Last Monday while I was in the middle of writing reviews for Andy Cooper and Das EFX the news came down from Capcom that MEGA MAN 11 WAS COMING IN 2018. This was the news fans of the Blue Bomber had been long waiting to hear, and was perfectly timed since this month is the 30th anniversary of the original game, released (as Rockman) on December 17, 1987 in Japan. There hasn’t been a new game in the original/classic Mega Man series since Mega Man 10 came to consoles back in March of 2010! After seven long years the wait is finally over. Mega Man is BACK!

In a surprising move for Capcom, Mega Man 11 breaks from the aesthetic established by Mega Man 9 and 10, with this latest installment opting to NOT look like classic 8-bit NES Mega Man. It’s not as though this is unprecedented though. Mega Man 7 on the Super Nintendo had what I’d describe as “vintage meets 16-bit” look, and Mega Man 8 (on the 10th anniversary of the series) ditched both styles and went in an entirely new direction for the brand new consoles of the day – the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. It’s a game with some TERRIBLE voice acting that at least serves as a comedic distraction during some of the game’s harder moments, and it’s still fun to play to this day.

That wasn’t the only thing Capcom announced on December 4, 2017. Many people suspected there would be a new Mega Man game announced when various YouTube personalities and high profile video game websites received birthday invitations in the mail – one with a card that featured a cake sporting ELEVEN candles. What nobody predicted based on the invites though was that Capcom would announce (1.) the game was coming to all three modern platforms including the Nintendo Switch, and (2.) all eight of the Mega Man X series games would be coming to the Switch in 2017! The exact nature of this port (individual releases or one compilation of all eight) has yet to be determined but the news is still exciting and I honestly can’t wait to see how it turns out.

The interesting part of this whole thing is that Capcom purposefully tipped their hand that Mega Man 11 was in development by secretly placing artwork from the game in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, something first picked up on by Brian from Rockman Corner.

So fellow hip-hop gamers, how do you feel about this news? I know at least one person that’s almost as excited about the Mega Man 11 reveal as I am — perhaps moreso!