Mega Man 11

It's been eight years since Capcom released a Mega Man game. Just as things were looking grim two major things happened. The first was that Mighty No. 9 turned out to be a colossal failure. The second was that near the end of 2017 Capcom finally announced Mega Man 11. This was met with celebration and, well, worry. Keiji Inafune was no longer going to be working on it (but after Mighty No. 9 would you want his team to be?), the art style was very different and what we saw back then was tiny. The demo came out, leaving a good impression, but worries still plagued fans. After all, if Mega Man 11 wasn't good that'd be it for the Blue Bomber, and very few gamers want that. Mega Man is one of the most recognizable gaming icons of all time. The drought of no Mega Man games was felt throughout the industry. While he made guest appearances in games such as Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS this was not the same as a full blown Mega Man game. The good news is Mega Man 11 is pretty good. It's everything I expected from a Mega Man game. It does play it relatively safe, however. There is no risk to the formula or design, but this is necessary because the goal needs to be to get Mega Man back on track. That being said, just because it plays it safe doesn't mean it has nothing to offer. The level designs are extremely good (with Block Man's stage being a near perfect tutorial on how to make use of the game's new Double Gear system) and the levels are fairly lengthy and challenging to keep you going. It makes the game inviting, but Mega Man hasn't lost its trademark difficulty. The game is hard. If the clever level designs don't stump you every now and then, some of the bosses will. The game introduces the double gear system. Using the shoulder buttons the player is able to activate either the power gear or the speed gear. The power gear makes your shots more powerful and the speed gear slows down enemies. You can only use each of these temporarily, because they'll over heat if you leave them active for too long. If this happens the double gear will will have to recharge before it can be used again. The game is perfectly designed so that you could make do without them, but it will push you to use these systems a lot. Some enemies are easier to dispatch with the speed gear, and most boss fights are made easier with the power gear. It seems gimmicky at first and upon first playing the game you'll often forget you have them, but once you settle in you'll find yourself using these systems more and more as you encounter hazards in levels that will encourage you to do so. There's another added benefit of the double gear system. When critically low on health you can press both shoulders at the same time to activate both the speed gear and power gear simultaneously. It's mostly a last ditch effort when low on health, and you can't actually turn this off, meaning your double gear will have to recharge without fail after its use, but it can help you out in a moment of desperation. It's the little things that make Mega Man 11 really good, though. For instance, when you acquire Robot Masters's weapons now, Mega Man doesn't just change color, but outfits. This is aesthetically pleasing. Also, you can use the shoulder button to switch weapons or you can use right analog stick to simply bring up a roulette wheel and select weapons that way. Changing between weapons in a Mega Man game has never been this easy or effective. The levels are also designed to encourage you to use these weapons outside of the boss fights where they're most effective. Not every weapon is great but they are creative, at least. The voice acting is surprisingly good. For fans of previous games in the series the voice acting has been laughably bad (especially Mega Man 8), but here they sound really good and well delivered. I wish I could say the same for the music. It's not bad, it just doesn't always feel like Mega Man music. A lot of it has this techno and electronica vibe. It's competent but there's nothing here that sticks out as well Wily's Fortress in Mega Man 2, the entirety of Mega Man 9's soundtrack or anything even coming close to some of the tracks you've heard in other Mega Man games. The music overall can be relaxing but you're not likely to find them sticking too firmly in your mind when all is said and done. The art style, though, is certainly a treat. It's a little different, but it works. The game is fairly bright and colorful, but this is to be expected from the classic Mega Man series. The games were known for being more lighthearted than the X or Zero series, so the art style feels appropriate. Most the stage backgrounds are also rather nice, as are some of the enemy designs. There are a lot of familiar classic enemies as well as new ones. Mega Man 11 isn't perfect. It isn't a severely flawed game, but some of its flaws can really stand out. For the most part the level design is really good. There are many moments that encourage players to use the double gear system and the levels are lengthy enough that they can keep you busy. The difficulty of some levels, however, is definitely going to get to some players. For the most part any screw ups are your own, but there's a lot of trial and error in learning some of the levels, and even worse is that Mega Man 11 has a limited life count. If you get a game over it's back to the beginning of a level for you. The levels put up a great challenge, but their length and (in some levels) hazards can make starting the entire thing over again feel like a test in frustration. Even Mega Man veterans will have to slow down and really take time to learn these levels. LIkewise, while many of the levels are incredibly well designed such as Block Man's stage (which makes a great tutorial for the double gear system) or Tundra Man's stage, this just makes it more obvious when level design falls short of expectations. Bounce Man's stage may be the single most frustrating stage to appear in a classic Mega Man game, and the flame wall in Torch Man's stage is more frustrating than challenging. As you can imagine, Mega Man 11 isn't a very long game. It adheres to a classic formula that relies on the player having to really learn a level to get passed it, and designing them well enough that you're encouraged to replay the game. To give you some incentive to revisit levels you can also engage in challenges. Some are standard fare, such as engaging in time trial modes. Other modes are more unique than that. One type of challenge, for example, is getting through a level with a limited number of jumps. It's nice to have the challenges, but you're not as likely to spend time with them. On the other hand, some levels are designed well enough that they warrant a replay just for the sheer fun factor. Mega Man 11 also features a New Game+ and multiple difficulty settings for players hoping to really test their skills. I've found the game is worth replaying again, even some of its more frustrating moments. Mega Man 11 is an exciting return to form. It may not try anything especially risky, but it's often a fun game to play, that can give you a good challenge if that's what you're seeking. This is a fitting return for the blue bomber and let's hope this opens to door to many more Mega Man games in the future.