunder Wool, anyone?)
Did you do rockman and forte?
Yeah, thunder wool should have been better implemented.
Indeed. Weapons aside this is as good as a game can be. I still think the weapons are useful in some situations (yes, even thunder whool. Not much, but sometimes it’s my prefered choice). I love this game. If it wasn’t for my nostalgia for MM2 this would be at the top of my list. Also, no MM& Bass? That game is so close to the original formula I count it as part of the classic series.
10 was definetely more complete than 9 to me. The challenges were way better to me too. 10 also had a better storyline to me. 9 had a lot of hype as it should’ve since we’ve been waiting on it for 10yrs but 10 was just simply better to me.
Going with the surprisingly popular opinion here and saying that 10 was hands-down the better game than 9. Yeah, 9′s weapons were stronger, but that’s because 9′s arsenal was so ludicrously overpowered. 10 had the better soundtrack, the better level design, the better balance between players, the better story, and the better selection of extra features. But more than that, 10 felt like it actually was trying to evolve the franchise rather than revert it. Nearly every not-copied-from-MM2 element of 9 was treated as an afterthought. In 10, you have Proto Man (WITH STORY) and alternate difficulty settings right out of the gate instead of having to pay for them. You can switch weapons outside the pause screen, because hey, THE BUTTONS ARE THERE (I just really wish they didn’t use the B trigger on the Wii Remote for that; my giant hands make it easy to hit by accident). The extra levels actually have some point to them besides speedrunning (not a universally appealing play style), and even though Mega Man’s lack of sliding still bites, the MMK weapons give him valuable abilities to call his own, so that he doesn’t go down in history as “Bass’s bitch”, like he did in MM&B.
And dude, that Wily fortress. Wily’s “evil speech” music in 10 is probably his best theme in the series, and that last level/reveal is just nuts. Plus the ending WAS actually surprising and provocative, which is not something you’d expect out of most platformers, much less one following the NES style.
10 wasn’t perfect. But it was far beyond what 9 was, and well above what I was expecting.
It’s a fun game. But it’s the clear image of the starting lack of effort from Capcom. (After that Operation Shooting Star being a Battle Network 1 Recyle) Megaman 10 does not only have recycled backgrounds AND Robot Masters with a slight design change, but it has a badly-made plot, where the stupid idea that robots can get sick is born (Roll having fever was brain-melting) having a disease with a name that makes a clearly not-funy reference to the real disease H1N1, Influenza. I mean… Robôenza? Seriously?!!!
It’s a fun game. But it’s the clear image of the starting lack of effort from Capcom. (After that Operation Shooting Star being a Battle Network 1 Recyle) Megaman 10 does not only have recycled backgrounds AND Robot Masters with a slight design change, but it has a badly-made plot, where the stupid idea that robots can get sick is born (Roll having fever was brain-melting) having a disease with a name that makes a clearly not-funy reference to the real disease H1N1, Influenza. I mean… Robôenza? Seriously?!!!
I already expected certain things done lazy and rushed in this game, since it was announced shortly after MM9 came out
Not to mention that weird ending, with Wily catching the, until now, Robot-Exclusive disease, with a 1 min cutscene having Wily RUN out of the hospital.. WTF? Inafune and Capcom clearly had better ideas back then
I never use any of the weapons in the MM games except for the boss battles. So for me it’s completely the stage design that makes or breaks the game. And MM10 had in my opinion great stages. Certainly better than MM9.
Please keep the MM reviews. Hopefully the GB games will be next.
Much appreciated.
@Vinix: Wily didn’t actually catch Roboenza. And if you’re going to even question a Megaman game’s story elements, think about the obvious. Robots are being infected by a virus? It’s the same bit as Megaman X’s storyline. As for the ‘lazy’ designs on the robots I think they’re mostly a better line-up then 9′s, minus Chill man. He is just awful! XD
10 is actually one of my favorite games of all time. It’s really fun to play, has excellent level design and most importantly feels like a new game. Not Megaman 2 1/2.
I wasn’t really a big fan of the OST at first but I actually really enjoy it now. It’s a little more ambient than usual in some spots which is nice. Not to mention it was great to hear Bun Bun’s music again!
I think I may be alone in this but I actually prefer 10′s weapon set to 9′s. A lot. It wasn’t just press the button and win. Each weapon had more than one use and depending on if you practice with them they can be useless or really effective. E.G. if you hit Nitro Man with the Chill Spike before it lands it will freeze him and do some damage but if it lands and hits him it does way more damage! Same with the Commando Missile, hitting an enemy with the actual missile does far less damage than if you hit them with the explosion. The fact that you had to learn how use your weapons effectively felt like you as a player were improving alongside Megaman himself and that makes each victory more satisfying to me.
Also I do believe this game is the only time Roll has ever done anything in the games, ever. Falling off of the Rush Jet in 9 doesn’t count! XD
James is like the ProtoMan of megamannetwork; he comes when you need him the most, but then he disappears because he’s cool.
What made this game for me was the variety of artists involved, plus the bosses. The bosses always make the first impression. The music keeps you. It gives the game emotion. And while I feel like maybe one or two songs sucked (like Commando Man’s theme… it sucks), everything else was so good. Better than part 9, imo.
@ Cherryko
Wily caught the roboenza because he’s a robot.
10 is my favorite Mega Man game of all time.
Nostalgia included.
It just has so much content, it’s mindblowing.
Difficulty levels that are visually apparent, as well as noticeable on how enemies react (and the bosses).
Three playable characters, each with their own quirks, and story cutscenes.
The endless mode
The THREE Game Boy stages (I’m still a bit disappointed on no Quint… nothing stopped them from adding him to Game Boy’s MMV, so I expected to see him return here)
The composers coming back for this soundtrack.
The Weapon Library bosses, best thing since the Gamma robots fighting with MM2 bosses data back in MM3.
Megaman 10 just has every single reason to be my favorite Mega Man game.
All I can think of to want out of a Mega Man 11 would be the same ammount of care from 10, and add Roll playable (and for an ideal Megaman game, a Co-op multiplayer mode, perhaps in the vein of “Endless Mode” except multiplayer)
I’ve mentioned this before, but I prefer the MM3/4 style to MM2, so it’s no surprise that I wound up liking Mega Man 10 over 9 in the end.
A part of it goes into the stage design. There are a few levels that love their insta-kill traps, but I was actually losing lives more on damage than being hit by an enemy that pops out of a pit or landing on a spike.
I also really enjoyed the boss fights in this one. They come off as more hectic than most of 9′s encounters. That also reminds me to say that I prefer this game’s boss theme as well as most of the soundtrack over its predecessor, too. Themes like Pump or Nitro Man’s stages don’t come around too often, then you have more neat and obtuse stages like Sheep Man on top of that? Sign me up!
9 was good and had a great set of weapons, but it suffered from design issues. 10′s more fair balancing act created a better all-around game to me and wound up being my third favorite of the numbered titles, just a shade behind 3 and 4. It was so much fun.
I’m getting a vibe here that if someone loves 9, they don’t like 10 much, and if they love 10, they don’t like 9 much. Funny…
I know, there are some who love both!
I really need to get back to 10, the DLC seems like fun, I still haven’t gotten any yet.
Also, Mega Man 10 is special to me because I participated in Capcom*Unity’s MM10 art contest. It was fun drawing all of the robot masters, and I got to do a team picture with Rock Miyabi! I didn’t win anything or even get an honorable mention, but it was still enjoyable.
Hey, I love both!
In fact, my newly ranked list of classic Megaman games would be as follows:
-10
-9
-3
-2
-6 (I love beating the bosses with Rush Power Adaptor Megaman)