Mega Man 11 is an action-platform game developed and published by Capcom. The game is an entry in the original Mega Man series, and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in October 2018. The game brings back several features such as voice acting and a 2.5D graphic style from previous games throughout the Mega Man franchise.
Gameplay:
Mega Man 11 retains the gameplay style of the classic Mega Man series of games, and features a 2.5D graphics style with 3D polygonal characters and 2D environments. Players control Mega Man in an attempt to stop Dr. Wily from using the Double Gear system that he invented many years before when he was at Robot University. Players travel through eight linear stages, which can be chosen in any way the player sees fit, and have to face Doctor Wily's newest Robot Masters, including Block Man, Fuse Man, Blast Man, Acid Man, Tundra Man, Torch Man, Impact Man, and Bounce Man.
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| Get Equipped. |
Mega Man can perform classic moves such as the chargeable Mega Buster and slide, as well as obtain new weapons by defeating Robot Master bosses at the end of each level. Unique to this game is the Double Gear system, which grants Mega Man two additional abilities: the Speed Gear and Power Gear. The Speed Gear lets Mega Man slow down time, allowing him to dodge attacks, while the Power Gear increases the attack power of Mega Man's weaponry; both of these will overheat if Mega Man uses them too much. When Mega Man's health is critically low, he can activate both gears to perform a powerful charge shot which can only be used once and leaves Mega Man weakened afterward.
The game has additional features including Time Trials, Missions, Global Leaderboards, a character gallery and more. The game also features difficulty settings, last seen in Mega Man 10, expanding upon them for a total of four: Newcomer, Casual, Normal, and Superhero. The Nintendo Switch version has Amiibo support, which can be used to unlock in-game items.
The story begins with a flashback of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily when they were students at Robot University at the exact moment they had their falling out. The committee is debating over choosing either Light's research of robots with independent thoughts or Wily's Double Gear system to continue work on. Despite Wily telling Light that they can't build the future on his so-called empty optimism, Light's research was chosen over Wily's because the Double Gear system puts an incredible strain on the robots that use it and could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Angry at being pushed aside and shut down, Wily destroys his prototype Double Gear and swears to Light that one day he will show the world he was right all along.
After the flashback ends, the scene cuts to Wily waking up from a nightmare (presumably the flashback) and suddenly remembers the Double Gear System. He immediately puts his plan into action, swearing revenge on Light.
Meanwhile, at his lab, Dr. Light, Roll, and Auto are checking up on 8 latest generation models of Robot Masters (Block Man, Acid Man, Impact Man, Bounce Man, Fuse Man, Tundra Man, Torch Man, and Blast Man) for maintenance. Just as they finish with Block Man, Wily barges into the lab in his Wily Capsule and tells Light that he has perfected the Double Gear system. Just then sweeping up off-screen, Mega Man rushes in to try to stop Wily, when at that moment the Robot Masters show up and Wily decides to use them as test subjects. Before they can escape, Wily uses the Speed Gear mode of his Double Gear to speed up the capsule and snatch the Robot Masters via tractor beam. Mega Man demands Wily to release them, but he takes them to his Fortress to have them reprogrammed and fitted with his upgraded Double Gear Systems.
Just as Mega Man tries to leave to stop Wily, Light stops him and explains what the Double Gear System is and what it's capable of. He then warns Mega Man that if Wily really has perfected it, the latter won't stand a chance, but Mega Man responds, still refusing to let Wily get away. Realizing that Mega Man won't be stopped, Light reveals that he kept and repaired the prototype Double Gear System that Wily used to own. After briefly warning Mega Man of its potential danger (with Mega Man accepting the risk), Light installs the Double Gear into Mega Man after several days so he can stand a chance against Wily's new army.
After defeating 4 Robot Masters, Light explains to Mega Man that the Double Gear system was partly responsible for him and Wily falling out. Light believed that if robots were given the power to think for themselves, they could be true partners with humans. Wily, however, stated that even robots who think independently would be mere tools to humans, but by giving them power and speed boosts, then humans would finally respect robots for what they are and any robot could be a hero with the Double Gear System installed. However, when the committee chose Light over Wily, the latter stormed off never forgiving his old friend for not even giving him a chance.
Back in the present, Light ponders about his decisions back then, and muses if he had shown him there was a way to work together instead of telling him that he was wrong, they might still have been friends. He even admits that the Double Gear System can be used for good if used properly, and then gives Mega Man the Rush Jet modification for Rush (Mega Man's robotic pet dog) with Mega Man then setting off to defeat the remaining Robot Masters.
After defeating all 8 Robot Masters, Auto attempts to locate Wily. At first, it seemed as if Wily disappeared, when suddenly the lab's signal was intercepted, and Wily himself appeared on the screen. Angered that Mega Man defeated the Robot Masters and was using his Double Gear System, Wily beckons Mega Man to come to his Gear Fortress so he can deal with him on his own. Mega Man heads out to stop Wily.
After traversing the fortress, Mega Man confronts Wily in his new Wily Machine and the two battle. In the end, Mega Man is victorious, causing Wily to resort to "Plan B", which was simply to kneel and beg for mercy. The "plan" fails when Mega Man doesn't fall for it, but Wily then mocks him, believing his loss wasn't caused by Mega Man, but rather the Double Gear System, which was his own technology, proclaiming himself as the better genius. Suddenly, Light walks in. Light asks Wily to look at Mega Man and explains that Mega Man holds tremendous power, but is intelligent enough to use it wisely; in a way, he is Light and Wily's ideas combined. Light asks Wily to atone for his crimes and be friends with him again, as before, so they could make other amazing ideas become reality, just like Mega Man. Wily refuses, stating his plans have only begun, and then escapes. Light fears he and Wily may never be able to work together again. As the fortress begins to collapse, Auto arrives, telling Light he had finished doing what he asked of him. With that, the three of them escape the collapsing fortress.
Back at the lab, it's revealed that Light and Auto were at the Gear Fortress to find parts in order to rebuild the Robot Masters. Auto uses Mega Man's Double Gear System to carry the Robot Masters to the repair room, so they can be sent back to their owners.
First off, let's hear a better explanation of the Double Gear System from PlayStation:
Speaking of difficulty, I have to say that I didn't appreciate the random spikes in difficulty throughout the game. Some levels would be brain-dead easy while others will throw a frustrating platforming section with that ONE hidden enemy to stun-lock/hit-stun you just long enough to make Mega Man fall to his demise. You can buy anti-spike shields and Beat rescue tools from Dr. Light's Lab prior to any and all stages, but you only have a limited use to those items before you have to replenish your stock. All of those items along with some other useful skills can be purchased from Dr. Light's Lab from bolts that are dropped from various enemies upon defeat. You can easily "farm" these over and over on respawning enemies by refreshing scrolling screens (NES era style) back and forth at your leisure. That was pretty cool to see that technique was still alive and well in modern era gaming. If the game is "too hard", you have the option of lowering the difficulty too as this title supports multiple difficulty settings in the same vein as Mega Man 10.
If you want an added challenge after clearing Normal difficulty, you can up the stakes on Superhero difficulty where the damage values don't change. Bosses have new augmented abilities and patterns that make them tougher, and items like E-Tanks (which refill your health) and extra lives that usually litter stages are gone. Enemies also stop dropping items that refill your health and ammo.
Even though it was expected for a Mega Man game (especially one based off the classic series), this was a pretty short game. There's only 8 stages (for the usual Robot Master formula) then the four Dr. Wily stages to conclude the game. If I had purchased this game at launch for the full price of $29.99 that Capcom was initially asking for this, I would have been royally pissed off. Instead, I waited a few months down the road and picked this up for less than $10.
If you're a Mega Man fan itching for a revival/continuation of the series, then this is going to be a no-brainer to play through at least once. For me personally, I wasn't a fan of the massive difficulty spikes at times across the various stages along with the slog through most lengthy stages from a point of death to the nearest checkpoint. I understand Capcom wanted to replicate the difficulty of NES era gaming in that vein, but I wasn't a fan of it when Capcom released that early gameplay demo prior to the title's release and I'm still not a fan of it here either.
The game has additional features including Time Trials, Missions, Global Leaderboards, a character gallery and more. The game also features difficulty settings, last seen in Mega Man 10, expanding upon them for a total of four: Newcomer, Casual, Normal, and Superhero. The Nintendo Switch version has Amiibo support, which can be used to unlock in-game items.
Plot:
The story begins with a flashback of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily when they were students at Robot University at the exact moment they had their falling out. The committee is debating over choosing either Light's research of robots with independent thoughts or Wily's Double Gear system to continue work on. Despite Wily telling Light that they can't build the future on his so-called empty optimism, Light's research was chosen over Wily's because the Double Gear system puts an incredible strain on the robots that use it and could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Angry at being pushed aside and shut down, Wily destroys his prototype Double Gear and swears to Light that one day he will show the world he was right all along.
After the flashback ends, the scene cuts to Wily waking up from a nightmare (presumably the flashback) and suddenly remembers the Double Gear System. He immediately puts his plan into action, swearing revenge on Light.
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| The eight new Robot Masters under Dr. Wily's control that Mega Man has to take down. I humbly suggest starting with Block Man and going from there. |
Meanwhile, at his lab, Dr. Light, Roll, and Auto are checking up on 8 latest generation models of Robot Masters (Block Man, Acid Man, Impact Man, Bounce Man, Fuse Man, Tundra Man, Torch Man, and Blast Man) for maintenance. Just as they finish with Block Man, Wily barges into the lab in his Wily Capsule and tells Light that he has perfected the Double Gear system. Just then sweeping up off-screen, Mega Man rushes in to try to stop Wily, when at that moment the Robot Masters show up and Wily decides to use them as test subjects. Before they can escape, Wily uses the Speed Gear mode of his Double Gear to speed up the capsule and snatch the Robot Masters via tractor beam. Mega Man demands Wily to release them, but he takes them to his Fortress to have them reprogrammed and fitted with his upgraded Double Gear Systems.
Just as Mega Man tries to leave to stop Wily, Light stops him and explains what the Double Gear System is and what it's capable of. He then warns Mega Man that if Wily really has perfected it, the latter won't stand a chance, but Mega Man responds, still refusing to let Wily get away. Realizing that Mega Man won't be stopped, Light reveals that he kept and repaired the prototype Double Gear System that Wily used to own. After briefly warning Mega Man of its potential danger (with Mega Man accepting the risk), Light installs the Double Gear into Mega Man after several days so he can stand a chance against Wily's new army.
After defeating 4 Robot Masters, Light explains to Mega Man that the Double Gear system was partly responsible for him and Wily falling out. Light believed that if robots were given the power to think for themselves, they could be true partners with humans. Wily, however, stated that even robots who think independently would be mere tools to humans, but by giving them power and speed boosts, then humans would finally respect robots for what they are and any robot could be a hero with the Double Gear System installed. However, when the committee chose Light over Wily, the latter stormed off never forgiving his old friend for not even giving him a chance.
Back in the present, Light ponders about his decisions back then, and muses if he had shown him there was a way to work together instead of telling him that he was wrong, they might still have been friends. He even admits that the Double Gear System can be used for good if used properly, and then gives Mega Man the Rush Jet modification for Rush (Mega Man's robotic pet dog) with Mega Man then setting off to defeat the remaining Robot Masters.
After defeating all 8 Robot Masters, Auto attempts to locate Wily. At first, it seemed as if Wily disappeared, when suddenly the lab's signal was intercepted, and Wily himself appeared on the screen. Angered that Mega Man defeated the Robot Masters and was using his Double Gear System, Wily beckons Mega Man to come to his Gear Fortress so he can deal with him on his own. Mega Man heads out to stop Wily.
After traversing the fortress, Mega Man confronts Wily in his new Wily Machine and the two battle. In the end, Mega Man is victorious, causing Wily to resort to "Plan B", which was simply to kneel and beg for mercy. The "plan" fails when Mega Man doesn't fall for it, but Wily then mocks him, believing his loss wasn't caused by Mega Man, but rather the Double Gear System, which was his own technology, proclaiming himself as the better genius. Suddenly, Light walks in. Light asks Wily to look at Mega Man and explains that Mega Man holds tremendous power, but is intelligent enough to use it wisely; in a way, he is Light and Wily's ideas combined. Light asks Wily to atone for his crimes and be friends with him again, as before, so they could make other amazing ideas become reality, just like Mega Man. Wily refuses, stating his plans have only begun, and then escapes. Light fears he and Wily may never be able to work together again. As the fortress begins to collapse, Auto arrives, telling Light he had finished doing what he asked of him. With that, the three of them escape the collapsing fortress.
Back at the lab, it's revealed that Light and Auto were at the Gear Fortress to find parts in order to rebuild the Robot Masters. Auto uses Mega Man's Double Gear System to carry the Robot Masters to the repair room, so they can be sent back to their owners.
The Verdict:
First off, let's hear a better explanation of the Double Gear System from PlayStation:
The Blue Bomber’s new Double Gear System offers players several options for how they approach the variety of stages in Mega Man 11.
- Speed Gear – Toggling this ability enhances Mega Man’s speed, making him move so fast that it appears as if the world around him has slowed down. In essence, it slows time so that players can better dodge falling blocks, battle quick enemies, and more.
- Power Gear – This Gear powers up Mega Man’s arm cannon, enabling rapid-fire shots and a double-charge shot blast for huge damage. It also powers up boss weapons, which we’ll cover in a minute. It’s great for battles against the spikey mid-boss in Block Man’s stage and for taking down the Robot Master himself.
- Be careful about overusing either Gear, as the Double Gear System can overheat and you’ll have to wait for it to cool down before you can use it again.
- Double Gear Technique – Try pressing R1 + L1 (alternatively RB and LB on Xbox) at the same time when Mega Man’s health is critically low to unleash the Blue Bomber’s hidden power. Mega Man will trigger the Power and Speed Gears simultaneously, giving him a heavy advantage in combat.
With that out of the way, I'm just going to say right off the bat that even after finishing the game, I don't feel like the Double Gear System was necessary. This game would have been just fine without it in any shape or form. The only thing it does is both minimize some margins for error in some of the more frustrating platforming sections and avoiding swift enemy attacks with the Speed Gear while absolutely decimating most of the mini-bosses and Robot Masters (given you have their particular weapon that they are weakest against) with the Power Gear. There was a point where I felt that the Power Gear was almost broken to an extent to the point where it was comical how trivial that they made most of the encounters against the Robot Masters in this game. Navigating throughout their various stages were more taxing than the actual boss fights against the Robot Masters themselves.
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| The Yellow Devil returns as the first gatekeeper in Dr. Wily's Gear Fortress, but he's much easier than his previous appearances due to the fact that you have the Speed Gear to rely on here. |
My primary concern with the Double Gear System was that it never felt like an "option" like most Mega Man weapons/abilities were in the past. The further you got into the game the more it was required for progression and I have mixed feelings about that as the Mega Man series had traditional prided itself in allowing players to conquer everything set out in front of them armed with just the traditional Mega Buster as they see fit. Here, it feels like you won't get a window of opportunity to land attacks or deal enough damage period unless you were using the Double Gear System. I didn't flat out hate it, but I just didn't care for Capcom pretty much "forcing" these new abilities onto you. It felt like the Rush Adapters in Mega Man 6 all over again which were required for progression whether you liked them or not.
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| The tried and true Boss Rush returns for Mega Man 11. The above image spoils who's who in each of the eight pods. |
I do understand that the developers at Capcom wanted to "spice up" the classic Mega Man formula to justify this revival of the franchise since Keiji Inafune's departure. Plus after the debacle that was Mighty No. 9 (admittedly that game gets far too much shit than it deserves IMO when it wasn't really a bad game, just a dated one for that level of gaming technology), a lot of people (outside of the loyal fanbase) had to be convinced whether nor not there was a reason to revive the Mega Man franchise. Despite my own gripes with the Double Gear System, I wouldn't mind seeing another sequel from Capcom. The game's ending left the door open for more adventures as Dr. Wily clearly gets away since Mega Man didn't haul him away to jail (as usual).
I know the Classic Mega Man "purists" will say that I'm cheating when I say this, but I highly encourage turning on rapid-fire shots in the control configuration menu. Your controller(s) and thumbs will thank you in the long run. This feature, when combined with the auto-charge skill from Dr. Light's Lab for the Mega Buster, makes Mega Man's normal attacks even more devastating. I was beating most of the mini-bosses and normal enemies scattered throughout the various stages with just the Buster with this method without too much trouble.
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| This bullshit RIGHT here. |
Speaking of difficulty, I have to say that I didn't appreciate the random spikes in difficulty throughout the game. Some levels would be brain-dead easy while others will throw a frustrating platforming section with that ONE hidden enemy to stun-lock/hit-stun you just long enough to make Mega Man fall to his demise. You can buy anti-spike shields and Beat rescue tools from Dr. Light's Lab prior to any and all stages, but you only have a limited use to those items before you have to replenish your stock. All of those items along with some other useful skills can be purchased from Dr. Light's Lab from bolts that are dropped from various enemies upon defeat. You can easily "farm" these over and over on respawning enemies by refreshing scrolling screens (NES era style) back and forth at your leisure. That was pretty cool to see that technique was still alive and well in modern era gaming. If the game is "too hard", you have the option of lowering the difficulty too as this title supports multiple difficulty settings in the same vein as Mega Man 10.
If you want an added challenge after clearing Normal difficulty, you can up the stakes on Superhero difficulty where the damage values don't change. Bosses have new augmented abilities and patterns that make them tougher, and items like E-Tanks (which refill your health) and extra lives that usually litter stages are gone. Enemies also stop dropping items that refill your health and ammo.
By the way, where's Proto Man during all of this? All of Mega Man's friends and allies are present in this except for him.
Play It or Don't Bother?
Even though it was expected for a Mega Man game (especially one based off the classic series), this was a pretty short game. There's only 8 stages (for the usual Robot Master formula) then the four Dr. Wily stages to conclude the game. If I had purchased this game at launch for the full price of $29.99 that Capcom was initially asking for this, I would have been royally pissed off. Instead, I waited a few months down the road and picked this up for less than $10.
If you're a Mega Man fan itching for a revival/continuation of the series, then this is going to be a no-brainer to play through at least once. For me personally, I wasn't a fan of the massive difficulty spikes at times across the various stages along with the slog through most lengthy stages from a point of death to the nearest checkpoint. I understand Capcom wanted to replicate the difficulty of NES era gaming in that vein, but I wasn't a fan of it when Capcom released that early gameplay demo prior to the title's release and I'm still not a fan of it here either.
At the end of the day, this is still a Mega Man game. You're going to find something to like here. I was just glad that I waited to play this after my initial experience from the free demo.
FYI there's a small reward upon starting the game with save data from playing the demo. So that's worth playing first if you wanted to get a feel for the game first before purchasing the full retail game.
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