Mighty No. 9

Is Mighty No. 9 a worthwhile platformer you should play?

Mighty No. 9 is a serviceable callback to the original Mega Man that is brought down by baffling design decisions and a strict adherence to mechanics that were phased out for a reason.

Even with dull visuals and a little too much reliance on the past, in a world where Capcom has seemingly forgotten that the Blue Bomber exists, Mighty No. 9’s enthralling boss battles make it an okay substitute to fill that void for the time being.

From the moment that the Kickstarter for Mighty No. 9 was announced, there were enormous expectations placed upon it, and it was always going to be impossible to live up to them. The hype came from Keiji Inafune and a team of Mega Man veterans being at the helm of what appeared to be a spiritual successor to the classic games in the Mega Man series. However, while Mighty No. 9 shares much in common with the critically acclaimed Mega Man games of yesteryear, it suffers from shortcomings that prevent it from ever reaching those lofty heights.

Despite its pedigree, Mighty No. 9 doesn’t seem to have a good sense of what was fun about Mega Man, or 2D action-platformers in general. There are brief moments where its pieces come together, but even then it’s hamstrung by its visually joyless art and animation. The soul of the Blue Bomber just isn’t here, and worse yet there’s no endearing personality of its own, and as a result, Mighty No. 9 feels much more like a second-rate imposter than a spiritual successor.

This boring and bland game isn't the spiritual sequel to Mega Man we were hoping for. Mega Man is dead, long live Mega Man!

How the mighty have fallen.

Mighty No. 9 had an incredible amount of potential. The pedigree of talent behind the project justifies fans’ expectations for a platformer that is full of personality and high-quality action. This game has neither of those things; sure, it works, but the game feels completely lifeless. Characters lack the charm and depth that they need to be memorable, and the story is underdeveloped and plain. Platformers require complex and stylish level design to succeed, and Mighty No. 9 fails on both fronts. If you’re looking for a 2D platformer that carries with it the charm and intricate level design o...

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Regardless of how much you like the Mega Man series, in Mighty No.9 you're unlikely to find a game that comes close to that legacy.

“It raised nearly $4 million on Kickstarter, yet Mighty No. 9 offers little but nostalgia.”

If nothing else, Mighty No. 9 mostly functions in its role as a reminder of how much we used to love Mega Man games. There are eight enemy robots to battle against, and they look vaguely like (but different enough from) the Robot Masters that Mega Man fans remember fondly from the past three decades. There are kindhearted scientists and brave robot boys and girls who want to rid the world of simple, clearly defined evils. Beck shoots his arm cannon just like Mega Man. He climbs ladders just like Mega Man. Squint your eyes hard enough you might be convinced, for a passing moment, that Mighty No...