Overall 8.2 Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 7 Story 8 Depth 8 Difficulty 7
7.8
Mega Man X Collection G789
The Mega Man X Collection was released on Gamecube and Playstation 2 in 2006, developed by Capcom. The collection includes Mega Man X through X6, and also features Mega Man Battle & Chase, a racing game that's Mega Man themed. As Mega Man and Mega Man X games have been a staple in gaming for a while at this point. Fans of either franchise know what to expect from these collection of games (with Battle & Chase being the only 'new' game if at all) and likely either have this collection or the individual games as they came out over time. For video game fans unfamiliar with Mega Man X, you can expect a solid series of platformer games (and a decent racer). While the gameplay is solid, this collection itself doesn't offer too much more than each
individual game. Still, each game is a classic and hold well enough on their own.
Graphics: 8Mega Man X 1-3 were on the SNES with X 4-6 originally on Playstation. The graphics are appropriate for their respective consoles. The colors are vibrant, with good sprite/character animation. Additionally, Mega Man X3 in this collection is the Japanese version. This features some animated cut scenes, most notably each of the boss intros, also well illustrated. Mega Man X4 is also significant for anime-style cut scenes within, and I would highlight this particular game as the best in terms of graphics.
Sound: 9I've always loved the music of the Mega Man X games. For the most part, the genres of the level themes range from Rock, electronic, synth, to jazz, and everything in between. In fairness, I don't know how much justice these labels do to describe the music, but trust me, the soundtrack for each Mega Man X game is great and is befitting for the levels they play in. One of my criticisms for music lies in Mega Man X3. While the graphics were better in this game, the music is not as good as the US version of X3. The level themes are the same note-wise, but the instrumentation is completely different. The level themes sound more pop-like. While the themes are still solid, I'd recommend any player to compare the music between the US and Japanese versions of X3 and draw your own conclusion. For Battle & Chase, I didn't find its soundtrack particularly memorable.
Addictiveness: 7Mega Man X games are easily digestible through a single playthrough, (maybe except for X6). Fortunately, there is a password system on the SNES games that allow you to jump right back in and continue your progress; the Playstation games had direct save features. Some of the later entries have more options for customization (in the form of upgrades to weapon/armor/abilities) and collecting those upgrades can be addicting. These variations, along with other attributes to be discussed do make the Mega Man X games fairly addictive.
Story: 8I'll mostly highlight the story of Mega Man X, which will include
story spoilersMega Man X is a Reploid: a fighting robot who also has intelligence and emotions consistent with a human. He was created by Dr. Light and found by Dr. Cain, in the year 21XX, at least a century after the events of the Mega Man series. Mega Man X is programmed to assist humans and to never break the robotic moral code of doing harm to another human. Dr. Cain creates other Reploids, who are also programmed similar to Mega Man X. However, some of these Reploids break away from their moral code by harming humans, and are called Mavericks. Mega Man X and his partner Zero are Maverick Hunters who must take down these wayward Reploids. The Mavericks are led by Sigma, also a Maverick.
Throughout these six games, Mega Man X and Zero continue to thwart Sigma's plans and take out his group of Mavericks. In each game, Mega Man X continues to express fears of becoming a Maverick himself. In later games, Zero's story gets more developed in the latter half of the games as he starts to have existential crises regarding his true purpose in life. There are more story elements highlighted in X 4-6. Admittedly, when I first played these games in my younger days I didn't pay attention to story and simply enjoyed gameplay. Only years later, did I start to appreciate the story and significance of various events within the series.
Depth: 8For players just picking up the Mega Man X series, there are 8 levels with a boss. When these levels are completed, the player gets a new weapon from that boss. Each boss has a specific weakness which comes from a weapon acquired from another boss in a sort rock-paper-scissors arrangement. After the 8 main levels, the final boss levels open up and at some point, the original 8 bosses must be fought again in succession. Throughout the levels, capsules can be found which provide an upgrade (either weapons, boots, armor, helmet). In each game, there is also one final, secret capsule that provides a powerful special move. In X5-6, capsules provide components for new armor sets instead. Zero typically does not get capsule upgrades in the games where he can be played. Also contained are heart tanks and sub-tanks. Heart tanks each provide a small permanent increase in energy that aggregates eventually. Sub-tanks store extra energy that you collect, and can be used to replenish your life based on how much is in the tank.
What I love about the Mega Man X games is that whenever I pick it up and play, the game feels fresh. I appreciate some of the following features: bosses themselves can be fought with the classic X-buster, or by using their weakness. The completion of certain levels can affect other levels (e.g. beating an ice stage gets rid of the flames in the fire level), and in X3, can affect some of the final level bosses. In X 4-6, the player can either use Mega Man X or Zero. As these characters have very different play styles, it's essentially like two different games. In general, there are many different ways to play through each game in the X series. As various games are completed, some extras get unlocked. These are pretty minute, and tend to include things such as: a level soundtrack, hints on how to get a secret capsule or weapon, and a gallery of artwork.
Difficulty: 7As you go through each game in ascending order, the difficulty increases, with its pinnacle at X6. Most of the difficulty can be mitigated by using the appropriate weapon weakness on each boss. In fact, some bosses become completely helpless when fought this way. The bosses of the Sigma stages have their own weaknesses, as well. Before tackling a potential situation, it's best to prepare by filling up sub-tanks. In a sense, this is the only “grinding” in X games, farming energy to fill up these tanks. Mega Man X 4-6 are significantly harder as the bosses just seemed to do more damage, with some having a wider array of attacks. Mega Man X6 suddenly spikes up in difficulty, as the levels themselves can be difficult to get through with often times even more difficult boss battles. While the difficulty can be frustrating at times, it's fair and can definitely be overcome with practice.
Overall: 7.8The Mega Man X collection conveniently packs a bunch of platformer classics of the franchise in one game. I had the Gamecube version, but it's the exact same game as the one on PS2. Granted, I feel the PS2 controller is better for this game. During this review, I'm aware I didn't mention Mega Man Battle & Chase as much. The inclusion of this game in the collection was nice, but seemed pretty random as it features characters form the Mega Man series, and is a racer. The only common ground between it and the X games is the “Mega Man” label. While it's an ok game, the main reason to get this collection is to play the first six Mega Man X games.
I felt there could have been a little more extra added, even if it just included a full sound room of each game. And for the music, I definitely would have preferred the US version of Mega Man X3 instead of what we're given. However, each game still holds up very well and are strong in their own right. The difficulty spikes in the later games of the series, but the challenges are still fair and achievable. Mega Man X collection is well worth the play for anybody.
Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 7 Story 8 Depth 8 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 04-26-15
Updated: 04-26-15
Review Replies: 2
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