Johnny vs. Mighty No. 9

well this was only a matter of time just wasn't sure when because you know but anyway after what seemed like an eternity Keiji Inafune a spiritual successor to the classic Mega Man series has finally arrived and it's got people stirring for better or worse a bit of all that media hype has died down since the release over a week ago but it's still pretty fresh on everyone's minds and I'm here to continue the ongoing conversation I guess what began seemingly as a passion project to give long-running Mega Man fans a game they could sink their teeth into given that Capcom seems no longer care about the original Blue Bomber soon transformed into an Internet media circus of mismanagement over ambition with how many gaming devices this title was being programmed for not to mention an animated series for a game that wasn't even out yet and then there was the whole Reed Ashe project trying to capitalize on the Mega Man Legends buzz without focusing on their first project then there was the abysmal marketing campaign that wasn't sure how it wanted to sell itself and topping all this off to me was a severe lack of communication between developers and backers during the final year of press the numerous delays what really rubbed me the wrong way and I get that [ __ ] happens whether you're an aspiring game designer or triple-a developers sometimes things may go wrong and that's fine but again the communication was next to zilch I get the game had to be pushed back a lot but I wasn't clear on why all this was happening I was excited for mighty number 9 as a lot of people were but excitement would eventually turn to confusion and later on ambivalence when this game officially launched on June 21st I thought oh right I should probably get to that and I [ __ ] back this game I speak as a generous $20 backer not an anonymous generous backer which makes up about 70% of the four hour long credits reel but look there's my name right there and for the record I don't regret plugging this game during the Mega Man marathon I did a couple years back and I get that question from time to time as a boy don't you feel stupid for back in this game and my answer to that will always be no because back then I had every reason to believe this game was gonna rock our socks off you know how was I supposed to predict that this game was gonna crash and burn the way it did I couldn't predict that nobody could predict that so I don't regret my plug I did a couple years back when mighty number 9 was still a budding Kickstarter project but to say that mighty number nines development painted crowdfunded video game campaigns in a darker light would be under selling the [ __ ] of that the aftershock still quite prevalent in gaming outlets and the damage the concept has been done regardless of mighty number nines actual game quality it's a damn shame but despite that crowdfunded games have produced great titles I loved shovel knight Dustin Elysian tail was a good time I'm still very much looking forward to shantae half-genie hero ukulele indivisible and blood-stained ritual of the night now I probably just spent about two minutes just talking about how much of a disaster my number 9s eventual release was well you know what the game is finally out now I got my computer ready to go let's take a look at it and yes I'm looking at the Steam version because that's the version I opted for and I'm glad I did because I've heard horror stories about the Nintendo Wii U port the janky framerate that the game was prone to crashing the 20 to 25 second load times after every death sweet Jesus not to say that the PC version was problem free when I downloaded the game the morning it came out from Humble Bundle my antivirus software picked up the exe file as malware and yes I use it that's good enough for me damn it and then there was the issue of Steam telling me that my dlc codes were invalid and they wouldn't fix that problem it's like half a day later still the PC version is considered the most stable so if you're planning on get in the game get it on Steam Humble Bundle whatever you float your boat on a computer that's what I'm trying to say here but that's assuming it's even worth it so let's talk about the game in a world where robots gather and fight each other in Coliseum's as a form of entertainment things turn south when a virus begins to spread causing robots worldwide to malfunction and start attacking people ate robots created by dr. William white known as the mighty numbers of the primary cause of concern so dr. white sends his latest creation Beck or mighty number nine to restore everything to normal and find the culprit of this virus attack accompanying the robot hero as Mission Control is call a female robot with zero personality or any emotional range who was created by dr. Santa whose only contribution to the story as far as I could tell is that he created call you got your protagonist you got the bad guys after that it's a standard Mega Man story where Beck travels through different stages confronting the next mighty number at the end where you then whip their ass you knock some sense back into the rampaging robot and then you move on it's about what I expected the character designs are different but it's essentially Mega Man and any attempt to be something more is undermined by how short the main campaign ends these characters have their quirks and by god that's all they got back as the reluctant hero calls a piece of wood sandy is the bumbling but well-meaning coward and dr. white sounds like he wants nothing to do with anything but that might be because of the voice acting which is not very good at all even if I am familiar with some of these actors and actresses and dear God this presentation how do you feel about repeatedly static 3d models that barely emote and practice and ventriloquism come on if you were going to do it this way I think it would have been better if dialogue were presented with character portraits that change to fit current emotions there's just something about 3d models doing it that feels cheap and I know mighty number 9 is a throwback to gaming in the 90s but this doesn't feel like an intentional artistic decision it feels like a budgeted decision and the sound mixing can use some work as well I can barely hear the music over the sound effects in the voice chatter I had to tweak with the configuration menu just to listen in I rarely do I have to do that for a game and to my surprise I thought the music was only alright I'm shocked mighty number 9 doesn't look very good at a standstill especially if you're comparing it to what it looked like in concept granted I never thought the game was gonna look like this from the start I would love it to but it didn't seem realistic then again dust was made by one guy and I feel this game could have been much better graphically in both character models and in environments this right here this doesn't cut it it's like a ps1 game that was quickly polished for the Dreamcast but to be fair when in motion when you're running and jumping and shooting like you would do in Megaman it looks fine X running cycle looks a little goofy but enemies are up and about with cartoonish grace the graphical effects those standard fill up the screen whenever you're shooting a weapon and causing the explosions or dashing through the air it's certainly not the best in the department but it's passable it checks a box off of the list as does the gameplay because it's Megaman I mean sort of goes without saying look at it you shoot like Megaman you jump like Megaman you take hits like Megaman you fall down piss like Megaman you die from spikes like Megaman you grab health pickups like Megaman you absorb boss abilities like make a med and only use a few of them like Megaman I'm going to take a gander and guess if you're a megaman fan you've already invested in this either through the Kickstarter or you bought a day one when it came out and I hope you're enjoying it as a casual fan of classic Mega Man I think mighty number 9 is a perfectly playable follow-up to the Blue Bombers a minute legacy I think controls are responsive backs got a right amount of weight to his movements I love how he can grab ledges and pull himself up from certain death and his - ability makes for some wickedly fast gameplay when you shoot an enemy enough they begin emitting some flashy colors when this happens you can assimilate them by dashing into them to look for an instant kill that can replenish special ammo for weapons give you point bonuses for a better end stage rank and grant temporary power-ups the Becks mobility ranging from increased firepower added defenses or extra speed since you're free to pick any stage in whatever order you desire Beck can blast you the stage with nothing but it's pea shooter but as you might expect you can also use weapons you score from defeating bosses I'm sure there's some form of utility I'm not seeing here for these tools but I only got some major use from three out of the eight possible weapons cryos weapon because it can freeze things in place and ammunition is super simple to restore brands weapon because it's a close-range sword attack that costs no ammo to use assuming you're not using the charge attack it can also neutralize projectiles or at least turn off their hit boxes that's what it looks like it's happening here I'm not sure why it works but it does finally bats weapon is the crash bomber for Megaman 2 only extremely pissed off it destroys everything so easily it's like [ __ ] you I don't have time for this [ __ ] you can assign up to three special weapons to button shortcuts for immediate access and that's fine but to shift to other weapons in real time I'm that's clunky either stop in place and selector weapon from this real time weapon selector or pause the game and change with weapons you want for your shortcuts it's not as quick and accessible as it was like an Megaman X where all you need to do was hit the shoulder button to scroll through your weapons besides that Megaman players can jump right into this little problem I think which also means if you didn't enjoy classic Mega Man and all of its trappings mighty number 9 will do little to convince you there's nothing innovative about it some things may feel outright dated by today's standards it's got everything that defines classic Megaman and that includes it's trial and error gameplay now is it a super tough kicking the ball sort of hard absolutely not I don't think the level design is overly punishing it's surprising how much you can get away with dashing repeatedly in midair which sort of neuters platforming in a sense and once you get your first boss ability the rest of the bosses fall apart and challenge and you know what weapons is good for the scenario something remarkably easy to discover for yourself but even so it's clear this game wasn't meant for today's average gamer this games difficulty is classical or archaic I guess it depends on the player you got instant kill obstacles limited lives bottomless pits the occasional instance of [ __ ] enemy placement knocked back hell it's even got a throwback to Megaman one with how invincibility frames won't save you from spiked collision which I don't think anybody asked for so why the [ __ ] is that here when you're not using the proper weapon bosses can give you serious [ __ ] because all of them in one form or another pretty much has an instant win scenario which in king blow when you make even a simple mistake it's not asking for perfect play but it's frustrating a [ __ ] nonetheless unless we're playing an ultra flashy spectacle fighter with QuickTime events conversation should not be had during boss fights in Megaman I hate when Beck begins talking to his fellow mighty numbers during battle over one of your buddies decides now was a good time to talk it is distracting it disrupts my pattern reading I can hear proper audio cues and when bosses at instant kill attacks that's doubly triply irritating some of this only applies during your first mighty number encounter granite because again once you got the right powerup they drop like flies it's almost sad it's just let me deal with the robot first and then we can share our stories telepathically later all right but conversations can also occur in the middle of stages where they are admittedly less intrusive in fact I'll compliment them how many times have we played a Mega Man game specifically in the ex series where they decide to halt the action to have some dialogue it's annoying I want to get a move on so come on let's go dialog here happens as things move along so the page remains consistent in sand stages aren't as hectic as boss battles it's easier to absorb it you know what else I like when you defeat a mighty number you restore that robot back to normal when you're in the proper stage that same mighty number can appear in a suspect with a stage hazard give you some helpful advice or just have some goofy exchanges I honestly think that's a neat idea it works as a gameplay mechanic but also gives these guys however small the dialogue maybe a deeper sense of character in relation to bec that Mega Man would never get from role proto man or even bass it makes these robots feel like an actual family that stick together through thick and thin yeah most people don't play these games for plot and mighty number 9 is not Team Ico levels of deep but it's a detail I appreciate with how this game rewards the player for taking no damage or using tricky tactics to disrupt boss patterns or clearing challenges quickly I feel mighty number 9 only offers the most fun to the speed runner the person who gets their jollies from playing this and that repeatedly whether it's to get a better rank or unlock that achievement because casually but most you're going to get out of this is a standard Mega Man game and I suppose that's ok but mighty number 9 is total level of enjoyment may be limited to perfectionist and this sort of extends to the bonus content like the retro skin for BEC only available to use in maniac mode the difficulty where everything kills you in one hit it doesn't even look retro it looks more like a Minecraft skin and what about the extra character ray the not zero of mighty number 9 she's essentially the speedrun mode her health constantly drains meaning you got a haul ass you got to kill enemies to restore her health and you got a - like mad to the end of the stage I like Ray as a playable character what she can do physically but playing through some of these stages with her handicap can be a [ __ ] nightmare it's there if you really want to try and get some more content from your money spent because let me tell you online Mosher is [ __ ] gonna give you your money's worth I mean holy [ __ ] guys online in this game is a total train wreck even with both players having optimal internet speeds or decent PC setups there was tons of latency issues the game would crash at specific junctures frames were dropping like crazy for both characters I mean look at this Beck is moving at 60 frames per second and calls moving at 12 collision detection goes right out the [ __ ] window with certain obstacles indeed climb that ladder back the one by your side is merely an illusion plus it just feels broken like when two players do a race there's no real finish line every time we got to the end the ball store never opened and both of us were stuck waiting for the timer to hit zero like what's going on here and after that we just awkwardly cut to the boss fight they delayed the game for this by the way and it's still broken unfortunately my new number 9 will most definitely be remembered as the new definition of mismanage because yes while the game is perfectly playable you know it's a megaman game that megaman fans can get some enjoyment from and to some that's all that matters and more power to you I just think the process of getting to this point wasn't worth it through the constant delays the mediocre production values the shoddy programming for console ports the outright broken online system all this for a game that has as much value and limited appeal as Megaman 4 5 which were okay games but that's all they were okay is it worth 20 bucks digitally or 30 bucks physically no I don't think so and I don't know when this game will be getting a price drop anytime soon but even if that were to happen I could only recommend this game to Mega Man fans even further Mega Man veterans because they could probably get the most out of it with what little mighty number 9 has to offer already my apologies of some of you were expecting me to get a little more enraged but I'm not angry I'm disappointed and we all know from experience that's a hell of a lot worse I am speaking as a backer of this project I am mighty number 3 - 54 I am NOT mighty and I recommend you spend your time and money on something else so there you have it mighty number 9 the game three years in the making four million dollars to produce and it's merely okay well the starfox marathon is just about good to go but bear with me there's one more game I want to look at before I launch myself into the lylat system and maybe you've heard of a game called overwatch buzzing around from time to time and I don't know why but I've had the hots for this game for like a couple of weeks now and I want to give it a shot maybe I could recommend it to you guys well that's it that's the next day I'm looking at so I will see you all that in there with all that said thank you guys for watching have yourselves e-fit have yourselves a fantastic night

Channel: SomecallmeJohnny

Views: 774,601

Rating: 4.947823 out of 5

Keywords: Somecallmejohnny, Somecallmejohnny Video, Somecallmejohnny Review, Johnny vs, Video Game Review, Johnny vs. Mighty No. 9, Johnny vs. Mega Man, Johnny vs. Kickstarter, Johnny vs. Comcept, Somecallmejohnny Mighty No. 9, Somecallmejohnny Mega Man, Somecallmejohnny Keiji Inafune, Mighty No. 9, Kickstarter, Comcept

Id: Hqglwib7nA4

Length: 14min 57sec (897 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 02 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I really like Johnny's review style. He has a critical, but overall friendly tone. He never seems to exaggerate for the sake of entertainment. He's humble and honest.

This was easily the best review of Mighty No. 9 I've seen yet, simply because it didn't sensationalize with the development controversy or just attack for the sake of attacking it. This is also the first footage I've seen of the online multiplayer and...wow, that looks like a mess.

Even as someone who despises this game, I think Johnny was fair. Very fair.

[u/fuckcancer]

The fairest review that I've seen for the game currently sitting at 0 points.

I didn't back the game, but I agree with most everything that he said. On it's own the game is okay. If you like Megaman or platformers in general, it's completely playable. It's not a masterpiece, but it isn't terrible either.

And most of the hate is rating the kickstarter and not the merits of the end product itself.

Should they have been able to do better with their budget? Yeah sure absolutely. The game was extremely over funded and they had to promise more than what the scope of the game should've been. Is it a terrible game by it's own right? Nah.