Mediocre No. 9, more like.
There are few Kickstarter projects that have gained as much attention as Keiji Inafune and Comcept's . Billed as a spiritual successor to Capcom's seemingly dormant series - a lineage Inafune is closely connected with - this new project was supposed to bring back everything fans loved about the Blue Bomber and introduce a new IP that would develop into its own successful franchise. But after some controversial delays, questionable communication between the Kickstarter campaign and its backers and a shaky launch, Mighty No. 9's journey from concept to finished article has been a bumpy one - and now that it's finally here, we can't help but feel a little short-changed.
In Mighty No. 9 you play as Beck, a nice and gentle robot who has to go on an adventure to stop and recover eight other "Mighty" bots, all of whom have been corrupted under mysterious circumstances (sound familiar, Mega Man fans?). With the help of Dr. White and sister Call, Beck tackles eight missions in any order, defeats the robots and gains their power. Mighty No. 9 doesn't deserve criticism for its surface similarity to Mega Man; the game was pitched to backers as a spiritual successor, after all. But where games like took their inspiration from retro classics and made wholly original, compelling experiences out of them, Mighty No. 9 is content to mostly copy its predecessor's gameplay mechanics.
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