Rockman, Paperman, Shotgunman: Mighty No 9 Beta

Mighty No. 9 is Mega Man and Mega Man is Rockman. I don't know if it's better to be mighty or to be mega, but I do know that when it comes to platformers, it's generally better to be Shotgunman than Rockman. It's hard to jump if you're a geological anomaly and there tend to be plenty of things to kill between the platforms and the spikes. Kickstarter success Mighty No. 9 is the creation of Comcept, with input from Mega Man co-designer Keiji Inafune. We've seen plenty of progress shots and videos since the crowd funded the game, and there should be a great deal of footage to come now that the backer beta has been released to high tier ($80+) supporters. An official video shows some of the new content.

I'm a Mega Man fan. The platforming and powering up intricacies of the series don't fit into my usual diet of strategy, horror and Euro Trucking, but I've been keen on the antics of the little blue chap since we first met. I can't remember when that was but I've delved into the past and played most of the early games, as well as spin-off series (Battle Network is the bestest) and I think I'm just thankful that any new iteration, official or not, isn't a third-person over the shoulder shooter with a gritty plot and earnest voice acting. Imagine if this were a cutscene in Mighty No. 9?

Or why not have a variant of this as the boxart? I'll tell you why not - because I would flip out and nobody wants that to happen. I've been known to snap a brand new pencil in half.

Thankfully, Mighty No. 9 looks like it sticks close to the formula and feel of the series that spawned it. Biggest problem might be if it's too close.