Azure Striker Gunvolt

Inti Creates has released a somewhat spiritual successor and alternative towards Mega Man Zero and ZX in the form of playing as a lightning based hero who is able to tag enemies utilizing his electric field so that damage output is spread across the fields.

Azure Striker Gunvolt, having been released only on the Nintendo 3DS, has become commercially successful enough to permit the developer to create a sequel which was not too long ago announced, it only was recent though that it was released in Europe.

It's your familiar side scrolling action game with many elements returning from Zero and ZX returning such as the aesthetics, the mission/boss selection, the similar story and of course the gameplay, which is now focused on indirect combat instead of using a cybersword.

Automatically being able to damage enemies in the surrounding area, while being able to boost Gunvolt's health using special chips made the game quite frankly easy for me as a seasoned hardcore Mega Man player, except for the final boss's 2nd form, which had an annoying OHKO to be bothered by.

The somewhat short length of this digital only release is compromised by the game's relatively low price, which actually gives it more than enough content, it's just that in this industry, almost every game released is overpriced in so far as how much content is provided, but that is another future topic I can talk about.

While Keiji Inafune has been busy with post-development of the upcoming Mighty No.9, Comcept and Inti Creates have been collaborating in order to create Mighty Gunvolt inbetween as well, which is another retro throwback to classic Mega Man gaming, featuring the main characters of both new establishing intellectual properties. It's a free bonus which is fun while it lasts.

Azure Striker Gunvolt is a modest alternative approach to familiar side scrolling 2D action, and it shows promise, but I felt that it's similar towards Mega Man Zero 1 in the sense that it's not greatly polished yet. I'm sure that the sequel will be an improvement.

Rating: 7.4