Mega Man X

Finally, FINALLY, Mega Man has hit the SNES, and what a hell of a way to launch! Mega Man X, as stated in the previous post, is the launch of a new series. A darker, more mature series, dealing with more complicated issues with more complex solutions.

Actually not really. The stories would have you believe that, but the real solutions are the same old things that were in the last games. Blow shit up with your buster! The gameplay in this series is close to the original, with some tweaks to make you approach it a new way. First off, the gameplay is much faster and more open. New moves, include dashing and wall hiking, opening up whole new possibilities of exploration never before seen in this franchise.

These games are a lot more story heavy as well. Some of them are pretty good, although the majority aren't anything special. The overall arc of the X series though builds up to some really awesome situations and boss battles, and X and Zero really are more interesting characters than their 8-bit counter parts. Zero is kind of like a cross between Bass and Proto Man... oh wait... Bass hasn't been invented yet... crud...

Well ignoring that, this is one of the best Mega Man games ever made, and it kicks off an amazing series. It was clear Mega Man was getting some much need tender loving development after the somewhat lagging quality of the previous games. We got a lot to cover here story wise though, much more than anything else so lets jump into it.

New Features

• One of X's primary means of travel is dashing; this new mechanic alone changes how the game is played.
• X can wall hike, i.e. he can kick the sides of a wall and propel himself upwards, or cling to the sides and slide down them. This is important for exploration and boss strategy.
• New to Mega Man games, X can find and receive upgrades hidden throughout the levels. These include armor pieces with various functions, or life extending heart containers and Sub-Tanks.
• Sub-Tanks, by the way, replace E-Tanks, and are refillable.
• The X-Buster, once upgraded, can charge ANY weapon, not just the standard shot.
• The order in which you visit stages can drastically alter the terrain of the level. This is required in a few areas to get certain items.

Story
This all starts off with the Journal of Dr. Cain from the instruction manual. Basically, Dr. Cain uncovers to old ruins of Dr. Light's Lab and finds a capsule that contains Mega Man X, a robot much more advanced than anything ever seen. Mega Man X was created to have free will, to be able to think, rationalize and feel emotion. In a lot of ways, X is more human than Robot. X was sealed away because this free will makes him dangerous in a lot of ways. X has the ability to break any and all of the rules of Robotics (we'll get in to how when taken into the greater context of the entire series makes no sense at all), but X must come to the conclusion to not break these rules, or at least the very first important rule, "robots should not harm humans." In a lot of ways, X is less programed not to harm humans, and more instilled with the values of his creator, Dr. Light, and the virtues of protecting them. Since such a thing is incredibly dangerous to experiment with, X was sealed since Dr. Light would not live long enough to finish his work. He was supposed to be sealed for 30 years, but ended up being sealed for over a hundred years!

Dr. Cain, completely flabbergasted by X's articulate design (he even comments on how excited he got about having an argument with a robot) studies him exhaustively, and with X's help, they attempt to replicate the design and create more androids like him. Hence the term "Reploid" would come to describe the new wave of robots based on X.

The reploids are mass produced and eventually work side by side with humans in building a new future. However, they are not designed perfectly, and begin to break and attack humans. The reason for this is that all Reploids contain a "suffering circuit." This circuit allows reploids to empathize with humans. X's suffering circuit is perfectly designed, but Dr. Cain's is faulty. If a malfunction occurs, these Reploids will attack humans, and are then referred to as Mavericks and must be shut down. After several incidents of Maverick attacks, Dr. Cain and the government form the Maverick hunters, placing their strongest reploids to deal with the Maverick threat. The leader of this group is Sigma, Dr. Cain's latest model of reploid.

Ok I don't think this is revealed in X1 exactly, but it does take place before the game and is more or less talked about through the series. It's complicated, pay attention. The Maverick Hunters deal with these problems efficiently till one day they discover another buried ruined lab. Here, they find another sealed robot that is more powerful than any of them have ever faced before, and what's worse, he's already Maverick. This robot turns out to be Zero, and Sigma being the only robot powerful enough to stop him faces him in combat. He barely defeats him but gets the energy crystal on his head shattered in the battle.

Zero, I guess, being an anomaly and not actually being a Reploid, get's examined and purged of his homicidal tendencies by giving him the "suffering circuit." Zero then joins the Maverick Hunters and befriends X in the process. Back to what is actually in Mega Man X.

Some time after this incident, Sigma goes Maverick and takes a big chunk of the Maverick Hunters with him. This leaves only a few left, Zero and Mega Man X among them. Zero assumes the leadership of the Maverick Hunters while Dr. Cain tries to evacuate the city for the impending Maverick War. Mega Man X and Zero are sent to stop Sigma.

THEN THE GAME STARTS

Whew, that's a lot huh?

Anyway, Mega Man X is confronted by former hunter gone Maverick, Vile. Vile beats Mega Man, and just as Vile is about to destroy X, Zero interferes and saves him. X is worried about his only abilities to be effective, but Zero tells him he hasn't reached his full potential yet. X goes after the remaining mavericks, while Zero does noth... er searches for Sigma. X finds some hidden capsules left for him by his creator, conveniently on the way to the Maverick's hes trying to destroy, and Dr. Light leaves a hologram for him that upgrades his various abilities.

Eventually, X makes use of his Variable Weapons System, left over from his predecessor -but upgraded for the future - and he defeats all the Mavericks. All that's left is Sigma, who's fortress Zero finds. Zero heads in first, being the more powerful of the two, and X takes up the rear. In the fortress Zero encounters Vile again and gets captured. X then fights Vile and comes inches to being destroyed, when Zero busts out of his cell and sacrifices himself to save X.

Vile is damaged, but in more than enough shape to take out X. X suddenly gets a burst of Deus Ex Machina, and absorbs a bunch of energy and takes down Vile. He then runs to Zero, who with his dying breath, gives X his Z-buster and tells him he has grown powerful enough to stop Sigma.

Or if you collected the X-Buster upgrade in Flame Mammoths level, well he just dies. Never to return... EVER... for real...

X finally catches up to Sigma and does battle with him, defeating him. This causes Sigma's mysteriously floating fortress to explode. X watches from a nearby cliff pondering the events that lay before him. X wonders if he made the right decision to fight, and if he will ever stop fighting. He is after all a pacifist with a really big gun...

As the credits roll, a TV screen turns on with Sigma's face revealing that X hasn't seen the last of him.

Short Version: Kill 8 Robot Masters and defeat Dr. Wil... Sigma.

Aesthetics
Now naturally the game is going to look better with beefed up 16-bit graphics. You got more colors, better looking sprites, and of course mode-7... well actually I don't think Mode-7 is used in this game... but it could have been... if they wanted it?

There's more going on than just the graphics though, which is why I don't rate these games based purely on them, and instead rate them on aesthetics as a whole. You've gotta have fluid animation and interesting visuals to look at. Mega Man X has both of those.

Each stage has it's own look to it, and they all are incredibly vibrant. Capcom really took advantage of the SNES' capabilities here. The overall tone of the game has shifted in visualizations too. Everything going on here reflects the take over of the city by Mavericks and the danger is visually a lot less cartoony.

The bosses are well designed, the new theme of basing the mavericks on animals has breathed a second wind into the franchise that was bringing us Train and Centaur Man... ugh... Some of them do look a little ridiculous, like Chill Penguin, but most look pretty cool. Too bad Vile is a clear Boba Fett rip off.

Sound
This game has some of the most rocking tunes to the whole franchise. It sits right next to Mega Man 2 for me, and some consider it the best. The opening highway stage theme is awesome and would get a lot of throwbacks and in some ways encompass itself as X's personal theme.

Zero's theme is also very good, and when you hear it start up, he'll usually do something awesome. Inafune really wanted Zero to steal the show, and he does in a lot of scenes.

Out of all the songs, my personal favorite is Storm Eagle's. It's just really damn good, but all the stages have excellent music. You could almost play this game purely for the music, but luckily the game kicks ass too.

The sound effects of course have been given a touch up to, also hearing Mega Man say "Hadouken" is hilarious, although that's a hidden touch. Really, on sound effects we won't experience any pain here until X4... oh god...

Design
The main design change over the original revolves around powering X up with new equipment hidden through out the levels. The game is a hell of a lot harder without these items. Youtube user and Mega Man X lover, HideofBeast had this to say, which I feel sums up the design better than I could. Bare in mind I'm paraphrasing and not getting him exactly word for word because I heard this a while ago.... but the gist is the same.

"When we first play Mega Man X, we're not sure what to expect. X is a new hero, but he plays just like what we've come to expect from previous Mega Man games. When we get to the first boss, X is completely hopeless against this new power, and we as the player are thoroughly thrashed. We're not sure if we're powerful enough to handle this new crisis or if X is up to the task, and X is unsure himself. We are saved at the last second by Zero, who is much more powerful than we are, and tells us we haven't lived up to our true potential yet.

We then are put into the game and choosing various stages. Most of which also kick our ass. It's becoming apparent that we won't be able to rely on our older skills to handle these new problems. Then we get to Chill Penguin's stage; a stage where you run into Dr. Light's upgrade capsule and he gives you the Dash boots. Suddenly the game starts opening up a bit more, things gradually become easier as we gain new skills to deal with these new problems. X becomes more advanced and more complex, but we as the player grow with him. When we finally reach Vile again, the skills we've learned and the help from our friends has grown X into a much more sophisticated and able warrior, as have we the player grown this way.

After defeating Vile, Zero recognizes how powerful we have become, and gives us his Z-buster completing the transformation. We are now ready to face this new threat."

Couldn't say it better myself. Mega Man X is about getting that player to transition from Mega Mega Man classic into this new series, and the design is built around that. Don't be surprised if you get your ass kicked left and right until you learn how to play this game, even if you're a veteran of the classic series.

This game gets easier as you learn to play it. The stages that are easier to beat often make the stages that are tougher easier to beat by changing them. For instance, beat Chill Penguin's stage first, and Flame Mammoth's stage is frozen over, removing all the lava. Storm Eagle's stage will crash land onto Spark Mandrill's stage.

That's not to say this game is extremely tough, actually it's one of the less challenging games, but it eases you in to the transition very well so you will be able to handle what the game throws at you.

The weapons all are useful too, and you know how I am about weapon uses. Nothing replaces the X-buster this game, but all the weapons have good situational use. This is probably one of the best designed Mega Man games of all time.

Playability
With the addition of new moves, new controls, and new challenges designed around these, expect a small transitional period from the original games. Once you get the hang of it, you'll love playing this game.

Extras

• Boss Order: Chill Penguin is almost mandatory for those Dash boots as every boss is so much harder without them. After him, you can minimize backtracking for items by going Storm Eagle, Flame Mammoth, Spark Mandril, Armored Armadillo, Launch Octopus, Boomer Kuwanger and finally Sting Chameleon. This isn't exactly the weakness order, but close enough and better if you don't want to revisit stages.
• A good way to fill up those energy tanks is to use a charged Rolling Shield on Armored Armadillo's stage. Simply jump into the bats until full.
• Hidden in this game is the Hadouken from Street Fighter. It's really complicated to get so don't bother until you've mastered the game anyway. The Hadouken will take down any enemy in one hit, save the final boss.
• Boomerang Cutter will carry objects back to you. This is how you get the Sub-Tank in Spark Mandrill's stage. Boomerang Cutter will also chop off Launch Octopuse's arms.
• You'll need the X-buster upgrade to get some of the items, so either wait till after Zero gives you his, or get it early in Flame Mammoth's stage.
• Even using Rolling Shield as Sigma's final form weakness, he's still tough as hell until you figure him out. Fill up the Sub-Tanks in that stage by using a charged Rolling Shield and jumping into the caterpillar mechalinoids.
• Wait after the credits roll for a bit to get this message in the screenshot.

Mega Man X is one of the best Mega Man games of all time. If the classic series is a bit too old for you, try this one. Mega Man X came out around the same time as Super Metroid and the two games are similar in a lot of ways. So if you like that game, you'll probably like X.

Playthroughs
Let's Play Mega Man X! [Video] by Kefkafloyd
Speedrun by Sattik 'Tiki' Ghosh
X-X3 No Dash, Minimalist Run by HideofBeast