Berserk Boy is a satisfying modern take on Mega Man
Although there have only been two main series Mega Man games in the past 14 years, fans are still, in a way, spoiled for choice.
On the official front, Capcom has re-released practically every Mega Man, Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero and Mega Man Battle Network game over a variety of retro compilations. On top of that, there’s also been a steady stream of indie games that take clear influence from the Mega Man series, hoping to recapture some of its magic for those itching for something new.
Berserk Boy is the latest example of this, but while its debt to Capcom’s classic series is clear, it also offers enough to make it stand out on its own. The game’s plot is hokey nonsense and has players controlling Kei (the titular Berserk Boy) as he tries to defeat the evil Dr Genos and his Dark Energy minions. We’d be lying if we said the storyline engaged us, but we’d also be lying if we said most 2D action platformers were played primarily for their lore.
Visually, the game has that sort of ‘HD retro’ art style a number of modern indie games have, where it’s clearly inspired by the SNES era of sprite-based graphics but pulls it off with a level of fidelity that would never have been possible at the time. It’s one of the better uses of the style that we’ve seen and is the first example of the game pulling away from its apparent inspiration and moving in its own direction.
Where it takes this further is in its combat, which is more focused on physical melee attacks than the gunplay featured in Capcom’s games. Shortly into the game, Kei meets a bird called Fiore (his equivalent of Mega Man’s robot dog Rush), who helps him make use of a variety of special powers called Berserk Orbs.
You gain the Lightning orb shortly into the game and collect Fire, Earth, Air and Ice orbs as you progress through the various worlds, each giving Kei different abilities. And if you don’t think those abilities will have their own strengths and weaknesses against various enemies, then we don’t know what to
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