Mega Man is a game as old as time at this point, there are so many iterations of the series that it’s not surprising at all when games try to emulate it. Take that series and sprinkle in some aspects from metroidvanias, and you should have a recipe for success. This is exactly what Berserk Boy strives for, but does it manage to hit the mark?.

Right from the jump, Berserk Boy feels fluent. The gameplay actually feels really smooth, unlike a lot of action-platformers that tend to feel a bit clunky, even a lot of Mega Man feels stiff to me. The main attack you’ll be using to dispose of enemies through Berserk Boy is a dash that is alarmingly overpowered. Couple this with whichever ability you collect through the game, electricity to begin with, and you’re on a path of destruction.

Now comes the metroidvania aspect; there is a lot of backtracking that takes place, just like other games in the genre. That part is fine, you need to go back to save some people and aim for that completion. The thing is, it doesn’t feel natural to do. I keep relating back to Mega Man, but it’s kind of the easy option that most people can relate to. Imagine if in Mega Man after you beat a boss and got a new power up, you felt like you had to go back and redo levels. It’s not a comfortable gameplay loop to do.

The next part is the hub. Instead of just being given a stage selection screen you have a home base where you can purchase power ups like extra health or more energy, or you can select a level. Yeah, the hub feels entirely pointless, until you realise that it’s actually used to artificially lengthen your playtime. You see, in-between levels the hub will actually be attacked by enemies, and a lot of the time it’s in a fairly tedious area to get to that you’ll likely never see outside of these sections. Honestly, the hub is entirely pointless.

While Berserk Boy does look good, it’s not hard to enjoy the updated Mega Man ZX look, the level pallets get boring quickly. Levels are generally longer than needed when there are minimal puzzles to handle, only a small selection of enemies, and a boss to cap it off. This leans back into the tedious gameplay loop, every level starts to feel like the same thing over and over, with a slightly different backdrop. Couple this with an incredibly boring narrative, and you have yourself a game. At least the music is great though, so you have something good to look forward to when tackling the same puzzle for the twentieth time in a level.

Overall, I found it hard to enjoy playing Berserk Boy for more than one level at a time. By the end of a tediously long level, and being handed some enemies attacking the hub, I was ready to switch to pretty much anything else. I don’t need to play the same levels with a different colour scheme and the enemies in slightly different positions over and over again to know that I’m not having fun.

 

Graphics: 8.0 I think Berserk Boy is the “perfect” update to the old action-platformer look from a character standpoint. Unfortunately the background leaves a lot to desire.	Gameplay: 7.0 Thankfully, the controls feel smooth and platforming is very smooth. It’s unfortunate that the enemies and bosses feel incredibly easy.
Sound: 9.0 This soundtrack absolutely bops. Seriously, if there is anything to be considered a “saving grace” it’s the soundtrack that’s on loop.	Fun Factor: 3.5 As I said, I found it a struggle to play Berserk Boy for more than one mission at a time. It’s not as if it doesn’t feel good to play, but with a bland narrative, and repetitive overly long levels with minimal challenge, it was hard to enjoy myself.
Final Verdict: 6.0

Berserk Boy is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Reviewed on PC.

A copy of Berserk Boy was provided by the publisher.