izigame.me

I was looking forward to this release for a very long time, and it more than lived up to those high expectations; as an action-platformer love letter to the Mega Man X series and its peers, it plays so well and sounds so good that it easily stands shoulder-to-shoulder with those classics, while at the same time fixing some of their problems and setting itself apart from its inspirations. Gravity Circuit should be recognized as not just a fantastic spiritual successor, but as an excellent game in its own right.

The main difference is that instead of a run-and-gun experience, you're punching your way past any opposition. Enemies are thoughtfully placed and use the environment to their advantage, but they're easy to bully with simple combos once you get in range, which establishes a pretty breezy but enjoyable dynamic for both veterans and genre newcomers, before even considering the actual difficulty options. Experienced players will find that enemies aren't just there to block your path: each one is another resource for letting you style your way through the level without slowing down, using the grappling hook to chuck robots into each other and glide through danger with grace. Those two different experiences (and the learning curve that exists between them) give Gravity Circuit that elusive 'easy to pick up, hard to master' quality that can create a tangible feeling of growth, even inside of the game's somewhat short runtime of less than 10 hours, and this will especially resonate with players who like the game enough to come back for repeat playthroughs.
While the game is short, levels are surprisingly long without being slogs, as they're generously packed with checkpoints that let you burn some cash to heal. Each one has its own uniquely themed obstacles that recontextualize the gameplay and keep things fresh, without relying on obnoxiously gimmicky sections. There are some familiar elements here, but some of the oldest conventions of the Mega Man series, like extra lives, or instant-death spikes and bottomless pits, are thankfully missing.
Each level is also filled with lots of hidden bonus rooms that reward skilled platforming with a currency that you use to buy passive abilities, letting you tailor the core mechanics to your needs in small but substantial ways. But while being able to customize the basic movement options and attacks is appreciable, the real treat is the litany of special moves that you unlock and equip after clearing levels. You can use four of these at any time, and they're comparable to fighting game supers: big attacks performed by spending meter, that feel great to use without trivializing the game's boss fights. (New game+ also gives you the ability to convert HP to meter, if you really want to go to town with them.
The boss fights themselves are awesome spectacles that encourage you to make full use of these powers: even as someone who has historically never liked using the unlockable weapons in Mega Man, cutting loose and finishing off one of Gravity Circuit's bosses with an izuna drop at low health is one of the most satisfying things I've done in a platformer. They're fun enough that the game could be a great versus game as-is (which I hope is something the developers have considered if it receives any post-launch support.)
In fact, the boss fights would be the highlight of the whole thing, except that honor goes to the soundtrack, which I can say with full confidence is the best video game soundtrack this year. Cover to cover, every song is a killer track that embraces a retro vibe without existing in service to some other game's soundfont; its sound is unique and it's totally awesome.
There are a few other welcome features that I haven't mentioned, like the bestiary and built-in achievements. And there are a few bug bears I should point out, too. Bumping into environmental hazards plays an animation that's just a little too long for its own good, as is the end of the first phase on the final boss. The story, while competent, is not mind-blowing enough to warrant the amount of dialogue in some of its cutscenes. The closest thing I encountered to a bug is that right now parts of the game flicker noticeably if you stream it through discord, which has been attributed to an OpenGL conflict.
But you can tell from the nature of these complaints that I'm really having to reach to find things worth complaining about. The gist is this: we've been blessed with a lot of retro revival games in recent years, especially action-platformers. The last decade has been defined by high-profile indie releases like Shovel Knight and Hollow Knight that set a high bar to clear. But Gravity Circuit passes that bar with flying colors, and I'm happy to see it getting at least some of the recognition it deserves for doing so.