Key Preview Takeaways:
- Our Gamescom preview targeted on taking part in as Mega Man, however this time we performed as Proto Man.
- Proto Man isn’t only a reskin of Mega Man with a cool scarf.
- The demo’s boss battle towards Twinkle Woman was powerful however truthful, thus precisely becoming into the Mega Man system.
2027 is a giant yr for Mega Man. Everybody’s favourite little blue robotic turns the large 40. That’s a significant milestone, and few lively franchises in all of gaming can rejoice that type of longevity. As a part of the festivities, we’re getting a brand new mainline entry within the sequence in Mega Man: Twin Override. At Tokyo Sport Present 2026 we had an opportunity to go hands-on on this robotic journey, and located a standard 2D shooter/platformer just like the sequence is greatest recognized for, however with some trendy twists.
Just like Simon Cardy’s excellent preview, I might be taking over Twinkle Woman, and her lineup of levels. However this time, I’d be ditching the Blue Bomber in favor of his older brother, occasional foe, and generally ally Proto Man. For individuals who don’t know, Proto Man was the primary of Dr. Gentle’s sentient robotic creations, who way back deserted the nice physician to forge his personal path. He’s flawed, a bit aloof, and funky as hell. Simply have a look at these in-built sun shades!
Ranges at the moment are divided into distinct segments of ascending issue. Twinkle Woman’s space is themed after some kind of Robotic World’s Honest, with colourful balloons ascending into the blue skies, and cheery, upbeat music pumping by means of my headphones on this first portion. After so many video games returned to the miserable all brown and grey colour palette of the late 2000’s, I haven’t to confess the colourful colours are fairly refreshing.
Proto Man isn’t only a reskin of Mega Man with a cool scarf. Pictures from his Proto Buster hit arduous, however solely journey a brief distance forward, and his cost photographs arc out in a semi-circle slash assault, somewhat than ship a giant ball of vitality all the best way throughout the display. His blaster additionally builds up warmth, which might intervene together with his assaults if he overheats. This dissipates over time or will be manually vented. It’s a unique, in-your-face playstyle that wants timing and aggression to push by means of the enemy robots that litter the trail forward.
I rapidly make my means although the primary space, blasting by means of enemies, destroying wall-mounted turrets, and leaping over some indoor fireworks emitters (which looks like a firecode violation.) Every space ends with a boss, and the primary, Massive Press Don, alternates between flying within the air, then making an attempt to land on me to crush me into robot-paste, or taking pictures a fist out of a chest cavity, each of which I take advantage of the traditional Mega Man slide transfer to evade, and blast/slash ol’ Donny boy into early retirement.
Beating Dom lets me advance, however it additionally earns me a Bolt. These are important; just like Mega Man 11, these feed into Dr. Gentle’s lab, which in flip lets you unlock Customized Chips, which will be geared up and used to spice up your efficiency. I didn’t get to unlock any in my run, however I did come geared up with a rapid-fire chip that allow Proto Man unleash a torrent of machinegun-like blasts from his Proto Gun, which may rapidly flip most enemies to scrap. Bolts are additionally hidden in every of the degrees, providing incentive to discover completely, and I may see myself farming any Bolts I used to be lacking if I obtained caught on a very arduous boss.
As I transfer to the second location, a behind-the-scenes space of the exhibit, issues get harder, and Proto Man’s different skills grow to be an element. Whereas he doesn’t have the vary of his blue brother, Proto Man has a robust protect at his disposal. This may be thrown like a looping boomerang, Captain America-style. Just like prior playable appearances, he lifts his protect when he jumps. That transfer saved my life fairly a number of instances, as I jumped over a number of pits of on the spot dying whereas birds dropped balls that exploded right into a barrage of rockets that may have knocked me away from the platforms had I not blocked the photographs.
You don’t get to repeat powers from fallen Robotic Masters the best way Mega Man does. As a substitute, as greatest I can inform, the Proto Protect will get new capabilities or skills. For this demo, I had two assaults unlocked, a leaping uppercut, and horizontal dive assault. Each had been helpful in fights (particularly the uppercut towards the boss of the second space, a knockoff of Astro Man from Mega Man 8), and had some handy different makes use of as effectively. At one level I spied a Bolt within the higher proper nook of my display, too far to leap, however was capable of snag it after leaping into a kind of horizontal dives. Looks like one other sequence staple, backtracking when you’ve unlocked helpful areas to seize all of the secrets and techniques, is again as soon as once more.
It’s nighttime within the ultimate space, as massive shapes fashioned by the fireworks now gentle up the sky. The going is noticeably harder right here. There are plenty of enemies, plenty of pits, and fairly a number of platforming sections that put each collectively, with little margin for error. As you attain the top of every display, it scrolls over, in traditional Mega Man fashion, and each few screens drops a checkpoint. Gone is the period of restricted lives, however you’ll be able to restart at the latest checkpoint as a lot as you want, which looks like a good compromise to offer us old-school Mega Man followers an opportunity to flex our gameplay muscle tissues with out scaring away new gamers. One notably powerful part has me leaping throughout a sequence of ascending fireworks, utilizing them as platforms earlier than they explode, and requires rigorously timing my photographs as I filter the enemies blocking my path within the air. That’s an space the place the massive protection space of Proto Man’s charged shot is advantageous over the comparatively smaller hitbox of Mega Man’s charged buster shot.
Once I lastly have my showdown with Twinkle Woman, it takes me a number of tries to determine her assaults and tips on how to keep away from them. Fixing that fight puzzle with Proto Man, together with his restricted vary in thoughts, forces some strategic rethinking in comparison with Mega Man. You’ve obtained to remain tight to land assaults, however not so shut that you simply get hit. He has a slim window to function in, which makes for an fascinating problem as I conflict with the Robotic Grasp.
One factor that stood out to me on this battle, and all through the demo, was the seen harm on my character, in addition to on some enemies. As you, the opposite bots, and the boss lose well being, a visibly scuffed, crushed up look seems. It’s a small contact, however one I don’t recall seeing earlier than, and a cool little consideration to element.
As my battle with Twinkle Woman nears, she kicks issues up a notch, getting into a powered-up state, and firing off a sequence of fireworks blasts earlier than crashing to the bottom in an eruption of fireplace. Not one to be outdone, I activate Proto-Man’s override mode, with a fast, flashy cutscene resulting in my very own souped-up state. This enhance is non permanent, and leaves you with diminished offensive capabilities for a short time after it runs out, so I press the assault. Simply as my time is about to expire, I fireplace a large charged assault from point-blank vary, draining the final of Twinkle Woman’s well being as my charred, barely smoking Proto Man claims victory, in a dramatic end.
Proto Man provides a distinctly completely different problem than Mega Man. Not essentially more durable, simply completely different. It’s price noting that you simply gained’t be switching backwards and forwards between the 2; firstly of your playthrough you’ll choose which character to regulate for all the run, providing some potential replayability to see the sport each methods. I’m notably curious in regards to the numerous chips that may be unlocked, how these will have an effect on gameplay, and what kind of moveset a totally upgraded Proto Man may have at his disposal. For that, I’ll have to attend for Mega Man: Twin Override’s launch, scheduled for Spring 2027.
When you’re right here, take a look at these current previews of different massive upcoming video games we have checked out just lately!
Justin Koreis is a contributor to IGN. Take a look at the whole lot he is written by way of his IGN page.