The very first, and only, Mega Man game I’ve played thus far is Mega Man X, as requested by one of our Youtube commenters.  While I often intended on giving the series another try, the sheer number of titles made me a bit overwhelmed.  Recently, however, I decided to try a demo for the newest (as of writing this) entry in the series, Mega Man 11.  To my understanding, Mega Man games allow you to play the levels in any order you choose.  But considering only one level was accessible in the demo, my choice was made for me, the level featuring Block Man, though I never actually managed to reach the boss, for reasons that will be made clear soon enough.

From what little I was able to experience, Mega Man 11 really felt like a classic Mega Man game with updated graphics.  The level was fun and challenging, and I died several times on the mini boss, though I was able to eventually get through it thanks to sheer willpower and this new ability where Mega Man can temporarily slow down time (called Speed Gear).  You seem to have a lot of moves in this game, as you can also summon this robot dog with a spring on its back to reach higher ledges.  There’s also something called Power Gear, which I didn’t end up using, and it turns out you also have a slide ability, which I completely forgot about.  In fact, I couldn’t beat the level because of a certain section where you need to get through narrow parts of these moving walls.  I guess sliding would have helped here…woops.  You also have two other special weapons, this electrical one and some kind of drill attack called Pile Driver, though I’m not sure if these are normally available from the start or if they’re something you would obtain from defeating their respective bosses.

Honestly, I don’t really have much else to say.  Though my time with the game was short-lived, I did have a lot of fun, and as I mentioned earlier, it felt quite similar to my time with Mega Man X.  Reviews I’ve perused online seem to confirm that this is a solid Mega Man game, though if you happen to be a lot more familiar with the series than I am, I’m unsure if this game will have enough new features to make it stand out.  On the other hand, if you’re new to the franchise, then it feels like Mega Man 11 might be a good option to get a feel for what the games are all about.

This post was originally published on The Duck of Indeed on December 1, 2021.