After a successful Kickstarter campaign and helmed by Mega Man frontman Keiji Inafune, Mighty No. 9 seemed to have everything going for it. Flash Forward 3 years and after multiple delays, changing art style and cringe-worthy game trailers, the spiritual successor to the Blue Bomber isn’t looking too hot.
Mega Man
Firstly let me start off by saying that Mighty No. 9 isn’t a bad game… it just isn’t a good one either. It’s taken the ideas and ethos produced by Mega Man over the years and just kind of made it a dull mess. Even though this game may be based on Mega Man it can, in no way, be called a successor to it.
Gameplay-wise, the formula is going to be similar to anyone familiar with 2D sidescrollers from the late 80s to early 90s, taking the shooting enemies approach whilst adding in a pretty unique dash move that allows you to absorb an enemy’s Xel which can give you a boost in either health, speed, defence or attack. The addition of this dash, or aXelerate as it’s ridiculously called, does add an extra layer of intensity to the normal run and gun and process as you try to chain attacks and dashes together to gain higher and higher combos. Unfortunately though, the dashes, and in most cases the jumps, feel a little imprecise. It’s not terrible but it’s bad enough for you to notice a slight sluggish feeling, especially if you compare this to the original Mega Mans, which were all about precision.
Beck
As well as the basics, you can also get upgrades to your normal blaster by beating the robot bosses. Each one will give you a unique weapon for you to play with and as the level choice is open you can start at whichever boss you want to face first. This does mean that if a boss is weak to a certain weapon, you can gain it and then take on the boss, the same as in Mega Man. Unfortunately, none of the new weapons actually feel like they’re any good, and most of the time you’ll resort to your faithful blaster which actually seems to be a better and easier option through practically all of the boss fights. This is a massive shame as when you change your weapon you change the look of Beck himself, and these small aesthetic changes, although not massive, do make the character model look slightly better.
Speaking of aesthetics, the game doesn’t utilise the power of modern consoles to create something that is worthy of a modern-day release. Backgrounds look dull and unimaginative, robot designs (except bosses) are pretty mundane and even though the graphics in no way push the systems they play on, sometimes the frame rate drops for no reason making the entire game look worse again. Cut scenes don’t fare any better, with a noticeable exclusion being the movement of anyone’s mouth, which when paired with voice acting for all characters makes for a jarring and uncomfortable watch. The addition of voice acting also adds the problem of a story and the need for explanation around every corner. Being constantly stopped for a pre-fight cutscene or someone talking at me whilst I try to play are two things that really started to get under my skin after a few hours of play. My advice to slightly alleviate this is to turn voices to Japanese music/retro BGM; everything feels slightly less intrusive when it’s in a different language with NES music playing.
All in all, Mighty No. 9 isn’t the game I expected. It’s a game with long, tedious levels, instakill environments which aren’t explained well enough, a boring story, uninspired art direction, sluggish gameplay, and many other transgressions. The game I played was not the game I got excited for 3 years ago, and I feel sorry for the people who pledged money to help make this game a reality. This game not only walks dirt into the face of Mega Man but also puts a dim light on games being produced via crowdfunding.
If you read this article and would like some help getting the most out of your non-terrible games then don’t hesitate to pop into your local store or give them a ring for some free and friendly advice.
Author: Hal, Plymouth store
