X moves with a graceful flow that makes the game's intro text redundant: A few minutes in X's company makes it obvious he's Dr Light's best work. Whichever Maverick you choose to fight, getting to the final showdown requires a lot of shooting, charging, jumping, grabbing, and climbing. Even though Mega Man X is an action game and you can technically blow through it in an hour or two, it has innumerable loving touches that are worth seeking out.īest of all, fighting through each stage just feels good. Destroying Launch Octopus causes Sting Chameleon's forest to flood, and X can use the extra buoyancy to nab another heart tank. Beating up Chill Penguin freezes over Flame Mammoth's hellish domain, making it possible to grab a heart tank that's otherwise inaccessible. Bringing down Storm Eagle's massive airship cuts off power to Spark Mandrill's stage, subsequently crippling its difficult mid-boss. "Ow."ĭigging up every secret in Mega Man X even means having to observe how one Maverick's defeat affects his fellows. It's a refreshing diversion next to the straight-shot stages that define the original Mega Man titles. Offing the eight Mavericks who've allied themselves with Sigma is your priority, but the search for upgrades takes you to every corner of every stage. X can find eight Heart Tanks to permanently extend his health bar, and he can also find four body upgrades: A stronger helmet, dash boots, damage-absorbing armor, and a stronger arm cannon (if he misses the arm upgrade, he automatically gets it from his wild-haired mentor, Zero, after the latter kicks the bucket). He can dash, he can climb up walls, he can charge all the weapons he wins from bosses (Mega Man 1.0 is only capable of charging a few across all his games), and he can hunt down upgrades. Consequently, X is blessed with a move set the first Mega Man has no claim to. X is Mega Man's successor, and Dr Light's opus. Mega Man X's slick, cool story inspirations (Blade Runner, Terminator) permeate its gameplay, too. By extension, the Reploids that want to paint the streets with human blood are X's own kin – including the game's primary bad guy, Sigma. X is the blueprint for the mechanically-advanced "Reploid" race. There's even a sampling of moral conflict, i.e. Gone are the original series' lovably silly robot masters and Dr Wily's weird schemes in its place is a tale about robots aiming to wipe humans off the earth. Though Mega Man X isn't a story-heavy game, it also evolved Mega Man's plot to make it a little more appealing for pre-teens and teens making the jump to the SNES in 1993. I'd fallen away from the Mega Man series for some time before I glanced at the back of Mega Man X's box, but I still found myself intrigued by the "fresh start" the story offers: The original Mega Man is gone, and a fascinating new robot wears his peace-keeping mantle. Mega Man X is even tailored to be a great entry-point for anyone who might've skipped Mega Man's original exploits on the NES. Scratch the surface all you like, but you won't find any flaws worth mentioning. But he's neither arrogant nor overdressed he's friendly, he's a witty conversationalist, and he's good-looking. If you think of the game industry's transition from 8- to- 16-bits as a dinner party, Mega Man X is the guest who just kills it with his debonair ensemble. Join us as we review all the games on the SNES Classic Mini Edition in chronological order! Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team. This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247.
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