Capcom just recently announced a slew of new things in honor of Mega Man’s 30th anniversary (wow, has it really been that long?), including Nintendo Switch ports of Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 and 2, new versions of Mega Man X1 through X8 on modern platforms, and something entirely new altogether: a brand-new Mega Man game!

The last mainstream entry into the series was back in 2010 with Mega Man 10. While Mega Man 10 was by no means a bad game (it was quite fun, really) and had some neat features to it (Bass being playable in his 8-bit form), it kind of felt derivative to me. In a lot of ways, it felt like it was a quick attempt to capitalize off of the success and nostalgia brought about from 2008’s Mega Man 9, but other than a new story and new bosses (seeing the Rockman Killers brought back was really awesome!) the game felt like it had already been done before. Since Mega Man 9 capitalized on being an NES-style 8-bit adventure, I’d hoped that Mega Man 10 might have focused on the SNES style instead. Sadly, they decided to go with 8-bit for a second time.

Mega Man 9 was a lot more exciting for me when it first came out, because it was the first real Mega Man game in the US in quite some time. Mega Man 8 had been released back in January of 1997, so other than a Game Boy Advance port of Mega Man & Bass, it had been over ten years since we saw a main series entry. Also, the 8-bit style was perfect in MM9, really tugging on those nostalgia strings and giving gamers a sense of joy when playing the game. The bosses were really unique (with a female Robot Master for a change!), the soundtrack was great, and the game was difficult but fair.

Mega Man 11, which is set for release in late 2018, looks like it’s finally bringing the blue bomber into the modern era with a gorgeous 2.5D style to it. It reminds me of Mighty No. 9 but…much better! There’s no word on the story just yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Dr. Wily is up to no good once again.

I’m left wondering if Mega Man 11 will usher in a new era for the iconic robot and his friends. Maybe if the game does well, we’ll have the possibility of finally seeing a Mega Man X9 or at least finally getting some answers as to what happens between the two series of games. Regardless, I’m very happy to see that Capcom is putting its attention to this iconic series once again — and that we may finally get some awesome original titles for a change rather than updated collections of previous adventures.

Now, the waiting game begins!