Mighty Gunvolt

Although a total of 9 characters are playable through downloadable content (Beck, Gunvolt, Ekoro, Call, Joule, Ray, Copen, Kurona, and Tenzou), Beck and Gunvolt's stories are the most fleshed out. Both of these routes feature the player character being sucked into a digital world resembling the one seen in Mighty No. 9, and after defeating the boss of the introductory stage, meeting what appears to be an evil version of the character that wasn't selected, who challenges them to defeat the 8 Mighty Numbers. From there, 8 stages become available, which can be played in any order. Each stage features a boss fight with one of the Mighty Numbers at the end. After defeating all eight, a cutscene plays where the playable character enters a crack in the simulation, leading in to the final four stages of the game. At the end of the first of these stages, the player fights the real version of the character they saw at the end of the intro stage. After winning the battle, the evil versions of Beck and Gunvolt both appear, as well as the game's true antagonist, Teseo, an adept originally from Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. The two heroes decide to work together, and simultaneously fire their weapons at Teseo during the final boss fight. However, after his defeat, Teseo resets the virtual world to its factory settings, which would doom the playable character to float in the void forever, if not for their sidekick coming in to save them in the minigame that plays during the credits. (Call saves Beck, Joule saves Gunvolt). In both endings, the sidekicks are teased to be joining the battle, building anticipation for their release as DLC characters.

The game features very similar retro run-and-gun 2D platforming to the first game, with a few differences besides level design. Differences that apply to all 9 playable characters include the game's titular "burst" system, which rewards the player with additional points for defeating enemies up-close as opposed to from a distance, as well as a new customization system. Players can discover upgrades hidden throughout the levels, then mix and match them to create up to 24 weapons on one save slot. However, most of these upgrades require "CP," a number which cannot be exceeded without the weapon becoming unusable. Much like the upgrades themselves, CP can be found hidden throughout the levels. Character-specific differences include the following:

• Beck: Capable of performing up to 3 air-dashes.
• Gunvolt: Capable of performing up to 3 mid-air jumps, as well as using special Septima abilities.
• Ekoro: Capable of hovering in the air, as well as using a technique called "Goddess's Blessing" to temporarily increase the damage of her bullets and make her invincible.
• Ray: Capable of using melee skills both grounded and airborne. However, Xel Decay means her health constantly depletes. She can regain health by defeating enemies.
• Copen: Capable of utilizing a wealth of "formations" with Lola as powerful EX weapons. He also has a more advanced air-dash than Beck.
• Kurona: Capable of hovering in mid-air, just like Ekoro. Her "Demonic Power" technique increases the power of her bullets, but instead of making her invincible, she gains the ability to pierce through enemy's shields. She can also use Spear Drop to attack enemies from above.
• Call: Capable of either hovering in the air or using a single air-dash. Uses a defensive barrier, and finds Patch Robots throughout the stage to help her destroy enemies.
• Joule: Capable of up to 3 jumps in mid-air, just like Gunvolt. She can use "Anthem" to negate CP limits temporarily.
• Tenzou: Capable of performing a slide, as well as temporarily activating "Doki Doki Mode" for an easier time destroying enemies.