Mighty Gunvolt (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Released as a free download for early adopters of Azure Striker Gunvolt, it's clear to see where the inspiration for Mighty Gunvolt comes from. Where Azure Striker felt like the natural successor to the Mega Man X and Zero series, Mighty Gunvolt is a firm tribute to the classic Mega Man series, which gave producer Keiji Inafune his big break. The simple two-button run-and-gun gameplay returns and the graphics look like they could have been taken straight out of one of the Blue Bomber's NES titles, albeit with more colour and a smoother performance thanks to the power of the 3DS.

There is at least some attempt to change up the formula, which found itself gradually stagnating after countless sequels in the '90s, in the form of three playable characters. Gunvolt is joined this time by two (debatably) famous friends: Beck, the titular character of upcoming Mighty No. 9, and Ekoro, the heroine of Gal*Gun (an Japan-exclusive on-rails shooter that sees a high school boy having to shoot infatuated schoolgirls with pheromones in order to keep them at bay - don't expect to see this one in the West anytime soon). Each character has a special ability - Gunvolt has a double jump, Beck has a charge shot and a slide manoeuvre, and Ekoro can turn enemies into allies - but it doesn't change the gameplay very significantly, besides opening up a scant amount of power-ups.

If the title wasn't enough of a hint, this is definitely Gunvolt's game. Beck and Ekoro might be just as fun to play as, but the vast majority of stages are based on Azure Striker Gunvolt (poor Mighty No. 9 doesn't even get a look in during the base game). Bosses are copied-and-pasted from the regular game with their attack patterns intact, which begs the question of why exactly this game was made - there's very little new here for those who have played the original 3DS Gunvolt, and it just feels like an alternate version of the same game but restricted by an arbitrary art style.

It also passes by incredibly fleetingly. The game can be beaten in just 15 minutes and there's no bonus for clearing it with each character; DLC does add four new stages (as well as adding more characters from Mighty No. 9 and Gal*Gun), but even then the total playtime barely pushes an hour.

Mighty Gunvolt comes together as an incredibly disjointed package. Gunvolt dominates proceedings but does nothing to provide fans of his own game anything new, Beck doesn't add anything and seems to be there as nothing more than advertisement, and Ekoro's appearance is just plain odd, coming from a game that Western audiences won't have heard of and having no connection to the Mega Man-style gameplay on offer. It's difficult to recommend a purchase that doesn't know its own place in the market.