INTERVIEW: Mega Man Dual Override devs discuss Proto Man’s return, and lessons from Mega Man 11

Mega Man Dual Override is the iconic Capcom mascot’s first mainline entry since 2018’s Mega Man 11, coinciding with the series’ 40th anniversary.

Ahead of this week’s Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany, VGC got to go hands-on with a short demo of Dual Override, which suggested that Capcom is building a game that’s aiming to appease the hardcore fanbase the series has grown, while also making some elements slightly more accessible for newcomers.

Speaking to VGC, director Shinya Ikuta confirmed that hardcore fans were the primary audience for Dual Override, but he emphasized that the new game has also been designed to cater to a broader audience with features like Custom Chips – equippable modifiers that improve various gameplay functions.

“From my perspective, there’s a very strong importance for games that are challenging but give you a sense of completion and accomplishment and exhilaration,” Ikuta said.

“So, regardless of the player type, whether you are a longtime Mega Man fan who’s been playing these challenging games for a long period, or newcomers who might be interested in tackling these challenges through customization or being able to select whatever stages you want to start off from, those are things that we felt were important to include”.

He added: “We’re seeing a lot more new fans join in and get their first experience at Mega Man through collaborations and licensing partnerships, whether it be like a Fortnite collab or like Mega Man appearing in a Smash Brothers game. Being able to welcome those players and widen the funnel so that they can feel that they can also enjoy the accomplishment of a Mega Man game is important to us and something that we kept in mind when designing.”

Ikuta was speaking to VGC alongside Dual Override producer Hiroyuki Minamitani, and Mega Man series producer Shingo Izumi. Read on for our full interview.

Interview: Mega Man Dual Override

It’s been eight years since the last mainline Mega Man game was released. What makes now the right time to bring the classic series back?

Shingo Izumi: Since the release of Mega Man 11, the team has been busy with different collection titles, like the Battle Network Legacy Collection series and the Star Force collections. And now that we are approaching the 40th anniversary of the entire Mega Man series, we felt that now is the time to take on new challenges and go back to the roots of the entire Mega Man series.

Mega Man is traditionally a pretty tough series. So with Dual Override, how did you balance appeasing hardcore fans and also introducing a new generation to the series?

Hiroyuki Minamitani: The main target of this game is going to be Mega Man fans who are familiar with the series and who’ve been playing for some time now. However, we are also putting in the effort to reach a much wider audience, adding in new gameplay features like Custom Chips that will give the player different ways to tackle certain challenges that the game has to offer. So we hope that the fun of Mega Man can be enjoyed regardless of what player level you are.

Shinya Ikuta: From my perspective, there’s a very strong importance for games that are challenging but give you a sense of completion and accomplishment and exhilaration.

So, regardless of the player type, whether you are a longtime Mega Man fan who’s been playing these challenging games for a long period, or newcomers who might be interested in tackling these challenges through customization or being able to select whatever stages you want to start off from, those are things that we felt were important to include in Mega Man Duel Override, so that you can get that sense of accomplishment, regardless of the player skill level and the amount of experience that you have.

We’re seeing a lot more new fans join in and get their first experience at Mega Man through collaborations and licensing partnerships, whether it be like a Fortnite collab or like Mega Man appearing in a Smash Brothers game. Being able to welcome those players and widen the funnel so that they can feel that they can also enjoy the accomplishment of a Mega Man game is important to us and something that we kept in mind when designing.

As developers, what can you do with classic Mega Man side-scrolling gameplay in 2026 that you couldn’t in the past?

Shinya Ikuta: The first thing you may have noticed is an overall enhancement in terms of graphics, especially if you compare it to some of the very classic Mega Man games, whether it be the background and amount of details that there are within the stage itself, those are obviously things that we weren’t able to do maybe 40 years ago.

Since this is a mainline Mega Man game, it’s not like we are trying to incorporate things that aren’t really representative of the mainline series. We’re not trying to bombard the player with tons of enemies or add 3D elements, for example. While maintaining the core experience of a Mega Man game, we’re trying to recreate the stages in a way that adapts well to every kind of player type.

The stage that we got to see in the latest trailer is the Twinkle Girl stage, and from our perspective, that’s kind of like the main entry point that we recommend people play, and hopefully they get to experience much more diverse stage types in other levels of the game as well.

The name Dual Override seems more significant now, with the introduction of Proto Man as a playable character. Is that what the title refers to?

Shinya Ikuta: The ‘Override’ element refers to one of the in-game systems that Mega Man Dual Override introduces. It is a system whereby, by performing certain actions and defeating enemies, it increases a specific gauge that connects to the character’s override system, and by activating it, it gives the character a brief moment of enhanced abilities.

Why was now the right time to introduce Proto Man as a playable character in the Mainline series?

Hiroyuki Minamitani: This harkens back to the 40th anniversary aspect. The team discussed amongst themselves to see what it is that fans would want to see for a game that represents the 40th anniversary of the series, and one of the obvious answers was the return of Proto Man.

This is a popular character that fans love, but fans wouldn’t be satisfied with two different characters with different skins and the same play style, so we are introducing new game elements that differ between Mega Man’s play style and Proto Man’s game style. We hope that fans will definitely look forward to that.

Shingo Izumi: One of the more common pieces of feedback that we received after the release of Mega Man 11 was about Proto Man. There was no representation of him at all in that game, so we realized that this is something that fans are wanting and looking forward to.

What else did you learn from Mega Man 11 that directly influenced this new game?

Shingo Izumi: A lot of fans have a desire and longing for this kind of classic Mega Man type of gameplay, and we wanted to address that and make sure that we deliver something that the hardcore Mega Man fans are looking for in a new title like Dual Override.

But we also feel that the fans are longing for an evolution from that kind of classic Mega Man style, so that’s something that we felt was important to address and to deliver for a brand new Mega Man game. Hence, all the new things that we’re introducing.

We learned that, for the most part, Mega Man 11 players were very satisfied, and it delivered upon what people were hoping for out of a Mega Man game. So, we felt that it was important to keep the things that did work, and then build upon that for a brand new experience.

Alongside the Gamescom trailer, you also announced Pragmata skins, which seemed to go down really well. Is that a playful acknowledgment of the fan speculation from the early days that Pragmata could be a Mega Man game? Could we still see the big reveal?

Shingo Izumi: To confirm, Pragmata is not a Mega Man game, but both series feature similar elements, whether it’s the use of robots and that kind of sci-fi world. We did see a lot of the commentary on social media about Diana kind of looking like a Mega Man character. So we thought it would be a fun way to play on that, and the producers had conversations to make it happen.