Two worlds collide in one crazy awesome PC game starring both Mega Man and a roster of Street Fighters.
Mega Man getting no love from Capcom these days, you say? Hogwash! There’s a new game staring the blue bomber that’s coming out on December 17! On PC. For free via Capcom’s official website, Capcom-Unity.com! That’s not made by Capcom internal. But is 8-bit like the classic Mega Man games on the NES!
Hmm, I believe I’m sensing a little confusion, so allow me to explain. First, the game itself: Street Fighter X Mega Man (the “X” stands for “cross”), a wild-looking mishmash between two famed Capcom properties. As Mega Man, players tackle – in traditional Mega Man stage set-up and power-copying fashion – eight popular Street Fighter characters such as Ryu, Chun Li, and Dhalsim.
That’s the totally straightforward gist of the game, which honestly is fine and dandy for something so adorably rich of Mega Man nostalgia. Although what’s more interesting is that Street Fighter X Mega Man is actually developed by one fan, Seow Zong Hui, and not from Capcom, who is only publishing the self-produced title as a celebratory gesture for Mega Man’s 25th anniversary.
1) Mighty cool on Capcom for a groovy community-savvy response (a free PC game? Sign me up, please!), and 2) not going through the regular corporate humbuggery route with most fan-creations by issuing a cease-and-desist email. It’s not often you see a giant in the gaming industry reach out to a tiny entity to bring their loving project to the masses, but here you go. Take notes, guys.
One thing does irk me about this whole game though. I hate to be “that” guy, but I find it a bit disappointing that this is what Capcom thinks is a proper way of paying tribute to one of its most endearing series to gamers across the world: a dime-a-dozen Internet fan game – albeit a flippin’ fantastic one, don’t get me wrong – that probably took no effort on Capcom’s behalf to get the go-ahead.
That might sound harsh (you were thinking “entitled,” weren’t you?), but when you think about the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3, the down-right horribleness that is the iOS Mega Man game, Rockman X Over (ugh, look for videos if you must), and the subtle snubbing the character has been receiving from Capcom as a whole, and well, its going to take a lot more to appease fans (namely me, of course.)
To be fair though, I’m being quite presumptuous with my criticism, because reports have it that Capcom has something else up its selves with a related Mega Man announcement arriving around the same time Street Fighter X Mega Man becomes downloadable. Perhaps it’s a stunning new Mega Man game in the works, or dare I say it, the resurrection of Legends 3?! Oh, be still my weak heart!
We will see soon enough, but for now you can look forward to Street Fighter X Mega Man on November 17, again for free and available through Capcom-Unity. You can also look forward to a spectacular dragon cake or a gamer geek wedding come true here on Walyou, if you like. And please do!
