Former Capcom producer Keiji Inafune caught everyone off guard when he announced his next game. After founding his own company, Comcept, in 2010 (which has already released Soul Sacrifice and is developing Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z alongside Team Ninja and Spark Unlimited), the Mega Man creator revealed Mighty No. 9, a side-scrolling platformer that is simply the little blue robot's spiritual successor, or, in his words, what he wanted to do with his character but couldn't.
The game is extremely similar to Mega Man on purpose, which could even indicate a lack of originality on the part of Inafune and his team, but the idea here is to take the original concepts and reshape them, bringing the feel of the original game to modern platforms—in other words, everything Capcom's blue bomber should have been and wasn't through neglect.
Game Synopsis: Beck is the ninth in a line of powerful robots, and the only one not infected by a mysterious computer virus that has driven mechanized creatures across the world insane. The gameplay is a platformer, combining the best aspects of 8- and 16-bit games with current technology. Just like Mega Man, in Mighty No. 9 you'll run, jump, and shoot your enemies—only instead of absorbing bosses' weapons, you'll transform and modify your body for battle!
Check out the video:
[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX1o0so4anc” width=”560″ height=”315″]
The project will also involve the community of supporters in its development, through surveys about character concepts and art contests for members of this community to create characters and enemies for the game!
For now, Mighty No. 9 will be released for PC via Steam, but with stretch goals, it will also be released for Mac and Linux. The requested amount is $900,000, and as of this writing, $855,846.00 has already been raised… in just two days! Mighty No. 9 is planned for PC via Steam and other digital stores, and Mac and Linux versions are on the cards. However, if they raise $2.5 million, Comcept will be able to port it to PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U. For those interested, a $20 contribution guarantees a digital copy, scheduled for release in April 2015. Higher amounts will earn you perks like the soundtrack, a retro game case, the printed manual/guide, and even dinner with Inafune for those who pay over $10,000, limited to nine people. If this game is a success, Capcom will have to face the fact that, yes, it is possible for a Mega Man game to be good without being 8-bit-style.
Sources: Jovem Nerd, Meiobit
