ASS KICKIN' TIME!
Prelude
Mega Man has always been a difficult series for me to write about, mostly because I’m horrible at them and I was pretty sure that would never change no matter what. Good thing I was wrong and started getting good at this load of platforming shit. To some, Mega Man is like jumping over very far spread hurdles. It’s easy, right? To others, it’s like jumping 8 hurdles at a time back to back to back to back to back. This is the case for me, at least. Bosses rape me, spit on me, shit fire on my face and teabag me after they’re through with my corpse. Does that sound like fun? That’s the kicker. It is fun. Somehow, getting your ass handed to you is fun. That’s the glory of Mega Man X, and I’m about to walk you through my experience with it.
Long ago when I was younger, like I mentioned in my Earthbound talk and around the same time I was introduced to Earthbound, I was also introduced to this doozy. Mega Man X. When I first saw the title screen I was practically blown away just at the awesome soundtrack, the atmosphere it provided and the look of that bad ass blue bomber ready to kick some ass! Watching Ethan shoot everything in sight, charging up the blaster cannon and defeating a fat penguin continued to cave in my poor little mind. It was just too awesome for me to take in. I knew this game would be the coolest thing I ever played and I would look awesome while playing it.
Well I was horribly wrong.
Not only did this game disfigure me emotionally, but it also pounded the crap out of my ego. I was terrible. Terrible doesn’t even define how bad I was at this game. I struggled on Chill Penguin is a great way to describe it. Let’s face it, if you struggle on Chill Penguin, you’re just not cut out to play Mega Man.
Years later, here I am getting into Mega Man all over again and I had to beat this game. It ate away at my soul until I cured it by disassembling each robot master with my powerful cannon from Hell! They loved every. Single. Second. It was a really great feat for me, honestly, since beating a childhood game you could never beat when you were younger always brings this other sense of satisfaction alongside the comfort of even beating a difficult game. It was easier than I remembered from years ago, though that’s the most case with games, anyway. Well, now that you know my life story, here’s what I thought.
Mega Man X
Disclaimer: I played this on an emulator. I do own the original cartridge, but wanted to enjoy the higher resolution of my computer monitor. If that’s a problem, sorry. I see no problem with emulation at all.
Just looking at this screen is a complete nostalga blast.
This game was amazing from start to finish. It is a nonstop adrenaline rush with action constantly throwing itself at you. For me, this defines what a Mega Man game needs to be. It isn’t overly difficult and it isn’t too easy where it’s just not fun to play. It’s a challenge and it takes dedication, a decent memory, and the internet to find everything and use it to your full potential. (Seriously, I would have never thought to even jump off that platform on Storm Eagle’s stage to get the heart tank without the internet).
You start off on a stage that leads up to the introduction of Vile. It allows you to get a feel for what the controls are like and what kind of enemies you will be encountering as you progress through the game. After that, you’re brought to the robot master screen. The tricky thing about Mega Man is the order of the robot masters, in my opinion. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to guess which master you should start off with. You have
Launch Octopus
Chill Penguin
Flame Mammoth
Boomerang Kuwanger
Sting Chameleon
Spark Mandrill
Storm Eagle
and Armored Armadillo
. The best one to start off with is Chill Penguin. He carries an essential upgrade for your armor and has a very easy stage to get through. He himself is easy, too, when you learn his very basic patterns. After that, you may think Flame Mammoth would be the boss that’s weak against Chill Penguin’s Shotgun Ice, since he’s fire, or at least that’s what I thought. Turns out the next boss you should fight is Spark Mandrill. However, if you do go to Flame Mammoth’s stage, you will find that the lava has frozen over since you beat Chill Penguin first. This happens a lot depending on who you fight in what order. Beating Storm Eagle before Spark Mandrill will cause Spark’s stage’s lights to flicker on and off and the orbs of electricity that flow through the glass floor at the beginning of the stage are nonexistent, as the glass is shattered. This is a really neat touch that Capcom put that I’ve never seen done by anything else.
That’s really all the game is, though. Fighting robot masters and gaining their powers to use against the other masters to take them out easier, and ultimately take out Sigma. At first, I thought Vile was the boss of the game, since he’s the first guy that shows up in the beginning of the game. Turns out, however, Sigma is the main boss and Vile is just some asshole robot trying to stop you from getting to Sigma. This is also the introduction of Zero, who I always thought looked like a chick. There was plenty of confusion surrounding this game when I was younger, but I kind of get it now. I at least get the main point that my goal is to destroy Sigma and that’s what matters. The other things you do is collect armor pieces, heart tanks to extend your health, and sub-tanks, so if you’re in danger of dying, you can use it to completely restore your health. There’s a lot of collecting in this game and it’s completely optional aside from the leg upgrade, since you need to dash in order to get through some of the stages. It’s more rewarding to see X in his full armor, though, rather than just his legs, and they are very helpful as you progress through the game. The head upgrade breaks blocks, but other than that, it’s useless. The chest upgrade makes any damage you take cut in half, and the arm upgrade makes your buster gun much more powerful on full charge. However, if you skip the arm upgrade and wait until you’re in Sigma’s third palace, you can get Zero’s arm upgrade, which is even more powerful. It’s not easy, though. Sigma’s Palace is definitely a trial of skill. Mega Man veterans more than likely wouldn’t have an issue with it, though.
As Mega Man X usually stares out into the night sky, you pat yourself on the back for being so awesome.
Epilogue
Even though this is considered one of the easiest, if not the easiest Mega Man games, it’s incredibly enjoyable and is a great way to just kill some time or make challenges for yourself. The soundtrack is very enjoyable and gets you pumped up for some Maverick ass kicking. The other X soundtracks seem weak in comparison, to be honest. I love this game, and putting the frustrations aside, it’s a perfect example of what makes Mega Man so much fun and worthwhile. It’s Mega Man done perfectly. It manages to not overly frustrate the player. Instead, it leaves you with a feeling that you need to carry on with your duty. There aren’t many games that can really do that.
Verdict:
+It’s really really fun.
+Not overly challenging.
+Great introduction title for newcomers.
-Can be frustrating.
-Sigma’s final form is pretty damn hard.
Hopefully if anyone was wondering about the X series, this helped or if you’re already a fan, this reminded you how much you love it. 
