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With the success of 2008′s Mega Man 9, it was no surprise when Capcom announced the return of the 8-bit style Mega Man once again, and with Mega Man 10, fans are treated to an even better experience than 9 offered. However, there are still some areas that could really use improvement.

What’s the story?

Roll collapses one day and is diagnosed with roboenza, some kind of robot disease. Wily comes screaming in from the sky in his battered flying saucer and begs Light and Mega Man for help, as he claims his robots have gone crazy and attacked him. Wily says he can make a cure, but Mega Man needs to retrieve the machine that manufactures it. We can only assume everyone knows how this will end, but he heads off to fight some robots and rescue the machine anyway.

How does it play?

Players reprise the roll of Mega Man or Proto Man. Both are available from the beginning of the game, while you had to buy Proto Man in Mega Man 9. Play through eight themed stages, each headed by a robot master. Beat the robot master and gain one of his abilities, then move on to the next. As always, each robot master has a weakness to at least one of the other robot masters’ abilities, and doing these things in just the right order is clearly to your benefit.

After beating the eight robot masters, you’ll move on to Wily’s multi-stage fortress. Each stage in the fortress ends with another boss, though there are often several returning bosses within the stages as well, including those from previous games in the series. I’d prefer not to spoil it any more than that, as there are some real surprises here.

Advancements made for Mega Man 9 return here, such as collecting screws to buy or “make” items from Light’s shop, like energy tanks, weapon tanks, extra lives, and special little one-time-use tools that will do things like rescue you from bottomless pits or boost your armor for a single stage. My personal favorite, the power balancer, is a permanent upgrade that automatically gives any weapon charge cells you collect to the weapon with the least ammo, as long as you have your default weapon selected.

The ability to buy things like lives and energy tanks allows the level design to be a bit more devious. While I don’t feel this game is any harder than 9 (I actually found it easier), those who do can choose an easy difficulty level from the beginning. As with all these Mega Man games, once you’ve beaten a stage, you’ve likely mastered it, and after a few plays you’ll be breezing through, almost without a scratch. By the time you beat the game, you can play through the whole thing in under two hours.

Another important feature is the save system, which is the main area I think needs work. It’s great to be able to save your place in the game and not have to fight through stages again. That’s a big departure from the NES games, where you had to play through the entire game in one sitting. The problem is that while you’re given unlimited continues, and even in Wily’s fortress you can continue from the segment you’re on, there’s no way to suspend your position in the game and resume later. That means if you want to turn off your PS3, you’re going to have to start over from your save, and once you get to Wily’s fortress, that means starting at the very beginning of the fortress.

Another thing I don’t understand is why this game is not a PSP Mini. PSP Minis are now playable on both PS3 and PSP, which would open up one more platform for people to play Mega Man 10 on. I understand that this would mean we wouldn’t have any trophies in the game, but honestly, I could live with that. Beyond that, the only thing I can complain about is the fact that sliding and charge shots have been removed from Mega Man’s repertoire, just as in 9. I can live without charge shots, but I’m so accustomed to sliding to cover ground quickly and evade attacks that I sometimes feel helpless without it. Fortunately, Proto Man can slide, so it is there for those who favor the move over the look.

How does it look and sound?

Mega Man 10 is effectively one of the best looking and sounding NES game you’ve ever seen. The illusion is complete, as there’s nothing here that would seem out of place in an NES game. That said, it’s incredibly feature-rich, with some very intimidating trophies, downloadable content (including Bass as a playable character), and more. The music is even a little better than it was in Mega Man 9. All the traditional sound effects are still here, from the sound of your shots to the grating noise of Wily’s saucer.

Is it worth it?

The replay value in the game is moderate. You can play through as Mega Man or Proto Man, which is fun. You can download Bass and play as him as well. There’s a short list of very challenging trophies to tackle if you’re a glutton for punishment. Some of these require you to rough it. For example, do not use any energy tanks while playing. I leaned heavily on purchased energy tanks to get me through the robot masters, and I’m not embarrassed about it.

Look, you already know whether you’re interested in this game. If you’re a fan of 8-bit Mega Man, this is one of the best ones in the series. While the first three are still king, 9 and 10 are up there as well, and I like 10 even a little more than 9. While I’d love to give this a perfect score like I did with 9, it doesn’t get the free pass on feature omissions now that it’s not new. I want it on PSP and I want a better save system next time. It gets a 4.5 out of 5.

Mega Man 10 is available for PS3 in the PlayStation Store today for $10. Go get it!