Capcom recently treated fans of the blue bomber to the fresh, new look of Mega Man 11 on October 2 for the series’ thirtieth anniversary. We previously touched on the anticipation, voice acting, and graphical upgrades back in June. The decades old 2D platform shooter has a few new features that were added such as the Double Gear system. Changes or adjustments to the classic game style of Mega Man have not received the best accolades in recent years, but this title’s slightly “refreshed” look and new content has been accepted by fans of the franchise so far.
Even though several of the bosses may resemble older fire-themed foes and the format stays with the typical eight-boss layout, Capcom has lengthened the stages and upped their difficulty thanks to the new features. The Double Gear system gives our blue hero heightened speed and power, along with a slow-time ability that makes players address stage obstacles and enemies like never before. Players start the game with this system and must watch its usage so not to overheat the ability. As with previous Mega Man games, players will have to figure out the best order to take down the bosses so that their powers can be utilized for future fights. Standing victorious over bosses no longer just hands you a power and changes Mega Man’s clothing color, instead the hero acquires a completely new outfit or look when changing between powers.
This title also brings the choice of stage difficulty and Time Attack challenges. These challenges can range from the speed a player completes a level or how many enemies are defeated based on points. Players’ best scores are compared with each other on a ranking scoreboard for constant competition. Along with attempting to be and beat the best, a grind of sorts is added to Mega Man 11 for the chance to acquire items to craft into something useful in Dr. Light’s Lab.
Mega Man 11 is now available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and on Steam for PC. Players can also download the demo that highlights the Block Man stage.
Photo by Raymond Flotat at Comic Con featuring Mega Man producers Kazuhiro Tsuchiya and Daizo Nonaka