Mega Man 9 reminds us that NES games weren’t easy

There are some new Mega Man 9 screenshots after the break, as well as a few new details about the game that should excite a few of you. For starters, fans of the series can expect the game to be as hard or harder than the best of the original Mega Man games when this one arrives in September.

There are plenty more details after the break, though there are some really minor gameplay spoilers. I’m pretty sure they won’t be a surprise to real fans, and would actually excite you. Still, read on at your own risk. Or, you can just skip down to the photo gallery for 13 new screens of the game.

Galaxy Man: Mega Man flies around the level via portals while maintaining his momentum. Enemies can divide into multiple copies of themselves.
Plug Man: The typical “disappearing block” puzzle will be part of this level.
Hornet Man: Lots of bees as enemies.
Jewel Man: The level contains several swings that require you to build up momentum in order to make the jumps.
Magma Man: Level has lava (go figure) and several “one-hit-kill” beams.
Concrete Man: Boss is compared to this game’s version of “Guts Man.”
Tornado Man: Described as one of the hardest levels, featuring plenty of mid-air leaps and spinning platforms.
Splash Woman: Hovering bubble puzzle from Mega Man 5 returns. Female boss is among those designed personally by Keiji Inafune.
Dr. Light’s Shop from Mega Man IV (GB), Mega Man 7, and Mega Man 8 returns. Among the items are an energy balancer to distribute energy to weapons that need it, spike shoes which protect Mega Man from one-hit kills, and special armor that halves the damage taken.
You can play with Mega Man’s helmet off, showing off his black hair.
Some of the music is taken straight from Mega Man 2.
Mega Buster is not available from the start, but Rush is (as Rush Coil).
No sliding ability to start, but it looks as though it’s in the game.
More options in the menu beyond core game that can’t be revealed yet.