If you’re an old school gamer like me, chances are you’ve been let down over the years by the companies who used to make your favorite games. Classic franchises like Mega Man, Gradius, and Shinobi have pretty much vanished. Good news is on the horizon in the form of Mighty No. 9. This is Keiji Inafune’s spiritual successor to Mega Man and he’s looking to the fans to fund his new baby. Screenshots and prototype footage is already available on the Kickstarter page; so far, it looks promising. Inafune is listening to fans on this one, in fact, he says the idea to make this game comes from fan’s desire for a new Mega Man. However, it is made clear that this game is not in any way affiliated to Capcom or any existing IPs. With that said, pretty much everyone working on the game is an ex-Capcom employee whether its the designers working for Inafune’s company, Comcept, or Mega Man Zero devs working for Inti Creates. Even the music is being composed by, Manami Matsumae, the composer for the original Mega Man.
Although Mighty No. 9 is a cute looking action platformer like it’s predecessor, there are several differences that make it unique. For example, the main character has a human name, Beck. Rest assured, he will have a “trusted partner” who will aid him throughout the game called “Call” (Beck & Call). Early sketches of this character are reminiscent of Roll. Another innovation for the gameplay will be transformations. When defeating bosses, Beck will be upgraded and able to transform into something new with special powers taken from the boss.
Thanks to the Kickstarter, gamers have the rare opportunity to not only support, but also influence the development of Mighty No. 9. Things like voting for bosses and characters are being offered to backers in addition to beta access and more. This is one of the best run Kickstarters we’ve seen in a while and has already met it’s initial funding goal. Currently, Mighty No. 9 is working it’s way to include console ports on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U as a stretch goal. So far, it has been funded enough for PC, Mac & Linux development.
Our initial impressions, given the information available, is very positive and highly optimistic. The team developing Mighty No. 9 are all industry veterans who are very familiar with the Mega Man franchise. This should result in a thoroughly satisfying action platformer.
If this sounds good to you, check out Mighty No. 9 on Kickstarter and back it now. We’re excited to see how this game develops.
This article includes resources gathered from our in-house investigative reporter, George Eleftheriou.