Switch City is BACK! (again). Which is fitting, because Mega Man is BACK! (again). Everyone's favorite blue robot had a hibernation period, then there were some games imitating the classic NES style, then there was another stretch of time where nothing happened, a sad, sad game called Mighty No. 9, and finally here we are.

When playing Mega Man 11's demo, I thought this game might not be so different from Mighty No. 9 as people would like. The change to a 3D modeled art style and lackluster sound design are some of the big similarities. But there was a personal slant: I rage quit Mighty No. 9 in the level where you run back and forth an increasingly long hallway with instant death traps and no checkpoints. Seeing how sparse Mega Man 11's checkpoints were in the demo gave me pause.

The full game (and a difficulty change) put my fears to rest. Mega Man 11, in most areas, successfully modernizes the classic Mega Man formula, and it's a sign of life for a character most thought was powered down for good.

Our introductory cutscene shows a young Drs. Light and Wily arguing over whether to go forward with Wily's new Double Gear system, which gives a huge power boost to robots who use it, or Light's proposal of robots with independent thought. The two are unable to reconcile their differences, and Dr. Wily swears his revenge. Back in 20XX, Wily suddenly remembers this important event in his life for I guess the first time? Upgrading his machine with Double Gear technology, he swoops into Dr. Light's lab and kidnaps a new batch of robot masters. Then he taunts Mega Man and Dr. Light, instead of, you know... killing them.

Picking apart the story in a Mega Man game is never worth your time, even when it's presented straight-faced in the X series and beyond. I find it darkly funny that Light and Wily's falling out leads to not only 11 mostly harmless adventures, but to multiple wars, genocides, and actual apocalyptic events in the future. If only you two could work out your differences. What is less funny is the voice acting, meaning I wish it was funnier. They've already peaked, so maybe they shouldn't have even tried.

But let's get onto the meat of the game, the platforming action we all know and love. Mega Man's charge shot and slide are restored after their absence in 9 and 10. However, he also has the Double Gear system installed, adding some new abilities to the pile. You can activate either a speed or power boost at will, but it took some time for me to internalize those options. I know I'm not alone in saying that I get Mega Man tunnel vision, relying on basic charge shots to get the job done. It's hard enough to remember boss weapons, when they're unlocked.

And in this game, the boss weapons can be pretty useful. I'm used to, like, the Top Spin from Mega Man 3, but you can actually get utility out of most of them in Mega Man 11. Clear enemies in front of you with Block Man's weapon or freeze enemies vertically with Tundra Man's. With the power gear, they can be made even more potent, and they can stop stage hazards like in past games.

But I think to really enjoy this game, you need to buy upgrades from the shop. Some of them, like the one that reduces knockback, seem damn essential. The auto-charging buster is also great if your thumbs hurt from Joy-Con buttons. I think some of these should have just been installed from the get-go. If you can make Mega Man control better... that shouldn't be an upgrade, you know?

Once you master your toolset, I think Mega Man 11's levels are quite fun. I found myself making tough jumps with confidence where I would be stressed in the NES games. Mega Man feels not exactly how he used to, but how he should in a modern take on his series. The stages are supposed to be hard, but beatable. They have more than their fair share of crush traps and bottomless pits, but you're encouraged to use the speed gear to avoid them.

To my knowledge, though, I don't think there's a point in the game where the Double Gear is required. Purists who hate the idea can beat the game without using it, but I like it. While the speed gear is for escaping tough situations, it seems like the power gear is good for speedrunners and their ilk. One of those skill floor/skill ceiling type deals that game designers love so much.

Checkpointing, as I said above, can be an issue. On the "normal" difficulty, you get the traditional mid-level and pre-boss checkpoints in each level. However, they didn't compensate for the stages being much longer than they used to. It can be demoralizing to be sent all the way to the start with only three lives to work with.

My advice? Ignore the labels in the difficulty selection, but follow the descriptions. "Casual" is for fans of the series who are a little rusty. That fit my description, so I swallowed my pride and chose it. I think it was the right decision. The greater number of checkpoints and lives made my experience a lot better than in the demo. Feel free to choose the difficulty that suits you best. My second playthrough of Mega Man 11 will be on normal, but as a first showing I think casual is a good option.

You know what else made my experience enjoyable? I spent the whole game with the Switch's sound turned off. The sound design of Mega Man 11 is easily its weakest element. I guess if you had to get something wrong, better that than the jumping and shooting. Still, when I think Mega Man sound, I think of something very specific. I could hum along to any number of tunes from older games. Spark Man? Plant Man? Hell, let's just say what we're all thinking - Dr. Wily's Castle from Mega Man 2? Here, the music is totally forgettable, and sound effects lack the punchiness you would expect. It doesn't feel like a creative choice, more like they just came up short.

One of the stranger things about Mega Man as a series is how it has these traditions that no one really likes. Nobody actually wants to fight the boss rush, or jump on those disappearing blocks. But it would feel weird if they weren't there. In this sense, Mega Man 11 was in a very tough spot. Where it does deviate from tradition, even in minor things like the doors, it feels wrong. At the same time, I wouldn't want another 8-bit retread of the same formula. In the task of modernizing a 30-year-old series, I have to say that Mega Man 11 succeeds. It doesn't hit every note perfectly, but it gets the chords right. While you won't want to listen to its music, I think you can still Rock out to Mega Man 11.