Street Fighter X Mega Man was a surprise from Capcom since they haven’t been talking much about the series and the game was designed by a fan. We spoke with Seow Zong Hui, a video game designer from Singapore, who created the crossover game and gave Mega Man the Lightning Leg.
How long were you working on Street Fighter X Mega Man before you presented it to Capcom?
Seow Zong Hui: It started back in 2008. I was only working on it over the holidays and in my free time. If I were to combine all of the work over the past several years, it would probably take about half a year of full working days.
What support and suggestions did Capcom give you during development?
We had discussions regarding issues and decisions that were not finalized or planned. For example, Chun-Li was selected as she is a classic character from the Street Fighter series. I knew I wanted a China stage in the game, but many of the bosses were undecided until the collaboration with Capcom began.
How did you pick which Street Fighter characters would be in the game and how did you come up with the ideas for the weapons Mega Man earns? Some of them like Rose’s shield seem obvious, but the Lightning Leg is pretty unique!
For research purposes and for inspiration, I looked through the Anime and all of the Street Fighters that appeared. With Chun-Li, her legs were one of the most iconic moves and Mega Man seldom had any melee moves. My favorite weapon is the watermelon and it was decided during the early stages of development.
You’re doing other things that we haven’t seen in Mega Man before, such as elevators, climbing left and right, and so on. What was your favorite mechanic you added?
I really liked how the “intruder alert” laser room turned out, and how the screen shakes during certain situations. It was inspired by the Resident Evil laser room.
While the game is certainly Mega Man-centric, you seem to have some Street Fighter mechanics (such as projectiles cancelling each other, Ryu’s hurricane kick travelling over Mega Man’s shots, and the ultra combos) in place during boss battles. How did you balance the two gameplay styles?
I wanted to introduce the idea of footsies during the boss fights. As for ultra combos, those are in there so that there is something to look forward to or watch out for during the fight. Cancelling projectiles were balanced by having Mega Man shoot more than the Street Fighter bosses.
The main thing is I wanted the bosses to feel like Street Fighter characters as must as possible and to have a Mega Man game feel to it, while revolving the game around footsies instead of a fixed moving pattern. My goal was to blend the gameplay styles of each franchise as much as possible and I hope fans experience some of that when they play.
Was there anything you wanted to implement that you couldn’t or that didn’t feel Mega Man-y enough?
A full Yang super, Sei Sei Enbu, was programmed half way but was not included as Chun-Li was a preferred character over Yang and the move was quite over-powering. It seemed more like a Mega Man X move, which allowed double of every move in the game, and Soul Satellite covers all direction in that mode.
As for what I couldn’t get to, I wanted to put a Daigo costume for Ryu, a Tokido one for Akuma and Xian one for Gen, etc. However, there are too many rights issues associated with those. I also intended to put in a secret playable character from the Street Fighter side, but instead decided to keep the focus on Mega Man as the only playable character.
We couldn’t help but notice that the Street Fighter characters explode when you defeat them. Has Mega Man become a killer?
He did that in Street Fighter X Tekken already. There is no story intended, but maybe someday there will be…
