Following up on a series of delays and development setbacks, Kickstarter-funded platformer Mighty No. 9 suffered another wave of fan backlash today with the launch of a poorly received trailer that was broadly interpreted as painting the game in a negative light.
Citing “cringeworthy” narration that pokes fun at the game’s target audience, fans have bombarded today’s trailer with comments expressing disappointment. As of this writing, the trailer has earned thousands of dislikes compared to a few hundred “thumbs up” votes.
Seemingly aping the in-your-face style of ’90s console game advertisements, the latest Mighty No. 9 trailer features a voiceover that summarizes the game’s mechanics via cliches and faux chumminess.
“You kill an enemy, and you can absorb their power-ups,” the trailer states. “Stuff that’ll make you faster and stronger, and make the bad guys cry like an anime fan on prom night.”
Anime fans and gamers alike took to the video’s comments section to point out that Mighty No. 9 developer Comcept previously sought funding for the Studio Ghibli-inspired Red Ash and a related animated feature, giving today’s trailer a hypocritical edge.
Mighty No. 9 initially met with widespread enthusiasm from the gaming community, earning nearly $4 million in crowdsourced funding via Kickstarter. As development continued, however, developer Comcept faced scrutiny that intensified as the project was delayed past its planned September 2015 launch.
The game’s release date was subsequently pushed back to “February 2016,” which later became “spring 2016” following yet another delay. Today’s trailer claims that Mighty No. 9 will finally hit retail and digital channels on June 21, provided that the project doesn’t suffer from any additional setbacks.
Reception to today’s Mighty No. 9 trailer recalls Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare‘s fumbled debut, which earned a record number of dislikes on YouTube from disappointed fans. Currently, Infinite Warfare‘s debut trailer ranks as the second most-disliked YouTube video of all time.
