Remember Mega Man Universe? I sure do. 2010 was a rough time for Japanese games in general, but no IP or character had it worse than Mega Man. The Blue Bomber, the cutesy little murderbot who starred in so many classic games, was suddenly unable to appear in any game.
Several games were started and cancelled, the most visible being Mega Man Universe. We saw a bizarre trailer, a single (panned) convention demo and… then it was gone.
Mega Man Universe was a “Disorganized Scramble” According to Report
Ten years later, the website Rockman Corner published a piece on Mega Man Universe, thanks to a few sources getting in contact with the writer. As it turns out, Mega Man Universe was a victim of the same kinds of circumstances many games of its ilk were as well at this time.
Problems with management, scope, cost-cutting and overall lack of direction sunk this ship. As much as Mega Man fans struggled to understand what Universe was, it seems like Capcom didn’t know either.vAccording to the piece on Rockman Corner, Universe often changed from a Mega Man 2 remake, a Mario Maker-style platform and possibly even a mobile game.
All of this shifting happened at a time when Japanese games struggled, the global economy was in bad shape and Keiji Inafune’s attempts to target western appeal failed and led to his departure from Capcom.
If this report is accurate, Mega Man Universe was doomed from the start. The demo suffered from performance and control issues, which never seemed to be addressed properly. Features were added and then removed, due to things like online co-op being outsourced to inexperienced developers.
Ultimately, just like games such as Mega Man Legends 3, Universe sputtered out and was cancelled not long after Inafune left. For the full story, check out Rockman Corner’s original report.
Mega Man wouldn’t see a new game until Mega Man 11, released in 2018.
Related: Mega Man 11 Boss Order and Boss Weakness
Do you remember Mega Man Universe? Do you have thoughts on the biggest rough patch in the series’ history? Let us know at Prima Games’ Facebook and Twitter feeds!
