The time is almost upon us, dear retro gamers, when we bend over and happily have Mega Man 9 kick us square in the ass with its unrelenting, borderline unholy level of difficulty. We’re reviewing the game right now and uh, yeah, it’s hard. More on that later – today we’ve got two EXCLUSIVE looks at bosses that will soon be laughing at how many Game Over screens they cause.

Robo-lovely Splash Woman is the series’ very first female boss and was created by Mega Man progenitor Keiji Inafune. Besting her gives you the Laser Trident, which works best against... hm, we’re probably not supposed to tell you who’s weak against what just yet. Soon!

Her level is almost entirely underwater, with one really tricky set of bubble jumping you may have seen in various internet videos. The actual fight against her is pretty cute – here you see her singing her siren song, asking for aid from her aquatic allies. Just adorable, this one!

The Laser Trident spews tiny electric shots that travel through walls, even damaging certain areas that are otherwise impervious to harm. Trust us, you’ll be using this weapon a lot.

Plug Man looks a bit top heavy, like the slightest of taps would send him crashing head over heels. Tackling Pluggy awards Mega Man the unfortunately named Plug Ball. Hm.

Plug’s level is home to the dreaded appearing/disappearing block segment. If you’re unfamiliar with it, jeebus you’re in for a surprise.

Plug Ball hugs the terrain, scrolling along the floor or climbing the wall until it hits an enemy. Hm, looks like they’re using the right weapon for the level.

We’ll have much more on Mega Man 9 when it’s released (currently looking like it’ll happen in the next couple of weeks).

Sep 17, 2008

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