This year’s Top 5 list will a bit different, mostly because it doesn’t consist of many older games overall. Why? Because when you’re a full-time working man, there’s not much time for games. That, and I forgot to start listing the games I bought this year into this post. Whoops.
The usual rules apply; any game from any year is applicable as long I’ve played it for the first time this year in physical form. Means if a game only has a digital release, it automatically gets disqualified. There is no top slot either, because that’s stupid.
A Certain Magical Virtual-OnPlayStation4, PlayStation Vita, 2018
If you haven’t read my Cyber Troopers Virtual-On retrospective series, you can either start with the original entry or click Robot related materials on the top bar. The last entry covers this game and has a review on it, so I’m not going to repeat it. However, what I have to question whether or not this game stands now, almost a year later.
The game stands at a respectable three and a half stars on Amazon Japan, it got a serialised comic and the overall reception throughout the year has mixed. I mentioned how fans of the game series didn’t exactly like A Certain Magical Index being mixed in there, while Index fans took the opposite stance. This game turned me into and Index fan though, and seeing this cross over was overall fun and works within the setting. Sure, it’s a standalone spin-off that has nothing to do with either franchises in the end, but that doesn’t keep us from enjoying what we have now.
Sega pushed this game rather hard initially, and had few Voosters Cups, tournaments for the game. Some hardcore fans are still playing it non-stop, but the lack of local two-player was the death knell of the game for someone who doesn’t have PSN+ account. VO as a series certainly could work in the modern eSports environment, but it would require further presence and more events to be held. A popular IP tagged to it won’t do much alone.
Despite the lack of local multiplayer, and the Vita version being crippled thanks to being on Vita, I do come back to this game whenever I want to play Virtual-On. It’s still Virtual-On, and there really isn’t anything like it. Well, maybe Last Legion UX on the N64, but I’ll review that next year.
Rockman World VGame Boy, 1994, 3DS Virtual Console, 2014
That’s a terrible PV, but couldn’t find the original CM for now.
The big question was; would Mega Man 11 get a spot this year? The answer is No because I also bought the a boxed copy of Rockman World V.
This game everything an evolution of Mega Man should be. From the changing Mega Buster into a rocket punch and taking advantages such weapon allows, changing the bosses from Robot Masters to Stardroids for an entry and making a bait n’ Switch with the final boss, this game has it all. You can’t do something like this in a series ending game, but as a spin-off title on the Game Boy it had more freedom to do whatever it wanted.
Minakuchi Engineering did all but one GB Mega Man game, and with the fourth and this fifth entries they managed to make the series better than its NES originals. Everything from visual design to music and controls are spot on. What makes the GB’s Mega Man series stand out in most cases is that despite the smaller screen, everything plays well. This is mostly due to camera not centering on the player character, something so many games get wrong nowadays, even the Zero-series got this wrong, and the sheer design of the stages and enemy placement has to spot on.
I’ve seen some call it a nice little game, but it’s a grand Game Boy game that should not be missed. Cheaply available on your 3DS’ Virtual Console too.
Sonic Mania Plus PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Steam, 2018
When original Sonic Mania was released, it was great. Sonic Mania Plus is pretty much the same, just with some tweaked stuff in there and two more characters that we haven’t seen in ages. For someone who loved to play the first Sonic the Hedgehog as a itty bitty kiddy, Sonic Mania hits that nostalgia spot right on. That alone isn’t enough for a game to get on the list, and any version of Sonic mania is worth playing for the absolute brilliancy it shows in sheer realisation of the game. From sound and music to controls and stage design the game gets all of these spot on. It sounds like a Mega Drive Sonic, it plays like a Mega Drive Sonic and looks just a slightly bit better thanks to increased frames of animations here and there. While the Special Stages where you collect the Chaos Emeralds are infuriating. The original game’s dream-like mazes are still the most unique way the series has implemented these, but it would also seem that these stages aren’t exactly popular.
2D Sonic games are much like 2D Super Mario Bros. games. They both represent the best the series has to offer and are the most popular among fans and overall audiences. Despite few revivals here and there, the companies behind these two mascot giants have never really been able to re-create what made these 2D titles so great. They’ve lost the sight what makes their 2D juggernauts tick, but I’m glad to see some fans got their chance to showcase this to Sega. Hopefully any upcoming revival Sega does, especially with Streets of Rage 4, follows this one up. Whatever comes after Sonic Mania Plus in regards of the franchise also has to take things forwards away from the 16-bit graphics, unless they want to replicate the belly splat Mega Man 10 did. These retro-revivals are always dancing on a fine edge.
The Game Paradise Crusin’ Mix SpecialPlayStation 4, 2018
Or Game Tengoku if you so will.
Whenever there is a new shooting game coming out, it has a lot sub-systems and scoring mechanics stacked upon it. That, and the shooting game genre has effectively become mostly bullet hells. Finding a shooting game that doesn’t just throw truckloads of bullets at you nowadays means we need to look back at some of the older titles.
This slot could’ve gone to the Psikyo Collection Vol 1 and 2, but the reason why The Game Paradise gets to this spot is two-fold; shooting game pureness and humour.
The whole set up for the game is that a mad scientist Yamada, who wants to take control over arcades and thus all of Japan. To prevent this, an arcade worker Yuki Ito employs (forces) some of Jaleco’s classic characters to go in and fight Yamada’s plans in a different set of arcade machines. Well, the first level takes place in an arcade, before whiskering the player into a Wonder Hunting UFO catcher. The playable characters are a celebration of Jaleco’s past games like Exerion and Momko 120%. This new version of the game also adds few new characters into the mix, like Clarice from City Connection (who makes it very clear that the blonde Clarice from Gunbare! The Game Paradise2 is a damn dirty fake.) With DLC you’re able to throw Honou from Pro Yakyuu series into the mix (playing a shooting game with a baseball player is surprisingly fun) and as a surprise collaboration Yuki can hop into the spaceship from Tatsujin., making her a playable character for the time.
The game’s core play is fantastic 90’s shooting, as mentioned. The core scoring system consists of collecting items, which ramp up in value in short burst as a score meter rises temporarily. All the items you collected from your last death are recounted at the end to the stage. Dying also drops your weapon level by one notch, but unlike some games, losing a weapon level doesn’t turn the game impossible. There is a good balance. Of course there are Options to pick up, which are the other characters and their weapons added to your own arsenal. Enemy patterns are usually relatively straightforward and the bullet patterns are thankfully far away from screen filling bullshit. The enemy variety is of course rather nice, considering each stage has its set of unique enemies and none of the are recycled from other stages.
This version of the game has an updated version of the original arcade game with options to choose an updated soundtrack and the like, but also the Saturn port of the original game, as it has a full story mode, to which I admit laughing far more than warranted. In addition, there is a history mode that explain history and characters from past Jaleco games that are in The Game Paradise Cruisin’ Mix Special, covering such things as the games’ launch dates, game play and their overall success by using flyers and posters. Of course there is fun to be had, as with Momoko 120% reminds the other characters (and the player) that the home release of the game had an anime license attached to it. Best part of this license mess is that the arcade game still uses Lum’s Love song as its BGM.
Note that despite this being Japanese version, all the text is in English, meaning everything’s baked in from get go
It’s such a joy to see a game like this being remastered after so long, and definitely gets a slot on the list.
Glove on FightPC, 2002
Developed by Watanabe Seisakujo, a doujin circle that’s been doing games since the 90’s and got renamed as Soft Circle French-Bread when they went more or less professional, Glove on Fight is a shining example of core pureness in a game without any bells and whistles. Much like The Game Paradise above, this is a straight up otaku game with full of references. Well, it is a doujinshi game, they wouldn’t be able to use Kanon or Fate characters otherwise. Music’s diverse, ranging from rap, eurobeat and fusion jazz, and all of it is damn good.
The game is, however, extremely small and focused. You have five characters to choose from, and you’re able to unlock three more. While this does lack variety, it makes every character unique in their approach and play style, especially considering how every move has been fine tuned to perfection. In this game, there is no wasted space, with sprite and backgrounds representing the characters in this super deformed look nicely. The looks all intentional, as you couldn’t have this sort of boxing game based on timing without having clear motions or limbs. Even Capcom realised that the characters in Street Fighter II need to have slightly exaggerated hands and feet in order to show where punches and kicks are.
Controls follow the same focus, consisting of a Weak Attack, Strong Attack and Dodge. You can dash and weave with double tapping to a direction, and it is essential to time your movements not just to avoid hits, but to get some in. There are numerous special and Super moves, but they need to be land first. There is no jumping either, that’s a special move. Because things are this simple, the game’s extremely easy to get into, but once you realise how much skill it takes to time everything you do, the game’s balance becomes like an open book. It’ll take some time to get good at this game, but due to lack of content and characters, the game doesn’t have much staying power. Well, this is a small homebrew release after all, but still a game worth coming back again and again. There’s also the sequel, but we’re gonna get to that next year.
An absolute marvel of a game, which I hope French-Bread will come back to at some point in the future. Also, Power of Love is one of the best boxing game stage songs out there.
Honourable Mentions for those who didn’t make the cut
Monster Hunter WorldPS4, Xbox One, Steam, 2018
Despite dropping a hundred hours or so into the game, the Monster Hunter World feels a step backwards with each step is has taken forwards. Each time I play the game, I wish some elements from older games were present. These range from the progression being all over the place that doesn’t build up challenge, in which the game is lacking, to items that aren’t present for whatever reason. While some still bitch that there isn’t G-Rank, they seem to forget that no Monster Hunter has G-Rank in their initial release, it’s only reserved for the upgraded titles.
Then you have the maps. While it’s nice to see the maps as one whole, the only map that makes itself feel natural and like a living environment is the fist one, Ancient Forest. The rest feel like they should be split into ready parts, just like the previous titles. It’s sad to see that as the game progresses, the areas become more and more simple and are not taken advantage of. Little things also pop in here to drop the overall challenge, as previously desert areas required to have Chill Drink in order to keep the characters gaining damage from overheating, and in night setting the maps required the use of Hot Drink to fight cold. Despite wanting to make a more realistic and living worlds, all the small things like this that existed previously that the player had to account and prepare for are completely missing.
Whatever Iceborne expansion brings in, it should also change some of the core elements of the game simply to give the player more responsibility of themselves rather than pamper. Harder monsters and more content isn’t a fix to the game’s core issues, but these issues won’t be fixed as they’re designed as they now are. Still, far from being the worst entry in the series, and going back from the World to older games will feel cumbersome.
Bayonetta 2Wii U 2014, Switch 2018
I loved the original Bayonetta. One of the best action games around, with Platinum showcasing that games should be at their best on the hardest difficulty setting. However, Bayonetta 2 is more of the same and while that’s all good, the game feels like it’s not reaching to the excellence as the first one. Then again, no sequel could have the effect and marvel the first game’s gameplay and stages could offer, despite everything been tuned further here. A game worth getting anyway, one of the best games on either Wii U or Switch.
Mega Man 11 Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam, 2018
I’d recommend reading the review of the game instead having me to repeat everything here. If I had not got Rockman World 5 this year, it would have taken is spot. However, that Game Boy game is just so damn good, that MM11 doesn’t really hold candle to it. Let’s hope number twelve will be World 5 of the mainline classic series.
Senran Kagura BURST Re:Newal Playstation 4, 2018
Y’know, I really loved the series’ no-nonsense gameplay. You could get in fast, strike hard, and have a stage over in half a minute if you were good and knew what you were doing. Burst Re:Newal however screws with the core gameplay by introducing a counter system that makes the gameplay slower. Well, almost stops the action in order to simply counter. It’s an easy system, but implementation is weak at best. You’re show an attack range the enemy is doing, and depending on the colour and animation on it, you’re able to parry and counter attack. The thin is, it’s only on ground. If your camera is anywhere else, you have to resort looking at the enemy movements, but unlike in most other action games, the enemies themselves don’t have proper signals. That isn’t really a problem in itself, but when you have to stop playing the game just to wait to parry, shit’s just stupid. The system also changed how you stagger enemies in order to encourage parrying, so whatever fun the system previously had is broken. Marvelous didn’t make it smoother, they didn’t fine tune the game play to any extent, they just slapped an unnecessary element in a very haphazard way that’s intrusive at best. The Western PlayStation 4 version is also censored, so get it on Steam or the Japanese PS4 box if you’re a fan. Removing a whole game mode is absolutely retarded.
Omega Boost PlayStation, 1999
A PlayStation classic for sure, Omega Boost is one of those games that managed to have stable 60fps with fast action when 30fps was bog standard with pretty much everything on the system. It’s a short game, filled with bursts of high-speed action with good music, but perhaps it suffers from being far too focused at times, but other times the better tactic is just to float and do homing attacks. For a mecha game aimed for action, that’s disappointing at best. A rail shooter like had a lot of contest back then, and if I had to pick up from my library to play on a whim, I’d pick either Panzer Dragoon Zwei or Orta over Omega Boost simply because they’re better titles within the genre.
It’s been about eight years since we got a proper Mega Man game, though I’d go further back to pin point a true “new” title in the series. This isn’t the first time the franchise has been revived either, with the 8-bit throwbacks essentially serving the role and Battle Network being a kind of total reboot that essentially allowed a new generation to enjoy a Mega Man branded product. However, Mega Man 11 might be closer to the throwbacks, but thematically and in intention it leans more towards reintroducing the franchise to the field. As such, there’s three takes I could use to review the game; developer intention, as a Mega Man game and as a standalone title. However, splitting or choosing just one felt awkward. So rather than overthinking how to make this one stand out or be something special, I’ll just go in without much worries and say this straight out of the gate; Mega Man 11 is a good Mega Man game, but ultimately runs short compared in this modern era of games.
If you’ve played any of the NES Mega Man games, you know what you’re getting into, and MM11 is best argument against MM9 and 10 in that you don’t need to use throwback bit-graphics in order to make a “true” Mega Man game. The controls are tight, responsive and work exactly as you’d expect. The amount of control over Mega Man is perfect and pretty much everything can be put on the player in damage and death department. The PS4 version has the most control lag, with Steam and Xbox versions coming at top, which can only be blamed on Sony wanting to add too much post-processing on their games on PS4 Pro. Switch is somewhere between, closer to Xbox’s and that’s fine. Unless you’re crazy over NES-CRT level responsiveness, you’re more or less boned and should go for the Steam version. That’s probably the only significant difference between the versions, outside Switch’s Amiibo support that gives you items mid-game. It’s a nice idea, but really sucks when you realise how haphazardly it’s been implemented, much like in every other game out there.
For those who haven’t played a Mega Man game, the formulae is simple and solid. You’ve got eight stages, each with a Boss you have to defeat in order to advance to the final stages. You gain each Boss’ weapon and they have rock-paper-scissors mechanic going on, one being weak to another. Back when games were more or less strict on the progress, Mega Man was a breeze of fresh air, and modern stage-selecting was more or less inspired by the franchise. The franchise is famed for being difficult, but this has always been hyperbole at best. The six NES titles are easy enough for a five-years old to beat. The right word would be challenge, where the game offers some obstacles you to tackle, but with some try and experience, you’ll beat them in no time. The stages are overall designed to have a combination of environmental hazards combined with stage enemies, sometimes moving and sometimes stationary, which also gives all the stages their own little gimmick to work with.
The stages, of course, are the main meat themselves. Sadly, the game’s design did not escape the usual fire-water-grass thematic that has been overused in the series far too often. This time we’re getting both spikes-in-water and an ice stage, which shows that despite the series having almost a decade long hiatus and thirty years of history to learn from, the new dev team ultimately had to resort to recycling some old ideas. We’ve seen pretty much everything at this point in the franchise, from water purifying facilities to cityscapes, from forests to ancient stone temples and even space stations, thematically Mega Man is all spent. It doesn’t really offer anything new, and veterans feel it. Each stage offers their own challenges, like the aforementioned spikes-in-water stage that emphasizes on careful control. Each of their gimmicks should drive the player skills higher in order to beat the final fortress levels, but ultimately these stages don’t take all the advantages the eight main stages offer. The difficulty and challenge doesn’t exactly ramp up drastically, especially now that there is a total lack of Capcom gauntlet. A Capcom gauntlet is an old term for stages that come at a later stage in a game, where the player is unable to return or retreat to recover items, having to resort with whatever limited resources is found during the gauntlet. Boss Rush has always been part of this, with an additional twist or two in the mix. Mega Man games excelled in this by the natural design. However, Mega Man 11 allows the player to access the previous stages and create items between each of the fortress stages, making the gauntlet completely neutered. The ramping up element is now gone.
This of course begs the mention of the game’s gimmick, the Double Gear system. The stages have been designed so that there is no need to use use either Speed or Power function to beat them. Speed is naturally the more useful of the two, as its slow-down effect makes everything much more easier. The Power in itself is largely useless outside few situations, and is mostly used to use the powered up versions of the Special Weapons. However, because of all this the system works more or less as a build-in cheat, which can be further powered up with purchasable items. The game meanders between trying to appease people who want a more pure Mega Man experience and people who go all out, and ultimately doesn’t exactly fulfill the necessities to use the Gears. Even the speediest or smartest sections of the game are easy without the use of Speed Gear, and Power Gear makes some of the Special Weapons just absolutely bonkers, being able to wipe the screen of enemies, shield or not. That said, the weapons themselves are pretty well designed and balanced, again fitting pre-existing moulds in the series e.g. utility weapon, movement option attack, full-screen weapon, a barrier and so on. Their powered-up versions, as mentioned, are overkill in most places, and make mid-stage bosses a laughing stock.
This means the game ends up being very easy to beat through the use of cost items rather than skill, but perhaps this is more or less about personal challenge than anything else. Mega Man games have always been welcoming, though the game does seem too accommodating rather than trusting the player to build enough skill to beat it. Resources are readily available for anyone to buy if the game puts a wall against you. The stages have some elements designed around some of the Special Weapons use, but their limited scope and length don’t make much use of them. The fortress levels even less so, and you can rely on Tundra Storm to wipe enemies off from distance.
Visually speaking, the game looks very much for the part. Colours are well used and detail can be found everywhere. There is a definitive Mega Man flavour to things, just aptly cartoony with clear and defined lines. It may not be the cutting edge of graphics technology, but it doesn’t need to be. The game stays true to the NES era’s designwork almost to a flaw, where certain amount of detail is lost on the designs. Backgrounds get the most detail overall, with some referencing past games. There is a definitive charm to everything, the same charm Mega Man used to carry. This carries to the Robot Master designs as well, with the Gallery mode expanding on their characters more than the game can properly convey on-screen. While pre-battle quotes have been around for a time now, the Gallery entries really make them shine even more. Mega Man & Bass’ CD Database gave a nice insight to all of the characters, but not to this extent.
The music, however, is t he game’s weakest point by far. It goes all techno on the soundtrack, with synth bweaaaing being the main instrument. It all ends in almost a cacophony, most stages ending up sounding the same and unmemorable. This is a far cry from previous’ games’ soundtracks, which made the songs stood out, either due to the more limited sound samples or simply because the songs were that superior. The pre-order downloadable soundtrack is not much better, opting the techno for nondescript jazz that sounds worse. Acid Man comes out the best in this, mostly due to the instruments working better with his theme, but overall you’d be better just muting the BGM and putting something better on. Rock and rocking kind of instruments have always sit the series much better, more so in the X-series. That said, sound effects are pretty much spot on and have an oomph to them, though Mega Man no longer makes a noise when he lands. In the NES games, there was a small te-det sound, which is absent here, but it’s something that isn’t all essential.
This review reads like a ramble, because trying to say anything definitive how it is fails to a point. The Mega Man 11 doesn’t innovate on the formula of the series and is a step back in terms of length and game design. However, on the other hand it is well made and intentionally open for everybody, concentrating on the core building blocks what makes a Mega Man game. However, that’s all it really is. We’ve seen this before. While there is a need for smaller games like this one the market now, retreading things once more like this works only once. Just as with Mega Man 9. If there is going to be a Mega Man 12, it must innovate, expand and push the envelope on Classic Mega Man as much as possible. As a standalone title, the game doesn’t exactly stand well against the swamp of other 2D action titles, but its sheer polish and execution ultimately lifts it just enough above the surface.
After spending good three days of building my new PC and troubleshooting things that have been popping up now and then, I completely forgot that I was supposed to write something for Sunday. That’s not the only thing I’ve forgotten lately, due to being so damn tired. Enough excuses, let’s get this on the roll.
So, whatever plans I might’ve had are more or less out of the window thanks to people ordering more and more stuff from the place I work, meaning the speed and production amounts have been upped ever so slightly but enough to push the proverbial breaking point of the manufacturing process. Rather, I’ll have to approach things by case-by-case basis and hope that I don’t put things out too late. Well, I’ll be doing Mega Man 11 at some point.
As such, I’ll use this opportunity to comment on the previous post about Capcom’s IR materials. It’s a long post in comparison to most and has quite a lot of hot air, but something that needed to be covered. Rather than spouting what Capcom says, here’s my personal take what Capcom wants to do in the future; high-end games.
Monster Hunter World and Resident Evil 7 have been big hits, and Capcom seems to think it is thanks to the games having high production values across the board, especially in the graphics department. While the term artisanal design was thrown in there, it ultimately means very little if not expanded. Effectively it means master craftsmanship and how something is worked by hand to perfection, but how well that applies to Capcom’s titles is up to interpretation. They are infamous for dishing out game sequels after sequels, though this has been on the slower end as of late. Game development has gotten more expensive with each generation and they feel it. Each title has to be bigger and more successful than the previous. The two aforementioned titles fit the bill perfectly, something Resident Evil 2‘s remake and Devil May Cry 5 do too. While the games will have something the consumers will have to scratch their heads over with, Capcom is putting a lot of money and time into them, hoping to get return in their investment. MHW is regarded a cornerstone within the company in terms of success, and they want to replicate that.
Furthermore, Capcom is surprised by the success of Mega Man 11. Without a doubt it has come as a surprise, and the Man of Action Mega Man cartoon basically exists to drive brand recognition, especially among younger consumers who have no previous experience with the franchise. The initial sales have been very positive and the reception of the game has more or less followed the same pattern. Above all, Mega Man 11 is a PR victory for Capcom and does go against their set idea of high-end games, something consumers should be somewhat happy about. MM11 was relatively cheap to develop, which probably served more to its favour than most think. It also shows that games don’t need to be at their highest ends in order to make a mark. Capcom probably took notice of this, as they’re also noticed the good sales the Mega Man X collection was having.
This has lead them to consider reviving some of their old IPs and the upcoming Capcom Belt-Action Collection is probably is part of the whole deal to see what sticks to the wall. Sadly, Capcom doesn’t have the licensing rights to some of their best beat-em-ups, but at least the collection has the first ever home port of Battle Circuit, something long-time Capcom and CPSII fans have been waiting for. When’s Wazrard getting a proper home release? Does this mean fan favourite IPs will be revived? Naturally, no. First three people who I saw commenting on the post said Breath of Fire, but I don’t see that being very likely. Firs being that BoF was never a great seller and that they have better options to fill the RPG quota if they want to. However, the one thing that is in BoF‘s favour is that Capcom recognizes themselves relying on limited genres, with fighting games, action and horror taking the top spot. Capcom has to diversify its selection at some point, but that may go toward mobile gaming.
According to the materials, Capcom has been making loads of money in the smartphone market, but still don’t have much success in there. What does this mean, exactly? They’re not the top dog and despite the few titles they manage to get money out, the competition is making bigger bank. This is largely an Asian thing, as the mobile game market is absolutely bonkers huge there, eclipsing both console and PC market without any margins of error. It’s no wonder companies like Blizzard want to release a game into the market like they were horny teenagers with free access to the corest of hardest porn. We’ll get to Blizzard’s PR disaster with Diablo Immortal on Wednesday, it’s a damn good example how not to do consumer service. But this is Capcom, they don’t give a damn about the mobile market in the West, as Asia’s the gold mine and they don’t have the tools or skill to mine money. Maybe Capcom wants to see if they can do something else in the market, or maybe they’ll put more effort into expanding genre selection on consoles and PC. That’s why testing waters with cheap releases and collections is important to them. I’m not saying you should go buy MM11 or any of the collections in hopes to gain BoF Collection, you should always buy only what you think is the best value for your money. More RPG related stuff Capcom has been putting out might sway them more, or showcase how something similar makes good sells. Like most Japanese companies, Capcom seems to be data driven. Showcase them data and examples to support your claim or suggestion, and it has geometrically highest chances of getting through.
Whatever Capcom puts into production and announces within the next year will be based on the success and methods MHW and Mega Man 11 have laid out when it comes to consoles and PC. Mobile, well, we’ll have to sit tight and see.
So after couple of decades of failed starts, concepts thrown around and DMCA’d fan titles, Streets of Rage 4 is a thing that’s coming out. Finally, might I add. Sega and Streets of Rage fans, rejoice.
I have to say, these redesigns are pretty damn nice
There are three companies involved with the game, outside Sega as the licensee; Lizardcube, who were in charge of the recent Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap; Guard Crush Games who have a history with beat-em-ups (or belt-scrolling action games if you’re Japanese) like Streets of Fury; Dotemu, who function as a publisher. Lizardcube is in charge of graphics, while Guard Crush Games handles the programming, though Dotemu has the handle on game design. This is pretty nice package, as Lizardcube has a pretty nice, French comics style that fits so many of these older titles’ revival, and Guard Crush Games seems to have a handle on programming just fine. Y’know, the hardest part of making a game.
I’m probably going to make a comparative post regarding the character designs, because both Axel and Blaze got a real nice new lick of paint.
There is exactly two things this game needs to do in order to be accepted by long time fans and be at least a relative hit with the general audience; faithfully replicate the Streets of Rage formula, and expand on it. This is effectively what Sonic Mania did, and it has been hailed as the best Sonic the Hedhehog game to date, which isn’t too hard to accept.
Which raises the question; did Sonic Mania‘s success kick this title off the ground? Both it and the new Wonder Boy were well received and raised new interest in certain section of older titles. Both of them function as data to further the idea putting the money and effort to realise a Streets of Rage title in its proper 2D mould rather than take the Final Fight route with Streetwise. After all, game genres don’t just die because new technology makes new genres possible with extra dimensions or additional gimmicks like VR. Despite how 90’s marketing wants you to believe, 2D hasn’t gone anywhere at any point. Sure, you the newfangled thing always gets pushed, but you can’t deny the customers the things they want. Just look at how well 2D Mario sells over 3D titles. That’s another dead horse I need to stop kicking.
All this data of revival games doing at least decently well is most probable reason Streets of Rage 4 got greenlit. Add Mega Man 11‘s upcoming release to the mix and we’re entering an interesting era, where old franchises are getting new releases in more budget range, but with none of the lacking elements. Hopefully more companies realise this; you don’t need AAA budget to make great damn games. Pretty much all of these classic franchises could be revived and developed at a fraction of the cost with modern tools. Easier to make profits. The only real problem is to deliver a wanted product, which didn’t really happen with the New SMB series after the first few entries. Once a franchise is revived, it needs to move forwards. Mega Man 10 failed in this term by simply being same thing again. We now have three Mega Man 2 games and that’s two too much.
Sega of course wouldn’t develop this themselves. They don’t care about the IP. Sega hasn’t given two shits about Streets of Rage since the mid-90’s, when they essentially gave the middle finger to the Western consumers. Eternal Champions used to be a big thing, but then Sega just neutered it. You can’t treat Japanese, American and European markets the same. Hell, you have to treat Europe as multiple market zones if you want to do it right. This was clear how Sega’s tactics with the Genesis in the US region only kicked off after the US branch pushed through their tactics of including a game with the console and marketing Sonic the Hedgehog their own way. If most of the data is to be believed, Sonic‘s been the most popular in the US. Sadly, Sega of Japan’s management killed all the motion their American and European sections had going on, effectively beginning their own downfall from grace. Westerners do classic Sega better than Sega themselves.
Streets of Rage 4 probably won’t be as large a success as Sonic Mania. If the game gets a physical release afterwards its initial digital showcase, we can deem it successful enough. If it gets a physical release from the very beginning, even if it was a Limited Run title, then the developers and publisher have boatloads of trust towards their targeted consumers. There are enough Sega fans that would purchase this title in an instant.
While Sonic Mania was clearly an international title, a game that didn’t have any specific region in mind, the same can’t be said about Streets of Rage 4. Both Guard Crush Games and Lizardcube are European companies, and that flavours oozes through in a very positive manner. Hell, even Dotemu is based on France. I hope they shower more than the average French. However, that probably will rub some people off, as Streets of Rage originally had a very American atmosphere to it, especially considering it was inspired partially by Streets of Fire. Hell, Blaze’s design is essentially Ellen Aim with more streetwise to her. The bits about Sega not giving a damn about the IP still stands, and their actions towards Western markets have been changing only during the last years. The Yakuza franchise is a good line to follow modern Sega in this. English dubbing usually drives sales, but there are titles where this isn’t case. Yakuza dropped this in favour of cheaper releases and simply because the fans didn’t like it. Despite Sega censoring and removing elements from some of the games, the audience kept growing. Despite this, none of the spin-offs outside the zombie romp got localised. Now that the Western audience has grown far greater, Sega’s taken the series’ position in the market into notion with better releases, and now is even considering publishing further remasters and spin-offs in the Overseas regions. Sega of Japan is slowly but surely taking a notion of Western markets.
If we’re going to go down this path, it’s relatively easy to see Sega considering the wants and needs of the Western markets to some extent. The IPs they’ve been giving up and ignoring still have a strong consumer base with nothing to fill that niche. A high quality title here and there goes long way in making profits and keeping your fans happy. I would say Altered Beast and Golden Axe could be next on the list of revivals, but seeing how terrible their last titles were, there’d be a lot of work to fix those damages in the eyes of Sega themselves.
In an interview with Venture Beat, the producer of Mega Man 11 Kazuhiro Tsuchiya tells that the reason why there was no new Mega Man game for such a long time was because there was nobody to helm the ship. As much as Keiji Inafune gets shit flung at him because of Mighty Number 9, he was the force that made Mega Man happen for solid decades. Despite that, he was but one man, and games at this scale are never a single man effort.
Tsuchiya’s assertion that the atmosphere within the company wasn’t right, that nobody wanted to tackle the challenge to make a new Mega Man. It is without a doubt partially because Inafune’s rank that held the series in place, but just as much corporation’s own politics played in the mix. We’ve seen from Capcom’s own titles they’ve released that their library’s style has changed little by little this past decade.
For Koji Oda, the director of the game, it was the Casshern situation; if he’s not going to do it, then who will? Oda’s right in that social media and fans overall have been pining for a new game in the series.
However, would Capcom allow a new game just like that? Highly doubtful. Mega Man‘s 30th anniversary celebrations probably was the largest reason why the Mega Man 11 got greenlit, especially after the reception all the leaks and trailers the Man of Action Mega Man cartoon have been less than favourable overall. Banking on the core fans going balls deep into anything carrying a franchise’s name is not the best idea, not even for Star Wars or Metal Gear.
There is one quote from Oda that must be given a high emphasize;
Inafune’s departure was a big part of it. His leaving Capcom left a void, and people were hesitant to step in and become the new “Mega Man guy.”
This, dear reader, is the power a face has. Inafune, by all means, was father of Mega Man, the carrying force of the franchise, someone who would drive it onward, someone the consumer can latch unto and associate with. An inanimate product in itself needs some sort of association with something positive, be it a good time with a friend and a bottle of Coke, a friendly dentist recommending an Oral-B electric toothbrush or some representative from a corporation talking about something you love.
These two have been largely unknown to the public in terms of being a face. Tsuchiya was a programmer on Mega Man 7, but as usual, nobody gets glory as a programmer despite being one of the most important roles in game development. Perhaps his most known title is Asura’s Wrath, where he was the producer. Oda’s worked largely on Resident Evil titles, mainly as director with remakes. He was system planner on the original and got Special thanks in Street Fighter Alpha 2, but Shinji Mikami always took the spot as the face of Resident Evil in every regards when he was still with Capcom.
Because these two are now heading Mega Man, there is a marketable face again. They don’t come from scratch, there’s already something we can associate them with. If Mega Man 11 ends up being a massive success, and the fan expectations for it are massive, one of them or both will end up the successor to Inafune’s place as the face of the franchise, someone the consumer can reflect upon.
However, just as I said that Inafune leaving was just part of the equation, so are the sales, if not even more so. Oda saying that the sales figures for Mega Man Legacy Collection were the driving force behind Mega Man 11 being put into development jives with what I’ve been commenting on for these years; data matters extremely so for Japanese game developers. When there is established data and form, it is easier to get through the execs to get something done. A simple thing like having a name’s localisation into a correct form from may take numerous already existing sources to assure executive powers that its worth it. A single name. To assure Capcom’s higher rank of being allowed to put a new Mega Man title into production has required more than solid sales numbers. It has required fan feedback of all kinds being collected and presented in proper form.
Mega Man as a franchise didn’t go kaput only because Inafune left, but because its sales potential had been waning most of the 00’s. The consumer is a fickle thing, first claiming that Capcom is just rehashing franchises by making a title after a title to satisfy market wants, but then is being criticised for not having new titles for the franchise. I doubt its just the sales data of Legacy Collection that was presented for the execs, but also the data of sales from previous digital releases. After all, Capcom’s a corporation that must make profit. Making games that would have meager sales is not exactly in their favour. They’re not here to make art, but cold hard cash through commercially viable products.
I would argue that Mega Man‘s absence has done it good. Call it the Godzilla effect if you will, where an absence of a product for number of years will allow the market view reset a little bit and most of the baggage previous movies have delivered have managed to level out. It’s much easier to make a new entry after some time have passed with rejuvenated interest. However, there are times when something can get so hyped and becomes so expected that it simply can’t meet the expectations for whatever reasons. Star Wars Episode I is probably the example of this. Disney really screwed up by making Star Wars mundane, but that’s another topic.
Will Mega Man 11 deliver? At this moment, it looks like something that can probably excel decently. It’s not exactly what could be described a pretty game, some of the animations still look janky and the Double Gear system seems rather generic way to try forcing a gimmick into the game. It’s not something the franchise hasn’t done before, but can they make it work with the standard formula? Will the stage designs be excellent? Will the music be up to the standard?
And of course, there’s how Capcom is releasing the product. They intend to make most of it, but if you’re European and want the game for the Switch, you’re out of luck. There is a petition up that asks Capcom to release the game in physical format, but seems like the interest isn’t there. This isn’t the first time Capcom of Europe makes less than ideal decision.
While I’m typing this, Capcom’s own 30th Anniversary stream is running on Twitch. I, and the steamers acknwledge that this is a bit early, but there’s really no better time to do this. I’m looking at this stream and thinking to myself Is this how we want to see it being celebrated? Without a doubt, this era of social media has made it easier for fans to gather and exchange ideas and experiences. Well, as well such can be realised in a fast paced Twitch discussion, where nobody really reads anyone’s comments either way. Nevertheless, here we are, watching four people in a brick studio with, surrounded with Mega Man merch. Seeing Kazuhiro Tsuchiya taking the stage uplifts the whole deal, especially when he joined with another members of Capcom Japan’s staff to talk about Mega Man X particularly as an evolutionary step in the series.
A short, rather hammy video of the franchise’s history ends with the announcement of Mega Man 11.
This is the meat of the show; the developers talking about their own experience and work with the franchise with the emphasize moving to Mega Man 11 and how it’s been handled becoming the main bulk of the stream. There are a lot of good tidbits, like how different styles were tried out, but the constant use of nostalgia for pixels was deemed to have taken too far already. Hence, why the aim is to use 3D without creating 3D space. Most modern 2D action games want to obscure the ground somehow, either by adding grass to it or make it seem like it’s somehow a natural part of the scenery or the like. A 2D action game is by its nature rather abstract to begin with, as you already lost a whole wall and everything’s sorta cut into two dimensions. With titles like Mega Man, there is no reason to even remotely try to make things work realistically. Video games have always had the edge of showcasing abstract stages and nobody questions their sensibility, because the design is showcased as a part of a game and its challenge. This repeats everywhere, even in the most realistic game, where challenges are laid out by design where there should be none.
That said, everything gets a new lick of paint. Characters will get a redesign, but nothing major. It’s funny to see the above 30th Anniversary Trailer using an old design rather than the new one, hinting that they’re not putting their faith in the new design completely.
Is this a bad re-design? No, it’s not. Mega Man has always seen redesigns and tweaks with each new game when a new pair of hands have been given the task to bring the Blue Bomber back to life in visual terms. Rockman Memories even jokes about this by asking if Mega Man and Roll have grown up.
Roll’s redesign for Battle & Chase (rightmost Roll) was based on Sally the Witch‘s dress with additional sleeves and different coloured buttons on the bosom
The new design is sleeker with less mass on the arms and legs for sure. The blues have changed the hue a bit, but that’s nothing new. The proportions are less deformed, and follow more what a modern child heroes seem to have. While Mega Man was originally supposed to have a Super Deformed look, that was dropped rather fast due to technical limitations. Nevertheless, the proportions stuck the longest time, until Mega Man X 8 saw a complete cast-wide redesign and made everybody lanky and thin. There is something missing in Mega Man, if the character’s proportions are more “correct.”
While a new design was to be expected, it is disappointing to see the Smash Brosversion having its influences in this one. The calves and the odd lines running down from shoulder to chest, connecting to the seams on the sides are something that’s rather unique to the Smash Mega Man, though overall that’s just playing with the winds of current taste in aesthetics. Can’t really say I like it, but here they make sense, assuming these are clothing seams. The few slots on his left arm and calves are additional details carried over from the back of his helmet, but the gloves he has are full-on Hitoshi Ariga. Even the neck padding, something that got carried over from various designs, is present.
The concept of Mega Man changing physically when using a new weapon is nothing new in itself. Supposedly, the square on his forehead was to change with weapon choice, but technical limitations prevented that.
The changes are limited to the head and arm while the rest of the body stays the same. The X-Series played with armours, while Legends and Battle Network furthered physical changes. This is a good medium form, renewing old with something new all the while keeping it recognisable. When doings something new, they seemed to have stumbled upon an old idea.
Cute as a button
Roll’s modern design fits her well. It follows the usual red dress idea, but the new cuts and zipper line, combined with a removable hood, does make her feel a lore more fresh. She looks a bit sharper, though the shoes could’ve used few more iterations. Currently they remind a bit too much Sonic’s shoes.
Rush and Beat got redesigned as well, but what they got was more modern touch-ups than anything else. We’ll get to these two whenever we them in motion.
In many ways, this Mega Man is a composition of many past designs in one. Perhaps What makes the “classic” Mega Man we see above next to the new one more iconic is nostalgia. Maybe it’s the fact that the lines are thicker and and more cartoon like. Detailing is fine, but what use are details if they’re just additional lines? Less is often more, and perhaps that’s why most modern redesigns of classic characters tend to go awry, because they really don’t know how to keep their hands off. One line too much can, often will, ruin otherwise perfect design.
You can stop at step two. Jesus Christ please stop at step two
Aaltomies 
