I’m not normally one for 8-bit nostalgia, but since this was a freebie from backing Mighty No. 9 I checked it out. Besides, it was fun to see concepts and bosses from MN9 and Gunvolt demade into a simpler format.

Beck and Gunvolt have simplified movesets as well compared to their original games, making this into a more stripped-back Classic Megaman experience both in look and feel, albeit slightly slicker and more detailed. You also get no extras from clearing stages, but each of the three characters has a single advanced attack and a movement ability, such as a double jump or air dash.

Leaning into the silliness of old-school games, Inti have included a text intro and outro in purposely poor Engrish, and fruits as score pickups. Scoring is a proper part of the game though, with a multiplier that builds with your actions. It’s just for bragging rights though.

There’s only a handful of stages but a cheap DLC pack almost doubles that. Two of the four DLC bosses were much, much harder for me than any other in the game, which was jarring but a satisfying challenge. The game’s framing and most basic enemies are taken from the Gunvolt universe, including the final boss being a preview for Gunvolt 2, but elements are also pulled from MN9 and Inti’s other major series, Gal Gun. I find the latter pretty gross and off-putting to be quite honest but for the purposes of this game it contributes some prosaic school and town stages that are a nice change of scene, and some blobby bosses that feel more like minibosses. Ekoro as a playable character also has a fun if simple enemy-charming mechanic.

As a quick, fun, retro throwback game Inti did a great job, as expected from the people behind Mega Man 9 and 10 (and the recent Bloodstained demake bonus game). That’s all there is to say really.