Nothing hurts worse for fans than when a popular property's creator sits on the property instead of using it. Quite often the IP creator has no say in the franchise's future and has left the company in the years since its inception. That's the whole reason Yooka-Laylee, the upcoming spiritual successor to Banjo Kazooie exists – because Microsoft and Rare haven't made a new 3D platformer in years.
The same applies to Capcom's Mega Man series (although the publisher at least announced Mega Man Legacy Collection just before E3). As such, the series' creator Keiji Inafune (who is also working on Recore) has teamed up with Japanese developer Comcept (with Deep Silver publishing) to create the upcoming Mighty No. 9 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows, and other platforms. Mighty No. 9 is a 2.5D action-platformer starring a robot who gains powers from the bosses he defeats, much like the Mega Man games of yore.
We interviewed Mighty No. 9 producer Yu "Nick" Yu at E3 2015. Read on for our full preview with interview and gameplay video!
Rise of the robots
Mighty No. 9 takes place in a futuristic world in which humanoid robots compete against each other in a battle coliseum tournament. The protagonist Beck is the weakest and most human-like member of the Mighty Numbers, a team of battle robots. A scientist named Dr. White designed Beck and his teammates, based on technology developed by Dr. Blackwell.
One day, all of the Mighty Numbers except for Beck become infected with a mysterious virus and turn on their human masters. Now Beck must team up with his female android friend Call (designed by a third scientist, Dr. Sansa) to stop the rogue robots and discover the source of the virus that started the trouble.
A mighty adventure awaits
The structure and gameplay of Mighty No. 9 should be immediately familiar to anyone who has played the Mega Man games. After completing a tutorial stage, Beck can tackle any of the eight primary stages in the order of his choice.
Presiding over each stage is one of the Mighty Numbers. By defeating these imposing bosses, Beck will gain new weapons and abilities that increase his offensive powers and allow access to new areas. Some bosses are weak to weapons from other bosses, so the order you play the stags in can change the experience as well.
After defeating the Mighty robots 1-8, our hero Mighty. No 9 will, of course, proceed to face an even greater threat. Who pulls those puppets' strings, I wonder?
Although games in this genre have traditionally been quite challenging, Mighty No. 9 will offer four difficulty levels that will accommodate a broad range of players. The toughest problem, Maniac Mode, causes Beck to die in one hit from any enemy. Only the best players will stand a chance on Maniac!
In addition to the main game, Mighty No. 9 offers at least three extra modes. Co-op Challenge allows two online players to team up as Beck and his partner Call and take on unique co-op stages. Online Battle Race tasks players with completing stages as quickly as they can while competing against friends. Boss Rush pits Beck against all of the game's bosses in a row.
Mighty No. 9 will arrive on Xbox One and 360, PlayStation 3, 4, and Vita, Wii U and 3DS, and Windows, Mac, and Linux on September 15 this year. That's a lot of platforms!
Did any of you guys back the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter way back in 2013? Which platform will you be getting the game on?
