3.7 hours played
Written 5 years ago
To be brief, this is a classic Megaman game with a different skin. Instead of a robot boy, you are an anime girl who is part of an Earth protection force known as Invasher Team. Instead of an angry scientist in a UFO, you fight a weird cat alien from outer space. Instead of robot masters, you fight other weird aliens conveniently color-coded so you know their elemental weakness. The plot boils down to 'these aliens are evil, go kick 'em off the planet.'
The gameplay is extremely familiar to those who have played classic Megaman. Go right, kill anything in your way, jump across platforms, reach the boss room, kill the boss. There are eight elemental aliens to defeat, after which you challenge Veg (the weird alien, as the game calls him). There are three difficulties, and speaking as someone who only tried Easy and Medium, there are noticeable differences in both level layout and boss patterns. Easy Mode has the quirk from Megaman 10 where extra platforms are added to the level to make platforming easier.
There are some differences from classic Megaman, however. You have two methods of attack; one is the usual Buster, the other is a melee attack with decent range. Instead of instantly acquiring abilities after defeating each alien, you have to buy them from the shop. Money is fairly plentiful and you can revisit stages to grind if necessary, so it's not that big a deal. Abilities affect both methods of attack, with the Buster gaining different shot types that consume energy. Punching only has an elemental affinity added to it, but it does not consume energy. The game's campaign does not include a boss rush, but the game will allow you to fight individual bosses or all of them at once after you beat the game.
The presentation is decent for a game of this genre. The graphics are a mixed bag, with the girls of Invasher Team being the most detailed spritework in the game. Veg and the other aliens look very crude, like they were made in MS Paint. While the enemy variety is decent, many enemies in later stages are simple palette swaps of enemies in early stages. The backgrounds and level assets are inoffensive, serving their purpose well. The cutscenes are hilariously bad with awkwardly translated dialogue and rough art direction. The music evokes classic Megaman to a fault; I recommend purchasing the OST to switch to the Plus music, as it sounds better than the hollow, samey chiptune arrangements included by default.
If you like classic Megaman, this might scratch an itch for you. You might still find something to like here if you don't, but don't expect anything as polished as Capcom's historic franchise. I got this on sale, and I highly suggest you wait for one if you're considering playing this.