Mega Man Goes 2.5D, Gets Co-Op

Mega Man has been done to death, but a fan-made pseudo-3D recreation of the blue bomber's classic adventures with co-op gameplay? Where do I sign up?

The unofficial project, cleverly dubbed Mega Man 2.5D takes the 8-bit, 2D aesthetic of the character's early NES outings and reimagines them with an extra dimension. Most impressively, it does all of this without losing a single hint of the aesthetic or aural appeal that made the originals so beloved.

Mega Man still travels along a single horizontal plane, but the backgrounds he traverses are now able to rotate, revealing depth and adding an entirely new (literal) dimension to games that most have fans know like the backs of their respective hands.

Assuming the video preview is to be believed, the remake also gives players a chance to experience Dr. Wily's aluminum-plated dungeons with a friend via a newly added co-operative gameplay mode.

As with all fan-made projects there is a danger that Capcom might pitch a fit and start lobbing cease and desist orders at MM2.5D's creators, but given that this trailer was featured on Capcom's official Unity Blog, it seems as if the publisher is at least amused enough by the effort to let it proceed apace.

No official release date is offered for the project, but interested gamers can find more images from the game at the creator's website.