Introduction

It's been a while since I've done of these.

Every time I play through Mega Man X, as I recently did once again, I want to write a review about it. I never have, however, because I get nervous since I don't trust my skills as a writer to truly convey how great of a game Mega Man X is. I fear that I would botch the review somehow, and not succeed in properly explaining why the game is damn near perfect, and the most close to perfection I've ever experienced a game get to in all my years as an avid gamer. Needless to say Mega Man X means a whole lot to me, and a bunch of great childhood memories have to do with Mega Man X.

But I finally decided to give it a shot. So, let's see how this goes. I will try not to let my fanboyism get in the way, and while I find the game to be near flawless, it's my job to find the flaws that there are to be found.

Let's back track a little first.

In the early 90s, after five titles, the classic Mega Man series for the NES was starting to suffer. Players felt that the series suffered from a lack of innovation, and the games were being too repetitive. On top of that, Nintendo had already come up with its brand new 16 bit console, the Super NES, and the Mega Man series for the old NES was being outclassed by the new titles for the shiny 16 bit console with more power.

One more Mega Man game would be released for the NES, but Capcom decided to work on a whole new sister series for the SNES, called Mega Man X.

Mega Man X would retain all the fundamentals of the old Mega Man series. The main character was similar, would still run and shoot robot enemies, and the player would choose from eight freely selectable levels, defeating the main boss of each level and collecting its unique special weapon, each of which would be the weakness, in a rock-paper-scissors manner, of a specific boss that would this time be called Mavericks, instead of Robot Masters.

One of the biggest differences, however, would be the way X controls. With three new abilities, dashing and wall jumping and wall climbing, X would have a whole new range of motion that the classic Mega Man never had.

This increased mobility fundamentally changes the level design and the way the game is played.

X is a lot more agile and quicker than Mega Man ever was, the the X series is generally more fast paced compared to the classic series. With more emphasis on quick maneuvering and clearing enemies, instead of pure platforming, the face lift turns X into a completely different game, and I welcomed it with open arms.

But how does Mega Man X fair as a game? Why is it my favorite game of all time? Why am I such an expert as this game that I came this close to getting a speedrun world record on it, out of muscle memory?

And - GASP - why do I feel Mega Man X is head and shoulders above the Classic Series? So much so that I find it hard to even go back to the Classic Series after falling in love with Mega Man X.

Gameplay

I'll just get this out of the way:

Mega Man X is the best playing platformer I'e ever played.

Yes, even better than Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario Bros. 3. It's that good.

X's controls are tight, is never unfair, you're in complete control at all times, and even though the game is very fast paced, the game never outclasses you. You can change directions mid-jump, you can control where and when X lands, and every screw up you make is on you, not the game.

The Classic Series had very good controls, as well, but I always felt Mega Man was a bit stiff and sluggish, and I was sometimes unsure whether or not I could make a jump.

This never happens with X, as it's always clear whether a jump is possible to make.

Mega Man X can be, and is, challenging, but it's never frustrating. Every time you screw up, it just motivates you to learn more. This is very important for a platformer, since many times a platforming game just resorts to being artificially unfair to create a fake challenge. Looking at you, Ninja Gaiden.

The ability to wall climb can save you from the knock back effect of hitting enemies, but the game is still designed around that enough to not make it too easy.

New to the Mega Man series, X introduces the concept of an intro stage, and the intro stage of Mega Man X also happens to be one of the best intro stages ever made.

It familiarizes the player to the new core mechanics of the game by forcing him to use them to get around. For a first time player, it can be challenging enough, but it's mostly fun and its main goal is to hook the player to wanting more.

You fight two mini bosses on bridges which collapse, thus forcing you to climb the wall to continue on. Optional power ups can be found by exploring and dabbling with the wall sliding ability.

I like the fact that the game never really explains any of this, but makes it obvious enough for the player to discover on his own. It makes it all the more satisfying.

I often say that Pokémon Red and Blue got it right the first time by just throwing the player on this brand new adventure to learn on his own, instead of wasting an hour on thousands of tutorials that take away the experience of organically learning like the newer games do.

Playing Mega Man X is easy, but mastering it is hard. And I feel that's exactly how it should be.

At the end of the intro stage, you're faced with an unbeatable boss, the Boba Fett lookalike Vile, and after defeat you're saved by the ally character and fan favorite Zero.

Zero then tells the player that he's not yet strong enough to go against the final bosses of the game.

This introduces a whole new mechanic to the X series, which is the collectable power ups that bring a roleplaying game element to the X games.

X starts out rather weak and futile, with an energy bar much lower than what it was in the NES games.

But in each level the player can collect heart tanks, of which there are 8 total, that make the energy bar grow, and after collecting each one X is as strong, if not stronger, than the classic Mega Man.

In addition to the heart tanks, there are four armor upgrades hidden, each giving X a new ability: the leg upgrade gives X the ability to dash forward in quick fashion; the arm upgrade gives X the ability to further charge up his buster and charge special weapons; the helmet upgrade makes it possible to break blocks with X's head; and finally the body armor reduces damage by 50%.

Each part gives X a slightly different look with the upgraded part being white, instead of the blue color that X starts off with. When completed, X looks distinct from the Classic Mega Man, and like a matured badass.

As you play the game and get better, X grows with you, and this I feel is something that greatly adds to the personal experience the player gets while playing the game.

The secrets require outside of the box thinking, but are never too obscure. Sometimes they require certain special weapons and abilities to be found beforehand, and you need to do some back tracking in order to find all of them, but it's not too bad, and once a stage has been cleared once, subsequent visits can be ended at the player's leisure via the Exit button in the start menu. Once again, as the player plays more and gets familiar with the mechanics and the ins and outs of the game, it gets easier to spot the secrets. It truly is very well designed.

A criticism could be made about the game's inverse difficulty curve, which does exist; after all, you start the game weaker than you end it, and this can be an issue when the game is non-linear.

So, after the intro stage, the player can choose from eight stages in the stage selection screen.

One flaw I need to point out surfaces here, as for a first time player, it's safe to say that six or seven of the eight bosses are next to impossible to beat as a first boss.

The rock-paper-scissors mechanic makes it so that each boss has a weakness, and as you collect the weapons by beating the bosses, you need to figure which boss is weak to which weapon.

Typically, Chill Penguin is chosen as the first boss, and the game clearly intends that the game is played like this, since the dashing ability, which is an integral part of the gameplay experience, can be found in this stage.

Chill Penguin is also by far the easiest Maverick to beat without his weakness, so he is the ideal first boss.

But the game never tells or even hints at this, so it can be deemed unfair to a new player.

Mind you, all the stages and bosses can be beaten without any upgrades, and I've done it several times - barring Chill Penguin, since the dash upgrade is mandatory in his stage - but I'm an extremely experienced player, and me beating the bosses without their weaknesses has bee a result of a ton of trial and error.

Also, sometimes the bosses, such as Spark Mandrill, go down too easily to their weaknesses. This was a flaw in the original series, as well.

I personally do recommend trying to take down the Mavericks without their weaknesses for a fun challenge, but be prepared to die quite a lot.

The special weapons are also more than just easy ways to kills bosses, as they all have their unique ways in which the player ca interact with his surroundings. There's not a single filler weapon, and the game is designed in such a way that the player can get creative and try out different things in different playthroughs. This puts the replayability of Mega Man X through the roof, as no playthrough is the same.

Another gameplay flaw, probably the only other one I can think of, is the level at which the enemies respawn.

Especially in the first of three final stages - which are linear and come after the eight levels have been cleared - has a specific part where the player must wall climb while dodging enemy attacks, and one false move will cause the destroyed enemies to respawn. This is an infamous part, and is widely considered as the worst part of Mega Man X. And I agree that it's a rare design flaw in the game.

At worst, these are minor nitpicks and do not take away from the experience that much. Once you find a boss order that you're comfortable with, you can deal with one annoying part in one of the final stages easily.

Gameplay-wise, it's honestly hard to find stuff to complain about in Mega Man X, even while attempting to remain objective and not a fanboy.

The final boss can be very tough, and I know for a fact that people have even called it unfair, but honestly once you get the hang of it and realize how it's done, it's not that bad, in my opinion. It's the final boss, so yes, it's hard, but not impossible.

Mega Man X just nails it, in every way imaginable. Not matter how many times I play it, it's always, always, a fun experience. It's honestly the most fun I can have with a videogame, and I like a ton of games.

But Mega Man X is one of those rare cases that just gets everything right. Stuff just clicks, and it's hard to put it in any other way.

Graphics

Like a lot of SNES games, Mega Man X has aged tremendously.

While nothing jaw droppingly amazing, it was good for its time, and holds well today. Unlike a lot of the early 3D games made for the PlayStation, for example.

The overall graphical feel of X is a big step away from the cartoony NES series. X is more mature, more adult, grittier and serious. The atmosphere is darker, while still retaining the feel of the Mega Man universe.

The enemies are well animated and the backgrounds are detailed enough. The game moves so fast that you rarely spend any time looking at them anyway, but what's there is good.

Each stage has its own feel, and the stages vary from a mine to a jungle forest to an icy mountain and so on all the way to a factory, and lots in between.

The enemy designs are also great, and the designs for the bosses are among my favorites in the entire Mega Man series.

I doubt the graphical style of Mega Man X never truly ages, the style is timeless, and it's as pretty to look at now as it was when I first played it.

There are some framerate issues found in two instances that are pretty bad, but are so rare that they don't take much away from the experience.

Music

Not only is Mega Man X a blast to play, it's equally great to listen to.

Right at the very start, the heavy guitar riff of the main menu informs the player that shit is about to get real.

And it keeps going right after with the intro stage theme with a similar heavy rock riff. Immediately the music introduces you to a more serious world than that of the NES series.

Mega Man 2's soundtrack is often cited as a fan favorite among the Mega Man soundtracks, and I do feel that it's an awesome soundtrack, but to me X is where it's at. It's also the Mega Man 2 of the X series as far as soundtracks go. Later installments of the X games had their share of great tracks, but no other X game had a flawless soundtrack like the X did.

Every track is perfect, every track has you humming a long, and every track will get stuck in your head after playing.

The tracks are heavy metal-ish, but far from generic, or even repetitive.

The tracks compliment each level well, and there's enough variance between them that every level has its own identity.

The soundtrack feels like a labor of love, and it is actually my favorite videogame soundtrack of all time.

A special mention has to be made of the tune at the first of the three final stages. There's just something about the slow building theme that evolves into a heroic epic, telling the story of a hero that has traveled a long way to arrive to where he's at.

When the song starts playing at the beginning of the level, as you're greeted by Zero, now stronger and more experienced as you were at the start of the game when Zero saved your ass, it really makes you feel like you've grown with the game.

It was a really awesome thing to experience as a kid.

I took stuff like this seriously, okay?

That, along with Spark Mandrill's theme, is something I still listen to when I'm no even playing. It's that good of a music piece.

Overall

I could just repeat much of what I've said in this piece.

Mega Man X is a great videogame. Even with a few flaws here and there, it comes the closest to perfection than any other game I've come across, like I mentioned above.

It's provided me so much entertainment over the years it's crazy.

Nowadays I can beat the game in about an hour, and I still do so frequently. The amazing thing is that I've beat the game a million times, but there are no diminishing returns; I still enjoy it to this day.

The X series had a lot of sequels, each of them adding new features and gameplay mechanics, and many of them were excellent games, but none of them nailed it quite like the first X did.

I enjoy every level of the game, I have fun with every boss, and except for one specific part of the game, I feel the gameplay is perfect and fun at all times.

Usually in games there are more than one or two parts that make you cringe whenever you contemplate starting a new game, but not Mega Man X. It simply manages to remain enjoyable throughout.

And I can't think of many games, if any, that have been able to do that for me.

The world is full of great games, but I'm fairly sure that unless something very dramatic happens, I will go to my grave claiming that Mega Man X is my favorite game of all time.

The timeless graphics, perfect gameplay, awesome soundtrack, replayability and overall over the top fun factor make it a game worth revisiting multiple times a year, still.

I hope I was at least somewhat capable of explaining why.

I will, by the way, be reviewing the other two X games, X2 and X3, of the SNES trilogy at a later date, so if you enjoyed this review, follow, so you'll be notified when I do so.