Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch
Also Available For: Nintendo 3DS
Review Copy Provided by Publisher
MSRP: $9.99
It’s hard to believe that it’s been about a year since the disaster that was Mighty Number 9.
From constant mismanagement of the project, to not being direct or open enough with their backers, this once anticipated revival of a dead series quickly faded back into obscurity. Developer Inti Creates however was a shining light. Released as a small $5 budget title, Mighty Gunvolt was short and easy, but also fun that most fans were expecting out of Mighty Number 9. Now flash forward to a year later and Inti Creates has made a longer and much more polished follow up to the game, that in my opinion is what the original MN9 should have been to begin with.
Mighty Gunvolt Burst features 2 playable characters, Beck and Gunvolt. While you go through the same stages in with both characters, both characters play extremely differently. Beck is as you remember him from MN9. His controls are tight and precise. His movements have a nice pace and he can stop on a dime. Just like Megaman, whenever you don’t make a jump or overshoot something, it’s always on you and not the game. Beck also has a wide variety of weapons at his disposal, and this is where the game gets interesting.
The gimmick for Beck’s story is the ability to freely customize your own weapons. You can change everything from number of bullets fired, rate of fire, bullet size, and much more. It can become super addicting trying out dozens of different combinations. One of the best parts is that you can actually change and customize your weapons during a stage! This opens the door for a lot of experimenting and trial and error. There have been times when I’ve been stuck in a boss battle and I’ll spend 10-15 minutes trying to create a new weapon to defeat them.
Gunvolt is the second character, and as previously stated, his gameplay is completely different and focused on other things. Gunvolt primarily takes use of another new feature in the game called the Burst mechanic. You earn a burst when you defeat an enemy up close. The more you keep a burst combo going, the stronger Gunvolt’s secondary weapon will be! It’s really fun getting a 15 burst combo going and then debating whether or not you want to risk one more encounter to get it higher. Both characters are different enough that even going through the same levels feel different and refreshing.
If I had any gripes on this game it’d probably be that the boss battles are pretty imbalanced. Some of them feel a bit too long. It just sometimes feels like your barely scratching a dent in them and it can be a bit annoying. On the other hand some stages and bosses can feel a bit too short and easy as you just blaze through a level or 2 in a row. Other than that, the game is structurally sound.
Overall, Mighty Gunvolt Burst is what Mighty Number 9 should have been. The game features a much stronger emphasis on trial and error gameplay than story. Couple that with some fun and addicting gameplay mechanics like burst and custom weapons, and this game is easily worth the $10 asking price. If you’ve been itching for a fun successor to Mega Man after feeling high and dry by Beck’s previous outing, this game is much mightier than the last.
Final Verdict: ★★★★