This is basically perfect—for what it is. And I love what it is. They’ve tried to make something that does some new things and looks modern while also keeping that classic Mega Man spirit. Charming art, silly characters, excellent music, constrained movement, and significant challenges that will eventually fall as you the stages become a part of your memory. Hard to imagine another game doing a better job of it.
However— division still reigns. Some people say the additions to the game make it too different and so it’s just “not really a Mega Man game”. Some people say it’s just more of the same old brew that we’ve seen too many times already: “it’s just another Mega Man”. Such is the fate of all sequels in these middle aged franchises to some extent.
But neither perspective really hits the mark here. It’s the same yes, but still different enough to be engaging again—if you like classically punishing things like Mega Man in the first place. The atmosphere is undeniably Mega Man. The graphics are 2.5d with nice cel-shaded 3d models. The style coheres with the cartoony style of the concept art and some cutscenes seen in earlier games—almost an updated Mega Man Legends aesthetic. The environments and backgrounds are clean and crisp—this keeps the action and platforming very legible. 2.5d is notorious for introducing some fuzziness into precision platforming since it’s often harder to discern the outline shapes of relevant models. Never felt that here. Platforming was just rock solid. And the cel shaded style with heavy outlines around the characters may be part of the reason it all works so well. The music is trying something new. Chip-tunes are replaced by electronica-esque tracks. This worked for the game overall, but some will miss the retro music.
Design-wise, the truly new twist on the classic Mega Man series is the double gear system. All great games have at least one gauge. When a gauge is added to a game, it makes a game at least twice as good (or bad) as it would have been without it. And this double gear is a very good gauge. You can use this gauge to do two things: either slow down time using the speed gear or power up your weapons with the power gear. This is an interesting trade-off. Use either power too much and the gauge fills up and the system overheats. Once it overheats, it’s out of commission until it cools off. One final aspect of the double gear system is the ace-in-the hole mechanic— when your health is critical you can go into a double gear mode where time is slowed down and your attacks are powered up and your gauge will unavoidably overheat.
The gear system allows the game to be both more accessible than ever before and, strangely, even more hardcore. Players can adjust the difficulty to suit them at will and on the fly. A screen way too wild to survive? You can always just slow things down and waltz through in slo-mo for a bit. It’s an excellent mechanic—whether you use it to play through or just learn the steps so you can go full speed later. Want to run through the game no gear? You can— provided your reflexes can handle the new intense speed. Want to speed run as fast as possible? Use the power gear to deal way more damage than you ever could before. Want to do (a to me unthinkable) no damage run? The gear system rewards you for even attempting it. There’s an item that turns you into a double gear driven glass canon. It sets your health at a critical level which gives you permanent access to the ace-in-the-hole power. It’s so impressive that the gear system opens up the game for newcomers, but also brings along new rewards and challenges for the perennial fans.
However— division still reigns. Some people say the additions to the game make it too different and so it’s just “not really a Mega Man game”. Some people say it’s just more of the same old brew that we’ve seen too many times already: “it’s just another Mega Man”. Such is the fate of all sequels in these middle aged franchises to some extent.
But neither perspective really hits the mark here. It’s the same yes, but still different enough to be engaging again—if you like classically punishing things like Mega Man in the first place. The atmosphere is undeniably Mega Man. The graphics are 2.5d with nice cel-shaded 3d models. The style coheres with the cartoony style of the concept art and some cutscenes seen in earlier games—almost an updated Mega Man Legends aesthetic. The environments and backgrounds are clean and crisp—this keeps the action and platforming very legible. 2.5d is notorious for introducing some fuzziness into precision platforming since it’s often harder to discern the outline shapes of relevant models. Never felt that here. Platforming was just rock solid. And the cel shaded style with heavy outlines around the characters may be part of the reason it all works so well. The music is trying something new. Chip-tunes are replaced by electronica-esque tracks. This worked for the game overall, but some will miss the retro music.
Design-wise, the truly new twist on the classic Mega Man series is the double gear system. All great games have at least one gauge. When a gauge is added to a game, it makes a game at least twice as good (or bad) as it would have been without it. And this double gear is a very good gauge. You can use this gauge to do two things: either slow down time using the speed gear or power up your weapons with the power gear. This is an interesting trade-off. Use either power too much and the gauge fills up and the system overheats. Once it overheats, it’s out of commission until it cools off. One final aspect of the double gear system is the ace-in-the hole mechanic— when your health is critical you can go into a double gear mode where time is slowed down and your attacks are powered up and your gauge will unavoidably overheat.
The gear system allows the game to be both more accessible than ever before and, strangely, even more hardcore. Players can adjust the difficulty to suit them at will and on the fly. A screen way too wild to survive? You can always just slow things down and waltz through in slo-mo for a bit. It’s an excellent mechanic—whether you use it to play through or just learn the steps so you can go full speed later. Want to run through the game no gear? You can— provided your reflexes can handle the new intense speed. Want to speed run as fast as possible? Use the power gear to deal way more damage than you ever could before. Want to do (a to me unthinkable) no damage run? The gear system rewards you for even attempting it. There’s an item that turns you into a double gear driven glass canon. It sets your health at a critical level which gives you permanent access to the ace-in-the-hole power. It’s so impressive that the gear system opens up the game for newcomers, but also brings along new rewards and challenges for the perennial fans.