Berserk Boy review

As someone who grew up a little bit obsessed with Mega Man, we are entering a golden age of games inspired by the blue bomber. As if having access to almost the entire Mega Man franchise on modern consoles wasn’t enough, there are now a whole host of indie games made by developers who grew up loving Mega Man as much as me. Last year alone 30XX explored the idea of Mega Man in a Roguelike setting, and Protodroid DeLTA showed us what the series trademark running and gunning would be like in 3D. Well to start 2024 with a bang Berserk Boy is here with some sensational action platforming that feels closer to some of the less beloved branches of Mega Man – Mega Man Z.

Set some time in the distant, robot filled future, a scientist called Dr Genos is aiming to take over the world with the power of some mysterious orbs and a whole lot of metal cronies. While investigating an unknown signal for The Resistance, our protagonist Kei finds an orb that transforms him into Berserk Boy and gives him all sorts of fun electric powers. Turns out there are four more of these orbs out in the world, and Kei reckons that if he finds them all he’ll be able to stop the mad doc and save the day. It’s a simple but effective story, that most importantly doesn’t get in the way of the awesome platforming too much.

With your first transformation, you already have an impressive set of abilities you can use to beat up bad guys and traverse platforming obstacles. The most important of these is an electric dash, which you can use to bounce off enemies and specific floating orbs to move across huge gaps. It took all of five minutes playing Berserk Boy to realise quite how fluid and fast paced this platforming gameplay was going to be, and I hadn’t seen anything yet.

After each world made up of three stages, you’ll fight a boss that’s another human using the power of one of these orbs. If you can beat them you’ll gain access to their orb and a whole host of new abilities, changing your entire skillset at the push of a shoulder button. Sometimes it’s obvious in a stage that you’re expected to use a specific transformation (or are even sort of forced to) but some sections are more than happy for you to choose your favourite and get smashing some robots.

All the transformations are awesome too. There’s the flame drill that allows you to burrow into the ground to avoid damage and dig through walls to access new areas, the ice kunai that gives you projectile attacks and lets you cling onto specific ropes, and even a wind power that lets you fly for as long as you have energy. You’ll need the power of all these abilities to make your way through the game’s stages, and also to help find all the secrets in earlier levels where you didn’t have access to them.

There’s a real focus on replayability in Berserk Boy, as on your first visit to most stages you won’t be able to find everything with your early game abilities. Each stage has a selection of resistance members that need help to find, which grant you the ability to access a secret room full of goodies. This gives you some extra currency to play around with, which you can use at the lab to unlock extra abilities.

The upgrades that the lead scientist has for you in the lab come in all shapes and sizes, from boring but helpful stat boosters to all new attacks and abilities. Immediately I saved up my cash to unlock a second air dash which came in ridiculously handy, but there are also special attacks that help deal with bosses in a flash and plenty of ways to power up existing skills too. It’s just a shame that all these upgrades are so expensive, because if you aren’t replaying levels regularly you’ll only be able to unlock a handful before the end of the game.

It’s also worth mentioning how great the visuals and audio in Berserk Boy are. The 16-bit aesthetic just makes you feel like you’re back in the 90s playing games on a lazy weekend, and the soundtrack is absolutely banging. This is exactly what I want when playing a retro style game, so take note.

Berserk Boy is a top-tier action platformer, but it does have a couple of issues that bugged me during my time with it. The boss fights are a little on the weak side, with a lot of repeat encounters and a bit of a lack of challenge. This wouldn’t bother me as much if I wasn’t reminded of Mega Man while playing, which just made me want some badass bosses to batter. The game ends just a little too soon after you’ve got all the powers too, and I’d have liked more of an opportunity to try them all out in some extra tough stages.

Berserk Boy is a wonderful run and gun platformer with a sensational sense of flow through its tricky stages. The transformation powers you unlock are all fantastic, and using them to get through increasingly trap filled levels is a joy. If you’re a fan of action platforming or a certain blue robot boy, then Berserk Boy was made for you.