I’m not sure I can call myself a proper fan of Mega Man. I hold no dislike for the games, and in fact enjoyed any I had managed to play. There was some sort of magic to combatting the robot masters in the appropriate sequence, inflicting the weaponry of their comrades against them. However, I also missed out on the discovery of this sequence by relying on Nintendo Power to clue me into the best order to approach each stage.

Which left me with having to master each game’s obstacle courses. Having to learn to time jumps while fending off hordes of enemies was never my favorite activity, ultimately leading me to throw the controller into the ground. I owned Mega Man 6, but for all that I played it I rarely beat it. I couldn’t stand the difficulty of Wily’s – pardon, I mean “Mr. X’s” – castle due to its increased obstacle course difficulty.

On the other hand, Mega Man X became one of my most beloved games of all time. I preferred the more action-oriented approach over the tricky obstacle courses of the NES games, and the levels hid secrets more akin to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid than its own predecessors. Gathering health boosts, rechargeable energy tanks, and pieces of armor were a lot more satisfying to me than 1-Ups and E-Tanks. In fact, any attempt at a 1-Up or an E-Tank in the prior games could result in the loss of a life itself!

I would later play Mega Man 8 and Mega Man Zero, but neither seemed to replicate what I loved about X. I would dabble in the sequels to X in due time, but by then I had succumbed to the habit of completing a game on a first try. I was no longer used to the old-fashioned difficulty these games relied on – especially as the X series sought to increase the challenge rather than maintain the difficulty of the original… at least, from the perspective of someone that had, at that point, played Mega Man X so much that it hardly seemed a challenge at all.

So what does this have to do with Mega Man 11? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. For me, it’s probably my favorite game featuring the original blue bomber, period. Its choice of difficulty modes allowed me to choose one that was certainly troublesome, but was still possible to complete in a single playthrough. I witnessed a single game over screen and was generously capable of returning right back to the stage with a replenished supply of extra lives.

This may sound cheap to old school players looking for that old flavor of challenge, but to a lot of others it will be a welcome reprieve from the more frustrating and repetitive days of yore. Should you wish for that harder challenge then the game has more accomodating difficulty levels for you. You can come in fresh with whatever familiarity you so choose, learning the ropes until you can move on to the next difficulty level… or even spend some “cash” on an upgrade purposely intended to make the game even harder.

The difficulty levels are the least addition to Mega Man 11 – and technically aren’t new to it, as Mega Man 10 added them in response to the incredible difficulty of Mega Man 9. It is instead the Speed and Power Gear system that applies a new twist to the traditional obstacle course design.

As I had stated previously, I had always preferred the fast-paced and action-oriented approach of Mega Man X. The original Mega Man games came to feel sluggish in comparison, and especially hampered my enjoyment of Mega Man 8. While Mega Man 11 stays true to the more platform-based design of the NES games, the Speed Gear acts both as an in-game cheat and a necessary tool to master. While I’d say enough skill and experience with the game can make most scenarios and situations possible, the game is clearly designed for the player to use the Speed Gear to slow down Mega Man’s surroundings.

Of course, a limitless resource would simply be game-breaking, and so leaving the Speed Gear on indefinitely will result in over-heating it. Once this occurs the Speed Gear cannot be reactivated until it fully cools – taking even longer than it would have upon manual deactivation. A player can easily find themselves caught in a situation where they’ll need the Speed Gear and be unable to activate it due to careless overuse. This means the player will need to learn how to carefully use the tool, activating it briefly for necessary jumps or slides only to quickly deactivate it to cool some.

This new dimension to the platforming makes it less about swift reflexes, though the value in quick response is still maintained. After all, there are plenty of situations the player will need to be quick on the activation. However, it also means that a player can think through an obstacle first with fewer chances to make simple, silly mistakes.

Of course, I may also enjoy this iteration of Mega Man so much because I’ve finally grown to better understand how to play them without a Nintendo Power to help out. A first-time playthrough isn’t meant to be clean and empowering. It is an opportunity to learn the game’s systems, study the stages, and experiment with each robot master’s weapon. Further experimentation on subsequent playthroughs reveal all the neat tricks you can tip to your friends on the playgr- oh, sorry, I mean online forums.

If I had any complaint of Mega Man 11, it’s that certain powers seem near useless in comparison to others. There also seems to be an odd imbalance of difficulty regarding enemy opponents. Finding weaknesses and vulnerabilities for Wily stage bosses was always a bit trickier, but there’s a considerable problem when a robot master’s own weakness is a less viable weapon than the Mega Buster.

I particularly take umbrage with Acid Man’s weapon, using up a lot of energy to generate the acid shield. Under typical platforming conditions it can sustain multiple hits, but one blow from the boss its intended for and it diminishes instantly. While there’s plenty of fault to lay at my feet for failing to properly avoid the corresponding robot master’s attacks, I would always run out of energy not from missing opportunities to strike but to keep generating a shield. I cannot help but think on the Rolling Shield and Chameleon Sting in Mega Man X, both of which were far more useful and could only be activated with specific intent.

Blast Man’s weapon similarly has issues against its own robot master target, though fortunately it doesn’t deplete its energy so swiftly. Nevertheless, the end result is that I can complete 90% of Mega Man 11 with ease on its Casual difficulty, but that remaining 10% has me wondering if I’m truly ready to knock it up to Normal.

Of course, I still have plenty of other experiments to try. For example, Block Man’s stage seems appropriate for a first boss, but he himself is one of the strangest and most difficult robot masters to defeat. He is the only one with a unique second phase that has its own health bar, and there is seemingly no way to dodge two of his attacks once you’ve been backed into a corner. Perhaps the Rush Coil combined with meticulously timed Speed Gear activations is the trick to dodging those massive strikes? I’ll have to test and find out.

Which is what makes these games such a delight to play. Even if you’re not the sort to go discovering the strategy for yourself, searching online for the optimal tactics against each stalwart opponent, someone out there is trying to optimize their approach and find each robot master’s greatest vulnerability.

That Mega Man 11 does this without being too punishing is why it’s probably my favorite game in the entire blue bomber’s history since Mega Man X. It could be nostalgia is the only reason that 90’s classic is still preferred, or it could be as simple as the rocking soundtrack. Regardless, if you have even a passing interest in Mega Man as a character or franchise, then Mega Man 11 is an obvious recommendation.