It isnt 8 without the shop... That made it feel very unique. Finding Bolts and choosing what you want badly enough. It isnt 8 without the special Rush calls. The team really has not learned anything from 9 and 10. (in regards to the shop I mean.)
I honestly didn't like MM9's shop system all too much; more or less because you couldn't really find the stuff on your own, so you had to farm to get what you wanted. I rarely ever saw an E-Tank lying on the ground, for instance. That and half of the items were pointless, anyway. Now that I think about it, I haven't even tried half of the items in the shop to begin with. I'm generally fine with just the Energy Balancer.
I think MM8's shop was spot-on. Bolts could simply be found in a limited quantity, and it was pretty much up to you how you spent them. It was nice to see the game actually allow you to strengthen your own personal style of playing. MM7's was pretty nice as well, mainly because you could simply find everything on your own, anyway. If you got frustrated because you couldn't find something, you could just head to the shop and look there.