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.

A worthy project: Keiji Inafune’s Mighty No. 9

I emerge once again from blog hibernation in response to something in the video game industry I’m actually rather excited about, and that is Comcept’s Kickstarter campaign for a future game titled Mighty No. 9. It is being made by a veteran team of Mega Man developers. Comcept is Keiji Inafune’s company; Inafune being the Japanese game producer who worked on the Mega Man/Rockman series up until his departure from Capcom. If you’re in the mindset to be as excited as me about this, while somehow not yet knowing about the Kickstarter, then what I already said is probably all you need to know. To spell it out, the man behind Mega Man is going to be making a new, "evolved" classic-style side-scrolling game, which I personally consider to be the spiritual successor of Mega Man.

At time of writing, there are nine days to go for the Kickstarter. It has been a considerable success so far, currently at nearly $2.4 million, having surpassed its’ $900,000 goal within the first several days. So the game is a go even if the Kickstarter doesn't raise a dollar more, although the more it continues to get and the more stretch goals it reaches the better the end product should be. Under the topic of money, I do want to be clear I’m not asking for anyone to help fund the Kickstarter. My goal of this post is to just talk about something that I think is really great for several reasons I plan to explain further. This is the first Kickstarter I've ever put money on. I think the project speaks for itself whether it’s something others want to support.

So why am I so eager? Well, to begin, Mega Man is one of my favorite video game series (or perhaps franchise as there are actually multiple series under the name of Mega Man). The name of my blog is inspired by something in a Mega Man game after all. Yet where is Mega Man now? Despite being Capcom’s most recognizable property, there hasn't been a Mega Man game published since 2010, not counting a Japanese-only Apple iOS game that apparently few liked anyway. Inafune, the biggest name behind Mega Man, left Capcom in 2010. I don’t know what Capcom’s intentions are for Mega Man now, but while I’m sure there are still many good, creative people within the company, I just don’t trust Capcom anymore. Another Mega Man game may eventually be inevitable. Such a game might be one I get and enjoy, but I’m tired of looking to Capcom with hope.

Inafune, who worked for Capcom for 23 years and had become its’ global head of productions just before leaving, certainly had his own frustrations. His frustrations encompassed not only Capcom and the ability he had to pursue his own ideas, but the standard Japanese model of game development in its entirety. I don’t think I could give this topic the finesse it deserves though if I were attempt to speak in detail about it, so instead I will refer to a translated transcript of the initial interview of Inafune himself by 4Gamer announcing his departure from Capcom and the reasons behind it. I already liked Inafune before he set off on his own, but now he is easily one of my top favorite people in the entire video game industry.

Inafune, being outside Capcom, no longer has access to the characters and intellectual property he helped make great. With Mighty No. 9, it’s clear he’s starting something of his own design to bypass that issue, something familiar yet also something new. Inafune was restricted in what he was able to accomplish with Mega Man, so one of the other reasons I’m excited is he’s no longer restricted in his ability to manage his own creation. Sure, Mighty No. 9 may be classic side scrolling and by itself that sounds good to me, but I want to see how Inafune’s team is going to be able to go beyond the usual formula. Beck, the titular Mighty No. 9, will have the ability to transform his body to make different weapons and possibly even vehicles – one example of something I look forward to see how it plays out.

Important note: while this concept art looks pretty cool,
it is only art and not from actual gameplay.

Another important point is that, while I just mentioned that Inafune is no longer restricted in managing the prospective game, Comcept is voluntarily relinquishing some control to the fans. Part of that is the Kickstarter itself, but in a larger sense this is Inafune’s response to the business-as-usual Japanese game development process. It’s in this element of Mighty No. 9 that I am the most excited about. From what I've seen the community springing up around Mighty No. 9 is a very positive one. So far Comcept has been very welcoming and encouraging to its’ fans, whether they are in Japan or overseas.

Thinking beyond just the game, I also have a hope that this method of development could help revolutionize areas of the entire game industry. Perhaps that, to quote Marty McFly, is bit "heavy" though. I’ll store that hope away for safekeeping for now and primarily concentrate on eventually playing the outcome of this project.

The story behind the name

For awhile now I have thought about creating a blog (in fact once I technically did start one, but never did a single thing with it). One barrier to go through with starting was I had absolutely no idea about a name. I suppose if I were to really force myself to brainstorm, I'd come up with something half decent I could live with. A really good name though? Something I would be 100 percent happy with? No clue.

No clue at least until just last weekend. I had come home and because I was in a bit of a Mega Man mood, I started up Mega Man 10. When it first came out I played it about four times through, but one of the features I was most interested in was not available as downloadable content at the time. I speak of Bass mode. Maybe saying it like that might make it sound a lot more impressive than it is, but to me it's a big deal. Bass is my favorite character in the Mega Man franchise, but more on him later.

Of course Bass mode has been available for purchase in the game for some time now, but until now I hadn't felt like going back to the game. I will say I enjoyed playing Mega Man 10 as Bass, although it seems like his style of gameplay didn't transition quite as well to a (pseudo) 8-bit game. Firing in all directions wasn't quite as useful as it sounds or as useful as I remember it being in Mega Man & Bass. Even though it is awesome to blow the shield out of a Sniper Joe's hands with Bass' rapid fire, the unusual challenge of destroying Mettools with Bass' weaker blaster while not taking a hit was irksome.

Anyway, the name 8-bit Smirk came to me after defeating one of the robot masters. For the sake of a better story, let's say I just finished off Sheep Man. Bass struck his pose on the screen while he absorbed the robot master's weapon, and even though I had seen the sprite of him doing so several times before I mentally commented to myself: "8-bit Smirk." In my mind there are no better words to describe the expression on Bass' pixelated face. My next thought was, for some reason or another, how the same words would make an awesome name for a blog. The idea of everything I wanted to do with a blog began to hatch in my mind. Why did I think smirk rather than smile or grin when I first unconsciously commented on Bass' expression? Because I know Bass and I know his character. In short, he's a bastard.

Bass falls within the same tired character archetype of the protagonist's rival (an annoyingly common archetype in anything related to Japanese animation), which in fancier language might be termed a foil. He wants to beat Mega Man to prove he's stronger, blah blah, he's a rebel, blah blah, he's not a good guy but he often ends up fighting evil (Dr. Wily), and blah. Despite all that there's still something about him that makes me appreciate him as a character even though I'm aware of his limitations (in terms of his peers, nobody in the classic Mega Man series is really complex). I like how completely irreverent he is to his creator, Dr. Wily, and I like how utterly thick headed he is. His character design also really stands out within the classic series. I like him even though I probably couldn't completely justify why. That and his inspirational smirk are the reasons I plan to make him somewhat of a mascot for this blog.

A note on Bass' name: it is pronounced like the musical term. Quite a few character names in the classic Mega Man series are music related. Bass has a robot dog for a partner named Treble (Bass and Treble). In Japan they are known as Forte and Gospel, but I like their localized names better. They're the names I was first familiar with, I think they're more mainstream musical terms that work better together as a pair, and because when I think of bass sound the word obnoxious comes to mind (it fits his personality).

Now besides being what I consider a good name, 8-bit Smirk also conveys some things about my blog I believe will be characteristic of it. The first part more or less should mean I will be dealing with games all the way back (but not exclusively) to the 8-bit era. I could be talking about the oldest games in the NES' library, to games yet to be released on current systems, and everything in between (whatever I feel like). The second part of the name will probably be revealing about my personality, but I'll leave that to be seen as I go along.

I have several posts I plan to make soon. Easter Sunday is nearly here and I have a somewhat amusing gaming-related anecdote of a memory from my childhood to impart. Besides Mega Man 10, I also recently played through Mega Man X to X3 and have some thoughts on the overall X series. I have been playing Kirby's Return to Dream Land with a friend and I plan to make that game one of the first (or the first) I review here. Diablo III is on the horizon and I am eagerly awaiting it by going back to replay the preceding games in the series yet again. An overview of some of my favorites within all of gaming is also something I want to do soon. So until next time...

Be awesome; stay awesome.

Some content in this post is being used under the fair use exception of copyright law. Mega Man 10 is copyright of Capcom. Bass is copyright of Capcom.