Recently cleared! Not only 100%'d in terms of achievements but also sought out all the hidden items in the stages. Most of the playtime listed was spent doing that, for what its worth.
So, I am someone who is basically connected at the hip to the Mega Man franchise in terms of fandom, and have spent a rather unhealthy amount of time in said fandom.
Giga Girl is "Mega Man with serial numbers filed off", complete with stage selects and "Bosses directly drop weapons". Unlike other MM-likes on steam, which often give a priority to graphics, I'd say Giga Girl struggles with first impressions. The screenshots and key art isn't all that enticing. And that's a shame, as it's a pretty solid, if with a few bits of jank in places, Mega Man-Like. I had fun, and I am actually giving it a recommend!
If you're coming in from Mega Man - here's the key comparisons with Mega Man:
I'd say in terms of complexity, the stage layouts are on par with Mega Man 2. She lacks the movement and charge options of later games.
Her Boomerang is the main weapon, a weapon that only allows one shot on screen but is reasonably effective offensively, and pretty damn devastating when attacking using a combination of close range and rapid fire.
Unlike Mega Man, Giga Girl has way more limitations with health, ammo (the latter of which is somewhat detrimental in places but the former just reduces damage variance of enemies and bosses.)
Finally this game has some absolutely strange water physics - more typical for platformers, water is very limiting on the player and WILL take some time to get used to.
It's consistant, but also very strange.
The weapons dropped from bosses have some interesting utilities in spite of how basic a lot of them are, and I just wish ammo wasn't so low, it really hampers how much you get to experiment with them.
That, along with some odd hitbox dissonance (it's not terrible, but it is noticeably not int he player's favour.) are probably my two biggest detriments in this game.
But this game is a recommend! There's plenty of positives!
The game controls just fine, with the default Boomerang offering enough additional nuance to set Giga Girl apart from her inspiration.
Outside of the Air Man-inspired stage, which is one long platforming trek over a death pit, and the Fortress stages probably warranting at least another checkpoint, the stages end up being fun to traverse. There's enough stage gimmicks to mix things up and enemy variety is 'good enough' to not feel you run into repetitive setups. Game encourages replay with the bonus items, although as a jank-complaint, the exit stage option is more or less useless, as it doesn't save item collection even if the stage has been cleared.
But the two real standouts for me are the music and boss fights.
Much of the music in this game just *cooks*. I will be listening to some of these tracks outside of gameplay (they're in the game folder, for what its worth) Real Commodore 64 vibes.
Finally, I actually just dig the boss fights in this game! They tend to have some pretty engaging patterns, and going in Buste.. er, Boomerang only, results in some tense but nevertheless satisfying encounters.
I'd also say the fortress guardians here tend to land better here than they did in the original first 3 Mega Man games. Benefits of not being tied down to early NES game limitations I suppose.
It's a shame the graphics look so amateurish. it's a bad first impression, but there's a fun little platformer if you're willing to look past that, and I'm always down for Mega Man likes.
But it IS a Mega Man-like, and I think that will largely determine your enjoyment. Do you like Mega Man? Are you prepared to put up with a smidgen more jank than a modern MM fangame?
It's like, a whopping £1.99. I got my money's worth, and I'll probably stream the game at some point.
It's a recommend.
