It seems like nothing has gone right for Mighty No. 9. The Kickstarted Mega Man successor from creator Keiji Inafune began with such promise, but slowly derailed into what has been a seemingly never-ending series of delays and controversies more depressing than an anime fan on prom night.
The latest controversy in the saga comes today, on Mighty No. 9's official launch day. Amid news that the Xbox 360, Mac and Linux versions of the game had been delayed and poor reviews from critics, Inafune, in a recent live stream, was translated as saying that there will be sequels on the way if everything goes according to plan.
"Because I'll tell you what, I'm not getting my 2D side-scrolling fill," Inafune is quoted as saying. "And at the end of the day, even if it's not perfect, it's better than nothing."
The "it's better than nothing" part of the quote is the one that has thrown fans into a tizzy, and now, even a fictional video game character is stepping in to throw more fuel on the ever-growing fire.
That video game character is none other than Sega's mascot Sonic the Hedgehog. The character's official Twitter account is one known to make nearly constant jokes and regularly pokes fun at the rest of the game industry, but its tweet to the official Mighty No. 9 Twitter account can only be described by one word: savage.
Congrats on the launch, @MightyNo9!
It's better than nothing. pic.twitter.com/WsXHWtAlaX— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) June 21, 2016
The fake sincerity of congratulating the team on a successful launch ... the use of Inafune's own quote against him ... the evil grin adorning Sonic's face: it's absolutely brutal, as far as tweets go.
Not that Sonic has much room to talk when it comes to bad games. The character has starred in bomb after bomb in recent years, though hopefully, Sega might soon change that in honor of Sonic's upcoming 25th anniversary. Either way, for Sonic to throw shade at Mighty No. 9 is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. However, that doesn't make the entire scenario any less entertaining.
Mighty No. 9 is currently sporting an average review score of 56 on Metacritic. It could certainly be worse. The reality, however, is that, after years of delays and problems, anything less than side-scrolling perfection from Mighty No. 9 was sure to disappoint all but the most stalwart of fans. Could a sequel still happen? Sure, but don't hold your breath.
