Mega Man X Review

Did you ever have a friend who was so obsessed with a video game series you never really played it, as to not "bite?"  I did, and that friend happened to pick the Mega Man series.  I never really got into it when it was out, even though I've known everything about it, and just recently started trekking through the series.  The one I've chosen to review now is Mega Man X, originally released for the SNES, but has been ported a few times since. As always, I've added a few links below to the product, so while this is an older game, as I mentioned it has been redone, and those links are included as well. Also, note the PSP version isn't a straight re-release; it's a bit different. It's also available on the Playstation Network, for PS3 and Vita.



Mega Man X (hereinafter MMX) is a spin-off of sorts of the uber popular Mega Man (hereinafter MM) series.  Essentially it's a little bit more fast paced, is in a future universe, and you fight Mavericks instead of _____ Man.  And Sigma replaces Wily as your main antagonist.  MMX was the first entry into the spinoff series.

MMX has a ton of similarities with the MM series.  You basically have to work your way through 8 stages, each with its own unique boss.  You then get a weapon which one of the bosses is weak to, and you continue until you defeat them all.  Then, you go through a "castle," fighting all the bosses again, culminating in a large battle with a final boss.  Oh, and the music is typically amazing.

MM was absolutely revolutionary.  It was graphically the most impressive NES title, and boasted really tight, precise controls.  Its simple gameplay was augmented slightly over the years while always retaining the same basic mechanics: shoot crap and steal dead people's weapons.  They eventually added charged shots, sliding, and dashing.  Simple tweaks, but pivotal.  Anywho, this series really defined the action/adventure genre, as you traversed a stage, culminating in a boss battle, and leading to an improvement to your character.  The improvements alone were absolutely groundbreaking...as you progress, you become more powerful, simple stuff now, but really laid the groundwork for adventure games.  The game also featured a full health bar versus a rigid hit limit, random enemy drops, and more diversity than most games on the system could ever offer.

So the MM series as a whole is famous for their boss order.  You have to beat one boss without their weakness, then the one you beat typically dictates the next one you go after.  The popular starting point in this game is Chill Penguin.  I'm just going to throw this out there, but the X series has some of the worst boss names in the history of man.  Granted, Clown Man isn't much to revel at, but Launch Octopus?  What the hell is that?  I mean yea it's an Octopus...that launches?  Nonsense.  I mean...Snake Man makes sense, he dresses like a snake and throws snakes at you.  But I digress.

Ok...so story.  No one plays MM for its story because it's kind of dumb.  Someone creates evil robot masters, you fight them.  After you kill them all, you kill them again, then fight the dude who made them.  Simple.  An estimated 8 people on the entire planet 1) care about MM's story and 2) know it.  I am not one of them.  I shoot things, they die.  It's pleasant.

Ok, so while the game was very similar to the previous iterations, it did add new things.  For instance, stages change depending on the order in which you beat the bosses.  The coolest (literally) one to me was some of the magma cooling in Flame Mammoth's level if you defeat Chill Penguin first.  This also opens up new paths in some stages, adding to the replayability.  There are also weapons that allow you access to different routes, like melting ice blocks with Flame Mammoth's weapon.

Another really cool aspect, and quite a step towards my "improvement" criteria I look for in games, was the inclusion of armor upgrades.  There were four in total: head, legs, arm and chest, and each gave you different abilities.  The helmet upgrade allowed you to break certain blocks, the X Buster upgrade allows a new level of charging your shots, as well as charging boss weapons, the chest upgrade halfs your damages, and most importantly, the leg upgrade allows you to dash, which becomes a staple in the series.  Also hidden is a nod to one of Capcom's more famous franchises, Street Fighter, allowing you to perform a Hadouken under certain extensive parameters and after finding an upgrade.

The game in itself isn't very difficult, especially compared to some of the NES counterparts, which can be brutal at times.  That probably has a lot to do with being familiar with the platform but re-defining it, as well as balance issues with some powerups.  The game has a decent length for first time players, especially trying to find the hidden paths and power-ups, but the MM series in general is very susceptible to speed runs.

This is going to be one of my smaller reviews because, frankly, there isn't much to talk about, and that's ok.  This game is quite different than some other games I'll review, particularly due to the lack of depth, but that's ok and doesn't hurt it all too much.  It does have a ton of things I'm looking for, but this isn't a game I play to grind, or agonize over improvements, it's a quick fix that lets me jump in and out leisurely.  It's more about stage memorization and twitch reflex than working on improving your character; you're really working on improving yourself more than anything.  It's different than other games I've talked about, as it's more action than adventure.  And that's totally cool with me.

While this game doesn't have the length and depth of some of other classic action/adventure RPGs, its action is top notch, and there are enough elements of what I look for to include it in this blog.  I'm not trying to pigeon hole myself too much to the point where I only have 15 more games to discuss, so I do plan on branching out to an extent, even though I do consider this game on point.

Do me a favor, if you read this, let me know some how.  I have no idea how many, if anyone, are actually reading it rather than clicking and simply yelling "TL;DR."  So like my Facebook post, comment and tell me how awful I am...something.  Thanks!

Next up: No clue, tired of lying haha.

Mega Man X Mega Man X Collection Mega Man X Collection Mega Man Maverick Hunter X