Mega Man: Dual Override Preview: We Played as Proto Man This Time
Mega Man: Dual Override brings exciting fresh energy to Capcom's legendary franchise with a feature-packed 2D platformer shooter experience featuring multiple unique playable characters. In our Tokyo Game Show hands-on preview, we stepped into the shoes of Proto Man to test his high-powered short-range buster attacks, overheat management mechanics, dynamic shield defense, and devastating Override Mode firsthand.
Key Preview Takeaways:
- Our Gamescom preview focused on playing as Mega Man, but this time we played as Proto Man.
- Proto Man is not just a reskin of Mega Man with a cool scarf.
- The demo's boss fight against Twinkle Girl was tough but fair, thus exactly fitting into the Mega Man formula.
What Is Mega Man: Dual Override? A 40th Anniversary Celebration
The year 2027 marks a monumental landmark for gaming history as everyone's favorite little blue robot turns 40 years old. Reaching a four-decade milestone is an extraordinary achievement, with only a select few active video game franchises celebrating that level of enduring longevity. As part of these major celebrations, Capcom is delivering a brand-new mainline entry in the long-running franchise titled Mega Man: Dual Override.
At Tokyo Game Show 2026, we had the exciting opportunity to go hands-on with this robotic adventure to test out its new mechanics. What we found was a traditional 2D platformer shooter that faithfully honors the classic gameplay structure the series is best known for, while introducing clever modern updates to elevate the experience for long-time fans and newcomers alike.
While earlier hands-on coverage like Simon Cardy's excellent preview focused on controlling the classic Blue Bomber against the Robot Master Twinkle Girl, our latest run allowed us to ditch Mega Man entirely. This time around, we took on Twinkle Girl's lineup of stages using his older brother, occasional foe, and enigmatic ally: Proto Man.
Who Is Proto Man? Lore and Character Background
For players who may not be deeply familiar with the lore of the series, Proto Man holds a fascinating place in the storyline. He was the very first sentient robot creation built by Dr. Light long before Mega Man was ever constructed. However, Proto Man eventually abandoned the good doctor long ago to forge his own independent path across the world.
As a character, Proto Man is complex, slightly flawed, coolly distant, and undeniably stylish. His iconic design features a bright yellow scarf and sleek built-in sunglasses that make him immediately recognizable on screen. Stepping into his boots provides a completely different tone compared to playing as the standard heroic protagonist.
During our Tokyo Game Show demo session, our primary goal was to venture through a series of colorful stage segments and tackle the tough Twinkle Girl boss battle. Experiencing this entire level as Proto Man proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he offers a distinct playstyle rather than serving as a simple visual reskin.
Proto Buster Mechanics: High Power, Short Range, and Heat Management
It quickly becomes obvious when playing Mega Man: Dual Override that Proto Man is far more than a simple visual variant wearing a cool scarf. His entire weapon set operates under completely different tactical rules compared to Mega Man's standard Buster cannon.
Shots fired from the Proto Buster pack a heavy punch and hit enemy robots remarkably hard. However, his regular energy blasts only travel a short distance ahead on screen before disappearing. You cannot simply stay back at a safe distance and pick off distant targets across the room.
Additionally, Proto Man's charge shot does not fire a giant energy ball that travels all the way across the entire screen. Instead, his charged blast arcs outward in a wide semi-circle slash attack. This slash covers a massive broad area right in front of him, making it fantastic for sweeping away packed clusters of targets, but requiring you to get up close and personal.
To make combat even more dynamic, the Proto Buster features an active heat buildup meter. Firing continually builds up internal heat, which can severely interfere with your attacks if the weapon overheats. This heat dissipates naturally over time, or players can manually vent the blaster to keep firing continuously. This creates an intense, in-your-face playstyle that demands precise timing, aggression, and smart heat management to push through the enemy robots littering the path ahead.
Exploring the Vibrant Robot World's Fair Stage
In Mega Man: Dual Override, levels are structured into distinct segments with ascending difficulty levels. The demo stage we explored was themed after a cheerful Robot World's Fair. The opening portion featured colorful balloons ascending into clear blue skies alongside upbeat, energetic music pumping through our headphones.
After so many action games over the years returned to the depressing, washed-out color palettes of brown and gray from the late 2000s, seeing such vibrant colors on display is genuinely refreshing. The lively presentation provides an awesome backdrop for high-speed robot combat.
Navigating through the first section required quick reflexes to blast through hostile enemy forces, destroy wall-mounted turrets, and jump over indoor fireworks emitters. While indoor fireworks emitters seem like a serious firecode violation, they create fantastic environmental hazards that force you to keep moving.
Each distinct area within a level concludes with a boss challenge. The mid-boss of this first segment was Big Press Don, a heavy mechanical threat that alternates between flying through the air to land on you to crush you into robot-paste, and launching a giant fist out of his chest cavity. Using the classic Mega Man slide move allowed us to slip safely under his landing attempts, avoid his flying chest fist, and blast Big Press Don into an early retirement.
Custom Chips and the Bolt Economy in Mega Man: Dual Override
Defeating Big Press Don earned us a valuable Bolt, which serves as a crucial progression currency in Mega Man: Dual Override. Similar to the upgrade systems seen in Mega Man 11, collecting Bolts allows you to feed resources directly into Dr. Light's lab.
Inside Dr. Light's lab, collected Bolts are used to unlock Custom Chips, which can be equipped to boost your performance and enhance your capabilities. Although we did not unlock new Custom Chips during our specific demo run, Proto Man came pre-equipped with a rapid-fire chip. This chip allowed Proto Man to unleash a rapid torrent of machinegun-like blasts from his Proto Gun, quickly turning most enemies to scrap.
In addition to boss rewards, Bolts are hidden throughout each of the levels, offering a strong incentive to explore every environment thoroughly. If you ever get stuck on a particularly difficult boss fight later in the game, farming missing Bolts across levels to buy helpful Custom Chips at Dr. Light's lab will be a great strategic option.
How Does the Proto Shield Work in Mega Man: Dual Override?
Unlike Mega Man, who regularly copies signature weapons from defeated Robot Masters, Proto Man relies on expanding his iconic Proto Shield. Instead of absorbing elemental blasters from fallen boss foes, his shield gains powerful new functions and operational abilities.
The Proto Shield is a versatile weapon that can be thrown like a looping boomerang in Captain America style. Furthermore, Proto Man automatically lifts his shield whenever he jumps into the air. That automatic defensive movement saved our life quite a few times during our hands-on preview.
While jumping over several bottomless pits of instant death, mechanical birds dropped hazardous payloads that exploded into a barrage of rockets. Without the Proto Shield automatically deflecting those explosive rocket hits in mid-air, Proto Man would have been knocked backward off balance and sent falling into the fatal pits below.
For this demo, Proto Man had two distinct special shield attacks unlocked: a leaping uppercut and a horizontal dive attack. Both skills were extremely useful in combat, especially when using the leaping uppercut against the boss of the second area, a knockoff of Astro Man from Mega Man 8.
These shield abilities also provide incredible platforming utility. At one point, we spied a hidden Bolt floating in the upper right corner of the screen that was far too high to reach with a standard jump. By combining a leap with a horizontal shield dive, we surged across the gap to snag the item. This confirms that a beloved series staple—backtracking to earlier areas after unlocking useful mobility skills to grab secret items—is back once again.
Platforming Challenges, Checkpoints, and Stage Design
Moving into the third and final area of the stage, the atmosphere transitions to nighttime as large shapes formed by fireworks light up the dark sky. The going becomes noticeably tougher in this final segment, with dense enemy placement, numerous hazards, and precise platforming sections that leave little margin for error.
As you reach the end of each screen, the view scrolls over in classic side-scrolling fashion, dropping regular checkpoints every few screens. Gone is the era of limited lives; instead, players can restart at their most recent checkpoint as many times as needed.
This removal of strict life limits serves as a fantastic middle ground: it gives old-school gaming fans a chance to flex their platforming skills against genuine difficulty without scaring away modern players. One particularly intense section required jumping across a series of ascending fireworks, using them as temporary platforms before they exploded, while carefully timing shots to clear out airborne enemies blocking the path. That precise segment highlighted the huge coverage area of Proto Man's charged slash shot over the relatively smaller hitbox of Mega Man's charged buster shot.
Defeating Twinkle Girl: Boss Tactics and Override Mode
When we finally reached our ultimate showdown with Twinkle Girl, it took a few attempts to figure out her complex attack patterns and learn how to avoid them. Solving that intense combat puzzle with Proto Man required strategic rethinking due to his limited firing range compared to Mega Man.
Because the Proto Buster lacks long-range reach, you have to stay tight to land attacks without getting so close that you take heavy counter-damage. Managing that narrow window creates an exciting tactical dynamic as you clash with the Robot Master.
One standout detail throughout this fight was the visible sprite damage on the characters. As Proto Man, regular enemy bots, and the boss take damage, a visibly scuffed, beaten-up look appears on their models. It is a subtle visual touch that adds impressive detail and feedback to every skirmish.
Activating Proto Man's Override Mode
As the fight reached its final phase, Twinkle Girl kicked things up a notch by entering a powered-up state, firing off endless fireworks blasts before crashing down to the ground in a giant eruption of fire. Not to be outdone, we activated Proto Man's unique Override Mode.
Triggering Override Mode initiates a quick, flashy cutscene that transforms Proto Man into a temporary souped-up state. This boost provides massive power, but leaves you with diminished offensive capabilities for a brief time after it runs out, forcing you to press the attack aggressively while it lasts.
Just as our timer was about to run out, we closed the gap and fired a massive charged attack from point-blank range. The shot drained the very last of Twinkle Girl's health bar, allowing our charred, slightly smoking Proto Man to claim a dramatic victory.
Replayability and Release Window for Mega Man: Dual Override
Playing as Proto Man offers a distinctly different challenge than controlling Mega Man. It is not necessarily harder, but it forces you to approach stage hazards and boss fights with an entirely different tactical mindset.
It is worth noting that you will not be switching back and forth between characters on the fly during a stage. At the start of your playthrough, you select which character to control for the entire run. This structure offers tremendous replayability, allowing fans to experience the entire game through two completely unique playstyles.
We are particularly curious to see how various unlockable Custom Chips will affect gameplay in the full release, and what sort of moveset a fully upgraded Proto Man will bring to the table. For that full experience, gamers will have to wait for Mega Man: Dual Override to launch in Spring 2027.
While you are here, check out these recent previews of other big upcoming games we have checked out recently!
Justin Koreis is a contributor to IGN. Check out everything he has written via his IGN page.
With its striking visual polish, tight platforming mechanics, and deep character customization options, Mega Man: Dual Override is shaping up to be a fitting tribute to 40 years of gaming history. Whether you choose to master Proto Man's close-range Buster slashes or stick with Mega Man's iconic abilities, this upcoming 2027 release is an absolute must-watch title for side-scrolling action fans.
from IGN India
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