What is Ikemen Go
Ikemen Go is enhanced engine of original Mugen developed by Elecbtye in 1999. This engine was released in 2010 and was developed by SuperSuehiro after Elecbyte was disbanded. While latest Mugen 1.1 freatures stage zoom and win quotes, Ikemen expands such as Netplay, boss rush and replay. Fast foward to 2024, Ikemen Go is slowly become more user friendly and finishing what Elecbtye should have done. There is one Portugal creator named POTS, who program game and camera module to enhance gameplay. Also, other creators did stage which can be interactive and toggle day to night. The engine is trying to stay close to original games as possible. 3D stages has been huger on Ikemen than Mugen engine with its camera control and more. I seen in forums the creativity on what these creators can do.
Let’s backtrack on what Mugen is. Mugen is a open source freeware engine which allows users to customize their own fighting game. In Mugen, you can create and add characters from anime, video games, movies and more. You have the choose to make them or add them in your own crossover fighting game. There is screenpack, lifebars and stages that users can add in their Mugen not just only characters. You can get different characters and motfis from websites (Mugen Guild Forum, Mugen Achieve, Mugen For Free All and AK1 Mugen). Before you boot up your Ikemen and Mugen, you have to learn how to add characters and other things (video below).
Continue
Once you get the hang of adding stages, sounds, characters and screenpacks. You are good to go, there is several game modes such as arcade, watch mode (my favorite), vs mode and more. In the character select screen, there is four choose (ikemen go and 3 original mugen). Solo, team, Ratio (just like Capcom vs Snk 2) and simul (similar Street Fighter Alpha 3), It depends on the player. If you fight against CPU, beware of characters AI. Some creators don’t know how to code AI which is their choice not to include it. There is some bad apples among creators and characters in Mugen community. Gathering feedback is very important went creating things, but some don’t listen and neglated it. I understand some criticism is harsh but how are you doing to improve your creator,
I have seen creators leave Mugen community for good and never come back. Creators leave Mugen community because of boredom, IRL things and focusing on other hobbies. Myself, I was trying to get into Mugen but loss interest in doing so because toxic reception. Although, I love seeing dream matches included Goku vs Superman along with Pokemon and Digimon duking it out. Ikemen/Mugen community continues to go the distance. I know big content creators like AfroSenju, Mat McMuscles and Top Hat Gaming did a videos on Mugen. MugenLord was another Mugen content creator but quit to pursue other games he enjoy. I did some Mugen video on my channel went I talk about in-dept about in (video below).
Still Using Mugen
Some people still use orignal engine and don’t want to switch. Its perfectally fine but went Ikemen Go become more stable and better than original Mugen. Everyone will begin to transition to Ikemon engine. I also forgot about creators can make full games out of Ikemen and Mugen. Notable ones is Hyper Dragon Ball Z, TMNT vs Justice League, Nikikaku and Famicon Fighters but others have compilations in them. Creators can create overpowered and joke characters to their liking. What about gameplay style? There is MVC, CVS, GG and KOF style gameplay on what creator chooses. Different characters can be chibi (jus), 3D models, standard and many more types out there.
Let’s just love I grew up with Mugen and got exposure to it, while working at Summer job. I am on and off of Mugen Community but continue to montior it as years goes on. Thanks for reading my article and let me know in the comment. What do you think about Ikemen Go and Mugen? If you want to experience Ikemen Go or Mugen, its free to download.
