The 40th anniversary of Mega Man is just around the corner, celebrating four decades of one of gaming’s most enduring icons. After going hands-on with both Mega Man and Proto Man in the upcoming mainline game Mega Man: Dual Override, IGN had the chance to sit down and chat with the design team.
With the help of an interpreter, I was able to ask Director Shinya Ikuta, Producer Hiroyuki Minamitani, Art Director Yuji Ishihara, and Art Director Shinsuke Komaki, a wide range of questions, from design inspirations for Twinkle Girl, what makes Proto Man and Mega Man different, whether or not we will ever get a Mega Man dating sim, and more. Read on to find the answer to that and other burning questions.
Note that as this was a group interview through a single interpreter, with multiple people contributing, answers will be attributed to the full group, as Capcom.IGN: This is a big anniversary for Mega Man, and you’ve said the design of this game is meant to celebrate this. Can you tell me a bit about how that anniversary impacts the development goals of this game?Capcom: Yes, next year is the big 40th anniversary of the Mega Man series. We had decided early on we would be releasing a new game to celebrate this. It’s a celebration of the entire series. There was a lot of discussion across the team about what are elements and things that people would enjoy seeing in a new Mega Man game. It’s safe to say it influenced and inspired the development of Mega Man: Dual Override. IGN: You said recently that even though this is a mainline game, the number was dropped from the title so as not to intimate newcomers. From a game development standpoint, how do you balance creating a game that is welcoming to newcomers, with creating a game that has the difficulty that experienced players are accustomed to and expect?Capcom: It’s important for us to be welcoming to players who have never played a Mega Man game. That’s why we’ve incorporated new elements like the custom chip system, and the fact that each stage is broken into three areas. You may have noticed the areas get more difficult over time. That is very much intentional. We wanted to make the earlier areas a little more friendly so that it gradually gets more difficult, but also so that players can collect chips by completing the areas. “It’s important for us to be welcoming to players who have never played a Mega Man game.”“In the final version of the game, completing areas gets you chips, which you can use to customize your characters, and that will hopefully help elevate your gameplay, and enable you to overcome challenges that you might normally have a difficult time with. You can also go to a completely different robot masters stage, complete the first [easier] area, collect chips, then go back to an area that you are having trouble with. At the same time, Twinkle Girl was made to be challenging, but rewarding. That is very much important for any Mega Man game, including Dual Override. Maintaining the expectations that veteran players and longtime fans have is very important. IGN: In terms of the chips, you mentioned that you get those as you advance through various stages. Do we have a rough idea for how many chips or combinations are available?Capcom: As you play through the different areas you collect the screws, and then with those screws you can trade in for different chips in the game. We have mentioned that there are going to be over 50 chips that the game will have to offer. These chips vary in different effects, whether it be active moves that you can perform, or them being passive effects. There’s going to be a good amount, and different combinations to use them in.IGN: The override mechanic itself features a power boost followed by the period of weakness afterwards. What was the inspiration for that?Capcom: The team wanted to experiment and try out something where Mega Man would transform for a brief period of time, look cool, and he becomes stronger, but also come with a risk, where he loses certain abilities for a brief time. This was an idea that we wanted to execute for quite a while and we were finally able to do it with this. Although there is some risk involved with executing the override system, the period of time where you are weakened isn’t too strenuous. We hope that people will give it a try, and feel comfortable utilizing it. Even his look in override form looks cool and powerful, but there’s a danger element to it as well. Like maybe there is some sort of risk involved in it too. Hopefully that came through in the design. IGN: Will you play through the entire game as one character, or can you switch between Mega Man and Proto Man?Capcom: Within the same progression, once you start a character you will play with them until the completion of the game. Otherwise you can start a playthrough with the other character. IGN: Does the story vary between the two playthroughs?Capcom: The overarching story is the same, but as you progress, you’ll get to see their personalities in different ways, depending on which character you play with, and you’ll get to hear different speaking lines.IGN: When it comes time to come up with the concept for new robot masters, by this point there have been over 100 of them, how does that work? Do people pitch in ideas? Are they informed by the levels? Is there a top secret book that no one knows about that has a list that has been gathered over the years?Capcom: Actually a lot of people pitch in ideas, saying, “What about this robot, or this idea?” And then other staff will say they want to illustrate certain robots. They are all very enthusiastic about suggestions, and coming up with ideas. It’s also been a while since the last Mega Man game, and everyone has had a long time to brainstorm and come up with different ideas for Mega Man: Dual Override. We’ve had a lot of different Robot Masters, and it’s important to not overlap with the other ones, but more importantly, it’s important to come up with a concept that’s easy to understand, easy to grasp from a player perspective, and make something appealing. It’s challenging, but rewarding at the same time. IGN: What was the origin of the design and concept for Twinkle Girl?Capcom: We started out with the motif, or the theme of the boss. For Twinkle Girl it’s fireworks. Her stage is at the Robot Exhibit, she’s supposed to be an entertainer robot at the exhibit. And we wanted to make a female character. She’s also the first Robot Master we designed [for this game], and influenced a lot of the design of the other designs moving forward. We tried different things, like what if she looked like a big firework, but that didn’t really pan out. Eventually we decided to make her more of a humanoid robot. We had a lot of fun making her. IGN: This is a modern version of the classic Mega Man format, but over the years, we’ve seen various genre mash-ups, like kart racing, fighting games, RPGs. Are there genres in the future you are interested in exploring? Will we get a Mega Man survival horror game, or the Mega Man dating sim?Capcom: (laughs) Obviously we can’t really comment on what’s going to happen in the future, but there are a lot of different ideas about how Mega Man can be incorporated into different genres. IGN: With how cheery and bubbly Twinkle Girl is, do you have any fear that some people won’t want to fight her?Capcom: Yes! We focused on making Twinkle Girl as appealing and attractive as possible. We would understand if people may have some hesitancy about defeating her. But this is Mega Man’s fate, it’s his heroic duty to defeat the Robot Masters, so that’s something that has to happen. Obviously the Robot Masters are considered enemies in the world of Mega Man, but they are also the cast within the game. In terms of Twinkle Girl, she runs rampant and goes out of control, but doesn’t have any deadly intentions, which makes it a little more palatable. Mega Man: Dual Override – TGS 2026 Proto Man ScreenshotsIGN: So many video games take inspiration from the 40 years of Mega Man. Do you pay attention to those at all? Or do you focus solely on creating Mega Man in a unique, isolated space, for others to follow?Capcom: We definitely can’t neglect the Mega Man-like aspects. There are things that make Mega Man, Mega Man, and those are things that we need to continue valuing and cherishing, and making an important aspect for future games and Dual Override. At the same time, it’s not like the team can just make whatever they think is right for a Mega Man game. The team does understand the market, trends, sees player behavior, and sees what is going on around them when making a game.So the answer is both. It’s a healthy balance of maintaining those two things and doing what is right for our audience. IGN: Thank you all so much for your time. Capcom: Thank you.Parts of this interview were edited for clarity.Justin Koreis is a regular contributor to IGN. Check him out on BlueSky.
