Mega Man X

"The X is for eXtreme"

Many gamers may be familiar with the Megaman series that was played on the NES. Nintendo decided to continue the franchise, and as the console evolved and gained the "Super", Megaman also gained the "X". Many people assume that the is for extreme, and I'm willing to believe it any day, as this game delivers precisely that as it takes the Megaman series to a whole new level.

Graphics
The graphics of the entire game are really well compiled. The sprites are unique and there are very few, if any, sprites that have been recycled or reused.. The animations flow smoothly and in no way are broken anywhere. The environment is shown very well according to the theme of the level. The overall graphics are superb.

Sound
The music in Megaman X is composed very strongly. Most of the themes are very memorably and can often be heard playing through my head even when the game is not turned on. The music also matches the stage themes very well and are very catchy and addictive. The sound effects are sharp and high quality. Another superb match.

Gameplay
The gameplay of the Megaman series has always been relatively similar. The game itself is a side-scroller, where you play as Megaman. When you first start, you are able to jump or shoot your Megabuster.

Jumping is what you'd expect it to be; hold the button to reach your highest jump, or release it earlier to get a smaller hop. However, when you are next to a wall and you hold the directional pad towards the wall, you will notice Megaman will tend to slide down the wall. This reduces falling speed and allows you to perform a wall jump, which is jumping off the wall to push yourself upwards. You can repeatedly triangle jump up most walls in order to reach the top of an area, and some areas even require you to.

Your Megabuster can spam weak small shots that do damage to enemies across the screen. These shots travel in a straight line. Furthermore, you can charge your Megabuster to release a stronger blast, and there at first there are 2 stages in which you can release it. The first stage is a moderately stronger blast, and the 2nd one is a much more powerful blast than the basic shots. Both stages require more time to charge, and cannot be spammed.

Later on in the game, you can access upgrades to add more unique abilities to Megaman, such as Dashing.

The object of the game is to clear through different stages, much like the original Megaman. At the end of each stage is a boss that you must defeat in order to successfully finish the stage. By losing all of your HP, you must restart from a checkpoint, or if you lose all of your lives, you must restart from the stage select screen.

Whenever you successfully defeat a boss and clear a stage, you gain a new boss weapon. Basically, it's a new weapon that you gain from the corresponding element of the boss. For example, a flame boss would give you a fire-related weapon. These weapons run on energy and do not run on infinite ammo, unlike your Megabuster, and can be recharged with capsules that enemies drop. Certain bosses are also weak against certain weapons.

Unfortunately Megaman does not have an actual save system but tends to rely on a "password" system. I don't find much wrong with this system, but it can get annoying when most other games have an actual save system and Capcom still relies on using passwords.

The gameplay can become repetitive if you think about it, but due to each stage having a different environment, different types of enemies, and different obstacles, it's almost not noticeable at all.

Story
Megaman X does indeed have a decent story. Unfortunately it is much better told through the manga and is more compressed in the game, but it still is decent enough, seeing as many games hardly contain any story whatsoever.

Characters
The enemies in this game, bosses and random monsters alike, are all unique. Each stage contains it's own set of distinct monsters and a boss, and there are 9 basic bosses, plus a few more once you finish them. Some bosses can be rather difficult, but if you pick up on a strategy, then everything becomes a lot easier.

Megaman X is a classic game and I believe any SNES lover should definitely own a copy. The graphics and sound are admirable, the gameplay can get a tad repetitive, the story does indeed lack but is alright, and the game contains a unique and large cast of characters. If you happen to find this game on sale for cheap, I definitely suggest picking it up.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/08

Game Release: Mega Man X (US, 1993)