Mega Man X (SNES)
+0 Story: Somewhere on the order of a century after the events of the original Mega Man, a scientist named Dr. Cain discovers the ruins of Dr. Light's laboratory, unearthing a capsule containing a robot unlike any the world has ever seen. This robot, called X, possesses the ability to think and reason like a human being. Fascinated by this discovery, Dr. Cain produces a number of "Reploids" based on X's design...which is all well and good until they start to go "Maverick" and turn on the humans they've been programmed to serve. A group of Reploids is organized to become "Maverick Hunters," led by a Reploid named Sigma. It isn't long before Sigma goes Maverick as well, taking most of the group with him. X joins Zero, the new leader of the Maverick Hunters, and sets out to quell the resistance. The premise is solid, but MMX suffers from MM3 syndrome: whole chunks of the story are absent from the game, and found only in the instruction manual. There's enough to get a general sense of the plot, and there's a good amount of dialogue—not to mention an action sequence or two—that firmly establishes the main characters, but I remember being very confused about the basic Reploid/Maverick terminology and where this fits in the greater Mega Man continuity when I first played the game.
+2 Graphics: Sharp-looking character sprites, slick animations, richly detailed backgrounds, and nifty special effects make the game a visual treat. It's very easy to tell the difference between the new styles of power-ups, identify which blocks you can break with a kick or a headbutt, and recognize whether you're destroying, injuring, or merely insulting your foes. Enemy and location designs are diverse, interesting, and often quite cool.
+2 Music: A powerhouse of a soundtrack. Energetic and memorable music makes the stages "pop," complimenting the visuals in a big way. Relentless positivity tinged with just the right amount of tension lends a feeling of thrilling danger to the game, and the few tracks that are particularly serious or ominous have that much more of an impact by straying comfortably from the norm.
+2 Sound Effects: A robust assortment of memorable and decidedly futuristic sounds. All the whirrs, clanks, bleeps, beeps, fweeps, and awoogas fit perfectly and add nicely to the atmosphere, and nothing (most notably the X-Buster charging noise) is ever obtrusive (except maybe the nonstop alarm at the end of the intro).
+2 Control: Having played Strider for the NES, I can tell you exactly how easily wall-jumping could've been a tragic nightmare in this game, yet X handles elegantly in both the new moves and the old ones. Every bit as responsive as classic Mega Man ever was, X runs, jumps, shoots, and dashes like a champ. Menus and the password screen are easy to navigate, and there's the added bonus of having configurable buttons. You might find yourself accidentally jumping out of your ride armor at first, but otherwise, that handles very nicely as well.
+1 Stages: An impressively smooth learning curve makes the game's solid challenges more manageable for gamers of all ability levels. There's a good mix of traditional action (dodging spikes on a moving elevator), variations on traditional action (hopping into an armored mech suit and punching things apart), and action that never would've worked in the Classic series (shooting up worms pouring out of the walls as you wall-kick your way above them). Enemies come in all shapes and sizes, and their attack patterns include everything from following you around, to sitting pretty and launching endless projectiles at you, to hiding in the background and ambushing you. The upgrades you possess and the order in which you tackle the stages can completely change the difficulty and nature of the challenges, so the player has a great deal of control over how tough the game is. Still, some of the situations are just plain hard, especially if you don't have the dash upgrade. The first Sigma stage beyond the battle with Vile is beastly, what with all the bouncing and wall-jumping and armored enemies and unarmored enemies endlessly reappearing if you start to slip. The second and third Sigma stage go a little overboard with extended wall-jumping segments full of too many enemies, and the enemy pairings are frequently ones you've already seen. The arm upgrade in Flame Mammoth's stage and the Heart Tank in Spark Mandrill's stage require a somewhat unreasonable amount of precision to reach. Parts of Boomer Kuwanger's stage dole out disproportionate punishments for the smallest and easiest of failures, transforming the tower from tense to tedious. RT-55J, the guardian of the armor upgrade, takes entirely too long to defeat, no matter what weapon you use. For the most part, the stages are thoughtfully designed, providing legitimate challenges that require clever platforming and skillful combat to overcome; usually these are both fun and fair, but the few exceptions can be rather unpleasant.
+2 Bosses: An interesting assortment of distinctly different villains. Representation across the animal kingdom is quite broad, with various sorts of birds (Storm Eagle, Chill Penguin) and mammals (Flame Mammoth, Spark Mandrill, Armored Armadillo) populating the roster, alongside a reptile (Sting Chameleon), a mollusk (Launch Octopus), and an insect (Boomer Kuwanger; yes, he's actually supposed to be a cockroach). The bosses come in all shapes and sizes (many of them notably larger than X), and their attack patterns throw a little bit of everything at the player—teleportation, shielding, energy siphoning, ramming attacks, projectile showers, you name it. The fortress bosses are also an interesting assortment: you have Vile, who goes from unstoppable rival to X's equal by the end of the game; Bospider, a nasty piece of work that demands quick pattern recognition; Rangda Bangda, a room that attacks you; D-Rex, a tank that takes up half the screen; Velguarder, a twitchy wolf-dog; and two forms of Sigma—the first being a predictable (and, admittedly, somewhat repetitive and tedious) fight, and the latter being one big platforming challenge. I'm not entirely in love with every boss, but they're all so diverse and thoughtfully designed that I can't help but give full marks.
+2 Special Weapons: Thanks to X's superior firepower and maneuverability, special weapons aren't as much of a necessity in the X series as they are in the Classic series, but darned if they aren't still fun to use. Fire Wave unleashes a constant, satisfying stream of damage on enemies up close; Homing Torpedo is one of the best homing weapons in the franchise, allowing multiple projectiles on the screen at one time and actually pursuing its targets (you know who you are, practically every other homing weapon); Rolling Shield is basically a bigger, faster, and more versatile Bubble Lead; Boomerang Cutter is arguably the best boomerang weapon in the franchise, with a large enough arc to make the boomerang action worthwhile and the item-grabbing ability cinching the deal; Chameleon Sting, Shotgun Ice, and Electric Spark are generally outclassed by the other weapons for everyday use, but are particularly helpful in a few places; Storm Tornado tears things apart and is one of the most enjoyably powerful weapons out there. Then, with the buster upgrade, the weapons get even better. Many of the charged attacks are more of a fun novelty than a genuine improvement over the standard attacks, but Rolling Shield, Chameleon Sting, Shotgun Ice, and Storm Tornado are noteworthy for adding a constant barrier, temporary invulnerability, the closest thing to a Rush utility, and a 90° rotation of the most devastating weapon in your arsenal...to your arsenal. The special weapons have unique effects on the bosses, too: Shotgun Ice freezes Spark Mandrill in his tracks; Fire Wave engulfs Chill Penguin in flames; Boomerang Cutter lops off Launch Octopus' tentacles and Flame Mammoth's snout, etc. Very cool. With such power at your disposal, you'll barely notice that the majority of weapons fire in a straight line in front of you.
+0 Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities: Extra lives and health and weapon refills sport a shiny new look, the Energy Balancer is now a default feature, and E-Tanks have been replaced with Sub Tanks—sort of a lateral shift, really, as you can carry up to four of them as permanent fixtures in your inventory (as opposed to a maximum of nine transitory E-Tanks in most games where they appear), but you have to manually fill them by collecting energy pellets when you're at full health. It's a tradeoff to hang around and grind for energy instead of replaying whole stages to stockpile one-shot items. Heart Tanks permanently extend your life bar, and armor upgrades improve your defense and expand your abilities in a meaningful way: the Leg Part grants you a gameplay-redefining dash; the Body Part drastically reduces the amount of damage you take; the Arm Part allows you to charge up your special weapons and charge up your regular blaster even further; and the Head Part lets you destroy certain bricks (of both the stationary and "harmfully falling on your head" variety) with a headbutt. The helmet upgrade is disappointingly underutilized (a recurring theme for the X series), but that's more a fault of the level design than the utility itself. It's also a letdown that the highest charge level of the upgraded X-Buster doesn't do any more damage to bosses than the regular charge shot (save for the final form of the final boss). A few of the upgrades could be better, but everything you collect makes a noticeable difference and is worth the effort. Oh, and let's not forget the secret and devastating Hadouken upgrade, which I'm sure would be awesome if I could pull off the probably straightforward button combo more than twice per game. These upgrades blow away anything in the Classic series, but in the X series, these are merely a baseline for the upgrades to come.
+2 Ending: Defeated and exploding, Sigma laments the failure of his plan to wipe out humankind and usher in an age of Reploid supremacy. X teleports out to a safe distance and watches the self-destructing fortress sink into the sea. As some serious, introspective music begins to play, a narrator informs us that X is grappling with some tough questions about the path of violence and the price of victory, and we get a real sense that X feels anguish over having to fight his brethren. The next scene peps up the music a bit and has X running home along the highway, not unlike in the ending to the original Mega Man, with details about the game's various enemies flashing by. The player is thanked for playing. Satisfied with a job well done, the player sits at the ending screen, enjoying the music for a few moments...AND THEN IS COMPLETELY SURPRISED WHEN SIGMA SHOWS UP TO TAUNT X AND SAY HE'LL BE BACK. You fool! You only destroyed Sigma's body, not his program! And so the sensation that the war is truly just beginning sets in, and you immediately want to go play X2. Awesome.
+1 Replay Value: The upgrades alone offer huge replay value—playing at full power is a completely different experience from running around with nothing, and all power-ups (except the dash) are completely optional and can be collected in a multitude of different orders. On top of that, you've got your standard eight bosses who can all be reasonably fought in any order (depending on your upgrades at the time). Plus, being able to charge up the special weapons with the Arm Part introduces a plethora of new ways to fight enemies, and being able to change some of the bosses' attack patterns with special weapons (particularly with Boomerang Cutter) helps as well. Perhaps the most interesting contributing factor to the game's high replay value is how defeating certain Mavericks alters certain aspects of other stages: defeat Storm Eagle, and his ship will crash into Spark Mandrill's stage, interfering with the electricity supply; defeat Chill Penguin, and Flame Mammoth's whole stage becomes iced over; and so on. It's a real shame this idea doesn't continue throughout the series (and MMX6's Nightmare Engine doesn't count!). Compared with most of the Classic series, the replay value is off the charts, but let's keep in mind that a lot of this is pretty standard for the X series.
+2 Polish: So many little touches give the game a thorough sense of player-friendliness and professionalism. Configurable controls are extremely welcome with all the new buttons you can press. The stage select screen gives you different ways of viewing the details of each stage, including a picture of what to expect there, a map showing where the stage is in relation to the others, and stats on the boss. Several enemies, in particular the Metalls and a lone Batton, pay homage to the Classic series. There's a superb learning curve that eases the player into the new game mechanics—the intro stage forces you to master the basics to proceed, and two unavoidable armor upgrades encourage you to try out all your abilities while reminding you there are other power-ups to find. There's so much attention to detail on so many levels; this is just scratching the surface.
+2 Extras/Easter Eggs: There's a sound test available from the get-go, lopping off limbs with Boomerang Cutter and the hidden fireball upgrade are pretty darn cool, the aforementioned lone Batton frequently leaves behind extra lives, and Sigma's surprise appearance after the credits is delightfully ominous. Other games may have more secret stuff, but the quality of these extras is quite good.
+2 Novelty: New moves, new graphics and sound, new upgrades, new storyline, new heroes, new villain, new boss format (animals instead of men)...nah, this is completely like every other Mega Man game.
Overall Score: +22 (+22 merits, -0 flaws)
[Last updated Oct 11, 2018]
+2 Graphics: Sharp-looking character sprites, slick animations, richly detailed backgrounds, and nifty special effects make the game a visual treat. It's very easy to tell the difference between the new styles of power-ups, identify which blocks you can break with a kick or a headbutt, and recognize whether you're destroying, injuring, or merely insulting your foes. Enemy and location designs are diverse, interesting, and often quite cool.
+2 Music: A powerhouse of a soundtrack. Energetic and memorable music makes the stages "pop," complimenting the visuals in a big way. Relentless positivity tinged with just the right amount of tension lends a feeling of thrilling danger to the game, and the few tracks that are particularly serious or ominous have that much more of an impact by straying comfortably from the norm.
+2 Sound Effects: A robust assortment of memorable and decidedly futuristic sounds. All the whirrs, clanks, bleeps, beeps, fweeps, and awoogas fit perfectly and add nicely to the atmosphere, and nothing (most notably the X-Buster charging noise) is ever obtrusive (except maybe the nonstop alarm at the end of the intro).
+2 Control: Having played Strider for the NES, I can tell you exactly how easily wall-jumping could've been a tragic nightmare in this game, yet X handles elegantly in both the new moves and the old ones. Every bit as responsive as classic Mega Man ever was, X runs, jumps, shoots, and dashes like a champ. Menus and the password screen are easy to navigate, and there's the added bonus of having configurable buttons. You might find yourself accidentally jumping out of your ride armor at first, but otherwise, that handles very nicely as well.
+1 Stages: An impressively smooth learning curve makes the game's solid challenges more manageable for gamers of all ability levels. There's a good mix of traditional action (dodging spikes on a moving elevator), variations on traditional action (hopping into an armored mech suit and punching things apart), and action that never would've worked in the Classic series (shooting up worms pouring out of the walls as you wall-kick your way above them). Enemies come in all shapes and sizes, and their attack patterns include everything from following you around, to sitting pretty and launching endless projectiles at you, to hiding in the background and ambushing you. The upgrades you possess and the order in which you tackle the stages can completely change the difficulty and nature of the challenges, so the player has a great deal of control over how tough the game is. Still, some of the situations are just plain hard, especially if you don't have the dash upgrade. The first Sigma stage beyond the battle with Vile is beastly, what with all the bouncing and wall-jumping and armored enemies and unarmored enemies endlessly reappearing if you start to slip. The second and third Sigma stage go a little overboard with extended wall-jumping segments full of too many enemies, and the enemy pairings are frequently ones you've already seen. The arm upgrade in Flame Mammoth's stage and the Heart Tank in Spark Mandrill's stage require a somewhat unreasonable amount of precision to reach. Parts of Boomer Kuwanger's stage dole out disproportionate punishments for the smallest and easiest of failures, transforming the tower from tense to tedious. RT-55J, the guardian of the armor upgrade, takes entirely too long to defeat, no matter what weapon you use. For the most part, the stages are thoughtfully designed, providing legitimate challenges that require clever platforming and skillful combat to overcome; usually these are both fun and fair, but the few exceptions can be rather unpleasant.
+2 Bosses: An interesting assortment of distinctly different villains. Representation across the animal kingdom is quite broad, with various sorts of birds (Storm Eagle, Chill Penguin) and mammals (Flame Mammoth, Spark Mandrill, Armored Armadillo) populating the roster, alongside a reptile (Sting Chameleon), a mollusk (Launch Octopus), and an insect (Boomer Kuwanger; yes, he's actually supposed to be a cockroach). The bosses come in all shapes and sizes (many of them notably larger than X), and their attack patterns throw a little bit of everything at the player—teleportation, shielding, energy siphoning, ramming attacks, projectile showers, you name it. The fortress bosses are also an interesting assortment: you have Vile, who goes from unstoppable rival to X's equal by the end of the game; Bospider, a nasty piece of work that demands quick pattern recognition; Rangda Bangda, a room that attacks you; D-Rex, a tank that takes up half the screen; Velguarder, a twitchy wolf-dog; and two forms of Sigma—the first being a predictable (and, admittedly, somewhat repetitive and tedious) fight, and the latter being one big platforming challenge. I'm not entirely in love with every boss, but they're all so diverse and thoughtfully designed that I can't help but give full marks.
+2 Special Weapons: Thanks to X's superior firepower and maneuverability, special weapons aren't as much of a necessity in the X series as they are in the Classic series, but darned if they aren't still fun to use. Fire Wave unleashes a constant, satisfying stream of damage on enemies up close; Homing Torpedo is one of the best homing weapons in the franchise, allowing multiple projectiles on the screen at one time and actually pursuing its targets (you know who you are, practically every other homing weapon); Rolling Shield is basically a bigger, faster, and more versatile Bubble Lead; Boomerang Cutter is arguably the best boomerang weapon in the franchise, with a large enough arc to make the boomerang action worthwhile and the item-grabbing ability cinching the deal; Chameleon Sting, Shotgun Ice, and Electric Spark are generally outclassed by the other weapons for everyday use, but are particularly helpful in a few places; Storm Tornado tears things apart and is one of the most enjoyably powerful weapons out there. Then, with the buster upgrade, the weapons get even better. Many of the charged attacks are more of a fun novelty than a genuine improvement over the standard attacks, but Rolling Shield, Chameleon Sting, Shotgun Ice, and Storm Tornado are noteworthy for adding a constant barrier, temporary invulnerability, the closest thing to a Rush utility, and a 90° rotation of the most devastating weapon in your arsenal...to your arsenal. The special weapons have unique effects on the bosses, too: Shotgun Ice freezes Spark Mandrill in his tracks; Fire Wave engulfs Chill Penguin in flames; Boomerang Cutter lops off Launch Octopus' tentacles and Flame Mammoth's snout, etc. Very cool. With such power at your disposal, you'll barely notice that the majority of weapons fire in a straight line in front of you.
+0 Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities: Extra lives and health and weapon refills sport a shiny new look, the Energy Balancer is now a default feature, and E-Tanks have been replaced with Sub Tanks—sort of a lateral shift, really, as you can carry up to four of them as permanent fixtures in your inventory (as opposed to a maximum of nine transitory E-Tanks in most games where they appear), but you have to manually fill them by collecting energy pellets when you're at full health. It's a tradeoff to hang around and grind for energy instead of replaying whole stages to stockpile one-shot items. Heart Tanks permanently extend your life bar, and armor upgrades improve your defense and expand your abilities in a meaningful way: the Leg Part grants you a gameplay-redefining dash; the Body Part drastically reduces the amount of damage you take; the Arm Part allows you to charge up your special weapons and charge up your regular blaster even further; and the Head Part lets you destroy certain bricks (of both the stationary and "harmfully falling on your head" variety) with a headbutt. The helmet upgrade is disappointingly underutilized (a recurring theme for the X series), but that's more a fault of the level design than the utility itself. It's also a letdown that the highest charge level of the upgraded X-Buster doesn't do any more damage to bosses than the regular charge shot (save for the final form of the final boss). A few of the upgrades could be better, but everything you collect makes a noticeable difference and is worth the effort. Oh, and let's not forget the secret and devastating Hadouken upgrade, which I'm sure would be awesome if I could pull off the probably straightforward button combo more than twice per game. These upgrades blow away anything in the Classic series, but in the X series, these are merely a baseline for the upgrades to come.
+2 Ending: Defeated and exploding, Sigma laments the failure of his plan to wipe out humankind and usher in an age of Reploid supremacy. X teleports out to a safe distance and watches the self-destructing fortress sink into the sea. As some serious, introspective music begins to play, a narrator informs us that X is grappling with some tough questions about the path of violence and the price of victory, and we get a real sense that X feels anguish over having to fight his brethren. The next scene peps up the music a bit and has X running home along the highway, not unlike in the ending to the original Mega Man, with details about the game's various enemies flashing by. The player is thanked for playing. Satisfied with a job well done, the player sits at the ending screen, enjoying the music for a few moments...AND THEN IS COMPLETELY SURPRISED WHEN SIGMA SHOWS UP TO TAUNT X AND SAY HE'LL BE BACK. You fool! You only destroyed Sigma's body, not his program! And so the sensation that the war is truly just beginning sets in, and you immediately want to go play X2. Awesome.
+1 Replay Value: The upgrades alone offer huge replay value—playing at full power is a completely different experience from running around with nothing, and all power-ups (except the dash) are completely optional and can be collected in a multitude of different orders. On top of that, you've got your standard eight bosses who can all be reasonably fought in any order (depending on your upgrades at the time). Plus, being able to charge up the special weapons with the Arm Part introduces a plethora of new ways to fight enemies, and being able to change some of the bosses' attack patterns with special weapons (particularly with Boomerang Cutter) helps as well. Perhaps the most interesting contributing factor to the game's high replay value is how defeating certain Mavericks alters certain aspects of other stages: defeat Storm Eagle, and his ship will crash into Spark Mandrill's stage, interfering with the electricity supply; defeat Chill Penguin, and Flame Mammoth's whole stage becomes iced over; and so on. It's a real shame this idea doesn't continue throughout the series (and MMX6's Nightmare Engine doesn't count!). Compared with most of the Classic series, the replay value is off the charts, but let's keep in mind that a lot of this is pretty standard for the X series.
+2 Polish: So many little touches give the game a thorough sense of player-friendliness and professionalism. Configurable controls are extremely welcome with all the new buttons you can press. The stage select screen gives you different ways of viewing the details of each stage, including a picture of what to expect there, a map showing where the stage is in relation to the others, and stats on the boss. Several enemies, in particular the Metalls and a lone Batton, pay homage to the Classic series. There's a superb learning curve that eases the player into the new game mechanics—the intro stage forces you to master the basics to proceed, and two unavoidable armor upgrades encourage you to try out all your abilities while reminding you there are other power-ups to find. There's so much attention to detail on so many levels; this is just scratching the surface.
+2 Extras/Easter Eggs: There's a sound test available from the get-go, lopping off limbs with Boomerang Cutter and the hidden fireball upgrade are pretty darn cool, the aforementioned lone Batton frequently leaves behind extra lives, and Sigma's surprise appearance after the credits is delightfully ominous. Other games may have more secret stuff, but the quality of these extras is quite good.
+2 Novelty: New moves, new graphics and sound, new upgrades, new storyline, new heroes, new villain, new boss format (animals instead of men)...nah, this is completely like every other Mega Man game.
Overall Score: +22 (+22 merits, -0 flaws)
[Last updated Oct 11, 2018]
Mega Man X2 (SNES)
+1 Story: X may have won the battle, but the war has just begun. Six months after Mega Man X, the Maverick Hunters are still mopping up rebellious Reploids. Soon, a group of Mavericks called the X-Hunters steps forward to stir up trouble. They claim they've recovered the remains of Zero, who apparently exploded neatly into three parts when he sacrificed himself against Vile in the last game. X sets out to recover his friend and stop the X-Hunters from whatever scheme they're up to...which may or may not be masterminded by a reconstructed Sigma. There's a bit of intrigue, we get a decent sense of character from the leading players, we finally meet Dr. Cain and see his lab, and even the stage designs tell a little bit of a story (dinosaur tank rampaging through the city, for instance). Still, something about the story feels hollow until Sigma appears; rebuilding Zero is completely optional (and more like a secret bonus, to some extent), so most of the adventure is just cleaning up all the leftover bad guys from the battle you fought in the first game.
+1 Graphics: Everything I said about the graphics in MMX1 can be said here as well, except there's a noticeable amount of repetition in the foregrounds and backgrounds. The stages are still full of graphical details that give a definite sense of location (Wheel Gator and Flame Stag absolutely feel like a rampaging dinosaur tank and active volcano, respectively), but there are numerous long stretches that look rather samey (Magna Centipede and the second X-Hunter fortress stage being prime examples).
+0 Music: Weird choice of instrument set. There's a pervasive synthesizer feel that seems a little out-of-place at this point in the series, especially following the passably authentic electric guitar and percussion sounds of the last game. Machine-gun drums, a few seemingly haphazard melodies (for one, the X-Hunter battle theme is all over the place), and frequent use of a minor-key sound give the soundtrack a vibe that's more serious and urgent than usual—if not downright frantic at times—but you've also got the likes of Morph Moth, Crystal Snail, and Zero injecting some great texture with their varied themes. The end result is an independently good soundtrack that strays too far from the norm to feel entirely like Mega Man, which makes the music here something of an acquired taste if you don't take to the stylistic differences right away.
+1 Sound Effects: The game reuses many of its predecessor's sounds, which is a good thing, but the new sounds serve their purpose and little more. Everything sounds like it should, but nothing really stands out as particularly noteworthy.
+2 Control: X handles as well as before, and the new expanded charge shot and air dash abilities are easy to pull off. One slight downgrade is that you can no longer perform fast weapon switching while passing through a boss door, but most players probably won't be too bothered by this, if they notice at all.
-1 Stages: X2 begins the trend of each X game being more difficult than the last. More enemies gang up on you at once, trickier vertical sections demand more from your wall-jumping skills, minibosses are heartier and more frequent, boss battles have multiple phases and require more mobility to survive, and so forth. When X is equipped for the situation, the challenges are generally fair, if not downright easy—collect all of Zero's parts, and you skip a boss battle altogether; come in with the right special weapon, and some bosses hardly put up a fight. Depending on the order you progress through the stages, however, you might find yourself at a perpetual disadvantage due to the way the upgrades are hidden: Wire Sponge and Flame Stag hold almost all the upgrades you can feasibly collect without special assistance, and the spoils of Wheel Gator's stage are the key to a disproportionate number of other upgrades and secret rooms. Good luck saving them for last. Even when you're at or close to full power, some of the challenges ask for unreasonable precision and repay failure with excessive harshness—try getting the Heart Tanks from Wheel Gator, Overdrive Ostrich, and Crystal Snail without immediately dying at the slightest mistake, or maneuvering the moving platform all the way to the top of that vertical section in the third X-Hunter stage. I know there are well-designed parts throughout the game—chasing (or being chased by) the submarine in Bubble Crab's stage; the battle with Morph Moth; the lava shaft in Flame Stag's stage—but the lopsided difficulty and the frustrating and disappointing parts stand out more to me than the good parts.
+1 Bosses: A good assortment of unique and interesting characters, despite my misgivings about a couple of them. You've got boss fights that are environment-driven (Wheel Gator and Overdrive Ostrich), gimmick-driven (Magna Centipede and Crystal Snail—the ones whose fights are clever and fair, but annoying), filled with destructible obstacles (Wire Sponge and Bubble Crab), and unusually vertical (Flame Stag and Morph Moth). The Mavericks are surprisingly interactive—for example, Overdrive Ostrich doesn't just deal collision damage; he punts you across the screen, and Crystal Snail's shell can be dislodged and kicked around the room in a gleeful game of Keep Away. Visually, bosses tend more toward either small and compact or taller than average, but the diversity of animal types among the Mavericks makes up for the relative similarities in their general dimensions. That's why the X-Hunters are a little less memorable: as humanoids with a similar design aesthetic, Serges, Agile, and Violen are mostly just distinguishable as small one, the tall one, and the big one. It's their unique attack patterns and powered-up fortress forms that stand out the most. At least Serges looks suspiciously like Dr. Wily, which sparked some fun fan theories that never went anywhere. The last two (or three, depending) boss fights of the game aren't bad, but putting them back to back is somewhat exhausting. If you fight Zero, it's a frantic battle that demands constant movement (unless you exploit the boring "fire, jump, repeat" loop). Sigma trades his lightsaber for claws like Wolverine (which is fine, but I prefer the lightsaber)...but it's another frantic battle that demands constant movement. Then Sigma becomes a hologram (putting the cartridge's fancy graphics chip to work, which is cool)...but it's yet another frantic battle that demands constant movement. Even worse, this battle is as long as the previous two battles combined. At least the game ends with a better boss than it starts with—the Gigantic Mechaniloid is consummately disappointing, succumbing to a few charge shots before the player has a chance to notice how large and full of potential the boss chamber is.
+1 Special Weapons: Special weapons play a more prominent role here than in your typical Mega Man game, and fortunately it's a good bunch to work with, albeit with some drawbacks. Spin Wheel slowly tears into enemies and clears a path through certain walls and floors; Bubble Splash dishes out a lot of damage across an unusual (but surprisingly helpful) area of effect, and can be charged to form a highly buoyant barrier; Speed Burner is essentially a fast-moving but slow-firing on-demand charge shot, but the extra boost of maneuverability from charging it is invaluable; Silk Shot is great for hitting enemies in awkward locations and devastating against the right foes, and charging it to gather power-ups in certain rooms minimizes the need to grind for anything; Magnet Mine offers a lot of tactical flexibility for a patient and precise player; Crystal Hunter turns weak enemies into platforms and slows down time when charged; Sonic Slicer bounces off walls at various angles and is all but guaranteed to land a hit in confined spaces; and Strike Chain pulls items toward X and X toward any surface he connects with, though the uncharged reach is too short and the firing time is too long for this to be of much use outside of very specific situations. Many of the weapons are a little on the slow side and/or geared more toward close-quarters fighting, but their diversity and versatility ("diversitility"?) largely make up for it. If nothing else, they all make at least one meaningful contribution to the game, whether it's helping you reach an upgrade or being the definitive choice for a boss battle.
+1 Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities: Heart Tanks, Sub Tanks, and the usual assortment of items have all returned, along with some expansions to the armor upgrades. The Leg Part, Body Part, and Arm Part function the same as before, but now they also enable a midair dash, the Giga Crush attack, and a double upgraded charge shot, respectively. The Head Part is the only one that's an overhaul rather than a straight upgrade—X's helmet can send out a tracer that homes in on secret passages and hidden items. On a first playthrough, and in the absence of a walkthrough, this is pretty cool. Which is to say, most people will find it utterly useless in the long term, if not immediately. Still, the other improvements make up for this well-meaning shortcoming, and there's an extra bonus from collecting the whole armor set: reduced energy costs for using special weapons. Now, if only I liked the look of the armor a little more... Oh, and let's not forget the secret and devastating Dragon Punch upgrade, which I'm sure would be fantastic if I could pull off the probably straightforward button combo more than twice per game.
+2 Ending: Sigma concedes defeat in one virtual breath and delivers an ominous threat in the next, like a true respectable villain. As everything begins to explode spectacularly around him, we catch a tantalizing hint about Zero's origin. X races to the exit ("strolls" is more like it; your Leg Part still works!) as more satisfying explosions consume the hallway behind him. He then resumes his "thoughtfully staring off into the distance" schtick at the water's edge as he ruminates on the cost of victory and Dr. Light's dream of everlasting peace. Scene changes to X driving off in a Ride Chaser (with the parking brake on, judging from the speed) with details of the various bad guys scrolling past. Zero stylishly delivers Capcom's thanks to the player for playing—either in his regular armor or his black armor, depending on whether you gathered all his parts. Between the continuity with the Classic series, the little bit of character development, the possibility for a slight variation, and the plentiful explosions (which I'd argue are among the best in the series), there's a whole lot of good about this ending.
+1 Replay Value: Despite all the power-ups and alternate paths and randomized optional boss fights, the replay value is only somewhat above average due to the distribution of permanent upgrades. It's like MM1 all over again: technically you can play through the game any way you please, but the average gamer will be naturally corralled into a particular order, whether by the disproportionate difficulty of straying from the path or by the sheer inconvenience of backtracking to collect the spoils of any stage played out of sequence.
+0 Polish: There's a lot of attention to detail and some fun bonuses—Wire Sponge pulling apart in the middle when defeated with Sonic Slicer, for instance, and the Garakuta Robot from Morph Moth's stage being an appropriately junkyardy fusion of enemies from the previous game. The game is very organized and completionist-friendly: each stage contains one Heart Tank and one major upgrade (either an armor part or a Sub Tank), plus you can keep track of which Zero Parts you've collected on the inventory screen, and you get to see where the X-Hunters will be before you select the next stage. Customizable controls return from the previous game, but, oddly, the ability to cycle through your weapons while passing through a boss door does not. I'm not convinced the entire game was thoroughly playtested, however; as mentioned before, some of the challenges require an unreasonable level of precision, even for a game as challenging as this one. It's bad form to make a Heart Tank inaccessible unless you (a) managed to maneuver the Ride Chaser beyond the tricky jumps around the midway point (which you get one chance to practice, because the Ride Chaser doesn't reappear at the midway point if/when you die) or (b) air dash and Speed Burner yourself into a wall of spikes. Likewise, it's bad form to copy/paste an earlier stage into what should be your climactic final stage with no changes of any kind—hope you like Magna Centipede, because you're going back there again (and you've probably already been back at least once to try for the upgrades).
+2 Extras/Easter Eggs: As before, there's a sound test, a super-secret hidden upgrade, and some fun ways your special weapons can mess with the bosses. Reassembling Zero is sort of an extra, and those suspicious rooms where you can summon power-ups with a charged Silk Shot are very nice.
+1 Novelty: X2 is to X1 as MM5 is to MM4; that is to say, it sticks closely to the formula of its predecessor while offering enough new content to be a proper sequel. The introduction of the X-Hunters, the scavenger hunt for Zero's parts, the unusually prominent need for special weapons, the mild retooling of X's armor parts, and the appreciable quantity and variety of novel traps and enemies are more than sufficient, though, for the new to outweigh the old in this case.
Overall Score: +13 (+15 merits, -1 flaws)
+1 Graphics: Everything I said about the graphics in MMX1 can be said here as well, except there's a noticeable amount of repetition in the foregrounds and backgrounds. The stages are still full of graphical details that give a definite sense of location (Wheel Gator and Flame Stag absolutely feel like a rampaging dinosaur tank and active volcano, respectively), but there are numerous long stretches that look rather samey (Magna Centipede and the second X-Hunter fortress stage being prime examples).
+0 Music: Weird choice of instrument set. There's a pervasive synthesizer feel that seems a little out-of-place at this point in the series, especially following the passably authentic electric guitar and percussion sounds of the last game. Machine-gun drums, a few seemingly haphazard melodies (for one, the X-Hunter battle theme is all over the place), and frequent use of a minor-key sound give the soundtrack a vibe that's more serious and urgent than usual—if not downright frantic at times—but you've also got the likes of Morph Moth, Crystal Snail, and Zero injecting some great texture with their varied themes. The end result is an independently good soundtrack that strays too far from the norm to feel entirely like Mega Man, which makes the music here something of an acquired taste if you don't take to the stylistic differences right away.
+1 Sound Effects: The game reuses many of its predecessor's sounds, which is a good thing, but the new sounds serve their purpose and little more. Everything sounds like it should, but nothing really stands out as particularly noteworthy.
+2 Control: X handles as well as before, and the new expanded charge shot and air dash abilities are easy to pull off. One slight downgrade is that you can no longer perform fast weapon switching while passing through a boss door, but most players probably won't be too bothered by this, if they notice at all.
-1 Stages: X2 begins the trend of each X game being more difficult than the last. More enemies gang up on you at once, trickier vertical sections demand more from your wall-jumping skills, minibosses are heartier and more frequent, boss battles have multiple phases and require more mobility to survive, and so forth. When X is equipped for the situation, the challenges are generally fair, if not downright easy—collect all of Zero's parts, and you skip a boss battle altogether; come in with the right special weapon, and some bosses hardly put up a fight. Depending on the order you progress through the stages, however, you might find yourself at a perpetual disadvantage due to the way the upgrades are hidden: Wire Sponge and Flame Stag hold almost all the upgrades you can feasibly collect without special assistance, and the spoils of Wheel Gator's stage are the key to a disproportionate number of other upgrades and secret rooms. Good luck saving them for last. Even when you're at or close to full power, some of the challenges ask for unreasonable precision and repay failure with excessive harshness—try getting the Heart Tanks from Wheel Gator, Overdrive Ostrich, and Crystal Snail without immediately dying at the slightest mistake, or maneuvering the moving platform all the way to the top of that vertical section in the third X-Hunter stage. I know there are well-designed parts throughout the game—chasing (or being chased by) the submarine in Bubble Crab's stage; the battle with Morph Moth; the lava shaft in Flame Stag's stage—but the lopsided difficulty and the frustrating and disappointing parts stand out more to me than the good parts.
+1 Bosses: A good assortment of unique and interesting characters, despite my misgivings about a couple of them. You've got boss fights that are environment-driven (Wheel Gator and Overdrive Ostrich), gimmick-driven (Magna Centipede and Crystal Snail—the ones whose fights are clever and fair, but annoying), filled with destructible obstacles (Wire Sponge and Bubble Crab), and unusually vertical (Flame Stag and Morph Moth). The Mavericks are surprisingly interactive—for example, Overdrive Ostrich doesn't just deal collision damage; he punts you across the screen, and Crystal Snail's shell can be dislodged and kicked around the room in a gleeful game of Keep Away. Visually, bosses tend more toward either small and compact or taller than average, but the diversity of animal types among the Mavericks makes up for the relative similarities in their general dimensions. That's why the X-Hunters are a little less memorable: as humanoids with a similar design aesthetic, Serges, Agile, and Violen are mostly just distinguishable as small one, the tall one, and the big one. It's their unique attack patterns and powered-up fortress forms that stand out the most. At least Serges looks suspiciously like Dr. Wily, which sparked some fun fan theories that never went anywhere. The last two (or three, depending) boss fights of the game aren't bad, but putting them back to back is somewhat exhausting. If you fight Zero, it's a frantic battle that demands constant movement (unless you exploit the boring "fire, jump, repeat" loop). Sigma trades his lightsaber for claws like Wolverine (which is fine, but I prefer the lightsaber)...but it's another frantic battle that demands constant movement. Then Sigma becomes a hologram (putting the cartridge's fancy graphics chip to work, which is cool)...but it's yet another frantic battle that demands constant movement. Even worse, this battle is as long as the previous two battles combined. At least the game ends with a better boss than it starts with—the Gigantic Mechaniloid is consummately disappointing, succumbing to a few charge shots before the player has a chance to notice how large and full of potential the boss chamber is.
+1 Special Weapons: Special weapons play a more prominent role here than in your typical Mega Man game, and fortunately it's a good bunch to work with, albeit with some drawbacks. Spin Wheel slowly tears into enemies and clears a path through certain walls and floors; Bubble Splash dishes out a lot of damage across an unusual (but surprisingly helpful) area of effect, and can be charged to form a highly buoyant barrier; Speed Burner is essentially a fast-moving but slow-firing on-demand charge shot, but the extra boost of maneuverability from charging it is invaluable; Silk Shot is great for hitting enemies in awkward locations and devastating against the right foes, and charging it to gather power-ups in certain rooms minimizes the need to grind for anything; Magnet Mine offers a lot of tactical flexibility for a patient and precise player; Crystal Hunter turns weak enemies into platforms and slows down time when charged; Sonic Slicer bounces off walls at various angles and is all but guaranteed to land a hit in confined spaces; and Strike Chain pulls items toward X and X toward any surface he connects with, though the uncharged reach is too short and the firing time is too long for this to be of much use outside of very specific situations. Many of the weapons are a little on the slow side and/or geared more toward close-quarters fighting, but their diversity and versatility ("diversitility"?) largely make up for it. If nothing else, they all make at least one meaningful contribution to the game, whether it's helping you reach an upgrade or being the definitive choice for a boss battle.
+1 Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities: Heart Tanks, Sub Tanks, and the usual assortment of items have all returned, along with some expansions to the armor upgrades. The Leg Part, Body Part, and Arm Part function the same as before, but now they also enable a midair dash, the Giga Crush attack, and a double upgraded charge shot, respectively. The Head Part is the only one that's an overhaul rather than a straight upgrade—X's helmet can send out a tracer that homes in on secret passages and hidden items. On a first playthrough, and in the absence of a walkthrough, this is pretty cool. Which is to say, most people will find it utterly useless in the long term, if not immediately. Still, the other improvements make up for this well-meaning shortcoming, and there's an extra bonus from collecting the whole armor set: reduced energy costs for using special weapons. Now, if only I liked the look of the armor a little more... Oh, and let's not forget the secret and devastating Dragon Punch upgrade, which I'm sure would be fantastic if I could pull off the probably straightforward button combo more than twice per game.
+2 Ending: Sigma concedes defeat in one virtual breath and delivers an ominous threat in the next, like a true respectable villain. As everything begins to explode spectacularly around him, we catch a tantalizing hint about Zero's origin. X races to the exit ("strolls" is more like it; your Leg Part still works!) as more satisfying explosions consume the hallway behind him. He then resumes his "thoughtfully staring off into the distance" schtick at the water's edge as he ruminates on the cost of victory and Dr. Light's dream of everlasting peace. Scene changes to X driving off in a Ride Chaser (with the parking brake on, judging from the speed) with details of the various bad guys scrolling past. Zero stylishly delivers Capcom's thanks to the player for playing—either in his regular armor or his black armor, depending on whether you gathered all his parts. Between the continuity with the Classic series, the little bit of character development, the possibility for a slight variation, and the plentiful explosions (which I'd argue are among the best in the series), there's a whole lot of good about this ending.
+1 Replay Value: Despite all the power-ups and alternate paths and randomized optional boss fights, the replay value is only somewhat above average due to the distribution of permanent upgrades. It's like MM1 all over again: technically you can play through the game any way you please, but the average gamer will be naturally corralled into a particular order, whether by the disproportionate difficulty of straying from the path or by the sheer inconvenience of backtracking to collect the spoils of any stage played out of sequence.
+0 Polish: There's a lot of attention to detail and some fun bonuses—Wire Sponge pulling apart in the middle when defeated with Sonic Slicer, for instance, and the Garakuta Robot from Morph Moth's stage being an appropriately junkyardy fusion of enemies from the previous game. The game is very organized and completionist-friendly: each stage contains one Heart Tank and one major upgrade (either an armor part or a Sub Tank), plus you can keep track of which Zero Parts you've collected on the inventory screen, and you get to see where the X-Hunters will be before you select the next stage. Customizable controls return from the previous game, but, oddly, the ability to cycle through your weapons while passing through a boss door does not. I'm not convinced the entire game was thoroughly playtested, however; as mentioned before, some of the challenges require an unreasonable level of precision, even for a game as challenging as this one. It's bad form to make a Heart Tank inaccessible unless you (a) managed to maneuver the Ride Chaser beyond the tricky jumps around the midway point (which you get one chance to practice, because the Ride Chaser doesn't reappear at the midway point if/when you die) or (b) air dash and Speed Burner yourself into a wall of spikes. Likewise, it's bad form to copy/paste an earlier stage into what should be your climactic final stage with no changes of any kind—hope you like Magna Centipede, because you're going back there again (and you've probably already been back at least once to try for the upgrades).
+2 Extras/Easter Eggs: As before, there's a sound test, a super-secret hidden upgrade, and some fun ways your special weapons can mess with the bosses. Reassembling Zero is sort of an extra, and those suspicious rooms where you can summon power-ups with a charged Silk Shot are very nice.
+1 Novelty: X2 is to X1 as MM5 is to MM4; that is to say, it sticks closely to the formula of its predecessor while offering enough new content to be a proper sequel. The introduction of the X-Hunters, the scavenger hunt for Zero's parts, the unusually prominent need for special weapons, the mild retooling of X's armor parts, and the appreciable quantity and variety of novel traps and enemies are more than sufficient, though, for the new to outweigh the old in this case.
Overall Score: +13 (+15 merits, -1 flaws)
Mega Man X3 (SNES/PS1)
+1 Story: The Maverick threat has finally come to an end thanks to the Neuro Computer, which suppresses Reploids' late-night cravings for junk food and mayhem. Or maybe just mayhem. Dr. Doppler, the inventor of this device, begins to gather a following of sophisticated ex-Mavericks who seem ready to march with him into a new era of peace and prosperity...until they start marching on the city and going berserk. It would appear old habits are hard to break. Maverick Hunter HQ identifies Dr. Doppler as the responsible party, and X and Zero are dispatched to take him and his un-ex-Mavericks down. Although the presentation is somewhat disappointing—the game doesn't give us a chance to revel in the newfound peace or even feign surprise at Doppler's sudden turn—we catch a valuable glimpse of how the Maverick Hunters operate, and there's a little bit of intrigue and character development that sneaks its way in.
+2 Graphics: That close-up shot of X and Zero in the intro is magnificent. Oh, right, and there are other graphics. Animations are as smooth as ever, and the special effects are every bit as neat as before. Locations are varied and often vibrantly colorful—bright blues and greens and oranges stand in fine contrast to subdued browns and grays as you travel from an airport at sunset to a frozen city to a sewer under a dam. There's loads of fine detail in the backgrounds, where you can find hole-ridden chain link fences, distant subterranean waterfalls, and ominous vats of Sigma bodies, for starters. The PS1 version adds a number of sweet-looking anime cutscenes that, while arguably disruptive to the overall feel of the game, make the characters and locations look extra awesome.
+0 Music: The first time I played X3, the soundtrack left absolutely no impression on me—though I chalk that up in part to the high difficulty drawing my attention elsewhere. It's grown on me a great deal in the years since, but I recognize that first impressions shouldn't be so easily discounted. Many of the tracks are individually strong (I find Toxic Seahorse to be very catchy, and the first Doppler stage is superb), but when lined up next to each other, both the instruments and the composition start to blend together—try listening to the first couple seconds of Tunnel Rhino, followed immediately by the first 30 seconds or so of Volt Catfish, followed immediately by the beginning of Crush Crawfish, and you'll hear what I mean. The redone and slightly remixed soundtrack of the PS1 version is reminiscent of the one from The Wily Wars, in that it's better in some ways than the original, but often just different, if not a little worse. There's a greater diversity of instruments, which is wonderful...until you get to Zero's theme, or Dr. Cain's theme, or one of the other themes that picks up an extra-phony horn and honks it for all it's worth. Gravity Beetle is rather pleasant with the new instruments, though; the third Doppler stage sounds much smoother, and Dr. Light's capsule theme is still awful but at least doesn't blow your ears off. The purist in me is inclined to say the original SNES soundtrack is better, but the good and the bad of the PS1 version more or less balance each other out to roughly the same level of overall quality.
+2 Sound Effects: Realizing there's no need to mess with a good thing, X3 follows X2's lead and reuses many of the existing sound effects at its disposal. The selection of sounds is hearty and full of character, with enough variety in the noises to give each weapon and enemy a more unique personality. From shattering ice to crunching collisions to the "MAO! MAO! MAO!" of Neon Tiger's projectiles, the action always sounds vibrant.
+1 Control: While the core control is as responsive as before, some of X's new abilities aren't as fluid as they could be. The vertical air dash is a little tricky, the Frog Armor is awkward to maneuver, and summoning Zero is a clunky process. Fortunately, these are only mildly annoying, and they're completely optional.
+1 Stages: While the general trend of the X series is that each game is harder than the last, X3 often crosses the border from challenging to frustrating, at least on a first playthrough. More of the challenges are centered around combat than general platforming, so until you've started acquiring upgrades and mastering enemy attack patterns, the game's difficulty can be brutal. On the flip side, you get access to a wide array of weapons and abilities (not the least of which is the option to summon Zero and his long, beautiful health bar), and regular power-ups are sufficiently plentiful—if you take advantage of everything the game offers you, the difficulty evens out quite nicely. As far as stage design goes, there's a good blend of tight corridors and wide-open areas, horizontal and vertical sections, and environmental hazards (slippery ice, conveyor belts, falling mud, trip lasers, wall crushers, etc.). The hazards are pretty standard for a Mega Man game, though, and the more interesting ones don't always steal the show as much as they should (for instance, sinking the submarine you're aboard and rotating Crush Crawfish's stage by 90 degrees is awesome in concept, but ends up being somewhat mundane in terms of gameplay). Also, the long vertical section at the end of the second Doppler stage is more tedious than tense because of how much waiting is involved, and the miniboss fight in Blast Hornet's stage against...uh, a pile of crates...is utterly pointless. Still, the stages are varied and solidly built, populated with enemies both familiar and unfamiliar that work well with the architectural designs.
+1 Bosses: Once again, there's a good variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and special attacks among the bosses. Maoh the Giant is a proper intro stage boss that's a good test of the player's abilities. Blizzard Buffalo and Tunnel Rhino are beefy powerhouses; Volt Catfish and Crush Crawfish are midsized bruisers; Blast Hornet and Neon Tiger are projectile-happy go-getters; and Toxic Seahorse and Gravity Beetle are tricky manipulators. Bit and Byte are sort of an encore of the X-Hunters, but with some wacky attack patterns unlike anything we've seen. Vile makes a mighty comeback that builds on his difficulty in the first game, and Dr. Doppler is one of the rare bosses that can heal during a fight. Either boss of the first Doppler stage would fit right in with any of Dr. Wily's fortress guardians. Volt Kurageil is a satisfactorily straightforward reward for defeating Vile earlier on. Sigma's first form is suitably tricky, trading his Wolverine claws for Captain America's shield, and his enormous second form demands an acceptable amount of precision and resourcefulness (anyone who complains is fighting him wrong). Many bosses use "desperation attacks" after they drop below half health, but this extra layer of difficulty is balanced by the fact that certain weapons can completely throw off a boss's attack pattern. This is a nice concession to struggling players who need more predictable boss fights, and it's also a good way to keep things challenging and interesting when using different weapons. I like that there are multiple aquatic bosses, yet the game isn't flooded with water stages; it's a refreshing change of pace from the land animals that dominate the other X games (considering roughly 1 out of every 3 types of animals on earth lives underwater). Admittedly, WAY too many bosses have a penchant for ramming the player in a horizontal line, and a couple fights (Volt Catfish especially) are dull and drag on once you crack the pattern.
+0 Special Weapons: One of the more forgettable weapon assortments in the series, though not necessarily a bad one. Frost Shield is hardly a shield (except when charged, in which case it's a very ineffective shield), but its damage output compensates for the slow rate of fire, and the overgrown caltrops it leaves behind are a nice extra. Acid Burst is handy for taking out enemies below you; Tornado Fang tears things in front of you apart (I'm a big fan of continous damage); Triad Thunder is a good panic option when you're being swarmed; and Spinning Blade offers a unique attack pattern that's surprisingly versatile (plus the charged-up yo-yo is ridiculous fun). Ray Splasher provides a good spread of fast firepower, but the charged version is usually a waste of energy with how infrequently it hits anything. Gravity Well is weird—Black Hole Bomb proves the concept is solid, but the execution here makes it difficult to tell whether enemies are being affected or not. Parasitic Bomb is a strange callback to Danger Wrap, and its charged form is interesting but ultimately not as effective as other homing weapons in the series. Despite the good variety and visual effects of the weapons, it's all too easy to favor only a handful of attacks when so many of the options are underwhelming and/or impractical outside of specific situations (plus, the upgrades in this game are so good, you almost don't need special weapons). Fortunately, almost every weapon can interact with the environment somehow, and the ability to destroy walls and hop across floating ice platforms makes the item collection quest more interesting.
+2 Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities: What an excellent armor set, and one of the only times in the entire series where the helmet upgrade is worth a hoot. The Head Part shows you a map of each level, indicating where all the upgrades are (SO HELPFUL); the Body Part reduces damage and grants you a temporary force field that reduces damage even further; the Foot Part adds two flavors of midair dash (though the upward dash can be a smidge tricky to execute in a hurry); and the Arm Part once again lets you charge your special weapons and fire off a double buster shot...except you can now combine your double shot into a single huge shot that hits almost everything on the screen. Aside from the absence of the Giga Crush (which the game makes up for with other abilities), everything is a straight upgrade of what you get in X2. As if that weren't enough, X3 gives you one additional upgrade slot that can be filled by one of four (technically five) part-specific Armor Chips. The Head Chip refills your energy (and eventually your Sub Tanks) as you stand still; the Body Chip improves your damage-reducing force field; the Foot Chip allows you to perform an extra midair dash while you're airborne; and the Arm Chip grants what is effectively an additional special weapon that fires regular charge shots without needing to charge up (which is tremendously helpful against Kaiser Sigma). Each one of these upgrades is a game-changer and appeals to a different playstyle...but if you really can't decide, there's the Hyper Chip in the first Doppler stage that lets you have them all! Awesome.
+2 Ending: Trapped by Sigma, things look grim for X. Depending on how the adventure unfolded, either Zero or Dr. Doppler bursts through the ceiling with a way to combat the Sigma Virus, causing the obligatory massive explosion that prompts X to teleport off into the credits sequence. Zero is appropriately cool and heroic, but I actually prefer Doppler's ending, which brings a little more depth to the character and closure to the game. Once again, X (with or without Zero) looks toward the wreckage of the fortress in the distance and ponders the human and Reploid condition. Then, a shocking twist: the omniscient narrator reveals that X is fated to destroy Zero. Holy cats. What a gut punch after watching the rapport between them develop these last three games. Between this ominous proclamation, the growing feeling that Sigma might never be stopped for good as long as he exists as a virus, the failure of a Reploid utopia, Doppler's possible sacrifice, and the compellingly bittersweet music, no other game in the X series ends on such a complex note of accomplishment, sorrow, dread, and insatiable curiosity to see what will happen next. Interestingly, what follows is not a staff roll, but rather a cast roll that shows us all the major characters and their stats as X (with or without Zero) runs along the highway. The music here is a more upbeat variation of the music that precedes it, giving a feeling of hope growing out of hopelessness that helps cut the heaviness of the narrative. Both tunes together make up my favorite ending music in the series, and I love that your actions affect the outcome of the ending.
+2 Replay Value: There's a lot to come back for, and a lot to keep things fresh: random encounters with Bit, Byte, and Vile; two alternate fortress bosses; an alternate ending; the option to play as Zero; the possibility of inheriting Zero's Beam Saber late in the game; four different ride armors; five different armor chips; several large areas that effectively offer alternate paths; a few minor ways you can alter some of the stages; and that's on top of all the usual stuff that gives the X series such good replay value.
+1 Polish: I have to start by criticizing how unlocking the Ride Armor is handled: having to unlock the main Ride Armor before you can use the other variants is fine, but hiding it in Blast Hornet's stage behind a wall that requires Tunnel Rhino's weapon pretty much guarantees you'll either force yourself into an awkward boss order early on or just skip using the Ride Armor at all until late in the rotation. Otherwise, the game is generally very considerate to the player—having access to Zero from the get-go helps balance the high difficulty (though the whole summoning system is a little cumbersome); the helmet upgrade is incredibly useful in minimizing fruitless backtracking; the Head Chip offers a decent alternative to grinding for energy (plus a good excuse to stand up and stretch your legs); and Bit, Byte, and Vile don't show up until you've got the right weapons to defeat them the "right" way if desired. There's not much else to mention, aside from Virus Sigma looking suspiciously static (or maybe X2 just spoiled me with its fancy wireframe animations), but that's a minor thing.
+2 Extras/Easter Eggs: The sound test is basically a standard now, as is some top-secret upgrade. In this case, the game gets two of the latter—Zero's Beam Saber and the Hyper Chip, both of which transform the gameplay in a meaningful way. I also consider the alternate fortress bosses and the alternate ending to be extras, as the game never really clues you in to their existence until after you've found them...
+1 Novelty: X3 carries on the time-honored Mega Man tradition of gently streamlining and expanding on its predecessor, so the game looks and feels very much like the last two. You've still got random miniboss encounters like in X2, and we're back to using a fake-out villain. The most noteworthy new features are the armor chips, the Ride Armor selection, and playing as Zero, which go a long way in keeping the series fresh (and let's face it—we've wanted to play as Zero since the intro stage of X1). Switching it up further are several new types of enemies with unique attack patterns—a bipedal cannon that flops to the ground below your line of fire, for instance. The continuity with X1 (specifically, Vile's revival) is a rare instance of past events shaping the plot of a game that isn't an immediate sequel or spinoff.
Overall Score: +18 (+18 merits, -0 flaws)
+2 Graphics: That close-up shot of X and Zero in the intro is magnificent. Oh, right, and there are other graphics. Animations are as smooth as ever, and the special effects are every bit as neat as before. Locations are varied and often vibrantly colorful—bright blues and greens and oranges stand in fine contrast to subdued browns and grays as you travel from an airport at sunset to a frozen city to a sewer under a dam. There's loads of fine detail in the backgrounds, where you can find hole-ridden chain link fences, distant subterranean waterfalls, and ominous vats of Sigma bodies, for starters. The PS1 version adds a number of sweet-looking anime cutscenes that, while arguably disruptive to the overall feel of the game, make the characters and locations look extra awesome.
+0 Music: The first time I played X3, the soundtrack left absolutely no impression on me—though I chalk that up in part to the high difficulty drawing my attention elsewhere. It's grown on me a great deal in the years since, but I recognize that first impressions shouldn't be so easily discounted. Many of the tracks are individually strong (I find Toxic Seahorse to be very catchy, and the first Doppler stage is superb), but when lined up next to each other, both the instruments and the composition start to blend together—try listening to the first couple seconds of Tunnel Rhino, followed immediately by the first 30 seconds or so of Volt Catfish, followed immediately by the beginning of Crush Crawfish, and you'll hear what I mean. The redone and slightly remixed soundtrack of the PS1 version is reminiscent of the one from The Wily Wars, in that it's better in some ways than the original, but often just different, if not a little worse. There's a greater diversity of instruments, which is wonderful...until you get to Zero's theme, or Dr. Cain's theme, or one of the other themes that picks up an extra-phony horn and honks it for all it's worth. Gravity Beetle is rather pleasant with the new instruments, though; the third Doppler stage sounds much smoother, and Dr. Light's capsule theme is still awful but at least doesn't blow your ears off. The purist in me is inclined to say the original SNES soundtrack is better, but the good and the bad of the PS1 version more or less balance each other out to roughly the same level of overall quality.
+2 Sound Effects: Realizing there's no need to mess with a good thing, X3 follows X2's lead and reuses many of the existing sound effects at its disposal. The selection of sounds is hearty and full of character, with enough variety in the noises to give each weapon and enemy a more unique personality. From shattering ice to crunching collisions to the "MAO! MAO! MAO!" of Neon Tiger's projectiles, the action always sounds vibrant.
+1 Control: While the core control is as responsive as before, some of X's new abilities aren't as fluid as they could be. The vertical air dash is a little tricky, the Frog Armor is awkward to maneuver, and summoning Zero is a clunky process. Fortunately, these are only mildly annoying, and they're completely optional.
+1 Stages: While the general trend of the X series is that each game is harder than the last, X3 often crosses the border from challenging to frustrating, at least on a first playthrough. More of the challenges are centered around combat than general platforming, so until you've started acquiring upgrades and mastering enemy attack patterns, the game's difficulty can be brutal. On the flip side, you get access to a wide array of weapons and abilities (not the least of which is the option to summon Zero and his long, beautiful health bar), and regular power-ups are sufficiently plentiful—if you take advantage of everything the game offers you, the difficulty evens out quite nicely. As far as stage design goes, there's a good blend of tight corridors and wide-open areas, horizontal and vertical sections, and environmental hazards (slippery ice, conveyor belts, falling mud, trip lasers, wall crushers, etc.). The hazards are pretty standard for a Mega Man game, though, and the more interesting ones don't always steal the show as much as they should (for instance, sinking the submarine you're aboard and rotating Crush Crawfish's stage by 90 degrees is awesome in concept, but ends up being somewhat mundane in terms of gameplay). Also, the long vertical section at the end of the second Doppler stage is more tedious than tense because of how much waiting is involved, and the miniboss fight in Blast Hornet's stage against...uh, a pile of crates...is utterly pointless. Still, the stages are varied and solidly built, populated with enemies both familiar and unfamiliar that work well with the architectural designs.
+1 Bosses: Once again, there's a good variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and special attacks among the bosses. Maoh the Giant is a proper intro stage boss that's a good test of the player's abilities. Blizzard Buffalo and Tunnel Rhino are beefy powerhouses; Volt Catfish and Crush Crawfish are midsized bruisers; Blast Hornet and Neon Tiger are projectile-happy go-getters; and Toxic Seahorse and Gravity Beetle are tricky manipulators. Bit and Byte are sort of an encore of the X-Hunters, but with some wacky attack patterns unlike anything we've seen. Vile makes a mighty comeback that builds on his difficulty in the first game, and Dr. Doppler is one of the rare bosses that can heal during a fight. Either boss of the first Doppler stage would fit right in with any of Dr. Wily's fortress guardians. Volt Kurageil is a satisfactorily straightforward reward for defeating Vile earlier on. Sigma's first form is suitably tricky, trading his Wolverine claws for Captain America's shield, and his enormous second form demands an acceptable amount of precision and resourcefulness (anyone who complains is fighting him wrong). Many bosses use "desperation attacks" after they drop below half health, but this extra layer of difficulty is balanced by the fact that certain weapons can completely throw off a boss's attack pattern. This is a nice concession to struggling players who need more predictable boss fights, and it's also a good way to keep things challenging and interesting when using different weapons. I like that there are multiple aquatic bosses, yet the game isn't flooded with water stages; it's a refreshing change of pace from the land animals that dominate the other X games (considering roughly 1 out of every 3 types of animals on earth lives underwater). Admittedly, WAY too many bosses have a penchant for ramming the player in a horizontal line, and a couple fights (Volt Catfish especially) are dull and drag on once you crack the pattern.
+0 Special Weapons: One of the more forgettable weapon assortments in the series, though not necessarily a bad one. Frost Shield is hardly a shield (except when charged, in which case it's a very ineffective shield), but its damage output compensates for the slow rate of fire, and the overgrown caltrops it leaves behind are a nice extra. Acid Burst is handy for taking out enemies below you; Tornado Fang tears things in front of you apart (I'm a big fan of continous damage); Triad Thunder is a good panic option when you're being swarmed; and Spinning Blade offers a unique attack pattern that's surprisingly versatile (plus the charged-up yo-yo is ridiculous fun). Ray Splasher provides a good spread of fast firepower, but the charged version is usually a waste of energy with how infrequently it hits anything. Gravity Well is weird—Black Hole Bomb proves the concept is solid, but the execution here makes it difficult to tell whether enemies are being affected or not. Parasitic Bomb is a strange callback to Danger Wrap, and its charged form is interesting but ultimately not as effective as other homing weapons in the series. Despite the good variety and visual effects of the weapons, it's all too easy to favor only a handful of attacks when so many of the options are underwhelming and/or impractical outside of specific situations (plus, the upgrades in this game are so good, you almost don't need special weapons). Fortunately, almost every weapon can interact with the environment somehow, and the ability to destroy walls and hop across floating ice platforms makes the item collection quest more interesting.
+2 Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities: What an excellent armor set, and one of the only times in the entire series where the helmet upgrade is worth a hoot. The Head Part shows you a map of each level, indicating where all the upgrades are (SO HELPFUL); the Body Part reduces damage and grants you a temporary force field that reduces damage even further; the Foot Part adds two flavors of midair dash (though the upward dash can be a smidge tricky to execute in a hurry); and the Arm Part once again lets you charge your special weapons and fire off a double buster shot...except you can now combine your double shot into a single huge shot that hits almost everything on the screen. Aside from the absence of the Giga Crush (which the game makes up for with other abilities), everything is a straight upgrade of what you get in X2. As if that weren't enough, X3 gives you one additional upgrade slot that can be filled by one of four (technically five) part-specific Armor Chips. The Head Chip refills your energy (and eventually your Sub Tanks) as you stand still; the Body Chip improves your damage-reducing force field; the Foot Chip allows you to perform an extra midair dash while you're airborne; and the Arm Chip grants what is effectively an additional special weapon that fires regular charge shots without needing to charge up (which is tremendously helpful against Kaiser Sigma). Each one of these upgrades is a game-changer and appeals to a different playstyle...but if you really can't decide, there's the Hyper Chip in the first Doppler stage that lets you have them all! Awesome.
+2 Ending: Trapped by Sigma, things look grim for X. Depending on how the adventure unfolded, either Zero or Dr. Doppler bursts through the ceiling with a way to combat the Sigma Virus, causing the obligatory massive explosion that prompts X to teleport off into the credits sequence. Zero is appropriately cool and heroic, but I actually prefer Doppler's ending, which brings a little more depth to the character and closure to the game. Once again, X (with or without Zero) looks toward the wreckage of the fortress in the distance and ponders the human and Reploid condition. Then, a shocking twist: the omniscient narrator reveals that X is fated to destroy Zero. Holy cats. What a gut punch after watching the rapport between them develop these last three games. Between this ominous proclamation, the growing feeling that Sigma might never be stopped for good as long as he exists as a virus, the failure of a Reploid utopia, Doppler's possible sacrifice, and the compellingly bittersweet music, no other game in the X series ends on such a complex note of accomplishment, sorrow, dread, and insatiable curiosity to see what will happen next. Interestingly, what follows is not a staff roll, but rather a cast roll that shows us all the major characters and their stats as X (with or without Zero) runs along the highway. The music here is a more upbeat variation of the music that precedes it, giving a feeling of hope growing out of hopelessness that helps cut the heaviness of the narrative. Both tunes together make up my favorite ending music in the series, and I love that your actions affect the outcome of the ending.
+2 Replay Value: There's a lot to come back for, and a lot to keep things fresh: random encounters with Bit, Byte, and Vile; two alternate fortress bosses; an alternate ending; the option to play as Zero; the possibility of inheriting Zero's Beam Saber late in the game; four different ride armors; five different armor chips; several large areas that effectively offer alternate paths; a few minor ways you can alter some of the stages; and that's on top of all the usual stuff that gives the X series such good replay value.
+1 Polish: I have to start by criticizing how unlocking the Ride Armor is handled: having to unlock the main Ride Armor before you can use the other variants is fine, but hiding it in Blast Hornet's stage behind a wall that requires Tunnel Rhino's weapon pretty much guarantees you'll either force yourself into an awkward boss order early on or just skip using the Ride Armor at all until late in the rotation. Otherwise, the game is generally very considerate to the player—having access to Zero from the get-go helps balance the high difficulty (though the whole summoning system is a little cumbersome); the helmet upgrade is incredibly useful in minimizing fruitless backtracking; the Head Chip offers a decent alternative to grinding for energy (plus a good excuse to stand up and stretch your legs); and Bit, Byte, and Vile don't show up until you've got the right weapons to defeat them the "right" way if desired. There's not much else to mention, aside from Virus Sigma looking suspiciously static (or maybe X2 just spoiled me with its fancy wireframe animations), but that's a minor thing.
+2 Extras/Easter Eggs: The sound test is basically a standard now, as is some top-secret upgrade. In this case, the game gets two of the latter—Zero's Beam Saber and the Hyper Chip, both of which transform the gameplay in a meaningful way. I also consider the alternate fortress bosses and the alternate ending to be extras, as the game never really clues you in to their existence until after you've found them...
+1 Novelty: X3 carries on the time-honored Mega Man tradition of gently streamlining and expanding on its predecessor, so the game looks and feels very much like the last two. You've still got random miniboss encounters like in X2, and we're back to using a fake-out villain. The most noteworthy new features are the armor chips, the Ride Armor selection, and playing as Zero, which go a long way in keeping the series fresh (and let's face it—we've wanted to play as Zero since the intro stage of X1). Switching it up further are several new types of enemies with unique attack patterns—a bipedal cannon that flops to the ground below your line of fire, for instance. The continuity with X1 (specifically, Vile's revival) is a rare instance of past events shaping the plot of a game that isn't an immediate sequel or spinoff.
Overall Score: +18 (+18 merits, -0 flaws)
Mega Man X4 (PS1)
+1 Story: An act of sabotage sends an aerial colony called Sky Lagoon plummeting to earth, and it looks like a Reploid army called Repliforce may be to blame. Branded as Mavericks, the members of Repliforce take up arms in self-defense, and it's up to X and Zero to put down the rebellion. It's a complex, high-stakes story of political intrigue, personal relationships, betrayal, and loss. We get some tremendously important backstory on Zero that ties in with the Classic series and provides the kind of narrative foundation that was missing from X1. It's also the first time we see the subjectivity of labeling someone as a Maverick, like calling someone a communist during the Red Scare of the 1950s. As much as I want to give the story full marks, the conflict is driven by people jumping to conclusions and not communicating with each other, and that's one of my biggest frustrations in fiction and real life. The dialogue in X's story does a decent job of fleshing out motivations and making the characters sympathetic enough, but the dialogue in Zero's story turns the narrative into a speeding trainwreck of contrivances and contradictions. Zero's story doesn't unfold organically; he shouts at people, and they attack him for some paper-thin reason. The confrontation with Iris is supposed to be an emotional gut punch, but there's not nearly enough development of Iris's relationship with Colonel or Zero to give the punch any weight, so it comes off feeling like a pointless waste. Worse yet, Iris attacks Zero because her brother's life was the only reason for her to live, but then after the battle, the only thing she wants is to live in peace with the guy she just tried to kill. MAKE UP YOUR MIND. The scene at the end with Sigma is equally illogical; Sigma starts telling Zero a story, which is conveyed to us via cutscene, but then he's surprised that Zero was originally a Maverick, as though he'd never heard his own story. The plot of X4 looks good on paper, but the storytelling leaves something to be desired.
+2 Graphics: I have a soft spot for NES and SNES graphics, but X4 is gorgeous, bringing the game world to life like never before. Lush backgrounds give a deep sense of location for every stage, with plenty of moving parts to keep things visually interesting even after the enemies are destroyed—beautiful waterfalls, driving snow, and passing aircraft add a feeling of motion and activity. Most stages feel like a small 2D slice of a vast 3D area, and that's an impressive feat. Special effects are flashy but not overwhelming, taking advantage of the new hardware without losing the feel of the SNES effects. Zero's saber animations and the boss explosions are particularly cool, and I love the laser effects and Frost Walrus's ice breath. There's a tremendous amount of detail in the graphics, yet X4 never overdoes it like MM8 does; the gameplay comes first, and the visuals never draw more attention to themselves than the player can afford to give. The cutscenes look exactly like a '90s anime, which is fine by me, and the art style blends nicely with the rest of the graphics. My only criticism is that Dr. Light looks really goofy, like a marshmallow stuffed into a lab coat while cosplaying as Johnny Bravo, but that's a small thing.
+2 Music: This might just be my favorite soundtrack in the entire franchise. It's got driving electric guitars, wicked synthesizer riffs, relentlessly energetic percussion, strong melodies, sweet harmonies, instrument sets that fit the feel of each location (seriously, try listening to Frost Walrus's theme without feeling cold), and a memorable main theme that's expertly woven into many of the tunes. Even the ending theme, which is far more introspective and subdued than the other tunes, is an appropriate cooldown after all the heavy plot twists and the glorious insanity of the final battle with Sigma.
+0 Sound Effects: X4 has arguably movie-quality sound effects, with a few familiar hints of the SNES sounds every now and again (particularly with the dialogue windows and the Ride Armor). There's a richness to every whoosh and smash and deedle, and the noises give life to the action without overpowering the soundtrack. I can't speak as highly of the voice acting, but for a Mega Man game, it's actually pretty decent. Even though X4 has basically the same voice cast as MM8, the casting and direction are notably better, and the energetic voice that shouts "READY!" and "STORM OWL!" and "YOU GOT [UNPRONOUNCEABLE WEAPON]!" is a highlight. There's still room for more polish and emotion in the voice acting (and there's a good chance you'll giggle when Zero wonders what he's fighting foooooor), but the most important part is that the cutscenes are tolerable enough to watch all the way through on subsequent playthroughs. I'm not a fan of the voice clips used during gameplay, however—things like X's "Time to get serious!" and Zero's constant cries of "HOO! HAH! HOO!" make it hard to take the game entirely seriously, and they happen frequently enough to become grating.
+2 Control: X is as responsive as ever, and Zero handles very comfortably, despite his situational and button-comboey move set. The Ride Armors feel appropriately bulky without being too cumbersome, and the Ride Chaser is a smooth ride (though an autofire option—even a slow one—would have been greatly appreciated). Menu controls are pretty intuitive, and you always have the option to skip cutscenes and speed through dialogue (albeit with a lot of button-pressing).
+1 Stages: Compared with the games that came before it, X4 is pretty light on gimmicks and stage hazards, instead favoring enemy-based challenges. The enemies are complex enough that the game retains a certain element of tricky platforming, and you've got the likes of Cyber Peacock and Jet Stingray switching up the core gameplay a bit (for better or for worse—you'll probably spend more time trying to perfect them than any other stage). However, it's very apparent that the stages are designed with Zero in mind. On the plus side, it is a literal and figurative blast to slice and dice your way through wave after wave of enemies as Zero. On the minus side, X isn't as well equipped (at least at first) to handle swarms of enemies; and the additional caution—or tedious mashing of the attack button—required to proceed safely sometimes detracts from the experience (the staircase sections of Split Mushroom's stage come to mind, as do all those walls you need to destroy in the intro stage). The more traditional platforming elements tend to lean toward the timing and speed end of the spectrum—crumbling ice platforms, spaceships right out of Independence Day that fire lasers at regular intervals, train cars that quickly drift apart, moving walls that try to crush you, a whole stage that emphasizes speedrunning, a reasonably fast-paced elevator segment, the unreasonable entirety of Jet Stingray's stage...the constant action is right on the border between thrilling and overwhelming. What keeps the game from ever crossing the line are a decent learning curve, thoughtfully placed power-ups and checkpoints, and challenges that are equally fair (though not always equally challenging) regardless of which character you're playing (which is a rarity in the Mega Man franchise).
+0 Bosses: The boss lineup is yet another unique mix. Sizes range from smaller than X to almost as big as the screen, and every corner of the animal kingdom is represented (including...uh...the corners where you can find mushrooms and dragoons). Despite all this variation, the bosses aren't as visually distinct from one another as usual—maybe it's a Repliforce thing, but almost every Maverick sports circular nubs (like the ones on Zero's chest), pointy bits that stick out, and a color scheme that prominently features white with either green or blue (or both). Combat is a different story—each boss has a distinctive move set requiring specialized tactics, but the common thread is that battles are perhaps too frantic for their own good. Attacks come from all sides, with just enough randomization to throw you off once you think you've figured out a pattern, and they're often unavoidable unless you recognize the blink-and-you'll-miss-it telegraphing. Survival is a matter of well-rehearsed choreography with a dash of improvisation, and that can get exhausting with as long as these fights can last—especially if you're playing as Zero, whose close-quarters fighting style leaves little room for error. In a way, this balances the game's overall difficulty—bosses are harder but stages are easier as Zero, and vice-versa as X—but it mostly acts a deterrent for me replaying the game as Zero. No discussion of the bosses is complete without mentioning the insanity that is Sigma's final form—or forms, as the case may be—where an entire game's worth of attack patterns are condensed into one battle. I hated the final boss the first time I played X4, and no other boss in the franchise (not even Wily Capsule 7) has taken me more tries to beat. But now that I understand how the boss operates and I've worked out a reliable strategy, the battle is a thrilling adrenaline rush that I love. I find all of the bosses in X4 to be similar in that regard: once you're good at fighting them (with or without their weakness), they're pretty fun...but getting to that point can be seriously punishing.
+2 Special Weapons: Power, variety, and a certain amount of interactivity characterize this excellent weapon set. X is well equipped to handle threats from any direction—Rising Fire and Frost Tower cover up and down; Twin Slasher, Double Cyclone, and Aiming Laser cover an even wider spread; Ground Hunter can reach any enemy on a floor or wall; Soul Body duplicates your firepower; and Lightning Web is as much a utility as it is a weapon, providing an on-demand wall whenever you need to wall-jump beyond your reach. The charged-up versions of these weapons are both devastating and cool (though, in typical MMX fashion, usually impractical unless you plan in advance to use them). Zero, being a melee fighter, gains core abilities instead of special weapons. The double-jump, air-dash, and shot-canceling slash are invaluable; slashing upward and downward, thrusting and lunging forward, and circle-slashing in midair are all extremely useful at various points; and the projectile-launching giga attack helps make up for whatever direction and distance Zero's other attacks lack. There's a weapon or ability for every situation, and it's satisfying to tear through bosses and stage enemies in style.
Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities:
Ending:
Replay Value:
Polish:
Extras/Easter Eggs:
Novelty:
Overall Score: X (+Y merits, -Z flaws)
[Last updated Oct 11, 2018]
+2 Graphics: I have a soft spot for NES and SNES graphics, but X4 is gorgeous, bringing the game world to life like never before. Lush backgrounds give a deep sense of location for every stage, with plenty of moving parts to keep things visually interesting even after the enemies are destroyed—beautiful waterfalls, driving snow, and passing aircraft add a feeling of motion and activity. Most stages feel like a small 2D slice of a vast 3D area, and that's an impressive feat. Special effects are flashy but not overwhelming, taking advantage of the new hardware without losing the feel of the SNES effects. Zero's saber animations and the boss explosions are particularly cool, and I love the laser effects and Frost Walrus's ice breath. There's a tremendous amount of detail in the graphics, yet X4 never overdoes it like MM8 does; the gameplay comes first, and the visuals never draw more attention to themselves than the player can afford to give. The cutscenes look exactly like a '90s anime, which is fine by me, and the art style blends nicely with the rest of the graphics. My only criticism is that Dr. Light looks really goofy, like a marshmallow stuffed into a lab coat while cosplaying as Johnny Bravo, but that's a small thing.
+2 Music: This might just be my favorite soundtrack in the entire franchise. It's got driving electric guitars, wicked synthesizer riffs, relentlessly energetic percussion, strong melodies, sweet harmonies, instrument sets that fit the feel of each location (seriously, try listening to Frost Walrus's theme without feeling cold), and a memorable main theme that's expertly woven into many of the tunes. Even the ending theme, which is far more introspective and subdued than the other tunes, is an appropriate cooldown after all the heavy plot twists and the glorious insanity of the final battle with Sigma.
+0 Sound Effects: X4 has arguably movie-quality sound effects, with a few familiar hints of the SNES sounds every now and again (particularly with the dialogue windows and the Ride Armor). There's a richness to every whoosh and smash and deedle, and the noises give life to the action without overpowering the soundtrack. I can't speak as highly of the voice acting, but for a Mega Man game, it's actually pretty decent. Even though X4 has basically the same voice cast as MM8, the casting and direction are notably better, and the energetic voice that shouts "READY!" and "STORM OWL!" and "YOU GOT [UNPRONOUNCEABLE WEAPON]!" is a highlight. There's still room for more polish and emotion in the voice acting (and there's a good chance you'll giggle when Zero wonders what he's fighting foooooor), but the most important part is that the cutscenes are tolerable enough to watch all the way through on subsequent playthroughs. I'm not a fan of the voice clips used during gameplay, however—things like X's "Time to get serious!" and Zero's constant cries of "HOO! HAH! HOO!" make it hard to take the game entirely seriously, and they happen frequently enough to become grating.
+2 Control: X is as responsive as ever, and Zero handles very comfortably, despite his situational and button-comboey move set. The Ride Armors feel appropriately bulky without being too cumbersome, and the Ride Chaser is a smooth ride (though an autofire option—even a slow one—would have been greatly appreciated). Menu controls are pretty intuitive, and you always have the option to skip cutscenes and speed through dialogue (albeit with a lot of button-pressing).
+1 Stages: Compared with the games that came before it, X4 is pretty light on gimmicks and stage hazards, instead favoring enemy-based challenges. The enemies are complex enough that the game retains a certain element of tricky platforming, and you've got the likes of Cyber Peacock and Jet Stingray switching up the core gameplay a bit (for better or for worse—you'll probably spend more time trying to perfect them than any other stage). However, it's very apparent that the stages are designed with Zero in mind. On the plus side, it is a literal and figurative blast to slice and dice your way through wave after wave of enemies as Zero. On the minus side, X isn't as well equipped (at least at first) to handle swarms of enemies; and the additional caution—or tedious mashing of the attack button—required to proceed safely sometimes detracts from the experience (the staircase sections of Split Mushroom's stage come to mind, as do all those walls you need to destroy in the intro stage). The more traditional platforming elements tend to lean toward the timing and speed end of the spectrum—crumbling ice platforms, spaceships right out of Independence Day that fire lasers at regular intervals, train cars that quickly drift apart, moving walls that try to crush you, a whole stage that emphasizes speedrunning, a reasonably fast-paced elevator segment, the unreasonable entirety of Jet Stingray's stage...the constant action is right on the border between thrilling and overwhelming. What keeps the game from ever crossing the line are a decent learning curve, thoughtfully placed power-ups and checkpoints, and challenges that are equally fair (though not always equally challenging) regardless of which character you're playing (which is a rarity in the Mega Man franchise).
+0 Bosses: The boss lineup is yet another unique mix. Sizes range from smaller than X to almost as big as the screen, and every corner of the animal kingdom is represented (including...uh...the corners where you can find mushrooms and dragoons). Despite all this variation, the bosses aren't as visually distinct from one another as usual—maybe it's a Repliforce thing, but almost every Maverick sports circular nubs (like the ones on Zero's chest), pointy bits that stick out, and a color scheme that prominently features white with either green or blue (or both). Combat is a different story—each boss has a distinctive move set requiring specialized tactics, but the common thread is that battles are perhaps too frantic for their own good. Attacks come from all sides, with just enough randomization to throw you off once you think you've figured out a pattern, and they're often unavoidable unless you recognize the blink-and-you'll-miss-it telegraphing. Survival is a matter of well-rehearsed choreography with a dash of improvisation, and that can get exhausting with as long as these fights can last—especially if you're playing as Zero, whose close-quarters fighting style leaves little room for error. In a way, this balances the game's overall difficulty—bosses are harder but stages are easier as Zero, and vice-versa as X—but it mostly acts a deterrent for me replaying the game as Zero. No discussion of the bosses is complete without mentioning the insanity that is Sigma's final form—or forms, as the case may be—where an entire game's worth of attack patterns are condensed into one battle. I hated the final boss the first time I played X4, and no other boss in the franchise (not even Wily Capsule 7) has taken me more tries to beat. But now that I understand how the boss operates and I've worked out a reliable strategy, the battle is a thrilling adrenaline rush that I love. I find all of the bosses in X4 to be similar in that regard: once you're good at fighting them (with or without their weakness), they're pretty fun...but getting to that point can be seriously punishing.
+2 Special Weapons: Power, variety, and a certain amount of interactivity characterize this excellent weapon set. X is well equipped to handle threats from any direction—Rising Fire and Frost Tower cover up and down; Twin Slasher, Double Cyclone, and Aiming Laser cover an even wider spread; Ground Hunter can reach any enemy on a floor or wall; Soul Body duplicates your firepower; and Lightning Web is as much a utility as it is a weapon, providing an on-demand wall whenever you need to wall-jump beyond your reach. The charged-up versions of these weapons are both devastating and cool (though, in typical MMX fashion, usually impractical unless you plan in advance to use them). Zero, being a melee fighter, gains core abilities instead of special weapons. The double-jump, air-dash, and shot-canceling slash are invaluable; slashing upward and downward, thrusting and lunging forward, and circle-slashing in midair are all extremely useful at various points; and the projectile-launching giga attack helps make up for whatever direction and distance Zero's other attacks lack. There's a weapon or ability for every situation, and it's satisfying to tear through bosses and stage enemies in style.
Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities:
Ending:
Replay Value:
Polish:
Extras/Easter Eggs:
Novelty:
Overall Score: X (+Y merits, -Z flaws)
[Last updated Oct 11, 2018]
Mega Man X5 (PS1)
Story:
Graphics:
Music:
Sound Effects:
Control:
Stages:
Bosses:
Special Weapons:
Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities:
Ending:
Replay Value:
Polish:
Extras/Easter Eggs:
Novelty:
Overall Score: X (+Y merits, -Z flaws)
Graphics:
Music:
Sound Effects:
Control:
Stages:
Bosses:
Special Weapons:
Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities:
Ending:
Replay Value:
Polish:
Extras/Easter Eggs:
Novelty:
Overall Score: X (+Y merits, -Z flaws)
