you look at the store page and trailer for this game and go "huh this looks like it was made by a mega man zero fan" and then you play it and, surprise, surprise, it plays identically to a mega man zero game. if you liked mega man zero, you will like this game. it doesn't do anything exceptional nor does it really elevate MMZ's gameplay or feedback loop at all. but, it's fun and it's what you expect it to be. it's like going to the movie theatre to see some popcorn action flick. you aren't expecting anything contemplative or genre-defying, just something moderately entertaining for the price of admission. this game very much succeeds in that way.

but what is with the name. why is the dude called gravity circuit. he never uses gravity. what the hell.

This game is incredible, you can feel the love and attention the devs put into it.
Super tight controls, awesome sprite work, GENIUS OST.
This is a love letter to the Mega Man X & Zero games and goddamn they did it right.

The start of the game is a little easy but most openings are, once the ball gets rolling the game really takes off and doesn't stop.
After playing through the game a couple times i think id prefer if the whole game was as brutal and platform challenging as the last 3 levels. After beating those the rest of the game kinda slumps in comparison in terms of difficulty. Still adore this game honestly.

In just a couple days I 100%'d this game doing all it had to offer (fuck u 10 hoops in a row achievement) and honestly i wish there was more content to go through even after beating it 4 times start to finish.
I saw a sneak peek that the game will get a update sometime soon adding more rooms to the HUB area including a boss rematch room.
Hoping this has done well enough to warrant some juicy DLC or maybe a sequel at some point.

Huh? Retro throwbacks are based on games like Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden, right? Mega Man Zero is still pretty new...


Gravity Circuit is a premiere example of creators not truly understanding the inner workings of the many things they are inspired by. Not as vapid as many games that do this-- and ultimately still a solid (but far from great) game-- it manages to show a lot about platformers and the culture around "retro" games in a bite sized 2 - 3 hour package.

The reason why I even wanted to play this game in the first place was the cool grappling hook, and I am proud to say that it is Fun. Unlike a certain other Mega Man game, the swinging in this game feels great to do and moving across ceilings fluidly is some of the better movement I've been able to use in a high speed platformer like this. Grabbing and throwing enemies with this same hookshot is also real fun, and it might be the best feeling "chuck enemies at other enemies" game I've ever played. Things usually die from being smacked with one of their cohorts: so it becomes a satisfying process of killing each subsequent enemy with the other when you can, and using your superior movement to personally destroy vulnerable mooks. This is all really cool, but this game commits the sin that most platformers do: it doesn't evolve its ideas.

Despite what I just said about the grappling hook, most of Gravity Circuit's levels do not make you use it in ways that matter. It is a mechanic comprised entirely of intrinsic value, and sole mechanic that makes this game's movement unique should simply not be like that. Another issue with the level design is its emphasis on collectibles. The way these stages flow when you're playing properly it feels terrible to do that really obvious "hit the breakable wall and do a CHALLENGE..." type secret shit, and this game has a lot of that. It is confusing to me that Gravity Circuit decides to have in level collectibles for your health and super meter. Like no, dude, make it a reward for literally anything else. The other major gameplay problem are the Burst Mechanics: the super moves you get and the "stand in" for special weapons in a classic Mega Man game. These are lame. Despite sounding on paper like they open up various possibilities for how you deal with combat, they instead heavily centralize them. If you have meter you hit them with a big move and grab afterwards. Even bosses are not safe from this sort of design.

The Zero games are some of the most expressive platformers I've ever played. They have their own issues, sure, but a consistent strength of the series is how good it feels to perform under pressure. There's a lot of ways to move through levels efficiently and stylistically as Zero, and the series knows this. Much of the level design is intentionally made in ways that flow comes from smart game knowledge and tight execution. Mistakes are meaningful and even one misstep in the wrong place can destroy your flow at best and outright kill you at worst. Gravity Circuit is severely lacking in these aspects. Sure, there is sincere game knowledge required in using the grappling hook in effective ways: it isn't enough alone. The stakes are not high enough and the game is not freeform enough otherwise for me not to feel like I'm "going through the motions" even when I play well. Mixing up my gameplay is deemed irrelevant by the level design, and what does it matter if I get die? I go back to one of the 5 checkpoints per level and lose nothing from it. The Zero games put more on the player, and that's what makes them fun. The dance between player and designer is not as strong here, and as a MMZ inspired game I expect a little more from Gravity Circuit.

Overall, Gravity Circuit gets a lot wrong, especially in comparison to the MMZ games. The skill expression is significantly worse, the levels don't push the player and the "12-bit" presentation is unremarkable (because like hell am I doing a whole section on that shit). Despite it all though, it's a decent game. There is fun to be had playing it and it most definitely is an enjoyable high octane platformer in its own right. I hate to compare it to MMZ so much because they don't truly feel so similar when you get down to it, but in practice the Zero series embodies a lot of things: including a lot Gravity Circuit doesn't quite reach.