Backlog Game Reviews 22: Megaman X / Rockman X Review (SNES)

     Hey there and welcome to Backlog Game Reviews.

  Today let’s take a look at Megaman X on the SNES. It was first released in Japan on December 17th, 1993, it came to North America on January 19th, 1994, and made its way to Europe on March 15th, 1994. It was met with heavy praise and a warm reception worldwide upon release. Some reviewers went as far as to call it the perfect game. Let's see if Megaman X can live up to its stellar reputation.

Dr. Light's warning to whoever would find X.

Megaman X's story begins 100 years after the classic Megaman series. The scientist Dr. Cain discovered the ruins of Dr. Light's lab, wherein he found a capsule with a robot inside and a warning on a nearby computer. This warning stated that the robot was Dr. Light's final, greatest creation. A robot that can think for itself, feel emotions, make its own opinions, worry, and learn. This robot, named X is virtually identical to a human.

Dr. Light's warning continued.

   Dr. Light, of course, realized that a robot such as X held not only great potential but also great risk. He feared that if X ever decided to fight against humanity, he would be unstoppable. As a precaution, Dr. Light sealed X away in a capsule. While inside X would undergo a series of diagnostic checks that would test his morality. These tests would take up to 30 years to complete, and Dr. Light knew that due to his age he would not live to see the day that X would awaken. That's why he left a warning that asked anyone that would find X to not wake him up until the tests are complete.

X's specifications

   After activating X, Dr. Cain brought him back to his lab and after extensive research he was able to replicate X's programming and make a new generation of robots with free will. He named these new robots Reploids, a combination of the words replicated and android. Reploids, while very similar to X, were not perfect copies. Their programing left them vulnerable to viruses and due to the fact they didn't undergo years of testing like X some had more than questionable morality.

X's arm and leg specs.

   Sometime after Reploids had been mass produced, reports of them turning violent or committing crimes started turning up. These Reploids were labeled as Mavericks. In response, the government created a task force called the "Maverick Hunters". The Maverick Hunters' main duty is to find and destroy Maverick Reploids. X, searching for a purpose in the world, decided to join the Maverick Hunters. X and all other Hunters work under Sigma, the most powerful Reploid created so far and thanks to his advanced programming is said to be unable to turn Maverick.

The boss select screen.

   Thanks to the efforts of the Maverick Hunters, society has been able to enjoy their day to day lives in peace. But one day Sigma sent a message to all of the Hunters, in which he tells them humans are their real enemy and orders them to eradicate humanity. Either for their own personal gain, or out of loyalty to their leader, a large number of hunters decided to join Sigma. Thus, war soon broke out, and X along with his long-time friend Zero were ordered to find and destroy Sigma and his eight Maverick commanders. Here X's first battle begins.

X and Zero.

   That was a pretty lengthy story explanation, but necessary to understand the story. When compared to the classic series Megaman X has a more thought out story. It goes beyond saving the world from Dr. Wily. Sigma feels that as a robot with free will he shouldn't be at the beck and call of humans, rater he believes that he and his fellow Reploids deserve to live independently. Sigma isn't crazy or evil just for the sake of it, he's a complex villain, which makes for a strong and interesting story.

X vs one of Sigma's Mavericks.

   Unfortunately, as good as the story is it's a shame that there isn't much in-game, as all of the background is explained in the manual. There's one cutscene at the beginning of the game and three short ones close to the end. The story would have been far more enjoyable if it was developed in-game.

You'll encounter a wide variety of enemies in this game.

   Moving on to the gameplay, Megaman X drastically shakes up the formula. X has some new abilities such as his wall kick, whereby X can perform a lunge from a wall if you press the jump button while holding onto a wall. This ability allows X to climb up walls which makes vertical platforming possible. And makes for more exciting boss battles as some attacks can only be dogged by grabbing onto a wall.

Press jump while grabbing onto a wall to do a wall kick.

 In addition to his wall kick X is also sporting a dash. This can be used to increase his speed and if you jump while dashing, he can cover longer distances. As is the case with wall jumping dashing makes for some intense and fast-paced combat.

You can't dash until you find the leg armor upgrade.

  Megaman X's stage design has a strong emphasis on exploration. Stages in old Megaman games were pretty straight-forward obstacle courses, with few hidden items or secrets. However, Megaman X is filled with hidden items to find, such as heart capsules that increase your health bar, sub tanks that can be used to replenish your health, and armor capsules, these will upgrade X's armor, and not only change his appearance but also grant him new abilities. The helmet armor, for example, will allow X to break certain blocks by jumping into them, and the body armor will reduce damage taken by half.

                                                               

While Dr. Light hoped that X could live his life in peace, he built these armor capsules in-case X would ever have to fight.

      As you can see Megaman X has had a lot of changes made to its gameplay, but a lot was also left unchanged. You can still decide what order you want to beat the stages in, when you beat a boss you gain a new weapon and every boss is still weak to another boss's weapon. Because of this Megaman X feels new yet familiar. It keeps what we know and love about the old games while making fun new additions that give it its own identity.

Weapon Get!

   Looking at the visuals Megaman X was given its own art style to further differentiate itself from the classic series. Past Megaman games were more on the cartoony side with a bright and colorful atmosphere. The world in Megaman X is darker and enemies have a more intimidating and robotic feel to them. This new art style is a good fit for the more serious tone of the story and most importantly the graphics just look good.

X vs Sting Chameleon.

   The music in this game is awesome. Megaman X favors a more fast-paced rock soundtrack, that goes perfectly with the high paced gameplay. Every song in this game, even the password theme is highly memorable and will easily get stuck in your head. This is a game I would recommend playing not just for the gameplay but for the music as well.

     That's all I have to say about Megaman X. It's considered to be one of the best games in the series and the SNES, and after playing it it's easy to see why. Everything about this game is so well done, from the music to the visuals and gameplay. I highly recommend playing it some time, you'll be glad you did.

   Thanks for reading. The next review will be over a Gameboy Color game. I hope to see you again here at Backlog Game Reviews.

                                                        
                                                                         Megaman X Gameplay Video