![]() ![]() The enemies themselves also follow the classic pattern - each has a clear attack pattern and weak point that keeps players on their toes. Overall, we're looking at a perfect fusion of modern and classic game design. That's not even getting into the quality of the platforming and enemy placement - the jumps are perfectly designed to feel satisfying but challenging while enemy placement is simply perfect. So, for example, the developers take full advantage of the expanded field of view and the increase in screen real-estate with a series of stage layouts and challenges pushing beyond the classic series. ![]() As a fan playing through the game, there's a continual sense of delight that the developers of this new series entry truly understand the formula and what makes it so great.īut more than that, they also understand how to integrate all of this into a modernised game. Every single stage features its own unique concepts - from the sliding ice and spikes featured in Tundra Man's stage to these crazy spheres in Bounce Man's stage, all the way to the crazy flame mechanics featured in Torch Man's level. Firstly, the game eliminates dialogue boxes completely and returns to the classic formula of well-designed screens that introduce new concepts that are slowly integrated and layered over one another as the stage plays out. Mega Man 11 brings things back to basics, with brilliant design across the board. Our detailed breakdown of Mega Man 11 showcases what a remarkable release this is, especially for longer term fans of the series. It's a situation that's even worse in breakaway title Mighty No 9 - and that's before we even start to talk about poor performance and lacklustre stage design. They increased in frequency to the point where they started to break up the game, and in combination with less interesting level design, it's clear why titles like Mega Man X6 aren't held in high regard. This is a key element in building a great Mega Man stage, but it's something that later installments, particularly in the X series, started to lose with the introduction of in-game dialogue boxes. Basically, the designer introduces a new enemy or hazard early in a stage allowing you to easily recognise and learn how to handle the new threat before combining them to create more difficult challenges. Mega Man is widely recognised for its approach to teaching through level design - the idea is that challenges are presented to the player in controlled environments - you learn through doing. When it comes to crafting these challenges, however, Mega Man 11 wisely channels the classic games. This wider canvas has enabled the team to push out the level design and introduce new challenges that would not have worked as well in a smaller space. This isn't the first widescreen Mega Man game, of course, but it's the first to truly utilise the additional screen space. To begin with, Capcom has opted to build Mega Man 11 with 16:9 widescreen in mind, opening the playfield in the process. ![]() To fully appreciate Mega Man 11, we need to first consider what it is that makes Mega Man so special and how the team has improved upon each element in building this new game. For my money, it's Capcom's Sonic Mania moment: for series purists it reminds you of everything that made the original games great, while also serving as a good jumping on point for new players. It modernises the game while retaining an innate understanding of what made the originals so special - and it looks and plays beautifully across all platforms. The series has evolved over the years - and not always in the right direction - but the recently released Mega Man 11 is a monumental achievement. It's been over 30 years since its NES debut, but Capcom's classic Mega Man is still one of the greatest platform games of all time. ![]()
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