Mighty Boss Rollback!

Hot off the press and delivered fresh to your interweb screens, it’s the Mighty 9th of the Month update! So get those peepers peepin’, Mighties, as we review the new playable work-in-progress alpha ROM, and offer a long-overdue official intro for our aerial acrobat Mighty No. 6!

WHO’S THAT PLUCKY HEROINE?! 

This time around we synced up the ROM check with the visit from 2 Player Productions so that they could catch it live for the documentary. First up, an updated build of Mighty No. 5’s stage!

The visuals got one heck of a facelift! More importantly though, there was one pretty significant change… 

 “Holy @#$* this is hard!!*” – Boss-man *loose translation 

He meant this in the best way possible, of course. Everything but the boss battle had been adjusted for smooth playthroughs in the last version of the ROM, but we asked the Inti Creates team to give it some bite this time around. Be careful what you wish for… because they’ll fine tune every little thing into a fresh, fiendish configuration (again, we mean this as a compliment… I think).

As the extra lives ticked away a familiar smile washed across our faces. The game is shaping up into that kind of fun yet punishing gameplay we’ve come to know and love… pictures honestly don’t do it justice, we can’t wait to give you Beckers a chance to play it! 

On top of No. 5’s lair, we had a new work-in-progress stage… 

As well as...

A chance to catch a glimpse of a playable Call in the flesh! (or should I say… in the Xel!)

Our adorable heroine finally got a chance to grace the Mighty screen, ponytail and all! Inafune got a good, hard look at the state of development, and even got to check out the status of some new game elements.

With a smile on Inafune’s face and a collective sigh of relief from the team, the ROM check came to a close. From now on the production of other Mighty stages begins in earnest, so look forward to some new information down the line!

We’ve revealed every last one of the Mighty Numbers, but you may have noticed we’ve kept mum about the initial design process for Numbers 2 and 6—in fact, quite a few of you have asked us to shed some light on these two! Ask and you shall receive: this time around we’re pleased to reveal the origins of the Mighty Numbers’ eyes in the sky, Mighty No. 6. 

Imaeda: The first time I heard that they would be fighting as a team in the Battle Colosseum, I thought to myself “There’d better be a guy that can fly!” I called on KIMO KIMO to take care of the design, and from there No. 6 was born. 

Kimoto: When he told me about a flying character, I imagined an AH-64 Apache or a Hawker Siddeley Harrier. I wanted No. 6 to have the same kind of vertical lift-off of a harrier, and I tried giving him slightly downturned wings.

KIMO KIMO: At first, I wanted his hands to change into propellers for attack and defense, and he’d also come with fuel tanks attached. Even so, I figured he’d be charged with carrying things, so I took away the propeller hands and toned down the propeller aspect a little bit.

KIMO KIMO: This is the design we ended up displaying during the Kickstarter campaign, but… after we’d finished making all of the other Mighty Numbers, I realized the initial design of No. 6 was missing some of the essential themes we’d decided on for the others. I ended up redrawing him in line with these new rules. I worried that his body would spin around with only a single set of propellers, so I added a second pair. I also added tires to his legs for a softer touchdown.

 

At this point, Inafune stepped in and worked his magic!

Inafune: He should have a Vulcan-like fuselage and rocket launchers on its hands. He’d also look good with another propeller slapped on the back!

KIMO KIMO: With this feedback, we polished No. 6 into the design we debuted in the GDC video. One distinct point of this design is forward-facing arms devised to reduce wind resistance!

Imaeda: In the end the design was more realistic, putting it more in line with the world we’re building for Mighty No. 9. From here, we decided to put together a 3D image for in-game purposes, but… 

KIMO KIMO: We had to make the head bigger so the face was easier to see in-game, but this was easier said than done, considering that the face is part of the body itself in this design. On top of that, we were strapped for time and had made the background design, so we were really in a bind. Having the propellers pop out of his head looked goofy, so I wanted to have them tuck behind him when not in use. I also wanted to put some jet engines under him so he could even fly without the propellers (he can point the engines behind him when going horizontal, too!). Even though we’d gotten this far, the whole thing was pretty grueling…

Imaeda: And on top of THAT, KIMO KIMO even made these images to convey No. 6’s movement as accurately as possible to Inti Creates.

Imaeda: First we showed ideas for advancing, retreating, and boosting! 

KIMO KIMO: Our first image of his movement was like a dangling marionette puppet. The way he used explosives like boosters reminded us of the robot animes I watched as a kid, and I really wanted to bring that into his form. 

KIMO KIMO: I wanted him to try circling around Beck like this, taking full advantage of his 3D model to fly around the whole screen. 

Imaeda: We feel the same for all of his gimmicks and attacks.

KIMO KIMO: I’d like to see him grab other enemies and use them like weapons. You know, even though I drew it, will he be able to fly properly after a propeller dash? I admit I’m a little worried… 

Imaeda: And to top it off…

Imaeda: We even thought up a dynamic throw technique! 

KIMO KIMO: His concepts are “propellers” and “rotation”, so this idea kept popping up in brainstorms… by halting his rear propeller and spinning his body around, I bet he could put that rotational power to good use. It doesn’t seem all that fun to do, though! 

Imaeda: Now just to be clear, all of these images are just the idea phase. We’ll be continuing talks with the Inti Creates team about how his actual movements will turn out, so some of these actions may change by the final cut (there are other characters we’d like to see using that throw technique too, y’know…). 

KIMO KIMO: Alright, better get started on No. 2’s presentation!

So what’d you think? The challenging gameplay got you pumped? Mighty No. 6’s potential flight plans making your gears turn? Can’t wait for No. 2’s official intro!? Let us hear your impressions in the comments, on twitter, Facebook!