Mega Man 11, A Glorious Return to Form
/I've been a fan of Mega Man games since the beginning. From the classic 8-bit side scrollers on the NES back in the day, growing up with the 32-bit version of both the original series and the X series, playing the spin-offs like the 3D Mega Man Legends games, and even the card based Battle Network and Star Force RPGs. The Blue Bomber and his many forms have been a part of my life throughout the years.
Despite Mega Man being a named mainstay in gaming history, one of the last notable entries in the franchise was Mega Man 10 way back in 2010. And with the cancellation of Mega Man Universe later that year followed by Legends 3 not long after, at the time it was unclear if we'd be getting a proper Mega Man game any time soon. Mighty No. 9 was the supposed spiritual successor but as we all know, things didn't turn out as we'd all hope. It wasn't until 2017 when Capcom finally announced the Blue Bomber's return with a proper sequel with Mega Man 11.
I'll admit, despite being overly ecstatic about a brand new mainline Mega Man game, I didn't grab this game the moment it came out. Life got in the way and there were still many other games in my backlog. I didn't want to know anything about the game outside of what I saw in the announcement trailer and tried my best to remain blind by avoiding reviews, videos, and discussions about it. Still, I was surprised that no one was really talking about the game when it finally came out. But like I said, trying to stay blind with regards to details about the game, I didn't look into it.
After putting it off for a little over 2 years, I finally got to play Mega Man 11. And I gotta say, it's everything that I've been looking for after all these years. Mega Man 9 and 10 brought the 8bit classic style back to the series. And while they were amazing games, I was still looking for that modern 2.5D transition that I expected the series to naturally evolve into.
Mega Man 11 looks incredible. It's by no means a graphical wonder, especially by today's standards, but the artistic approach that the designers took for this game hits the right notes. Keeping a sense of familiarity while also incorporating some modern aesthetics makes it feel like the series grew up a little along with you. Character redesigns look great, the new robot masters look amazing, and even the new enemy grunts are adorable.
Not only does the game look great but it also feels great. Anyone who has played the old Jump-n-Shoot Man games will feel right at home here. Everything feels just about how you'd remember it, save for maybe the sluggish ladder climbing but I digress. 11 keeps Mega Man's modern toolset of being able to slide and charge up his buster shots. New to the series is the Double Gear System which lets you either slow down time or power up your weapons. And when in a pinch, allows you to do both at the same time.
The Double Gear System is an extremely powerful tool that might make or break your experience. It's so strong to the point that it can trivialize certain scenarios and challenges when abused. I've had a few discussions with people that docked this game points for having the Double Gear because it made the game too easy at times. However, the game is designed well enough that, much like older Mega Man titles, it can be tackled in many different ways with or without relying on the Double Gear system. And can even be played to completion while ignoring the new mechanic entirely.
I'll also say upfront that Mega Man 11 is not an easy game. Veteran players will get a kick at how challenging the game can be and it'll surely beat the crap out of newcomers. Rogue robots, pitfalls, traps, and spikes litter the stages, ready to take away your 1-Ups if you aren't careful. Though I will admit that despite this game being wonderfully challenging, it's not nearly as hard as say Mega Man 9 or 10. The challenge of 11 feels more akin to one of the original NES titles where a lot of the traps don't feel cheap. Driving the sense that I failed because of a mistake that I made in the game.
A great inclusion that the developers incorporated is being able to select the game's difficulty. 9 and 10 also the option to select different difficulties but the last time I saw the modes having drastic differences in gameplay was in Mega Man Powered Up on the PSP. Wherein easier modes would change the levels to a point where spike traps would have covers over them and extra platforms would be present to make traversal easier.
I'm pleasantly surprised that the difficulty changes in 11 aren't as overt as they were in Powered Up and seem more as a means for the player the learn the game and get better at their own pace. Normal mode replicates the classic style, starting you off with the standard 2 1-Ups. Casual mode gives you 5 1-Ups instead of the usual 2 and gives you more checkpoints in stages. Incoming damage is reduced and weapon energy is refilled upon death. Newcomer mode grants you infinite lives, infinite pitfall saves, and infinite spike-resists, making it almost impossible to die. Newcomer also doesn't have a shot limit on your normal buster, letting you fire as many bullets as you want. Superhero mode offers the most challenge by not having any energy drops, increased damage to you, stage enemies have more health, and bosses take less damage and perform enhanced versions of their regular attacks. I recommend starting off on Normal mode for a truer Mega Man experience but don't be ashamed to switch to easier difficulties if you're not having fun.
When it comes to level design, stages are structured in a way that it introduces the hazard / gimmick to you in a controlled environment before actually putting you in any real danger. Or at the very least gives you enough time to internalize that it's an oncoming threat. I also noticed that if you bring a boss' weakness, their stage has sections where you can take advantage of bringing that weapon around. Such as these spider enemies in Acid Man's stage being in the perfect spot to get blocks dropped on them. Or this section in Impact Man's stage where these traffic cones shoot missiles at you and the perfect way to deal with them is having an Acid Barrier active. One of the bigger stage interactions that blew my mind was learning that Blast Man's bombs outright destroys those stone mazes in Block Man's stage.
11 does a few neat little things that you might not even notice the first time around. Remember how you can cut off Flame Mammoth's trunk in X1? Or when you ignore the Ride Armor, you notice that the enemy pilots would also be out of their Ride Armors later in the stage? Going back to those spider enemies in Acid Man's stage. Hitting the spiders with weak attacks will cause it to drop smaller spiders. Looking underneath the starting platform is some green liquid. If the small spiders fall into the green liquid, you'll see that they're not having a good time. This gives you a hint that the green liquid bad. Seeing the pool of liquid immediately after that being in a different color makes you wonder if it's dangerous or not. Then you see one of these slime throwing enemies spewing some goo that changes the color of the liquid. Observing it long enough, you internalize that as long as it isn't green, it's still safe.
Another little detail that may go unnoticed, again with the same spider enemy but this time in Torch Man's stage. At some point in the level, you'll run across this flame spouting mushroom dudes who look to heat up this metal platform that you're meant to cross. You'd assume that touching the heated panels would deal damage to you so naturally you'd jump over them. But if you weren't sure if they would actually hurt you, there's another similar section in the stage but this time with those spider bots. If the tiny spider bots get caught on the heated platform, bye bye tiny spider bots. It's just really cool seeing these little extra details that didn't need to be there.
As with any Mega Man game, the music needs to be killer. Mega Man 11 is no exception. While the songs aren't as immediately catchy compared to tracks from previous titles, what we got here is golden. Marika Suzuki composed some real bangers here. From the welcoming and hype inducing title theme, the almost familiar tune of the stage select theme, to my now current favorite Wily theme. The sound track is amazing and at least to me, hammers down the feeling that Blue Bomber has returned.
Despite all the positives I can throw at this game, it is lacking in certain aspects. Going off of Mega Man Powered Up, Mega Man 9, and Mega Man 10. I was really hoping that 11 would have some form of unlockable alternate character. Powered Up had alternate modes where you can play the entire game as each of the Robot Masters, granted that you defeated them beforehand using only the Buster. 9 and 10 had you play as Proto Man or Bass either as an unlock or via DLC. I was really hoping to see a playable Roll by the end of my Mega Man run.
I was also disappointed to learn that the Endless Attack mode from Mega Man 9 and 10 isn't a feature present in 11. It sort of exists in the form of Dr. Light's Trials which is fun in its own right. There are a few other challenges such as a boss rush and time attack modes. It's just a shame that certain features were omitted. The inclusion of a gallery mode is pretty cool. Here, you can view character models of everyone, even bosses and enemies. As well as read up on their lore and functions.
Mega Man 11 does so much so well that it's hard to fault. It's not the perfect game, by any means, but it's definitely become one of my new favorite entries in the franchise. It offers a great challenge to veteran players while being very accessible to new players. At a budget asking price of only $30 at launch for the standard version, this game is a steal.
If you're a fan of the classic jumpin' n' shootin' side scroller, you're doing yourself a disservice by missing out on this title. The Blue Bomber is back, better than ever. And I hope that this isn't the last we'll see of him. If I haven't made it clear yes, I love this game and urge everyone to give it a shot.
If you’d like to see my fresh first run through of the campaign on Normal mode, check out our playlist below.
The upcoming action adventure Stellar Blade comes out on April 26 and before launch it was updated with a new game plus patch, allowing players to carry over most of their progress and unlocks to a new playthrough, playing the game from the very beginning.