Mega Man style games have been largely missing from the the last few years of gaming. The fast paced, side-scrolling, action platformers were pushed aside in favor of a surfeit of mertroidvania games. There’s only one man who could make a proper return to the genre, while adequately adapting it for the current generation of consoles — Mega Man creator himself, Keiji Inafune.
I’m not going to go into the Mighty No. 9’s storied development process. The game is coming out in February 2016, so we don’t need to dwell on its history. Right now, I’m here to tell you a little about how it plays, and it plays oh-so-good.
Mighty No. 9 marks a successful reinvention of a classic genre, keeping enough of the old to make it instantly recognizable, but evolving the gameplay to warrant another look at a classic style that’s been absent for far too long. On the surface, it’s very simple. Jump and shoot your way through the enemies and hazards in each level to make it to the end where a tougher boss character waits. One of the core mechanics in Mighty No. 9 lies in main character Beck’s ability to dash, particularly through weakened enemies to collect their essence as boosts and power-ups. It’s a great addition to the standard action platformer gameplay.
Chaining together enemy kills in combos and collecting these various boosts is key to making it through the levels quickly and efficiently. The controls are tight and feel great. There’s a certain flow to the game that urges you to keep moving forward, and enemies exhibit specific patterns that reward repeated play by allowing players to learn what to expect and how to counter and defeat them.
Play Alone, Play With Your Friends
Mighty No. 9’s showing at PlayStation Experience was to highlight the online multiplayer game modes that were recently revealed. There’s the co-op mode that allows players to team up as Beck and Call — each of whom have unique abilities — to take on bosses and challenges. While Call can’t dash into enemies, she has a shield that can defend players from enemy attacks.
The competitive race mode pits players against each other in a race to take down the score enemies throughout the level. If the scores are close enough at the end, they will need to face a boss, which gives points whenever you dash through his stunned state. Of course, there are also leaderboards that will have the most competitive of players vying for that top spot in both score and clear time.
As fun as Mighty No. 9 is to play, I was also content to sit back and watch as better players than myself impressively ran through the levels with near god-like speed and precision, carving precious seconds at various intervals and perfecting their runs to insanely low clear times. This is exactly why Mighty No. 9 will appeal to so many. While it’s easy for casual players looking for a fun experience to pick up the game and jump, shoot, and dash through the levels, only the most hardcore of players will take the time and dedication required to master its small nuances and come out on top of the leaderboards. It’s arcade style gaming at its finest and we can expect a triumphant return of the genre early next year.
PSX 2015 On Site Gallery
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PlayStation Experience 2015
The enormous autograph wall allowed fans to share in their PlayStation love.
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Ratchet
Waiting in line to pick up his badge, Stephen gets a glimpse of his first PlayStation character!
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Badge Pickup Desk
Heading to the third floor to watch the keynote!
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Keynote
The hall was packed with PlayStation fans eagerly awaiting Sony's announcements.
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Final Fantasy VII Remake
What a way to open the show! We were excited to get a glimpse at more of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
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Battleborn
Randy Pitchford talks more about the upcoming beta for Battleborn.
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Street Fighter V
Fighting fans rejoiced as more was announced for Street Fighter V.
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PlayStation VR
The PlayStation VR offering was expansive, with two floors of virtual reality units ready for players to try out.
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Dead Star
Dead Star is a competitive, twin-stick, MOBA style game, featuring 10 v 10 battles in space! Keep an eye out for our preview soon!
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Destiny: Sparrow Racing League
Chandler previews Destiny's Sparrow Racing League ahead of its Dec. 8th release.
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Dark Souls 3
This enormous fountain was a photo op that sprayed "blood" from the body of the fallen soldier.
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Dark Souls 3
Here's the blood fountain in action.
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MLB: The Show Trophy Bar
Want an easy way to grab a beer and play some baseball? MLB: The Show's trophy bar offered both!
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Uncharted 4
No, the main game wasn't playable, but anyone missing the multiplayer beta of Uncharted 4 was able to play the multiplayer at this enormous booth.
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PlayStation Vue
Not only were the games on show, but PlayStation's media features were given a focus too, with this booth giving more information on Sony's PlayStation Vue service.
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PlayStation 4
Who can resist checking out a variety of PS4s, DualShock 4s, and that sweet PlayStation VR headset?
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Abzu
The underwater game that evokes feelings of titles by thatgamecompany was playable on the show floor.
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Helghast
Stephen is caught by some Helghast for being an ISA spy. Fortunately it was all just a misunderstanding and we were allowed to go about our business without further delay.
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Disney Infinity
Disney usually brings their massive arch of Infinity figures, and they were showing off the latest additions to Disney Infinity 3.0 at the show.
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RIGS (Livecast Stage)
The creators of RIGS talk more about the competitive VR game on the livecast stage.
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RIGS (Livecast Stage)
The creators of RIGS talk more about the competitive VR game on the livecast stage.
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Capcom Cup
Sunday morning the Capcom Cup gets underway!
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Tim Schafer (Double Fine)
Tim Schafer sits on the livecast stage to talk about the games that Double Fine is bringing to the PS4.
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Battleborn
A huge display showcases some of the characters from Battleborn.
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Hob
Indie game Hob was popular despite being tucked along one of the walls.
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Far Cry Primal
Fans got a chance to tame beasts in Far Cry Primal's first playable showing.
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Abzu
Due to the lit up sign, this picture's exposure turned out pretty cool.
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Destiny
Destiny's guardians wandered the show floor keeping guests safe from the darkness and waiting for a Gjallahorn drop.
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Masquerada
Chandler is shown indie game Masquerada by one of the devs.
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Randall
An enormous statue of the character from Randall looms over their booth.
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Uncharted 4
Walking by the Uncharted 4 booth kept having us question if we were still in San Francisco.
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Drawn to Death
An enormous notebook for fans to doodle on. Who knows, maybe David Jaffe will take future character inspiration from it?
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PlayStation Network
The back wall was a showcase of the PlayStation Network and its media features.
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LEGO Hulk Battle
It's Hulk vs. Hulkbuster in this fight of epic LEGO proportions.
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LEGO Hulk Battle
It's Hulk vs. Hulkbuster in this fight of epic LEGO proportions.
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MLB: The Show Trophy Bar
Because just one picture of the place where you can get beer at the show isn't good enough.
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Livecast Stage
The livecast stage was host to a number of awesome events, talking to developers and showing off games.
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RIGS
The RIGS demo station pitted two teams against each other in one of the most desired demos at the show.
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Yoda
This giant statue of a Disney Infinity Yoda is bigger than Yoda would be in real life.
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Destiny Sparrow Racing League
If only this Sparrow had an actual engine so that we could race around the show!
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Destiny Sparrow Racing League
We're ready to race our sparrows for some loot!
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Chandler and Kratos
Chandler met Kratos and somehow survived the experience!
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Stephen and Ratchet
Ratchet's a movie star now, and Stephen just had to get a picture with him on the red carpet.
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Chandler and Ratchet
Ok, Chandler decided to grab a picture with Ratchet too.
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Atoi and Iota
Chandler and Stephen take a moment to visit with messengers Atoi and Iota.
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Fat Princess
Fat Princess needed some protecting from the minions of darkness! Luckily Chandler and Stephen were on the scene with funny hats and menacing looks!
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Kat (Gravity Rush)
Stephen had to ask Kat what manipulating the world's gravity was really like.
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Uncharted 4
You've seen those Uncharted 4 trailers with the crazy vehicle driving? Turns out it was Stephen behind the wheel!
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PlayStation Experience 2015
PlayStation Experience 2015 may have come to an end, but you'd better be certain that PlayStation LifeStyle will be on the scene to cover the show again when it comes back next year!
