The next official Mega Man game may quizzically feature Street Fighter‘s Ryu and other characters from Capcom’s rich history.
Capcom filed a trademark for Mega Man Universe in late April and it was assumed that it would be the North American name for Mega Man‘s MMORPG announced in June. The bad news is that Mega Man Universe, which will be released as a digital download on both Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, is not Mega Man Online, but the good news is that Capcom calls it something that will “break the mold and challenge the conventional wisdom of what a Mega Man game can be.”
That’s according to Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, who also told GameSpot that Mega Man Universe “is something that you have never seen before, and we have included some hints into this teaser trailer.” The trailer is very 1990s and starts off showing a Claymation Mega Man blasting away at evil robots. The “hints” Inafune alludes to seem to be when Ryu is shown firing a Hadouken at those same robots, followed by an appearance by Arthur from Ghosts ‘N Goblins. Classic arcade machines from Capcom titles such as Bionic Commando are also shown, making me believe Mega Man Universe a possible crossover title that will feature characters from multiple series.
Capcom calls Mega Man Universe “the most creative Mega Man experience yet” where “imagination is the star of the game.” More information will evidently be released at the San Diego Comic-Com which runs from July 22-25, but this trailer and these quotes provide plenty of speculation fodder.
Capcom is known for putting characters from all of its series together in the Vs games, so Mega Man could be in for something similar here. Inafune also commented that “when fans finally get to see it, I believe they’ll envision their most far-out Mega Man dreams coming true,” which makes me wonder if players will get to create their own levels LittleBigPlanet style. Come next week, we’ll find out what Capcom has up its Mega Buster.
