Mighty Gunvolt Burst’s action happens in a virtual world. Primarily, it’s an excuse to merge the Gunvolt and Mighty No. 9 characters while simultaneously giving No. 9 his first decent videogame. Things went poorly for the first time. This 8-bit throwback is absolute joy.

Burst’s sense of menace however comes not from a prototypical threat, like a mad scientist or alien. Rather, internet streamers and their fans. The final boss, Teseo, takes over the virtual space to draw in additional viewers. Those viewers maddeningly slam internet shorthand onto their keyboards, showing their support. The entire scenario reeks of crude cyber-bullying and in trapping the heroes, it’s like a small time swatting incident – doing it for the LOLs.

Does Mighty Gunvolt Burst hate streamers? No. It primarily speaks on the culture that follows them. Teseo’s fans continue to want more. To keep her audience, she provides. The commentary works in a statement on the ceaseless efforts to grow streaming as a business. Teseo’s hyper-extreme, sci-fi methods (including arming a herculean robot with laser beams) reflect how some consume videogames. More extreme, more viewers, more revenue.

Inti Creates’ work seems so passe before Teseo. Eight levels, eight robot masters, and two selectable heroes; Mighty Gunvolt Burst is the Mega Man game Capcom won’t give us, and quite frankly, this is better than Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10. The passivity of Mighty Gunvolt Burst feels quaint. It’s a simple, even too easy run-and-gun platformer, but then taking down a streamer shouldn’t be complicated or difficult. You just tune out.

4/5