Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, recently I talked about the newest Mega Man X game compilations. Now I get to talk more in depth with every entry. To clarify, there's a lot of ground to cover. Maybe not as much as classic Mega Man series. But trust me, these games will test you in many ways. Honestly, it's about time we get right to it.
1. Mega Man X (1994)
The original Mega Man X was the first Mega Man game on SNES. This was also a beginning to a tread not many game franchises has done. Mega Man X series as a whole was a follow up to Mega Man classic series taking place an century later. Why does that sound familiar lol. Mega Man X follows Mega Man X or simply X an Maverick hunter protecting the world from rampaging machines.
The world knows of them as the Mavericks. Led by a former Maverick hunter, Sigma. X must continue the legacy of the original Mega Man. Essentially, this is Mega Man next generation since everything has been notably upgraded no pun intended. Just like classic Mega Man games, The Mavericks act like the Robot Masters to a degree.
You can select one of eight stages until the final stages appears. Like late NES Mega Man games, you do have additional stuff to get. I am not going to sugar coat the truth. If you were struggling with the classic Mega Man games, you won't get far here. Sigma is a widely different game from Dr. Wily. Most of his boss fights are more difficult than the toughest Dr. Wily has to offer I'm not kidding.
Sigma has some truly difficult boss fights in this particular franchise. If you do collect armor upgrades, you will get making some tricky to pull off moves much easier. There's two ways getting the strongest attack in the game. Either you take a chance at getting it at a tricky to land spot or Zero automatically gives you the attack during the first of the final stages.
The save feature from Mega Man X Legacy Collection functions like a password system. Keep in mind, although most stuff you gotten is included within these passwords. You might not have the ultimate attack. Also, if you turn the game off or reset it during another stage of the final stages. You have to start those final stages from the beggining.
Now why was that difficult to get right? Isn't it enough punishment to deal with eight levels prior to these? Also like the original Mega Man game, during these final stages. Some of the Mavericks will have a rematch with you. Sadly, this is the only Mega Man X game included in both game compilations to not allow you choose an order.
Basically, you have to fight them all again between stages. Unless, you are familiar enough with them, you may never know when one of those boss fights might show up. The soundtrack is amazing, it easily blows Mega Man 7 on the same console away. I should mention, there's three final bosses in the final stage with two of them being Sigma himself.
I loved you get more reasons to test your skills in not only finding stuff. You also could experiment with methods using powers from the Mavericks or your upgrades from the late Dr. Light. Honestly, this is a great way to kick off a new Mega Man franchise. I would say this was easily one of the finest 16-bit Mega games I ever played.
I do need to mention, unlike the previous Mega Man Legacy Collection games. You don't get a save state/load state feature. You know the same feature supposedly ruining games right Mike Matei lol. Anyway, I kinda liked they didn't bring it back for these games. Honestly, it would've made these games much easier thus ruining the uniqueness they bring to the table.
Rookie Hunter mode doesn't make this game much easier in comparison to most later entries. You will likely die a lot. You need to adapt quickly to survive this game. I do like how it does play tribute to the classic Mega Man series in it's own way. I am very happy to play this game. Mega Man X is hands down, a must play game for any Mega Man fan or those trying to get into them in general.
2. Mega Man X2 (1995)
I will be honest, out of the three SNES entries. I ended up liking Mega Man X2 the most. I felt the line up of the Mavericks was perfect. This had some great Sigma boss fights that will surprise you. Like most classic & X series, you can choose the order you face each Maverick in their rematches. Most of what I said about X1 heavily applies here as well.
Mega Man X2 also had some of my favorite stages of the series. Not only that, it also has one of the absolute best Mega Man soundtracks ever. This game to me was near perfect for what it truly is. I do need to mention X1's ultimate attack was Hadouken. Yes as in Ryu & Ken's energy blast move. Speaking of them, this game's ultimate attack so happens to be another move of theirs.
Shoryuken which is a flying uppercut move from Street Fighter series. This move can one hit a particular boss. Honestly, in a few ways X1 fell, this game really brought it. This has to be one of the greatest video game sequels I ever played. I really can't say highly enough of this game, it really is a great experience.
I do need to point out, some of my favorite Mavericks are in this game. Like Wheel Gator & Overdrive Ostrich, anyway most their boss fights is a lot of fun. I felt the difficulty is more evenly balanced out here. I am not saying the original X game was too hard because it wasn't. I do enjoy a great challenge when I see one.
3. Mega Man X3 (1996)
Not only you can locate armor upgrades. You also can get an hidden armor if you follow the directions correctly. Not only that, you can get chips that also increases some of your abilities. You also get chips to summon powdered armors. Some of these machines are required to locating some hidden stuff.
Once again, what I said about X1 and X2 heavily applies here. There is a twist following the final boss fight this time. Usually the games end after defeating Sigma. But not this time, you have to quickly jump up the walls then move to the right. You are doing this while lava is quickly moving up towards the top of the screen.
Even with the ultimate armor, you can die quickly if you stay in there for too long. This is also the first X game to let you play as Zero. Just don't expect it to be like some of the later games with him. Mega Man X3 does have a great soundtrack. I do like how they went about the final stages. You can feel the level of care these developers put in.
Honestly, I would say I actually prefer majority of this game over the original X game. I will still say that game had a better soundtrack. You also face Dr. Doppler who created two robots as well as modified an old enemy of yours. You could be facing a few optional bosses during your run of this game.
I will say these bosses are more difficult than the actual Mavericks but not as difficult as Sigma. The actual ending is one of my favorites too. Capcom ended X series on SNES on a high note. Overall, it is a decent game. It will challenge you a few more ways than the previous entries. I do like how they went the extra mile about finding stuff.
4. Mega Man X4 (1997)
Without question, this is my favorite X game in Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1. WOW, this is a beautifully made game guys. You can choose to be either X or Zero this time around. I do need to point out, with a code you can play as Black Zero. It literately is Zero recolored in black with his hair being turned white.
This version of Zero is more durable as well as powerful. You can not change characters during a playthrough. Trust me, it's a vastly different experience than both Mega Man 9 & 10 with playable characters. X is more of a firing type of character while Zero being more of a swordsman. This greatly affects majority of the boss fights too.
OMG, Sigma really steps up his game during the final boss fight. The first phrase, he appears similar to that of an Grim Reaper. You need to test every option in game or look up online how to damage him. Seriously, if you don't know how to do that. You already loss this boss fight I'm not kidding. Once you do figure it out, he does down quick.
His second phrase is he more directly uses his scythe. This ends up being trickier to hit but easier to take down. Usually this is where these games end. But Sigma answers right back with a third phrase. This is one of the most difficult Capcom final bosses I ever done. This is virtually two bosses that take their turns at attacking you.
In between all of that are three different colored giant robot heads. You don't need to destroy those until you got no choice. Yes, in this particular X game Sigma has four health bars? Yes there are times, you face Dr. Wily for a third round. But most of those occur in the final stage following his previous boss fights.
Here, you get absolutely no breaks. You really need to go in stock up on everything. It is highly important you bring your A game or you won't survive this. I am not kidding, this game is mostly fair in it's overall difficulty. Sure, I love a challenging final boss. Maybe they went a little too far here. I will say, this game has some truly great stages.
5. Mega Man X5 (2001)
This was the last entry to fully involve the creator of Mega Man. Who later went on to creating Dead Rising series. X5 was meant to be Zero's end of the story. Spoiler alert, it wasn't long story. I would say this is the best X game in Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2. I know a lot of people criticize the time limit.
First off, it isn't an active moving clock like in most games. Second, you could quickly fail both firing the laser & sending the space shuffle. In order, to unlocking the final stages thus removing the timer altogether. Unlike the previous games, you can go for two different armors. Falcon Armor enables flight for a short distance while Gaea Armor allows X to walk on spikes.
Personally, I loved how they went about this concept. All Falcon Armor pieces are in the left Maverick stages while all Gaea Armor pieces are in the right Maverick stages. You do start this game off as X in his previous game's ultimate armor. Thus, you could play with all three of them with one being only meant for the intro stage.
Speaking of that, Sigma is actually fought twice in this game. You still got three phrases with him while the later two are essentially the final boss fight. This has the easiest Sigma boss fight ever. I do liked how they attempted a 3D giant Sigma robot boss during the final boss fight. This also has some of my favorite Mavericks like Crescent Grizzly & Burn Dinorex.
I do need to point something very frustrating out. I tried almost everything for the laser to destroy the falling Space Colony. Which brings to another point, Sonic directly ripped this off in Sonic Adventure 2. Considering that game came out a year later. Maybe this could've been a coincidence who really knows.
This trophy/achievement took me hours to pull off. Finally, I tried a trick someone done in an YouTube video on the first try & I got it. You have no idea how annoying this actually is until you try going for it. I attempted right off the bat after beating the intro stage. I tried after defeating all eight Mavericks to only fail
This is pure luck if you can pull it off I'm not kidding. I do like how they went about the final stages. One of them took direct inspiration from Quick Man's stage of Mega Man 2. Overall, this had some of my favorite stages. Yes, there are a few tedious things here & there. It does not ruin the experience at all.
6. Mega Man X6 (2001)
Mega Man X6 is easily one of the absolute worst Mega Man games I ever played. The actual story ruined Zero's death turning it into an insult rather than a great ending for a beloved character. Like some of the previous entries, there are multiple endings. Thankfully, it is easier to do this time. Although that's just me trying to be nice about a game that doesn't deserve it.
Each Maverick stage has an Zero Nightmare boss. Not to mention, one of the absolute worst bosses in history. Yes he has a name, his name is High Max. You briefly fight him early on in the game. Later on, you have no choice but to fight him again. I am going to be brutally honest about this guy. Usually when you use a weakness on a boss.
Depending on things, it usually does some damage. There are times, your attacks could be avoided or blocks. This guy is simply floating around with some op attacks. He is too durable to not be the final boss, yes he's actually more difficult than Sigma in a way. Zero has to use a particular slash move to damage him while X needs to somehow stun to finally damage him temporary.
The big problem about that is he's simply too damn durable. Sadly, you will likely have trouble trying to figure out a good enough strategy to win. He doesn't show tanking damage like you would expect making him worse than Sigma. Like X5, you could go to the final stages earlier once Gate shows up. I meant a character named Gate not an actual gate come on now.
Honestly, High Max's boss fight later on is way too unbalanced. Sigma's first phrase is he slowly moves towards you. Yes, he has a few moves but not a difficult boss fight. Until his second phrase that is. Sigma reappears like a giant terminator no pun intended. He constantly fires beams but mostly summons enemies.
This boss fight requires you to push on in order to survive. This isn't much room of error here. Thankfully his head remains as the weak point. Yes, Sigma does take additional damage from particular stuff if you have them or enough of it prior to that boss fight. Some of my least favorite stages are present here.
I will say the soundtrack is still good for what it is. It's a real shame PlayStation 1 era got a horrible end with this franchise. This was the beginning of it's popularity falling. Mega Man X6 is surprisingly liked by some people but mostly disliked by the fan base. Let's be honest, it's not a balanced game that quickly loses it's appeal fast.
7. Mega Man X7 (2003)
We finally hit rock bottom here folks. I recently said this made Mega Man 8 look like an master piece. I'm here to tell you exactly how it does just that. Trust me, you might need something strong to get through a game like this. I wasn't talking about sleep, I was talking about some beer might help. Mega Man X7 is truly an interestingly bad Mega Man game.
This game attempted parts of 2D & 3D aspects but both are done horribly. At least, Mega Man 8 in a few stages nailed the 2D aspect better. Just when you thought the voice acting was bad in Mega Man 8. You haven't heard some of the greatest (sarcasm) voice overs ever. Like Flame Hyena loves saying repeatedly, "Fire on the ground!" or voices in general that doesn't work at all.
Let's be honest, even the good characters were given horrible voices here. Some of the absolute worst Mavericks are present in this game too. You can only play as two characters at a time. Although, you can switch out characters outside the stages. Axl is a new character that doesn't exactly work. It is interesting to note, the creator of Mega Man helped in designing Axl.
There's a horrible glitch in Soldier Stonekong's boss fight. Where sometimes he disappears to not return. Usually this happens, you got no choice but to restart the stage or play another stage. Unless, his stage so happens to be the last one prior to the final stages. I should mention, some of these stages can be short while others are notably longer in comparison.
Let's be honest, Mega Man 8 looked way better on PS1 than this game on PS2. In comparison, Mega Man 8 looked like cutting edge while this piece of crap looked dated. Even at the time of it's release, yeah that's bad. Every Maverick boss fight ends up not being fun at all. Sigma also took a step backwards during his boss fight.
His first phrase is oddly similar to X4's second phrase. His final phrase is a giant robot body out in space. I guess they never made it clear if they needed oxygen or not. This is one of the worst boss fights in the entire game as well as X series. They made getting the ultimate armor much easier than you would expect.
You can save robots to get stuff including the disc icon upgrades. You can choose between the two characters you just finished a level with. Whose gets one or two upgrades. Yes you can use one on each characters if you choose. Just note, among giving them their last chip is essentially maxing them out.
Which further bags the question why even look for armor upgrades in four Maverick stages at all? I still recommend those upgrades over the chips though. This entire game felt heavily unbalanced. Thank god, they didn't make a boss like High Max. Honestly, it felt like a massively waste of time. Sure, it isn't bad for trophy/achievement hunting.
Yet why would you bother playing something this horrible? Mega Man 8 had some variety within it's game play. The actual boss fights were a mixed experience. Some of them were fun to a degree. The final boss fight felt like more a challenge in comparison. It just seems like this particular game failed hard with an okay soundtrack with some bad sound effects.
8. Mega Man X8 (2005)
Currently the recent entry in this franchise. Mega Man X8 ended up being one of my favorites. I wasn't sure what to think about it after trying X7. Honestly, damn this one caught me by surprise. Yes I know some fans aren't a fan of this game. X8 does everything better from the previous game. I can't name many negative things to say about it.
Unlike the previous two entries, I actually liked majority of the Mavericks. Sigma isn't the final boss this time around was a nice surprise. Like X7, you can play as two characters during an stage. There actually is some game play variety this time around. There is a team move you can destroy a lot of enemies or damaging the bosses.
The voice acting isn't that great but it's notably better than some of these games. There's two ways to playing as your navigators during the game play. Either you play mostly with one of them per a run essentially being up to three runs in all or enter a few codes. Following either method, you need 40,000 in game money per a navigator character.
They are essentially alternate skins for the main three characters that's weaker. Honestly, this was one of many surprises it had in store. Hell, I really wanted to say a particular one I didn't see coming at all. There's a code that adds a retro boss fight to Optic Sunflower's stage. Where you face Cutman from Mega Man 1, yes this is a hidden boss fight.
In fact, there's a trophy/achievement for beating Cutman. Honestly, this was a nice tribute to the classic Mega Man series. You still work with chips that will carried over to later playthroughs. Some of the absolute best PS2 era stages are present here. Well that shouldn't be a surprise lol. X8 does make up for X7 just enough to make you excited for what the future might bring.
The actual graphics looks way better than X7. I also liked they given a lot of moves between the three characters. They also added Vile to having a few possible boss fights. He will randomly appear in stages. Sigma gets a sick look for his final boss fight. Unlike most Mega Man X games, Sigma only has one phrase this time.
Lumine wants to continue Sigma's legacy by infecting the world. Essentially they want to bring an order theme chaos that would doom all of existence. Depending on things, you could be facing Lumine's entire boss fight or just his first phrase. I know that's kinda weird but I guess they needed to give you more reason to explore.
I also liked some boss health bars are massive. I really felt at home playing X8 honestly. Sure, this isn't as much as a home run as some previous games. It still is a great underrated entry that truly deserves more respect than it currently gets. Mega Man X8 was the closest we seen to as the ending to that story arc.
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