There have been over 100 Robot Masters and Mavericks across the Mega Man franchise. What did you look to accomplish with Mega Man 11’s new robot bosses?
A large number of Robot Masters have appeared across the many games in the series, and I think the properties representing the characteristics of those bosses had started to become overly complicated. So for MM11 we wanted to get back to properties that are easy to understand for everyone, even younger gamers.
Overall, how do you come up with fresh ideas for stages, enemies, and platforming sections that haven’t been done in previous Mega Man games?
Broadly divided, ideas come together by passing through three steps.
Step 1: First, based on the concept of materials and abilities with characteristics easy to understand by the largest number of people, we investigate ideas for the abilities and design of the Robot Master who will be the boss of the stage.
Step 2: Then we create a concept for the stage based on the motif of a workplace where the Robot Master operates using his abilities.
Step 3: Taking the concept from Step 2, we add touches of the Robot Master using their abilities for evil and the workplace falling into ruin to complete the concept.
Mega Man 11 is easily one of the most beautiful 2.5D games ever made. Can you talk about the work that went into the aesthetics?
We paid close attention to the following three points:
A: Seeking a stage design that allows the three basic actions of “shoot,” “jump” and “slide” to be fully enjoyed.
B: Placing our focus on point A, creating a unified art design that prevents the graphics or visual effects from becoming too emphasized and getting in the way of the action.
C: While taking both A and B into account, completing a new art style that doesn’t have an 8-bit atmosphere and really brings out the innate warmth of the illustrations.
When I first heard of the Double Gear system I immediately expected it meant you could mix and match the various Special Weapons to create new effects. Was that ever a consideration?
We did investigate that during the initial stages of development. In the end, however, we settled on a less complex system in which the Special Weapons are simply enhanced when using the Power Gear, for two main reasons. First, it would potentially make the controls too complicated, and second, once we worked in locations to use the basic actions, Special Weapons, and then Gear actions, even if we also created actions mixing the Double Gears and Special Weapons, it would have been too hard to find places to put them in the stages.
The Classic series has a number of recurring supporting characters, such as Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, Roll, and Rush. What role do they play in Mega Man 11 (if any), and how did you try to expand on their long-running story arcs?
We are well aware of this being something of a revival for the series, there being a gap of eight years between MM10 and MM11, and so for the story we had an awareness of making it easy for people playing Mega Man for the first time to still understand the world. We’ve also got some touches in there for longtime fans of the series, to hint at interesting events that may have happened.
You’ve both worked on some of Capcom’s darker and more violent franchises. What was it like jumping into a much more bright and colorful project?
The individual tone of each project is different, but we base all of our ideas in thinking first and foremost about exactly what it is that the fans want. That’s our common approach to every project, and we decide upon a suitable tone in each individual instance. That means we had no particular awareness of the differences in tone when it comes to Mega Man.
Can you share some behind-the-scenes trivia or anecdotes that fans may not know about this game or previous Mega Man games?
Very well, here are some episodes from behind-the-scenes:
1: To begin with, the idea was for all of the Robot Masters to use both Power and Speed Gears.
As we investigated this idea, it became apparent that creating places during the battles for them to show off both Gears really slowed down the tempo of the fights. In order to keep the battles tense and tight, we narrowed down our thinking to have the Robot Masters using just one of the Gears, selected in accordance with their characteristics.
2: Prior to recording the final voices, the members of the Capcom Sound Staff created temp voice data using their own voices. They were such high quality, had such energy, that a lot of the other team members didn’t even realize they weren’t the real thing, and were left wondering if the voice recording had been completed without them realizing.
3: Before we had the enemy character ideas and designs all in place, the programmer responsible for the enemies prepared a Metall that could be flexibly resized, allowing us to perform tests with everything from regular enemies through to Robot Masters. Among them, the largest Metall was so big it filled half the screen, boasting presence and strength almost equal to the Robot Masters in the finished game, and giving a real challenge even to the honed Mega Man skills of our development staff.
4: The Stage Select screen in the finished game has Block Man in the top left and Tundra Man in the bottom right, but during testing the layout was completely different. Looking closely at that test layout, however, I realized that each of the Robot Masters was placed alongside their weak point weapons, buddying up to the one who can best defeat them. This wasn’t done on purpose, it just subconsciously slipped in there. It goes without saying that, as soon as this was noticed, it was changed at once.
5: During testing, we planned on having the Robot Masters appear and attack in the middle of the stage, creating a feeling of an ongoing battle.
We tried a variety of different things, and while it did feel unexpected and new, it made the stages extremely long, and it also meant the Robot Master showed some of his hand prior to fighting him for the second time at the end of the stage, and so that idea was put on hold.
6: In December 2017 we first announced the development of Mega Man 11 during the celebratory stream for the 30th anniversary, and lots of fans in the US put up really great, really unique reaction videos that filled the development staff with both gratitude and renewed energy. That resulted in us working even harder to polish the finished game.
Where would you like to see the Mega Man franchise go from here?
We want to continue to develop Mega Man games after Mega Man 11, and create content that can go on to reach its 40th anniversary, and 50th.
Were you inspired for Mega Man 11 while working on Mega Man: Legacy Collection 2?
Tsuchiya-san: No, I was thinking of MM11 for the 30th anniversary of Mega Man. I made MMLC2 to create a roadmap of the lineup leading to the Mega Man 30th and MM11.
Did anything about the older games surprise you looking back on them?
Tsuchiya-san: Yes. The past Mega Man titles are highly polished, providing plenty of entertainment and challenge even today.
You programmed both Mega Man 7 and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. Have you ever considered a match-three fighting game featuring Mega Man characters?
Tsuchiya-san: I like fighting games on a personal level, too, so if an idea that the fans could accept comes up, I might give it some thought. But with titles like Street Fighter and Darkstalkers, we’d have some pretty big boots to fill, so I’d have to pour my heart and soul into making that game! :D
You’ve worked on three of Capcom’s iconic platformers: Ghosts ‘N’ Goblins, Strider, and now Mega Man. What key lessons or inspiration did you bring from those previous projects into Mega Man 11?
Oda-san: Both Ghosts ‘N’ Goblins and Strider are 2D-based action games, and I’m aware that they have their own unique worlds and game tempo, and require delicate and refined play techniques in order to defeat them, aspects that have supported their popularity over many years.
Mega Man is comprised of similar elements, and so I paid particular care during the design of the game to making sure no unnecessary elements were added, that might break down or lose that essential nature.
Did you try to sneak any zombies or Tyrants into the game?
It doesn’t look like there are any zombies or Tyrants in the year 20XX, when Mega Man is active! Maybe a Robot Master specializing in hunting B.O.Ws has already been developed by that time! ;)
Given the extremely positive reaction to Mega Man 11’s visuals, would you ever consider remakes of any classic Mega Man games?
Oda-san: At the moment I’m still buried under the pressure of getting the game finished on all platforms, so to be honest I can’t think that far ahead right now, but regardless of the graphical style I hope to continue to be involved in the further development of Mega Man.
Thinking over the 30 years of this iconic franchise, can you two name one or two memorable Mega Man characters—such as Proto Man, Roll, Dr. Wily, Zero, Tron Bonne, etc. What about them stands out to you?
Dr. Wily and Zero. Dr. Wily because he’s just the perfect, ideal depiction of a mad scientist. Even if he did take over the world, it might actually be quite a fun place! For Zero, he’s both the rival of our main character and his good friend, depicted as a character you can really look up to and sympathize with. I don’t think there are many other characters in games depicted quite as cool as he is.
Can you name one or two of your favorite bosses from the old games? What about them stood out to you?
Ice Man in Mega Man 1. He’s so cute that he doesn’t even really look like a robot, but there’s nothing cute about the difficulty of his stage or the boss battle. He’s an embodiment of the lesson “don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Can you name one or two of your favorite stages from the old games? What about them stood out to you?
The Mega Man 5 Gravity Man stage. The idea of having a stage where the gravity switches around was especially fresh, and it’s a stage design with very fun gameplay.
Can you name one or two of your favorite special weapons from the old games?
The Metal Blade in Mega Man 2 was extremely versatile, and the ultimate partner for tackling the challenges of the game.
Do you have any favorite music tracks from the old games?
This is probably the same opinion as pretty much everyone, but I think the music for the Mega Man 2 Wily Stage is an unforgettable classic. I hope that the music in Mega Man 11 can become just as loved all around the world.