Check out my full video playthrough below
Mighty No. 9is probably one of the most anticipated games of 2015. After a massive Kickstarter, creator Inafune and developers Comcept and Inti Creates have kicked off a long line of products to hype it up, includingMighty Gunvoltand a potential cartoon.
After all that hype though we finally have a chance to play the game. I have to say, it has the feel of aMega Mangame, but a few aspects definitely took some getting used to.
Mighty No. 9(3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One)Developer: Comcept, Inti Creates, Abstraction GamesPublisher: ComceptReleased: 2015MSRP: TBA ($15 based off Kickstarter)
Let’s get the concepts out of the way first. For the most part, Beck controls the same way Mega Man always has — he can jump and shoot, and in lieu of the classic slide move, Beck has a dash that can be used in succession without any real restrictions. This allows him to boost forward, air dash, and “slide” underneath gaps.
But the dash is much more complicated than that. InMighty No. 9, you’ll have to use it to “absorb” enemies. By firing at them and decreasing their health pool past a certain threshold, they become “destabilized.” Beck can then dash through them to absorb their powers (extra damage, speed, life, and defense boosts), thus killing them in the process — most enemies cannot be destroyed by your standard shot and must be dashed through.
This mechanic is seemingly a core precept of theMightyphilosophy, as it is used constantly throughout the level and is paramount to success. It’s also a double-edged sword. For one thing, I found it kind of annoying at first to have to dash through almost every enemy in my path to remove them — I was constantly jamming on the dash button so often that I skipped some enemies entirely.
But once you play it for a while, it becomes second nature. Skipping enemies is actually bad, because you willneedtheir absorbed powers sporadically throughout the game. For instance, by absorbing a close-by enemy with a red power that strengthens my standard shot, I could then get through a subsequent area with a much easier time — one that nearly requires you to firethroughmultiple enemies, which is only possible with said power-up. You can see thisat 1:54in the below video.
Like Neo when he became aware of the Matrix for the first time, so too did I eventually pick up absorption and destabilization. I don’t suspect it will be for everyone and I can see some changes happening before launch (perhaps a buff for the standard cannon), but I enjoyed the strategic element, and dashing around everywhere is a ton of fun.
I partly enjoyed boosting about because the levels are designed very well, combining action, light puzzle elements, and secret areas and paths that really started to shine inMega Man 5and6. The beta only provides us with one stage — the Military base — but it’s enough to show us what the development collective has planned for us. WhileNo. 9isn’t what I’d call extremely difficult, it did give thisMega Manveteran some pause throughout. It wasn’t just something I could pick up and master immediately — I had to learn the ins and outs of the dash system, and there were some very tricky portions littered about the stage, most of which involve one-hit spiky pits of death.
The boss, Mighty No. 5, was one of the best parts. It was fun to just unload burst fire on him and occasionally dash to destabilize his lifebar, as it felt like your standard cannon counted more for something. His pattern is very predictable (like a classic Robot Master), but his ultimate move (which effectively closed off half the arena periodically) was interesting, and his overall design was memorable.
Mighty No. 9didn’t blow me away as aMega Manfan, but even at this early stage I’m impressed by the layers of technical gameplay it provides. I think it’s shaping up to be a pretty promising platformer, and just likeAzure Striker Gunvolt, it does enough differently to make its own mark on the genre, without simply cloning Capcom’s methods at every step.
