Let’s Go Racing! It’s Mega Man Funny Car Madness!
It’s been quite some time since Mega Man last took to the race track in Mega Man Battle & Chase; over a decade, in fact, in a game which North America never even got to lay its hands on until 2006′s Mega Man X Collection for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube.
Since then, Capcom appears to have been rather reluctant to put the Blue Bomber back on the racetrack, but his fans have shown no such hesitation in the beta for Sony and United Game Artists’ ModNation Racers for the PlayStation 3. This game has several highly-customizable features, including the tracks you race on, the cars you drive, and even the drivers themselves. As you can see to your right, Mega Man is among the many creations people are making with the beta’s more limited options, with others including the Mario Bros., Metal Sonic, Master Chief from Halo, Kratos from God of War, Old Snake from Metal Gear Solid 4, Clank from Ratchet & Clank, and many more.
For more of these creations, you can check out galleries at Destructoid, SCRAWL, and the NeoGAF. Then, you can wonder what (and who) might be possible with the final game’s fully-realized feature set.
As an aside, I am well and truly surprised that we haven’t seen a new Mega Man racing game in all this time. In fact, I thought one version was a shoe-in.
Does anyone remember the “The NetMobile Grand Prix!” episode of the Rockman.EXE/MegaMan NT Warrior anime? Each NetNavi (or group of NetNavis in some cases) had their own unique vehicles, including MegaMan’s race car, ProtoMan’s motorcycle, and the World Three’s locomotive. For items? Battle Chips, of course. And the CutMan Brothers even appeared on the scene to try to thwart MegaMan’s efforts to reach the finish line.
An episode like that simply screamed for such a title to be made, and yet, it never came. And as bit as MegaMan Battle Network was for Capcom, it’s really quite a surprise. A lot could be done with the concept, and since Capcom is more or less rebooting the Battle Network series with Operate Shooting Star, perhaps there is still hope. Perhaps once Capcom has whatever they’re planning for game ideas in place.
Oh, and for those who think other Mega Man titles should perhaps have the honor instead, I submit that the original series has had a turn, and it doesn’t seem as though it would fit the scenarios of X, Zero, or ZX‘s worlds very well. But nothing says there can’t be “special data” found to unlock such racers in a Battle Network game.
But for now, at least we can see what racers, cars, and perhaps even tracks inspired by the Mega Man franchise fans come up with for ModNation Racers.
Source: Kombo
Filed under: Community Developments, Editorials
“since Capcom is more or less rebooting the Battle Network series with Operate Shooting Star, perhaps there is still hope.”
I haven’t played this yet, but isn’t it more a of a retcon than a remake?
Sure, it is EXE redone but… I guess this is the “case for content” review that challenges the retcon tag.
I’d love the racing game NT Warrior depicted… I think it could work very well.
I don’t see why we can’t have an all-series-encompassing racing game. I mean, it’s not like it’s *hard* for a company to throw in all the characters from all of their series, just look at the Gundam line of video games. Besides, who wouldn’t love to force Dr. Wily to spin out while in Sigma’s Velguarder car? Come on now, let’s make this happen!
Oh god I loved that episode of EXE
B_Heatnix: Check out our review, it’s virtually identical to the original, save for the inclusion of an extra scenario featuring Star Force MegaMan and the ability to play as him after, though he comes in rather late in the game.
I think “reboot” applies, since they seem to essentially be starting a finished series over, and adding just a sprinkle of new material. Where they go with it remains to be seen.
–LBD “Nytetrayn”
Very interesting. ZX had a Battle and Chase cameo, so it’s very likely for such a racing game to exist in the ZX series. I don’t know about Star Force though, likewise. X is possible to have a racer with those motorbikes. Dunno about Zero too.
But boy, that ep was fun to watch, I even managed to catch a few “Wacky Racers” references..
- Bad Guy uses Dirty Tricks
- Ironically the plan fails, and comes last place
- Heroes always come first
- etc etc
I think that a new Mega Man racing game is an excellent idea, although I would like to see it feature more classic series robot masters and for it to be more in the style of Mario Kart. “You hit me with your Laser Trident!?…Well then taste the rage of my Silver Tomahawk!”
A Megaman based racing game sounds cool!!! Perhaps We´ll be watching the return of the “Green Biker Dude” from X2 XD
A new driving game would be great. I’d rather see one with the classic series of characters with a Crash Team Racing feel to it.
My picks for racers would be:
1. Fire Man and Elec Man
2. Air Man and Quick Man
3. Magnet Man and Shadow Man
4. Pharoah Man and Skull Man
5. Crystal Man and Wave Man
6. Knight Man and Tomahawk Man
7. Turbo Man and Shade Man
8. Granade Man and Search Man
M&B. Cold Man and Dynamo Man
9. Concrete Man and Splash Woman
10. ? and ?
Mega Man and Proto Man
Dr. Wily and Bass
King and Duo
Dr. Light and Roll.
That’s 30 characters. You have fire, ice, blades, and bombs with these characters. A couple of characters from each game and your main characters of course. We’ll have to wait for the last two of the 30 characters to pick when Mega Man 10 is released. I would love for this to happen. Maybe with enough talk about it from the fans, they will consider making it for us. I bust out my Crash Team Racing every once in a while and would love a Mega Man version of it.
I always thought there should be either a Battle & Chase sequel (with a lot more racers than in the original) or an EXE version (with fully customizable cars courtesy of, naturally, battle chips). Of course, in an EXE-based B&C, the cannon fodder racers can be a little more interesting (ie Normal Navis instead of the 4-Roaders, Heel Navis in place of the Joes…). I still think for simplicity they should limit the parts you can get (Tires, Wing, Engine, and Body seemed a fine enough system in the original, not sure what else could be added…)
The only downside: Bass suddenly becomes a LOT worse to race in an EXE game than a Battle & Chase 2. Not sure who would go in Wily’s place on the track (unless he loads LifeVirus or something onto the track…).
I like the Mario Kart game because it is more challenging as you get to the next level.*’,