Too salty: Critical reaction to Mighty No. 9 is annoying

Mighty No. 9 is out and the reviews are in, and overwhelmingly the reviews are not good. Who could have seen this coming? With sky-high expectations, spiritually having to live up to the legacy of a classic series, a lengthy development, several release delays, multiple controversies the media has been quick to jump on, and plenty of outcry from what I’ve thought of as an extremely vocal minority of gamers, who could have possibly seen it coming? There was blood in the water, and gaming critics were only too hungry to bite.

No, it looks nothing like the gameplay concept images used in the Kickstarter campaign or the early test footage posted online; both of which look far superior to the final product we received. Yes, the game’s development became a public relations nightmare. Yes, the characters and premise are goofy and much of the story is eye-roll worthy. No, the gimmicky dash mechanic is far from loved by all. Yes, it seems the decision to try releasing the game on 10 consoles simultaneously was an ambitious yet ultimately disastrous choice, particularly in retrospect. Yes, this also means how Comcept decided to pitch the game via Kickstarter and plan for achievable stretch goals that would not detract from the core plan was flawed from its implementation.

No, the game is not everything I’d hoped for when I first put money toward the Kickstarter.

Yet no, all this considered, I don’t believe Mighty No. 9 deserves all the foul offal gleefully being tossed upon it.

If I sound like I’m annoyed by the game’s reception, I am. Feels like a popularity contest. I’m not disparaging those who are generally disappointed in the game they ended up receiving; I just think the amount of hate being piled on has become ridiculous.

When I backed the game, I wanted something fun, and I wanted something that was both familiar yet also a little different. As far as I’m concerned, that’s what I received. I’ve been enjoying the game. To me, it’s actually pretty fun. There are still things I don’t care for, but I feel some of the level design is pretty creative and it plays reasonably good. Not great, far from beautiful, but still fun.