Comcept’s Kickstarter-backed, majorly hyped and long-delayed Mighty No. 9 finally launched today — but not on Xbox 360. The last-gen Xbox version of the game was pushed back “several days” after the discovery of a certification bug during the final round of testing.
Other versions of the Mega Man spiritual successor, which was funded by over $3.8 million in Kickstarter pledges from more than 67,000 backers, were also not without their problems. Like the 360 release, the Mac and Linux versions hit snags during final testing that have pushed them back several days. Arguably even more troubling, though, are the myriad issues being encountered by all those backers entitled to a digital copy of the game in exchange for their monetary contributions to its creation.
Kotaku reports that a large contingent of backers have taken to the game’s Kickstarter page to complain that they either didn’t get their codes, the codes they got are for the wrong platform or their codes aren’t working. It’s important to note that some of the codes that aren’t converting to the full game may simply be the result of Mighty No. 9 not yet going live on every single platform’s digital storefront, as Sony, Steam, Microsoft, etc. aren’t completely synchronized when it comes to release timing.
Some backers did actually get working codes for the right platforms, and Kotaku was informed that Comcept and publisher Deep Silver are working on fixes for the outstanding problems.
And yet, even those who have already received or will shortly receive working copies of the game are, if most reviews are to be believed, still going to find themselves disappointed. The game has been critically panned, with the Xbox One version’s Metacritic score sitting at a measly 58. XBLA Fans only just received its review code yesterday and has not yet been able to independently evaluate the full game, but keep an eye out for our review to appear in the coming days.
For his part, Vice reports that creator Keiji Inafune said through a translator that even though the game is “not perfect,” at least “it’s better than nothing.” (UPDATE: This quote was erroneously attributed to Inafune. It actually emanated from his translator. XBLA Fans regrets the error.) And though he added that there will be no DLC beyond the announced Ray character, Inafune stated that there would be sequels “if things go well.” Unfortunately, it seems that by just about any measure imaginable, things have, to date, gone about as far south from “well” as they possibly could have.
Sources: Kotaku, Vice, Comcept, Kickstarter