Gravity Circuit

I've grown up playing Mega Man. Played the X series, the Battlenetwork series, the Legends series and so on. Even tackled a fair few worthwhile fangames like Unlimited and Rock & Roll. So you might say I like a good platformer involving robots. Over the years and with Capcom's lackadaisical attitude towards the blue bomber, I've had plenty of time to look at all the games that would be inspired by the iconic franchise. Most fell short of being more than just fun to play. Some were a bit better... A rare few on par, like Khimera: Destroy all Monstergirls. Others are dead and buried, like Mighty No.9. Gravity Circuit though, manages not just to be a worthy spiritual successor. It absolutely wows with it's own flair and adds new elements beyond what Mega Man's best games offered. Where to even begin? Yes, there's a tutorial if you want to try that, but the game teaches you through playing already. Controls are tight AF, there's so much love in the pixel art and the music is worthy of buying the soundtrack too. There's many nods to Mega Man, like the stage select with the boss on the center bar after choosing, but GC manages to do its own thing on so many levels. Bosses have many different attacks and two lifebars, so once they're down to one they kick it up a notch and include their own burst attacks. Much like Mega Man X6/Zero/etc. you can collect stranded NPC's in the selectable 8 levels, letting you unlock new chips and conversing with the non-generic ones at the base. Including two pettable pooches. Rather than getting one boss weapon after a stage, you can buy two per boss from a certain npc you saved in the intro stage and set them up to the four burst attack slots, allowing you to chain several unique techniques as you see fit. You can also swap them in battle. Stages also have alternate routes and secret areas to find collectibles in. Though the game is not that hard with all the upgrades and some effort, the devs have included many ways to challenge yourself, including new game plus and runs without upgrades. You are also not bound by a weak-to-weapon cycle on the bosses, just your fists and grappling hookshot can be enough. And while the story doesn't matter in general in games like this one? Gravity Circuit manages to be a cut above average there too with some unexpected events. I literally cannot recommend Gravity Circuit enough and am hoping a sequel will follow.