Dear Capcom: can you please put out another Mega Man X game already? Yes, I know the series was supposed to end with X5, and the three games that have followed in its wake were a mixed bag, to say the least, but Mega Man 11 sold well and there’s still a high demand for similar action-platformers. And nowhere is this demand more evident than in the indie game scene, which is pumping out spiritual successors such as30XX,Elsie, and most recently, Protodroid DeLTA. This new contender tries to do things differently by going 3D, though, despite the lone full 3D MMX game being one of the series' most infamous. Will DeLTA suffer the same fate or can it make this twist work?
Unfortunately, there aren’t many points in Protodroid DeLTA where it actually has something unique happening. One of the game’s villains calls our titular heroine something akin to “all hollow, no personality” at one point, and man, didn’t that perfectly sum things up. The game doesn’t even bother to craft its own unique story, instead just borrowing the basic template from Mega Man/Mega Man X: the kind and benevolent Dr. Shelton develops a hyper-advanced android to be more than just a robot, the main enemies – the Vypers – attack, Shelton has to reluctantly allow DeLTA’s combat subroutines to be allowed to defend the city, there’s a mysterious Zero analogue that seems like a more advanced version of our protagonist, evil, doctor, etc.
Is it unfair to criticize Protodroid DeLTA by directly comparing any part of it to Mega Man X? Well, considering that it makes two references to MMX before the tutorial even ends, or that the reward for finding hidden bits of currency in each level is unlockable skins directly based on MMX characters, and even saying that they’re inspired by video games Dr. Shelton played in their youth, I would say the answer is “no.” This is a game that clearly aspires to be an ode to Capcom’s legendary 2D platformers, but forgot any personality that they may have. The graphics are fine on a technical level, but none of the stages come across as unique in any way, with no unique enemies or details to suggest what makes this part of the city unique. Even the bosses and sub-bosses are just generic robots. Despite taking place in a futuristic solarpunk world, nothing about the visuals or designs jumps out.
Even the parts of the story beyond the basics don’t seem to have much effort put into them. Despite supposedly being some feared villains, the Vypers are all tell, no show, with none of their criminal deeds being shown off, and bits of their backgrounds and styles relegated merely to bits of dialogue besides static portraits. Each of them just has vague mentions of why they’re doing what they do, and bits with DeLTA trying to reform them after each battle by saying that they can do better. Honestly, you never even get the feeling that they’re even a gang that’s working together. The story doesn’t even seem to have a proper conclusion, just a limp ending with hints at a sequel.
But what about the gameplay? Well, it’s pretty much just standard 3D action-platforming, though oddly with a heavier emphasis on the “platforming” part, as you try to made several tricky jumps across bottomless pits (though only delivering a small health penalty and a warp back to the last major platform if you fall in). There are disappearing platforming, moving hazards, trampolines and more, and they’re decent…but the the actual combat with enemies, while mostly competent, just feels annoying after a while, especially as they cheaply teleport in while you jump across platforms.
The game does have one unique combat hook in that DeLTA’s charge shot actually uses up a weapon meter, shared with any other weapons you get from defeating bosses, which you’re able to refill be attacking with a melee weapon or attacking certain solar objects. But the game doesn’t even make the best use of this mechanic, as rarely will you need to conserve energy. In fact, Protodroid DeLTA is shockingly easy, as over the course of the six hours or so playing it, I never needed to use any of the extra weapons or upgrades found in hidden areas (save for the double jump), and only had to use this game’s version of an energy tank once, during the final boss.
Closing Comments:
Protodroid DeLTA is one of those games that may be technically competent when it comes to areas like graphics, music and basic gameplay, but it suffers from not having an original bone in its body. There may be a few fun platforming challenges here and there, but you may do and have done better when it comes to Mega Man-inspired games. So it may not suffer the same fate as Mega Man X7 when it comes to awkward 3D gaming, but at least people still remember MMX7 years later, while this will lucky to be remembered after a month or so.
