So at this point, you may’ve heard that the next big Mega Man title will be done up completely in 8-bit visuals. Retro-chic? Perhaps. Lazy cash grab? Almost certainly. Keeping the hardcore pleased? Ask the Capcom faithful. Mega Man 9 is many things, but expected it is not. At the very least Capcom has people talking!

As days go by more and more details pour in. One of the first big reveals was the debut of a female boss! Splash Woman, or Splash WomanMan as the fanatics should call her, just to ensure that true retro feel. GamesRadar got their hands on the game recently, and say that it’s just like the “maddeningly difficult” NES games of the late ’80s and early ’90s, though “there are a few extra touches that acknowledge what later games brought to the series.” What’s that referencing? Dynamic level-design? Armour upgrades and Sub Tanks? Dare I say it, a bridge between the Mega Man series and the X series?!?

Here’s another little info dump on the other bosses:

Galaxy Man: level consists of portals that fling Mega Man all around the level, maintaining his momentum with each fling (a lot like Portal, actually), plus enemies that divide into multiple copies of themselves.

Plug Man: home to the required “disappearing block” puzzle

Hornet Man: bees, lots of bees

Jewel Man: there are swings here that you have to move with built-up momentum - we had to try it several times before we could make the jumps

Magma Man: lava and plenty of one-hit-kill beams

Concrete Man: the Guts Man of Mega Man 9

Tornado Man: scourge of the Midwest has one of the hardest levels with tons of mid-air leaps and spinning platforms

Oh yes, it’s also worth mentioning that while there has been rampant speculation that it will appear on XBLA and PSN at some point, the only platform confirmed to harbor Mega Man 9 is the Wii, distributed through WiiWare. A recent Famitsu scan revealed that the game has been slated with a September release for Japan, but with the minimal (I assume) amount of text to be translated, a Western release shouldn’t be too far behind. We’ll find out at E3!

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