Mighty Gunvolt Burst

Mighty Gunvolt Burst (マイティガンヴォルト バースト Maiti Ganvoruto Bāsuto) is a crossover platform game developed by Inti Creates for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch, featuring characters from Azure Striker Gunvolt, Mighty No. 9 and Gal*Gun. Described as taking place in a parallel universe ("if" game in Japanese descriptions), it is a sequel to 2014's Mighty Gunvolt, and features a revamped game system, as well as a deep character customization system. It was released in June 15th and 29th in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch and 3DS respectively. In 2018, it was re-released as Gal*Gunvolt Burst (ぎゃるガンヴォルト バースト) on the PlayStation 4 on March 15th for Japan and North America, and on April 13th in Europe. A Steam port was released on July 31st 2019.
==Gameplay==
The player can control either Gunvolt or Beck. Ekoro, the third playable character from the previous game, was not available at launch, but later released as free DLC character until August, 8th, 2017, alongside other characters. The game is a side scrolling shooter, much like it's predecessor, with Gunvolt now able to use special skills such as Astrasphere and Anthem as well. A big part of the game is the "Burst" mechanic, where you earn more points if you finish off an enemy up close. Doing this multiple times will result in a Burst Combo. Bosses can also be beaten in a Burst.
Another significant change is the addition of customization. You can equip many different types of bullets, such as spread and piercing, and can even test them at the customization screen to get a feel for them. You can also upgrade Gunvolt and Beck's abilities by spending "Cost points" (CP). There are also hidden areas that can be detected using the Switch's HD Rumble, using an ability called "Dowsing", which only takes effect if a specific module is equipped. There is also a range of collectible 8-bit Pixel Stickers featuring characters from Azure Striker Gunvolt and Mighty No. 9.
==Plot==
With Beck having saved his fellow Mighty Numbers and saved the nation, Dr. White, wanting to prepare for a possible future catastrophe, gives Beck a powerful new gun and sends him into a virtual training world. However, upon the completion of the first stage, he is confronted by a shadowy young GM, who introduces himself as Gunvolt, The Azure Striker, who challenges Beck to fight his way through the bosses, and then face the GM himself...
After his battle with the Sumeragi Group, Gunvolt, and his merged ally Joule, are on a mission, when they are suddenly dragged into a strange, virtual world by an unknown power. Confused, GV makes his way through an unfamiliar setting, finally coming across a shadowy figure: Beck, a member of the "super robot fighting team", the Mighty Numbers. Declaring Gunvolt a participant in the "Super Mighty Battle Showdown", Beck warns the Adept that he must face his robo-siblings, before finally facing the reigning champion, none other than Beck of course!
With their powers drained, Gunvolt and Beck, armed with nought but their base abilities, have no choice but to fight their way through this virtual world, if they are to have any hope of returning home...
==DLC==
On July 27th, 2017, Ekoro, the third playable character from Mighty Gunvolt, was released as free DLC for two weeks, in a vein similar to Blaster Master Zero, before becoming paid. While the DLC is no longer free, players can get Ekoro for free by downloading and completing the demo version and transferring their save data to the full game. She is available as part of the base game in the Steam version.
On September 28th, 2017, Joule and Call became playable characters as paid DLC, costing $1.99 each. 
On December 20th, 2017, it was announced that the rivals of the three original protagonists, being Copen, RAY, and Kurona, would be made available as DLC characters on the 28th for Nintendo consoles, again costing $1.99 per character. They were also released alongside the Playstation 4 version as a "Rivals" set, costing $4.99 for all three characters.
On April 23, 2018, the new character Tenzou Motesugi was announced. However, he is not available in the 3DS version. He is available for $1.99 on Nintendo Switch. On PS4 and Steam, he is instead included alongside Joule and Call in a "Heroines" set, costing $4.99 for all three characters.
==Development==
Similar to how the first Mighty Gunvolt was produced and released alongside the first Azure Striker Gunvolt as a promotion of sorts, Inti Creates considered making a Mighty Gunvolt 2 during development of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. This idea was shelved when they chose to focus on producing the Nintendo 3DS Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack physical release instead, as they felt the team was too small to realistically do both projects at once. Many at Inti Creates still wished to create a Mighty Gunvolt 2, and CEO Takuya Aizu expressed that such a game would probably come out some day.October 30th 2016 Nintendo Everything interview with Inti Creates (page 2)
Mighty Gunvolt Burst was announced at Bitsummit 2017 on May 22nd for the Nintendo 3DS and Switch platforms, alongside the Switch port of the Striker Pack. A USgamer.net interview with Aizu at this time shed some light on development in addition to gameplay points. Burst was made by Inti Creates alone without any input from Keiji Inafune or Comcept, and when they requested the rights to use Mighty No. 9 characters they were given them for free. Inti Creates and perhaps especially the director of Burst, Kinshi Ikegami, who was involved with MN9's development, just loved the characters and wanted to give them a chance to appear in a game again.
Although the game launched with only Gunvolt and Beck being playable and no Gal*Gun connections, unlike the first Mighty Gunvolt which included Ekoro and featured Gal*Gun stages and bosses, at the time of announcement they were planning on adding her after the game out as soon as they could, and had more DLC playable characters planned.USgamer.net interview with Aizu (Archived)
Mighty Gunvolt Burst is the first Inti Creates game known to have been developed with their new Imperial engine, and thus ended up with a small file size of 40MB, significantly lower than other games that had recently come out.Dengeki Online interview with Aizu (English)
==Version History==
Version	date 	Details
1.0 	 	Initial release.
1.1 	July 27, 2017 	
* Support for the Ekoro DLC has been added.
1.2 	September 28, 2017 	
* Support for the Call and Joule DLC has been added.
1.3 	December 28, 2017 	
* Support for the RAY, Copen, and Kurona DLC has been added.
* (Switch) Usable save slots have been increased from 8 to 40. New save slots can be accessed by changing pages on the file select screen.
1.4 	April 24, 2018 	
* (Switch) Support for the Tenzou DLC has been added.
1.4.1 	April 24, 2018 	
* For the various effects and actions affected by the current Burst Combo, they will now change according to the following:
** Lv.1: 0
** Lv.2: 1 ~ 4
** Lv.3: 5 ~ 9
** Lv.4: 10 ~ 19
** Lv.5: 20 ~ 29
** Lv.6: 30 ~
* The power of Gunvolt's "Voltaic Chains" ability has been increased. At Lv.1, it will now surpass the power of "Luxcalibur"
* The power of the charge attack on Copen's "Brave Horn" EX Weapon has been increased.
* RAY and Copen are now able to acquire the following rare item (treasure): 
** P-PS MIAPLACIDUS (Module which allows the use of STATIONARY FIRING)
* The following issues have been fixed:
** In some cases, destroying enemy bullets would incorrectly score points.
** An incorrect edit item was present under Beck's MINE bullet type.
* Various other issues have been fixed to improve game experience.
1.4.2 	November 8, 2019(Switch only)	
* When playing on a Nintendo Switch Lite, a message will now be displayed with information on the limitations of the Dousing ability.
==Trailers==
===English Trailers===
===Japanese Trailers===
==Reception==
The game received positive reviews, with praise directed towards the platforming, graphics and technical performance. It was dubbed by several reviews the best game to feature Beck and the "Mighty" moniker, including the original Mighty No. 9.
By December 26th 2017, the game had over 80,000 downloads.https://nintendoeverything.com/mighty-gunvolt-burst-new-update-dlc-characters-and-demo-on-thursday-game-surpasses-80000-downloads/ It was the 17th best selling game on overseas Nintendo Switch eShops in 2017.http://web.archive.org/web/20180119143214/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/software/feature/switch-2017-ranking-overseas.html
==Trivia==
*The names of certain achievements in Burst's Japanese version reference philosophical concepts and thought experiments:
**Ship of Theseus (Moniqa sticker)
**Swampman (Dr. Sanda sticker)
***This thought experiment is directly referenced in Quinn's Story.
**Brain in a Vat (Xiao Wu sticker)
**Mind Transfer (Dr. Blackwell sticker)
**Paradigm Shift (Asimov sticker)
***Though these concepts are unrelated to Burst's plot, they bear some relevance the plot of Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX: the Ship of Theseus parallels Copen's transformation into a cyborg that resembles his biological body; Brain in a Vat parallels the Butterfly Effect; Mind Transfer parallels Demerzel; and Paradigm Shift parallels the change in the power structure of the world in which Adepts became the dominant race and humans became oppressed. However, Luminous Avenger iX did not begin development until the start of 2018Inti Creates panel at Anime Expo 2019, after Burst's release, so these parallels are likely coincidental.
*The game was released just two days after Comcept was acquired by Level-5.
==References==
*Mighty Gunvolt Burst website
*Gal*Gunvolt Burst website
== Navigation ==
===Series Navigation===
===Mighty Gunvolt Burst Navigation===
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