Keiji Inafune and his team at Comcept set up a Kickstarter to create a spiritual sequel to Mega Man, a franchise he put many, many years' worth of work into (but didn't create - I sure see that bit of misinformation being spread around a lot lately). It took much longer to do this than they anticipated, in part because they spread themselves too thin trying to port it to as many platforms as possible. Their plans and business decisions were frequently ill-advised along the way, but in the end they delivered what they said they would.

And now we're making Inafune a pariah because we were inconvenienced a bit, or had to wait longer than we wanted, or because the game doesn't look like a handful of concept art mock-ups shown during the pitch. I see people howling for blood, wanting to know what the money was spent on, apparently unaware that game development is REALLY EXPENSIVE and the 2.6 mil or so they actually cleared after Kickstarter fees and backer reward costs isn't anywhere near enough to make the HD, hand-drawn adventure they naively believed they were getting. I've seen Mighty No. 9's graphics compared to a PS2 game by people that apparently never actually played a PS2 game if they honestly think that's true. I've seen truly remarkable individuals boycott the game altogether because they hired a community manager that's openly a feminist. I've seen it bashed by professional reviewers for being too much like Mega Man. As ever, Kickstarters fail to understand that their pledge wasn't a pre-order, nor a guarantee that they'd get whatever they were envisioning when they hit that donate button. Yet here we are, awash in another sea of crowdfunding bitterness. I'll be glad when that particular fad passes, if only so I don't have to keep reading about this silly, entitled drama over and over and over again. It's a 20 dollar game about a robot boy that fights other robots, not a moral line in the sand. Mighty No. 9's fate was sealed long before it ever released, brought low by a bunch of manchild angst and internet slacktivists eager to turn EVERYTHING into a cause.

So, all that said, how's the game?

Frustrating, occasionally brilliant and surprisingly addictive. The dash mechanic gives a certain fluidity to the Mega Man-derived combat that even the X series only hinted at. This comes at a cost, as a lot of environmental hazards are basically rendered harmless and certain sequences intended to be setpieces fall a little flat. The antagonists sport some great designs (Dynatron and Battalion in particular are awesome), but you'll likely find the powers you gain from defeating them less effective than your standard blaster in most situations. The presentation and design of certain stages are cleverly done, yet others verge on being an afterthought. Yes, the graphics - much like the engine rendering them - are outdated, yet I was pleasantly surprised throughout by some neat lighting effects and fun little details that are there purely to add some character. You get the sense that if the game was ever permitted a sequel, we might have something really special on our hands.

Seems pretty unlikely right now, and that's a shame. Inafune wasn't out to swindle anyone. He was just overwhelmed, as so many before him have been when trying to realize a crowdfunding dream. If you're a fan of classic Mega Man and have an open mind, give it a shot. You might be surprised.

Keiji Inafune and his team at Comcept set up a Kickstarter to create a spiritual sequel to Mega Man, a franchise he put many, many years' worth of work into (but didn't create - I sure see that bit of misinformation being spread around a lot lately). It took much longer to do this than they anticipated, in part because they spread themselves too thin trying to port it to as many platforms as possible. Their plans and business decisions were frequently ill-advised along the way, but in the end they delivered what they said they would. And now we're making Inafune a pariah because we were inconvenienced a bit, or had to wait longer than we wanted, or because the game doesn't look like a handful of concept art mock-ups shown during the pitch. I see people howling for blood, wanting to know what the money was spent on, apparently unaware that game development is REALLY EXPENSIVE and the 2.6 mil or so they actually cleared after Kickstarter fees and backer reward costs isn't anywhere near enough to make the HD, hand-drawn adventure they naively believed they were getting. I've seen Mighty No. 9's graphics compared to a PS2 game by people that apparently never actually played a PS2 game if they honestly think that's true. I've seen truly remarkable individuals boycott the game altogether because they hired a community manager that's openly a feminist. I've seen it bashed by professional reviewers for being too much like Mega Man. As ever, Kickstarters fail to understand that their pledge wasn't a pre-order, nor a guarantee that they'd get whatever they were envisioning when they hit that donate button. Yet here we are, awash in another sea of crowdfunding bitterness. I'll be glad when that particular fad passes, if only so I don't have to keep reading about this silly, entitled drama over and over and over again. It's a 20 dollar game about a robot boy that fights other robots, not a moral line in the sand. Mighty No. 9's fate was sealed long before it ever released, brought low by a bunch of manchild angst and internet slacktivists eager to turn EVERYTHING into a cause. So, all that said, how's the game? Frustrating, occasionally brilliant and surprisingly addictive. The dash mechanic gives a certain fluidity to the Mega Man-derived combat that even the X series only hinted at. This comes at a cost, as a lot of environmental hazards are basically rendered harmless and certain sequences intended to be setpieces fall a little flat. The antagonists sport some great designs (Dynatron and Battalion in particular are awesome), but you'll likely find the powers you gain from defeating them less effective than your standard blaster in most situations. The presentation and design of certain stages are cleverly done, yet others verge on being an afterthought. Yes, the graphics - much like the engine rendering them - are outdated, yet I was pleasantly surprised throughout by some neat lighting effects and fun little details that are there purely to add some character. You get the sense that if the game was ever permitted a sequel, we might have something really special on our hands. Seems pretty unlikely right now, and that's a shame. Inafune wasn't out to swindle anyone. He was just overwhelmed, as so many before him have been when trying to realize a crowdfunding dream. If you're a fan of classic Mega Man and have an open mind, give it a shot. You might be surprised.