Mighty No. 9 has been all over the place since its Kickstarter inception, and it has finally released – to mixed reviews, at best. At the time of this writing, the game’s reviews on Steam are pretty much 50/50. Gamers in the Mega Man fandom haven’t had it easy, with the last main game, Mega Man 10, having been released 6 years ago – and some spin-off series, like Mega Man X, not seeing a full release since 2005!
The genre of platformer games is very saturated these days, but there have been some quality stand-out games in recent years. If you’re looking for an experience similar to Mega Man, and Mighty No. 9 didn’t exactly quench your thirst, here’s a list of other platformers that you might find interesting.
Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight is a big example of how you do a Kickstarter, and a video game, properly. It has received incredible success since its launch and is well-deserving of it. Shovel Knight features classic platformer action, intense boss fights, and a million and one puns that will make your head spin. Beyond Mega Man, the game also borrows elements from other classic platformers like DuckTales, Castlevania, Zelda, and Super Mario Bros. Shovel Knight celebrated its two-year anniversary last Sunday, and it continues to receive support through content patches and DLC releases, as well as an international release in Japan this week.
20XX
While it is still a small Early Access title, 20XX might be the closest example of a Mega Man X game on this list. Think of what would happen if you combined Mega Man X with Rogue Legacy, and you’ve got 20XX in a nutshell. It involves your standard jumping and shooting, or sword-slicing, while advancing through a “rogue-lite” progression system. Every time you run through the game, the stages are procedurally generated, and you’ll have a different selection of bosses and enemies in your way. The power-ups you gain will also be randomized, so each run is completely unique. The real kicker is that 20XX supports online and local co-op, so you can take a friend along for the ride. If you loved the spin-off Mega Man X series, you have to give 20XX a try.
DuckTales Remastered
Speaking of the DuckTales references in Shovel Knight, why not go straight to the source? DuckTales Remastered is a faithful remaster of the original DuckTales NES game, with crisp graphics, voice acting, and the same old pogo-stick that everyone hated to love in its original release. Fans of the cartoon will feel right at home with the banter between slightly-unethical Scrooge McDuck and his nephews, and fans of the platformer genre will find lots to enjoy in the game’s fairly large maps and timeless gameplay. If that wasn’t enough, the 8-bit themes from the original NES game are remade for the Remastered release by Jake Kaufman, the same composer for Shovel Knight. While DuckTales Remastered may not involve jumping and shooting, if you like platformers, it should be a big consideration.
Mega Man Legacy Collection
Sometimes, there’s nothing wrong with going back to the originals. Mega Man 1-6 are still great games in their own right, and can stand up today just in their design, both graphically and functionally. The Mega Man Legacy Collection includes those six games alongside some bonus features. However, should you own a console, you may see better luck there, as the Legacy Collection has ended up with some bugs for PC users – as usual with any video game, your mileage may vary.
Of course, these are just some of the various platformers that have released in the past few years in the vein of Mega Man. Fans all around the world are desperately waiting for the next big Mega Man game, but until then, some of these games will hopefully fill that void.
