Mega Man X: Command Mission

"Move over, Battle Network! This is a real Mega Man RPG!"

Our Blue Bomber has quite a revolutionary history in the world of video games. It's often confusing because of the multiple sub-series' that make up the Mega Man universe. First came the original, then X in the early 1990's (my favorite sub-series, by the way), followed by the short-lived Legends sub-series from the Playstation (Legends 1 was also known as Mega Man 64), and the latest sub-series spawned mostly for the Game Boy Advance, Battle Network. It's very easy to get them confused, isn't it?

Well, this game is the latest installment in the Mega Man series. The X sub-series to be exact. As you know about the X series, they were going very strong until Mega Man X3 on SNES. After that, fans became increasingly disappointed with the series, especially on Mega Man X6. The creator of the X sub-series was originally intending to end the series on Mega Man X5, but the developers of X5 got the story messed up before he could see it and it was too late to correct it. That's one of the big reasons X6 seemed poor in the plot. I haven't played Mega Man X7, but I heard it was an average game.

But now, we have Mega Man X: Command Mission. Some people consider it the first Mega Man RPG, but that's incorrect and proves they don't know what they're talking about. Mega Man Legends was actually an RPG (though it was more Legend of Zelda-ish) and the second Mega Man RPG sub-series made was the Mega Man Battle Network series. So technically, Command Mission is the seventh Mega Man RPG made thus far.

So how was it? It's obviously the best Mega Man game made so far (at least to me it was). If you don't agree with me on it being the best Mega Man game, you will still enjoy it either way.

Graphics 10/10

Awesome cel-shading job, Capcom! I like how the Maverick Hunters look in 3D. The bosses looked colorful, and the environments were designed well. Some of the common enemies reminded me of the older games (the Mettuars and Bat Bones). Since there was nothing wrong with the graphics, they're great. Did I mention that X went through a redesign?
Graphics 10/10
Some of the things are a blast from the past that no X fan would want to go without.

Sound 9/10

I have to admit the sounds weren't perfect. The music was average, but tolerable and the sound effects were normal, but the voices sounded a little bit messed up. Capcom must have forgotten to get a microphone at the audio lab replaced. The voices were the only small flaw. They sounded badly dubbed at times, but weren't too bad.
Sound 9/10
Not too bad, but could have been better. I hope Capcom soon realizes that the microphone they used for this game and Gotcha Force is broken and throws it away before it's too late...

Story 10/10

X, Zero, and some new Maverick Hunter named Shadow (don't ask, I don't know) are sent by the Colonel of the resistance forces to investigate a tower suspected of being a hideout for the rebellion, a group of Mavericks with evil plans. That's all I can tell you for now without giving any spoilers.
Story 10/10
No additional comment.

Gameplay 10/10

The gameplay is the strongest point in the game, and if you know your video games, you would know that that's a good thing.

The battle system is designed better than a casual RPG. We don't have any of that wimpy magic spells crap you find in other RPGs. Instead, we have special abilities and sub weapons, which you can equip to either the X or Y buttons for quick access instead of romping through annoying menus like Final Fantasy.

The special abilities are a custom move assigned to each character, such as X's ability to charge his X-Buster and shoot all the enemies at once and Zero's ability to charge his attack as you press button combinations to perform the attack it's labeled. Another good thing exclusive to this game is that you use Sub-Tanks to recover health instead of buying annoyingly large amounts of recovery items. Sub-Tanks stay with you forever and you can use any recovery method you want if you have enough percent left in your sub-tank.
Gameplay 10/10
I like the originality in the game's battle system. Well done.

Replay Value 10/10

You know, if you're still actually reading this review, I have to say that I'm surprised you haven't stopped reading altogether and gone to the store to buy this game yet.

But seriously, the Gamecube version of Command Mission allows Game Boy connectivity to enable a treasure radar early in the game. You can use this in some areas to find hidden items that are figurines of game characters. You can assemble large collections. Can you find them all?

Buy or Rent?

HELLO! Did you read what I said about being surprised you're still reading this review? You should just go out and buy it. You will not be disappointed you did.

My Grand Total 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/18/04