It’s been 11 years since a proper Mega Man game came out, and now we can rejoice. The wait is over: Mega Man 9 is coming out as a download for the Nintendo Wii’s WiiWare. Oh, and X-Box Arcade and PlayStation Network, too… but this is Wiitards, not X-Boxtards or PlayStationtards.

In Japan, Mega Man 9 is called Rockman 9: The Ambition’s Revival!! (yep, that’s TWO exclamation points), and it’s a deceptively telling title. It’s the first installment since Mega Man 8 reached US shores in 1997, not counting all the Legends and Battle Networks, and Capcom has decided to do something incredibly daring with it: they’ve rendered it in the style of the 8-bit NES games, albeit with a few “advanced” flourishes that you might have seen on late 16-bit side-scrollers, such as any moment Sonic the Hedgehog does a 3-D movement in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Otherwise, the gameplay is the same: run to the right, jump, shoot, and make your way to the Robot Master to steal their powers. Gamers old enough to have played the originals will love it, but how will the kids feel?

This is a strange thing for video games, a medium which generally strives for the most advanced graphics and gameplay. Consider it even stranger that it’s on the Wii, probably the most advanced console in terms of the way it demands the user interface with the game by moving more than his or her thumbs. To release a side-scroller that harkens back to the heyday of the NES in a world where gamers are going ga-ga over Grand Theft Auto 4 and eagerly anticipating the next Gears of War game is nothing short of ambitious.

Maybe Capcom’s boldness (and, hopefully, Mega Man 9’s success) will lead to a side-scroller revival, even if it’s only downloadable. It’s high time video games embraced their roots instead of constantly leaving them in the dust.