
There’s an old saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, yet while there’s certainly something to be gained through being inspired by a previously existing work, a new work generally must add something to the mix to keep things fresh and interesting. If the new work fails to add anything fresh, it simply becomes derivative and is almost certainly doomed to wither in the shadow of what came before.
Few games stand as a better example of this than Metagal, a new run ‘n’ gun platformer that clearly borrows heavily from Capcom’s Mega Man series. Though mildly enjoyable in its own right, Metagal seldom makes any notable efforts to differentiate itself from its inspiration, leaving us with a game that never hits the same highs and often sinks to new lows.
As opposed to Mega Man being predominantly about, well, robot men, Metagal’s ‘twist’ is that all the robots this time around are women. The story opens with Dr. Ray—a genius robotics scientist—being accosted by the nefarious General Keeper, who wishes for Dr. Ray to give him an android army with which he can conquer the world. When Ray refuses, Keeper uses an android of his own to kidnap Ray’s GAL robots (*cough* Robot Masters *cough*) and presumably turn them evil later on. Meta, who conspicuously isn’t present during this confrontation, is thus left as the last GAL robot standing and must embark on a mission to retrieve her sisters, her creator, and save the world from destruction. It’s about as flimsy of a plot as you’d expect for this sort of game, and while it’s not exactly one that earns points for its originality or intrigue, it does its job well enough.

Metagal follows the old school Mega Man formula to a T, with the bulk of your experience consisting of running and shooting your way through tough, themed levels that culminate in an even tougher boss fight, which then grants you a unique weapon which does increased damage against a boss from one of the other levels. It’s a straightforward, easy-to-follow structure and Metagal does a solid job of replicating it, but the game manages to fall short of its ambitions by offering up a paltry five main levels, followed by a three-part finale. It’s no joke to say that you can clear Metagal in its entirety in about two hours on the high end, and for a game that’s so focused on copying something that came before, it feels a bit odd that there wasn’t more effort put into designing at least a few more levels to bring it up to the par of eight bosses.
Unfortunately, the levels themselves aren’t terribly compelling to begin with, though there are some positives that first bear mentioning. One area in which Metagal manages to excel is in the overall feel and control of its gameplay; Meta’s running and jumping feels properly tight and the shooting mechanics are snappy, making for a game that—at least in the moment to moment action—can be legitimately enjoyable.
Another (perhaps divisive) element that we feel adds to the experience is the inclusion of passive regeneration for the ammo that your special weapons use. Any weapons aside from Meta’s default blaster use up some or all of a small energy bar devoted to ammunition, but instead of having to rely on randomized energy drops to ensure you can keep using your weapons à la Mega Man, the bar just slowly refills once it's depleted. With this small ‘quality of life’ change, you can use your full arsenal of weapons freely and without fear of wasting shots, and this helps to make enemy encounters feel that much fresher.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that the most difficult enemy you face in Metagal is not found in any of the filler enemies or boss encounters on your adventure, but in the level design itself. Though not to the point of being egregious, Metagal is far too reliant on cheap enemy placement, leaps of faith, and trap sections that require trial and error to properly clear, which makes for a generally frustrating and boring experience. Rather than offering up a legitimate, thoughtful challenge that tests the limits of the player’s dexterity, Metagal is much more content to simply hide obstacles that a player running blind has no chance of clearing and send them back to the last checkpoint so they can try again.
Granted, this issue is sidestepped somewhat by the “Rebirth” system, which allows you to spend consumable gears dropped by some enemies to start over at the start of the current screen, but that’s a remedy for a symptom of a deeper issue with the level design. At best, the levels of Metagal are just ‘okay’, and at worst, they’re infuriatingly difficult for all the wrong reasons; for a game that has an unusually low level count to begin with, this issue of poor level design is quite damning.
Similarly, Metagal’s presentation is uninspired and bland, even if much of the pixel art is satisfying to the eye. For starters, the boss designs lack any significant creative spark; all the GALS you face off against are functionally color swaps of each other with a few tweaks and new weapon patterns thrown in. Given the high bar set by Mega Man’s Robot Masters, these GAL designs fail to prove themselves as anything more than lazy, creatively bankrupt rip-offs. To match this, each level is themed after the boss at the end of it, but the unmemorable stage gimmicks and enemy types tend to blend together after a few levels.

To its credit, Metagal features some relatively solid pixel art—sprites are well-detailed and the backgrounds can prove to be especially eye-catching—but when the general stage themes are dull to begin with, there’s only so much that can be done. The soundtrack is equally monotonous, replacing the anthemic notes of many Mega Man tracks with generic, low-key chiptune music that you’re sure to forget almost immediately after hearing it.
Conclusion
You may have noticed that we mentioned Mega Man a lot in this review, and the reason for this is simply that Metagal is so devoid of any defining or memorable traits that it can hardly stand on its own; it’s a game that makes every effort to actively copy something that came before it, and it often falls short of properly doing so. Though it controls rather well and has moments where it almost approaches the quality of its inspiration, the terrible level design, uninspired art direction, and almost criminally short runtime make Metagal a game that’s difficult to recommend. If you’re a rabid Mega Man fan, have already played all the main games to death, and are desperate for something to fill that void, Metagal is maybe worth your five bucks. Otherwise, we’d encourage you to save your money and put it towards something that’s more worth your time.
Comments 47
Mighty Number 3 (out of 10)
Coming soon: Barry Croft: Modern Building Burglar.
Well, this explains its current price tag, I'm afraid.
I stick to Mega Man Legacy Collection 1+2, Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+2, and Mega Man 11 thank you very much.
It's not that bad. It's average, nothing special, but 3 is too low, especially considering that a lot of average games are getting 7, sometimes 6. Controls are good, graphics are not bad at all. This one should be around 5/6
@John_Deacon Yes, I agree, 3/10 is too low for this game, 5 or 6/10 would fit better, especially when I think that other average games are praised by Nintendo Life reviewers.
“passive regeneration for the ammo that your special weapons use”
This makes me so happy. I hate how I don’t get to freely use the mega man weapons in those games and always have to save them for boss fights. Nice idea.
I haven't played it yet. But it can't be THAT bad. It's visuals seem appealing, controls seem tight enough. Id still be willing to give this a shot at some point in the future. I know it was on sale for $4 right off the bat which is never a good sign. But nonetheless, good review
Daymn... Laying the 3 down! - I appreciate that. - Please Keep The Reviews Coming!!! Or if they’re hard to write, perhaps start aggregating reviews.
If you want something similar to Mega Man, check out the Dark Witch games. Sure, they are not prefect, but are a fun mix of Mega Man and Gradius.
Mega Man games are some of the best on the NES, but going back to play them today they don't hold up outside of Mega Man 2. I think it's Mega Man 2 people want and remember... not the others. So a game that tries to be a clone would fall short. I played this on Steam and it was right at 5 out of 10, still better than most Mega Man clones using the same GameMaker engine. I also didn't care for the story with this game. Felt like they found an open source Mega Man engine and the team just reskinned it with flat colors and poor enemy placement.
To think there's a team of like 15 people that made this.
Just purchased this and had some time to play last night. It is a pretty solid game, easily a 6. Giving it a 3 is ridiculous. Yeah its clearly a Mega Man ripoff and some sections do come down to trial and error. Hate to stomp your nostalgia glasses, but Mega Man did the same thing back in the day. I actually enjoy the change of adding passive regeneration to weapons and the optional checkpoints.
@NintendoByNature It is well worth the 4 bucks. If you are a Mega Man fan.
@Krisi Are they only for the 3DS?
Sorry NL, 8-Bit Eric already made me buy this game and I love it so sorry that you didn't get the same enjoyment as me.
I think you're being waaaaaaaaay too harsh on the game. A 3? Seriously?!
I mean, it's not brilliant, it's a blatant rip-off of Megaman, but I don't really see a huge problem with that. The game's 4 bucks for God's sake, I highly doubt anybody's expecting a 10+ hour experience.
The level design, while somewhat boring, I wouldn't say is cheap. I'm at the last level and frankly, I haven't seen any of those supposed "leaps of faith".
And you know what the best part of the game is? It's EASY!! Like, stupid easy at times. Which is great, because much as I like Megaman gameplay, I'm not always in the mood for its difficulty.
Metagal might not be brilliant, but it fits perfectly with what I needed:
In an age where games tend to get longer and longer, it's refreshing to be able to pick up something new that's simple and you can beat quickly. That's a plus in my book.
Yeah, I have the Megaman collections and 11 on Switch, but I don't regret getting Metagal either.
Hard pass the moment I saw that cover art in the eShop and found out Ratalaika published it.
0/10: Roll and Call are the only megagals I need.
@MrTanuki im a big Megaman fan so im sure ill enjoy this. And honestly, the 2 hours of gameplay is a breath of fresh air. Most games on the nes like Megeman were 2 hour affairs anyway. I dont mind 15-20 campaigns but I tend to get bored when I'm 40 to 50 hours into a game.
I'm not interested, nevertheless it seems 3 is considerably harsh given the generally positive reactions from most gamers
Still better then Megaman 11 with it's crappy graphics/controls/gimics. Capcom could learn from this game! My skin still crawls with the double gear system.
Good for the people who enjoy it. I'm kinda getting tired of the e-Shop filling up with Indie junk.
@PBandSmelly
"If I had a penny for every megaman bootleg being bad, yet being sold on the market....I would be a millionaire"
That's 100 million pennies. Are there really that many bad Megaman clones?
@Capt_N Indies are better than the incomplete garbage that triple A games had become lately to be honest.
Shameless genderswap megaman.
That is Amaazun!
3 is really harsh especially when shovelware like ARMS can score a 9 on this site.
@John_Deacon I agree. And the reviewer calls the presentation "bland" — but this is no better or worse than other games in the genre (presentation-wise), and those games have been received more positively.
It goes to show that reviews are highly subjective. I have no doubt that hardcore fans will enjoy this to a satisfactory degree, so don't let the score fool you. The game isn't great, but it's not "AVOID!" level of bad either.
@waluigifan1 ARMS got a 9??! Holy crap. I bet it would have received a 6-7 if it wasn't made by Nintendo.
I've enjoyed this game, at least a little bit. I'd say it's worth $4 if you're a MegaMan fan. Reviews are subjective, so I can see how it ended up 3/10, but I'd say it's a 5/10 or maybe 6/10. Oh, it runs at 60fps and has perfectly responsive controls. It it ran 30fps or below, or if it had a laggy response where Metagal jumped slightly after I pressed the jump button, then it would be in trash territory like 2/10 or 3/10.
Based on what others are saying here, I might just grab this anyway. It's cheaper than what I spent on my lunch today.
When Mighty No.9 who failed at being a megaman clone got a 6 from NL, I doubt this game who had more success in the copy could possibly be a 3.
@John_Deacon I think so, yes.
Yeah, the level designs are on the butthurt side, but at worst I thought the game was a 5/10.
This doesn't look great but it definitely doesn't look broken which most games that receive that low a score on here are. Not interested but the game doesn't seem that bad.
Looks like a 6 out of 10 for sure!
What about for someone that went through Mighty Gun Volt Burst too many times?
This is a scathing and brutal review for a game that costs only slightly more than a pack of Pokemon cards. I haven't played it but from this review's own content, it sounds fine as the bargain bin game it is.
If you like the original Mega Man games for the NES, you'll enjoy MetaGal, especially for the price they are asking. That said, if you expect the obvious that this is a Mega Man clone with proper controls, you won't regret the purchase. I gave it a 7/10. It's nice to get a game cheap that is everything you expected it to be. And, it has its little nuances from the Blue Bomber series. The item recharge is a nice touch. Where as in Mega Man, if you use up your item, the player has to refill it by collecting equipment tanks. But, in MetaGal instead, a meter refills at a set pace making special weapon use strategic.
@John_Deacon I would agree that it could be up to a 5, but no higher. Personally, I have no patience for unimaginative clones like this that add nothing to the original concept and can't even properly mimic it. IMO, this game is a waste of time and money, both of which are better spent playing any of the actual Mega Man games.
No mention about how it's a game for women. The title was pretty clear. Reviewed by Mitch??? Come on. I usually love your website but I give this review one star.
@SwitchVogel i understand it's your opinion and that a score is a subjective thing. What I think you guys could do is to have a standard to follow when giving marks 1 to 4. The technical aspects should be considered IMO. A game like ARK, for example, was labeled "borderline unplayable" due to technical aspects and got a 4. Xenon Racer also got a justifiable bad score due to technical shortcomings. Technical problems affecting performance and a game being broken are things that prevent you from enjoying the game. No excuses here. But when a game is just ok, nothing more than average, but still offers a minimum level of "respect" in technical performance and provides us with some gameplay variation, thus delivering what it promised to give us in the first place, then IMO it shouldn't get a 3. This is just what I think.
Metagal is just like old Mega Man and Mega Man X games.
I didn't found it better or worse because it all felt too similar.
If you hate Mega Man it's certainly a 3/10, but if you like Mega Man it's about a 7/10, especially for the very low price.
There's nothing wrong with a game playing almost identically to an unrelated good game before it, in which case it should be held in just as high a regard as the original work. However, since this is a lesser imitation in many ways, it rightfully deserves to score somewhat poorly. (Plus, I'm not a big fan of the classic Mega Man games, anyway, so I'll pass.) However, I think you took its similarily to Mega Man as a poor excuse to be harsher on it than you should've been. This seems more like a game that deserves a 5 or 6 rather than a 3.
@SwitchVogel Well, that's the problem! You unfairly marked it down further than it deserved just for being an "unimaginative clone" when there's objectively nothing wrong with that at all as long as the original product was good. You should have patience for such things. Go ahead and mark it down for its bad level design and so, but don't take off even more points just because it's a clone. Differences of opinion on subjective matters are fine, but a good review needs to be fair about more objective matters like this
i have beaten almost every megaman plattaformer
and azure striker gunvolt 1 and 2
have no need for a shameless ripoff
I'm echoing other comments left here. It's personally around a 4-5/10 for me. I also unfortunately ran into a bug in which I died to the boss in the fire stage and got sent outside the boss door. Tried entering the boss again and the boss door wouldn't open. It's pretty mediocre but I don't think it's 3/10 bad.
Ok, I got further in the game, and it is way better than a 3. Like I stated previously, if you like Mega Man, you'll love MetaGal. It's easily a 7/10. The weapons you receive from defeating the other androids does more than just afflict enemies. For example, after you defeat BusterGal, you get mines to throw. If an enemy steps on them, they are damaged, but if MetaGal steps or jumps on one, she vaults up into the air, allowing the player to grab items they normally couldn't just like in Mega Man with the Rush Spring. It is a good game. I think the reviewer must be under 25 years old and thinks the game is too difficult. Poor kid; spoiled by easy, respawn FPS'.
This review is pathetic...don't listen to It guys, buy the game, of you like Megaman games you would probably like the game, if you don't (like me) you could probably like the game too. Sure it's a bit difficult, but if you use your brain you can beat the game. And for the price really you couldn't get more.
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