The other day I came across a news story that due to the success of Mario Marker for the Nintendo Wii U console, Nintendo was thinking about creating a “Zelda Maker” game for the Wii U as well. While I jumped for joy at the thought of something like that, the realization was that it was only being thought about and nothing was promised nor is anything being made in that regards right now. However, that didn’t stop my wheels from turning inside my head and if Nintendo is willing to do a Zelda Maker game to accompany the highly successful Mario Maker, then what’s stopping other companies from following suit?
So I asked myself what franchise would benefit the most from a “Maker” game? Well, if anyone knows me they already know the answer, but if you don’t know me then allow me to indulge you with my love for a certain little Blue Bomber known as Mega Man.
It’s not just my wish or my dream to see a “Mega Man Maker” game put out onto the market, though. I think the timing right now would yield spectacular results. With the cancellation announcements of several Mega Man-related projects over the past few years, such as Mega Man Legends 3, Mega Man Online, and Mega Man Universe, fans of the dying franchise have been chomping at the bit for SOMETHING out of Capcom for the Blue Bomber.
Sure, we got Mega Man in Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS as well as the Wii U, but it’s not really enough. We did get Mega Man Legacy Collection not all that long ago, but seeing how it’s just a slimmed down version of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection that came out for Playstation 2, Gamecube, and Xbox, it’s still not what we’re looking for. Over the past few years, fans have grown extremely tired of waiting for Capcom to create something new to satisfy the Mega Man community and they have approached the problem with a “Well, I’ll just do it myself” attitude.
Because as such, we have seen the rise of many very well-done fan games featuring everyone’s everlasting peace-fighting robot. It all started with Street Fighter x Mega Man. Capcom, essentially, tried to bring positive light to the fan creation community and to Mega Man fans around the world by helping the creator finish and realize the project, but it didn’t seem genuine enough even though Capcom’s intentions were sort of in the right place.
Since then we have seen a slew of games that have brought new dimensions and a hell of a lot of fun to the Mega Man community. ROM Hacks such as Rockman 4 Minus Infinity and Mega Man 5 Air Sliding put amazing twists on some of our favorite titles. Then there are the amazing games built from the ground up such as MegaPhilX’s Mega Man Unlimited, GoldWaterDLS’s Mega Man Rock Force, or DarkFlameWolf’s Mega Man: Revenge of the Fallen. Each one of those games offer unique robot masters and challenges that are creative as or even exceeds anything Capcom has ever done.
Of course, it doesn’t stop there with the classic series. JKBGames is working on Mega Man X Corrupted which combines the great action of the SNES Mega Man X games with the open world exploration of the Mega Man Zero / ZX / ZX Advent series. Also, there is a team working on the spiritual successor to Mega Man Battle Network 6 entitled Mega Man Battle Network: Chrono X. There some that even took the SNES’s Mega Man 7 and the Playstation’s Mega Man 8 and redid the games in 8-bit NES graphics for those who purely enjoyed the 8-bit series.
These games are all recent, too, coming out within the past couple of years, a few of them in 2014. It’s proof that the Mega Man community is yearning for something and with the slew of fan games being churned out year after year, putting the tools into the hands of the fans seems like the right thing to do at this point in time. A “Mega Man Maker” game could, theoretically, make a killing for Capcom right about now and it could even be a great gauge on the interest in seeing if a new game in the franchise should be made.
However, if Capcom does realize that sandboxes are pretty much becoming more and more popular and does end up pulling the trigger on this, they’re going to need to do it right. While Mario Maker offers up the ability to create stages in almost all different generations of the game, “Mega Man Maker” will not only have to do the same, but it’s going to have to take that step forward and offer the ability to create in different series as well.
For Classic, they will need the NES, SNES, and Playstation engines, for the X series, they will need SNES and Playstation engines, and then for Zero they will need the DS / 3DS engines. I’m not sure exactly how easy it would be to pull off Battle Network, Legends, or Star Force, but if they can manage to fit that in without making it too complicated, then by all means, go for it… even if it ends up as dreaded DLC.
I know what you’re all going to say. “But we got a level editor in Mega Man Powered Up for the PSP!”
And I’m going to say… yes we did, but it’s the PSP. How many people still own and play a PSP let alone Mega Man Powered Up? All of those levels are pretty much just sitting in an internet graveyard rarely, if at all, being visited by anyone. We need something released on modern consoles.
So what do you guys think? Would a “Mega Man Maker” game be the shot in the arm the franchise has needed? Everyone wants to see a Mega Man 11, or a Mega Man X9, or hell, everyone wants to get Volnutt off the Moon with a Mega Man Legends 3, but Capcom has shown that nothing is coming anytime soon.
So what do you say? Should we pay $59.99 for the tools to do it ourselves? I know I would.
Let me know what you guys think by dropping me a line! You can connect using the links below.
Email: joshpiedra@theouterhaven.net
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