There are plenty of sampler platters to sift through during Steam Next Fest, but if you’re a Mega Man fan looking for something fast and fun, you need to set aside a half-hour or so to check out the Berserk Boy demo.
Developed by BerserkBoy Games — hey, if you’re gonna put all your eggs in one place this ain’t a bad basket — Berserk Boy currently has a couple of levels available in its demo. After a brief opening that finds our hero learning how to harness his berserk potential, we’re immediately thrust into robot-busting action. Rather than using an arm cannon or laser sword, which is legally distinct from a lightsaber, Berserk Boy goes completely ham on his hops. Jumping and attacking hones in on enemies from all angles, making for a snappy mix of Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog combat that really works.
We’ve been jumping on enemies since the dawn of gaming, but Berserk Boy works these actions into the overall flow of traversal. You can jump on robot heads, sure, but you can also use your leaping attack to blast through enemies horizontally and vertically, letting the momentum carry you through to the next platform or enemy. You can leap into Donkey Kong Country-style cannons and blast off in set directions. You can juggle floating laser cannons, and kick the face of a crawling boss spider from above, below, and side-to-side. Once you complete an attack you can also send your little robo-bird companion careening into enemies for some bonus damage. Later, you’ll unlock one of the other powers that turns Berserk Boy into a spinning drill, perfect for piercing through rock walls.
Running around at the speed of sound
It’s all very satisfying, and within the first few minutes I could only think about what an absolute delight Berserk Boy is going to be for speedrunners. Once you get in the groove, which doesn’t take long, it becomes a mesmerizing act of zipping from one end of the stage to the other. It’s easy to pick up and makes you feel like you’re really good at a game you literally just started playing. When you’re not bouncing off enemies, you’re kicking off walls and sliding along rails, which is another part that feels like one of the Greatest Hits from the Sonic series.
The visuals backing up all the action are pretty much exactly what you’d want from what Berserk Boy is cooking. Decent-sized sprites reflect strong character designs, and both stages present in the demo hint at layouts and objectives that mix the formula up a little. The tunes are also nice and chuggy, with plenty of electric guitar fonts, synths, and driving drum tracks to propel you forward to the next objective. As I write this I have the base level paused with the jams full blast, so I’ve got high hopes for the rest of the soundtrack.
Wearing inspirations on a sleeve
There’s a ton of Mega Man Zero DNA in Berserk Boy. If you told me the hub base station was from one of the Mega Man Zero games, my faulty memory would short circuit and I’d have no choice but to believe you. The demo doesn’t go too much further beyond your introduction to the base, but there are various characters littered about, and there’s an area for purchasing upgrades to health and other aspects of Berserk Boy’s ‘bot body, including adding new moves and attacks. There’s even a brief section that has you fending off an attack on the base, so it all felt very familiar.
One thing I’d love to see more of are the boss battles. The demo only pits you against two slight variations of the same spider, which is fun to fight but doesn’t tell me too much about what the meatier showdowns will be like. Enemy variation is decent so far, so I’m eager to see what else Berserk Boy has to show us.
Thankfully, there’s just one month to go before the full launch on March 6, so I’ll keep practicing my jumps and looking forward to seeing what the wider community does with this punchy little platformer.
