It pains me to say as a die-hard Mega Man fan, but Mighty No. 9

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Not-so-special Abilities

“ I almost always felt like I could cut through any area quicker, and more efficiently without using the fancy stuff.

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Absolutely Gotta Go Fast

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Despite how homely looking I found it, I did see potential in Mighty No. 9's gameplay ideas in the early going of its three to five-hour campaign. After all, while the idea of stealing bosses abilities isn't as ground-breaking today as it was in the 80s, it's still a pretty enjoyable concept, but sadly, none of them feel all that fun to use. Absorbing and using these powers should feel exciting, like turning on a cheat code that grants powers you shouldn’t have, but most of them wind up being borderline useless, and the level design rarely provides a context in which they can be truly useful.I did identify one or two that became bedrocks for me though. Mighty No. 7’s blades, for instance, were particularly useful for reflecting incoming fire and dealing tons of damage up close. Sadly, Mighty No. 9’s more unorthodox and potentially interesting abilities wind up being the most underwhelming. Mighty No 3’s electrodes and No. 4’s tank treads both seemed cool in concept, but in most situations they felt clumsy compared to protagonist Beck’s standard blaster. I almost always felt like I could cut through any area quicker, and more efficiently without using the fancy stuff - not really how you want "special" abilities to feel.Only Mighty No. 2’s Cryosphere felt vital in any way, due in large part to how much more energy efficient it is compared to the other options. But it also plays a vital role in synergizing with Mighty No. 9’s other big mechanic: Beck’s enemy-assimilating dash. Damaging enemies enough destabilizes them instead of killing them, so to finish them off, you have to dash through them, collecting a temporary power-up in the process. Absorbing them immediately after destabilizing them (signaled by a 100% "absorption rate) starts building a combo multiplier, which goes up and up as long as you keep getting 100% absorption rates on subsequent foes. On the surface, it's a neat system that encourages speed and proper spacing between you and your foes.However, hitting enemies with Cryosphere widens the window of time in which you can get a perfect absorption rate to the point where it may as well be forever, which allowed me to rack up huge combos with ease. This made it the obvious choice in most situations, and since you get it very early on, it preemptively renders all subsequent abilities obsolete. The optimal way to play is essentially presented in the second level, which kills most of the challenge, along with the desire to learn and improve.It's too bad, because I really like the idea of using timed dashes to finish enemies while continuing to advance, and there were certainly times when I slipped into a pleasing cadence of shooting and dashing, covering large stretches of a level in seconds. Like Mighty No. 9's other interesting wrinkles though. this too is undermined. Since there's no limitation of any kind on the number of air dashes you can take, and virtually no cooldown, Beck is essentially capable of a limited form of flight, trivializing any platforming challenges thrown at you.The other problem is that while doing things optimally isn't terribly hard in Mighty No. 9, when you don't absolutely nail it, some levels devolve into slow, tedious slogs. If you move through quickly enough to retain the necessary power-ups to plow through a section, it’s over in two blinks of an eye. Get there a few seconds later, though, and you’ll be stuck waiting for slow-moving platforms and fighting enemies whose job seems to be more to annoy you or get in your way rather than to kill you. In many ways, it’s a punishment worse than death. I’d rather take my lumps for my mistakes right away and start over than have to stumble through a few minutes of tedium.