Tokyo Game Show Encounters: Mega Man Universe for PS3

Tucked deep inside Capcom’s Tokyo Game Show hotel suite was the first hands-on build of Mega Man Universe, the upcoming PSN title that gives players a comprehensive toolset to build their own custom Mega Man levels and characters. Watch the new trailer below for a peek at the total package.

DualShock 3 clenched tightly in my sweaty hands, I powered through several of Mega Man Universe’s pre-generated levels, which are based on the fan-favorite Mega Man 2. I quickly discovered that some things never change: Mega Man Universe is freaking hard, even on the allegedly Easy mode. The levels were riddled with tricky moving platforms, brutal jumps, lethal spike pits, and the requisite homing-carrot-firing rabbit robots.

Of course, the difficulty level can vary wildly depending on the prowess of your custom Mega Man, which you upgrade by cobbling together spare parts from defeated bosses and iconic Capcom characters — Street Fighter’s Ryu and Ghosts ‘N Goblins Arthur were shown in the launch trailer, and more classic Capcom characters are sure to come.

In the early build I played, each custom Mega Man also featured eight Special Weapon slots, four Chip slots, and four Item Payload slots for further customization. These equipment choices affect not only your appearance and abilities, but your jumping height, movement speed, attack power, and more. The custom characters in the Tokyo Game Show build were pre-populated with a selection of Mega Men, everything from “Bad Box Art Mega Man” to variants called “Gust Man” and “Chop Man,” each with their own hodgepodge of strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities.

The cornerstone of Mega Man Universe, the level creator, isn’t yet playable. But if LittleBigPlanet is anything to go by, it’s sure to be the star of the show. Mega Man Universe is still early in its development cycle, and a PSN release date is still over the horizon. But stay tuned for a closer look at the level creation tools when they become available — we’ve got some plans for that bad boy.