"This game is meant for the SNES only."

Mega Man X was a great, great game for the Super Nintendo. It was ported to the PC by another company other than Capcom. Needless to say, this results in some discrepancies that the original version of the game did not have. I came to play this version because a friend had it, and I was sorely disappointed. Why release this on the PC anyway? Oh well, on with the review.

Graphics:

They where great on the SNES. Full of color and vibrance. On the PC, they are pixellated and some of the sprites are proportioned in a different manner than they previously were. In all, there is tons of aliasing on these graphics and it's mainly due to the low resolution of the game versus the high resolution of the monitor. After playing the SNES version, this just doesn't measure up at all.

Sound:

MegaMan games are known to have great music, and MegaMan X is no exception. However, in the port to the PC, all the tracks are slightly changed and are now in midi format rather than the digital samples from the SNES. The end result is terrible and can get worse depending on what kind of card you have. The sound effects are slightly muffled as they are nothing more than wav samples and this can lead to some sounds playing too late to accompany the action at the right time. Likewise, a fast computer can sometimes overplay the sound and music (as well as the whole game) and everything replays faster than it was intended.
(There is a speed setting, but you never can seem to find a suitable speed to play this at without some kind of problem)

Control:

It comes boxed with a special controller not too much unlike a Sega Genesis pad. You can use it, the keyboard, or just about any other controller device other than the mouse. The controls are pretty responsive for the most part but the game is incredibly difficult, if not almost impossible to play with the keyboard. The pad offers improvement but still doesn't feel as right as it did on the SNES pad. (Yeah I like the SNES version of this game a lot)

Plot:

Same as the SNES version. It takes place a long time after the original series and X is a new type of robot that Dr. Light designed before he died. X's abilites have been copied resulting in the creation of Reploids. All is good until the freely thinking reploids become mavericks and then the leader of the maverick hunters, Sigma, becomes one himself. X sets out to do battle in classic MegaMan fashion with a few added twists.

It's to be noted that the MegaMan X series is more detailed on plot than the original series was though there is still the annoyance of the same main villain every time. (Like Dr.Wily, you now have Sigma)

Conclusion:

This is just a subpar version of an outstanding game. If you have a choice, play the SNES version. Everything just feels and looks right and it was intended for the SNES in the first place anyway. Avoid this less than spectacular port and go for the real deal instead. It's a great game and shouldn't be missed.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/01, Updated 04/07/02