Retro gamers, relax – I played Mega Man: Dual Override and it was properly hard
Capcom might be cooking (again)
There are few things more humbling than having to retry a boss for fifteen minutes straight in the middle of a press preview, but at least I wasn't the only one. With just three stages available to play from the newest Mega Man, the first fully new title in the series since Mega Man 11 in 2018, the pressure was on to get through them unscathed.
This is Mega Man, though, and if there's one thing the series is known for, it's relentless challenge. More on that in a moment, though.
Dual Override is a curiously low-key arrival in terms of Capcom's slate, and it was unveiled last year with a short trailer that didn't necessarily light the world on fire. Dropping the number from its title probably hasn't helped with people's understanding of the game's intended place in the pecking order.
It's definitely the newest full Mega Man game, though, and that's exactly how it felt when I went hands-on a couple of weeks ago. This is Mega Man in 2026, still just as sprightly and tightly-coiled as ever, with controls that ensure you're always able to make split-second adjustments, and that you know your death was definitely your own fault every single time.
This means that the game will be extremely familiar if you've played literally any Mega Man game, going right the way back to the first couple, but it does have its own twists. Principally, you get a pair of power-ups that you earn by dealing damage to enemies with your blaster.
The loadout I chose (from a couple of choices) let me put up a temporary shield to absorb one hit, while saving up for more power could activate the override mode from the title, which basically takes whatever attack configuration you're in and supercharges it.
This gives you something to aim towards in boss fights, in particular, and can be huge for swinging a fight your way, given how much damage you take per hit (loads). If you want, though, you can play with these power-ups disabled, for the brutally retro purists' experience.
I played through three stages, each one ending in a boss fight, but of these, the first two were mini-boss rooms, while the third stage ended with a proper showdown against Twinkle Girl. Don't believe the name; she was evil, and it was her fight that took me 15 minutes to conquer.
Generous checkpointing ensured that I could try again from the start of the fight, nice and quickly, rather than replaying the whole stage, but the total time of all my attempts was included in my stage summary, so I was still a little ashamed there.
The fight itself was all about pattern recognition and figuring out weaknesses, though. Once I realised that my secondary power mode, which made me into a sort of drill man, could powerfully counter one of Twinkle Girl's attacks, the fight swung around my way, and it didn't take long to win.
It helped that I was bopping along the whole time to a zippy and enjoyable soundtrack that felt nice and old-school, and looking at visuals that were impressively crisp and readable. Is this 3D style quite as charming as the old sprites? No, but it's more approachable and still really clear, which isn't saying nothing.
I played the game on PS5 and found it unsurprisingly buttery-smooth, but didn't have time to try it on Switch 2, which is where I'm certain I'd intend to actually play it once it's out in 2027. That handheld mode seems a natural fit, if Capcom can deliver it at 60fps.
Three stages is hardly anything, of course, and I was probably done with the demo content in about 30 minutes all told, but that half-hour left me really excited to play more of Dual Override. Frankly, beating a boss fight you've struggled with almost always leaves you either wanting to put the game down and take a walk, or to push right into the next level, and it's a pretty great sign that I landed on the latter.
