Mega Man Universe was an odd duck from the get-go, and now it appears that Capcom has pulled the plug (andriasang via Giant Bomb), citing “various circumstances.” With the XBL and PSN release dates scheduled for Spring 2011, it’s tough to say what would make them drop it completely right before launch.

I’m having a hard time deciding just how disappointed I should be. Mega Man 2 was the first game I truly loved, and I miss the classic series something fierce (Mega Man 9 and 10 were a godsend to me). But I never really got a good idea of what Mega Man Universe was supposed to do. It had elements of user-created content to it, but was it going to be just Little Big Planet divided by Mega Man, or was it going to have a story element to it with new bosses and a nefarious new Wily Castle to attack? Was it going to include classic gameplay, but try to shake up the venerable formula at all? What other features would adding an online community bring?

I guess these questions are just academic now. Fans who hungrily waited for Universe will have to take solace in the coming release of Mega Man Legends 3 for the 3DS – if the Legends continuity can even be considered to be Mega Man.