Azure Striker Gunvolt (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Azure Striker Gunvolt is to Mega Man X what Mighty No. 9 is to Mega Man. Its fast-paced gameplay and smooth controls hark back to the SNES platformer, while its crisp sprite-based graphics are reminiscent of recent entries, such as the DS' Mega Man ZX. Coming from a producer with such a pedigree as Inafune, such comparisons to his older works are inevitable, but it's important to note that Gunvolt is incredibly worthy of standing up on its own.

The game stands out from the crowd with the eponymous hero's electricity-based powers. Gunvolt is an 'adept' - a person who has developed 'septimal powers' granting him superhuman abilities; his in particular give him control over electrical fields and as a result he's able to remotely flick switches, dash through the air, and engage in the 'tag' system, which makes up most of the combat here. By shooting an enemy, Gunvolt can 'tag' them and then release a large field of electricity known as a 'Flashfield,' rapidly draining the health of potentially several enemies at a time when it hits them.

The Flashfield is a fantastic mechanic that really separates Gunvolt from other platformers on the market. Not only does it encourage point-boosting combos of several tagged enemies at once, but it also has several other uses such as unlocking doors, flicking switches and slowing Gunvolt's fall in order to reach secrets.

Each use of Gunvolt's electrical powers - be it through the Flashfield, an unlockable double jump ability, or by taking damage - saps some of his energy, which, when completely drained, sends him into overheat and prevents him from accessing his abilities for a short time. While energy can be restored before overheating with a simple double-tap of the down button, it still adds a layer of strategy to combat as it's not possible to simply hold down the button and watch everything die instantly.

Of course, the real meat of the combat comes in the form of the boss at the end of each stage. Corrupt organisation Sumeragi provides the plot's main antagonists, and cap off each mission in which Gunvolt works with the QUILL organisation to take down its leaders, the Sumeragi Seven. The boss fights are far more difficult than the regular gameplay (which often borders on too easy) and it's refreshing to see the Sumeragi take a rather active role in the storyline, in comparison to games such as Mega Man X, where the bosses felt like nothing more than roadblocks.

The plot itself is surprisingly deep, considering Gunvolt's short running time - it mainly focuses on the story of Joule, a mysterious girl rescued by the Azure Striker himself at the beginning of the game, dabbling in some rather heavy themes along the way. Each mission is self-contained and the plot is only really expanded on in a handful of extra stages at the game's climax, giving it the feel of a Saturday morning cartoon or anime with an overarching story (albeit one that takes quite a dark turn towards the end).

In fact, it's clear that Gunvolt quite fancies itself as an anime, most notably in its character design and art style, but also within its audio. There's a hefty amount of voice acting present (although it's untranslated, and plenty of dialogue has been inexplicably removed during localisation), and there's even a catchy J-pop number reminiscent of an anime opening that plays when Joule's 'Anthem' is employed.

The Anthem could perhaps be described as the game's equivalent to Nintendo's Super Play mechanic; it essentially unlocks 'Easy Mode' for those having trouble with the normal difficulty level. Although it does have to be turned on (by boosting Gunvolt's relationship with Joule through conversations between stages), it's unlikely to be well-received by a lot of players. It's activated after just one single death in a stage and can't be turned off afterwards; it also completely removes any semblance of challenge by offering Gunvolt infinite jumps and a never-ending energy meter.

It makes a game that's already too short and too easy even more so - Gunvolt only lasts around four hours and players are unlikely to run into too many difficulties within that time; bosses are likely to take a few tries at first, but infinite lives ease frustrations. An unlockable true final boss adds a significant portion of extra playtime and ramps up the difficulty excellently, but it's still not necessarily enough to justify such a hefty price tag when the game's earlier inspirations are available for much less on the Virtual Console.

These are just small complaints in a game that does a lot else right, however. Gunvolt, true to its protagonist's nature, goes by in a flash, but perhaps that's because there's so much fun to be had and there's not a single moment when the action lets up. An absolute gem that deserves just as much success as the blue bomber himself.