Wily Level 1 is evil

But I love it.

Since this is a spoiler-free zone I am forbidden from saying more.

But what I will say are a few words of my impressions of Mega Man 10 after spending around three hours with it today and beating all eight robot masters.  In no particular order:

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  • Love the new enemy ideas, such as:
    • The Mettaurs which shoot the sticky goo crap at you in Pump Man’s level which makes you slide
    • Little floating heads which dock with special parts on the ground to become grenade-dropping pains-in-the-ass
    • Mouse cursors which draw rows of box-shaped projectiles and send them flying at you
  • Some levels feature multiple routes, something we saw in later Mega Man games but not (as far as I can recall) in MM9
  • We also see for the first time ever in an 8-bit Mega Man game some… other nonlinear elements.  You’ll see what I mean
  • Sheep Man’s level… LOL.  I love the complete lack of relevance
  • Music is quite good; a few songs are disappointing, but overall, a pretty solid Mega Man soundtrack
  • The new challenge mode is an awesome idea
  • “Great” storyline
  • Awesome new gameplay ideas to prove 2D platforming can still be innovative.  Just a few from off the top of my head:
    • Great color-coded block elements; the color of block you jump on immediately begins to flicker and disappears in a couple of seconds.  The blocks can also include other items, such as spikes!  This makes for a really cool fast-paced puzzle element and some truly awesome opportunities for suicide IRL emo omg.
    • Nifty see-saw lifts which move horizontally to the right as you jump back and forth between the platforms, typically overtop the requisite expanse of spikes below
    • Opaque sandstorms which send you flying to the right and completely obscure your view of the level as you travel until they end a few seconds later
    • Trucks which race through road segments, decorated with spikes aplenty, of course

And all of this pales in comparison, of course, once again, to Wily Level 1, which is just such a bitch.  But a wonderful, 8-bit, nostalgic, nearly-impossible bitch.  And oh, do I love her, pixilated disposition notwithstanding.