Mighty No. 9 Reviews
Mighty No. 9 may be one of the most disappointing games I’ve ever played. At the start, we were promised a spiritual successor to Mega Man and we didn’t get that. Gameplay wise, Mighty No. 9 isn’t a bad game, it’s just muddled down with bad design, poor characters, and other technical issues.
Mighty No. 9 fails to fill the shiny blue, metallic, oversized boots of its predecessor. The game manages to capture the essentials of the previous titles without capturing the essence. Remaining true to the original design ethos from a decade ago has perhaps been too restrictive and it feels more like a HD remake or re-imagining of the Mega Man games than an attempt to breathe new life into an aged franchise, advancing it and introducing it to a new generation of players.
With the lack of tight controls, an honest challenge and the addition of a generic plot and characters we're left with a totally average action platforming game that promised the world.
Ultimately, Mighty No. 9 is just not worth the price. It has a satisfying set of mechanics, but that is all it has going for it. The visuals are atrocious, the music unmemorable, the story painful, and the level design mediocre.
Mighty No. 9 is a trying experience, good when it works but exhausting when it doesn't.
After years of delays and broken promises, Mighty No. 9 still manages to disappoint despite having the lowest of expectations. It controls, looks, and sounds worse than any Mega Man. Everything about Mighty Blunder 9 screams "amateur," with homage turning into borderline plagiarism most, if not all, of the time. Inafune and Comcept would have been better off canceling the project and refunding the Kickstarter; it would have saved them all the embarrassment of being attached to one of this decade's worst titles.
Mighty No. 9 melds the old with the new, ends up with the worst of both
Mighty No 9 has been created in such a way that it's impossible for it to escape the Mega Man comparisons, a contrast that it doesn't get away from throughout. That's not to say it's terrible though. Mighty No 9 is an enjoyable, albeit tough, game to play through and despite what you may see elsewhere, it isn't a bad game. With a little bit more originality and a different direction, Mighty No 9 could've been a fresh addition to the usual 2D shooter games we see, but you won't find a true evolution of the Mega Man style game here. Mighty No 9 is not a bad carbon copy of Mega Man, but a missed opportunity to expand on its legacy.
It raised nearly $4 million on Kickstarter, yet Mighty No. 9 offers little but nostalgia.
Mighty No. 9 isn't a bad game, but it's generic in gameplay quality and suffers from technical issues that hamper the experience. If you wanted a brand new 2D platforming experience in the vein of the old Mega Man games, then this is probably something worth your time. Just don't expect anything more beyond that, and be ready to restart your Wii U in case of a bug or two.
In the end result, I think that Mighty No. 9 got a bad rap. Granted, there was a lot of money invested in the project, and, as backers, we should feel we got our money’s worth. But I also feel the anxiety and negativity that plagued the end of the campaign and the release of the game heavily biased all the early reviews that came out. After playing the game myself and beating it, I found Mighty No. 9 to be an enjoyable, if flawed, experience. However, for $19.99 for the Steam version or $29.99 for the physical version, I feel fans get their money’s worth. The main campaign is fun, but when you factor in the Ray DLC, the other playable characters, the boss rush and other features, there’s a lot to enjoy for a while to come. If nothing else, I hope I have given fans of the project some hope that their money wasn’t wasted. As much as I love and adore the Mega Man series, it has its issues and problems, as well, which is something I feel we all conveniently forget whenever we condemn Mighty No. 9 for not being perfect.
However, this must be said. Although it truly is not quite as good, with Capcom letting Mega Man collect dust in his cryogenic pod until the year 21XX, this is definitely a serviceable replacement, especially at its affordable price-tag. With a few minor control issues you'll eventually overcome, it isn't mind blowing nor is it exceptionally special in its own right.
Overall, I'm proud I was a backer for this game and am pleased with the work Inafune and his team put into it. The trailer was indeed terrible, but my focus is always on the quality of the game itself. To all the people judging the game without playing it and putting it down: You're doing a fine job of showing your ignorance and unwillingness to be objective.
9 fits that bill, and you're probably better off with Shovel Knight or Freedom Planet's oldschool-yet-new sensibilities. Every time I try to think about what the motivator for playing this game would be, I immediately dismiss it. I repeat: I have no idea who this is for.
If you're a fan of the Mega Man series, then I recommend you check out this game when it's 5$ or less (and I'm very serious by the way). Otherwise, stay away and pretend it doesn't even exist.
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Mighty No. 9 is the best Mega Man game I've played in years, but all of the problems it has come from that too. Whether the gaming scene of 2016 needs a modern Mega Man is a more ambiguous question, perhaps answered by the old adage: be careful what you wish for.
At the end of the day, Mighty No. 9 is simply an average game. That is not a terrible thing, it is not what I would call a bad game. Certainly the hype surrounding it helped to elevate expectations that it did not and probably could not have met, so tossing aside the Mega Man comparisons and taking Mighty No. 9 for what it is? You have a bland-looking game with some interesting mechanics that deliver some entertainment without doing anything to make itself a memorable experience. There are worse things than that, but there are also better.
It's worth a peek, but probably not until it's on sale
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Mighty No. 9 can have its moments when its platforming and shooting tickles that same nostalgic bone that makes us love Mega Man, but its poor design makes it more frustrating than novel.