History of Mega Man series:
It was all started in year 1987 where Capcom has released their title for NES which is Mega Man, a 2D action-platform game where you get to play as the humanoid robot named Mega Man to take down the mad-scientist Dr.Wily and the six Robot Masters, so you get to choose the order in which to complete these six stages before reaching to Dr. Wily whereabouts.
At the initial release of the game, it received positively for its overall design due to non-linear gameplay style, unique 8-bit graphics, and epic boss battle against robot masters, but it wasn't a commercial success at worldwide which was blamed for its poorly designed game cover at US release.
Capcom went working on sequel called Mega Man 2 for NES which was released year after the first title. The game was massive improvement over the first title for its memorable soundtrack, colourful visuals and has better gameplay overall including password features and new item as it became the bestselling game of Mega Man franchise has sold over 1.5 million units worldwide and listed as being the greatest game of all-time had led the franchise into success.
The popularly of Mega Man franchise had spawned with numerous of sequels for main series, the sub-series such as Mega Man X, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man: Battle Network, Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX, it also shares many of the spin-offs, remakes, compilations, comics, and TV series.
We all know the Blue Bomber himself Mega Man are considered to be one of the Capcom's most recognisable icons of video game industries. He also appeared on several of different game such as Marvel vs Capcom, Project X Zone, Street Fighter X Tekken, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate as playable characters.
So moving on to the review.
Megaman 11 PS4 Review:
Megaman 11 is a Action-Platform game for PS4, XBONE, Switch, and PC. It was developed and published by Capcom and it is a sequel to 2010's title Mega Man 10.
It's been for 8 years since we been waiting to see another Blue Bomber title from Capcom, but we all know some of the titles such as Mega Man Universe and Mega Man Legends 3 got officially cancelled which was the reason why Kenji Inafune had left the company to work on his kickstarter indie title called Mighty No.9 which had received poorly reception at the launch release meaning that the game doesn't have a same faith as the beloved Mega Man series were known for its challenging boss battles, hazardous level design, and innovative special weapons which Mighty No.9 couldn't able to do a same attempt in comparison with Capcom's Blue Bomber.
I'm very glad that Capcom had finally open their ears to the Mega Man's fanbase to bring back the franchise from dead as they bought out their 11th title of the main series which is Mega Man 11 had finally come to PCs and Console platforms as this game had finally puts Mighty No.9 to the shame.
I had a chance to play Mega Man 11 on my PS4 and I've played it for a week to see how the game going...the answer is....this is the game I'm been looking forward to play because I really liked the game overall for its 2.5D graphic style which is lot different from previous installiment that uses 8-bit style graphics, it also retains a original gameplay elements of the classic Mega Man titles to make it more faithful to the franchise, and it still has the best sub-bosses battle of all Mega Man series which is the reason why this game is still fun to play on your modern system.
The fan of the series will also enjoy the game with challenge mode which has Time Trials and other Missions will put you in the test with each challenging stages.
So without go further do, lets start the review.
Presentation
The intro starts out with the flashback of Dr Thomas Light and Dr Albert Wily as a students at Robot University where they start working on the research of robot technology. Due to Dr. Light made a disagreement with Dr. Wily's new prototype Double Gear System which could led risking to harm robots, Dr. Wily had left the Robot University as he swears one day to prove Dr Light wrong.
In the current story where Dr. Light and his crew Mega Man, Roll, Auto and eight Robot Masters are working on the maintenance lab, until Dr. Wily shows up with his dirty plans by capturing all Robot Masters and escapes from lab. Dr. Light had installed the prototype Double Gear System on Mega Man which gives him ability to use speed and power gear.
Mega Man began to set his mission to take down the eight Robot Masters and stop Dr. Wily once for all.
So far the story in the game is quite easy to follow as the story did add up the backstory behind two scientists been working together in Robot University until the fallout happens between Dr. Light and Dr. Wily had started to make arguments regarding their research on robots technology. You could really tell that Dr. Light was trying to prevent Dr. Wily from using his dangerous prototype that could put robots into danger which really made Dr. Wily so furious as he storms off from Robot University. This storyline really explains how selfish Dr. Wily is which was the main reason why Dr. Wily always failed his plans in whole Mega Man series, so it makes the story development very unique and interesting that really adds up to the series.
We know Mega Man is a great video game character shared with his cool personality and his classy appearances, while I find most of the Robot Masters in the game are actually just as good as the previous sub-bosses from older Mega Man title, so you have Bounce Man, Block Man, Fuse Man, Thundra Man and others featured in the game as sub-bosses. The supportive characters such as Dr. Light is kinda look like Santa Claus dressed up as a scientist that he encourages Mega Man to stop Dr. Wily's dangerous plan, while Roll and Auto are mostly spent time working in the labs during maintenance as you normally see them on cutscenes and item shop.
I got to say Dr. Wily is sorta like a insane version of Albert Einstein as a villain that really never learned a lesson from his past because he always causing trouble against Mega Man in the whole series which is the reason why I liked him as a great video game villains.
As you start beginning the game, you will have classic-style stage menus that has Mega Man on the middle screen staring at the Robot Masters everytime you highlight these sub-bosses screens.
I really liked the stage presentation for its overall design such as Block Man has Ancient style scenery, Acid Man has lab style settings, Impact Man has construction site, Bounce Man has playground area, and Fuse Man has nuclear power station which made the level design look very appealing in the game.
Overall, It has straightforward storyline, memorable cast of characters, and great stage presentation.
Gameplay
In single player mode there are 4 difficulty options to select from easy to super hard depending on what difficulty suits your play skills and then you will select any of these stages as your aim is to defeat all the robot masters in order to reach at the Dr. Wily whereabouts. You take control of Mega Man being played in 2D perspective to beat the stage by reaching to the sub-bosses battle.
You have a buster as a main weapon which was used for shooting down these minions while holding down the shoot button will charging up the buster which allows you to shoot with the big blast for massive damage. The game introduces the double gear system such as speed gear which help slows down time allowing Mega Man to dodge the enemy's projectiles and hazards objects faster, while power gear increases his attack power for heavy shooting damage on enemy which really benefits the play style in the game, but it can also easily overheat when using them too much, so it will automatically take time to cool down these gear system till it's ready to use. Another cool stuff when using the double gear is when your health is low you will able to perform the powerful charge shot when activating both gears at the same time at once which also weakens Mega Man, so use it carefully.
I find the double gear system seems to be very interesting in the game which did really adds up the newer gameplay elements that allows to slow down time and making powerful attacks on enemies is pretty good in the game. You can also retain special weapons after beating the sub-bosses which these special weapons works very effectively on some sub-bosses depending what their weaknesses is as some of the special weapons are really good in the game are bounce ball that shoots multiple of balls bouncing around the levels, the thundra storm shoots with tornado vertically, the block dropper that shoots with the falling blocks on enemies, the pile driver allows you to perform launch forward attack, the blazing touch shoots with huge flames, the acid barrier uses as shields while shooting with green slimy stuff, the scramble thunder shoots with round electric that moves around, and lastly the chain blast is a detonator where you can shoot and detonate the enemies which I finding these special weapons is very useful for not just sub-bosses, but also kills the minions quicker.
Rush is a helpful robotic dog that can transform into two forms such as jet that lets you pass the level, while coil allows you to jump higher which is very handy if you really need a assistance help in the game.
At the stage selection menu, there are item shop where you can able to purchase those useful items such as energy tank that increases your health, while weapon tank can increase your limited ammo of special weapons. The mystery tank also increases both health and ammo, but also transforms into 1-up, so these are the tanks that you really wanted to use it during the in-game action. The variety of parts that lets you upgrade your ability such as awakener chip, buster plus chip, cooling system, power shield, and plenty more which can be unlocked by some of the requirements you’ll need to meet before you can purchase them. It is nice to have an upgradable parts that really makes you stronger, but I finding these upgradable parts are quite two overpowered which makes the game easier to beat quickly, so if you really prefer to play the game more harder then you can always turn off these abilities by unequipping all of these parts that you don't really need to have it on all of time.
I got to say that the platforming aspects in the game are just quite as good as the earlier Mega Man games regarding with the level design and difficulty choices are the main highlights of the game.
As you can see some of the levels are filled with hazards and minions that makes the platforming segments much challenging as you try to avoid all of enemy's projectiles that trying to damage you, the deadly spikes can instantly kills you in one hit death, and some of the areas with empty bottom layouts can lead you to fall off the stages. There are some variety of stages that has different kinds of hazardous objects such as laser beam in Fuse Man stage, the impact brothers can launch attack you in Impact Man stage, the colourful balls in the whole level can bounce you around in Bounce Man stage, the acid minions can turn pool into acids in Acid Man stage, and trying to evade the deadly flames in Torch Man stage is what making the level so great that really adds up the fun factor of the game itself.
The boss battle in the game are also pretty amazing is really showing what Mega Man series were being known in the game. It is good to memorising the patterns which really helps the player where you need to dodge and then attack on the bosses is what makes the game so much fun to play.
I find the game is super short which only takes about 1 or 2 hours to beat, but the good thing is that you can always play again which has 4 difficulty settings which adds up small replay values and it is also included challenge mode which has 9 modes to play such as time attack, score attack, boss rush, jump saver and all others where you need to complete the task by beating the stage will earn you the medals which I find these challenge mode quite fun to play.
Overall, it has great platforming levels, unique weapons, and epic boss battles.
Graphics
I got to say the graphics in the game is surprisingly amazing for its character's models that are more cartoonish and detailed in both cutscenes and in-game action. I liked the lip-syncing part in the cutscene while they start making conversation between the characters. The character's animation is quite super smooth for both facial features and body language that really adds up their personality as it made use of 3D polygonal characters.
The stage design is looking spectacular with amazing backgrounds area, great use of textures and has cool looking special effects for the use of lighting and explosion as I really liked the hand-drawn environments that made the game look more fresh and new to the series.
It does look very different from the previous game that uses the 8-bit pixel style, but this graphics is looking very impressive with more cartoonish style that fits well for the Mega Man universe.
Overall, it has amazing character's models, smooth animation, great stage design, and cool special effects.
Music and Sounds
The original soundtrack in whole game is sounds pretty fantastic. The video game composer did a fabulous job of making really catchy upbeat music in both menus and levels such as most of the Robot Masters stage, main menus, stage select and shop menus are definitely sounds like a Mega Man at all, while the sounds effects are quite acceptable for most part such as destructible sounds, atmospheric effects, and background noises.
The voice casting for the character is pretty okay at most part, but not as good doesn't mean its a bad thing as long as it can get their voice right it should be.
Overall, it has fantastic soundtrack and acceptable sound effects and voices.
Special Features
The game has extra modes which has challenge modes, gallery, and online leaderboards, but it would have been nice to add newer things like more playable characters, stages and bosses if they had a chance to bring a brand new DLC in the future, but so far its all pretty good. The trophy achievements are also featured in the game which keeps you busy to collect all of achievable goals.
Overall, it has extra modes and trophy achievements.
Advantages
Great presentation
Fun gameplay
Epic boss battles
Amazing graphics design
Fantastic soundtrack
Cool extra modes
Disadvantages
Overpowered upgradable parts makes the game too easy
Short length single player mode
Final Verdict
Presentation 8/10 - Straightforward storyline, memorable cast of characters, and great stage presentation.
Gameplay 8.5/10 - Great platforming levels, unique weapons, and epic boss battles.
Graphics 8.5/10 - Amazing character's models, smooth animation, great stage design, and cool special effects.
Music and Sounds 8/10 - Fantastic soundtrack and acceptable sound effects and voices.
Special Features 8/10 - Extra modes and trophy achievements.
Overall 8.5/10 - Mega Man 11 is a great title that brings the Blue Bomber a huge comeback to the series since 2010's Mega Man 10.
This game finally proves that Capcom had made a promise for fans to bring a series back again with entirely fresh and new sequel which offers well designed levels for platforming aspects, newer gameplay mechanics including weapons and abilities, and entertaining boss fights are the biggest highlights of the game.
The fans of the series will appreciate with this title are worth for picking up from the stores, so I'm happy with this game had turned out so fantastic by Capcom themselves and I will definitely look forward to see newer future DLCs for this game with more levels and bosses or maybe for another future sequel.
That being said, this game totally kicks ass that deserves a seal of approval.
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