Julian Gnam
July 3, 2015 Videogame creators and their fans have ceased being surprised when big publishers no longer want to make new games in the classic franchises they own. Capcom won’t stop canceling Mega Man games? Konami won’t make anymore Igavanias? No problem, make a kickstarter!
With the release of original Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune’s Mighty No. 9 just around the corner, Inti Creates’ Azure Striker Gunvolt nearly a year old, Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained funded several times over, and Steam indies like Axiom Verge selling to rave reviews, it seems everyone is making awesome Megaman and Metroidvania games except Capcom, Konami and Nintendo.
If so many people already have these genres covered, do we really need one more Mega Man-inspired indie project on the way? Of course, why not!? The more the merrier!
A few of Mega Man X: Corruption‘s bosses, as illustrated by ToastieManEnter Mega Man X: Corrupted, a fan project by JKB Games which has been in development for six years, and just released some new footage last week. The goal is to create an open-world entry in the Megaman X series, with inter-connecting Metroid-esque level structures, multiple interactive story paths, experience levels and skill points system.
The graphics are based on the SNES sprites, with plenty of custom work by around a dozen community sprite artists. A recently-updated physics system ensures that the game plays as close to the 16-bit Mega Man X games as it looks. Playable characters include both the titular android X and his pony-tailed mentor Zero, the latter wielding his energy sword as in Mega Man X5 and X6 rather than using an arm cannon as in earlier titles.
X will three different complete upgraded armor suits available, including the Hydra Armor, Phoenix Armor, and Ultimate Armor. Zero will gain special attacks as he progresses, in addition to new movement abilities and his own armor upgrades. Eight robot bosses have already been designed and sprited, and at least one entire stage is now complete and totally playable.
With such ambitious plans, Corrupted will definitely be the largest Mega Man X game ever built, in terms of features and content. But with such a huge plan layed out, will it ever get done?
Without knowing more about the lead developer(s), it’s hard to say, but at the very least, we know that the Mega Man community has a penchant for turning out solid fan games. Between Mega Man 2.5D‘s clever co-op puzzles, Mega Man 8-bit Deathmatch‘s imaginative FPS adaptation, and the 4-player madness of Mega Man Perfect Harmony, it’s clear that you could very well wind up eating your words to assume that a given Mega Man project will never see the light of day just because it’s fans working on it.
Source: Silicon Era
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