Mega Man 11

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

.

Review:

Mega Man 11 is an Action-Platformer that’s the latest in the long-running series that has changed a lot over the years, but has generally stuck with the same formula: You are a peacekeeping robot out to take on eight various enemy robots (selecting from four at a time in Mega Man 7 and 8), each with their own elemental theme and thematically-appropriate stage to traverse before you can reach them. Upon defeating one of them, you’ll get a version of their weapon that you can swap to, with a large part of the strategy of these games being learning which order to play the game’s stages, since each robot is weak to one of the others’ weapons. Upon defeating them, you’ll challenge a final gauntlet of difficult stages and bosses before taking on the mastermind behind the threat (usually the nefarious Dr. Wily).

The Mega Man series has gone through multiple “phases” over its lifetime. There was the “classic” phase, which I would say encompasses Mega Man 1-4, with some of the best and definitely the most iconic games in the series. There was the “samey” phase, encompassing Mega Man 5-6, where people started feeling like these games were running out of ideas and becoming repetitive. There was the “post-NES” phase, encompassing Mega Man 7-8, when Capcom was trying to figure out what the series would become after the apathy people had for recent entries and with the new power afforded by newer platforms. Then there was the “retro” phase, encompassing Mega Man 9-10, with games that were very intentional throwbacks to the NES days, and did a good job of imitating those early successes without ever quite reaching them.

Given the modest success of the games in the “retro” phase, I suspected that Mega Man 11 would follow suit, and was actually very surprised to find that is very much not the case – Mega Man 11 is a game that actually makes full use of modern console hardware in very reserved and clever ways that build on the series’ gameplay and actually expands on it in some interesting ways while giving the game the most beautiful presentation the series has ever had.

While Mega Man 11 is completely a 2D game like the series has always been, it makes use of modern 3D graphics to deliver a wonderful, colorful, absolutely beautiful presentation that makes the game’s cartoony world absolutely come to life, with fantastic animation. This is paired with a electronica soundtrack that, while not anywhere near as memorable as the early classics, is still quite good, and I would argue the best non-chiptune soundtrack the series has ever had.

As for the gameplay, this game thankfully brings back the slide and Mega Buster after they were stripped out of the last few games, and doesn’t make any glaring mistakes like restricting which stages players can choose or bogging the game down with too much dialogue. However, it also doesn’t make the mistake of delivering gameplay that’s too samey and doesn’t have a personality of its own – there’s a lot of really clever design here, both in the game’s levels and enemies, as well as its game systems.

Probably the biggest addition here is the “double gear” system, which enables players to briefly slow down time or boost their power, but the risk of overload this brings gives the game a big risk-reward factor, making judging when to use it and when to hold off a core component of the game’s strategy. In fact, some of the game’s higher challenge levels will absolutely require a skilled hand at using this system.

The result of all of this is a game that feels like one of the most deftly calculated advances the series has ever had – the gameplay feels like it has actually moved forward in a positive way for the first time in ages, although I wouldn’t say this game quite achieves the classic status of Mega Man 2-4 – like I said, this game doesn’t have the memorable music of the earlier games, and it doesn’t have anything quite as iconic as those games either. The challenge level is also a bit on the high side, though thankfully you have multiple challenge levels to choose from. Still, it is an absolute breath of fresh air for a series that has been treading water for far, far, far too long.

Mega Man 11 is, quite simply, the best thing that has happened to the series since its peak during the NES era. Where Mega Man 9 and 10 addressed the series’ lack of direction by diving headfirst into nostalgia, Mega Man 11 makes a smart, skilled stab at bringing the series forward in a way that actually makes it relevant again in a modern era. Former fans of the series who long ago lost interest should definitely give this one a look, and fans of Action-Platformers who never got into the Mega Man series now have the perfect excuse to give it a try.

tl;dr – Mega Man 11 is an Action-Platformer that eschews the nostalgia-driven presentation and gameplay of the ninth and tenth installments and actually makes a top-notch effort to push the series forward for the first time in ages. The result is a breath of fresh air for the series, and a game that absolutely demands to be played by fans of the genre, even those who gave up on the Mega Man series long ago – for the first time in ages, Mega Man feels fresh and new again, and it’s wonderful.

Grade: A-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}