Mega Man board game kills it on Kickstarter

Just a few short months after Mega Man's spiritual successor Mighty No. 9 became one of the highest ever funded Kickstarter games, a new Mega Man project is making crowdfunding waves.

There's a new Mega Man in the house. No, not a game from IP-holder Capcom — an officially licensed Mega Man board game is seeking Kickstarter funding.

Now, before you scoff, board games made from video games have a long and hallowed tradition — from the Milton Bradley Nintendo board games of the 1980s all the way through to the rather baffling Bejeweled.

Jasco — which publishes the Universal Fighting System collectible card game — has described it as "a 2-8 player 'Side Scrolling' board game", wherein players control both their Mega Man character and the forces of Doctor Wily. The system uses player pieces, card deck, and robot master tokens, which you then use to construct a modular board. You then make your way around the board's stages while your friends try to stop you with their villain pieces (and advance their own Mega Man). Once you've defeated the boss, you gain his power, level up and do it all over again.

"Created by fans of Mega Man and the publisher of the Universal Fighting System CCG, the board game is Jasco Games' love letter to one of the best video game characters of all time," Jasco Games wrote. "We have launched this Kickstarter for two reasons. First, and most importantly, we're seeking funding to make this the board game we always wanted to make. Kickstarter funding will allow us to use better materials, offer more extras like miniatures, cards, extra boards, and polish the finalised product, giving fans an even better experience and something that will be worthy of any Mega Man enthusiast's collection. Second, we wanted fans to have a chance to show their support for Mega Man and be involved in this exciting process."

Only 10 hours into its Kickstarter campaign, the game has already made over US$127,000 of its US$70,000 funding goal — but don't get your (Amazon) wallets out quite yet. At this point in time due to licensing restrictions, Jasco will only be able to ship within the US. If the amount of money raised is high enough, the company will be able to discuss global licensing. Although there's still no guarantee that will happen.

For our readers in the US, you can reserve your copy of the Mega Man board game for a minimum early bird pledge of US$60, with an estimated delivery date of October 2014. You can check it out on the Kickstarter project page.