11/1/2008 - Mega Man 9 Time Attack (2 Videos)

One of my favorite features of Mega Man 9 is the Time Attack mode. I wish they could build this feature into every Mega Man game re-released for the Virtual Console or on a compilation disc. Mega Man games are famous for inspiring speed-runs of the game: completing the game in the shortest amount of time possible. While some people are content on just finishing a game, speed-runners are in a class of their own and are in constant competition against themselves. For example, not too long ago, Andrew Gardikis submitted a 5-minute time for completing the original Super Mario Bros. If you watch the video of the run, it looks impossible to go any faster, and yet I'm sure speed-runners are trying everyday to beat that time.

But what is brilliant about the Time Attack mode in Mega Man 9 is that is officially posts your completion time to Capcom's servers so that you can compare your time against others in the Leaderboard. You no longer have to tape yourself playing and submitting that to the Speed Demos Archive site, and unless there are glitches (I haven't heard of any), it's considered legit. It's pretty intense not just to compete against others, but yourself as you try to improve your own time. I am quite proud to be on the front page of Leaderboard for Dr. Wily Stage 1, but I'm constantly trying to improve my time.

What's also great about the Time Attack Mode is that it encourages others to become speed-runners and you can see a lot of speed-runs posted on YouTube. These videos show the techniques you can use to improve your own time and are awesome displays of skill from the most hardcore of gamers. For example, the last and hardest stage of the game (if you have no E-Tanks) is so difficult that there are only a few pages of the Leaderboard. The gamer in these videos taped himself so that he could watch his own performance to see what he could do better and to compare against past speed-runs. It's really cool to see two speed-runs side by side and even though the differences are small, they make a big difference when every second counts. Beware hardcore gamer language, however: